Author: amyewhitelivecom

Day 7
Nov 5

We had a 4:15 am wake up call this morning so that we could catch a 7 am flight to Surat Thani airport in Southern Thailand.  We were going somewhere special today. 

From the airport we took a van and made a snack stop at the 7-11 (which are everywhere in Thailand) because we were going to a very remote area.  The snack choices were really interesting and we loved trying different flavors of chips.  These, not so great. 

Next was an hour long ride on a longboat to our destination.  It might have been a little bit fun (and wet).  Notice Parker curled up in the life jacket. 

Brian and MeRa.

This huge lake was surrounded by limestone cliffs and rain forests.  It was very Jurassic Park. 

Our destination.  Floating bungalows.  This was one of my favorite places on the trip because it was so remote and different than any place I had ever been. 

My bungalow is the last one on the right. 

Home sweet home.  Pretty basic but all we needed. 

Sue and I went for a swim.  The water was warm and clear and so clean. 

Teresa and Parker.  They kayaked around the corner and spotted some monkeys in the trees. 

So Rick & I went off kayaking with Brian and MeRa. 

Another \”hotel\” on the lake. 

Brian suggested we check out this waterfall in the back of this inlet.  At this point Rick had been rowing for quite some time.  But we kept going. 

Just breathtaking.  You can see the tiny red roof of our bungalows on the right side. 

My black/white of the mountains reminded me of a rorschach test.   Squint and look at it and what do you see? 

My favorite of the evening.  (The one below is the same shot in the morning.)

Nov. 4
Day 6

Just. Pinch. Me.

Last night 10,000 lanterns glowing in the night sky.  Today walking with elephants.

We visited a special place called Elephant Nature Park which rescues elephants and provides them with a sanctuary.  There are 70+ rescued elephants at the park and most have a heartbreaking background.

We started our visit by feeding this guy a huge tub of watermelons.   He made a big swipe of my arm before finding his prize.

Each elephant has their own mahout who stays with them all day.

I love the details which really come out in black & white.

Our guide Aie who stayed with us throughout the day.

Brian, who video\’d alot of the trip.

It was pretty cool to just hang out with the elephants.

#Elphie

Cute little baby

Does this elephant make my butt look big?

The guys.

The elephant in the back, Jokia,  is blind and was rescued when the park owner purchased her from her previous owner.  Her backstory and reason for her blindness is pretty sad but she has a great life now and a new best friend.

Cute elephant butts.

Our turn to bathe an elephant.   The little girl in the white asked her mom if she could get her shorts wet…moments later she was full on swimming.

There are also about 500 dogs on the preserve.  Why did the dog cross the bridge?

Aie and me (and Sue).

And then get covered in mud.

Mom, baby and Auntie.

After nursing, the baby went off to play.

I can guarantee that this area did not smell good.

Making our way around the water buffalos.

The owner of this preserve was shocked to learn that people would pay her to stay and volunteer at the park.   At one point there was a human chain of volunteers sending food from one end of the feeding station to another.  Look at all those bananas!!

Another amazing experience and wonderful day in Thailand!  We ended our evening eating dinner by the river watching more floating lanterns go by.

This morning I woke up super early.  I didn\’t have wifi in my room so there was nothing to do (ha ha!).  So I got up and captured the beautiful sunrise at Pho ChaiSai. There were so many little spots around the resort to sit and enjoy a moment of peace.

They made their own bread at the resort but we got to toast it ourselves over a wood flame.   The GM of the resort said that this is the most photographed \”thing\” at the resort.

Today we have a 4 – 5 hour ride to Chang Mai so we were on the road around 8 am.  We stopped at this cute little cafe for lunch as we approached Chang Mai.

We made it to Chang Mai and checked in to this modern boutique hotel right on the river. 

The dates for this Thailand trip revolved around getting to the Yeepang Lantern Festival.  It\’s normally held every year in November around the full moon but last year was skipped because of the King\’s death.    There were 10,000 people expected at this years festival.

MeRa and Brian had already scoped out the event layout and had looked at pictures from previous years in order to figure out the best place for us to shoot from.  It was decided that we could either shoot from around this reflecting pool or in our seats near the ceremony.

You can see the photographers lined up near the pool.

We didn\’t realize that our knees had to be covered.  Teresa and Karen were wearing shorter shorts so they got these very fashionable blue pants to wear.

Can you tell that Teresa is a total goofball!

Holding down the fort and protecting our space and gear.

The buddhist monks started taking their positions.

Lanterns of many colors.

 It\’s getting dark.

There was an hour long ceremony with thank yous and meditations.  At one point a large group of people circled the area with lanterns while this chant played.  So mesmerizing.

Lantern Festival Chant from amy white on Vimeo.

The announcer was very specific about when the lanterns should be lit.  At one point he said \”I just told you not to light your lanterns yet\”.  But it was time now!

The act of releasing the lantern and krathong symbolizes letting go of all ills and misfortunes in the previous year, and Buddhists also believe that if you make a wish when you set off the lantern, it will come true (but only if you do good deeds the following year, of course).

There were 10,000 people lighting their lanterns at the same time.  As soon as this started, the mood turned to downright giddy and joyful.  Faith in humanity was restored at that moment.

It was pure magic.

It was a pretty crazy night!

When we got back to our hotel several hours later we could still see lanterns floating in the sky and offerings floating down the river.

Now that you\’ve enjoyed my pictures, I will share what my fearless leaders captured and shared on InstaGram.  MeRa was over by the reflecting pool and Brian by the seats near us.  Magical!

{worth it} This is our 11th trip to Thailand in ten years, and tonight was the first time we ever experienced the Yeepeng Lantern festival. Picture one hundred monks in orange robes along with enough people to loose 10K lanterns at once. Unreal! @briantausend and I have been researching this night for a year and a half. We strategized. I took the water reflection shots. He got right underneath the lanterns for the wide angle shots. To not only see all our planning come together but also bring our workshop here…incredible. It was a night that none of us will forget! We all got shots we love! We will definitely be back! See our groups photos with #portraitofthailand_mk. 📷 Sony a7RII with 24-70mm f/2.8 GM ISO 2500 l f/2.8 l 1/60th sec

A post shared by Me Ra Koh, The Photo Mom (@merakoh) on Nov 3, 2017 at 9:51am PDT

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica}