Doing this last Thailand trip was easier said than done. Being from Singapore where the longest car ride possible from one end of the island to the other end would last no more than 30 minutes, it was tough sitting through a 4 and a half hour car ride from Bangkok to Sangkhlaburi. We arrived at 5am in the morning.

Sleep eluded me during the drive as I wanted to face death with eyes wide open as we sped like bats out of hell on the dark roads through Hellfire Pass and into the mountains that form the tailcoats of the Himilayas.

Stopping to piss and stretch the legs several times along the way, we were greeted in the dark by fireflies. I've not seen a firefly for many years now and they fascinated me. With a clear sky full of stars, the fireflies were like little faries dancing amongst us.

At 5 in the morning and nobody answering the bell at the inn, we threw our gear onto a couple of tables in an open air beer garden and laid on the tables for a few minutes of shut eye. The morning breeze was light and cold. I didnt feel like waking up.....until Adam decided to start showing his photos and played rock music from his iBook. I will kill him with happiness the next time he does that.

As light crept into the skies, Khao Lerm Lake revealed itself in all its spendour before us. Surrounded by lush forested hills and decorated with sprinklings of village settlements along its banks, it sat under an umbrella of beautiful clouds that morning smiling at us.

The wooden bridge, the longest one in Thailand at 500m, was sitting high off the water. We had come after the dry season and the waterline was about 10 m lower than in November when I last visited. Not ugly and dry but beautiful and different.

As the community awoke, smoke from little wood fires mingled with the low mist and ecentuated the layers of hills. We were shooting like crazy. 'We' comprised of old Bangkok friend Jun armed with a Moskva 6x9 and a couple of Russian Feds, Adam Gregor packing a Contax G2, Feng with his F4 and myself with a Contax RTS II and backed up with a Leica M6.

Actually, the M6 didnt stay with me long. I innocently asked Adam to try shooting with it. I had meant a couple of frames....he ended up with the camera locked in a death grip in his hands all day. I wound up with his G2, the very camera I had purposely left at home.

I did spend a good amount of time with the manual Contax RTS II. Old habits were forgotten.

- I tried shooting before cranking the film advance lever
- I tried focusing on moving targets
- I strained t my little finger rewinding film
- I re-learned zone focusing
- I fumbled loading film into the spool
- I forgot to advance the film after loading
- I shot an entire roll with the film leader dis-engaged from the take up spool

I felt good.

Now I know Adam will deny it, but he might just jump over to Leica after a day with the lady.

To keep the equation in balance, Feng on the other hand is now trying to dump his Nikon system in an attempt to switch over to a Contax G2 system.

Wife swapping and its effects. I'm the Devil.....and I love it.

...............

I'd like to share an anecdote with you. Its written by Ayesha Vellani from Pakistan

"This man from Azad Kashmir, like most impoverished people afflicted
by leprosy, was unaware that the disease was curable. Many years
elapsed before he somehow heard about the Adelheid Leprosy Centre
(MALC) and was able to come to Karachi to seek treatment. By the time
he arrived the disease had left him with stumps for hands and feet.
When I photographed him in 1999 his fierce independence set him apart
from all the other patients. He had just bathed himself and changed
into fresh clothes. Sitting on the edge of his bunk he changed the
bandages on his stumps unaided, tucking the loose ends in with his
chaqoo (knife). At lunchtime I saw him peeling and cutting an onion
to eat with his plate of rice. He held the onion between the stumps
of his feet and, with the chaqoo held between the stumps of his
hands, he cut neat onion rings. Later, grasping a pencil in the same
manner, he wrote something on a piece of paper. Then he got off his
bunk, put on his special shoes and walked away with purposeful
intent.

Everyone has to face challenges in life. Some face greater challenges
than others. For some, life itself is a challenge.

I derive inspiration from photographing people who deal with their
challenges. This can often best be seen in moments of everyday life.

Ayesha Vellani, Pakistan"

........

I dropped by Desmond Kwan's home to look at the progress of the printing job. The results were great. He brought out details in the negatives which I hadn't realized existed. Good photos were elevated to great works under his hands. He had just finished my batch. He should be done with Vicki's by this Wed or Thursday.

He'll be off to Cirebon, Indonesia this Friday and back next Tuesday. I hope he meets the deadline without screwing up the balance of the prints.
.................

Check out the Thailand gallery, I should be putting up some new pictures there soon from last week's trip.

.................

The Yew Tee Photo Exhibition will be titled "Heartlands" and Greg's roped in a total of 5 photographers for the show. Greg will be shooting people and birds, Osman will be doing household stills and painting the prints, Jason will work on landscapes, Justin will concentrate on street scenes in the heartlands and Robert will devote his efforts on Heartland Moments.

They've got a timeline going and distributed most of the responsibilities. I'm confident that the show will go well.


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