It is well before dawn in Bibiclat, a village in the northern Philippines surrounded by rice fields. Using their smartphones as torches, Catholic worshippers from the area venture into the fields. If they are fortunate, they will find places where carabaos bathe, since the mud is softer there.
When they are find a suitable spot, the villagers smear mud over their bodies and cover dried banana leaves with it. After dressing themselves with the leaves, they walk on to the church of St John the Baptist.
Entire families, as well as solitary worshippers, line the road. The crowd swells outside the church yard as people light candles and wait for the priest to lead a Mass.
This event, referred to as Taong Putik, or the Mud People Festival, has been passed on from generation to generation in the community, as a way of showing devotion to their patron saint, St John the Baptist.
Church leader Regil dela Cruz says the tradition started in 1836, when poor Filipino farmers went to the church to give thanks on the saint's feast day. He says they smeared themselves with mud as a gesture of faith and humility.
"They covered themselves with dried banana leaves or vines so they were not recognised, as there was a lot of discrimination against the poor during that time," Mr dela Cruz adds.
Only men practised the tradition until 1944. That is when a "miracle" happened, he says.
That year, some Japanese soldiers were killed by Filipino guerrilla fighters in the village. In response, the Japanese military gathered villagers for execution. "Rain poured and the killings were cancelled because the Japanese soldiers believed this was a sign of disapproval from their gods," Mr dela Cruz says.
A sign inside the church compound reads: "For the Japanese who worship the sun, the rain is a sign of their gods' disapproval of the killing of the men of Bibiclat."
The villagers believed St John the Baptist sent the rain and entire families then joined the tradition of smearing themselves with mud and wearing banana leaves on his feast day, celebrated on June 24.
Emotions were high among some of gathered at the church this year. Teacher Leonila Arucan, 64, accompanied her father to the festival while she was at school, and she now attends with her children and grandchildren.
Her father-in-law was among those who survived the planned execution and his name is carved on a relief on a church wall. "This tradition makes my faith stronger and I feel closer to God," Ms Arucan says.
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
