Lost Aussie on the loose

Mae Klong Train Market - Thailand

Sifting through my photos of Thailand tonight and I've inumerable ones of the market at Mae Klong, where the train track run right through the middle of the market, within inches of everything and everyone ... absolutely fascintating.
Vendors just pullup the shades and slide produce mounted on bars, out of the way of the train as it rolls by then minutes or seconds later, it's all back to business as usual.

There's a cool YouTube Video of it here

The train terminates at the station just adjacent to the market, so it's not going very fast, 4-6mph at best and it's obviously a way of life that the locals are used to...

 

A Little More Thai Style

I guess it's a little like everything, you go to some place new and you, as bystanders have to endure MORE happy travel photos ...

So if it's boring, then I apologise in advance.

So,  for afficionados of the old school, who can remember the fabulous movie with Yule Brenner in the "King and I".... this is a photo of Ho Withun Thasana (aka the Sage's Lookout) located in the grounds of the Summer Palace, constructed by King Chulalongkorn.

My modern day snap of the same structure serves as a great reminder of the stellar efforts of the architects in those times and how valiantly the structure has survived since the 1880's!

I snapped many pix of inside and out, but the interior staircase was the notable element that drew my attention...

.... almost the Golden Mean Spiral...

A Little Thai Style

I have finally brought myself up into the vertical/awake position after sleeping for almost 16 hours straight! Wow!!  I don't think jetlag gets any easier as you get older!!!

Fiddling tonight with a few pics from Bangkok, Thailand.  We snap so happily away with our digital cameras, careless of the old 24 (good) shots on a roll of film and end up with hundreds of images to sift through to find the gems.  My guess is that it's about a 10% pass rate!

And then of course you have to tweak them in Photoshop.....

Anyway, here's a few of the floating markets - specifically the canals at Amphawa ....

.... and then some great Pad Thai vendors at Damnoen Saduak Floating Market and Amphawa  ...

 ...this lady actually had a propane tank on her little boat which fuels the hot plate she is cooking the eggs and noodles on to make the Pad Thai!  The condiments and plates are all arranged on the side of the canal for serving .... Amazing!

And then, there is a favourite face, in this case, one of the hat sellers.
So many lovely faces in this country and for the most part they are happy to have their picture taken, though I still prefer the candid shots...like this one, where she was not really posing for the camera.

.. and that's all for now .... time for some more zzzzzz's!

Bang Pa-In, Ayutthaya and Riding Elephants in Thailand

Today I headed out to the provinces of Thailand to visit the Summer Palace, Bang Pa-In.  Quite the idyllic location and quite understandable that the Thai Kings would see fit to spend long sweet days at this Palace, roaming the grounds and enjoying the peace an quite beside the river.

I also visited some of the historic sites in Ayutthaya, including various temples, learning much about the history of Thailand and how it morphed from Siam into the country that it is now.

The top image is of the 4 main Stupas at Wat Pho, in the "modern city" of Bangkok, which I shot yesterday, and the second one is of a much more ancient version of a Stupa (which is structure that contains Buddist burial relics), the older one seen in Ayutthaya today.

In the three days that I have been out and about touring the local sites here in ThailandI have learned so much about this lovely country, it's heritage and it's people.  I have used guides sourced through a website called Tours By Locals and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

I capped of my day today with one of the curious items on my bucket list - an Elephant Ride......

I'd probably have relaxed and got the hang of it if it had been about 20 minutes longer and I was not so busy figuring out how to set my camera to take pics inbetween elephant rolls and steps!!

You certainly get a bird's eye view of things and I can say from experience that the Elephant gets the right of way on the roundabout or when crossing the road!!

And now I'll share the pic and then tell the story of how it was taken.....

..... needless to say, this picture was not taken by me ..... but it WAS taken with my camera.

It goes like this.....
You buy your elephant ride.  Traipse off with the elephant driver dude.  Hustle along (at elephant pace) for 15 mins or so and then come to a stop at a pre-appointed place to meet with some other riders.
Whereupon the elephants get close enough so that the drivers can reach across and exchange cameras of the passengers.
This sort of happens in the blink of an eye and before I know it, my trusty Canon - which is probably worth more than several elephants, is now clutched in the hands of another Thai elephant driver who jostles his lofty beast a bit further away to get a decent shot....

Meanwhile ALL I can think about is getting my camera back!!

Add the fact that not being in point and shoot mode, the nice Thai (other) elephant driver was having the devil of a job trying to get my camera to take a decent picture.....

Fortunately this is where Karma and Camera Raw seem to have come into their own and apart from being hot sweaty and sticky, you get the idea that I am on an elephant and I can now cross this item off my bucket list....

And.... the camera came back in one piece too..... and by hand, not by trunk!
(And no, I have not quite figured out who or what the Elephant was laughing at, or about!)

Anyway,  That's Thailand for now.  I'm sure you will see some more pics when I have more time to sort though them.

Tomorrow I head to Perth.....

In Thailand, All that Glitters Probably IS Gold ....

For the last two days I have been squired around Bangkok and environs by a wonderful Local Guide.  We have seen much together, the Railway Market, the Floating Markets and today we went to see Wat Pho, the Grand Palace and a few lesser known temples.  We also took a canal "cruise" and checked out what is known as the "Venice of the East" and ended the day at the Flower Market.

I've loads of pictures to show for my hours of hither and thither in the high 90F' and nearly 90% humidity.
Most of which will have to wait to be edited until I am back home and less "tuckered out"!!

Tomorrow I am off to old Siam and may even get to ride an elephant ..... there's a first time for everything I guess ?

Stay tuned.......

Another World Away

A few quick pictures from today's jaunt around and about the hotel.
Not much adventuring done as I was wiped from three plane rides and getting tossed through a few time zones to boot and slept a lot this afternoon.

I must confess I'd forgotten how hot and sticky this part of the world is and I was almost melting on the sidewalk as I gathered courage to cross streets and navigate the traffic without getting mown down!

It's wonderful though to absorb all the various sights, sounds and smells of a different part of the world.