Mae Hong Son Vignettes

Indira and I made a 7-11 run one afternoon and wandered a little further afield. 

The municipal building had two of these sweet elephant topiaries.

We made a stop at what we have dubbed "The Woolworth's" which is an all purpose store. Need hair clips...come on in. Need a shovel...come on in...need a cooking pot for four or forty, come on in! 

This photo is for Simeon--the coffee machine in the guest house. When you put your cup underneath and pressed the button, it ground just enough beans for your cup and proceeded to make and put out your coffee.

 We had a nice dinner at Salween River Restaurant...

...where I had chicken schnitzel with buttered baked potato and a green salad. Yum!


One evening we walked through the market...

..it’s kind of a magical time.

The gold and silver temples are strung with lights.

We stopped at this stand for a delightful treat...with bananas, of course.

The dough was so thin and stretchable.

Then it is cooked on an oiled griddle. If you want, they break and egg on top and then flip it when the bottom is cooked, so you have a little omelette inside with whatever else you have on it. Ours had no egg, banana and was drizzled with sweetened condensed milk, which is a staple sweet topping here. Quite yummy.

On our last night, Tee took Indira and I through the two temples, one gold, one silver and their museums. Interesting.

 It was a beautiful evening to be out.

 Always appreciated signs translated into English.

 The silver work is amazingly detailed.

 There's my lion again!

People praying before the Buddha.

 

The lamp globes are  in the shape of blossoms not yet opened.

 The gong outside the temple.

Another place for memorials...candles floating around a shrine.

 Inside the museum were some musical instruments that caught my eye. I could play the first line of Joy to the World on this xylophone type instrument. : ) (Okay, all you musicians, quite chuckling).

 Here were gongs of different sizes, therefor tones, to play.

The paintings around the room reminded me of the old downtown Modesto Post Office.

As a woman, I was not allowed to go any closer to these Buddhas.

 Good thing there are zoom lenses. 

 This is an apparently particularly ancient Buddha.

 Quite the silver work piece...haven't seen too many dragons. I'm understanding that they are more Chinese than Thai in culture.

 This exhibit caught my eye. The English is stilted, but essentially it's those dying and waiting to join, once again, in the circle of life as Buddhism understands it. 

I think two things about Buddhism make me sad: 1) the lack of knowing God--not just about Him, but being personally under His wing. The old "4 Spiritual Laws" I learned as a teenager are still as fresh and applicable today. They start with "God loves you and has a plan for your life." That concept is lacking in Buddhism and it makes me want to stop folks on the street and tell them. (I'm not a scholar on the topic, just an observer.) and 2) the lack of eternal hope. There is a sense of resignation to life, hardships, etc. and somehow a "hope" that the next time around it will be better seems very empty. 

I do appreciate the devotion I observe and how much it permeates and drives their culture. No one apologizes for it! Their purposeful connection to those who have gone before holds some lessons for me, too. I live in a very trite culture.

Another shrine with memorial flowers. I like the silver temples and shrines the best. Just totally an aesthetic thing for me. 

And so our time at Mae Hong Son comes to a close. Tomorrow, Thursday, we're off to the jungle!