FLOWERS

It would be impossible to go to Thailand, even in the Winter Season, and not experience the beauty of Thai flowers. Flowering trees are everywhere. Decorative arrangements adorn entrances to buildings and are offered to the Buddha images or to drape an elephant statue. In late January, the people of Chiangmai celebrate the Flower Festival. It begins with a grand parade that would put the rose bowl to shame. Elaborate floats that imitate great temples and other familiar Thai sights float down the streets carrying each village's most beautiful young women as flower queens. Main streets are closed off and demonstration gardens are created in the middle of the streets to give people an idea of how they might landscape their home areas. Orchids are placed in the sides of trees and along the roadside there will be fields of flowering plants. Just south of Bangkok, near Ajaan Sulak's ashram, there is a community of plant and tree nurseries. Lotus flowers pop up out of rivers and ponds and are offered to the Buddha images and the monks.