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Entries in Tuk-tuk (2)
Loei, Chiang Khan, and the Mekong River
Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 12:57PM 
Back in December 2020, just as COVID 19 was bursting on the international scene and choking Thailand's tourist industry, the Thai government came up with a brilliant scheme to give vouchers to Thai residents for discounts at Thai resorts and restaurants in 'tourist areas' to spur more 'in country' tourism by Thais. It worked . . . we took a road trip north to Loei, Chiang Khan, and the Mekong River.
Our route had us drive straight through to Loei from our home in a northern suburb of Bangkok.
The majority of the drive north to Loei was on modern, divided expressway. However, as we neared Loei the road reverted to a 2-lane country road. We were lured into this strawberry stand with the promise of delicious fruit.
They were growing their own strawberries here . . . but they were asking a very high price for them. We declined to purchase any strawberries here.
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LOEI
This is the old Loei I came to see . . .
Loei is a provincial market town in the north of Thailand. It is still "old Thailand" in Loei. I last visited here about 20 years ago . . . and yes, it has changed a great deal.
But there is still a lot of the old Thailand I know and love in Loei.
The street food in Loei is excellent . . . and the people friendly.
The old downtown of Loei still has locally-owned department stores and "supermarkets" like this one.
A street corner in downtown Loei. I love snooping around in these old Thai market towns.
We stopped in this hole-in-the-wall restaurant for delicious noodle soup.
A busy market town serving a large agricultural community.
The things you see in Thailand! Yes, it was Christmas season even in Loei, Thailand. They celebrate everything here!
We walked through the downtown and found the banks of the Loei River. The bridge led to a beautiful city park.
There was fun to be had in Loei.
I sat across the street in a hipster coffee shop while my wife shopped in a fine traditional Thai textile shop across the street.
Yes, the hipster cool coffee shop can be found throughout the entire planet . . . even in the remote old market town of Loei.
Always interesting old stuff to be found in old Thai village stores.
Our very good, and very cheap Au Place Hotel in Loei.
Just a half block away from the hotel on a rural street we found this stylish Vietnamese restaurant.
We spent a couple nights in Loei and would venture out into the countryside in search of interesting things to see. We found this amazing Buddhist Temple (Wat).
There were caves with Buddhas to explore at this wat.
There was this very beautiful marble temple on the wat grounds.
The marble temple was very interesting inside.
Marvelous light and reflection inside the marble wat.
We found this marvelous restaurant for our dinner on the second night in Loei.
The "elephant restaurant' interior dining area.
We had a fine meal in this old wooden room with traditional spirit masks hanging around.
Back at our hotel . . . they had the grounds lit up like a carnival!!!
The next morning we said good-bye to Loei and hit the road for then short drive north to the town of Chiang Khan along the Mekong River.
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CHIANG KHAN
We stopped at a riverside resort as soon as we arrived at the river . . . and this was out first view of the mighty Mekong River.
We quickly found our charming old wooden guest house.
Our guest house was right on a kind of 'walking street' through the riverside village. The Mekong River is directly behind the row of houses and shops to the left.
Chiang Khan is a lovely and funky old Thai town with interesting shops and bike rentals.
With both front and rear doors open, you can look right through this hostel to the river behind it.
The many shops lining the walking street had ample supplies of local handicrafts to meet the tourist demand.
A guest house with street side 'beer chairs' . . . perfect for people watching. I couldn't help but notice the Brew Dog Punk IPA bottle . . . from Aberdeen, Scotland, my former residence.
Such an interesting and photogenic little town.
Some shops hung fabric against the harsh afternoon sun.
Each shop-front seems to have its own personality, and the photographs are like portraits.
Beautiful local, high quality traditional textiles.
There were also many shops selling the usual array of souvenir 'touristwear.'
There is no shortage of restaurants and places to buy good, expensive coffee.
I love photographing these old wooden shops . . . anywhere in the world . . . but Chiang Khan had hundreds of them, and all with amazing shapes, features, colors, and textures.
A beautiful shop-front portrait. The harsh afternoon sunlight actually enhances this photo by accentuating the wood grain and colors.
Another fabulous paneled storefront with Chinese lanterns. Lovely.
Just so much to see, notice, and photograph in this sweet little riverside town.
There was also some very nice chalk public art here and there.
Sweet chalk street art.
A very inviting bakery . . . delicious too!
Thai aesthetics are always fascinating and gorgeous. It's all in the details. Here, a detail of the interior of our guesthouse.
When walking around such these richly aesthetic places with a camera in hand, I am prone to take these kinds of "still life" photographs: pleasing arrangements of objects in fascinating light.
Another "still life" of an old art gallery.
A very old wall revealing ancient building techniques.
Wooden wall with broom and ash tray.
Chalk graffiti on old panel shop doors . . . there is a story here.
Old panel shop doors reflected in a stainless steel table. Nice. These "still life" photo opportunities were endless in Chiang Khan.
A very nice tuk-tuk, although I never saw anybody riding in one . . . everybody walked around the little town.
We were getting tired and sore walking around the sweet town . . . deciding what to do next . . .
Massage! That's what's next!! The massage shop owner was very kind.
a 2 1/2 hour Thai massage will cure whatever ails you, that's for sure! This street side massage room was so beautiful. Just breathtaking!
We spent part of our days walking along a path next to the Mekong River.
Looking across the Mekong toward the 'wild side' of Laos.
Riverboat ferry both local people and tourists up and down the river.
Mekong River boats at the ready.
A fisherman going home. Surprisingly, I did not see very many fishermen out on the river.
The fiew upriver toward the smoky Lao hills from Chiang Khan.
When the sun set we headed to the night market street.
CHIANG KHAN by NIGHT
As the light faded, and the heat dissipated, it seemed that every Thai tourist in town left their guesthouse and headed to the main walking street.
The darker it got, the bigger the crowd under the colorful, and fading sky.
At last the sun had fully set.
Many of the shops, restaurants, and bars that were closed in the afternoon opened for the throngs that came out at night. This craft beer joint was a welcome stop for me.
The interior of the craft beer hall.
The Thai hippies who ran the craft beer hall had a fantastic collection of beers and ales to choose from.
The town became even more photogenic at night. BBQ beef street hawkers.
The many stalls set up along the night street became a 'night market' - a favorite of Thai people and visitors to Thailand. There was a wide variety of things for sale. Nuts! I love nuts!
All the night market visitors brought their appetites . . . and were rewarded with a wide variety of delicious Thai specialties to eat.
Street performers in their traditional 'hill tribe' costumes entertained the gathered crowds.
My favorite street performer was this young busker playing electrified traditional old Thai music in a homemade outfit. Cool.
We enjoyed out nights walking along the Chiang Khan night market street.
After two nights in Chiang Khan we woke up early and said good-bye to the river and headed south.
Khon Kaen
We were about 30 minutes out of Chiang Khan and decided to take a different route home to Bangkok. Neither of us had ever been to Khon Kaen . . . so why not?
We didn't do too much sightseeing . . . just drove around town . . . found a great restaurant on Google . . . and found this magnificent wat to go in . . .
We were very glad we went inside.
There are many different altars in the large inner space . . . each with a group of people paying respects.
Very special light falling on the various Buddha images.
Pots for making donations and making wishes.
Such a pretty flower memorial altar.
This hyper-realistic wax monk was too realistic . . . and creepy.
We paid our respects here and then chatted with a monk before leaving. We knew we haddn't spent enough time in Khon Kaen and vowed to return.
We left the next morning for a 7 hour drive home.
It had been a wonderful vacation in the middle of the COVID Pandemic!
Luang Prabang, Laos - A Wonderful Little Town
Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 3:19PM 
The old French colonial town of Luang Prabang (pop. est. 56,000) in west central Laos is a noted UNESCO World Heritage Centre, and with good reason.
Although I was in Luang Prabang a month before the start of the busy tourist season, it was still a very active little town, especially in and around the city centre market.
I have a photographic infatuation with the draymen . . . those who push carts by hand. They are still widely used in and around crowded marketplaces in Asia (and Africa) as the best way to get goods in and out of the crowded lanes and alleyways.
If you didn't already know that this town was on a large river, the goods in the town market would tell you.
You would also learn from the market that there was still a lot of manual labour being done nearby.
The ubiquitous Asian 'tuk-tuk' takes on a slightly different flavor in each country in the region . . . these are the Laotian version.
Since we were going to be in town for four days, we decided to employ our own tuk-tuk for the duration. We were very lucky to hire this 18-year old who spoke very good English . . . and doubled as a tour guide.
This is a very good way to get to know a small town. If you see something interesting/photogenic, just ask to stop.
Luang Prabang was a very, very clean city. They take pride in their World Heritage Center designation.
We asked our tuk-tuk jockey what might be interesting to see . . . he recommended the Craft Center. He was correct, it was fascinating.
The Craft Center was a collection of old wooden buildings in a tropical garden setting.
The craft that was being practiced here was silk-making, natural dying, and weaving . . . here recently dyed silk being dried in the sun.
Such marvelous colors . . . and all from natural plant-based dyes.
Silk worms. We took a brief tour of the silk-making facility by a very eager young man with very good English wearing a badge that said "Trainee." The tourists are coming!
The silk worms spin these silk pods for their larvae. These must be unwrapped. There are many grades of silk, some fine and some rough and coarse.
The rough raw silk.
Ancient knowledge: what plant juices produce what colors.
The Craft Center was also a woman's fair trade cooperative for silk weavers.
Such fine and beautiful work (available at the gift shop).
Artistic hand-weaving is hard and intricate work.
From coarse raw silk to beautiful textiles.
A display of old silk patterns in the museum.
The Craft Center had a marvelous tree house with views to everywhere . . . but I was chicken, I mean, in a hurry to get some water.
As it turned out, we weren't the only ones who were finding the Craft Center interesting that morning . . . a crew, and talent, were filming a piece for Lao TV.
After the Craft Center we rode around for a while in the tuk-tuk looking for a recommended French Café and lunch . . . and taking photos out the back of the tuk-tuk along the way.
We found our French Bakery & Café where we had a delicious meal out on the sidewalk.
These street hawkers walked by on their way into the town center. They seemed to be practicing, or taking their first foray along the sidewalk . . . getting ready for tourist season to begin.
After lunch we went back into town and walked around among the shops.
The shops were bulging with goods in anticipation of the 15,000 mostly French tourists a day who would begin to arrive within weeks. The fashions and styles were really wonderful. My wife bought several fabulous outfits here.
I'm sure the sight of this old Citroën will bring a big smile to the French tourists.
I love the feel of this old town.
Well dressed patrons of a high end fashion shop.
This little guy sat quietly out in front of his parent's shop.
The Luang Prabang School . . . right on the main street.
Coffee shops, textile stores, and curious shops dominate the old downtown now. When I first visited Luang Prabang 22 years ago there was very little in the way of catering to tourists . . . the World Heritage Center designation seems to have changed all of that.
Another of the many fine boutiques.
Of course Luang Prabang is not entirely a tourist town. There are the daily needs of the Lao who live here to be met. A lovely hardware store.
We knew of a favorite place the locals went to for breakfast of hot congee and fried bread, in this parade of shops next to the river.
The proprietress readying the side dishes and the strong thick milk coffee.
This is what we had come for: Lao congee, fried bread, and strong milk Lao coffee. Based on chicken stock, it was full of goodness!
There were several variations on the menu for the delicious congee - like a raw egg that cooks in your congee!!!
Just across the road from our congee shop was the mighty Mekong River.
Luang Prabang is a photographer's dream . . . new brooms for the Wat.
Even the garbage cans are interesting . . . .
. . . this pile of ceremonial votive items were stacked up around some garbage cans . . . 
One of the most interesting and important activities one does when visiting Luang Prabang is to wake up at 5:00am and go out to the street and participate in the almsgiving. Your hotel or guesthouse may organize this for you.
A small covered basket is filled with rice for distribution to the monks who will file past.
And . . . as the sun is beginning to light the sky, the line of monks begin to walk up our small lane.
Monks on their morning walk for alms.
A small amount of rice is placed in each monk's bowl. Town folk take more substantial food directly to the Wats. 
Some of the monks were surprisingly young.
Many monks, over 200, passed our spot across from our hotel. It was a very moving and spiritual experience.
The last monk . . . he may have overslept . . . I am not sure . . .