chiangrai 2005 - 29 Wat Sri Khom Kham

[201205] Wat Sri Khom Kham, right next door to the Phayao Cultural Exhibition Hall:



main sim which houses a giant Buddha image was undergoing restoration work:



hence the temporary roof over the entire structure...naga form the edgings of the 3-tiered roof. the green sign is the typical Thai public works/construction project signboard with details such as project name, contractor company & expected date of completion.

close-up of gable, with a little red heart shape & monkeys helping themselves to fruit:




craftsman in action:




red coloured naga...? mystery solved - the red paint is just an undercoat, to be painted over:



spine by spine, the naga roof edging of this chapel turns to gold...

modern-looking chapel with most a understated exterior & a roof without ช่อฟ้า chor4 faa2 (lit. cluster sky):




what appears to be a simple interior with a plain undecorated wooden ceiling & white pillars:



has walls covered with bright red murals that knock you over:







interlacing naga on a platform supported by elephants:

chiangrai 2005 - 28 Phayao cultural exhibition hall

[201205] walking north along the highway to the Phayao Cultural Exhibition Hall:



the novice monk selling admission tickets charged the cat the local price & YK the foreigner price...! a total of 60 baht got us pamphlets with Thai & English wording:

Elephants have been relation to Buddhism and the royal institute.At present, whom is Elephant related to ?

& 4 bookmarks featuring a photo of a senior monk, lines of what looks like beautiful Lanna Thai script, & the following English text:

Work to be fit for seasons and to reach usefulness for all depends on far-sightedness. Good eyesight leads to far-sightedness.

2 floors of rooms house comprehensive exhibits on the history, geology, & ecology of the lake, the different periods of Phayao's rich history & the Phukamyao kingdom, & the role of elephants in Thai religion, monarchy & society. the area around the staircase landing where photography is permitted:




a well-maintained & curated place, drastically different from the neglected Thai Lue culture centre in Chiang Kham =P

due to some sort of gall?



[L] normal flower [R] abnormal 'multiple inflorescence'?

chiangrai 2005 - 27 Kwan Phayao

[201205] Phayao Northern Lake hotel:



took a morning walk through the municipal market where stallholders sitting on the road sell vegetables, meat & fish right smack in the city center (if one considers this province capital a city), & wandered through a quiet lakefront neighbourhood known for grand old teak houses:



looks strangely familiar:



where we had dinner the previous night - Ann restaurant:



teak house beside Ann restaurant:



retracing yesterday's evening walk along the eastern shore of Kwan Phayao:






ex-tortoise:




Phayao meow:

chiangrai 2005 - 26 Phayao

[191205] nothing much else to be seen in Chiang Kham (unless we were going to hunt down Pi Jambii's parents...!), & the Ban Huak border market runs only on the 10th & 30th of each month when the border checkpoint is open for Thai & Lao nationals to cross. & so we moved on...

another bus ride took us through more countryside past Chun & Dok Kham Tai. the latter was once known as a major source of ladies for Bangkok's 'night industry', & Phayao ranks as one of the provinces worst affected by HIV. click here to read more about one woman's efforts to change things.

the province capital of Phayao:



the 'beachfront bungalows' indicated on the map turned out to be these miserable empty structures in dire need of windows (above left). wandered around the streets, in & out of what should be Phayao's most expensive option, & made a few 'mii1 hong4 wang4 mai2 kha2/song2 khon1 kha4/kheun4 la4 thaw4 rai3 kha2?' phone calls from a roadside public telephone to various establishments - Phayao seemed totally bereft of any guesthouses within the city center. & then we discovered Phayao Northern Lake Hotel a short walk away from the bus station - 500 baht for an air con double, in a place that had housekeeping, elevators, carpeted floors, fridge & TV =)





[L] pasar malam & funfair near the bus station
[R] 'rabbit ear' lanterns near the lake

Kwan Phayao - Phayao's main attraction:



at dusk, with mountains of Doi Luang National Park in the distance obscured by haze from burning of rice fields:



324 baht dinner at the lakefront Ann restaurant, with the scrumptious fried fish we had been dreaming about since our dinner at Phu Chi Fa:



evening walk along the lake to the King Ngam Muang monument:




pasar malam & funfair:



khanom beuang ขนมเบื้อง:



with the biggest fattest amount of cream the cat has ever seen in any khanom beuang - it is usually just a thin flat layer. the cat's favourite as a kid, prefer the ones with the sweet yellow egg yolk 'strands' filling over the orange grated coconut filling. khanom beuang yuan is the version with beansprouts & dried shrimp added.

BROKENSTOCK:



there were 'BIRKENSTUCK' versions too, but no 'BROKENSTUCK' =P

calorie-laden fried insects stall:



roti sai mai (lit. bread thread silk):




another Thai snack that brings back fond childhood memories - Mee's mother used to buy this many years ago, & we had fun rolling up the cotton candy-like floss in chewy popiah-like 'skins'. no idea that it is a Thai Muslim snack until the couple from Ayutthaya (where there is a large Muslim community, & where this snack comes from) running this stall enlightened the cat.

chiangrai 2005 - 25 Chiang Kham

[191205] Chiangrai-Thoeng-Chiang Kham-Pong bus:



[1] this bus goes to Thoeng in English, beyond Thoeng to Chiang Kham in Thai, & all the way beyond Chiang Kham to Pong in reality
[2] interior of bus with super reflective ceiling
[3] a most interesting bus ride with a most interesting conductor-driver (left)

he sold tickets, hung out of the door to keep an eye out for passengers waiting alongside the highways, acted as the driver's left sideview mirror, turning signal & human door opening/closing mechanism, helped passengers carry their belongings up & down the bus, ran off to buy 'kratin daeng' (red bull energy drink) for the driver & himself, ran across the highway to stop a connecting bus for a passenger, carried big fat bags of soya bean milk across the highway for the passenger who'd forgotten & left them on our bus, & took over the driving when the driver disappeared somewhere in the outskirts of Chiang Kham. how's that for service? =)

Wat Yuan in Chiang Kham of Phayao province:



a lot of walking back & forth a bridge across a river & asking around to find this place...finally got directions from the local optician's....

Tai Lue culture centre on temple grounds:



didn't seem to be open - there was no sign of any staff around, & a group of novice monks were eating their second meal of the day on the floor at the entrance....sat under a tree just outside to rest & wait in vain for non-existent staff to appear & figure out what to do next. & then a bell rang & the novice monks rushed off...this was our chance ;)

we 'opened' the museum ourselves - took off our shoes & walked right in & upstairs:



[1] Tai Lue traditional dress with trademark white 'turban'; small whitish weaving on table at bottom right should be a phaa chet noi?
[2] Tai Lue weavings
[3] palm leaf manuscripts used to record Buddhist scriptures
[4] Tai Lue have their own beautiful script

what is this?



decorated with a multi-coloured 'tung' & papercuttings characteristic of Tai Lue...

spent all of 20 minutes in the museum, & as we walked out, a bell rang & all these monks & novices appeared suddenly out of nowhere:



realised that we were in the grounds of a monastic school at precisely 12 noon:



time to assemble in the corridors to chant before heading into the classrooms: