Golden buddha right at the top of the mountain! It was damn beautiful.
Mountains and a pagoda on the same ridge, as the sun sets.
Long roller coaster-like walk down. Seriously.
At the pick up point. I thought the walk was never gonna end.
Temple facing the river. Was getting pretty dark by this time.
Next day we headed to the school, most of the photos were with students so here's... two. The school i'd think is pretty well off, despite it being in 'no man's land' (area between Myanmar and Thailand, and the people that occupy this area are called Shans). On average they get 4 schools a month painting, donating and teaching if i'm not wrong.
I was very disappointed with the level of interaction between the students and the kids. Took a lot of direction from me, even though it wasn't really my job to do that. I figured i'd help out anyway.
I think they were copying lyrics for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
One of the students leading a class.
Next morning the group was split in two - one would head to the river, the other would head to an orange plantation, an agroforest and rice harvesting. There were only 3 teachers, so I let them assign themselves and join whoever was alone. I thought the next day i'd be going to the river cos we'd be switching BUT NOOO!
The view at breakfast.
Thanaton Orange Plantation uh.. Boat.
Driving past row after row of orange trees.
And then some.
Orange trees grow on slopes, so we headed up the slope to the highest point of the plantation for a spectacular view.
Cos these shoes have been everywhere.
Next up... the agroforest. It's basically a forest put together from scratch cos previously the land was very badly utilized. So people came in and planted all sorts of proper foresty plants to restore it back to what it was many moons ago.
Bryan (one of the owners of the resort) took us through the forest.
I thought this was interesting to shoot - bamboo harvesting.
Chopping away all the little branches for one smooth bamboo pole.
My favourite stop along the agroforest - the pigsty! Cos they were really cute. And they didn't smell at all. This sty used the 'Korean method' if i'm not wrong, using grain husks as bedding as it absorbs the pee and poop and smell very effectively and is much cleaner and healthier for the piggies.
Damnnn cute. Their faces are full of expression, like people, I swear.
Emo-looking black pig.
They get really excited when people come to visit too.
This particular pig had a world of personality. I wanted to take it home.
Huge-ass lactating momma pig.
Went back for lunch, and prepped for rice harvesting after. Our translator and guide, Q (for short, it's a nickname), had already bought the sickles and gloves. There weren't any song taews at the resort carpark but there was this...
Huge refugee truck used to transport.. refugees.
Just had to.
Freshly harvested rice.
The next day was the 2nd and last day at the school. Turns out they were having sports day! So it was a huge celebration with everyone dressing up. The school even has a marching band, although small.
All the various house colours assembled.
School principal and the admins.
This kid wanted to show me a little attitude.
Until his friend told him to smile. Pretty evil-looking though. Haha.
Adorable cheerleaders, dancing to the Thai version of a Vengaboys song.
While the kids went off for their various track events, the students finally had a chance to finish painting the school. I was really hoping there'd be enough time for them.
The next day, the geography groups switched. But sadly I didn't get to go to the river even though the students said it was beautiful, cos a teacher insisted on going again :(
Super spider webs.
These were freaky, hanging into the path here and there. It hooked on one of the student's pants so I helped her get it off, only to get nicked by one of the spikes.
This was my first strange cow encounter. Thailand has the friendliest cows! This one walked right up to me and tried licking my hand. I decided to give it a good scratch behind its ears. As I was walking off I heard a strange sound and hooves, turns out she had pulled herself free from being tied to a pole and was following me. I ran to tell Bryan about the roaming cow and he told me not to worry cos it probably couldn't get very far anyway. Hmm.
This dog was a real trooper. He followed us through the entire trail.
Again, 2nd stop at the pigsty.
And another round of rice-harvesting. I decided not to join them on the field again, cos this time around their field was surrounded by a moat, which had no bridge. It was shallow... but hella muddy.
Because everyone was so filthy and I was the only clean one, Q let me sit in front! Yay!
The path was so bumpy it was damn difficult to take this.
Q brought them to the Maekok river bank in the town area so they could wash off the mud.
After this they continued to splash around, until Q had to start flicking dog poo into the river. There was dog poo just by the bank, so he took a stick and started flicking it in. It would float downstream in their direction. They all started screaming and clambering out of the river. It was hilarious.
On our 2nd last day, it was soil studies with Rhys (geog instructor) followed by a visit to the nearby Shan village with Bryan
The King's Royal Agricultural Project. Students did their soil studies here.
It was really beautiful. And the weather was fantastic!
I stepped in a muddy puddle. And the colour of it resembled poo.
A small stream where students collected water.
After lunch we headed to the Shan village. Now THIS village was poor. Very much like Kok Daung village in Battambang, Cambodia.
Handmade Shan scarves, shawls, tablecloths, shirts. I bought a pretty bluish silver scarf for 300 baht. Which is about SGD15? That is CHEAP.
Traditional looms used to make the various items.
There were chicks running all over the place.
My other strange cow encounter. As I was approaching her, she walked right up to me and moo-ed. She looks like she's saying something here.
The village was filled with free-roaming animals and children climbing trees. It was beautiful, but sadly they were living in destitution. The income gaps are pretty huge here too, just a short ride away there were much bigger houses. But one important thing was that... the people looked happy.
It was the last night that i'd be around. And during my stay I made some awesome friends. We decided to head across the road to At Sally's for drinks.
Love the roof and lights.
Sangsom - Thailand's very own rum that tasted like pure ethanol.
Charlotte - a 23 year old graduate who works as a instructor at the resort. Her sense of humour is amazing, and I love how blunt she is.
Neelum, a half indian half english girl taking a gap year before she starts university. Interesting thing is, Rosie (Bryan's wife) thought we were related cos she lives in Wokingham (where my aunt lives if you can remember), but was born in Singapore. We're not, but we have a lot in common. She's got all sorts of family in Singapore, and she's finished in Chiang Mai so I think she's already here.
Charlotte took this. I gained a bit of weight by this time. :P
Rhys, the geography instructor. Didn't really hang out much with him tho.
Taking one of herself.
Pretty lamps in the hut we got to sit in.
Our last day..
One last look at the awesome resort.
Before we left we had an hour long boat ride on the Maekok River.
Low-lying cloud beyond the mountain.
The bridge in town.
We headed as far in as we could go, till we reached a string that said no entry. Because beyond that is Burmese territory.
So we turn around and I got this shot of trainee buddhist monks getting on boats to go somewhere. In Chiang Mai apparently boys have to go through a compulsory year of being a monk. Something like national service maybe? I'd better look it up tho.
One last look at the mountains in the distance...
Just had to get a shot with Q, who's a cutie. :D
