Out and About in MHS

Explored MHS a bit today--played the tourist, with camera in hand. I’ve been itching to take pictures of the flora and fauna here. The camera and my amateur photography skills really don’t do this place justice, but you get the idea!

[Thai Hospitality]
I stopped in a souvenir shop that seemed a little less kitschy than others. Struck up a conversation with the shop owner, a kind older man who showed me a picture of his beautiful home and invited me to visit. I think he was offering to rent me a room, but from what I am learning about Thai people, he may have been just inviting me to visit him and his wife! He said she would be so glad to meet me, because she stays home all day by herself, and their only daughter is studying in India.

[My Secret Garden]
I had read that Romtai offers bungalows behind the main building where I am staying, so after having lived here a week, I finally decided to check it out. Little did I know that beyond the small dirt parking lot was a veritable tropical paradise: all kinds of fruit trees, of which I could only identify the coconut tree; lotus ponds with magenta and lilac-colored blossoms (and to think that I was taking pictures of the single lotus blossom in the pot out front!); wooden bridges; stone pathways lined with colorful wildflowers; two one-story terra cotta dwellings with pretty mosaic-adorned walls; and the most charming bungalows.

Mommy and Daddy, I was thinking of you as I took these pictures! Enjoy!

I want one! Apparently, you don’t need a license—all you need are guts!

Every Buddhist home has one of these. I snuck a picture when no one was around, because I wasn’t sure if it is considered irreverent. I wish I could take a picture of the little boys in their bright orange monk’s robes. They are so cute!