Last Updated on January 23, 2014 by Nancie
Welcome to another week of Travel Photo Thursday, week 161 (can you believe it!?). I’m in Mae Hong Son this week, after a very long bus ride from Chiang Mai; nine hours to be exact! Have enjoyed this laid back town for the past few days. Heading back to Chiang Mai tomorrow, and hopefully the trip back will be a few hours shorter. I’ve managed to secure a seat in a private van that only takes six hours! I’ve had some great photo opportunities while I’ve been here, and I’m going to share with you one of my favorite shots from the week.
To join in the Travel Photo Thursday fun simply post a photo on your blog.
Return here and place your link in the Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.
Please post a link to a post featuring a travel photo, not simply a link to your blog.
The Twitter hash tag for Travel Photo Thursday is #TPThursday.
As a courtesy please post a link to Budget Travelers Sandbox.
Like most towns in Thailand, Mae Hong Song has its share of beautiful Buddhist temples. Although this is high season, the temples were often empty with the exception of the monks. I managed to catch this shot…
He looks like he could be doing some deep thinking, or maybe he’s just having a quiet peaceful moment 🙂
___
Monks bowls in the temple; Mae Hong Son. Love the symmetry!
xxxxxx
This is the 161st edition of Travel Photo Thursday. You can browse the archives here.
___
[box type=”shadow”]You can follow BTS on…
Foursquare
[/box]
___
35 responses to “Travel Photo Thursday — January 23, 2014 — Mae Hong Son Moments”
161 weeks! amazing! and congratulations.
These temples certainly do offer places for quiet contemplation away from the crowds.
Enjoy your bus ride back. Have a wonderful week and thanks for hosting!
Hi Jill! Made it back in only 5.5 hours. The van was pure luxury! 🙂
Nine hours is a long bus ride Nancie. That’s when I think it’s worth coughing up a few extra bucks for a shorter ride. Lucky you though still in Thailand.Mind you it will be 13C in Calgary on the weekend – almost beach weather.
Nice shot of those monks bowls.
Hi Leigh! Yes, was never my intent to take the local bus. I was told that the first van went at 6:30 am. Turned out that was wrong. First bus was at6:30,first van at 9am. I had the choice of sitting and waiting for 2 hours for the van or sitting on the bus. I opted for the bus 🙂 The van back today was so much nicer! Have fun in Calgary this weekend, sounds like a heat wave 🙂
So… you’re back in CM already? (i.e. I thought you’d not brought a computer to MHS). Hope you had a great time – eager to hear your tales.
Meanwhile… speaking of “monks” – couldn’t help but add my (coincidentally) most recent TL post on my overnight stay at a monastery in Nepal.
Furthermore (speaking yet again of “monks”) shortly I shall be publishing a post on the **10 THOUSAND** monk procession recently here in Chiang Mai. lol, I guess “monks-a-plenty” is the name of the game here in Thailand 😉
Ah yes, still trying to figure out how I could have missed 10,000 monks 🙂 (shaking head). One with we can be guaranteed here in Thailand is monks!
I have not heard of Mae Hong Son Nancie. What amazing symmetry. I would love to have spied that and taken a photo! I know how you feel about the bus ride. Our 11 hour bus ride from Battambang to Kampot ended up taking 14 hours. Hope your return one is reduced by a couple of hours. 🙂
Hi Jan! I’ve done a few 14 hours rides over the years. I always wonder how my legs work after sitting for so long! Thankfully, my ride back was much shorter, and in a comfortable seat. 🙂
i can imagine that bus ride and hope this next one is much shorter! Wonderful photos today – look forward to more reports from where ever you end up! Safe travels, my friend!
Hi Jackie! Thanks. I live to tell the tales 🙂
I hope the bus ride isn’t too long and arduous. I love and hate them in equal measure. Love the picture of the monk bowls in the temple, the flash of colour and the symmetry make it very special.
By the way, instead of linking at the bottom of each blog post, I’ve recently linked to Budget Travellers Sandbox in the sidebar on my blog – at the top of the list. I hope this is acceptable. I didn’t want you to think that I’d forgotten.
Hi Johanna! The thing about bus rides (at least for me) is that you get to see so much of the country.
However you are linking seems to work 🙂
Thailand looks like an amazing country. I wonder what the monk was thinking about!
Safe travels, Nancie.
Hi Carolyn! That is the question, eh? 🙂
I too love your photo of the monk’s bowls…beautiful. I look at shots like your one of the monk and wonder what he is thinking! A six hour bus ride would probably have me in a similar position..looking out the window contemplating everything and nothing! Enjoy your trip back to Chiang Mia.
Hi Jenny! Yes, six hours gives a lot of time for thought. Amazing what not having an Internet connection means! 🙂
Wow, 9 hour bus ride! I do hope it’s better on the journey back, although I can imagine you had tons of opportunities for great photos!:-)
Hi Jess. Yes, there were lots of good photo opportunities. The van back was much more comfortable!
I love the shot of the monk’s bowls. I hope you’ll be sharing more images from your long bus trek.
Hi Cindy. Thanks! Yes, lots to share. I just have to sit myself down and sift through all the photos to find the best ones!
Wow..that is a very long bus ride. I hope you have smoother, shorter ride back to CM. Looking at that monk makes me feel at peace 🙂 Love the details on the window. The monk bowl shot is awesome. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Thailand, Nancie.
Thanks, Mary! Yes, the ride back was much shorter and much more comfortable 🙂
I like the monk bowl shot a lot.
Thanks, Dick! That’s a shot I really like as well.
Very nice photos! Penang is having trouble right now with fake monks taking up money collections. I’m guessing that if you found your monk in a temple, he’s probably the real thing. Do these monks only accept food donations as the true ones in Penang are supposed to do?
Hi Michele. I’m not so sure about some of the monks these days. I see them at the bank machines, sitting on the sidewalk smoking, with cell phones, etc. They really are coming into the modern world (at least some of them). I haven’t heard of any “monk” scandals in Thailand lately, but who knows.
[…] Linking to Travel Photo Thursday. […]
Hi Nancie, I hope that 9-hour bus trip was at least a smooth ride.
Your pensive shot of the monk is so well composed that it looks like it was staged, which I know it was not. I like looking at both photos; they’re so calming.
Thanks for introducing me to Mae Hong Son before. I like looking up places I have not heard before. It looks like a beautiful valley from some of the picture I saw. I hope you give us more post from there.
Have a safe ride back to CM.
Hi Marisol. Yes, sometimes it’s just being in the right place at the right moment. Mae Hong Son is lovely, and I will be posting more 🙂
Week 161? That is hard to believe, especially since I’ve been contributing since the beginning. Time flies! Love the photos you chose for this week. Indeed, I do think the monk is enjoying a quiet, peaceful moment — the kind of thing we should all do more often.
Hi Cathy, and thanks! Yes, I have no idea where those 161 weeks have gone!
Amazing pictures i love it all thanks.
puertoricoblogger.com
Hi, and thanks for dropping by!
I like Mont ball shot so Much. Your writing skill is awesome I have subscribed your blog for future posts. Thank u 🙂
[…] option for budget travelers. Considering my luck with long, curvy rides in rickety buses, remember Mae Hong Son, I’ll be checking out the trains through Goibibo, and doing some […]