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Entries in Botanical Garden (3)
Visitors From Abroad . . . Another Hua Hin Area Ramble!
Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 5:15PM All in a day . . . all within 20 miles . . .
It's always great to have visitors from abroad come to Thailand . . . I get to take day trips out and about . . . usually to places I have never been, so we can explore together.
This Buddhist temple (wat) up against steep cliffs is one of my favorites. I pass it often when I am down Hua Hin way . . . but decided to stop and take a look again. Glad we did.
Such a lovely wat . . . looks like they are going to assemble a new giant Buddha image soon.
Beautiful workmanship . . . .
Ah! Looks like a standing Buddha image going up.
This such an interesting wat . . . lots to see here . . . including a pack of very curious monkeys.
As is often the case at Thai wats, the new buildings are built in front of the older, perhaps original temple structures.
The patina!
Lovely textures in the filtered afternoon light.
I was surprised to see this young monk! There weren't any other monks at this wat. He kindly gave me permission for so photos. I made sure he saw me put money in the donation box.
A large, old chedi on the temple grounds. Perhaps a previous revered head monk's final resting place.
One last look at this fantastic cliff side wat.
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Wat Huai Sai Tai Temple
On the way back from our hilltop chedi, I wanted to stop and show my friend the Colossus of Hua Hin at Wat Hui Sai Tai!
Such a lovely and strange place . . .
Yep . . . a cement elephant's butt.
The spaces and surfaces around the outside of the temple were beautifully decorated.
The exterior details were aesthetically very pleasing.
Of course, we had not come to just admire the exterior decor . . . it was what was inside that attracted us . . .
What attracted us was the colossal statue of the venerated monk, Luong Phor Thongsuk!
The giant Luang Phor Thongsuk in all his revered glory.
The scale of this statue is incredible!
During our short visit here, many people came to pay their respects.
Our last look at the colossus!
A marvelous spirit house on the grounds of Wat Hui Sai Tai.
The inside of the wat spirit house . . . very well tended by the pilgrims.
Beauty everywhere we pointed our cameras . . .
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An Old Fishing Village
We headed up the road to our next destination, a beach about 20km away . . . but a quick glance on the GPS map showed a small village on an inlet . . . maybe a fishing village? YES!
It was a very old fishing village . . . with a few very photogenic derelict old boats still dockside.
Did I say "old boat and old pier"? I meant to say "dilapidated pier and ghost ship"!
There were newer and older parts of this fishing village.
The village was very quiet this afternoon. These boats are rigged to catch squid . . . at night.
I love how the Thai fishermen decorate their boats . . . with these colorful votive blessings.
A village restaurateur. The large pots catch and hold rainwater.
Such rich and complex images to capture here!
We saw this catch of the day in one of the fishermen's sheds.
We could have stayed all day here . . . just taking photos . . . but there were other adventures in store for us on that day.
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A Mangrove Forest Swamp Park
Our next stop was the beautifully developed, and very educational, Pran Buri Forest Park and Nature Reserve.
Mangrove forests are completely unique ecological environments.
Mangroves grow in salt water estuarial swamps.
A phantasmagoria of twisted and gnarled complexity. Wonderful Nature.
The park positioned bulletin boards (in Thai and English) along the way with informative graphics.
Mangrove roots grow in the transition between wet (at high tide) and exposed to the air (at low tide). The mangrove grows in salt water but has the ability to filter out the salt and deposit it on the root 'knees' to be dissolved off when the tide comes in. Amazing.
The park managers built a tall tower so that the mangrove forest could be seen from above.
It was New Years' Eve, so there were quite a few day trippers from nearby Hua Hin.
We wandered on along the elevated walkway. There seemed to be a change in the nature of the trees in the swamp.
"Autumn" colors in the swamp. A blue sky reflected in the brackish waters.
Beautiful complicated light on the complicated forest . . . truly marvelous.
We walked on into a stand of densely packed trees . . . not mangrove, but growing in the salty water.
Ever-changing scenes . . .
My friend enjoying the photographic opportunities.
I do not know how these particular trees shed the salt.
On we walked through a forest of thin trees growing in the saltwater marsh.
We came to a saltwater inlet. There was a pier offering boat rides, but there was a line of people waiting. We walked on . . . more [visual] adventures in store.
We walked the rest of the 2km walkway loop to the car . . .
. . . and back through the tangled web of the mangrove knees.
We spent a wonderful couple of hours being amazed by this fantastic environment . . and taking photographs to our hearts content.
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A Fishing Port Village
About a mile away from the mangrove forest park was another small fishing port.
A beautiful day with colorful boats . . . what's not to like?
Small squid boats and large 'company boats" . . .
A 'company boat' heading out early for night squidding . . . they must be going far out into the Gulf of Thailand.
A busy Thai commercial fishing port.
Yep . . . a tourist tour boat! This is actually the tourist boat from the mangrove forest park nearby . . . we all waved at each other.
We walked along the road near the fishing port and came across a picturesque little slough.
Life along the slough.
Picturesque . . . indeed!
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Happy New Year 2020 From Hua Hin Thailand!!!
We went out to dinner at our usual favorite restaurant . . . . but we were not satisfied with the meal . . . it was a buffet, not the usual excellent food from the menu. Afterward we went to a friend's beach house . . . then out on to the beach for the BIG fireworks display.
Down along the beach . . . fantastic fireworks display for 20-25 minutes.
Fireworks across the bay . . .
Once I figured out my camera settings . . .
Right overhead!
I hope you all had a New Years' Eve as colorful and interesting as I did!
YES! All in a day! All within 20 miles!
Road Trip USA: Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Thursday, July 5, 2018 at 2:21AM 
I spent a fine afternoon in the forest, fields, mud flats, and estuary of the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Reserve, near Olympia, Washington.
I have wanted to go to the Nisqually Wildlife Reserve since I arrived in Washington a few months ago . . . and today was my chance: perfect weather. I passed Woodland Creek, an estuarial creek, several times before and stopped this time . . . it was on the way.
The wetlands grasses were in full mid-summer lushness.
The blackberry vines grew among the horsetail ferns everywhere.
Someone hung a large birdhouse along the path.
Beautiful summer wildflowers . . . and then a moving distraction along the creek . . .
A wonderful surprise . . . . I sat very quietly, not 20 yards away.
I watched, and photographed, for over a half hour . . . 
They finally moved on along, walking in the Woodland Creek streambed. I followed, but lost sight of them in the dense forest.
I wandered back to my camper along a horsetail fern-lined trail, and drove out to the Nisqually estuary.
The Nisqually National Wildlife Reserve is comprised of four distinct natural ecological settings: freshwater ponds, wet forests, former farm fields, and estuarial mud flats (I visited during extreme low tide). All areas were fantastic! Here, diving ducks in a freshwater pond.
Elevated wooden walkways took visitors out into, and above the delicate ecology of the wet forest.
The elevated walkways afforded wonderful views of the freshwater wetlands.
At the edge of the forest were the barns of an old settlement farm.
Early settlers expended a huge amount of labor and resources building a system of dykes to drain some of the Nisqually Estuary for farmland. The land now stands uncultivated . . . for the benefit of wildlife habitat.
The huge barn, now a part of the National Wildlife Reserve.
The colors of the fields and surrounding hills were breathtaking!
All the paths were well marked with informational signage about the indigenous flora, fauna, and local geology.
A wonderful angle from which to view the mammoth barns!
I wandered around some more on the elevated walkways, stopping here and there to take flower photos.
Busy bees . . . and . . .
Busy butterflies too!
This one seemed to stay around just so I could photograph it!
I left the cool shade of the forest for the dry gravel path through the fields and onward toward the estuary . . .
The old field drainage canals astride the dyke was full of thick bull rushes.
Many birds on the forest edge.
The grassy fields gradually gave way to estuarial flats.
I knew the tide was going to be out when I saw these small bay arterial channels.
My first view across the wetlands toward the elevated observation walkway.
I climbed the ramp up onto the observation walkway . . . an incredible piece wooden construction in its own right.
The view back up the Nisqually River across dry sand bars.
Looking back toward the tree line and the old ban from the walkway.
The sights from the walkway were both strange and captivating. You cannot visit these low tide estuarial landscapes any other way.
A mega-walkway!
The further out I went the more it became an exposed bay floor.
On one side of the walkway was the Nisqually River . . . with evidence of the pilings of old commercial structures.
Some commercial project lost to time.
On the other side of the walkway was a vista across vast mud flats . . . loaded with very interesting objects!
Strange things . . . . and, unfortunately all too many plastic bags!
There were not as many birds as I somehow had expected . . . but there were birds.
A gull loitering in the muddy estuary . . . 
A friendly little fellow!
Evidence of sea level rise: the old level of the fields and 'dry' flats are eroding away with only a few small 'islands' of the old land level left. Only a few inches of sea level rise can cause this kind of erosion of wetlands.
Sea water inundation into previously 'dry' areas.
A new ecology is beginning to develop.
Altogether too much plastic. The Human Being!!!
Here and there were sand bag earthworks to direct the drainage flow under the walkway to the Nisqually River.
I imagine this water redirection effort to save the walkway is a never-ending chore.
Stumps washed down the river when it raged in winter.
My ultimate goal, and the terminus of the walkway, was several miles from dry land!
The final observation pavilion was not too far from the actual Puget Sound.
Puget Sound in the background.
It was a beautiful day to be out in the world . . . making the most of the supramundane.Gibraltar: Day and Night
Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at 3:27AM 
In February 2017 we made the short flight to the British enclave of Gibraltar. It is worth a three night stay . . . but perhaps not any longer . . .
Gibraltar sits near the southern tip of Spain at the northern side of the Straight of Gibraltar. All ships that pass from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean must pass through here. The North African coast can be seen across the Straight of Gibraltar.
Gibraltar is a British territory . . . The residents recently voted 96% in favor of staying within the UK and not joining Spain . . . of course, they also voted 96% to stay within the EU during the Brexit vote!
The lighthouse at the tip Gibraltar . . . this straight is also known as the Pillars of Hercules by the Greeks.
The 'rock' of Gibraltar falls directly into the Mediterranean Sea on the eastern side. Fishermen find good use of an old war pill box.
The cliffs of Gibraltar are compelling: their sheer size . . . and the remnants of structures left behind by the many former occupants over the millennia, draws the eye.
The whole of the rock is riddled with passages and tunnels used as fortified defensive emplacements.
Some very old infrastructure left behind by a long forgotten project.
Everywhere a remnant of some previous occupier . . . Moorish?
Many different building traces from many different eras all overlapping . . . . Gibraltar was occupied, at various times from 950BC, by the Phoneticians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Goths, Visigoths, Moors, Nasrids, Medinas, Dutch, Spanish, and ultimately, the British.
Near here, in Gorham's Cave, Neanderthal remains were found dating to 55,000 years ago.
Today, Gibraltar is a Mecca for Mediterranean cruise ships and British retirees (pensioners).
The Rock of Gibraltar is as riddled with caves and tunnels as a block of Swiss cheese. The massive rock was the ideal place to build hardened shelters during times of war, particularly during WWI and WWII. These tunnels date to even before those times when the British and the Spanish were at constant conflict.
The St. George Tunnel is still equipped with the original cannon from the era.
Although the cannon is missing, the turret and fire safety cart remains.
The historical placards were very informative and made the tunnel visit very interesting.
This view from a cannon emplacement is testimony to the strategic importance of these tunnels.
In addition to the military tunnels, there are also natural caves in the Rock of Gibraltar. For a nominal fee, you were treated to giant caverns lit by an ever-changing Xmas tree light.
It appeared that they must hold musical events inside the cavern from time to time.
A very beautiful place indeed.
The colored lights grew on you after a while.
We enjoyed our walk-through of the caves. When we emerged were greeted by . . .
Monkeys! Lots of monkeys! We were warned about the monkeys . . . that they were little pickpockets! One does not associate monkeys with Europe . . . but there you are!
Gibraltar is, of course, built on the side of a big rock with little flat ground. As such, the streets and alleys are often just steep stairs.
Gibraltar is also a port city . . . and a place for a 'mystery Russian' to came and try for sea trials and licensing of a stealth sailing ship. This Dark Boat was the talk of the town's permanent residents. It was gone in the morning.
There are craft shops open to the public. Here a famous glassblower plys his trade.
Beautiful work too . . .
Gibraltar town sits fast against the famous 'Rock.'
The south city gate . . . already a few tourists mixed in with the locals . . .
There are some beautiful curving streets through the old town.
My Old Door Photo Fetish (ODPF) was completely satisfied in Gibraltar!
A pleasant place to stroll around . . . before the throngs of tourists arrived, the locals told us.
Steep streets . . . .
Gibraltar has a fine Botanical Garden . . . a favorite place to visit on all my travels.
There is hardly any unused land on Gibraltar, so it was nice to see they valued their botanical garden enough to not build on it or pave it over.
Being on the southern to of Spain, the climate is very mild. Many kinds of semi-tropical plants grow very well here.
Aloe grew everywhere.
A few of the tropical plants were in flower or bud.
We spent art of a wonderful afternoon here . . .
There is still a British military garrison on Gibraltar . . . complete with daily-polished brass cannon.
The central walking street is the focus of the town and the only developed commercial area. There are sweet cafes, bakeries, and shops all along here . . . as well as tawdry tourist curios shops where I bought a refrigerator magnet.
In my opinion, Gibraltar becomes even more interesting, and beautiful, when the sun sets.
At night the squares are lit and the old government buildings stand out in all their old glory.
In the evening people, tourists and locals, come out to the cafes in Casement Square. One can imagine this space filled with thousands of cruise ship passengers later in the summer.
The children wandered free around the square as the adults conversed over wine.
A happy girl skipped into my photo . . .
Casement Square.
High above Casement Square, a Moorish castle looks on . . . .
Later in the evening, the restaurants and cafes closed up . . . leaving their umbrellas like forlorn soldiers in a strange night.
I was startled when I first saw these visages of another world!
My other photographic subject obsession are push carts of all kinds. This ice cream cart waiting for another day was just fantastic.
One evening (of the three) I went back out of the hotel late at night . . . to capture the abandoned streets and alleys.
Light, textured surfaces, shadow, arches, color . . . wonderful.
Ladder, light, shadow, and wall!
If the conversation is good, why go home? Well after midnight in Gibraltar.
The dark streets where the only sounds were my footsteps.
The historic government buildings were closed. Not a soul around.
The "Government Of" . . . something or other at 01:00. Wonderful lighting . . . and only me there to see it. This must have been the police station; otherwise why were there still two men sitting behind the counter at that late hour?
Such scrumptious shapes, line, color, shadow, and light.
I walked through these same streets several times during the day without really noticing the relationships between shapes and structures . . .
An inviting passage to . . . . who knows where.
I literally walked from one end of the town to the other in only two hours . . . back out the southern city gate . . .
I walked all the eay back an abandoned traffic circle . . . and then back to my nearby hotel. I had had such an inspiring walkabout in the night streets of Gibraltar.
