THE ROUTINE

The daily routine here is, awake, make coffee and toast, shower, put on fresh clothes and get out and do any chores that have to be done before the heat of the day sets in. 

Come back, take another shower, put on fresh clothes and relax with a book and pray that the air conditioner doesn't break down. 

It has become hot and humid and not all that comfortable here. I don't do much wandering about with my camera during the day anymore. When I do, it seems that things are starting to look alike, like I've seen it all before ~ a sure sign that it's time to move on. 

In about one week, Noni and I will leave Chiang Mai for Bangkok and, after one week

there visiting family and friends, we will be heading back to Vancouver. 

The Thailand experiment has run it's course.

Canada wins.

I have not stopped shooting altogether and when I do, I concentrate mostly on 

people and faces. Here is a selection.

fish vendor

limbless beggar ~ usually has a big smile on his face but seemed intimidated by the camera even though he said that it was okay to take the picture.

pedi-cab driver ~ pedalled us about 2 km on a very hot day but didn't even break a sweat

restaurant manager

another legless beggar

fabric merchant

pastry merchant 

roasted yam & potato vendor

handsome young waiter

SONGKRAN

SONGKRAN 

is the name of the Thai new years holiday. The new year is 2555 on the Thai calendar. In Thai, that is 'song, ha ha ha'  REALLY, I'm not being silly; the word for two is 'song' and for five it is 'ha' The 3 main days of festivities are WET. They are celebrated by splashing water on anybody nearby and truckloads of people, young and old, have

large tubs of water on them and the riders have pails or these humungous

water guns that spring up here like masks at halloween back in there. 

Note the arm with the turquoise pail just about to fling the water at the passing scooters

Here you can see the arc of water that some pedestrians are about to enjoy

These bike riders are at the receiving end of a water cannon and the water in the truck doesn't look all that clean

And here is me just about to receive a face full. I'm glad I took the precaution of  wrapping my camera in a plastic bag. Everyone seems to take these dousings in good humour

The other thing that one notes is the array of colourful shirts that men and women wear during the holiday 

These two shots were on the staff in a restaurant where we went to dine

Celebration markers at the Buddhist temple

Morning sidewalk cleanup time

Interesting cloud formation over the city

Nice pair of legs ~ couldn't resist

Noni picking out fruit for our morning breakfast

HAPPY SONG HA HA HA EVERYONE

THE PRICE OF VANITY

My beard has become a multi-hued palette of greys, whites, browns and beiges. 

It was mostly grey/white with a smattering of the other 

colours around the mouth and moustache.

I fondly recalled my late brother-in-law Maurice's pristine white beard 

and thought how nice I might look with the same hirsute arrangement.

I discussed it with Noni and she suggested I attend her cousin's salon where

Nit, the hairstylist could do it for me. "Yes," she told me, "Nit speaks

good English and would know what I wanted."

So, off I went and showed Nit the light grey/white portion and told her that I

want the whole thing like this ~ can she do it? Of course!

She proceeded to administer her potions to my face and all too late I realized

she was doing it in reverse ~ turning the grey/white to beige. When I panicked and

told her MAI MAI MAI !!!!! 

(no no no in Thai) 

she attempted a recovery operation. 

It didn't work out too well.

I'm now in my Van Gogh mode 

Well, it will fade and grow out in time. In the interim, I'm a redhead and that's 

the price of vanity.

market place scene

Thai new year celebrations will be starting soon and
bright and colourfully patterned clothes are worn at this time of year

When the street market vendors close shop at night their display cases are shunted
off to a storage area till the next day.
These enterprising scooter jockeys are in the process of
taking them back out in mid afternoon to their allotted space for another night
of business.

On the Narawat  Bridge, one of the busiest in the city, misters cool the air for
passing motorists and adventurous pedestrians 

market place vendor

Mr. To's cat, Meow, posing with a can of beer.
He'll do anything for a little attention.

A COOL DAY

Saturday night surprised us with some overnight rain

and Sunday morning greeted us with an overcast sky but much cooler

temperatures and much, much lower humidity.

We happily strolled over to our Sunday morning brunch place, had a good 

meal and then took advantage of the improved climate.

Noni was off for a workout at the gym whilst I sauntered, 

camera in hand to the market place to shoot.

Unfortunately the fine weather did not last and today, Monday, we're 

back to the same old sweat routine. 

The sky is overcast again and there were some clouds about

so maybe tonight we'll be wetted again and treated to 

another fine day tomorrow.

Here are just a few images from my Sunday shooting session

milk added to my iced coffee creates a wild pattern

coffee shop helper/charmer

the Golden Gate ....... gate

definitely a colour moment

proud of his tattoos 

young family  out shopping

tuk~tuk drivers waiting for customers ~ heavy shoppers use these a lot

dust mop vendor and potential customer

H & H

H & H stands for heat & humidity. At the moment we're experiencing plenty of that. 

The last few day the temperature has approached the high 30s

and with the humidex factored in, it feels like 43º ~ 45º.

It's a test to find out two important things; what is the melting point of the 

human body and, how durable is the air conditioner.

As a result of the elevated H & H I don't spend as much time walking 

around with my camera as I used to but still have some file images to share with you.

This gentleman is a crippled beggar who gives me a big smile
and thank you whenever I drop a few coins in his cup.
He seemed very thrilled when I asked to take his
photo  and greets me now like an old friend 

Colourful delivery girl

Antique temple motif at wat museum

The heat gets to everyone at some point

This friendly fellow lives beside the river behind our building. In the event
of rain he can scoot about 20 meters and sit it out under the
bridge or just throw his tarp over himself and sleep

This little charmer walks around to different restaurants and tries
to sell the traditional Buddhist flower leis

At a seafood restaurant that we frequent, this is one of our typical meals,
grilled red snapper,
stir fried vegetables with prawn and steamed rice all washed down with a
glass of wine for Noni and an ice cold Singha beer for me

Spicy food vendor in the market place in the evening. I didn't notice her reflection in the
store window on the left till I put this on the computer