Recently in Chiang Mai there was a funeral for a monk that passed awya a year ago. The structure is about 30 feet high, 50 feet wide and the same in length. As in The tradition of budhism, the monk will be cremated.

This gives a good idea of the size of the structure that was built ovr the year since the monks death.

These are not "Lady Boys". They are part of the funeral.

There were many monks at the funeral, close to 100. This monk did the eulogy and prayers for the deceased monk. Many monks have tatooes but he seems to have an extrordinary amount on his exposed arm.

The elephant is a big part of Thai culture. They even named a beer Chang, which is Thai for elephant.

There were fireworks, as in all Thai celebrations, all around the structure, as the funeral progressed the fireworks did also.

They burned the entire structure to the ground.

If you look closely you can see the monks body. His head is to the right side.

At the intersection near dowtown Hanoi there are at least half a dozen beer joints that sell organic beer. No preservatives and little alchohol, but cheap a 10 ounce glass was 3,000 Dong ,6 for a dollar. Very popular place as you can see.

The stores were so narrow, some no more than 6 feet wide and less, that on a small street there were dozens of them. The reason is that when they were built they were taxed by road frontage. So the stores are narrow and deep.

Bamboo ladders are the thing here in Se. Asia. Even the utility companies use them over what we consider conventional aluminum or fiberglass ladders.

Some pictures I thought I had lost when my camera was stolen. Hanoi had several booths that sold Roast Rover, Baked Benji, Fricasse of Fido, Poodle Pate, Maltesse Meatballs. I did not sample any of the choices as eating Lassie al la carte does not appeal to me.

A garden in the back of your pickup? Rednecks in Georgia of Thailand possibly?

Ice cream here sucks unless you can find a Swenson's and the occasional Baskin Robbins. This guy comes into my complex every night selling his ice cream. It's cheap about 10 cents.

I'm not sure what the function of this is, but it's connected to a pump in the moat around Chiang Mai. I didn't try it, but I'm sure there is some cost to it. There are four of these along here and a guy sitting at hte end so I'm sure he wants some baht.

The gardens are in the mountains and it was cool but not cold. I was glad I had long pants.

They ended the night with fireworks that went on for quite awhile.

The music was great and the performance was facsinating and informative. And the best part it was free.

They showed the kings and queens that ruled the province and what acomplishments they achieved during their reign.

Part of the celebration was a depiction of the history of Chiang Mai starting in 1250 AD.