Local Color

Here in Thailand, Maya is popular.

But here, just as elsewhere, people yearn for peace.

And while in the West everyone is setting up the Christmas tree and roasting the chestnuts, waiting for Santa Claus, here in Chiang Mai, the prince of peace is Buddha.

We took a little tour around the local area to visit a community project centered on documentary makers in Asia and found this charming complex of Buddhist temples. The doors were closed and the peaceful Buddha was resting or perhaps meditating, but we passed the gates just to look around.

I'm with Nana Priya on the left and Vrinda Devi Dasi 

A Local Buddhist Temple, closed for the afternoon.

It is pleasing to take a quiet walk around the grounds and absorb the contemplative atmosphere of the gardens.

A dragon (or is it a Naga?) guards the entrance

In the gardens behind this newer wooden structure is an older shrine built in stone, carved and crafted long ago.

As Buddha was resting for the afternoon, we left him in peace and moved on. The Documentary project was down the street. 

This is the community project on Documentaries. http://www.doc-arts.asia/current-exhibition/ "Documentary Arts Asia." They have a bookshop and a library and show documentaries on Asia made by local film-makers. Since we're having a go at documentary-making it seemed worthwhile to pay them a visit.

I rooted around in the library for a while, looking for information on Angkor, but there was nothing in their library about Cambodia. With the American action in Cambodia during the War in Vietnam, and subsequent regimes and troubles including Pol Pot, academic research and archaeological finds have been limited and the literature is not as extensive as one would hope. 

So, in my best documentary style, I caught a photo of this cat taking the sun. Cat on a hot tin roof, anyone?

Determined to find some more local color, and curious about the way of life of average Thai citizens, I spurred my friends to drive me to the Big C supermarket. Supermarkets always teach me a lot about the places I visit and each one has a different character. So we hopped in the hero-wagon and drove to the big C.

What strikes me about the Big C is the vast number of motorcycles outside. But the produce section also has a great quantity of strange fruit. Papayas, Mangos, Lichee fruits, huge bags of tiny mandarins. 

Shiny Apples wrapped in plastic

Green Pumpkins: very popular

Dried Tamarinds

Shiny red apples wrapped in plastic, bright green pumpkins that look like dinosaurs. Green on the outside but screaming orange on the inside: great for pumpkin soup. Huge bags of dried tamarinds for making a piquant iced tea.  Perfect for those hot tropical December afternoons.  So while in Boston people are drinking hot mulled cider, and in Moscow its hot black tea, here in Chiang Mai there's nothing like a tall cold glass of tamarind tea on a balmy evening.

But tamaraind's not really my cup of tea. I was looking for some Lapsang-Souchong but settled on good old Jasmine.

I find the Jasmine tea helps me to focus the mind, while the soothing fragrance of the Jasmine improves my over-all mood. Thanks for checking in.