Mae Sariang, Thailand

Madoka had to go back to her friend's house this morning to give her a gift that she forgot to bring yesterday. I didn't go with her. We parted ways after breakfast and I wandered about Mae Hong Song taking photographs. Tiny city, two hours was more than enough to cover anything interesting. I just wandered along anything that looked like a major road. I went part way up a mountain to a temple and around a small lake I found.

Series VI, Roll 7 (Pentax K2, Ilford HP5): Mae Hong Song

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Frame 27 - the small lake

Frames 28, 29 - the temple up on the hillside:




We met up at the guesthouse and headed over to the bus station to catch the bus to Mae Sariang. Mae Sariang is even smaller and more deserted than Mae Hong Song. Less interesting. But we weren’t there to see the town. It was the site of the ABSDF (All Burma Student Democratic Front) office, and our take off point for the camp.


Frame 30 - Madoka got back to the guesthouse before I did. I snapped this as I walked up.

Once we got there, we had to find a place to stay. I saw a guesthouse in the guidebook that looked decent, but the proprietor of another guesthouse met us when we got off the bus, and en route to the guesthouse that I had chosen, Madoka decided that the person was really nice and we decided to go to his guesthouse.

We found the guesthouse, and I rested while Madoka went out to find a phone. I appreciated the time alone. It was late in the afternoon and it was overcast. Madoka wasn’t gone for long and after she returned, we set out together to buy some stuff to bring to the refugee camp. We retraced our steps back into town along a dirt road and a bridge that crossed over a river into town. There were some shops open. Madoka had to make another phone call, and then we found that the market was closed for holiday. We managed to buy some fruit, vegetables, and milk to bring to the camp.

Around the guesthouse:


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Frame 32, 35 - These were chess tables on the guesthouse property. I'm sure they get used during the tourist season.





Frame 33 - The area around the guesthouse didn't look like much, but the rainy season had started.


Frame 34 - This river ran by the guesthouse. I think I was shooting while Madoka was out.

The evening was...serene. We had dinner at the guesthouse. It not being peak tourist season, there was no one else there aside from the proprietor and a lone Japanese traveler. Dinner evolved into a conversation between the four of us and we spoke on various topics. The traveler knew some English, as did the proprietor who said he picked it up from tourists. We talked for several hours. It was an interesting little conversation on an interesting little evening in an interesting little guesthouse.

The guesthouse was on the outskirts of town and there was no one else around. The proprietor did the cooking himself. He had a scrapbook filled with postcards from people who had stayed at his guesthouse and wrote him after returning home. Finally, the proprietor decided to call it a night and went home to his family. The three of us talked a little longer and then Madoka and I retired as well. Serene evening.