Getting there...

Going over the mountain from Mae Sot to Tak, on the way to Chiang Mai

Nat thought these were the prettiest urinals he'd ever seen on the way to CM

Located in northern Thailand, Fang lies 3 hours north of Chiang Mai by bus.  We packed our panniers and headed for the Mae Sot bus station on the bikes.  For the first time, there was no room in the cargo bays for our trusty steeds!  There were DHL boxes everywhere, including the back of the bus.  What to do!  Our final destination lay 18 kms outside of Fang so we needed wheels.  No worries said Green Bus guy, you get on the bus, we'll send your bikes up tomorrow.  That worked as we had business in Chiang Mai.  Oh, and there was the heart-plummeting to stomach moment when we realized Nat's computer had been left behind in the songthaew!!!!

Sobut, the saintly songthaew driver who returned Nat's computer in CM

Ready to roll in CM

Bus station in CM. Happy because bikes can go with us to Fang

Loaded

Old friends, new friends

We will be giving the MY STORY photo workshop at the Upland Holistic Development Project, 18 kms outside Fang, in the valley of the Ping River.  It's green, it's cool, and it's flat!  UHDP is an agricultural and social resource center for local farmers and villagers.  They run agricultural seminars and workshops and host outside trainings like ours.  There are plant nurseries, forested plots, pigs, cows, fish pond, wi-fi near the office, a big meeting pavilion and kitchen, dorm rooms, and a couple of houses for visitors.  UHDP also hosts ECHO, an international seed bank based in Florida.  Our home for the next 10 days is a luxurious one, a house with a full kitchen including an oven, a comfy sofa and chairs, desk, table, and chairs to work on, ceiling fans for the day and blankets for the cold nights.

Our friends from the Karen Baptist Convention in Pathein, Burma, with whom we worked last year are sending 8 students, plus MSppa graduates Law Thaw and Ruby to UHDP for 7 1/2 days of photo training.  They are not only taking the workshop, they are also providing and cooking all the food!

photo:  Saw Ruby

Our house at UHDP

Comfy!

A stove/oven!

photo: Naw Eh He Paw

Food

Early morning light

Law Thaw and Ruby soon introduced us to the 8 workshop participants while  we carefully wrote down names. Practicing  pronunciation with them brought on gales of  laughter.  They paired up in twos, one camera to each pair and we gave them their first assignment:  Take 3 pictures of your partner from 3 different points of view.

Here are some of the portraits they made of each other during the course of the workshop.

Saw Plah Moo   photo: Naw Eh He Paw

Saw Plah Moo   photo: Naw Eh He Paw

Naw Pah Oh Plah  photo:  Nixon

Naw Pah Oh Plah  photo:  self-portrait

Saw Eh Thu   photo: Naw Lay Moo

Saw Eh Thu   photo: Naw Lay Moo

Saw Law Thaw   phoo:  Saw Ruby

Saw Law Thaw   photo:  self-portrait

Naw Hsa Eh Paw   photo:  Saw Plah Moo

Naw Hsa Eh Paw   photo:  Saw Plah Moo

Saw Ruby   photo:  Saw Law Thaw

Naw Lay Moo   photo:  Saw Eh Thaw

Naw Lay Moo   photo:  Saw Eh Thaw

Naw Eh He Paw   photo:  Nixon

Naw Eh He Paw   photo:  Nixon

Nixon   photo:  Naw Eh He Paw

Saw Eh Plar Moo   photo:  Naw Hsa Eh Paw

  photo:  Naw Lay Moo

Saw Ruby   photo:  Saw Law Thaw

It's all about light...

Class time   photo:  Naw Eh He Paw

Because we were out in the country,  there were lots of landscape photos.  We asked them to photograph early in the morning and in the early evening, as well as under the midday sun.
But there were hundreds of other photos too.  Here are a few: 

Farmer   photo:  Naw Hsa Eh Paw

Thera & Theramu   photo:  Saw Ruby

Looking   photo:  Saw Ruby

Evening   photo:  Saw Eh Plar Moo 

Morning  photo:  Nixon

Night with flash   photo:  Naw Paw Oh Plah

Morning   photo:  Naw Paw Oh Plah

Evening   photo:  Nixon

Morning   photo: Nixon

Night with flash   photo:  Naw Lay Moo

 

Field trip to Thaton temple...or who's minding the store?

The temple

Temple dragons

When Law Thaw suggested a field trip to Thaton temple, a 45 minute drive north, we saw an opportunity for lots of photo ops!  And we were not disappointed.  Like most temples, this one is situated at the top of a mountain overlooking the river valley and the mountains of Burma.  This is the Rolls-Royce of temples!  A spiral ramp leads to the top, there is gold everywhere, and the ceiling is painted a luminous azure, with gods and goddesses sprinkled about. 

On rhe road   photo: Saw Plah Moo

Nixon and Naw Paw Oh Plah

These guys are wax!

Looking down the temple mountain   photo: Saw Eh Plar Moo

Boats to Chiang Rai   photo:  Nixon

Inside the temple   photo: Saw Eh Thaw

Dragon   photo:  Naw Eh He Paw