Lanna Bush Hash 26, Phrae, Thailand

This past Saturday, 25 February,  another Chiangmai hasher and I travelled four hours south to the town of Phrae for another Lanna Bush Hash- our 26th.  A larger group drove or flew the 350 miles up from Bangkok.  Another hasher, Belly Dancer, come over from England.  The LBH as we call it is a men's hash, usually 20-25 kilometers/12.5-16.5 miles over terrein that varies from flat, back-country dirt roads to difficult, mountainous ascents and descents.  We usually start around 1p.m./13:00 and the last hashers limp in before dark hopefully.  We do four or five of these runs a year and the sites range all over Thailand.  About half of us show up at our hotels or guest houses on Friday, then go out for a good meal and a few beers that evening.  The rest arrive the day of the run.  

Most of the hashers who come on these "Bush Hashes" have been at it for years.  Most (most, I say..) are very savvy about gear- good trail shoes, water packs, hats, and gaiters for some of us, are standard.  Tip Toe, on the right, is wearing a pair of thin gaiters for protection against thorns, thistles and "poison ivy" related plants.  "Whore Monger" on the left below set the trails for this run so he is relaxing in sandals.  We load up on "carbs" the night before- beer the preferred medium but pasta and rice okay too.  Run day the operative words are "hydrate, hydrate, HYDRATE!" 

A few more group pics as we wait for straglers to come down.

Belly Dancer on the left above and Tip Toe below.

 Leaving aboard the "red bus", and getting it together at the hash start below.  

The obligatory group photos before we head out.  There were ten of us for this outing.

Rope.. Why is he bringing rope?

The start of the first leg.  The run is set in three legs with water and snack stops between.  The 1st leg was 7km/4.5 miles, billed as "flat" (NOT!!).  The 2nd was also about 7 km but "hilly with nice views", and the 3rd leg was 9 km/6.5 miles of "undulating trails!" Everyone has the option of bailing out at the stops- e.g Tip Toe was getting seriously stressed by the 100 degree heat and opted to stop after the first leg.  I did the 1st 7 km, felt okay but decided to pass on the hilly section, and did the last 9 km leg.   Four hashers did all three legs and finished close to 5 p.m.  

These kinds of tin or thatch roofed shelters are all over the Thai countryside, from the rice paddies to the steep hillsides cultivated with corn.  The field workers use them to rest during breaks. cook a meal, or maybe stay overnight.  The "pond" has been excavated and stores water for the dry season.       

In addition to being very hot, the fields, hills and mountains are tinder dry this time of year.  The pitted  monsoonal mud has case-hardened, the treacherous ravine floors and creek beds are hidden under teak leaves,  the bamboo crackles and rustles, thorny vines lay in wait everywhere, and the aggressive red ants have no sense of humor at all!

If you like this sort of stuff it makes for a most excellent adventure!

 Sometimes it's hard to tell if people are living here.  Places that seem abandoned my be inhabited when the growing season is more favorable.  One business that thrives during the dry season is making charcoal.  Below, dry wood is stacked alongside the two kilns waiting to be charred and bagged for market.

I have a little Nikon "tough camera" that I "stole" from one of the hashers for half price ($60).  It's supposedly waterproof down to 50 feet, can be dropped from 6 feet and it's small enough and light enough to strap onto the belt of my fanny pack and take along.  It takes okay pictures but unfortunately, if you don't recharge the battery the night before, it runs out of juice- which is what happened after this picture was taken..  On On!    

A High Monk's Passing 10.2- Gestures of Love and Respect

Sometime before three, out on Suthep Road at the entrance to Wat Suandok, traffic is still moving normally.  But a sudden flurry of cellphone calls, police walkie-talkie chatter, and a noticable tightning of security, signal that the head of the procession has turned the corner from the moat road.  It is now less than a mile away.  People have begun to gather along the road side, police are checking vehicles entering the wat, and, though the procession is still thirty minutes distant, heads are turning in that direction. 

Monks are gathering in the shade near the local police station.. 

 ..while across the entrance way others have secured a shady spot of their own.

Many students were among the onlookers.  Wat Suandok is also the site of a prestigious Buddhist university- most of the monks in these earlier photos attend there, and the main campus of Chiangmai University is just a mile away.

The closest monk in this photo seemed to be more than just an observer.  I saw him in different places during the afternoon, sometimes giving instructions but most of the time carefully observing.  He seems to be looking at me but if you zoom in it's apparent that someone or something in the the crowd behind me has his attention.

Traffic on Suthep Road comes to a standstill as the lead vehicle in the procession approaches.

With just one exception, the entire procession was on foot.  Mid-afternoon temperatures in Chiangmai this time of year are in the 90s.  They had been walking for more than three hours on baking pavement, most wearing only flip-flops on their feet.

The one exception..  I wondered if he was now the senior abbot at Wat Buph Pharam.  He looked so young, but obviously he was highly ranked.  He held that pose- no movement of his hands, no turning of his head, not even a glance, as he passed.

Did they stop to rest?  Did they get to change positions or switch off?  How could she still manage to still look serene?

Led by the eldest, hundreds of monks moved into view.  The rope you see looped back on both sides for 30-40 yards.  At the far end it was attached to the funeral wagon bearing Pha Thep Veehsutthikhun's casket.  Some of the monks were laboring in the heat and other monks were closely watching them. 

As the senior monks turned into Wat Suandok a hush fell on the crowd.  Some watched silently while others folded their hands in respectful wais.  Still others recorded the event from favorable vantage points.  The funeral wagon, with his casket visible in the curtained tower, began it's final turn.  

A High Monk's Passing 10.1- Wednesday Mid-Day.. Preparation and Anticipation

By late Wednesday morning activity had increased noticeably.  There were many more people walking around, taking pictures, or reserving plastic chairs under the canopies.  There were three sheltered seating areas- two for the public and another, next to the main wat, set aside for monks only.  Seating capacity was well over a thousand.  Seats in the first rows of each were designated for VIPs.  High ranked monks, Thai hi-so, and patrons had seats that were either higher, had more cushioning, or were cloth covered.  Some center seats had small tables alongside as well.   In Thailand it is always readily apparent who sits where.

  

Almost everyone came up to pose in front of the bier.  There were so many people milling around that it was difficult to get clear shots of the various groups.  The mood seemed both somber and festive.

Those having their pictures taken ran the gamut of Thai society.

Monks wanted memories as well.  Some of them seemed as much in awe of the occasion as the general public.

Shortly after noon a crew arrived and began erecting scaffolding on the north side of the bier.

At first I thought they were rigging fireworks or incendiary devices.  But the bamboo sticks were for securing the scaffolding.  The thicker, dark-green line was tied around the joints, the piece of bamboo rotated to snub it tight, and the lighter green twine on the end was tied off to keep the bamboo from unwinding.

The scaffolding rose as a series of platforms providing access to the back of the main tower.

It was only when they removed the curtain partition that I realized what the scaffolding was for.  This was how the casket of Pha Thep Veehsutthikwun would be passed up, hands to hands, to be placed in the central tower.

Even as the scaffolding was being put up, the mile long funeral procession had already left Wat Buph Pharam, Thais were lining the five mile route, and crowds had begun to gather around the entrance to Wat Suandok to await its arrival.   A truly momentous event for Thais was now underway, and it was with excitement, awe, and anticipation, that I waited with them.  An amazing day already and it had just begun!

A High Monk's Passing 9- Construction Complete

A note on the sequencing..  I've made more than a few mistakes loading the raw files into LightRoom, selecting the ones to edit, doing the editing, converting them to jpgs, and then uploading the jpgs into the blog.  Some were lost, others morphed into a different chapter.  So I've dropped #7 and #8 in order to keep the order in which I've loaded the raw files unchanged.  LR hates file location or file name changes!

Early the next day, Wednesday. the construction looked complete.  Paper mache rock gardens, surrounded by flower arrangements topped with white peacocks, framed the main staircase and graced the front corners.  Pha Thep Weehsutthikwun's portrait had been placed to the right of the front staircase while in the background crypts containing the ashes of Thai royalty stood silently.  Thais- who always first waied  or prayed before his portrait, and visitors, gathered to look or walk around, pausing often to reflect or to take pictures.

The picture taking here was different from the usual head cocked to one side, big smile and flash a "V" routine.  Endless selfies of course, but more often, individuals, couples or groups would position themselves in front of the bier, looking respectful if not always somber, hands at their sides as their pictures were snapped.  Smart phones outnumbered traditional cameras 10-1 at least.

A sign of the times..  A monk pays his respect with a wai, while his cellphone is clasped between his outstretched fingers.

While Wednesday's early morning visitors at Wat Suandok probably numbered in the dozens, at Wat Buph Pharam in downtown Chiangmai, hundreds were already gathering for a morning of prayer, remembrance and millenniums old ritual.  Around noon Pha Thep Weehsutthikwun's casket, to be accompanied by thousands of local devotees and high ranking monks from across Thailand, would begin the five mile, hours long, procession to Wat Suandok.  His arrival and interment atop the bier would begin three days of mourning and celebration here before his cremation Saturday evening.