Out & About Around Chiang Mai

In this 'posting' I've selected some photos from a few different events. First a trip to Doi Inthanon that Clark, Nathaniel and I made one Saturday morning. Then there are photos taken during the Loy Kratong festival and finally a visit to Ratchapruek Royal Gardens here in Chiang Mai.

Clark & Nathaniel at the summit of Doi Inthanon - 2565metres above sea level.

On the main road to the summit of Doi Inthanon stand the two Napamaytanidol Chedi. These temples were built to honour the 60th birthday of the King and Queen in 1987 and 1992 respectively. They are surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Coming back down the mountain we visited waterfalls and saw farmers harvesting their rice.

One of the best known festivals in Thailand is Loy Kratong. The activities take place over three or four days and include floating little 'candle rafts' on the water, sending paper lanterns up into the air, a parade of elaborate floats around the streets and lots and lots of fire crackers. Every aspect of the festival is linked to the Buddhism.

Lighting a kratong to float in the canal.

Below: The young girl prays before she places the kratong in the water.

The Gateway to Ratchaphruek Gardens

Umbrellas are more often used to shade from the sun in Thailand.

Good for a little fella too.

The approach to the Royal Pavilion is flanked by 60 angels (thewada), one for every year of the King's reign.

The Royal Pavilion

การเรียนภาษาไทย

During the past month our main task has been to get our focus back on the Thai language and to study Thai. While we may become involved in some other things this will remain our goal for the foreseeable future.

We’ve been working on improving our reading and writing skills and to help us with this we have a teacher come to our home. Each day when Kru Phayleen arrives we enjoy chatting to her and have got to know her well as a teacher and friend. Of course the ‘chatting’ is in Thai so helps us with our spoken Thai too. Then we get into our reading and writing lessons for the day and finally, like any good teacher, Phayleen assigns us our homework. Teachers must be the same to world over!

Kru Phayleen teaching at our home

To become proficient in any language requires spending time with native speakers learning not only how to speak clearly but observing the culturally appropriate ways to act and communicate. We’ve been making some good friends especially in the church we’ve been attending and enjoy learning from many of these friends too.

Bobby with a friend from church

Recently I noticed a sign on a store written in Thai and English. The English translation gives some idea of the problems facing a Thai speaker trying to learn English and of using a 'word for word' translation. This sign makes for amusing reading but don’t laugh too quickly, if someone experienced this amount of difficulty going from Thai to English there is the same potential for error going to other way!

Perhaps it would have been better translated, ‘We buy old furniture and second hand safes’.

Visiting the Bru in N E Thailand

The photos on this blog are from a trip I made with the Aspinwalls to visit the Bru in the North East of Thailand. We left early in the morning and took about 13 hours to get to the village. Six days later we made the return journey and were thankful for safe and uneventful travel, especially as we saw at least four accidents in the early part of our drive from Chiang Mai.

Clark and Mary had a busy schedule while they were there and I was able to join in with some of these activities. I particularily enjoyed getting around the village and meeting up with some old friends again. We also had a number of opportunities to spend time with the believers, in meetings, having meals together and other events.

One of the older believers had been very poorly so we took him and some of his family to a clinic in That Phanom. He responded well to the treatment and we were pleased to see him on his feet again before we left.

I enjoyed hearing the Bru language again and while my speaking ability is limited I was encouraged by how much I was beginning to understand.

On the Road

Our First Lunch in the Village- Good North Eastern Food with Sticky Rice

Around the Village

Weaving Cloth & Broom Making

In the Surrounding Countryside

We used to ride over this bridge on our motorbikes, it's about a metre wide. Now there is a new bridge wide enough for other vehicles, this one is no longer usable

The rains had come already to that area and most of the rice planting was complete

People come to the temple in That Phanom from all over Thailand.

God's promises are available to all who trust Him