Poi Sang Long ceremony in Mae Hong Son

This Ceremony is a Buddhist novice ordination ceremony.  Boys between 7 and 14 study the Buddhist doctrine which will in turn give them merit - the origins of the festival lie in Buddhist legend.

The ceremony is a wonderful spectacle of colours and youth - it lasts for a period of 4 days 31 March until the 3rd of April.  

Specific information regarding the planning can be found on the TAT website.

This text is an from the TAT: 

“Rup Sang Long Day”, the first day of the ceremony – 31 March 2009
The first day of the ceremony day begins with the boys having their hair shaved off by parents and relatives. They are then bathed and anointed with consecrated waters and dressed in brightly coloured costumes. By the end of this process, the boys are now known as Sang Long or Luuk Kaew – precious gems.

“Kham Kaek Day”, the second day – 1 April 2009. “Kham Kaek Day” falls on Wednesday, 1 April 2009. On this day, relatives, friends and guests stop by the house of the Sang Long host family in order to congratulate the family and present alms.

“Hae Krua Lu Day”, the third day – 2 April 2009. On the third day, “Hae Krua Lu Day”, the grand colourful procession is held in the morning. Well-attended by family members and individuals of importance in Mae Hong Son’s Shan community, the procession of the Sang Long features handmade floats, offerings for the temple, traditional dances. The procession starts out from Chong Kham and Chong Klang Temple in the heart of the city before it moves along the main streets of town and out to the temples.

“Kham Sang Day”, the fourth day – 2 April 2009 
The procession once again proceeds through the town and the Sang Long are escorted to Chong Kham and Chong Klang Temple for the formal ordination ceremony.

                    

A trip into the Islands

Happy Birthday Julie 

A special outing was arranged by the boys; Melvin, Bryan and Mark for Julie, Racheal and Kim respectively.  They chose the Panwa Princess to take them on a trip to Maya Bay - and because Julie "wanted to see where they filmed the Beach" and another island where there weren't many people.

They chose the Panwa Princess because it was operated by the hotel where they were staying - the Cape Panwa Hotel.  They took some brochures and chose where to go from them and chose the food to be served on the boat ....... and off they departed the very next day.

They even chose the staff member to accompany them - 'Spike' (Varoon by the name on his badge).  What a day they had - all the staff could tell me was how they drank the bubbly in the jacuzzi on the deck and then had a dance in the beautiful islands of Phi Phi.

Melvin then gave me some photographs for me to write a blog about their trip on the Panwa Princess.

King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament 2010

I thought that this sort of event only happened in books that I read as a child and then I read about this - not in Phuket but maybe a view to another day!


This is an annual event in Chiang Rai - their website is superb.

This is a webcam of the elephant polo - try it out!

This is a posting from last year

ResidenSea - The World

I suppose technically this is not exploring Thailand but this boat did pop in for a few days to the Deep Sea Port - 2 minutes from the Cape Panwa Hotel. 

The World is "the only private community at sea offering residential options and rental travel experiences to the discriminating traveler".


The itinerary of The World was extensive but I could find nothing about the cost of sailing on the ship - I remember the old adage - "if you want to know how much it costs you can't afford it".

              

Chiang Mai flower Festival and more

Jemma was excited from the morning that we left - flying via Bangkok.


We arrived in the morning in Chiang Mai and stayed at the hotel that we stayed at on our Honeymoon - x(i have forgotten)x, receiving an upgrade when we arrived.  This area was wonderful for shopping and we immediately left for a wander.


We got into a taxi to make some stops and it immediately (2 foot) broke down!


We then visited a number of places - our first stop was Monkey School; then a Butterfly and Orchid Farm; then an Elephant Ride and home again.


The evening was simple and we went to the local market outside our hotel. Fabulous fun and not far to walk home.

Not forgetting to visit a fish spa with Jemma of course.

We did make a visit to Chiang Mai for the flower festival - so we got up early and waited and watched - best read at the Cape Panwa blog.  I have selected some of the photographs of Jemma at the show however.

Following this we moved to the Kantary Hill Hotel and were upgraded again - everybody was busy!


We then visited the local area, with Nick from Kantary Bay Phuket, - one visit was to the Local Hill Tribe where Jemma was treated like loyalty and then Doi Suthep temple where there were musicians from the local school and much more.


We then tried the Walking Market - wonderful chaos and purchased some paintings from some thrilled budding young artists.

Great fun and a lovely escape for a long weekend.