Images Of Chiang Rai 2005-2012

[villagefarang]

That's nice, I enjoy a good sunset photo. Could I ask what camera you used?

My old camera died so I got a Sony H7 recently. Not a real SLR but very light and has a monster zoom. Lots of settings to play with and the case makes it easy to put on a belt when biking or hiking. Not for the purist but it works for me.

Nice camera, that's really some zoom isn't it.

I recently bought a Ricoh Caplio R5 after reading very good reviews but it hasn't quite lived up to expectations. Some times the colors are a bit ordinary and it's virtually useless in bad light. (A common digital camera fault).

I really need to sit down with the book; but you know the old adage, only read the instructions after all else fails.

Another thing that make life easy for me is iPhoto. It has gotten good enough recently that I have little need of PS anymore. As you know all digital shots need a bit of sharpening as a bare minimum and the easier it is to adjust a picture the better in my opinion.

[villagefarang]

Between emergencies on site I walk around taking pictures of the bugs and things that seem to like the surroundings.

[villagefarang]

Went for a walk today and took a few new shots of my favorite place. On the way back from the reservoir I caught a neighbor in the act of cutting down a tree in his rubber tree plantation. He said hello to me from the treetop.

The sticky rice hasn't started to show yet but Jasmine rice is in bloom.

A view of our pond and the fields beyond.

[sceadugenga]

Early fog at Hoysen, near Mai Lao, this morning.

[sceadugenga]

Hey, Village Farang, just saw your bug shots! Great!

Here's some of mine taken with my old Kodak EasyShare.

And a bug hunter.

[Joel Barlow]

A free hen house – mountain style:

My “wife” of 5 years, Muay (Nasu Lahu-na), hasn’t much book-learning, but does have another kind – one perhaps becoming too rapidly lost. She can do things with her hands, making something very good from very little. This building project isn’t finished yet, but we do hope for fresh eggs sometime soon!

[villagefarang]

Hey, Village Farang, just saw your bug shots! Great!

Here's some of mine taken with my old Kodak EasyShare.

And a bug hunter.

Can't top your moth shot but I have a couple more bug shots for you.

[villagefarang]

The mountains in the distance are getting harder to see these days. But as you can see there is still some good light around sunset. Love sitting on my deck this time of day as it is so beautiful and restful. This morning was quite cool. Feels like winter.

[sceadugenga]

Fleecy lined pyjamas have appeared in my house, a sure sigh of a temperature drop.

The last wet day. But the wife's brother saves water and time by multi-tasking.

[villagefarang]

As long as we are showing Thai guys working in their underwear, here are a couple more.

[Joel Barlow]

Impressed with Village Farang’s mantis photo, I just had to run out and, being a competitive guy (just kidding!), get one myself. This guy showed up on our outdoor kitchen blue-nylon netting, where I didn’t think he was doing himself any good, despite all the ants that come there… Recently, on the other side of the house, a small nest of red jakataan dahm-cow were born. At first I thought them red ants, with big butts up in the air, but then realized that they weren’t moving – very strange behavior for them! So I looked closer, and there was the distinctive head, with four legs and the ‘praying’ arms.

Same color as red ants! They stayed a day or two, then moved on…

[villagefarang]

Was loading pictures into the computer and felt like sharing so here are a few recent shots.

[Joel Barlow]

Here's a photo of the finished hen-houses (I've was away between Thanksgiving and Christmas):

oh, we got one egg already! but it was laid in one of those saggy canvas chairs...

[villagefarang]

Tis the season to be burning!

[sceadugenga]

Great pics. They're not burning the rice straw here this year but plowing most of it back in and getting ready for a second rice crop.

I suppose they must have the extra water for it in the dams in the mountains as the second crop is usually maize or soy beans.

[Joel Barlow]

"They're not burning the rice straw here this year but plowing most of it back in and getting ready for a second rice crop."

that's great news! Burning in the hills is now being governmentally discouraged, but taking place nevertheless.

Plowing is mush more difficult, and doens't reduce insects - but there are lots more "quai lek" "iron oxen" now, and bigger machines too (which I fail to see how can really turn a profit).

[sceadugenga]

My personal observation is that they burn one season, sell the straw the second and plow it in the third.

The fields next to my house were once locally owned and immaculately maintained. The rice was always threshed by machine.

The land is now owned by a Bangkok company and maintenance of the terraces is minimal and everything to do with rice growing except the plowing is done by hand.

[villagefarang]

The other night, on the loudspeaker, the Village Headman was going on about the evils of burning. As he was talking I was watching others starting fires in the fields. Any warnings are seen as a sign that they had better hurry up and get the burning done while they can.

On my bike rides I have seen some rice fields that look like gardens but around here they are minimalist in design and function. Big, nicely maintained terraces make the work too hard. Small and messy is easier to drive over with trucks and tractors as well as controlling water flow.

As for turning a profit, if they had to buy the land it would take a lifetime to pay for it by farming rice. Around here most homesteaded the land and sell off parts of it as need demands. Rice farming just seems to be traditional but unprofitable. They do other things to make money.

[villagefarang]

Fishing Day at the Village

[villagefarang]

Funny looking pineapples.

[sceadugenga]

I conscripted an idle nephew-in-law this morning and we took the dog and the camera up a nearby hill that the lad assured me was infested with ghosts. "Phee mak mak".

I took a few photos of the Stupa and the excellent reclining Buddha. The third photo is where the ghosts live.

[sceadugenga]

Sorry about the last photo, the phee must have fiddled with my camera.

Here's two more I took of the same spot.

[sceadugenga]

Chiang Rai mountain car wash.

[villagefarang]

Visa run went well yesterday and I'm good till next year. These guys were very helpful. Also including a picture of the fish in my pond (at least in my dreams).

[lannaman]

Here are some of Lannaman's photos in and around Chiang Rai over the last few years.

[lannaman]

The first post was a tester, here are some more photos.

[mcgriffith]

Very nice, lannaman!

Link to the first photo on your 2nd post is broken; couldn't enlarge. What is the little girl with the quixotic expression holding in the cage?

Thanks again!

[lannaman]

I'm posting it again, I don't know why it didn't enlarge, hope luckier this time.

The little girl had a caged robin and was asking $1 to release it. There were a lot of tourists forking out dollars so she was doing OK. Actually this shot was taken in Laos outside the cave just before Luang Prabang, all the others WERE in Chiang Rai!

[lannaman]

Sorry, seems to be a glitch here, it won't enlarge.

[mcgriffith]

No worries, probably won't enlarge because it's a small file size.

Thanks for the explanation about the girl!

PS Is the robin trained to fly back after being released? Just kidding, I'll be getting my coat now....