Dancing Nymphs - The Apsaras

Apsara of Angkor Wat

Earlier this month, we returned to Cambodia, more specifically, Siem Reap after seven years.

Seven years ago, Duang and I had visited Siem Reap and Tonle Sap for four days.  In the ensuing years I acquired a new more sophisticated camera and acquired some more advanced photographic skills.

This year we decided to spend 6 days in the Angkor Wat area to revist Angkor Wat and associated Khmer ruins as well as to attempt to document the fisheries of  Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lake - Tonle Sap.

We arrived in Siem Reap late morning, Monday 3 November.  After checking into our hotel, we headed out to Angkor Wat early afternoon to tour the ruins and be there to photograph the sunset on the temple.  Waiting for sunset is not that great of a wait ... the sun sets around 5:30 PM, 5:35 PM exactly on November 3.

Many things have changed in the seven years since our last visit.  Some changes are not so good and some changes are for the better but greater details of the changes will be addressed in future blogs.  One change, for the better, is the ruins, specifically the towers, are no longer obnoxiously covered in scaffolding and obtrusive tarps.  Some parts of the ruins are under renovation but the tarps are much less visible - a forest green that almost seems to blend into the stones.

Another change, not so good, is the great increase in the number of tourists - specifically bus tours of mainly three groups - Chinese, South Koreans, and Russians.  The ruins are much more crowded than before ... unless you have hired a professional photography guide who knows when and where to go to avoid the tourist hordes.

We had hired a guide service prior to arriving in Cambodia - money very well spent.  We were never overwhelmed by crowds and were shown hidden gems off of the organized tour track.

For many years I was conscious of the "Ugly American" stereotype - you know - the American tourist - ill mannered, loud mouthed, and obnoxious.  Well things have changed - we are no longer the scourges of tourism.  Americans are no higher than 4th on the list, at least in Cambodia - having been surpassed by the Chinese, followed by the Russians and then the South Koreans.  It was nice to no longer be number 1 in that regard.

No matter, we managed through the skill, knowledge, and experience of our guide to minimize our exposure to the tour groups.

Leading up to the sunset on Angkor Wat, we toured the side galleries of the ruins and the upper terraces of the temple.



Devatas of Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat has many stone carvings - many large and grand battle scenes and mythological scenes connected to either Hinduism and Buddhism.  However for this trip, I was more focused on the carvings of Apsaras.

Apsaras are celestial maidens - nymphs.  They are beautiful, graceful, young females - who dance to entertain, and sometimes seduce the gods as well as mortal men.  They are somewhat like angels in the Hindu religion.  Apsaras, besides being known for their dance are also known to rule over luck in gambling and gaming.  Apsaras also are involved in fertility rites.

Through the influences of trade and Hinduism from India as well as the spread of the Khmer Empire from 800 AD to 1400 AD, the concept and mythology of apsaras is part of Indian, Thai, Lao, Burmese, Cambodian, Indonesian, and Vietnamese culture today.

During the reign of Khmer King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century, there were an estimated 3,000 apsara dancers in his court.

In the ruins of Angkor Wat there are many depictions of apsaras dancing or waiting to dance.  Other females who typically are larger and appear to be guarding the temple are known as devatas.

Apsara Dancing - Wall Panel at Angkor Wat

Apsara Sandstone Carving

Devatas Decorate a Column of Angkor Wat

Devatas

Apsara Dance in Cambodia was taught almost exclusively in the Royal Court.  During the reign of terror by the Khmer Rouge (i.e. "The Killing Fields") and their leader Pol Pot, the art of Apsara dance was just about eliminated.  After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the King of Cambodia's daughter, who had been a principal dancer with the royal dance troupe before the reign of the Khmer Rouge, worked to reestablish the art form.

Sixteen years after removal of Pol Pot regime, the Apsara dance returned to public performances in Cambodia.

Apsara Dance has 1,500 intricate gestures and positions for performing the dance with most of them having significant symbolism.  Dancers at the Royal University of Fine Arts commence their training around seven years old. After 9 to 12 years of training they are ready to perform.

People can experience Apsara Dance at many restaurants in Siem Reap and also at the Cambodian Cultural Center.  I am certain that the skill level and authenticity of the restaurants is far less than the performances by the Royal University of Fine Arts.  However, the cultural shows give a good introduction to the art form.

We attended a restaurant show during our last visit in 2007 and returned to the same restaurant, albeit at a different location, during this month's trip.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit once again to Cambodia.  Attending the performance of the Apsara Dance was one of many highlights.

Squeal Like A Stuck Pig, Bleed Like A Stuck Pig

"Squeal Like A Stuck Pig, Bleed Like A Stuck Pig" - This blog has nothing to do with one of the most cinematic memorable scenes from the 1972 film "Deliverance"



This blog has to do with the question that parents may be asked along with the classic queries of "Why is the sky blue?" and "Where do babies come from?".  In this case the question is "Where do pork chops come from?"

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 Maet to participate in the preparations for the celebration of Ok Phansa, the end of Vassa (Buddhist Rains Retreat), the following day. The start of the day was the typical offering of food to the Monks at the forest Wat of Luang Por Pohm Likit.  Later I was to photograph the local men making a basaht for the making of offerings to the spirits the next day.

As often happens here, which makes life so interesting and rewarding, things were not exactly as originally described or scheduled.  Shortly after completion of the morning merit making at the Wat, Luang Por Pohm Likit received a phone call. One of the local men wanted Luang Por Pohm Likit to let me know that they were going to be butchering a pig.  He thought  that I might be interested in photographing the process.  Duang translated to me and I was quickly off to the nearby location which was also where men were going to construct the basaht.

I arrived at the local policeman's small country farm just in time for the start of the big butchering process.

In addition to growing rice, papaya, coconuts, and various vegetables as well as herbs for personal use, the policeman also raised pigs.  Off in the corner of his property, he has a cinder block enclosure with corrugated metal roof where he raises approximately 30 pigs.  Inside the enclosure are cinder block pens where the pigs are segregated for various purposes.

I followed two of the men across the rice paddy to the pig pens.  I was surprised to find a clean facility.  There were several hose stations for rinsing the facility with water.  The effluent flowed by gravity from the facility down to the lower land on three sides of the compound.  Although the facility was clean and the pigs were clean, there was no doubt that I was in a pig pen.  On our trips to Tahsang Village down Highway 2, we pass by a commercial pig farm.  Just about every trip past the facility either Duang or I will say to the other "Why, why you not shower today?"  There is no mistaking the smell of a pig farm for anything other than what it is.

Ask not for whom the rope is for, it is for thee

There was one pig all by himself in one of the pens.  When we arrived at the compound, all the pigs were curious about our presence.  Many of the pigs rose up on their hind legs to peer over the low block walls to have a better look at us and more likely what we were up too.  The pigs were quite animated and vocal.

I stayed outside of the pens, observing and photographing the process.  One of the men slowly and cautiously entered the pen with the single pig.  His caution was more out of not wanting to disturb the pig than for concern for his safety. He carried two ropes.  One rope had a running bowline to form a noose.  The man rotated the grain feeder to distribute some food to occupy the pig.  After a few attempts, he managed to secure the noose around the pig's neck.  The pig was definitely not happy.  The pig squealed very loudly and desperately tried to break free from the control of the noose.

Getting hog tied

With the help of two other men, the pig was cornered and wrestled to the ground.  With considerable effort the pig was hog tied thereby immobilizing it. All the other pigs realized that something was going on and became highly agitated.  The air was filled with loud squeals and grunts.  Even more pigs rose up to view over the top of the separation walls between the pens.  Panic was rampant in the pens.

Pig Getting A Shower to Cool Off

The trussed up pig was lifted and placed on a two wheeled cart to be transported to the killing site.  The pig was highly agitated from its ordeal.  One of the men poured a few pans of water over the pig to calm and cool it down.  This is necessary to protect the quality of the meat. The men tried to keep the pig calm and cool - difficult to achieve when the pig is tied up, man handled and unable to move.

Pig Being Transported to Butchering Site

The pig was carted to a spot alongside the narrow country road just to the side of the gate to the farm.  I walked over to where the pig was laying on its side.  The pig was conscious.  The men positioned themselves around the pig.  One man placed a metal bowl near the exposed throat area of the pig.  One man stepped on the bound front legs and another man pulled the pigs head back to better expose the pig's throat.  Having seen the recent beheading of a man by ISIS on the Internet, I fully expected that a man would draw a knife across the throat of the pig to quickly kill it. I was wrong - very wrong.  A man took a rather small knife and stuck it into the neck of the pig.  He thrust the knife deeper and deeper into the neck with a twisting motion looking to sever the pig's jugular vein.

Sticking the pig

Blood flowed from the wound into the metal bowl.  The phrase "squeal like a stuck pig" immediately and unforgettably took on an entirely new meaning and significance for me. Once the jugular was severed, the blood squirted with each beat of the heart into the bowl.

Pig Bleeding Itself Out

The pig slowly died - bleeding to death as each heart beat pumped more blood into the metal bowls placed at the wound in its neck.  The squealing continued but slowly declined in volume and pitch, becoming overwhelmed by the sounds of labored breathing.

As death approached, one of the men held the pig's mouth shut while another man pumped the pig's side with his foot to help force more blood out of the dying animal.

It had taken 7 minutes for the pig to die.  I thought that this was not the proper or even best way to dispatch an animal.  However in researching to write this blog (Mother Earth News) I learned that sticking a pig without first shooting or stunning it is considered to be the most humane method of killing.

The dead pig was then transported to an area inside of the property next to a very large vat of scalding water over a wood fire. The carcass was placed on the ground near a section of recycled corrugated metal roofing that had been washed down with hot water and rinsed with cold water.

Not far from the butchering section, a polyethylene tarp was placed on the ground and freshly cut banana leaves were placed on the tarp along with a wood cutting block and a small spring scale often found in local food booths.

Scalding 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, two men 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 placed the recycled roof panel and washed completely and carefully.

Scraping the hide to remove hair and skin

Washing off the scraped pig

 

The ears were the first item cut and removed from the pig.  The ears were promptly placed in the big vat of scalding water were many other various parts of the pig were destined to be placed. After a while the ears were removed from the water, placed on bamboo skewers and positioned to grill along side of the wood fire.  After grilling, the ears were removed, cut up into bite sized pieces to be enjoyed by all people involved in the process.

 

The butchering of the pig did not proceed as I expected it to.  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.  Here in Isaan the pig was placed on its legs in a prone position.  A strip of hide and underlying fat were cut from each side of the spine exposing the loins.  The fat was removed from the strips of hide at the near by banana leaf station.  The fat was then cut into six sections.  The hide was taken away for processing.  The loins were removed and taken to the cutting block on the banana leaf covered tarp where they were weighed and cut into six equal weight portions.

 

 

Work continued step by step to remove the outer cuts of meat from the pig.  Most of the cuttings were taken to the banana leaf area for weighing, trimming, and placing in the six piles.  Some cuttings were immediately placed in the vat of scalding water.

 

 

The last major portion of the pig to be removed from the carcass was the entrails.  The gall bladder was removed and hung from a branch of a nearby shrub - I later learned that the man would make "medicine - good for old people" out of it.  The intestines were hauled a short distance away to the banks of a ditch where two men occupied cleaning them out for either cooking as is or for use as sausage casings.  Many of the other offal were placed in the scalding water to join the head and brains.  Very little if any at all of the pig was wasted although I do not specifically know what was the disposition of the penis, testicles or tail.  All other parts were identified and accounted for. I assume the missing parts ended up in the "stew pot".

 

Processing pig intestines

The processing of the pig was completed at the banana leaf tarp station.  Each of the various cuts and organs was weighed an cut to create 6 equal weight piles on the tarp.

 

 

The piles were then placed in individual plastic bags.  Duang and I decided to buy one of the bags - roughly 10 kilograms of meat for 500 Baht (22 pounds for $16.66 USD).  We kept a couple of the cuts and gave the remainder to Duang's mother out in Tahsang Village.  That night I sat down for dinner to enjoy my fresh, extremely fresh, pork chops knowing fully well, perhaps too well, where my pork chops had come from.

 

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.  It was a experience that I had not had before except for the butchering of a rabbit in Rhode Island almost 40 years ago.

 

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.

 

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

 

The phrases of "Squeal like a stuck pig" and "Bleed like a stuck pig" also have a deeper and greater significance to me than before. 

Basahts - Houses for Offerings to the Spirits.

Ban Maet Villagers Constructing a Basaht

As part of the Lao Loum, ethnic Lao, Theravada Buddhist funeral ritual and subsequent Tamboon Nung Roy Wan (100 days after cremation) ritual, offerings are made to the spirits - both the recently deceased as well as others.

In addition to making offerings to the spirits, offerings are also made to the local Monks.  The making of offerings is a merit making ritual by the family, friends, and neighbors of the deceased.  Merit is earned in many ways and is a determining factor in a person's reincarnation.  People earn merit for themselves as well as for their ancestors.

For death rituals and 100 Day Anniversary, the offerings to the spirits are made in small spirit houses.  The spirit houses are hand made out of local materials such as bamboo, banana leaves, banana stalks, colored paper, Styrofoam, wax, and foam board.

The spirit houses are constructed by men even including the elaborate cutting of colored paper to create lantern type decorations.

Inside the spirit houses, small furniture type items, household goods such as plates and cups, clothing items, food stuff, and money are placed - all items necessary for the ghosts to have on their journey to the other world.  Other offerings, offerings to the Monks, such as money, clocks, fans, pots, pans, brooms, buckets of toiletries, towels, etc. accompany the procession of the spirit house from the home of the deceased person to the local Wat.

Basahts are also used to make offerings to the Monks on special religious days, such as the end of Vassa, also known as the End of Buddhist Lent and End of the Buddhist Rain Retreat - Ok Phansa

Earlier this month, on the day before Ok Phansa, I went out with my wife to the small village of Ban Maet, east of our home.  Luang Por Pohm Likit, thinking or rather knowing that I would be interested,  had called to let us know about the local men would be constructing a basaht.

At a home not very far from the forest Wat, the local men had assembled at the home of a local policeman to build a basaht.

Unlike previous basahts that I had seen, this one was being constructed out of all natural materials - no plastic chairs as a foundation, no Styrofoam, no foam boards or even colored paper.

The base of the basaht was a stretcher type structure of bamboo.  The center of the basaht was a freshly peeled banana stalk. Two men worked on setting and securing the stalk to the bamboo base.

Another two men sat at a table and were occupied creating very small pegs almost pin like from bamboo.  As they finished a peg, they pushed it into a waste piece of banana stalk saving the pegs for future use.

Once the men had properly secured the center banana stalk, the men focused on installing stalks of what appeared to be very young sugar cane to the central column.  To provide some dimension and decorative element to the structure, the young green stalks were partially cut and bent so as to form triangles protruding from the surface of the column.  Ensuring that there was uniformity and symmetry, the cuts were carefully measured.  Lacking a tape measure or ruler, the master builder used precut pieces of bamboo to layout his cuts. The stalks were then attached to the column with the homemade pegs and wrapped with small diameter wire.

Other commitments prevented us from seeing the completed basaht or to participate in the next day's ritual.  However when we returned to the forest Wat for Duang's birthday, I discovered the completed basaht - being returned to the earth from which came.

The Spent Basaht Left to Biodegrade

I am often awed by the resourcefulness of the local people.  They have the ability to make the most out of whatever is available to them.  Often they demonstrate style as well as grace in their creations using locally available materials. Witnessing their skill is often an inspiration for me.

Forest Foundry, Not To Be Confused With Forest Gump

Recently Cast Buddha Statues Outside of Kohn Kaen

I have lived six of the past eight years here in Thailand, mostly in the Northeast area known as Isaan.  Having spent this amount of time in the area, I have had the opportunity to experience many unique aspects of Thai and ethnic Lao culture.

My wife is from a large family, six years ago it amounted to 23 aunts and uncles along with 96 cousins.  During the past six years there have been some deaths as well as some births so the size of the family has actually increased.

Duang's father who died a year ago was a well known entertainer in the area - singing in traditional Lao music events.  He went on to be a teacher to many of today's entertainers.  Several of his former students performed during the rituals for his death.  Duang's youngest brother maintains the family entertainment tradition by performing in local Malham Lao and Malham Sing shows.

My wife is a devout Buddhist with ties and connections with many members of the Sanga, Buddhist religious community.

Between the family ties, entertainment ties and Buddhist ties, I am kept rather well informed of unique cultural events and location in the area.

One of these opportunities was yesterday, which involved a drive south to Wat Pa Khao Suan Kwang Tat Fah outside of Kohn Kaen.  Last week, Duang had gone off to participate in a special merit making event at Wat Pa Khao Suan Kwang Tat Fah.  Her mother had told her of the event.  Duang returned with a very nice cast bronze statue of "Meditation Buddha" - Buddha in the meditation pose which is the Thai Buddha pose associated with Thursday.  Duang and I were both born on a Thursday albeit different months and some years apart. Being each born on a Thursday we share the Buddhist color of the week, orange, and the Buddha pose of "Meditation Buddha"

The statue is about 17 inches high and roughly 9 inches wide, weighing roughly 15 pounds. It is a unique statue in the aspect that Buddha has a disk above each shoulder with a down turned horn or tusk supporting the disk.  I asked Duang if the disks were lotus seed pods but she does not know what they and the horns are about.  I counted 8 raised dots on the disks, so perhaps there is some symbolism of the 8 spoked wheel of Buddhism.  Duang did tell me that this type of Buddha is only done by this Monk apparently inspired by a vision he had in a dream.

Duang's participation in the special merit making at a small Wat in the middle of no where was not by chance - it was tied to family, entertainment, and religious affiliations.  Duang's youngest brother had been a monk for two and one half years when he was a young boy.  When he was 12, he spent six months at the Wat in Tahsang Village.  When his mentor went to Wat Pa Khao Suan Kwang Tat Fah outside of Khon Kaen, Duang's brother went with him and spent two years with him there.

That special Monk was also a friend of Duang's father and enjoyed his music.  The Monk has since moved on and now stays at a Wat in Ratchaburi, southwest of Bangkok.  Some Monks are well known for various skills, abilities, powers, and accomplishments.  Some Monks are renowned for creating powerful magical tattoos.  Others are well known for the powers of the amulets that they make.  Other Monks are revered for their healing abilities. Some Monks are sought for their ability to foretell the future through numbers.  As it turns out this Monk is now known for his bronze castings.

The Monk had returned to Wat Pa Khao Suan Kwang Tat Fah to make 200 of the Buddha statues.  Apparently he travels around Thailand making these statues when there is a sufficient demand for the pieces.  He does not actually make the statues himself but has family members and devotees who travel with him to do the work.  He supervises the work, blesses the statues and empowers them.

The statues sell for 5,000 Baht each - roughly $166 USD. The Monk gave Duang one for free out of friendship.

During her first visit with the Monk, Duang saw the statues being cast.  She told the Monk about my passion for photographing things here.  Yesterday morning the Monk called Duang to tell her that he wanted me to come over and take pictures.  He and his crew were finishing up their order and were returning to their homes today.

For such an opportunity, I do not have to be invited twice.  Well we made it a family event, we brought along Duang's mother, her youngest brother, his manager, and our 5 year old grandson, Peelawat.

As the family had their reunion with the Monk I quickly immersed myself in all the activity going on outside under the shade of the trees.

Buddha Statues Awaiting Installation of Disks and Horns

Outside of the sala, underneath many large trees, several people were busy in the many steps of producing the statues.  A quick view of the area indicated that I would not be able to witness the actual casting of any statues.  I did see where Duang had seen the big fires for making the molten metal to produce the statues.  However there was plenty of other activities to witness and photograph.

From my experience working part of one summer during my college days at ITT Grinnell foundry in Cranston, Rhode Island, I recognized that the workers were using the "lost wax" or "investment casting" process to produce the bronze statues.

Items produced by the lost wax process have been dated back to over 5,700 years ago.

The first step of the lost wax process is to make a model made from rubber, clay, or some other suitable material of the desired object.  On my visit yesterday, I did not see the model for the statues that were being produced.  It is not necessary to have the model in order to produce a lost wax casting.  What is necessary is the mold for the item that you want to cast. This brings us to the second step.

The second step of the process is to produce a mold of the model or even of the original sculpture to be reproduced.  The mold is the exact negative of the model or original sculpture.  What ever is to protrude on the casting is a recess on the mold and visa versa for indentations.  There are various techniques and configurations for producing a mold.  The Monk's crew used a method that embraces modern times as well as retaining historical links.

I did not see the molds for the large Buddha statue during my visit, but I was able to witness and photograph much of the process for a smaller statue of a revered Monk of more modern times.

Nowadays, molds are typically consist of a softer inner mold and a rigid outer mold which supports the inner mold.  Inner molds are typically made out of rubber, latex, or silicone.  The outer mold is made from fiberglass, plaster or some other appropriate material.  The purpose of this mold is to create a hollow wax reproduction of the model or original sculpture.  The Monks crew had a split silicone model for their statue.  There were protrusions on one half of the mold which matched up to recesses on the other half of the mold to ensure alignment and orientation.

Worker Applies Molten Wax To Inside of Split Silicone Mold

The next step is create a wax replica of the item to be cast.  The wax replica included protrusions from the surface that would later assist in the flow of metal and escape of gasses during the casting process. The monk's crew created the wax replica without the use of an outer mold.  Instead of pouring wax into a mold to create a replica, they brushed molten wax on to the interior of their silicon molds.  The wax was melted and kept at the proper temperature in a large recycled rectangular metal container, similar to the ones used for selling crackers or cookies, set over a small charcoal fire.  As a layer of wax cooled on the silicone mold, another layer was quickly added to build up to the desired metal thickness of the statue.

Once the two halves of the replica were completed and cooled, they were carefully aligned and joined using hot wax.  The workers then carefully and painstakingly detailed the wax replica - ensuring that the seam where they were joined did not show, and all surface irregularities were removed through the skillful use of a knife or a brush filled with hot wax.

Adding Hot Wax With A Brush

Detailing A Hollow Wax Replica

Looks Just About Right!

Once the hollow wax replicas are acceptable, they are read for the next step.  The replicas outer surface is quickly and carefully coated by hand with a layer of plaster.

Making A Batch of Plaster



Wax Replicas Being Coated With Plaster

After the wax molds covered in plaster dry sufficiently they are carried the very short distance where two men added rolled cylinders to the wax pins protruding from the mold.  These cylinders will create avenues for the molten metal to properly access all points of the wax mold and for air and gases to escape thereby eliminating pockets in the cast metal. 

 

The wax molds with protruding wax cylinders are then covered in a fairly thick mud that appeared to be a mixture of clay and grout.

After the clay and grout based mud is a certain thickness, additional wax structures and cylinders were added to create a tree like structure - this process is called spruing.  The wax branches of the tree like structure tie into a large plug of wax at the top of the mold.  This plug is the cup where the molten metal will eventually be poured.



Encasing the Sprued Mold With Additional Mud

The sprued mold was then encased with additional layers of the clay-grout mud.  When the mud dried, two of the workers worked to encase the mold in a lattice work of small diameter steel wire.  The workers trussed up the molds using pre-measured coiled lengths of the picture hanging type wire.  They took particular care to ensure that the loops around the mold were tight and embedded into the still not completely set mud.  I suspect that this wire reinforcement survived two purposes just like rebar in reinforced concrete construction.  The first purpose is to bear tensile forces developed in the casting process similar to the hoops of a barrel and the second purpose is to distribute the heat of hydration as the mud cures. Distributing the heat equally helps to prevent cracking of the mud.

This was the last step of the casting process that I was able to witness during our visit.  However there was plenty of work going on with previously cast statues.  Many cast statues were set on the ground awaiting the installation of the unique disks and downturned horns.

Brazing Station

The disk and downturned horn assemblies, two to a statue, are too delicate to be cast as part of the main statue.  They are cast separately and brazed to the main statue using oxy-acetylene torch and bronze rods .  One worker wearing common sunglasses sat amongst several industrial gas bottles of oxygen and acetylene.  He would take a disk-horn assembly from a common metal food serving tray, place it in the proper location on the back of the statue, heats the statue and disk assembly at the connection point along with the bronze rod to complete the connection.

Brazing Disk Assembly to Statues

Grinding and Buffing Statue

The statues then go to a nearby station for grinding, buffing, and polishing.  Sitting on extremely low stools, workers used electric grinders with various wheels to eliminate all surface defects.  Cast statues had been inspected and marked up with a blue magic marker to identify areas that require remedial work as well as the obvious disk to statue brazed connections.

After the surfaces of the statues are made acceptable they are carried up the steps of the sala and set on wood tables to be painted.

Statues Getting A First of Four Coats of Paint

The statues receive four coats of paint to transform the dull bronze surface into a shiny brilliant "gold" surface.  On our visit I was only able to witness the application of the first coat.

I rejoined the family inside the sala where they were visiting their friend the Monk.  As they continued their visit, Peelawat and I went around taking photographs.  Since it was around 4:00 PM, the light inside the sala needed some supplementation.  I decided to use an off camera flash attached to my camera with a coiled cord.  Peelawat is five years old now and for a long time has been interested in my photography efforts.  I decided to give him some responsibility and gave him the flash to hold.  I was able to position him and orientate the flash with very little effort.  It was quite a thrill for me to see his face when I showed him the photos that he had assisted to make.  Soon he was pointing at things for me to photograph with his assistance.  Peelawat did a very good job and I will have him assist again. He would be even more help if he were taller, but I doubt he will get to be anywhere close to 9 or 10 feet tall like stationary light stands.  No matter the case he is much more entertaining.









Isaan Boat Racing - October 17-19

The end of the Rainy Season marks the time for long boat racing in Isaan and across the Mekong River in Lao People's Democratic Republic.  Not to be outdone, there is long boat racing in Cambodia this year during the Water Festival from November 5 to 7 in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

We will be attending the water festival during our visit to Angkor Wat next month.

We do not have to travel far to watch long boat racing.  Every year there is racing competition in near by Kumphawapi.  This year the Kumphawapi festival will be held from October 17-18.

The races are held on Hon Kumphawapi just north of where Highway 2023 crosses over the water.

On the 18th, on the west side of the Hwy 2023 bridge, my brother-in-law once again will be performing with his band and go-go girls at the local Honda motorcycle dealership.

Duang will not be attending since she will be participating in an all day and night religious retreat in Tahsang Village so I will be on my own at the regatta.

This time before the start of this year's rice harvest is a very busy time - busy for shows, boat racing, festivals, and having fun.  It will also be a very busy time for us ... experiencing and enjoying as much as we can.