Nan City

One day while staying with Sean, we took a trip into the city of Nan. Each province has a central (basically capital) city with the same name as the province. In Thai, this is called the Amphur Muang (or literally "district city"). Two more volunteers, Kate and Robert, were arriving, so we took the hour-long songtao (large truck with two benches in the back - popular vehicle of public transportation) ride into the city to tour a bit and pick them up. There were many beautiful temples and the weather was wonderful. However, what I noticed most was that we were not shouted at one single time. This was nearly beyond my realm of comprehension! Boy do I wish I lived in the north....

A view from the songtao

Nan traditionally has long boat competitions at this time of year.

This is one such boat which can hold something like 60 people!

A new mural depicting daily life

The Buddhas face each cardinal direction (and each door) to welcome anyone coming in from any direction. Wat Phumin

An old (several hundred years old) mural in Wat Phumin