Stanley's pictures: This Was An Interesting Display,

Saturday, 8 February 2014

This Was An Interesting Display,

although there were lots of ornamental plants for sale,

it is also a show case for agriculture, this exhibit taking us through the growth and development of the rice crop,

the growth of the crop,

being shown,

through different stages,

to the full sized plant,

another mushroom growing outlet,

these looking slightly different from the ones we looked at before,

also some more rice,

with a flow chart,

and some samples of the finished product,

these students taking an interest in one of the displays,

whilst this workshop was making some thing interesting, they were taking small discarded pieces of coconut shell dust and fiber, compressing it and making biodegradable plant pots,

we found our way into another plant aisle,

past an orchid stall,

with the type that makes the beautiful fragrance,

then in complete contrast to the hardware section,

but not to worry,

only a short walk away,

there was an orchid stall with these cascades of orchids at the front of it,

and underneath them another impressive display,

I am not sure what it is called, but it has my vote for looking pretty,

as does this one,

then a stall I remember from my youth when we holidayed at Brighton in the UK, at the front of the aquarium there was a man sitting behind a flame making glass figures, not unnaturally we called him the glass animal man, and here is another one,

this one makes fish as well,

it was so nice to watch a craftsman at work,

how many countless hours,

must he have spent to learn his skill?

both this young lady and myself were totally captivated,

then opposite I noticed this booth,

maned by a number of young students,

crafting clay figures,

and a good job they were making of them too,

total concentration,

the figures were allowed to dry,

and then painted,

though I have to say,

I do not know what the figures represent,

we next made our way along one of the food stalls,

I have often seen these before,

I call them 'black coconuts' but I can not ever remember ever having eaten one,

we then spotted one of Diana's favorites, rice in a grass wrapper,

we do not see it for sale very often, so we bought a good supply,

the stall also sold sticky rice in bamboo stems,

we walked past this lady cooking, on our way back we will see what she is cooking,

next some cooked duck,

then another of Diana's favorites,

fresh dates!

pink is the colour,

whilst we had seen plenty of fish for sale,

we had not seen them prepared like this before,

I thought the seller said they were tilpia, but some how that did not seem correct,

here are some that were cooked earlier,

on our way back, pretty in pink had had enough, it's a dogs life!

meanwhile the lady cooking the food had gone on a pace,

it looks like a mussel omelet,

fresh popcorn anyone?

the food stalls seem to go on forever,

mind the boiling oil! it always makes me worry when I go past a wok of boiling oil,

a few candied titbits,

and a few pancakes,

cooked, rolled,

and ready to go,

plenty of spices on sale,

as well as this new drink,

we had not seen before,

we made our way back to the truck, passing another handicraft stall,

we decided not to go along the Sunkivitt on the way home but go along the back roads that would lead us to Soi Khatalo, the road almost opposite Thepprisit,

now if you get lost do not blame me! past the sign,

so off we go turning right out of the car park,

for the first few miles,

there is not a lot to see,

the figures above my head were put there when I bought the truck, they mean something like, 'do not drive like a monkey' I was told,

going up the hill and down the other side you will come to a T junction, turn right,

down the hill about 400 meters,

and turn left into old Huay Yai town,

there are a few shops,

on both sides of the road,

and a school,

on the right hand side,

continue through the town,

coming out the other side of it,

a huge area of land has been cleared,

continue along the new road,

and buildings,

till you come to a T junction, turn left,

now the next bit is the tricky bit, go along for about a mile or so then take the first right, you will know if it is the correct road as you will see this housing complex on your left,

the entrance to one of the houses,

looking into the complex,

a few pedal cyclists stop for a breather,

it has been years since I have been along this road, I was amazed at the amount of new projects out here,

after some time you will pass this tree which has lots of ribbons tied around it,

once past it if you look to your left you will see in the far distance this hill top temple,

we decided not to go to the top to admire the view, but I have driven there in the past to look at the view, the road you need is just past the temple and it doubles back on itself,

we continued on for a few miles,

to the next temple complex,

I knew there was a temple on the right, but this is a new one on the left I had not seen before,

the original temple,

as I remembered it,

again all new to me,

there are lots of smaller temples along the boundary wall,

leaving the temples behind us we make our way across a bridge,

the view looking towards the sea,

having crossed the bridge the road looks like it swings round to the right,

but we take the left which looks improbable as it looks like you are doubling back on yourself,

but there it is the temple in the distance,

if you look across the river and do not see this the chances are you will miss Soi Khatalo, you will then slowly climb a hill going through a small village,

but we then stopped in amazement at this sight,

the tress were laden with bright yellow flowers,

they looked so artificial, but but was their natural colour, continuing along take the second on the right, eventually you will see a temple complex on your left, turn left and follow the road, at one stage again it almost appear you will double back on yourself,