#facesofthailand

[wild-studio]

Monday’s Traffic 

[jaymehalbritter]

When I was in Phetchaburi, I met this man, who came to visit a woman, that was selling corn to tourists to feed to monkeys at the base of this historic park in town. Got that? He asked me if I wanted to go out dancing with him at this gathering at a temple, which seemed rather curious, so I asked @jeanichiwaaa who I was staying with if she wanted to go, and before you know it we were on our motorbike following him into the night. When we got there, there was a huge stage with groups of girls gathered around in what looked like teams. We were sure that there was going to be a dance competition. There was some announcements, and then let's say six groups of an average 15 girls got on stage. They announce something else, and then I would say easily 100 men walked up on stage, music started playing, and they did what looked like a somewhat simple choreographed dance with them moving in a circle. We were sure that this was just some sort of an introduction, and that at some point the competition would begin. It never did. For hours, they played a song or two, men danced with these girls, the song would end, the stage would clear, and a few minutes later they would start up again. At one point, our host insisted that I get up on stage with him, and, the next thing you know, I was one of the hundred men dancing around on stage. It was a riot, and an experience that will go down in the log of "Noodle's Curious Adventures." My nickname is Noodle by the by, if you read this far… Then you learned something new about me, if you didn't know it already. 😊 ____________________________ This is 5/6 from my End of the Road series I entered into the Photo District News 2017 Photo Annual competition. This is the second year in the row I have enter the competition, and it has been a great way to showcase some of what I have photographed in the last year. @pdnonline #facesofthailand

[jaymehalbritter]

I met this amazing monk Boonsi while I was traveling around country roads outside of Chaing Mai. He spoke English really well and we sat and talked for hours about life, and Buddhism. He lives in a small temple in the middle of nowhere, with 27 cats. There is an older temple up the hill he led me to which was so hidden that you would never know it was there. Like many places I encountered, I was the only white person that had ever been up there, and there is something really special about that. So here's to Boonsi, and adventure, and life! _______________________ This is 4/6 from my End of the Road series I entered into the Photo District News 2017 Photo Annual competition. This is the second year in the row I have enter the competition, and it has been a great way to showcase some of what I have photographed in the last year. @pdnonline #facesofthailand

[jaymehalbritter]

After a long day of chasing caves, I motorbiked through this amazing village that had the cutest wooden houses on either side of the road. I ended up meeting this man's daughter, and asked if I could take his photo with his cows, which where in between a few houses just on the side of the road. That moment, along with this photo, became one of my favorites from my trip. _______________________ This is 3/6 from my End of the Road series I entered into the Photo District News 2017 Photo Annual competition. This is the second year in the row I have enter the competition, and it has been a great way to showcase some of what I have photographed in the last year. @pdnonline #facesofthailand

[jaymehalbritter]

I was lucky enough to make it to Chaing Mai for Loi Krathong, an annual lantern lighting ceremony that takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. With the death of the King, The country decided that they were going to mourn for a year, which also meant that there was talk of ceasing celebrations. So as I was heading to Chang Mai via bus, I didn't know if the festival was going to happen or not. As I heard it, you couldn't stop the people from participating, and I was fortunate enough to get to experience one of the most impressive things I've seen as thousands of lanterns were lit and floated into the air along the Mae Ping River. _______________________ This is 2/6 from my End of the Road series I entered into the Photo District News 2017 Photo Annual competition. This is the second year in the row I have enter the competition, and it has been a great way to showcase some of what I have photographed in the last year. @pdnonline #facesofthailand

[jaymehalbritter]

Less than a month before I visited Thailand, their king Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away. When I was in Bangkok, they opened up the King's Grand Palace to the public, and I ended up spending two days there as it was such a fascinating phenomenon. A once-in-a-lifetime experience, I was one of very few travelers who was there to witness the thousands who came out dressed in black to pay homage to their beloved King. Each day I sat next to a different large family that I ended up engaging with in the most beautiful ways. The first day these two women offered me chicken wings that Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn had made herself on the street next to the queue of hundreds that waited to be let into the palace. I spent the next few hours with them. The second day I ended up next to this family with a group of children that I ended up playing with, and by the end of it I was laughing and taking pictures of them all and they had really just taking me in. It was truly and amazing experience, one that I feel very fortunate to have witnessed. This photo was taken in a water taxi on the way to the palace. Many people brought pictures of the king with them. _______________________ This is 1/6 from my End of the Road series I entered into the Photo District News 2017 Photo Annual competition. This is the second year in the row I have enter the competition, and it has been a great way to showcase some of what I have photographed in the last year. @pdnonline #facesofthailand

[jaymehalbritter]

This is the last photo of my Faces of Thailand series that I entered for the PDN 2017 Photo Annual competition. It dawned on me yesterday that it would have been nice if I had written a bit about each photo as they each have such interesting stories. I was adventuring on motorbikes one day with @carrie_gilmer when we came across this 94 year old Monk blessing a car. After a bit of observing, a man that spoke some English invited us inside and we were offered to be blessed by the monk as well. Dipping sticks of incense in water and then splashing it in our faces (part of the ceremony of being blessed) and after a short blessing ceremony, you are essentially blessed! (Carrie could do a much better job of explaining this). There is a small ritual and then you are given a bracelet that seems to offer some sort of protection or continuation of this blessing. (I never asked!) In this case, we were given a small medallion that had the face of the monk on it. It was incredibly sweet and special and when you become a 94 year old Monk, I can only imagine that you're kind of a big deal! 😊 This turned out to be one of my favorite photos from my trip. So here's the generic caption as well: For the second year in a row I entered photos into the Photo District News 2017 Photo Annual competition. This year I entered 2 series of 6 photos. This is 6/6 from my Faces Of Thailand series. @pdnonline #facesofthailand

[jaymehalbritter]

For the second year in a row I entered photos into the Photo District News 2017 Photo Annual competition. This year I entered 2 series of 6 photos. This is 5/6 from my Faces Of Thailand series. @pdnonline #facesofthailand