BAMBOO

Bamboo is a grass.  A very strong grass.

In preparation for a (long-overdue) paint job, our condo building has been wrapped in 7-storeys of bamboo scaffolding.  Has been impressive to watch the workers lashing it together and generally clambering about high above the ground.

LANNA HOUSE MUSEUM

 I guess it's only fair that the traditional wooden houses from around Northern Thailand share the bill with a host of amazing trees.  Above, kiddos enjoy the shade, while a couple houses stand on stilts in the background.

Can't believe we hadn't come sooner to the open-air museum, as it sits just across the canal road from our neighborhood.   Will be great to bring friends for a picnic next visit.  About a dozen or so wooden houses have been transported and re-assembled from towns throughout the old Lanna Kingdom, as part of an amazing effort by the traditional architecture faculty at CMU. 

Eamonn loved climbing up into and exploring each house, while Ren remained a bit more hesitant... It did feel just a bit like an intrusion to enter these century old houses, where generations of families have lived.

VISAKHA BUCHA DAY

Above, Eamonn waits patiently for the monks' arrival.

Last week, Ren and Eam's school celebrated Visakha Bucha Day - a holiday that commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha.  A big day, indeed, on the Buddhist calendar.

The school day began with saay baat, as four monks passed each classroom and accepted donations of food and drink, which the children placed into the monks' alms bowls.  Eamonn chose to donate his favorite milk boxes. 

Next came the wian thian, where the children walked three times around the school's shrine of the Buddha, carrying flowers, incense, and candles (wian means circle, thian means candle).  Above, Ren walks with hands in prayer (and sporting her beloved birthday watch).

Amazing to think that the last time we celebrated Visakha Bucha here in Thailand, we were only a family of two ;)

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD CAVE

Above, our intrepid explorers, (mostly) undaunted by our march through the neighborhood underworld.

When it's (really) hot outside, why not head to the neighborhood caves?  And so we did - making the short trip down the road to Wat Tham Chiang Dao - the cave temple that gave our neighborhood its name.

A shrine room sits just below the entrance to the cave - with cracks allowing slivers of daylight to stream in.  From there we had a guide lead us by lamplight through a series of 'rooms', with some scrambling/crawling/ducking through the connecting portals.

Unfortunately, my phone camera - and need to have hands and eyes on Eam - didn't lend itself to photos.  Plenty of rock formations in the form of animals, decent amount of bat guano, slight dripping sounds - an immersive experience.  Then back above ground for some well deserved ice cream :)