Out and About - South of Chiang Mai - Part 2

No trip south is complete without a visit to the weaving cooperative Ban Rai Pai Ngam. South of Chom Tong, near the 68km marker, it is also known as Pa Da Textile Museum. Located along the Ping River, it is a beautiful site, with the entrance via a lane canopied by bamboo. Your arrival is heralded by the vision of a handsome two story, generously-proportioned, dark-stained wooden house. I recently learned that this fine home was once the summer home  of a Chiang Mai ruler, back in the early 20th century. This explains what I've always thought of as its 'refined' quality: large rooms, good layout, nice details, and even an indoor kitchen. I don't know when it became the home of Mrs. Bansiddhi, but she formed the weaving cooperative that works on the ground floor, under the main house, after WWII. Their weavings are famous for the use of innovative patterning, lovely textures, and use of natural dyes. A previous blog post shows more of the house and textile-making process.

Cotton skeins showing colors from natural dyes

This lady is setting up the warp threads prior to putting them on the loom
(above and below)

Weavers at work

 Hungry for lunch, we headed back to Chom Tong, but turned right on the south side of town, toward the river where we found the Rim Nam restaurant (053/826-154) at the end of the road. We'd eaten here in the past and been pleased with the fresh fish and well-prepared Thai food; their 'yam plaa duk fu'/fluffy catfish salad is stellar in our memories.

Our next stop was to satisfy the 'culture vultures' in the group: the Ganesha Museum. This was a first for me, but I'd heard of it several years ago from a Ganesha collector and had wanted to visit ever since. One of Thailand's wonderful, eccentric private museums, this should be in every guidebook. 'Mike', aka Khun Pundhorn Teerakanon, opened the museum in 2009 to house his 2000+ figures. His interest in Ganesha has taken him all over the world and the collection includes items from his travels. Ganesha (or Kaness, as pronounced in Thailand) is the Hindu deity with the human body and head of an elephant. It comes in many forms: multi-armed,  on horseback, even as a female, and he has them all.

In a buggy, with his loyal attendant 'Rat'

A modern version

On horseback, in stone

As a female, in ceramic

The pagoda was closed

Pagoda entrance

Ganesha can even be found in nature

Shiva as hermit

The sun was setting and the museum closing

A rich day of culture and the marvels of northern Thailand left us all amazed and stimulated by the wondrous sights. This is why I've yet to get bored living here!

Cheers to the New Year! Part 1

Dear Reader, for you I girded my loins and went into battle, armed with only my camera and a smile, on this, the first day of the Water Wars.

Known as Songkran, or Thai New Year, it is an annual display of wet merriment and mayhem (tho this year the merriment may have been curtailed somewhat by the banning of alcohol). The water, however was freely flowing and almost everyone was armed.

Enjoy from the dry comfort of your home and try to imagine being soaking wet in 100 degree heat-it's not too bad actually, especially if you're properly prepared.

May the games begin!

In this battle size didn't matter,

especially if you had a backpack water tank...

Where's Tigger?

There's Tigger!

Hello Kitty! But of course...

...got a monkey on her back...

...and an elephant on his chest...


...or came as a Water Warrior




And for that 'je ne sais quoi', weird headgear seemed to be the must-have accessory this year...







For those just passing through and unarmed, it was necessary to have proper armor:
rain poncho, socks, and gloves(!)



...as nothing was sacred and nobody spared

But this is just the beginning. See Part 2 for the parade of Buddhas.

Cheers to the New Year! Part 2

Coward that I am, most of my photos were taken at a friend's shop from the second floor balcony overlooking Tha Pae Rd., as I really did not want to sacrifice my camera to the gods of Songkran. I was there mainly to document, for you Dear Reader, the kinder and gentler side of Songkran: the parade of Buddhas, brought out to be cleansed for the new year and to bestow merit on those doing the cleansing.

For this a necessary ingredient is 'lustral/holy water'-
a special, fragrant water made with the flowers of certain trees, plus special herbs and seed pods.

It is poured onto the Buddhas and that which has run off is given back as reciprocal blessings. It can be a lovely ritual when done with small silver cups or ladles, and proper timing. Unfortunately, the Buddhas were often parading by at speed and there was barely time to throw some holy water in their direction.

More venerable and sacred ones, however, were on old, ornately carved, hand-pulled carriages.

Some were on elaborately constructed and ornamented floats

and even the common rickshaw was elevated to a conveyance of the holy (tho surprisingly no tuk tuks were to be seen)

Buddhas from all over the province were brought out for the ritual cleansing and included a variety of postures and materials:

a standing Buddha

a red-headed one

a large alabaster Buddha

a very large silver Buddha

a small, but sweet jade Buddha

gold Buddhas

and

a very dark green bronze one



It's always a treat to see so many beautiful Buddha figures all decked out for their big day.
Part 3 of 3

Cheers to the New Year! Part 3

Not only Buddhas got a thorough cleansing... everyone marching in the parade was fair game, including the Governor of Chiang Mai and his entourage.


Participants, one and all, were pretty well soaked at this early stage of the march. One could only wonder what would happen when they reached the moat enroute to Wat Phra Singh, even with special precautions:

...umbrellas were an attractive, tho not very effective, defense against the water...

Waterproof makeup should have been a priority for these Lady Boys.

And there's nothing like wearing a purple elephant head!

Interspersed with the Buddhas and wet dignitaries were small groups of traditional musicians keeping the beat going for their own mobile dance parties- veritable pied pipers:

A swan and dancer "flew" in all the way from Myanmar to join the fun.

And an 'naak' on prancing pony from the concurrent Poy Sang Long festivals even made an appearance.

During a lull in the procession Mr. Burger sneaked in, receiving ovations and hopefully some business.

And the local rickshaw drivers did their part by ferrying large offerings.

Finally the official parade ended and the parade of city life resumed, but the water never stopped.