Protest and Not a Police in Sight

Out with the Shins

Since the weather has been so great this season, I decided to join the crowds at Asoke intersection the Sunday passed. This, just to see for myself the ongoing protest that had been going on for some time. Got there by MRT, it was so crowded. MRT reported record breaking Sunday commute, normally a day when travelers are few. Pack like sardines my journey to Sukhumvit station, passengers had whistles hung off their necks. They were all going to the various protest sites scattered in the heart of Bangkok. Finally reaching, the ascend to road level was more than peak hour traffic, the sound of whistles from above ground could be heard through the passage.

Just out of the MRT

As I emerged, the atmosphere was a concert, not a protest. All smiles, and of course all the constant whistling in a relentless effort to blow the Shins out of the country. Bumped into some friends who were there since the early noon, they sat on the road, enveloped in the cool winter air beneath the clear skies. The babbling from the speakers echoed off the surrounding buildings, the sight of news helicopter reflected off the glass facade. Was there danger, no. There could be snipers I don't know. No one threw ping pong bombs, the nearest ping pong are the ejected ping pongs from ping pong shows at Soi Cowboy or Soi Na Na. No tear gas fired, strangely, not a police in sight, they didn't care or came they did not dare.

They came on Bikes

Cars and motorcycles parked everywhere on the roads that lead to Asoke, caretakers were there to watch over them. On bicycles some came, they had Thai flags and more tied to show their support in the fair. The cafes were filled, the tourist sat there. Watched the activities and with Thai flag stickers on their faces some had. It was an awesome sight. The spirits were high, the music played. There was singing as a thousand people and more their Thai flags waved in the air. Free drinks and food were distributed, all an act of voluntary effort. There was a first aid section set up, a drinks station setup, and I could see public cleaners at their corner waiting for their turn to sweep the grounds. It was well organized.

We can all Pee Now

A mobile toilet, which was just toilet in a bus, came to the relief of the many participants who were already overloading the public toilet of the many shopping arcades surrounding. This Sunday, central Bangkok could also had experienced record breaking toilet flushes and sewage flow.  More than 3 million the turnout throughout, just tens of thousands the news reported came out. Peaceful it was, chaos said some media source. There were some teens seen on noisy modified scooters riding about, whistle blowing, potential trouble causing, but part of the crowd they were not. These were the "third-hand" of the activities that should be caught. But where were the police? What to believe and what not, social media, public media, information of all sorts. You just have to join one, and then after that the answers you will have got.

All over and Above

Sitting on the Roads

Koreans? Japs?

Free Drinks from the Sikh

Flags and more Flags

Drinks Station

First Aid

Terminal 21 Overan

Good Business

For the Hair

Cleaners on Standby

 

Cold Spell 2013 in Thailand

Enjoying my Morning Tea

This year end, Thailand is now experiencing one of her best hidden weather system mother nature has to offer. It has been a long time since we experienced prolonged cool winter months for several years now. For the past many years, we could only mark out a few calendar days where in December and January, it was cool. But not this year of 2013. Ever since the end of Nov, the cooling phenomenon had stayed till now. Fantastic outdoor dining experiences, gulping drinks in chilly beer gardens through the night. Warm out in the morning having my hot tea as I blogged away had been truly enjoyable. Gardening in the afternoon when the breeze brought the wind chill was like working in an air conditioned room with thermostat set comfortably right. Especially if it rained the day before, the skies would be a saturated blue contrasting the lighter buildings in the foreground sight. With occasional clouds above so white, the scene is of canvas colors, it resembles the opening prelude of The Simpsons I so like. In the night, the motorcycle taxi drivers congregates around small fires fueled by wood and dry withered leaves. An orange glow wraps the shed, the seasoned faces and their scooters. The shadows casted ever so wobbling behind, this scene unseen for the many years that had passed.

Enjoyng Working Outdoors

Great for strolling abouts where normally one would not, it's time for Chatuchuk shopping where usually hot and sweaty one gets I have not forgot. The anti government protesters are having a great time not needing to break much sweat. Cool weather is great for everything, it makes everyone's mood just that tad lighter and brings about smiles just that bit brighter. Great for outdoor BBQ, great for coffee alfresco. Great for sports such as golf, jogging, badminton, but okay not too good for nipple hardening swim. Great for dragging lazy dogs out for walks, even accidentally stepping on dog shit in the weather is great. I had been sleeping without air conditioner and just my windows opened, it was great. My house late few days had temperatures never exceeding 26 degrees C in the afternoon and the seasonal winds brings it to a good 17 low in the night, I so love it very much. Neighbor's Persian cats kept warm by their fluffy fur coat, my rabbit hops happily mad in the garden in his fancy dress coat. News just this morning, this climatic system will be here to stay till mid January of 2014. Lets see, lets hope it does.

Giant Ladybug in Cool Garden

A Malay Wedding in Bangkok

A Happy Occasions

Just looking at this picture, anyone would have thought I had arrived in Malaysia. I will start to get phone calls from friends for "let's go party" or "let's go eat what you like" and maybe even, "please come to our office, we really need your help". No.... I am not in Malaysia. This was actually in Bangkok, at a mosque, for a wedding I was to celebrate a friend's happy occasion. It was a rather weird experience for me. I am used to hearing Malay conversations where there are congregations of Malays but here, Thai was spoken out aloud clear and muffled all through the crowd. They said Singapore is multi-cultured with the four races (now it has gone more than just four with the flood of foreign talents), but here, Thailand is a land that is of the same too. In fact, the infusion here is even better, all races speak the same language - Thai.

The Open Air Dinner

Mosque in Bangkok

Hey Look, a mini Arabian

And of course, the Happy Couple

Celebrating His Majesty's 86th

I stay in the so called rural areas. I was told that during Thai's Father's day (the King's birthday on every 5th Dec), it's good to visit this mysterious "tae-sa-ban" thing that goes on near the local sub-district office. And so I did. Finding it was not difficult. For some strange reasons, it seems people in the local community were given yellow shirts splashed with a dash of blue. There were hordes of them streaming into a small soi well decorated with colorful neons, much like moths attracted to lights. Just follow them we did. Parking was impossible, so we parked far out on the main road and took a brief walk in the cool winter weather towards to congregation at a temple.

The Crowd

There, we found a large gathering, a well lit stage with projector screens put up. Free drinks and food flowed, there was no need to pay for them. There were of course some other makeshift stalls set up in the vicinity where we could pay for food if we did not want the standard free food stuffs. There was a reception, kind of setup like a wedding one, where we signed our names and was issued with yellow candles which will be lit later on.

Later on means some specific timing, at 7.19 pm I was told, 19 because it had a 9 in there and 9 is a lucky number in Thai. Government officials, both men and women, dressed in their white attire soon took on the stage and started to address the crowd with their welcome speech. They looked dressed like sailors from teenage Japanese fantasy comics. And then, when the time was right, we were told to lit up our candles. Not all of them are smokers, they got no lighter in their pockets. And so as we lit up, we passed on the flame, candle to candle, for those who requested. There was a kid in front of me, it was quite pack and I had to be cautious all the time not to set his head on fire.

Then, the stage played the royal music, the same one that is played in cinemas before the show starts. We all stood on attention. And then my hair stood on attention too thanks to the middle aged sailor moon dressed lady addressing us who went on to sing aloud. They should have at least screen who can sing normally and who sings like a chicken being slaughtered. Soundtrack.. ... where is the original soundtrack.. . I looked towards the Buddha and prayed for original soundtrack. .. . . .

We lit our Candles

After the ordeal, the real show began with the onset of what sounded like a series of loud low resonating crack of cannons. The backdrop of night sky saw several trails of red phosphorus shooting up into heights before they exploded into a thousand streamers in an effect like a fast blooming flower. The crowd cheered, more fireworks followed and the show went on for a good 15 minutes or so. In between, we held our candles high in synch with the cheers that went on. We looked into the skies that was then a continuous kaleidoscope of luminescence. Each bloom of lights seemed impressively getting larger and larger. We tilted our heads high and it was hypnotizing when there was no reference of ground in sight, it was like we were traveling into the heart of display as the growing blossom of lights extended beyond the vision our eyes could cover. Then I realized, the fireworks were indeed getting closer and above the entire crowd.

Fireworks

The launch pad was a mere 50 meters behind where the stage was, I am not sure if having fireworks detonated above our head, even at heights, was a good idea. I am sure in some other countries there did be strict safety regulations, but here, getting the show as near to the audience as possible is more important. Minute flickering compounds of the display were seen descending onto the crowd occasionally, but no one was complaining, and no heads full of hair was on fire. So I supposed that's what's the free drinks were for too, just in case.

After the arsenal of impressive fireworks were exhausted, the stage was cleared for the live band and dance on stage. The entire place was then fogged up and the smell of gunpowder was rather suffocating to me at least. Many did stay on to enjoy the show. Thais are quite accustomed with smoky environments after the recent spate of police firing tear gas at the protestors. However, we decided not stay on because I did not bring along my anti-gas chamber mask. We left on the same well lit soi we came, the celebrations continued in the temple.

Candles Issued

Free Drinks

Fireworks Above

Very Smoky Aftermath

Well Lit Narrow Soi

The Protest, The Cool Weather, The Nice Traffic

The escalating protest seemed to be building up and headed towards absolute mayhem when suddenly, it was interrupted by peace. Yeah, you read correct - PEACE. For some reasons, the police made a surprising move to allow the protesters to encroach on both police and government compounds, clapping and welcoming the protestors in the process. Opposition caught completely off guard with the turn of events. It's kind of a "if they want it then let them have it easily". What followed for the protestors was "ok... so we got in.... and then what.. .. ??". They protestors ended up hugging and shaking hands with the law enforcement officers in contrast to the fights that went on for two to three days since the recent Saturday. The outcome is definitely a welcome relief. At least no more lives will be lost and no more injuries on both parties.

No Traffic!!!

So what have my clients been doing? One reported that he went chameleon, brought some red supporters items and wore it on his wrist. He went in to the stadium where the red congregation were. "Why you do that?" I asked. "To see the truth because we cannot trust the media" he replied. What he saw in the compound was a party, alcohol and beer sold and many people enjoying. See, the party spirit of Thais will always be there no matter which side. The only negative thing that he mentioned was a conversation he had with an elderly he spoke to buying food. The elderly lady mentioned, she will never come again because they were not allowed to go home. Anyways, they all went home already since the shooting began. An engineer of my client who joined the mob also told me of some rather interesting details. Testosterone packed teenagers from different institutes who would normally taunt and kill each other on sight were actually holding hands going against the police. This is the proverb "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" in action.

So Cool

Some of my clients had been at the protest almost every day after work, thus coming in late always the morning after. Now I know why the traffic is so good in the morning. I had been wondering why the morning traffic these few days was so terrific, no jam, so fast to get to work. But yet in the evenings when heading back home, it was terrible as usual. In fact these few chaotic days, mornings have been absolutely wonderful. I need not go work two and a half hours in advance, the weather is a cool 20 degrees as I have my hot tea in the garden.

What are Thais Doing in the Midst of Protest?

Well, it's well known all over the world now. With the turn of events yesterday in which an anti government protestor, whom is a student, was shot dead, things are getting from bad to worst. This marks the end of peaceful and cheerful protest. Smiles had definitely be wiped off faces and anger is the rising sentiments taking over. Violence erupted between university students and red shirts who were stirring up trouble where Ramkhamhaeng University is located. More rural red shirts engaged are streaming in from provinces, strength of anti government protestors remains strong and growing in Bangkok. More protestors invaded government offices (government officials within actually carried big welcome signs). What are we coming to?

So amidst all this, what is really happening with our everyday lives? Well, we still work for sure. But we are told to avoid protest sites, and if we do attend, do not wear company shirts. Office may end up burnt to the ground if company names are identified. Thais are rather fond of burning things.

Party Party

Party mood of the people will never be doused among news of shooting and explosions going on. I was at a great new pub and restaurant on Rama 5 called Three Days Two Nights yesterday and it was filled to the brim. The illegal parking along the road spoke for itself. We ate, drank and partied. Food was great but required a bit of lengthily waiting. So in between moments of eating, we watched live soccer match on the big screens, not live Bluesky channel where protest ongoing are broadcasted. For those not interested in soccer, we stared at the line between shorts and white thighs of the numerous attractive "pretty" doubling up as waitress. This is one good reason why this restaurant is so popular.

Look, although people may be divided here, but we all (ok guys only) have a common interest that will halt us in our tracks of whatever political driven actions we are about to embarked - coyotes. What if, as violence is about to erupt somewhere, the police suddenly release a large flock of bikini clad coyotes gathered from the entire Thailand? Firstly, the angry crowd will be diluted (we really have many many many coyotes here in Thailand) and then feelings will turn from that of aggression to immediate erection. Ask the leaders to step aside with their babbling and channel LMFAO over the air. Then whichever side you are, everyone will suddenly be throwing away their weapons and be busy grappling boobs and doing LMFAO!!! And we all live happily ever after.

Name of Restaurant in Thai

Parking Full

Klong Lad Ma Yom Floating Market

The Klong

While most people this past Sunday gathered in masses for either the pro or anti government group to show their people power, I was on a little adventure to discover a floating market near my home. The good thing about staying away from town is that one gets to really immerse in the locality of things. Living in what I called suburbs, the air is better, the surrounding rural. There will always be that paddy field around some deep sois, that cow or buffalo beside the road.

Klong Lad Ma Yom Floating Market seemed to me like the real raw deal, unlike the many other artificially inseminated floating markets found in the other touristy locations such as Hua Hin. This market can be located at an easy turn off the main Western Outer Ring Road. There will be ample parking available in the many gravel pits for a mere 20 Baht.

BBQ Chicken Parts

If you want a single place to see all the diversity of Thai food, then this is it. The myriad of local Thai delicacies such as "moo stick", live BBQ river prawns and the rainbow colored desserts. The list goes on. Its free sitting and you have to tunnel around the many narrow alleys to order and bring them food to your own table. You can easily spend 2 hours in there grazing on all her variety. Eat and eat again till you defecate in your underpants. If satisfying hunger is not your purpose there, take a ride in the river taxis along the klong where families of ducks will greet you alongside. Where there's water in Bangkok, there will be fish. So throw bread into water and stir up a storm of fish for fun.

The good practice I saw was that patrons will clear away their own foam and paper plates after eating. Unlike other places where there usually will be a bunch cleaning crew, typically scary looking and cannot speak Thai, this place has none scurrying around. So everyone was nice and brought their own trash to the nearest green bins that were located sparsely there and there.

I was told that places like these are located throughout Bangkok where there are klongs. Just have to keep your ears open, visits them Thai forums and there will always be something new to explore for all your weekends in Thailand.

Free Sitting

Order from them Boats

BBQ Catfish

Live BBQ Prawns, Dead now of Course

Moo Stick

More food on Boats

Sweet, so Sweet

The Klong and the Boats

The Racha Experience

The Experience

The bay on Koh Racha

Racha, it's Thai word for King, and the experience lives up to her name. Woke up every morning in her lush rooms, opened them wide doors and there a full blown spectacle of layered ocean blue. The waves as they grew tall approaching the satin shores, into a concave wall of cyan blue so clear I saw. It was painting in motion, a canvas of saturated colors. The hue of blue permeated through me. And the breeze, enveloped me she did, ever reverberating, ever present. The morning sun, her slight tint of yellow reflected off all the white villas, the skies clear, saw for miles. The emotion came natural, a surreal feel of vacation can't describe in words. It was the place, the time, the setting so right. Paradise.

Fine Sand

7 years ago I was here. Her beach ridden with dead coral bits from the tsunami back then had grinded down into the finest white powdered sand my feet had ever walked. Clean, white, gentle wide shoreline enclosed in a pleasant bay we played. Waddled through receding waters after the waves broke shore, the easy incline made the retreat a prolong episode as the water thins out. My foot sank, in fine white they were embraced. My mind was just overcharged with the experience that there was nothing else that could pollute my thoughts. It was relaxation pure, there weren't a hint of work that could breach that sphere of peace I got. Unwind.

Getting to the Island

How we Arrived

Getting to this resort required a boat ride from Chalong pier. Getting to the pier from the airport was a hefty 800 Baht ride by airport limousine. Save yourself the trouble of hunting for a metered taxi, they may cost more and you may end up somewhere you may not want in the hands of illegal touts. Anyway the sign boards announce loud the standard pricing from the airport to the various destinations on Phuket, so pay attention to those and you shall be safe. These months, the rain should have stopped. But climate change in our lifetime made the weather unpredictable. Storm clouds built and bleak the sunny shores, the gust churned the blue oceans into choppy peaks. The ride was a roller coaster, don't eat too much before the 45 minutes journey thus. Voices heard, the trip provided by The Racha costly. But had you research and then you will appreciate the ride offered by the resort in her twin outboard private boats. Public operators charges the same to the island, but I bet they do not offer the same appeasing ride The Racha could. Large and spacious her boats were, this trip for me, laden with only less than 10 passengers on her two craft convey. Yeah, they could well have packed us up like sardines using only one boat, but that's the practice of other boat operators and not The Racha.

Days on the Island

Pirates?

As the late morning approached, like crabs on a migratory journey on Christmas Island, we saw hordes of day trippers marched and descended the slope side of the resort making their way onto the shore for whatever mating and spawning fantasy they had on their minds. Not too pleasant the experience as we had to share the secluded shores with them sometimes rather rowdy and rude crowd. They mingled and tried to breach the resort grounds, security was busy explaining to them the notion of private grounds. A mix of people from all corners of the world. Certain culture are born with over reactive salivating glands, and this particular flock walked and spew phlegm everywhere. Could be an inherited genetic defect. Some crowds were however well behaved and I was really impressed with them. There was a cheery bunch that looked like they came out of Pirates of the Caribbean. The Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean and his crew actually carried with them plastic bags which they collected the beer cans after they had gulp its merry making contents down. They left the beach in the late afternoon leaving no trace of their visit.

So Bright....

Beyond 10 am, the beach will be a bustle of activities. Those hours left me flabbergasted at times at the sight of super bright luminous bikini swimwear the Asian ladies wore. They imitated all possible grace from b-grade magazines while the shutters clicked away. Bright colors in nature are actually warning signs to other predators that consuming them would be a bad idea because of poison, so those ladies were safe and were not eaten by sharks. The crowd merged into the rows of beach umbrellas and chairs on the left section of the bay. Those were rented out by independent operators who forcefully infiltrated the grounds desiring a piece of the profit pie. I do hope they do not grow beyond the rows of 2 which was already poisoning the tranquility and turning that corner into mini Pattaya. I was told during peak season, there could be up to 4 rows and that was disheartening.

Depending on the season, the waters in the bay will be a calm or choppy. This month of August, strong waves rolled in synch with seasonal winds that blew onshore. Snorkeling is not possible without smacking into rock formations or guzzling down salt water. But it offered a chance for many to try mini surfing, boards rented out again by independent operators who built an unsightly shack in the middle of the otherwise un-spoilt shorelines. Staff of the resort told me, during year end this part of the island will be flat calm as the wind blows on the other side of Koh Racha. However, during those good times, The Racha will have to move her floating jetty over. The jetty then becomes a platform for the day trippers to beach as well, the bay will be an infestation of moored boats. Snorkeling could mean smacking into hulls of boats and guzzling down diesel fumes if you venture out carelessly.

Floating in the Bay

The serenity returned later in the afternoon past 3 pm. The day trippers migrated back up the hill to the other side of the island where The Racha's floating jetty was located. When the last of the day trippers had left, The Racha deployed their band of beach cleansers cleansing up the entire shoreline. Such noble greatness The Racha, to keep the beach pristine and to clean up the carnage left by others. The beach belongs to the government, it is not private and deeply I wished it could be. We had to share her splendor for those few hours. Fortunately for us, we had the advantage to retreat back into the resort where her amenities plenty whenever we needed.

The Ongoing Battle

The Chinese have Came

Racha is idyllically located on the island within a bay blessed with magnificent white shores and inviting waters. Unfortunately, this spot is also exploited by many profiteers and the results are them bringing on the nasty day trippers so well documented in so many other reviews about The Racha. That was the only sour bit of the trip but come on, the world do not revolve about us. I could jolly well live with those few hours of unpleasantness by finding other things to indulge within the resort away from the mob. It is not the resort's fault that the crowd cannot be controlled, in numbers and in behavior. While I was here 7 years ago, the day trippers were significantly fewer. The mix of visitors, inclusive of hotel guests, were a majority of Caucasians and a small number of Japanese. This year, this season that I visited, just gazing out in idleness and between moments of thought, I was really lead to believe the Chinese was setting up Koh Racha as a base for their naval beach invasion.

Mini Pattaya

The local Thai profiteers will not give a second thought to the tranquility that The Racha tries her best to offer her guest. They just come and set up shop all over the place bringing filth and unpleasantness along, all they wanted is cash. Its though the negotiations must have been for The Racha and the independent businesses with the former trying to keep them in check. I wondered sometimes if the authorities in Phuket actually have control over these stubborn operators limiting what they can do and where they can carry out their shoddy business overcharging the tourist. I believe they come and they go whenever and wherever, evidence from the sheds on the bay which were left abandoned and to rot in the corrosive salty air. But looking on the bright side, these structures offered an interesting backdrop for any photographer with a keen eye for subjects, I did.

In tune truly with nature, fortunately no concrete jetty was erected on the island as permanent eyesores breaking the curvature of her bays. The only way for The Racha to get her guests on shore was the use of The Racha's floating jetty which I mentioned. Unfortunately, this means sharing the only way of getting on and offshore with the public. This could be quite a nasty landing experience for some if our arrival and departure coincides with the hours when the day trippers arrive and leave. Most of the marauding invaders were likely never educated on Archimedes Principle of Flotation and moral education during their deprived childhood. They did not make way for us trying to do our best from falling into the water with our bags and cameras on the unstable platform. Two of those idiots actually ran and stomped on the jetty in our opposite direction brushing rudely across and beside us in a hurry, throwing us almost off balance.

The Main Pool

I wondered how the security staffs could differentiate who was hotel guest and who not. Magically, they were able to allow me to waltz into the compound and not let the day trippers through. Management must have trained them to have photographic memory. It will always be an ongoing battle between The Racha and those surrounding who are always trying to expand their encroachment and make quick profit. I don't think this will ever change and my favoritism will always be with The Racha. The small operators are only keen in taking advantage of The Racha's environmental conscious effort to keep the bay in harmony with nature.

Retreating Back

Club Del Mare

The main pool overlooked the beach with her high construction above the diner. On the infinity edge we were and chatted. On occasions the sea breeze strong it grew and the water flipped unnaturally upwards into a spray of misty droplets that soared over our heads. A lap or two we sometimes did but most of the time we just lazed and sipped coffee or that gin tonic ordered we did. Other days we were in her garden pool that was adorned with tall trees that swayed gracefully in the wind. At times the sky grew dark and the rain fell heavy but that did not douse our spirits. What was different from 7 years ago was that now The Racha featured a third pool at the foot of a hill fringing the resort grounds. It was tastefully christened Club Del Mare and the food offered was equally tasteful. Meals offered were reasonably priced in tune with the portion, extremely good service and the exquisite settings. With many pools also means the chance for one to hide effectively should one need a break from babbling wives, she will take at least an hour to find you. And if you are lucky, the sun would be out and that could successfully drive her back into the villa leaving you in peace for the rest of the day.

Waters so Clear

With any tropical island resort means the possibility of a million bites from mozzies and sand flies. Amazingly, somehow the resort had this under control. Unlike other beach destinations we went, we do not need to drink insect repellent and have it ooze out our sweat pores just to potently prevent them bites. Giant monitor lizards occasionally stroll the resort grounds so in case you need an adrenaline rush, you could try capturing one and wrestle with them fun creatures. If you are a cat lover like me, there are aplenty of them that originate from a restaurant of classic wooden built nested at the foot of a hill on the right side of the bay. These island born cats accompanied the guest sometimes as they strolled the beach and I was tempted to test out if cats could surf. I was also surprised at the sight of a mountain goat that made its way every day to the small rocky outcrop above the water in front of Club Del Mare. There it lazed staring at us people, wondering if them bright bikini ladies will be consumed by sharks. Goat shared the view with me as I gazed into the horizon looking for signs of fin.

I'll be Back

Perfect

Other than additional amenities, nothing had changed compared to the first time I was here. Still The Racha maintained her captivating essence and her villas had not deteriorated from fine mist of the sea. Maintenance crew could sometimes be seen retouching the walls showcasing the ongoing effort management had put in to upkeep The Racha's charm. This will not be the last time I will be here. I had travelled 9 years to cover most shores in Thailand. I cannot find elsewhere luxury strategically located in front of a sheltered mesmerizing shore, the fine white sands that embraced me, they crystalline waters of the Andaman. I was living in a painting for those 4 days. The beauty of which I had captured forever as I did my pre-wedding photography session within. I did not protest the sum when my card was swiped because I knew it was going in for a good cause. We all should appreciate the effort it takes The Racha to maintain the sparkle of her environment even though it is not under her control. The results of which are for us to fully immerse, body and soul, and sink into the enchanted vista as one. Not many places here can balance the comfort offered by manmade infrastructures and the pureness of immaculate nature. The Racha, her amazing management did.

See here for full photo set under The Racha Experiece 2013.

The waves are string in August

Shack where boards are Rented Out

Abandoned for Now

The Rain Came

Day Trippers Came in These

Day Trippers Marching to Beach

The Bay from a Hill

So Wide, So White

Strolling When there are no Day Trippers

Looking Out

Day Trippers mixed with Hotel Guest