Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Wandering...Out & About Near Mae Hong Son

On one of our days here we went wandering. The first stop was up the mountain behind the town to the temple that looks out over the valley. This one mountain ridge sits in the middle of the valley, so on one side you look down over Mae Hong Son and on the other side you look down into an agricultural area with citrus orchards and the only church building I have seen thus far.
It was quite the view down to our little home by the lake! 
And looking the other direction. Don't know why the photo looks like it has a film over it, but that red building is the church and you can see the citrus groves...I've been eating all kinds of tangerines here...little tiny gems and larger murcotts. So yummy.

And of course the temple, the Buddha and the assorted shrines that I'm not sure what they are for.


Remember the black and white bunting is up because of the King's death 6-8 weeks ago.
And the ever present lion guardians. 
A set of three bells with various sized wooden knockers. Some temples have the Chinese gongs, large ones or a series of assorted sizes, and some have bells. The bells are intersting as many of them are not round but flattened. Definitely makes a different sound.
Was interesting to see this Rotary International sign here at this temple mount. I'm not quite sure what the Rotary Club does...I'm thinking good works projects of some sort. Intersting to see it here.
At every temple, there are a variety of "memorial" type flowers/candles.etc that you buy by donation which goes to support the temple. This is kind of a miniature river floating with little boats with flowers and candles in memory of someone who has died. A young man stopped and chatted with me, asking if I was a Christian...he told me he was a Buddhist, but happy to see me. He took a photo of the two of us. A pleasant exchange.
And this little gold leaf tree. You purchase a leaf and write on it and then hang it on the tree. Not sure if anything happens particularly with the hanging "leaves", but would be a really nice prayer tree at home. Again, the purchase supports the temple and the monks who take care of it.

We drove down the mountain and went on our way. Later we drove down to the little valley with the church and the citrus groves. A very large building, but no one around. We could see in the windows that it was decorated for Christmas and I saw the small worship band up on the stage. Disappointed not to run into any one. 
Our next stop was a delightful coffee shop along the road overlooking this beautiful valley. The menu offered all sorts of coffees and teas, hot, iced or shake (which is frappe). I had a mocha shake. : ) And we shared some little cookies. 
There were people out working in the various patches...of course the rice is all harvested. The burning season will be in March/April when the field stubble is all burned in preparation for a new crop.
I've been amazed as we've traveled up here in the mountains how much this area reminds me of traveling the old Route 60 from Clifton Forge, Virginia to Charleston, West Virginia. The vendors right up on the highway. The families struggling to make a living. The winding roads and little valleys. I took this photo because it reminds me of coming around the curve from Clifton Forge toward Iron Gate...the rocky outcropping...and there is a river at the base...smaller than the James River, but the geography is so similar. Makes the mountains here feel very familiar...different vegetation because it doesn't have the winters of Virginia, but lots of woods, which I love.

I've been up early this morning working on this before we leave Mae Hong Son to head to Tee's village, where I don't think I'll have an outside world connection. So I'll post this little glimpse and work on more another time.

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