Khoo Kongsi Altar

The Khoo Kongsi Altar

A different perspective of one of the altars at the Khoo Kongsi Temple.  The temple had a few different rooms with absolutely stunning decorations.  It was full of color and life.  It definitely seems like a perfect place to pray.

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A first offering

A mother and her child making an offering at the Khoo Kongsi Temple

I spotted this moment at the Khoo Kongsi Temple in Penang, Malaysia.  A little girl and her mother are sharing a prayer together. It was during Chinese New Year so the beautiful temple was packed!  I was so lucky to get to see the excitement and celebration centered around the wonderful holiday!

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Crossing the Straight

A young girl enjoying the ferry ride over to Penang

Penang, Malaysia is an island reachable by bridge or ferry.  When I took my minibus trip from Hat Yai to Penang, my driver decided to take the ferry!  What luck! I loved the relaxing trip over and got some great shots of a family enjoying the trip as well. 

Penang was one of the most diverse cities I have ever experienced.  Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Penang has it all.  And they seemlingly live in harmony, which was such an amazing thing to see!

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Walking the River

A fisherman trolling through the river in Pai

(written April 16, 2010) I arrived in Pai today and decided to take a walk along the river.  I was expecting something a little bigger, but I guess this would have to do since it is in fact the dry season.  I spotted this fisherman trolling for dinner a little before sunset.

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Approaching the Village

Approaching a hilltribe village on a trek through the mountains of Pai

(written on April 18, 2010) On the second day of our trek, we headed into another village.  After hiking through the jungle for an hour or two, we approached the first village, which was surrounded by a wooden fence.  One of the coolest sights is hiking up and down mountains and then sighting a village seemingly in the middle of nowhere!

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Moat Lounging

Trying to get away from the madness of Songkran

(written on April 15, 2010) Today is officially the last day of Songkran.  I don’t know if Chiang Mai will stop the festivities, but I know that today was my last day of the most insane holiday in the world.  There seemed to be a little less insanity today, maybe fewer people on the streets, or people were just Songkran’ed out, but it was still super fun.

The moats were still full of people filling up their buckets and waterguns and really, they were just full of people.  There’s no difference between swimming and the moat and walking the streets, because the water that you are soaked in is 100% moat water (apparently Chiang Mai does a really good job of keeping the waters somewhat clean and sanitary).  I caught these two boys lounging on an innertube away from the madness.  That’s the way to do it!!

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Waterfall Models

The most adorable boys who just wanted to smile for the camera!

(written on April 19) Today I explored Pai by motorbike!  It was my first time ever driving a motorbike and it was so much fun.  I got completely lost in the hills and somehow ended up on the road back to Chiang Mai.  After a full day of exploring, I ended up at a waterfall full of small children playing.  It was so much fun to watch the kids jump from immense heights and land in shallow water.  It made me cringe every time, but somehow they survived (I’m sure they’ve been doing it every day since they were born).

I sat atop one of the rocks and shot picture after picture of the boys airborne and landing in the water.  Soon enough, two of them came over and started posing for me.  They were the most adorable little boys and as soon as I would snap a picture, they would run over and check it out, laughing the entire time.  I got some amazing pictures and they got some good laughs!

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Binding their hands in marriage

A marriage ceremony in a hilltribe village

(written on April 17, 2010) I went on my first hilltribe trek today in the mountains of Pai.  I was extremely excited to finally get some hiking in and see the villages in the heart of Northern Thailand.  I booked a trip with one of the local tour guides and when we arrived at the first village, he informed us that his friend’s sister was getting married and that we would be able to see the ceremony!  So incredibly cool!

They let us into the marriage house and told us that we were also allowed to take pictures!  Perfect timing!  I poked my head in and caught the moment where the two loverbirds were getting their hands bound together to symbolize the lifelong commitment they were about to embark on.

Such an amazing experience!

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Hard at Work

A man hard at work on the Chao Phraya River

When I took my personal longtail boat ride through the channels of the Chao Phraya River (one of my favorite spots in Bangkok) I spotted this man hard at work.  I’m not exactly sure what he is hard at work doing, but nonetheless I thought this was interesting.

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An Array of Colors

Colorful textiles at the Chatuchak Market

Textiles at the Chatuchak Market in Bangkok (one of my favorite places in the city!).  I just loved all the colors!  The fabric doesn’t look like something I would want to wear though, maybe make some drapes out of it!

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