Mueang Trat is about three hundred kilometers due East from Bangkok, just above the northern end of the Gulf of Thailand. Trat is both the name of the small market town and the Thai Provence. It is the jumping off point for travelers and tourists bound for the islands of Ko Kut and beautiful Ko Chang (literally, "Elephant Island") and their dive shops and cheap bungalows. But those places hold no charm for me (been there, done that).
ON THE ROAD: BANGKOK-TO-TRAT, VIA THE CHONBURY HIGHWAY
A road trip in Thailand is similar to road trips anywhere in the world . . . . it's always weird, but the weirdness varies with a cultural twist. Here we have an auto accessory shop that figured out what to do with the old floor mats, tires, and air cleaners . . . all 30 meeteres tall of it!
We left Bangkok at 6:30am, so by the time we were well down the rural Chonburi road, the light was perfect. Buzzing along at 140kph I threw on the skids when I saw this magnificent Thai Wat.
This particular Wat seemed either brand new or particularly well-maintained. It was absolutely perfect in every way.
What a wonderful Wat with a welcoming Wat rabbit (Say THAT five times fast!)! I assumed the Wat was brand new after all. The world of spirituality does not get nuttier than this!
Once inside the Wat enclosure we discovered the Wat reflected in the polished marble floor. Beautiful design and execution.
We got to looking at my GPS to see what "attractions" were not too far off the main road to Trat. "Buddha Cave 7km" looked inviting, so we swung down a country lane, saw the "Buddha Cave" sign, parked, and looked up to see this monkey sitting on a post: a good sign. Great: an opportunity to test my new Canon 70-200mm f2.8 Series II lens.
Hay! Get OFF my truck!
Thanks for posing, cousin.
The Buddha Cave was fantastic, its entry guarded by a huge Kwan Yin statue.
Taking photographs of a bunch of monkeys running a round in the wild is a lot of fun. The cooperate sometimes, and sometimes, right when you think you are taking the shot of a lifetime, they taunt you by moving. Monkeys are fantastically engrossing . . . . in their natural habitat.
Inside the cave/grotto were many beautiful Buddha images . . . and no pesky monkeys.
A stunning Buddha in the "Banishing Mara" pose. In addition to the fine Buddha images, there were several mossy cascading stalactites.
The Buddha Grotto was not the only attraction at this stop. Some monks directed us to a path that was suppose to lead us to a series of interconnecting caves at the base of nearby karsts covered in dense jungle foliage. As soon as we stared up the path, a dog joined us and acted as out pathfinder for the rest of the morning.
The heat and humidity under the jungle canopy was already oppressive: we were drenched with sweat.
The images to look at, and photograph, on a jungle floor are limitless. We only stopped a few times for a still life or two, like this knotted vine . . . we wanted to get to the coolness of the caves.
I could hav stayed all day in that jungle . . . with a maco lens.
It was a steep climb up and down the face of the karst. Periodically steps were provided, but their state of maintenance made their use questionable . . . and dangerous.
After a thirty minute walk and climb we arrived at the entrance to Singtoyai Cave, thanks to the good directions of our guide dog.
The walk down into the cave was steep with only occasional steps. The look back, out of the mouth of Singtoyai Cave, was spectacular.
Yours Truly in the Singtoyai Caves, Chonburi Province, Thailand. (Photo by Basil Tahan)
The cave was a maze of colorful tunnels and water worn surfaces.
You travel with a professional photographer and you stop to take photos. Thanks Basil for the many camera tips.
This type of cave is referred to a karst remnant: it had been eroded out by water at some point, either underground or as a coastal island.
It was not one degree cooler in these caves! In fact, the heat index was much higher, due to the extreme humidity. we walked around in the dark with only one torch-light most of the time . . . and were glad to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
When we finally got to the exit on the other side of the karst formation, the light coming in from above was tinted and filtered through the green foliage of tall tropical trees! This is a 1.5 second long-exposure shot at f4.0 and ISO 640 with the Canon L-series 24-105 lens on a Canon 5D Mark II.
We came to this "cave exit" and walked out into the bright sunlight. We turned left and left again . . . walked about 500 meters and came back to this very "cave entrance" . . . we were lost! We decided to retrace our steps to find our way back to my truck. When we got there we loaded up and drove the rest of the way to Trat without tking the side trip to Chanthaburi; it was getting late. We stopped only once . . .
Our progress to Trat was temporarly halted when we happened across the topiary wire frame capitol of the world.
Basil and I were photographically stymied! We took hundreds of photos of this amazing sight - a field full of every conceivable animal sculpted in wire, like some kind of surrealistic 3D line drawing in space. None of the photos really captured the feel of the place.
TRAT TOWN
Trat is one of those Thai towns that you fall in love with immediately. The old wooden buildings, the slow pace of life, and the lack of treaffic make you feel that is still in the 1930s in Trat. Spaces itself seems old, as it should.
Scrumpteous old wood patina.
A thick patina of time and a lack of maintenance hangs on everything. Wonderful.
Trat aboounds with fascinating shadow, color, and texture.
Detail from the photo above: telephone wire shadows across the degrading wall.
Maybe it was the light, or maybe it was my stae of mind, but the most mundane objects took on a special visual significance in Trat.
Oh my! What a color!
Trat is a very "walkable" little town.
There is much to stumble upon here: a guest house gate, green in more ways than one. There is a small community of resident expatriates here in the small back streets.
We met the French petit commersent who ran and lived in this little storefront. He had left the rat race of Europe behind for a slower and quieter life in Trat selling used books and locally produced herbal treatments Nice.
Not having back yard did not stop the Frenchman from providing his children with gym equipment.
We meandered through these old back streets for hours until . . .
We stumbled upon the Dimklong Boutique Hotel . . . cheap, clean, tastefully appointed, and with the only real cappuccino and espresso bar in town. Heaven! they only had five rooms, but two were vacant. What a lucky find. Interestingly, they do not have a web presence!
Trat is a living, working old market town.
There is so much of interest in Trat . . . a kind of photographers heaven.
The weather worn old wooden doors of the shop houses evoked a sense of an earlier time.
Not all the shops were closed: I wonder how long this shop has continuously been a tailor? The old couple inside seem an organic part of their store . . . and the styles displayed in their window seem as old as the city itself. Interestingly, the next day, our boatman was wearing this very style!
Thai people can be very aesthetically creative: a tasteful use of a topiary wire ball and a couple of old shower curtains hung from a tree.
The old part of Trat is a maze of small walking streets.
Weathered wood everywhere you look.
Interesting idea to paint only one vertical panel.
After checking into the Dimklong Boutique Hotel, we walked across a little bridge of a klong to a small eatery. This photo epitomized Trat: lazy, tropical, a perfect place for spending the day in a hammock.
After lunch we all napped and then headed out of the hotel toward the center of town for some evening photography. These roadside eateries serve delicious and clean food.
Many beautiful touched on the Trat homes and businesses . . . civic pride everywhere.
We walked along Luang Art Soi toward the night market. These people seem to have perfected the art of displaying impulse items.
There is always something interesting around every Trat corner. I love these old Thai working market towns that are off the tourist trail.
We arrived at the Trat night market about the time it was getting dark. Pick up something for dinner on your way home, would you?
A Halal sausage hawker posing, Trat night market.
Thai people seem to mostly take their meals out of the family home. We were thinking of doing the same . . . until . . .
. . . until we saw the name of the street. Never buy any food on a street named "Food Safety Street." Just kidding.
It was a hot night, so we all had iced fruit juice. The orange and carrot was especially delicious.
They seemed to be a married couple moonlighting in the market selling steamed dim sum.
Properly aged meats bring out the best flavor.
We meandered through the deserted streets towards a restaurant the hotel recommended.
Waiting for the day's last customer. Trat beauty parlor.
This is why I travel, why I live in different countries: to stay in a perpetual state of wonder and awe at the actuality of the supramundane.
By day, an ice depot; by night the home of the ice dray carts and ice draymen. So touching.
One of the species of life on this planet constructs these structures.
On advantage of living in the back of your shop is that you can make a late night sale.
Dark, quiet and humid: Trat back streets.
A few times in your life you happen onto a scene of such beauty as to be moved in a profound way. Stumbling upon this corrugated house in Trat was such a moment for me. And I had my camera with me, too!
I took a large number of these "Wall Portraits," my favorite subject, when a car careened down the narrow alley and stomped the breaks, narrowly missing me . . . . but it was worth it.
The effect of the brake lights on the corrugated wall left me breathless. Sometimes a great photograph just happens right in front of you and it only requires pushing the button.
We left the beauty of the magic corrugated alley behind . . . reluctantly.
We made it back at the Dimklong Boutique Hotel quite late and swore to an early departure . . . or by when the hotel espresso bar opened. I slept like a baby, corrugations dancing in my head . . . .
THE TRAT RIVER ESTUARY
After spending a delightful day and night in Meuang Trat, we headed out of town on Thai Highway 318. As we left town we noticed a major sea inlet lined with fishing trawlers. We pulled off at the first small road that went to the estuary.
What we found was a very busy little "mom and pop" fishing operation. There was a large shed with many women repairing and joining the fishing nets. The women obviously enjoyed each others' company. My basic Thai language allowed me to hear that the net menders were kidding each other about the falang men present . . . . they were giggling quite a bit. We looked around the docks to see if we could hire a boat and boatman to take us out on the water to photograph the big colorful Thai trawlers.
We asked around and were directed to this old man and his too small boat.
Our Boatman was a sweet and very photogenic old guy.
While our boatman affixed a couple of planks and a big wooden bench on his little boat, Basil and I meandered around the docks looking for something to photograph. We were not disappointed . . .
Nautical anchor, net, and rope.
We set out on the Trat River estuary under a darkening sky as a trawler chugged out to sea. We hugged the bank, afraid of the bow wake.
The Trat River estuary reminds me so much of my experiences on The Congo River: fishermen the world over arrive at similar solutions to getting fish out of the water and onto their tables or to market. These fish traps, stacked and ready to deploy, are identical to what I saw in The Congo!
The fish traps are affixed at the junction of two fish fences. The current, or tide, sweeps the fish into the fish trap. Very simple. There is a one-way trap door to keep the fish from getting out.
We didn't see anyone tending the fish traps; perhaps the tide or currents were not right.
In some places along the river the Mangrove swamps had yet to be filled for commercial purposes.
The Trat River estuary is dotted with trawler operations, large and small.
I am always fascinated with these river shacks, and fancy myself living in one some day. Well, maybe not THIS one.
This is more like it: perfect Tom Sawyer living.
Our little rented boat stayed close to shore and we got a good look at the life along the river. A scuttled trawler from a bygone time.
There were hundreds of these Gulf of Thailand wooden trawlers.
Most of the trawlers were in port on a "turn around" and were very busy places.
Being in port is a good time for the deck hands to make repairs.
It seemed that many of the trawlers were occupied with the crew who may not have had anywhere else to call home.
We must have been quite a site to the fishermen as we putted by in our overloaded little boat with the giant bench sitting on top.
These are big commercial fishing operations, despite the dilapidated warehouses on shore.
There is a lot of maintenance to be done on these old wooden boats.
There were fantastic scenes all along the shores of the Trat River estuary.
Only a small part of the Trat trawler fleet. Many of the companies color coordinate their trawlers.
The trawlers are beautifully painted.
You could only see these magnificent wooden boats from the river side . . . in a small boat. Fun.