Thread: Mathos' trip from Chiang Mai to Laos

This is a street photograph from Mae Sariang, this town has improved in all aspects over the years.




There was a young chap in town doing some grand scale work on this machine,
he certainly had his small workshop well set up and appeared to be qualified in his mechanical attributes.




It all compliments how the system works, right across the globe.

Back in the 80's when I first came to Thailand, the majority of cars (there weren't that many) were old bangers from all across the globe.

American, British, French, Italian, German etc etc.
The amazing thing was how these people kept them running.
Some only just ran, some ran but didn't stop, not until the handbrake slowed it down to a stop anyhow.

Some had front seats that tilted up when the driver set off.

Hat Yai, now that was the place to be in 1988.

{Yeah}

Christ I'll cop it after when Flobo reads this...


This was a nice looking house in town. Cute is probably the way to describe it.



Nice appearance all round and the assortment of plants and small trees did it a great amount of justice. So did the little Shih-tzu on the front patio there.

Aren't they a bonny little dog.

We had a couple of nights in a pleasant little bungalow resort on the outskirts of town, nice and clean,
nice people and very fair price including a breakfast which was probably not really a breakfast at all, it states American Breakfast, most of them do, but you get a slice of boiled ham which is boiled again,
a couple of frankfurter sausage, a piece of cheese, scrambled egg if your lucky and a cold tomato.

** Not to forget the toast.

It fills the gap though.




Mitaree Resort I seem to remember it being named.



This was the view from the back end of the same, it was pleasant enough.

The guy in the photograph appeared to be looking for something.



There were some very old but interesting buildings in town, they added to the pleasure of the area.

This was getting on a bit, a pity about the tin roof, but not to worry.


There were some nice areas for trekking in the region.



Superb in places and great to explore.



It's quite amazing though, how short a distance you manage to walk in hours through this sort of jungle and terrain.

Getting there and back is the main thing.

It never was a race.

Originally Posted by Mathos

Its truely amazing what can be done with Bamboo. Everything from cooking impliments to house building.

Wonderful pictorial Mathos. Thankyou for sharing with us.

Originally Posted by Mathos

I couldn't really work out what was going on around this well.

I think it was a well anyhow.

If you have any idea, let me know.

I suspect the bar across the end of the blue pipe is a pump handle for drawing the water up.

Great pics and great narrative. The photos say so much.

My GF is from the outskirts of Mae Sariang. I love the area, it's quite surprising it still hasn't made it on the tourist map.

Originally Posted by Mathos

Note the fighting cock cage under the house. Cant tell if its occupied or not.

Originally Posted by Panda

Originally Posted by Mathos

Note the fighting cock cage under the house. Cant tell if its occupied or not.

Typically in the hill tribes these are used to house the baby chicks. It is open at the top so the hen came come and go as she pleases.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.
Inspirational words and photos.

I like your style, kid

Originally Posted by Bexar County Stud

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.
Inspirational words and photos.

I like your style, kid

Thanks for that BCS appreciated Pal

Originally Posted by Mathos

It's no good avoiding the reality of the situation or event either, try the food, respect the customs, and generally mix with the people.

If a man can't do that, he's far better off staying at home watching television.

Well said Mathos! Humans are said to be a social animal. Travelling is but one aspect of socialising. And real travelling involves doing exactly the things you have said. Though I'll be a lot harsher on the second part i.e. if one cannot or has no wish to experience, engage, immerse onself in the above mentioned, one should perhaps seriously question why is he or she even be existing.

Mathos, while this may be the first time that I have responded but let it be known that I have always enjoyed your threads. Not just for the pictures but also your insightful observations and the provoking questions you asked. Really inspirational stuff all! Keep up the excellent work! Much appreciated!

Originally Posted by bulgingballs

Originally Posted by Mathos

It's no good avoiding the reality of the situation or event either, try the food, respect the customs, and generally mix with the people.

If a man can't do that, he's far better off staying at home watching television.

Well said Mathos! Humans are said to be a social animal. Travelling is but one aspect of socialising. And real travelling involves doing exactly the things you have said. Though I'll be a lot harsher on the second part i.e. if one cannot or has no wish to experience, engage, immerse onself in the above mentioned, one should perhaps seriously question why is he or she even be existing.

Mathos, while this may be the first time that I have responded but let it be known that I have always enjoyed your threads. Not just for the pictures but also your insightful observations and the provoking questions you asked. Really inspirational stuff all! Keep up the excellent work! Much appreciated!

Some nice complimentary writing there BB:-

Thanks very much.

I'll do my best to keep folk interested, that is the main issue of course.

Life, is a very strange journey.

When I look around and hear some of the stories with regards to older folk and their kids in the UK it is somewhat concerning.

You go through years of existence wanting what are basically the fundamentals of existence. Be it from a motorcycle, car, girl friend, wife, home, children, holidays etc. Then you reach a time in life when the only thing you really want is to stay here as long as you can.

Scientists are stating now that as they become more familiar with repairing molecular and cellular damage, it will be possible for people to live for a thousand years.

As it is, the occidental world is actually breeding less but living much longer.

The countries cannot afford a social welfare system for the elderly reaching into real old age. Retirement and pensions were purposely arranged at one time in the knowledge that most would be dead before they reached seventy.

Not being that far off sixty five years of age, two and a half years or so, and having paid a massive amount of tax in my working life. I, like all other pensioners will be further mugged from whatever savings and pension attributes or alternative forms of income I have planned for.



Is peace of mind in mountains like these the answer to retirement.

As things are, I keep myself active and very busy.

Most of the people I know in their late 60's are very bored. They feel like they are also write offs in the sense of modern society.

There is a system of relieving you of your savings, home and any assets you may have accrued in a lifetime of work if you become ill or need special care.
There are cases in the UK of couples who having been married for fifty or more years and needing special care are separated and packed away in different homes.

If you keep yourself at a decent level of fitness, there is not so much you cannot do at sixty or seventy years of age. Maybe longer.

I take an aspirin or two every day along with a statin tablet, so does Flobo. We can ride bicycles, motor bikes, drive, run, swim, and climb mountains to a reasonable level in Thailand.

If we live too long, they might want to plug us though.

I wonder what he is doing with that little load?

A couple, maybe a family even can live in a place like this in Thailand and be very content with their little lot.

If, they are not familiar with alternatives of course.





The fact that houses and accommodation in general are improving to such levels in the country, and mainly due to Western influence is obviously going to create a desire for better living conditions.



There are many such improvements noticed within the remote mountain areas of the country.


There's plenty of building space available.




I noticed earlier this year, beautiful homes like these for sale in Chang Mai, there are numerous building sites and housing estates with work in progress throughout all areas of the country I visited.




Will the relationship between children and parents maintain it's level of decency?

Progress like this has strange if not very peculiar bearings on all stations of life.

ello mate, some good points made, i think if your happy with what you got then let it be, which seems to be the way of thinking in a lot of rural thailand

love those pics mathos, great thread

Originally Posted by sunsetter

ello mate, some good points made, i think if your happy with what you got then let it be, which seems to be the way of thinking in a lot of rural thailand

love those pics mathos, great thread

Thanks sunsetter, of course having a content mind is the greatest blessing on earth.

I like to think, I look at many things in life with thoughts that don't always appear to be associated with the aspects of the drawing so to speak.

Life is a strange, but fantastic adventure don't you think?

^ It sure is.

I don't really know how or why we assess time. It's a pain in the arse at times.

I find there are insufficient hours in the day at the best of time and whilst I keep quite busy on a daily basis and in general feel that I do what I have to do. Certain things including the weather can cock days up in so many ways, it might be worth considering time to be a crime.

I hadn't been able to get out today, a couple of problems early on this morning delayed me for a few hours which meant a drive was out of the question as I had to be back home to keep an appointment at 3.30pm.

I'd intended going to the coast as well, checked this morning and the sea was creating havoc in places, high tide was due at around 9am or so and I was going to make an early start. Really looking forward to getting some photographs of the sea crashing over the sea wall at Blackpool and hitting up on the dunes around Lytham St Annes.

Then the phone went!

Never mind, life is life. It happens to all of us, some worse than others.

For whatever reason I ended up about an hour or so back looking at a couple of the other threads I had done as opposed to 'Beautiful Lancashire'

I could hardly believe it had been July when I was last on this one. Time. It's daft.

Anyhow, I had a look at a couple of photographs and thought I would put a couple on here. You never know, some folk might be interested.



Another of those Republic of China vehicles you find in Burma and Laos especially, there's allways an odd one or two in Thai border towns to compliment the Chinese I rather suspect.




Not that the presence or the condition regardless of the lack of road tax let alone an MOT and Insurance would be a silly suggestion.

What grabbed me was the use.

Most of us can turn a tap on and get water for drinking, washing, bathing, showering, toilet flushing, watering the garden plants or cleaning the car.




So I'm moaning about a bit of time and this chap must spend several hours every day getting the water he needs from the Mekong River down a rugged steep pathway and he appears to be quite happy doing it.



He could have carried a couple of dozen empty containers down there with the help of his kids for instance and they could be filling them up by the river.

He's toting them up hill and onto the vehicle though.

It's quite a stretch of water too that River.

Up in the mornin',
Out on the job,
I work like the devil for my pay.
But that lucky old sun, has nothin' to do,
But roll around heaven all day.

I fuss with my woman, toil for my kids,
Sweat 'til I'm wrinkled and gray.
While that lucky old sun, has nothin' to do,
But roll around heaven all day.

Dear Lord above, don't you see I'm cry'in?
I got tears all in my eyes.
Why don't you send down that cloud with the silver lining,
Lift me up to Paradise
Show me that river, take me across,
Wash all my troubles away,
Cos that lucky old sun, he's got nothing to do,
But just roll around heaven all day

(Dear Lord above, can't you know I'm cry'in?
Tears all in my eyes),
Send down that cloud with the silver lining,
Lift me to Paradise

So show me that river, and then take me across,
Wash all my troubles away.
Cos that lucky old sun, he's got nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day

I say he just-a roll around heaven all day,

Quite a few folk sang that old song too.






Don't we take a great deal for granted.

Corrugated tin sheets appear to come in very handy out East especially.




We use them here as well, mainly for sheds, and odd garage or cheap build temporary construction.

Out in The Orient they build homes from them, fence off sections of land or river.


That critter resembles a cross between an albino Jack Russel and a Siamese Cat.


If you take a walk around Klong Toey in Bangkok, there are complete streets and buildings built from them.

It's a while since I was down in that part of town on a serious issue. It's an interesting place to put it mildly.



The dog on this one looks like it could be descended from a hog as well.

I wonder what the little girl will be doing in ten years time.

Thoughts like that cross my mind when I am in these isolated places especially.





Asbestos as well.






But it's not the cough,
That carries you off,
It's the coffin
They carry you off in.





The trials and tribulations of life regardless of origin all result in the same exit.




Lord, oh Lord
Won't you look at it rain.

ahhh hello, getting it rolling again huh?

No disrespect what so ever to anybody who may be a Buddhist, but when I came across this guy, I thought I had located Bin Laden in hiding.





At times sifting through photographs you find some really interesting shots.

This one must be quite old.





Singha was probably 20 baht a small bottle in those days and 35 for a large one.



There are some basic homes in the mountains and malaria going on the rampage enforces the use of mosquito nets of late.

Some of these small huts have very little at all to vaunt with, but some have much more than others.




Amazing isn't it.




Where's the salt?

Originally Posted by sunsetter

ahhh hello, getting it rolling again huh?

Hi sunsetter,

I'd best get them all up to date. I've been getting carried away with the 'Beautiful Lancashire' thread most of the summer.

good on ya mate, nice to see you getting busy again

I haven't done much at all, if anything at all for several months on any of my Oriental threads.

Then a friend of mine, very recently back from The Orient was knocking on my door.


Good to see him.


We have travelled a great deal together over the years.

He didn't want his photograph putting on
the thread which we eventually got around
to talking about amongst other things.
But an additional friend, who again,
I haven't seen since last year,
had no reservations about his going here.

We speak on the phone every now and then,
and some kind of reunion with a few more
'Special kind of guys is looming'




It's very special having friends of this calibre.

He and his partner above, had a beautiful baby a few months back.

My visiting friend, I'll call him Jock for the purpose of the post,
is indeed a character.




We were looking over a few photographs,
talking about days which for me appear to
have long since gone, but which still hold
memories of an unprecedented nature.


Like, 'Who's turn is it to wash them clothes mister?'




Or 'This looks like a really good place to eat'


Flobo, turned to me as she brought another mug of tea
apiece into the room, and enquired:-

'Are we off again?'



'Only I'll need to get some clothes ready if we are.'

Who knows, at this particular moment in time.




I'd have to get really busy and shed some weight if we are going.

Take the diet serious, that's for sure.


I've put a good bit too much on since this photograph last year.



There's some mean country to cross and climb out there.




"Is it still roast dog in the mountains Jock?"

"Only if we get lucky mister, they're pretty scarce all of a sudden."

"Christ, more rat and rice"

Roll about the floor laughing.



"Get it down, it'll do you good"

"Puke it up, you'll feel better."

You couldn't make it up.


I was wondering if they had finished all the work
on the moats in Chiang Mai.




Jock had no idea.



Like he said, he had no idea The Mae Ping went through the second largest City in Thailand.

Information of that nature has no significance to him.


He'd want to know if he could put his head down for a few nights.




In a place like this.

We all have special memories of Thailand.




It's the door way to a million and one roads, north, east and west.

South is a by product of a fire door.



"Who's been shooting at that building mister?"



We used to keep thinking about joining one of these religions.





Flobo, said 'No'

Spoilsport.

Seriously though. I look at photographs of kids like this, living as they do and wonder why the world can be so unfair at times.



Jock is of a similar mind.

Politically motivated, as he says.



Or why?


However, you have to look on the brighter side.



These kids appear to be using one anothers fingers to add up for the examinations.

Wait till they get calculators.


Home, Sweet Home.




Or as Jock say's:-

Bury me out on the mountain,
So I can see where the battle was won,
Bury me out on the mountain,
Beneath a cross that lies facing
The Sun.

An old Irish Rebel song he claims.

But it fits his purpose.