Ted Treks

24/10/2019

Homeward bound. Thanks for following. Till next time...

22/10/2019

Went to the cave where those Thai kids were trapped last year. It was a bit of a drive, about an hour north of Chiang Rai on the scooter, in a region known as The Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet along the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak rivers. The Golden Triangle was previously the center of o***m processing and distribution in SE Asia. (There's even a museum there, The Hall of O***m. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for that.) But o***m's time has come and gone in the Golden Triangle. These days, the money is in methamphetamine (known in Thailand as "yaba", "ya" meaning drug and "ba" meaning crazy), which is far cheaper to produce and distribute on a large scale. If you hear about a huge yaba drug bust in Thailand, it was probably in the Golden Triangle. But I digress 😄
I didn't come here for yaba. What I came here to see was the cave that captivated the world almost exactly one year ago. Sadly (or maybe wisely), it is still closed off to the public. A diver did die here while rescuing those kids, after all. They have already built a statue honoring him, as well as a small museum containing various artifacts and models describing the rescue (mostly in Thai). There is more construction going on as well. Not sure what else is planned, but they are definitely not done here. And that doesn't even include all of the T-shirt, food and flower vendors that have set up shop along the road in. After years of efforts by local government and business leaders trying to lure tourist traffic to the region with little success, this place is now well on its way to becoming a tourist attraction.

21/10/2019

At Wat Huay Pla Kung. Often referred to as the Big Buddha of Chiang Rai by poorly informed Westerners like myself, this is actually a huge statue of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. It is 23 stories high and has an elevator you can take to the top to get a great panoramic view of the hills to the north of the city. I could see this statue from the balcony of my room several miles away.

20/10/2019

At the base of the bridge to The White Temple. One of the most powerful displays I've ever seen at any temple anywhere. Does it represent Hell? In a way, but Buddhists don't think of Hell the same way Christians do. In Buddhism, Hell isn't a one-way ticket. This represents the desire, anguish and pain endured on Earth during the repeated cycle of birth, death and rebirth before eventually achieving a state free of suffering. This transition is represented by the bridge and the temple itself is Nirvana.

19/10/2019

The White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) in Chiang Rai. Like The Blue Temple, it is more of a tourist attraction than an actual temple but very impressive nonetheless. No doubt the most ornate structure I've seen in Thailand.

16/10/2019

Shop cat doing what shop cats do

14/10/2019

And people ask me "Why do you go to Thailand, Ted?" 😂

07/10/2019

Whenever I take a photo, I always go for the best lighting and composition possible. It's just 2nd nature at this point. I want to make my subject and, by extension, my photo look good. But is showing something at its best an "honest" depiction of the site? I don't know if people actually care about that but I've gotten more interested in the concept over time. I'm not talking about photoshopping or altering an image, which is obviously cheating. I'm talking about what is outside the shot. What I choose to leave out of a photo is often just as important as what I choose to include. So I've decided to change things up a bit and occasionally post a "warts and all" shot as well. Things are not always as they appear.

02/10/2019

Update on Komodo Island. Looks like they aren't going to close it for a year after all. However, it's about to get a LOT more expensive...

Entry to the Indonesian island was $10, but authorities want to restrict the number of visitors.

30/09/2019

The Devil's Tear on Nusa Lembongan. With the waves slamming against the rock formations, it's a very popular spot for tourists and selfies. It can also be dangerous. People not paying attention and standing too close to the edge can slip and fall or be swept off those rocks by a rogue wave into the churning water below. Typically happens a couple times a year. In fact, while I was on the island in September, a boat was swamped by a big wave there. The captain was able to make his way to shore but the boat's two tourists drowned in the surf.

23/09/2019

Parade on Nusa Lembongan. They have a lot of festivals in Bali, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida. And I mean a lot. It's always very colorful with lots of marching and dancing and they stop traffic for as long as it takes. Not sure what this one was about. I think it was kids from different villages competing against each other for something. No idea who won, but I don't suppose that really matters.