#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Thailands Travellers Tales >  >  Chiang Mai in June - In Pictures

## friscofrankie

Couple months back the ol' lady hounded me into a day of "shopping" at the Airport Plaza up here.  I hate window shopping.  When I go shopping I'm going to buy something dammit.  I had been considering the purchase of a film type SLR camera to supplement my Fuji Digital.  I had looked at and considered a DSLR, but I wanted to see what was available ion film so I went along.  

Zip, Nada, nothing Film cameras are rarer than hens teeth and there wasn't one to be found.  Fuji has this new 14 megapixel camera I liked the look of and I've been readin up on the DSLRs offered by Olympus.  There were plenty of shops selling these all within a couple thousand baht of each other so I was busy lookin at the cameras and chatting up the lady salespersons.  The ol' lady was taken notes.

A few of the shops had the new Sony Alpha 200 on display and I was impressed with it's weight and feel in my hand.  But it's fuckin Sony and it ain't a TV or DVD player so I was merely using it as a comparison tool.  I had not researched the camera, nor even heard of it.  The thing was offered in two "kits" one with two zoom lenses of 18 - 70 and 75 - 300 mm (27 - 105 & 150 - 450 mm equivalent) this was going for 29,990 - 31,990 depending on where you were.  The kit offered; a bag, 2BG Compact flash, and a few other odds and ends like a lcd protective screen, etc.  

We shopped around until we headed up to the top floor of Robinson to check out the kitchen gadgets as we usually do when she brow beats me into coming along on one of these excursions.  At the top of the escalator was a nice flashy display for the new Sony Alpha 200 two lens outfit at 31,990.  I stopped to look.  Now the sales girl ain't no slouch, recognizing a fish when she sees one, whipped the thing out and stuck it in my hand.  Felt good. I ain't buyin.  

"No problem, Is nice, no?"

Now as I'm Zooming on that cute kithcen gadget sales girl with the blue contact I always end up flirtin with My ol' lady starts negotiating price.   Over-hearing this exchange, I gave hte ol' lady some shit about negotiating prices in Robinson, of all places.  I think I muttered something about it not being a fuckin market or the like.  She shushed me right quick and whipped out her collection of notes and flyers for the various camera stores we'd visited.  She showed the girl a flyer with the same outfit for that 29,990 I was talking about.

The sales girl gets on the phone and I go back to zoomin' in on the tight-breasted blouses nicely filled out uniforms of the girls on the floor.  I don't like window shopping that much.  I handed the sales girl back the camera has she was sticking up a new price placard; 29,990.  Seems the ol' lady has negotiated the price down 2k. Not only that but it's being offered at 0% interest for one year on your handy "Power Buy card!"  

The ol' lady did a damn good job of negotiation I guess, but I've got this thing about a negotiation,  If you enter into one and get the price you want you damn well better fuckin buy.  
I'm not one for credit cards, never owned one in my life.   I've financed cars, even a home way back when but never have even applied for a credit card.  The ol lady has though, and she's got one of them "power Buy" things tucked up in her purse. 

My ol lady learned two lessons that day.  Don;t take Frankie shopping and never enter a negotiation unless you plan to buy.  And I got a new toy with more bells and whistles than I've ever seen on a camera.  (my last SLR was bought in 2005 and it was film).

I've shot about 1300 pics so far with the thing and I'm still learning how to use it.  I've progressed to using it mostly in manual mode saving auto for those surreptitious shots when you don;t wanna get caught  taking aim.   I'm learning where all the buttons are and how to get them all in line to take a decent shot within the short time that opportunities present themselves, I've missed more tthan a few though.  Ove the last few weekends we've gone out on safari to practice with the new cam and the ol' lady has brought along the fuji to catch what I've missed.  

We're both improving but I'll let you decide who's doing better.

Thursday evening we headed down to the local market across the street from the 1007th artillery for a bit to eat.  This is my local market and they have food ready to eat:


They also sell fresh vegetables, herbs, doughnuts and fresh fruit:


Down back the ladies al lknow me quite well, I'll usually dash down just before dinner time for vegetables and herbs fresh from the garden, and when I buy an armful of fresh basil or dill they wusually cajole a recipe or two out of me.  Not sure they will ever try 'em But they listen and will tell it sounds delicious.
(A recipe for oven poached salmon with dill and lemin hardly does a person without an oven any good).


Out front they'll layo out the produce from their farm or garden some will sell their home made snacks I like these things:


There's a shope that sells fried chicken and magazines anohter that sells fake watches and sunglass copies and pies.  walk along and there is a food cooked to orde place and a few more folks selling their home-grown produce.  negotiation is fun if rarely fruitful:


One of the things you hear a lot about is the need to go to the mall (you heard about that up above in a way) THe malls are really a surrogate for the local markets.  This is Thai life.  THe markets have always been the meeting place, the place to meet with your neighbors and catch up on the local gossip, tell a joke, to see and be seen.  I consider myself lucky, to have this one close by.  You banter with the vendors while the kids run under foot, you shop for ten, fifteen minutes and buy 20 baht worth of fresh mushrooms for your sauce or gravy. See how the kids in teh village are growing virtually before your eyes:

This one caught my eye, shes comes down every evening with her dad to pick out a few bags of goodies and every once in a while she gets a treat:


Seems something has her interest right now, she hasn't even noticed the farang:


Oh.

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## friscofrankie

The ol lady had Friday off that weekend.  Not sure why but this usually means I've got to keep her entertained.  We've been looking at some land to buy and I like this piece:


Upstream:

it's got good, flat, buildable land that sit about two meters above the creek and enough road frontage for a decent driveway.  Back up to the rice fields and the guy taking care of the land seems OK.  We're still in the tire kicking stage but ran into a snag.  There's two plots of about 150 TW each with chanote but they're separated by another equally sized plot.  We've tracked down the owner and will have to negotiate a decent price and ensure that we can buy the land flanking it as well before buying.

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## friscofrankie

The plot of land is a bit further out past Mae Rim where we are now but it's peaceful Still within about 30 - 40 minutes of the old City though.  When we headed up there to track down the owner of that middle plot we spent teh afternoon riding around the hills until we had to run into town to catch the Friday night Wang Dang Doodle and Wat Chedi Luang down town.  

The annual Tamboon IntaGin was in swing, we had to go pay our respects:


It all seemed so quiet as we parked the car on a parallel street and walked down a dark soi to the party.  Things livened up though:




I think someone forgot to shut down the walking street, there is no way anyone meant for cars, trucks, buses and tuk tuks to occupy this thing all at once was there?


Man, they had food in the streets:


Lotsa tasty treats to feast your belly & eyes on:

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## friscofrankie

After running the gauntlet of food vendors we entered a back gate to the Wat.


Rides for the kiddies!


And toys for the Kid-in-me!


The gun had a realistic trigger pull in double action:


The first air operated clip had a tendency to jam and was replaced after about 7-8 shots.  This is when I discoverd that it operated in single action as well.  My group tightened up after that.

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## friscofrankie

One thing about Chiangmai they love a party up here.  It was nice to sort of ease up into the mass of folks through the back:


That tree again:


I think they were tryin to burn it down:




Ther are vendors all over teht place selling COnsecrated candles, flowers and incense in little bouquets.  The idea is you throw the flowers on one thing, then go to another thing and light the candles then movce on to another thing and burn your incense.  That's wehat it looked like to me anyway .  I'm not sure if there's a protocol to what things get what stuff put in front of it but the candle things seemed to be easiest to figure out.  

Seems alot of people buy the bunch and then get in a long line and just toss the whole damned bundle on this big pile of other bundles.  See what happens then is there's a whole group of folks that take all the garbage and recycle to the next folks wanting to buy stuff to throw on the pile or go from from shrine to shrine burning candles & incense.

The ol lady caught this shot I think it's the best one of the night: (don't tell her I said that)

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## friscofrankie

I didn't buy any flowers or candles  But I did find the evening an interesting one.  The line was too lng to go into the "men only" place.  This is the place where the "City Pillar" is kept and it's only open on these special days.  

Maybe I should explain a little, this "Tamboon Intakin" is the festival where you come and make merit on the City Pillar.  Now I know there has got to be a more intricate explanation and description but My ol' lady is kinda tight with that kinda information and didn;t go into much more detail.  I'll get at her again later be enin' it's 5:00 AM, this might not be the best damn time:
There's gonna be alot of pictures of people burning things:


And a few of people throwing flowers on a pile of flowers:


There was entertainment:
Sorry this one's a bit out of whack but had to get the kids checking watching behind the scenes:

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## friscofrankie

I guess the big pile was for people without the time to get up close and put their flowers on the Buddha.  There is one girl seems happy to be there, though.

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## friscofrankie

Tamboon, or making merit, can be done in many ways.  Giving money is popular.  Rubbing a bit of gold on an icon is another popular one.  Scented flower poured on some holy object is one as well.  Placing flowers or pouring water usually means spending money with the vendors situated around the wat.  This is a way of giving money to the wat as well.

As Walked around the festival I was reminded of the church "Bake Sale," or "Rummage Sale" we used to have in my neighborhood growing up,  The "summer fairs" with the calk walk for a dime carnival type games of chance and skill the Catholic church had its festivals with much the same. Fund raisers.

This festival is no different.  You saw the carnival games There were booths selling food, there were booths selling everthing from tattoos to furniture.

Tattoos:


The occasional seven-eleven mask and assorted accessories:

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## friscofrankie

Inside the wat, people were making merit by hanging up garlands of cash:


Buying coins and making wishes as you drop them in the bowls 
Is this like buying candles and praying?

Oops! forgot to resize that one!  I'll come back to it.

Dunno why, I like this custom, rubbing gold leaf on icons and making a wish (prayer):


After making an offering or two most folks sat or stood waiting to be blessed:

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## friscofrankie

OUt side there was more merit making going on.  There is a cable and pulley affair that allows worshipers to pout scneted water into a vessel.  This vessel is then hoisted up by all that are participating and poured on the Chedi.
First the fill it with as many people as can squeeze in adding all the Naam Hom they can:


Then they all work together to anoint the Chedi:


Some of the smaller folks may not get to pour or hoist but they are they get righ tin the middle of things:

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## Propagator

Bloody great thread FF - greenie winging its way

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## friscofrankie

After making merit it's nice just to walk around the grounds and soak up some of the atmosphere. 
Maybe listen to some music:


This guy seems unaffected by the Tens of thousands of people walking around and as I was being jostled and bumped I wondered how he earned such a large patch or real estate:


I guess these guys just weren't that tough, or tired:


This is the Chedi that the wat is named for:


Another view:

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## friscofrankie

Walking behind the chedi:


And back towards the party:

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## friscofrankie

Another place to burn candles a quieter spot on the fringes of the throng:


prayers to some departed ancestor?


It appears this mans family have come and gone:

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## friscofrankie

And before wondering off the grounds, somehwat more familiar with all the mistakes one can make when photographing a happening such as this why not see what the future holds?


So many funny captions come to mind, I'll just leave it alone:

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## friscofrankie

The way in is the way out:


So excited to be here:

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## friscofrankie

We went home pretty beat up the crowds were packed and We had over 300 pictures to filter through.  The next day (Saturday the... 7th?) was the closing ceremonies.  Not many people showed up.  
This is the top half of the "pouring water on the chedi" merit making:


Dunno man but I think oughta find another place to pour the water:

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## friscofrankie

There was some gold leafing:


some folks just came to show their respect:

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## friscofrankie

There was some dancing I liked this lady's face, "Jai yen"


Hmmm, what is written on that piece of paper?

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## friscofrankie

Few more parting shots:









few folks marched off down the streets banging gongs and dancing.  We went home.  The next day was Sunday and we were off to Doi Inthanon, with my son and his Lady, to vist a waterfall there.  My son took took a few shots there with my Fuji and I took a few myself.  

I've collated the shots and converted the raw images to JPEG and will resize/crop and post them tomorrow evening.  Then there was the weekend a couple weeks later...  I hope to get all the pics up.  Might take a while though.

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## friscofrankie

> Bloody great thread FF


Thanks man.  I am enjoying relearning to take photographs  hopefully we'll see some improvement over teh next few months.

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## sunderlandstephen

Outstanding , really liked the pics,thanks

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## Marmite the Dog

I nearly missed this. Nice one Dad.  :Smile:

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## SandMike

Cracking photographs, well done. I'm looking forward to seeing more.


 :goldcup: 

The Sony alpha range is a reincarnation and development from the Minolta film cameras, and has the same lens mount. If you're after additional lenses it might be worth looking out for late model Minolta 35mm SLR film camera lenses going cheap.

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## Mathos

Good post FF, I look forward to more of this. A lot of effort put into the production of this thread and it shows.

Green en route.


It is a nice town Chiang Mai, I like it there.

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## friscofrankie

> The Sony alpha range is a reincarnation and development from the Minolta film cameras, and has the same lens mount.


After buying the Sony I went home and did a lot of reading on the line of cameras.  Normally I would do this research when it could do me some good.  I don;t often buy things like this on impulse.  

I was impressed enough with the cameras lineage and reviews to feel happy with my spur of  the moment choice, even though I had set my sights on the Olympus E-410 DSLR as my entry into the DSLR arena.  I bought my first SLR in 1980 when My then wife was pregnant with my son; an OM-10.

The OM-10 was Aperture priority auto only and I bought full completment of macro and telephoto lenses for it.  Back then Zoom lenses were not quite as good as they are now.  I'm sure I shot a few thousand rolls of film through that camera, it was my constant companion for a few years and eventually I ended up with an OM-1 and OM-2 in my bag as well.  When shooting in any type of auto mode I am still partial to aperture priority.  

The Sony is a decent camera I do have an issue with noise in shot using longer exposures.  I'm trying to shoot in manual mode almost completely for practice and education Perhaps some of the shots would have come out better in fully auto of flash-less auto mode but so far when I have the opportunity to shoot several frames I am more satisfied with the ones that are shot manually.  

My son and I took over 150 frames each on Doi Inthanon, we just took a short trip and went to the Mae Ya waterfall.  it's a beautiful place, quite photogenic but It will take a couple more hours to collate, crop & resize the better shots.    There are quite a few good ones; but after all, it's only a waterfall and could tend to get repetitious.  

We got there mid-late afternoon, it was a bright, sunny day.  The forest cover and afternoon sun made photography interesting.  The falls were almost directly to the west of our position.  Made of some interesting problems I did OK on some, I fucked up a few.  I'll try to get them up before I crash, but I've been awake since yesterday afternoon and just might not make it till tomorrow.

Thanks for the feedback.

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## chitown

Great thread and fantastic photographs!! 

Keep 'em coming!!!

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## bustak

> I had been considering the purchase of a film type SLR camera to supplement my Fuji Digital.


Photo Bug near Tapea Gate is selling a used Rebel SLR. I'm not a BIG fan of that camera & they're selling it for a lot (I think over 4,500 baht). I advise you to buy one off of eBay.

I got a Canon AE-1 program for 3300 baht off of an eBay store in America. The post office is holding it hostage for 247 baht, I'll pick it up tomorrow morning & start taking pictures ASAP.

your wife deserves a green for this one:

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## garye

Wow
Really excellent photos with a lot of mood and atmosphere.
You capture the essence of old Chiang Mai and your comments about local Thai markets is spot on!
Thanks for sharing
Cheers

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## jizzybloke

> we just took a short trip and went to the Mae Ya waterfall. it's a beautiful place,


I went there and took some photos too but none of them are much good.
If you do a thread and you don't mind i'll put a few in too but i only have a few that are useable.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Photo Bug near Tapea Gate is selling a used Rebel SLR. I'm not a BIG fan of that camera & they're selling it for a lot (I think over 4,500 baht).


Not a bad price imo. I'd certainly consider buying it.




> I got a Canon AE-1 program for 3300 baht off of an eBay store in America. The post office is holding it hostage for 247 baht, I'll pick it up tomorrow morning & start taking pictures ASAP.


My local photographic shop sells old SLR bodies and lenses. If anyone is in Bangkok and wants to have a look-see, I'll be glad to take them there.

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## PeterP

Great to see your pictures - and glad you are overcoming your aversion to Sony - think Minolta, you will feel better. I've been shooting Minolta and now Sony 700 for 2-3 years now. Lot's of pictures on my web site:

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## hillbilly

These shots show why I enjoy Thailand so much!  :Smile: 

Plus it's fun to play with new toys.

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## klongmaster

You do love the 'marathons' FF: I guess when you do sleep it's for a week!..

Great stuff here and excellent commentary as well...I always get the feeling that you are talking directly to me in your threads...

will look forward to the Inthanon pics as well... thanks for the effort...

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## friscofrankie

^Insomnia has me it a strangle hold, man.  After 34 hours without sleep I fell into bed, and died.  for two damn hours.  Woke up hungry, had ptotatos, eggs and some home made bread.  Read some more and couldn;t get back to sleep until 8:00 AM.  This is has been the schedule now for about a week.  Up until this latest bout I was riding my bicycle every day averaging about 12 - 15 kilometers in a half hour feeling real good.  Waking up at 5:00 PM or later I don't feel much like going out on the thing.  Things don't re-align themselves I may have to take a mid night ride, smoke six joints of Laotian weed and drink a bottle of Wild Turkey see if that helps. Drastic, I know; some times you just gotta do what you gotta do.

But Inthanon; I invited my son over for a home-made breakfast sausage & egg breakfast complete with gravy, hashed browns and freshly made sourdough toast.  His current girl friend was up from BKK and he had planned to take her to Inthanon for a pleasant day trip after.  

I said earlier that my last film SLR was bought in 2005,  I lied.  It was 2002.  I went with my ex MIL on our (my son and I) last trip to the US to pick out a decent SLR for his Christmas present.  I ended up buying my last film SLR and my first Fuji digital camera that day.  he and I have been comparing photographs ever since.  I think we have the largest collection of "dueling cameras" in existence.

I digress.  After breakfast and an hour, or so, of conversation I get, "Dad.  Can I borrow your camera?"  

Now, when I bought the Fuji 5600 I gave him that first fuji I bought back in 2002.  The Fuji 2800 is still a very good camera for a point & shoot, so I asked "Where's the fuckin camera I GAVE you?"  as Dads are wont to do.  

He conveniently "forogt" the thing at home and besides the 5600 had so many other bells and whistles he seems to forget it when ever he's headed out of town.  Fuckin kids, right?  So, reluctantly I let him have it for the day.  The ol' lady kind of think of the old cam as her's now, so this earned me a few cold looks.  Push come to shove, to placate the ol' man and his ol' lady we get an invite to some along.  What the hell.

We finally headed out the door at about 12:30 - 13:00 (Sunday breakfast and the Frankie household not being an early-riser affair).  I live in a family compound type thing with two homes and a few single room apartments.  This old woman was sitting out near the car park weeding the flower bed; steals my vegetables and spends her days caring for the flowers and orchids in the compound  She's the owner's mother, I think.

She's gotta be older'n dirt and walks around with her little bucket of garden tools bent over, as so many older Thai women are, she moves her little bucket ahead a couple feet then walks to catch up and moves the bucket, walks to catch up... Stay out of her way and DO NOT try to help.  You have been warned.

We left her to her gardening and headed out for Inthanon.  
After heading south through Hang Dong and San Patong we turned right to head up the mountain.  We drove through Rice fields;


Not a lot of work going on this Sunday;


Doi Inthanon (ดอยอินทนนท) is Thailand's highest peak.   About an hour south of Chiang mai, the park is worth a day or two of your time.  Mountain is dotted with hilltribe villages, farms growing typically non-tropical vegetables and waterfalls. I rode down a couple years ago and we waved through the gate without paying a satang.   This time we had to negotiate a fair entrance fee.

The Mae Sa waterfalls are off to the left as you begin to climb the mountain and have a separate gate.  Entrance at this gate will gain you entrance though the main gate and they want 40 baht for Thai and 400 baht for foreigners, there is a 30 baht fee per vehicle.  My son & I went up to the gate, he presented his Work Permit and I stood by showing my age.  

The conversation went on for a good five minutes and when the gate keeper began to soften she points to me and asks basically"What about him?"  I launched into a few minutes of how I've lived here for xx years and brought my son here to live with me and if he can get in for a thai price maybe I oughta get in for FREE!  
The gate keeper laughed, and although hinted I might be lying, it was said in way to indicate there was no way I was old enough to be this guy's Dad.  Had to let that one slide.

The four of us got in for the thai price but admonished not to use our tickets 
to gain entry through the main gate as they had jobs to protect.  No problem.    

We drove up to the parking area, there were no other travelers present and you just knew the barbequed chicken and assorted tasty snacks were probably just a few hours beyond their prime.  Stepping out of the truck we got our first glimpse of the falls:


The walk up to the falls was pleasant and easy;


With a few peaceful places to stop and take in the surroundings:


You walk under a canopy of bamboo, teak and assorted other Greenery with just enough bright light to create havoc with your light meter:

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## friscofrankie

Where I comne from you might see tress growing through rocks,  here they just grow on 'em:


Eventually we come to the The Falls;

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## friscofrankie

I'll shut up;

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## friscofrankie

Me; being quiet:

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## friscofrankie

This one belongs up above somewhere:

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## friscofrankie

My son and I chased this damn butterfly like a couple of lunatics Each trying to get the best picture, with equal success I might add.  It's my thread I'll post mine;

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## friscofrankie

The are nice, round, slippery rocks you can use to cross the stream in several places.  While carrying my camera, bag & tripod I slipped smashed my goddam knee again and was relegated to teh south side of the stream.  My son, had better success and got a few nice shots  From both sides of the stream.  Fuckin kids.

He seems to be turning Thai Damn near every picture had an image of me or his Girlfriend.  Me, you really don;t wanna see.  The Girlfriend?  You can't handle the Girlfriend! 
Here are some of his shots.




The effort to cross the stream Paid big dividends, in my opinion  Best shot of the falls that day (did I happen to say anything about 'Fuckin kids?');


Aside from The butterflies there was little wildlife to be seen.  This guy is striking in appearance though:


All-in all, a pleasant day we ended up leaving about 5:30 in the afternoon relaxed, with one of our party limping a bit.  The challenges presented by the lighting were a good learning experience for me.  I also learned to have confidence in shooting RAW pictures. I shot this day in JPEG & RAW and ended up throwing the JPEGs away. This will save me some space on the compact flash. 

As you will see in the next series of shots I learned some lessons on shooting backlit subject and those in variegated lighting.  Although the shot cimoing up are not perfect The series taught me quite a bit about trusting my eye and interpreting the light meter not living by  it.

I was torn between posting this thread in the photography section or travelers section  Travels won out, hope my discussion of the learning process ain't too damn boring.

Day or two and I'll post the pics from a couple weeks later when we head for a lesser known Sunday "walking street" that is more of a Thai flea market and Talat Mueang Mai in search of sausage (hog) casings.  The market is tough to shoot. You spend your time dodging motorcycles, the teeming throng and the odd "Rot Ken" (รถเข็น) driver dealing with bright sunlit areas  and deep shadows.

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## Marmite the Dog

> I was torn between posting this thread in the photography section or travelers section Travels won out, hope my discussion of the learning process ain't too damn boring.


Just remember to keep that 'perfect shot' back for the competition.

Nice thread as well.

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## kingwilly

> I
> 
> There was entertainment:
> Sorry this one's a bit out of whack but had to get the kids checking watching behind the scenes:


 
I love this photo mate!

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## kingwilly

> The Girlfriend? You can't handle the Girlfriend! Here are some of his shots.


I'm willing to give her a go...

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## friscofrankie

> jI went there and took some photos too but none of them are much good. If you do a thread and you don't mind i'll put a few in too but i only have a few that are useable.


Post away

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## mickeylo

nice pic.s really enjoyed them.....

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## mikenot

> The effort to cross the stream Paid big dividends, in my opinion Best shot of the falls that day (did I happen to say anything about 'Fuckin kids?');


Thats the sort of shot to experiment with slower shutter speeds, to blur the flow of the water (assuming you have a tripod handy !)

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## DrAndy

> Day or two and I'll post the pics from a couple weeks later when we head for a lesser known Sunday "walking street" that is more of a Thai flea market .


Can't wait FF

great pics, keep experimenting

the only decent camera I have is a film thingy, a Canon A1 and also an AE1, with several Canon lenses

excellent but the film is a pain

maybe I will sell it

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## friscofrankie

Yeah here I was, looking for a film camera, I've got three rolls of undeveloped slide film from five years ago.  

Although the noise thing is bad n shots over a half second (yeah I've shot longer exposures hand held) for the most part digital is nice.  The ability to change ASA, er, ISO speed from frame to frame instead of being stuck in one speed for 36 shots.  The main place I'll be displaying pictures is on one of my websites, no need to scan. 

We've got the freshman class heading up Doi Suthep this weekend, the wat behind me has a rocket festival going on and tomorrow morning there will be roackets from all over Chiang mai.  behind the wat they've got this game going with drinking and guys loadng rocket motors with dry propellant.  they then stuff the propellant ina steel rocket shaped carriage  and launch it up an inclined cable.  Folks bet on how far it close it comes to teh top without touching.  I went out and got a few shots 

There is always something going on in ChiangMai worth a few photos.  A fully charged battery is al that's required.  (fuckin spare battery is 5k though).  I've got to pick up a spare battery and flash  and a decent bag to carry my assortment of goodies so I've not only got a toy but something to spend more money on!  Oughta keep me interested for a few more months.  I really want to get some fixed length lenses ait larger aperture too.  and then there's this...

I've got about 75 pics of the market to go through and resize  opening and editing raw files is a bit slower.  Maybe 4 GB RAM for my machine...

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## friscofrankie

> to blur the flow of the water (assuming you have a tripod handy !)


That shot was from the north side of the stream and this is where I fell and fucked up my already fucked up knee.  I agree it would have been perfect for that blured water thing (this is why I had all that gear as I tried to jump from slippery sloper to wet rock.  I did take a couple of shots of lower rapids on a slow shutter speed with the tripod and got a few to give me the "Furry Water" blurred effect,  they aren;t worht posting as the rapids were small and the amount of whit water in them are not sufficient enough to emphasize the effect.

With this camera I am constantly skirting my own limitations.  So much is comeing back from the days when I would shoot three rolls of film a day, but I need more practice.  The possibilities using the newer technologies in digital format give you such a broad palate to paint with.  There are some new snags along the way as well but I am truly enjoying the experience.  

I went out to a Rocket festival this morning.  I filled my Card in a few hours and am back home way too soon.  There was this moment when I contemplated taking my laptop so I could dump the pics and stay longer.  I fucked up.  I opted for leaving it home.  Plainly, I am a lazy bastard as this si the reason I bought the thing in the first place.  I am loathe to take the laptop and camera out as we will get a nice downpour sme time during the day.  Found a nice back-pack that is weather "resistant" and designed to carry a laptop, a coup0le of camera bodies and more than a few lenses.  Gee, even more things to spend money on.  
Boys and their toys, eh?

I got the market pics uploaded, I had Three large chaangs and a few ribs for breakfast, though.  I'll get weekend two of "June in Chiang Mai"  posted in a few minutes.  Weekend three?  Guess I didn't so much cant remember can't find any pic on my machine.  Weekend four  is a night bazaar -  talat Ahnuson thing Migh t be worth a few posts.  Then there this rocket festival.  It overlaps but I think it deserves a "Chiang Mai in July" thread of its own...

Right back with more pics, after I scrape the mud off my toes.

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## friscofrankie

I've been trying to get into the habit of taking my camera with me everywhere I go.  The other day we headed out to the Grocery store for a few odds 'n ends, there was this Kodak moment with two dogs, a pickup truck and an unsuspecting Shopper.  No Camera.  You lose an opportunity, you learn a lesson.  Who takes their camera to the dentist?  Friscofrankie does.

It was an impromptu call.  The retaining wires on my new partial were tearing a bleeding chasm in my upper lip Took the tech a five minutes to fix, they're pretty good about whisking me into a back room and back out the door again.  

We had planned a day at the larger retail/wholesale vegetable market downtown.

Chiang Mai is a pretty cool town and the city fathers have been thoughtful enough to place Large trees near the more empty intersection so the poor peopl on motorcycles don't have to wait in the sun:


On the way to the market we passed through a weekend market of another sort.  This market is located along Rattana Kosin (รัตนโกสินทร์) road and on Bumrungrat (บำรุงราษฎร์) road which is closed to traffic between Rattana Kosin and Keow Narawat (แก้วนวรัฐ) roads.  This weekend market is not a tourist walking street, but more like what we would call a "flea market" back in the USA.  People selling handicrafts from their home used tools, motorcycles and what ever junk they may have accumulated through the years.  

Looking east along the Rattana Kosin stretch:


We got amulet salesmen, of course.
Some are fancy with their displays:


Others, more business-like:


"Antiques?"


"Restored" motorcycles:


Can you say "Hasselblad?"


Remember lemonade stands from when you were a kid?


It a small market with a few good deals easy to cover in a half hour or so:


When going just about anywhere in Chiang Mai, you are never far from the next foreigner,  This is what makes the area so convenient with all the good western food restaurants.  But if you've ever spent much time in the old city you sometimes tier of the Disneyland atmosphere and enjoy getting out away from the tourist spots.  There is nothing about this market that calls to the tourist Unless the tourist is maybe in the market for used power tools or some Toy Army men in vivid colors:

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## friscofrankie

Ah! we were on our way to the market to check availability os sheep & hog casings. The market, called Talat MuaengMai (ตลาดเมืองใหม่), is a flurry activity at any time of the day or night.  Going home from the bars at 4:00 AM I'll ride through vendors selling 10 kilo bags of cabbage for 45  baht and local small farmers selling their fresh vegetables from the back of a pick up. 
Fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, meat, poultry and seafood by the bagful or hte truckload can be had here at the best prices in town. Kitchen equipment, packaged goods are available as well.  I once bought a couple dozen cases of Sunglass copies here to sell back in the states.  

Talat Mueang Mai is a rambling area not far from the US consulate. To give it some rough boundaries, it is north of Wichayanon rd, east of Meaung Samut Rd, and filter north up to about Wang Sing Kham Soi 1.  It is border on the east by The Ping River, the road running along the river is Wang Sing Kham.

This is a thriving Asian market where smels can assault, or soothe, your tortured senses, depending on where you are.  The meat and fish areas are best dealt with quickly.   Along the alleyways in the market you'll find just about anything you'd need to whip up a tasty snack or gourmet meal  Plenty of colors to please the eye:


These guys are available for hire to carry your purchases to your truck ot car.  Most restaurateurs in Chiang Mai know about Talat  Mueang Mai  and this is where they buy their produce so these guys stay pretty busy.


You certainly don't need to own a restaurant or grocery store to enjoy shopping here and as with any market in Thailand this is place to socialize as well as supply your kitchen:

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## friscofrankie

Large truck loads of vegetables herbs, spices fruit make their way here everyday.  Some set up a sort of camp and settle in a for a day or two, however long it take to sellout, before going back to do it again.
There are two larger covered warehouse type affairs for thes folks to set up shop in and the activity no, chaos, surrounding these two buildings is infectious.  I always get pumped up when visiting here, buying more than I can ever eat before it goes bad, but I am learning to be more realistic. 

Entering the more modern of the two covered areas:


Inside; Bedlam:




Fresh lettuce, ten baht a kilo.  Buy one or buy ten:


Fresh Chilies anyone?
I have bought as little as 100 grams here:


No hard sell here the price is right and the vendor unconcerned:


if Norman Rockwell were Thai:

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## friscofrankie

Back out in the street the sun burns yur eyes for a minute or two, I turn south.
I liked this stall:


This Guy thinks he's gonna be famous as I take his picture:
Either that or he's happy to have a customer:


What?  Do don't wanna banana?

 This is the south end of the main artery that run north/south through the hear of the market.  exiting the street we are in front of the US consulate.  I tried to get a picture but was chased off by a bunch of angry lookin Thai security Guards.  Where's the fuckin Marines?

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## friscofrankie

It's thirty or forty meters to the River frontage road and then about 100 meters north to get back to the Market area.  Bodies of ater whether in mothin or static are always worth a picture or two:


The guardians of the market:


like I said, "or two:"


We walk along the river headed north this begins to become Fresh fruit area  Assorted fruits warehouses full of pineapples and bananas  an alleyway dedicated to oranges, I've bought good juicing oranges for 40 baht per ten kilo bag here, the prices have skyrocketed to 70 - 80 baht now.
This usually signals the end of our walk through the market, we turn into the soi and head for our car parked on the west side, no too late to pick up a few bags oif fresh fruit:


THe way in is the way out:


A pleasant and successful day we found our hog casings although they do not have sheep casings, the supplier has two grades of hog casings teh higher grade just being of a closer size tolerance.  We walked out with a kiol of avacado for 20 baht all perfectly ripe and ready to eat, a kilo of Mangosteen, some Rambutan and fresh long gan.  

I always enjoy this market and could spend several days photographing it and never really do it justice.  But I'll go back and keep trying.

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## DaveRobin

I live in CM and these are good shots. If I were stupid enough to return to my home country, images like this would force an outbreak of meloncoly and a need to return.

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## Tao

Epic thread, mate.  An enjoyable read (with great pics)

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## sabang

Really enjoyed that- thanks Frankie.

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## dirtydog

> we found our hog casings although they do not have sheep casings,


I seem to have missed something along the way, ok so your trying to buy motorbike parts for a harley, whats the sheep stuff?

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## DrAndy

I* am in Calgary at the momentandthose nicepics have made me miss CM!!

*+ wife

Most of the food here is frozen and "fatfood", but we will try a seafood place tonight

some good Jap places, so I am told, but not much of a market!

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## friscofrankie

> I seem to have missed something along the way, ok so your trying to buy motorbike parts for a harley, whats the sheep stuff?


Now, I know too many words confuse you, dog.  But try to keep willya?  We went to the market looking for hog & sheep casings but got side-tracked looking at antique cameras and 20 year old dead drill motors  We found our hog casings, but didn't buy any; and ended up buying avocados, lettuce and fruit.

Why is that confusing?

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## friscofrankie

> in Calgary at the momentandthose nicepics have made me miss CM!!
> ...
> but we will try a seafood place tonight


Ever the optimist, eh Doctor?  SEAfood in Calgary?  You gotta be what, six, seven hundred miles from the ocean?  Might be a nice place for trout though.   Maybe a nice Moose-burger Joint?  If you get a chance try Buffalo or Beefalo; flavorful meat with out all the fat of domesticated Beef.

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## DARCYF

Absolutely fantastic pics of Chaing Mai - makes me wish I was there now! :goldcup:

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## sgoldieje

nice pictures, thanks.

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## johngal

cracking pictures my favorite place in Thailand Chiang mai thank you

if theres a nicer place please tell me

im not in bkk im in pattaya please put right thank you john :sexy: 

pleases not karon beach im in pattaya city help

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## friscofrankie

^only 993 more posts and you can be where ya wanna  :Wink:

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## DrAndy

> Originally Posted by DrAndy
> 
> in Calgary at the momentandthose nicepics have made me miss CM!!
> ...
> but we will try a seafood place tonight
> 
> 
> Ever the optimist, eh Doctor? SEAfood in Calgary? You gotta be what, six, seven hundred miles from the ocean? Might be a nice place for trout though. Maybe a nice Moose-burger Joint? If you get a chance try Buffalo or Beefalo; flavorful meat with out all the fat of domesticated Beef.


well, those canadians, they have jet planes and can fly the stuff in FF

so we had the seafood, it was excellent and expensive, of course

we also had buffalo and venison, which were good

we had free breakfasts most days in the parking lots (for the stampede) consisting of egg, bacon, sausages and pancakes with syrup, and coffee

it was awful, but free so can't complain

Ok we didnt really eat it, just sat around watching the locals

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## dirtydog

Don't you mean flap jacks? although i have no idea if they are different from proper English pancakes.

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## DrAndy

yes DD, they are very different. Sort of a similar flour/water mix, but small, round and thicker

flapjacks, thought they had oats in them?

anyway, English tends to get mangled and misused when you cross the water

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## burnleyred

Brilliant post, and some fantastic photo's, I look forward to your'e next post. :St George:

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## Happyman

> Don't you mean flap jacks? although i have no idea if they are different from proper English pancakes.


English Muffins - there is another one - why the f*ck to those people across the pond have to tell us that a bloody cupcake with a stupid blueberry stuck on the top is a bloody English Muffin?

A proper muffin is a yeast leavened bun - sliced in half - toasted and buttered-one half with a fried egg on top and the other with marmalade - proper breakfast !!!

Muffin (English) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 :UK:  :Smile:

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## smeden

thanks for sharing the nice pics whith all of us      :Smile:

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## friscofrankie

^^in my 50 years "across the Pond" I have never seen anyone call a cupcake type muffin, "English Muffin "  English Muffins are pan baked, flat(ish) with big expansion air pockets in 'em you never cut the damn things  you use a fork to split 'em.  
The foundation of one my favorite breakfasts...
Eggs Benedict 
Marmalade is for girly men  :Wink:

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## dirtydog

> Marmalade is for girly men


Not all French Men are gay  :Smile:

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## El Gibbon

> Originally Posted by dirtydog
> 
> 
> Don't you mean flap jacks? although i have no idea if they are different from proper English pancakes.
> 
> 
> English Muffins - there is another one - why the f*ck to those people across the pond have to tell us that a bloody cupcake with a stupid blueberry stuck on the top is a bloody English Muffin?
> 
> A proper muffin is a yeast leavened bun - sliced in half - toasted and buttered-one half with a fried egg on top and the other with marmalade - proper breakfast !!!
> ...


Where the flock did that come from?  You on the Mekong again??????

English muffins are basically crumpets that are fork split as FF says. Actually an improvement in my view...  :nerner:  having had both.

E. G.

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## tomoakelly

nice set of photos you really must be a local. Dont think i would be able to llok at all the food without having a good scoff.

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