Although I left getting my Week 18 picture for my Project52 to practically the last second, I remain reasonably pleased with how it turned out, though it does … Read more Week 18: Sky
The reason I had chosen Surin Beach for the field test is a very sad one. The military government currently in power in Thailand has decided that any and all business anywhere near the beach (any beach, at least in Phuket) are now illegal. Strictly speaking, the beaches are all public land and they had the relatively reasonable idea that no one should be making money with land they don’t own. That part is understandable, though it did result in the removal of all the beach chairs, which has created a lot of complaining online.
My plan had been to repeat the massively successful shooting of Songkran in Chiang Mai last year. Having previously read somewhere (I forget where, sadly) that “if the end of your lens isn’t wet, you’re not close enough,” I had decided that I wanted to get in really close for some great action shots of the water throwing. From this was born the Songkran Camera Protector Mk.1 – a sealable sandwich bag with a hole ripped in the end for the lens, held in place by the lens hood.
Week 15’s subject being “far away” was kind of coincidental as I was just setting off on my Songkran travels, which I recounted in a sequence of travel posts earlier. As a result, I was “far away” from my home in Phuket – at least 645 km, if you want to be precise.
The picture I ended up using was, like Week 13’s “technology” shot, one which I repurposed from a work assignment. I was sent to review Chomchan by One Chun Restaurant in Phuket Town, which proved to be a tasty endeavour. I obviously cannot write a full review here without risking a conflict of interest, but I will say that it was very enjoyable and is a highly recommendable place.
The third and last of my Songkran travel aims was ticked off a couple of days ago and I’m now back in Phuket and back to work. My few days in Pattaya were a peaceful and very enjoyable way to end my journey, catching up with friends and family and sharing in the joy of a wedding.
I have now completed the second objective of my Songkran travels – celebrating the festival in Bangkok. It was exactly as chaotic as I’d been led to believe, but it was a lot of fun and a worthwhile experience.
I am delighted to report that I have completed the first of my main objectives for this bout of Songkran travelling, though at quite a significant cost. I came dangerously close to suffering from sunstroke and my camera is now inoperable.
Well, it’s fair to say that the bus was a terrible idea for my Songkran travels. Should definitely have taken the plane!
As I write this article, I am on the bus bound for Hua Hin on the first leg of my Songkran travels. It’s a 10-hour journey, so I have plenty of time to get to work on the task of turning this blog back to the travel theme it was intended to have, instead of the photography journal it seems to have become!
