Bhutan - Fifth Gallery Is Now Available

Finally!  Finally the fifth gallery of our trip to Bhutan earlier this Spring is available for viewing on my photography website.

 http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Bhutan-Day-8

This gallery covers the eighth day of our journey across Bhutan.  Most importantly the gallery documents the first day of the 2017 tsheschu - Domhkar Festival.

May 5, 2017 was the first time that Duang and I had witnessed the sacred dances called "cham" which are so important and defining of Tibetan and Bhutanese religious culture.

The event made quite an impression upon us and we consider it to be an experience of a lifetime.

This gallery of 74 selected photographs has been distilled down from over 4,000 photographs that I took that day - thank goodness for digital photography, I could not afford to do it in the old days of film!  I am pleased and proud of these photographs which I believe represents the best work that I have ever done in photography.

Bhutan - Fourth Gallery Is Available

Children Reacting to Passing Helicopter

We have returned from our month long trip back to America.  Now that we are back in Thailand with a repaired computer, easy access to the Internet, and access to my original files, it is time to focus on completing post processing of the photographs from our recent tour of Bhutan.

The fourth gallery, 19 photographs, from the fifth day of our tour - 2 May 2017 is now available for viewing on my personal photography website.

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Bhutan-Day-5

Man Making a Bucket for Yak Milking

Bhutan - Third Gallery Is Available

The Butter Lamp Cleaner

Another gallery of our recent tour across Bhutan is now available for viewing.

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Bhutan-Day-12

This gallery of 20 photographs is from May 9th, the 12th day of our tour.

The photographs are from the eastern city of Mongar situated at 1600 meters elevation (5,249 feet).

Much of our day was spent at a wonderful temple named Kadam Gompa which serves as an elderly daycare center.  Many elderly people spend the day there worshiping and socializing along with being fed lunch while their children are working.  On the day that we were there, there was a special day long ritual going on for a special annual Buddhist holy day.

Duang and I spent most of the morning in the temple observing the special Mahayana ritual - Monks chanting, drums beating, horns blaring, incense burning ...  Because of the holiness of the temple and ritual, we were not allowed to take photographs but we were fed tea and bread along with the Monks that were all around us - a very special memory for us.  We returned in the afternoon.  Duang spent the afternoon in the temple worshiping while I spent the afternoon photographing outside of the temple and going to a primary school variety show.

Exiting the Temple - Watch Out for all those shoes!

Bhutan - Second Gallery is Available - Brokpa Cultural Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brokpa Dancer Performing a Cham, a Ritual Dance

The second gallery, 41 photographs, from our recent tour across Bhutan is now available for viewing on my personal photography site.

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Bhutan-Day-14

The gallery covers the 14th day of our tour, a very special day.  We had reached the eastern most location of our journey across Bhutan.  We attended a cultural exchange program sponsored by our tour company.  A group of Brokpa people, semi-nomadic people who tend yak herds, had hiked two days to participate in the program highlighted by their performance of traditional Mahayana Buddhist chams (ritual dances) along with their unique Yak dance.

As per tradition in Bhutan, we as sponsors and esteemed guests, served lunch to the Brokpa people as well as the local villagers who show up.  It was a great event with many opportunities to get up close and personal with the Brokpa people as well as the people who inhabit the farms in the area.  Best of all, the only foreigners in attendance were our travel companions.

Young Monk With Puppy

It was a great day which left me wondering as to which group enjoyed themselves the most - much happiness in a land that values GNH, Gross National Happiness, rather than GNP, Gross National Product.

Bhutan - First Gallery is Available

Three weeks ago, Duang and I returned from a very special tour of an extraordinary place - Bhutan.

We had spent 16 days traveling across the land-locked Himalayan kingdom (Constitutional Monarchy).

We were fortune to travel with a small group of extremely interesting people from the USA,  Canada, Russia, and Australia.

Our tour was truly the trip of a lifetime.

We returned home to Thailand with many new friends, some wonderful memories as well as a desire to return in the Fall of 2018.

I also returned with 12,823 photos.  I have been very busy and will continue to be busy, if not obsessed, for the foreseeable future with editing as well as post processing the photos.

The first gallery of 26 selected photos is now available for viewing on my personal photography website at the following link:

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Bhutan-Day-13

As time goes by, I will be adding more galleries as well  as blog entries documenting this extraordinary place and wonderful people - often referred to as "The Last Shangri-la"

New Gallery is available - "Thailand Tobacco"

A new gallery of 17 photographs, "Thailand Tobacco" is now available for viewing on my photography website.

Most of these photographs were taken around 2:00 AM along the bank of the Mekong River separating Thailand from Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR).

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Thailand-Tobacco

Korb Siarn Khru Ritual Gallery Is Available

Khone Mask

A new gallery has been added to my photography website:

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Korb-Siarn-Khru-Ritual

The gallery contains 26 black & white photographs of a special occult ritual conducted in some parts of Thailand associated with Thai Saiyasart.

An earlier entry of my blog provides some insight into this unique ritual and practise.

https://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2016/05/korb-siarn-khru-2016.html

It is a glimpse into a world not viewed by most tourists to the "Land of Smiles"

A Wedding Pig

WARNING:  The following narrative and photographs contain elements that some people may find disturbing

Living in Northeast Thailand, I am often witness to many unique cultural events, celebrations, and activities that are far different than my experiences of growing up and being educated back in New England.  I always strive to share these different the unique culture here in Isaan accurately and hopefully non-judgmentally.

Earlier this month, my wife and I drove out to Ban Thasang, her home village, for the preparations for her nephew's wedding the following day. The preparations involed family and friends gathering at Duang's sister's farm to eat and drink after making contributions to help pay for the wedding. Nephew's wedding?  Pay for the wedding?  As Duang so often says and I am so fond of quoting ... "Thailand not same as Amireeka"

In Northeast Thailand, a region called "Isaan", there is a custom and accepted practice of "Sin Sod". Sin Sod is essentially a dowry provided by the Groom and/or his family to the Bride's family. The payment is a complex and multifaceted act by the Groom.

First of all it demonstrates his ability to support his wife to be - sort of ironic in that many Grooms have to borrow in order to accumulate the required funds for the Sin Sod.

Secondly, payment of the Sin Sod is a display of commitment and respect of the Groom for the Bride as well as for her family.

Lastly, the Sin Sod is a form of financial support for the Bride's family. A large Sin Sod is also a sign of prestige for the parties involved - sort of bragging rights for both families. In Thailand as well as other Asian cultures, "face" is very important. A large Sin Sod buys a great deal of "face"

When a man and woman decide to get married, the man will have a close relative or trusted friend approach the woman's parents to determine the amount of the "Sin Sod" as well as the "Tong Mun" to be paid in order to have the marriage take place.

Tong Mun" is "gold engagement". In Thailand, "baht" besides being the name of the national currency, is also a measure for buying and selling gold. A "baht" of gold here is 15.244 grams in weight. Since gold in Thailand is 96.5% pure, approximately 23.2 Karat, a baht contains 15.16 grams of pure gold (0.528 ounces).

The "Tong Mun" is given directly to the Bride and remains her personal property. Here in Isaan there is a thriving business in selling as well as buying gold. Many women will sell their gold back for a short period of time to bridge over difficult financial times. The gold shops act as pawn shops to help people out financially - of course for a fee - 1%.  Gold shops are located in the malls, in the western style grocery "superstores", and as small shops in the towns.

Kumphawapi is a small town with approximately 26,000 people with at least 5 gold shops that I am aware of. Gold is mainly sold in the form of rings, necklaces, and bracelets. Necklaces run basically in whole numbers of bahts - 1, 2, 3, baht necklaces. The buyer pays for the gold content with a small premium for craftsmanship related to the ornate work of the piece.

The Tong Mun provides security to the woman. Security, for the Bride and her family, is a very important aspect of Lao Loum marriages.

The size of the dowry (sin sod) as well as the "Tong Mun" is negotiated prior to the wedding and is dependent upon  many factors including the age of the bride, her education, any previous marriage(s), if she has any children and also the social status of the groom - if he or his family can afford more he is expected to pay more.

A young ethnic Lao man marrying a young ethnic Lao woman will typically have a sin sod of 150,000 baht ($5,000 USD) and a Tong Mun of 5 baht ( roughly $3,125 USD).  This is a significant financial commitment for the groom in a land where farm labor makes roughly $10 a day and a mechanic at an auto dealership makes $670 USD a month.

The start of the day at Duang's sister's farm was straight forward.  I sat at a table under a rented canopy.  I was immediately offered food and drink.  Shortly, Duang's son and his family arrived.  Our two year old grandson, Pope, immediately saw me and ran to join me at the table.

We spent our time "talking" about cement trucks, cranes, and backhoes - his favorite subjects and toys.  Pope also entertained himself and me by picking up thin clods of dried compacted dirt.  He reveled in breaking them apart in his hands or pounding them into pieces against the plastic chairs.  When he was not able to break them apart, he handed them to me to finish the job.

As we were playing a small group of men, one of them carrying a hatchet, walked by with a small narrow cage made out of 1-1/2 inch tubing.

A short time later a heard screaming or more correctly - squealing coming from the nearby shore.  I knew what was going on.  I told Pope to stay, grabbed my camera gear and headed down to where the men were located - the men and a pig restrained inside of the killing cage.

Sticking the pig!

The pig was dying when I arrived. After about one or two minutes after I arrived, one of the men stuck a long knife two more times deeply into an existing wound to ensure that the pig had died

Washing off the pig

The pig was carried by four men, each grabbing on and holding a limb, to a spot under neath the shade and close to a wood fire heating a large pot of boiling water.  I walked over to where the pig was laying on its side upon a rough heavy table fashioned from recycled timber as is the custom here.

Shaving the pig

Pans of scalding hot water were poured over the carcass to facilitate the removal of hair.  After the scalding water was poured over a section, the men, often engulfed in the smoke from the nearby fire, used knives to scrape the hair and epidermis off of the carcass.  The combination of hair and skin easily came off the carcass.  Once the entire pig had been scraped and cleaned, it was washed completely and carefully.

The pig gets a complete and close shave

After the pig had been completely shaved and washed clean, four men rolled the pig on its back and each holding a leg, spread the legs away from the carcass. Two other men commenced making a long longitudinal cut along the center-line of the body. As the cut went through the abdominal wall, internal organs such as intestines and stomach came cascading out of the body cavity.

The air around the butchering table was filled with the acrid smoke of the wood fire along with the stench of pig feces - of which a little bit goes a long, very long ways.  The ground around the table was also challenging - dotted with patches of mud, pig feces, and small puddles of blood.  I definitely had to be careful where I stepped and even more so - where I knelt to get the perspectives that I wanted of the butchering process.

The men worked quickly, efficiently and relatively quietly.  It was obvious to me that this was not their first pig butchering.  I don't believe that it was the first pig butchering for Duang's young second cousins even at their tender ages of 6 and 7.  They watched and wandered around the area with about as much emotional attachment as watching people building a house. Children are exposed to death at an early age and accept it as a part of life.

The butchering of the pig did not proceed as I once had expected it to.  When I first came to Isaan, I thought that the carcass would be rigged from an overhanging tree limb, hoisted head down, and the first cut would carefully made from the anus to the chest to allow the abdominal bag, containing the internal organs, to spill out and be removed.  Thailand not like America - once again.

 

Awful offal? Not to the Lao Loum!

Here in Isaan the pig was placed on its legs in a prone position.  After the body cavity had all the organs removed, the carcass was rolled over to expose the back.  A strip of hide and underlying fat were cut from each side of the spine exposing the loins.  The loins were removed and taken toand placed in a large plastic tub along with all the other parts to be further processed up in the farmhouse kitchen.

 

 

   

Work continued step by step to remove the outer cuts of meat from the pig. The intestines were processed a short distance away where two men were occupied cleaning them out for either cooking "as is" or for use as sausage casings.  Very little. if any at all, of the pig was wasted.  I am often impressed at the ability of the local peoples to make do with their limited resources, be it weaving their own fishing nets, fish traps, cultivating rice, weaving their cloth, and so many other activities that demonstrate their independence as well as self reliance.  Raising pigs for sale and consumption is another one of those activities.

Like so many of other people from my old world, I was not knowledgeable, experienced or even cognizant of the activities that created so much of what I took for granted in my life.  Here in Isaan, in Allen's World, so much more is up close and personal sights, sounds, and especially smells.

It is here in Isaan, that I saw the answer to the question of "Where do pork chops come from?"

A plastic tub of pork

As two young men pulled the two wheel cart upon which a large plastic tub of  pig parts up the gentle slope to the farmhouse, I gathered up my camera along with my lighting gear to return to my old seat with Grandson Pope.  Upon my arrival, Pope greeted me and in our way of communicating letting me know that he wanted to see my photos.  I knew which photographs I did not want him to see.  When I showed him the photograph above with all the pig parts in the plastic tub, he looked at me and said "Moo? Moo?"  No; he wasn't referring to a cow but he was actually asking me in Lao -"Pig? Pig?"

Even at two years old, Pope, had a pretty good idea where the pork in his meals comes from.  I suspect he is also well on his way to understanding anatomy.

It's that time of year, once again - Tonle Sap

Late Afternoon on Tonle Sap - Kampong Khleang, Cambodia

November has arrived here in Isaan.  The Monsoon Season appears to be over - we are getting more and more days without rain and more days with bright Sun and blue sky.  Our temperatures are also much more comfortable - highs in the mid 80s to low 90s with lows in the mid to low 70s.

The rice harvest will commence in a couple weeks.  It is time to travel or at least to think about travel.

Two years ago, Duang and I made a 6 day trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.  It was our second trip to the ruins of Angkor Wat.

Our trip in November 2014 also included a return tour of Tonle Sap "The Great Lake".

Tonle Sap is the largest fresh water lake in Southeast Asia - not that this fact justifies a visit.  Tonle Sap is referred to by the Lonely Planet guide book as the "Heartbeat of Cambodia".  Personally to me, Tonle Sap is the lungs of Cambodia.  The lake provides food and irrigation water for one-half of the people in Cambodia.  Tonle Sap is connected to the mighty Mekong River - one of the greatest rivers of the world.  Tonle Sap's water level fluctuates greatly in accordance to the seasons.  In the rainy season from May to October when the Mekong is at its fullest, water flows from the Mekong into the lake.  In the dry season as the Mekong's flow diminishes, water flows from the lake into the Mekong.  Water levels in Tonle Sap range from a maximum of 2 meters (6 feet) in the dry season and to a maximum of 10 meters (32 feet) in the rainy season.  The flooding of surrounding land during the rainy season provides a great deal of food and shelter for aquatic life thereby making Tonle Sap one of the richest sources of freshwater protein in the world.  Tonle Sap is a nursery for many of the fish of the Mekong River. During the dry season fisherman average a take of 220 to 440 pounds of fish a day.

Tonle Sap grows from approximately 965 square miles in the dry season to just over 5,020 square miles in the rainy season.  The increase in area as well as increased depth presents challenges in terms of housing for the inhabitants in the area.  Man has met the challenges of Tonle Sap by building floating homes or building home atop stilts roughly 20 to 30 feet high.  It was the opportunity to witness this unique lifestyle that first attracted me to visit Tonle Sap.  Both Duang and I are interested in seeing how people live in environments and situations different from what we are accustomed to.

Our Homestay Accommodation - the house on the right

Based upon our experience during our first trip to Tonle Sap in 2007, we incorporated a home stay in the village of Kampong Khleang to better learn and understand Cambodian life on Tonle Sap.

Preparing Our Lunch In Kampong Khleang

 I had planned our last trip to Tonle Sap to coincide with the full moon and Bon Om Touk (Cambodian Water Festival).  Bon Om Touk is an annual festival held in November to celebrate the reversal of Tonle Sap water flow.  With the start of the dry season water commences to flow out of Tonle Sap into the Mekong River making up to 50% of the Mekong River flow.  During the rain season water flows from the Mekong into Tonle Sap.  The reversal of flow into the Mekong River also marks the start of commercial fishing season on Tonle Sap - the fish hatched during the rainy season, and nourished on the nutrient rich waters of the floodplains of Tonle Sap migrate into the shrinking lake and out into the Mekong River.

Tonle Sap Harvest - Selling fish to a Middleman

We spent the night with a family in Kampong Khleang.  The mother and father were teachers at a local elementary school and have three children, to girls and one boy.  Their home is built on stilts over the lake but fronts a raised dirt road about 2 feet below the house.

Kampong Khleang Neighborhood

It was quite interesting to spend a day and night with the family.  Although they did not speak English, we could see that they were nice people and concerned that we enjoyed our stay.  We appreciated their efforts to ensure that we were comfortable and found their children to be quite entertaining.

Our host's family

We slept in the large front room of the house, the room closest to the street.  Our bed was one of the hardest beds that I have ever slept on.  A mosquito net protected us throughout the night and we were not bothered by buzzing in our ears.  We were not even bothered or awoken by the three children sharing the room with us - sleeping on mats placed on the floor and protected by their own mosquito net.  The two motorbikes kept inside the large room did not make any noise but the odor of fuel permeated the air.  What kept me awake were the sounds - the sounds of dogs foraging beneath the house and along the street, the sound of cats foraging beneath the house and along the streets, the sounds of dogs and cats encountering each other, the sounds of new born babies in the houses next to our room - 15 feet away and separated from us by two layers of woven bamboo.  There was also the occasional sound of a motorbike tearing up the dirt road. Who said that rooster crow at dawn?  Sure they crow at dawn but they also crow much earlier, too!

Sunrise Over Tonle Sap From Kitchen Area of Our Home-stay

Yes, it was not a very good night of sleep but oh what an experience it was!  As the Sun rose over the floodplain the ever increasing sound of awakening life built up.  Insects, birds, motorboats, and the sounds of people awakening to encounter a new day of life on the lake created a unique symphony not available to tourists in the city.  The symphony of sound was supplemented by the smells of a the new day - charcoal fires to cook the first meal of the day, the odors of pork, chicken, garlic, onions, fish, and the smell of motorboats setting out to check the fish traps at dawn.  The new day was announcing its arrival along with the acknowledgement of the potential that each reawakening brings.

The view outside the front door of our home-stay

Yes, it was not a good night of sleep but oh what an experience it was!  I have always embraced the value and prestige of my life not in the comfort that I have enjoyed or the material wealth that I have been able to acquire but rather in the experiences that I have encountered.

Tonle Sap Boatchild

For Plains Indian warriors, prestige and honor were acquired by "counting coup" - For the Cheyenne counting coupe involved touching an enemy with a stick, bow, whip, or open hand.  For me it is counting experiences - counting experiences involves the act of touching lives or being touched by the lives of others as well personal interactions with the world about me.  I am fortunate to have a wife who is willing and able to participate in my quests to count experiences.

One of the main streets of Kampong Khleang

Last year I considered returning to Tonle Sap including experiencing another home-stay.  After doing soe preliminary research for a return trip, I discovered that the water levels in the lake were very low.  Since one of my goals was to document more of the life on the flood plain, I decided not to return to Tonle Sap.

Kampong Khleang Intersection

On our last trip, we were taken by our home-stay hosts in the early morning to check the family's fish traps set out on the floodplains outside of Kampong Khleang.

Tonle Sap Backwater Early Morning Encounter

Checking fish trap early morning on floodplain

This year I am considering returning to Siem Reap and especially Tonle Sap with either a one or two night home-stay.  Based upon our last trip, I am considering going in December or January - for the full moon.  I believe that going a month or two later will improve the opportunities for documenting the commercial fishing activities on the lake as the flow out of the lake into the Mekong Rier will be more established.

I also want and know that I can take better photographs of moonlight over the floodplain - partially submerged trees, flat water, and a full moon low on the horizon and climbing high in the sky.

Sunset Over Tonle Sap

Research indicates that December 13 is a full moon and January 12 is another full moon.  On December 13, the moon will rise at 4:09 PM and set the following morning at 4:12 AM.  On January 12 the moon will rise 4:51  PM and set at 4:58 AM the next morning.  These times are convenient for the photographs that I intend to take.

I have not checked to determine if the stars are aligned for a trip but the moon certainly is.  Yesterday I sent an email to my contact in Siem Reap to determine the current water levels.  This year, in Udon Thani we have have had much more rainfall than last year so I am optimistic that Siem Reap and the Mekong River have received much more rain too so that a return trip is warranted.

If the water levels are sufficient, I will have to discuss with Duang before making detailed plans and arrangements.

A New Gallery - "Back In Time - Angkor Wat"

A new photo gallery is now available on my photography website.

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Back-In-Time-Angkor-Wat

This gallery of 35 photographs from our trip to Angkor Wat a year ago is a departure from my normal practice for my photographic work.  I typically post and populate my galleries with color photographs.  I prefer color because, for me, it better represents the reality of the moment that was captured.

For a photographer, or any artist, it is important to maintain an open mind and, more importantly, to continually refine one's style and improve one's skills.  I have started to venture a little more into black and white for some of my photographs.  For this series of photographs, in particular, the use of black and white is appropriate and, now in my opinion, preferable to color.

The ruins of Angkor Wat and its environs are a profusion of vegetation and weathered stone.  I find that in most cases the focus on the muted tones of the ruins are distracted by the vegetation in color photographs.

On Facebook, I recently seen and enjoyed many photographs from the 1880s and early 1900s of Southeast Asia.  I also noted how popular the postings were.

For this gallery I decided to try to capture more of the mood of the ruins than can be conveyed in an "as shot" reality of today.  To capture my interpretation of the mood for the ruins, I post processed my shots to convert them into a more 1880s and early 1900s photographs.

My goal is to provide a more unique opportunity to clients to purchase different type and style photographs of the Angkor Wat and its environs than is so commonly available from others.