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A Petchaburi, Thailand 'Photo Ramble'
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 4:03PM A 'photo ramble' blog entry in four parts: The Old Town of Petchaburi, The Buddhist Temples (Wats) of Petchaburi Town, Two Old Fishing Ports in Petchaburi Province, and Salt Pan Workers in Petchaburi Province.
PART 1: THE OLD TOWN
Petchaburi is a provincial capital located between Bangkok and the beach towns of Cha Am and Hua Hin. It is a very small city that I pass by whenever I go to Hua Hin for a beach getaway from the pace of urban Bangkok . . . but I never stop to see what is there . . . until my old friend, John Stiles, and I decided to take a "photo ramble" there last week. [The 11th century Wat Mahathat Worawihan in the background.]
Petchaburi is only two hours away on good divided highway from home . . . and seemingly in a different decade.
We arrived and parked, as we planned to spend the day on foot. At first look, Petchaburi looks like a lot of old Thai market towns. An old, somewhat worn out downtown area with lots of 'street life' - civic culture. In Thai, Phetchaburi means "city of diamonds".
There are some interesting old buildings with a lot of character . . .
. . . and ample material for one of my favorite photographic subjects: old door portraits.
A magnificent old door with its life story written all over it.
Old Thai market towns have a special dilapidated charm I really enjoy.
A corner coffee shop. We stopped here for iced coffee with milk. Very good.
The Petchaburi clothing shops spill right out onto the sidewalks.
Buddhist votive offerings shops near the main city center Wat (temple).
These old wooden shop houses are slowly disappearing in Thailand's larger towns and cities.
Our casual stroll brought us into an area of old alleys and a wet market.
We were literally stopped in our tracks when we rounded a corner into this narrow alley . . . and found a street full of art. Fantastic!
This was such a whimsical painting, made more so by the actual, real door knob that had been mounted in the wall!
The wall art was wonderfully integrated into the structures of the alley.
Dragon art . . .
A drayman starting his rounds in front of a fish mural. Wonderful!
There was a 'missing building' in the art alley . . . no problem: paint the revered former King of Thailand on the exposed end . . .
There seemed to be a "pet" theme across much of the alley art work.
Scrumptious and stylish . . .
A wall of sweet kitties.
None of this Petchaburi alley art was signed, but we guessed that these two lovely people were the artists.
Refreshed with Art, we walked on through the alleys of old Petchaburi town.
There were many very old shops in Peetchaburi . . . from a time before big box franchises and bar code stock control.
I had the feeling that this woman has been sitting in this auto parts shop for a very, very long time.
A city fabric shop . . . with cushions and plastic door mats.
My friend John among the basketry taking candid street photos.
Our wanderings brought us to the Petchaburi River, which bisects the city.
We stopped here for a delicious lunch of noodle soup. Gotta love Thai street food!
We left the old town and its interesting old alleys to explore the many Wats.
PART 2: THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES
Wat Khoi on the outskirts of Petchaburi, near the hilltop Wat.
Wat Khoi is a very special and architecturally unique Wat.
Wat Khoi is in the shadow of the Petchaburi hilltop Phra Nakhon Khiri (Khao Wang).
There is a very beautiful Kuan Yin statue in the garden of Wat Khoi.
Wat Khoi had these amazing. worked metal bas reliefs of Thai people across a wall.
The 500 year old Wat Sa-Bua was once a center of Buddhist evangelism in southern Thailand.
Two kind Wat Sa-Bua monks opened up the ancient Wat for us to take photos. Thank you.
This black Buddha statue is said to be even older than the Wat, +500 years old.
An amazing tree on the Wat grounds . . . and a monkey!
Wat Sa-Bua is built up against a wooded hill with many monkeys scampering all over!
This ornery fellow let me know I was getting close enough.
The rocky hillside behind Wat Sa-Bua haad fantastic old chedis.
A beautiful and highly revered chedi.
We enjoyed our time at Wat Sa-Bua, but walked on up the road to see more Wats nearby . . .
The area near the hill attracted many monkeys . . . some ventured out into the nearby neighborhood on a monkey elevated highway!
Yep, just a monkey hanging out on your roof.
We drove up a small drive along the hillside hoping it would take us to the uppermost temples, but the road did not go all the way up. No problem, we found Wat Rattana Trai on the way.
There was a marvelous old Wat at this hillside Buddhist compound.
The beautiful arches and lighting made for perfect portraits. [Your humble photographer.]
John and I took turns posing for portraits.
I appreciate old doors, but this one was very special . . .
Exquisitely inlaid door panels.
There were many chedis up the hillside behind Wat Rattana Trai. So interesting.
We walked back out through the beautiful arches to move on to the city center . . . and the big Wat there.
Near the center of the old city we found the gate to the 11th century Wat Mahathat Worawihan.
This ancient Wat had amazing old structures as well as new buildings, like this one. These are living, contemporary places of devotion, not abandoned museums.
And we were not disappointed in the ancient temples still in perfect repair. So beautiful.
Lovely artistry.
A large Buddha image in one of the many small temple buildings within the grounds of Wat Mahathat Worawihan.
The Wat temples were very crowed that day with devotees on Makha Bucha Day, a celebration of the ideal Buddhist community started by Buddha Gotama.
This temple entry . . . . stunning artistry.
Gorgeous Buddhist art.
There were many monks around the Wat on this special day conducting blessings to the followers.
This monk arrived at the temple and asked the 20 or so devotees to leave for a few minutes while he vacuumed.
A 1000 year old window. Magnificent.
An ancient founders' marker stone tablet.
In our wanderings a round the Wat we came across this interesting building.
Inside we found the monk meeting hall where the monks would gather every morning to take teachings from the Abbot.
PART 3: THE FISHING PORTS
Rather than drive back to Bangkok, we spent the night just outside of Hua Hin. We woke up early to catch the sunrise along the road home. We stopped on this bridge over a canal for wonderful sunrise photos.
Looking west along the same canal in the hot and humid misty Thai morning.
The next morning heading back to Bangkok along the tiny local farm roads, we happened upon two fishing ports, the first of which was very small.
I love these colorful Thai wooden fishing/squid boats.
The first roadside fishing port was very small and seemingly very poor.
These fishermen festoon their fishing boats' bows with colorful streamers for good luck.
Where you have fishing boats and fish . . . you have cats.
There was a primitive charm to this old, unnamed fishing port.
The second port we 'discovered', Moo 2 (Bang Tabun, Ban Laem District, Petchaburi Province), was an industrial fishing port. Bigger boats, lots of warehouses and clean, orderly docks.
A very busy port with boats coming and going all the time.
A delightful nautical scene.
Industrial squid boats with their outrigger bright light booms folded in. They catch squid by putting out very bright amber or green lights to lure the squid to the surface where the deck crew scoops them up with net scoops on long poles.
There were only a few of these small boats here.
I could have stood on this bridge watching the fishing boats come and go all day. But we needed to move on.
Before leaving the Moo 2 fishing port we explored a nearby Wat with amazing carvings on the roof ends.
PART 4: SALT PAN WORKERS
Back on the small coastal road we drove into a salt pan area with many white egrets.
We saw many of these old salt warehouses bursting at the seams out in the salt pans as we drove along . . . and wondered if there would be salt harvesting.
It wasn't long before we found the salt workers toiling in the heat to remove the salt, two baskets-full at a time.
Damp salt cones, raked by a previous crew, await portage.
Hard work: scooping damp salt into your baskets and lugging it out to the road . . . but still a friendly spirit.
The 'salt boss' keeping track of basket loads . . . many Thais wear these masks when working in the sun . . . they do not want their skin to become dark.
There was a steady line of salt porters delivering their loads from the pans.
No reason to not be colorful and stylish . . . .
Reflecting on our experience, we had a wonder-full 36 hours in Petchaburi city and province. Did I really just say that?
Samut Songkhran & Amphawa Village - A Good Day Out and About in Thailand
Sunday, May 26, 2019 at 2:16PM 
Up and out the door at 4:30am to catch the sun rise over the salt pans of Samut Songkhran with a couple of buddies . . . and for a day of photography.
Roadside salt sales before sunset.
A workman is a blur in first light.
At 5:45am the ambient temperature was already 89f . . with a heat index of 105f!
Early morning salt pan. The salt is raked up into cones by one crew, and picked up and hauled by wheelbarrow to a large pile near the highway for transportation.
The salt workers were working hard at first light to get as much done before the blistering heat to come.
Scooping heavy, damp salt.
Loading the wheelbarrow for another trip to the highway.
Another load full to wheel out . . .
. . . and then back again in an endless loop of scoop, haul, return, scoop . . .
Marvelous patterns of salt cones in the morning magic hour light.
A kindly looking salt worker on a hammock.
Obey. Indeed.
Meanwhile, in another salt pan down the road . . .
After an hour at the sunrise pans, we drove a kilometer up the road and found a big crew out in a damp pan raking the salt into the cones. Hard work in the morning sun.
Hard at work while standing in supersaturated salt water.
Such a photogenic scene . . . especially when the salt workers pose for you!!!
Windmills, salt, humanity, reflections . . .
Having a chat while working . . . 
The salt workers seemed to know each other well . . . it's more enjoyable to work while sharing a joke with your friends.
Home made crude scrapers for piling the salt into cones.
Moving and placing heavy planks for the wheelbarrows that will come to remove the salt from the pans.
Protection from the sun . . . .
Extreme sun protection . . . it must be very hot under that hood in this oppressive heat and humidity.
The is much to see in the area, so we moved on . . .
Rural roads are few and far between - valuable land is not used up for roads. As such, the roads that do exist serve for arterials for power, phone, and water. This is Thai local highway 2001.
In the next salt pan, baskets were used to collect a special salt from the surface.
Ongoing salt harvesting.
I love these amazing contraptions . . . used to flatten the pans after the salt has been removed.
This is a rare (and valuable) form of flake salt favored by chefs . . . it floats on top of the supersaturated pans and is harvested in baskets (above).
A beautiful Chinese-style Buddhist temple reflected in the salt pans.
Light and flakey salt -- very valuable and sought after.
Directly across from the flake salt gathering was the Buddhist Wat I came to see after 5 years . . . . Wat Lat Yai with the Buddha colossus. 
I had such wonderful memories of the spirituality of this Wat when I last visited. There are always interesting and unexpected things to see in a Wat. Some of what you see are what the monks themselves have arranged (like this small altar), but most of what is seen in a Wat are the results of what the big, rich donors want there to be.
The surviving old monk quarters. I am always amazed to see a satellite dish in a Buddhist temple . . . 
Always beautiful flowers to be seen in a Wat.
Wat Lat Yai has some of the strangest 'grottos' I have ever seen. From the outside they are just plain weird . . .
What exactly is going on here? Remember, these things are placed in temples by the doners, not by the monks, who renounce material things. But still . . . .
Although the outside of this man-made grotto was a little strange, the inside was magic.
The banana leaf origami on this altar piece was stunningly beautiful. I felt a little like Indiana Jones discovering a lost tomb or ancient temple never seen before. These are Hindu religious items revered in Thailand along side The Buddha.
Remarkable fine detailing.
Even the cobwebs seem to belong; adding to the spiritual power of this votive object.
Bikkus, listeners of the Buddha teaching the dharma.
Another Hindu reference . . . a four face sadhu.
Sadhu and Buddha images in the grotto. I loved being in that space . . .
There were also a series of enclave altars around the outside and back of the grotto structure.
These are living altars. As can be seen, people bring offerings, usually wishing or hoping for good luck. Notice that someone has left the address plate from their house on the altar . . .
Slung here and there, votive charms festoon the temple trees.
The reason I wanted to return to this Wat and bring friends, was because there used to be a tropical pine grove with old Buddha images in it . . . covered in pine needles. The pine forest is gone: slashed because they did not fit the plan of a doner with a new vision for this temple. The old Buddhas were still there, but looking like they have been 'mothballed' . . .
These old, and seemingly discarded, Buddha images seemed to me to be highly spiritual reminders of the project that the Buddha called us to try.
It seems like someone has taken a scraper to clean some of the moss of of this Buddha image.
Still bright and shiny . . . an overgrown mirror chedi.
By this time of the morning (9:00am) it was already devilishly hot: well over 40c. We went inside to the shaded hall where two nice old ladies (helpers) brought us bottled water. The hall seemed temporary, perhaps being used until some other structure was being built.
The altar was crowded with Buddha images. Fascinating.
There seemed to be many more Hindu symbols in this Wat than others I have visited. I want a hat like this!
"What, me worry?" Supreme detachment. We left the Wat and headed back to the highway where we saw a sign pointing to small road and the name of another Wat . . .
A short drive up a small rural road in search of another Buddhist temple to explore. We didn't find the temple, but we did find this wonderful village built on a canal not far from where it emptied into the Gulf of Thailand.
I love these canal side fishing villages . . . they are so picturesque . . . and visually complex.
Too hot to do anything other than to sit around with your friends and family and mend nets . . . unless you are a falang photographer, that is!
I'm not sure what the make of this V-2 long-tail boat engine is, but it was a beautiful scene.
There was a lovely roadside fish market just outside the hamlet.
Many different kinds, sizes, and colors of fish . . . all inviting visual exploration.
These small 'smelt' are very tasty when deep fat fried. One of my favorites.
Delicious-looking baby squid. My favorite.
Good looking fish.
The drying fish are meant to be used in soups and curries.
But, of course, the most visually interesting fish were the baskets with their intricately patterned fish on display.
While I was photographing these fish baskets, I was thinking that these would print and frame very beautifully as a set.
Perhaps I should come back here with a big tripod and reflectors for more professional, and better framed, shots . . .
I took many, many photos of these beautiful fish baskets, but only post a few here.
We asked one of the fish hawkers how to get to the seashore and they pointed to a small road. We passed this woman busily building a boat on the roadside in tremendous heat and humidity.
The small dirt road dumped us out at the foot of these mud flats . . . crawling with small crabs. These are the mud flats famous for a particular type of small clam that the Thais absolutely love to eat. 
The elaborate bamboo barrier works extended for miles and miles along these mud flats . . . and off into the horizon of the Gulf of Thailand.
At a point of a small canal entering the mud flats there were many kinds of barrier works.
A workman out doing maintenance on the bamboo works.
Fresh cut bamboo was being unloaded and made into rafts to bring out into the sea. This was a huge project . . .
A Samut bamboo wrangler.
Our next stop was at the village of Amphawa, a floating market. Too much tourism has changed the feeling of this place since I last visited it nearly 20 years ago. It is still very charming . . . and visually interesting.
There are many very nice, upscale coffee shops and nice restaurants . . . a big change from an authentic fishing and market village. 
With the ambient temperature above 105(f) with high humidity, it was little wonder there were few people out and about.
The repeating patterns of the klong access steps made for a fascinating study.
Life along the canal (klong) . . .
Swimming to beat the heat? No . . . fishing for bottom feeders with a long-handled net.
With few tourists around, and crushing heat, the boat vendors sat in quiet repose . . . waiting for a sale.
When the canal is full of tourists in their small boats, these floating restaurants serve the water traffic.
This was the only tourist boat we say all afternoon . . . and they looked HOT!
In some respects, this might be the best time of year to visit Amphawa . . . the rest of the year it is overcrowded with tourists. They had the place to themselves.
Standing on a bridge over the canal . . and a view one way . . . and . . .
. . . the view in the other direction toward a Buddhist temple (wat).
A tourist boat cruising for a fare . . . unsuccessfully.
That looks inviting. We went over to this marvelous Old Thai style coffee house for some ice coffee and cold water.
Such a beautiful place to rest, replenish, hydrate, and sit in front of some fans.
Old Thai style wood panels are so beautiful.
After a break we walked along he wooden boardwalks and secretly peaked into the houses. Such serene stillness in the oppressive heat and humidity.
We took our time meandering along the shops . . . and this nice museum of the history of canal life.
A spinning windmill behind the museum.
Antique canoes stacked along side the museum.
Even as hot as it was, the propeller still needed repairing.
The tourist boas were beautifully decorated . . . in hopes of attracting business . . . which never came on this scorching day.
The ladies in their food stall boats congregated to swat flies and swap lies, as they say. Not much else to do.
Back over the bridge toward the car. The hot day nearly over . . . the car air-conditioner is calling.
My friend John always on the look out for an amazing image.
We descended down into the sea of sun parasols and the tourist curios.
Our last act was to buy a 'croc-on-a-stick' brochet . . . Yes, it did taste like chicken, which makes a kind of sense since crocodiles are actually surviving dinosaurs . . . and birds are dinosaur descendants. We worried all the way back home that we could have eaten 'bad crocodile' . . . . but we were fine . . . no intestinal turmoil after all. 