Yurt Construction on Mt. Cardigan

 

Around 2006-07 while  working in Asia, I purchased 25 acres on the side of Cardigan Mountain in New Hampshire unseen. The land is on an old logging road, about 3/4 mile from a town maintained road. This means that the logging road will not always be accessible to vehicles, as it does get washed out on occasion, and would only be repaired if there is logging up the valley. I did have my brother walk it with the realtor, and had an idea what it was like, as I have hiked and skied  this mountain many times . Not sure exactly why I was driven to do this, other than my second marriage was coming to an end, felt adrift in Asia? seemed like a  dream cures all.

I had always felt that a Yurt would be appropriate, as they offer great shelter ,  are reasonably priced,  and because of how they are assembled, can  be set up far enough from a road that there is the feeling of being in a wilderness setting. Also because of the location  or accessibility to Mt Cardigan State Park, i though that I might be able to rent to families as well as back country skiers . Yurts have an appeal !

As you can see the 25 acres above looks like  postage stamp, as the land on 3 sides have been clear cut. Actually from the top of Mt Cardigan that is how you can locate this plot.. The push pin is roughly where the Yurt will be ( as of this writing)  The logging road is called  “Old Dicey Mill Road “, but on Google Map it is call “Welton Falls Road”?

First things first, so time to start clearing  an  area, big enough for the yurt, as well as random trees that look like their fall trajectory may impact  the yurt :-). This is a great way to start stockpiling firewood and get a little exercise. Notice the Safety apparel. We also were going to

mill some lumber for future projects. We had decided that we did need a small portable wood mill, as some times we need to cut down a tree, that is so nice it is a waste to use it  for firewood, so another toy for an old guy. The is a Lucas Swing blade built in Australia. the reason that I picked this saw mill, is that it  can be moved on top  the tree, as opposed to bringing the tree to the mill… Most mills are band saw mills,they are portable, but you still need to drag the logs to the mill, and  then turn them over until you have a square timber, at that point you can start cutting boars, or just as a  beam. And would  definitely need a  tractor, which I was not ready for at this time.

One of the second activities from my perspective , is to build a toilet or Outhouse  first. In New Hampshire and specifically in this location we have a lot  of rocks, the glaciers were kind to us. Because we were so lucky we located our hole for the outhouse about 2′ above a bodacious rock, that pretty much completely  filled the hole

This is a photo of Max, jack hammering New Hampshire rock, little bit by little bit. I think at this point we were  maybe 2′ deep.. so, that is what we did, little by little. If not me, then Arissara, Nate , Max , or Josh. Josh had a talent for this type of work. 😉

At some point i returned a borrowed rotary hammer, and bought a larger robust Milwaukee off of Craig List ( I love CraigsList) I buy almost everything from them . We would either drill a series of holes not to far from the edge, then try to chisel between the holes. The rock was relatively soft so small section would fracture, then we  would work our way  down.

When digging the holes for the 4×4  or 4×6 post that support the platform we went through the same exercise. The gold standard up here is 4′ deep. Unfortunately in most situations we were only able to get down to 2′, but most were down to 3′. Because these were relatively small Dia holes 12″ , it was impossible to get the rotary hammer much deeper. At the bottom of these holes, when we hit substantial rocks we layered the bottom with crushed gravel, which was a great way to adjust the height. Sometimes we even moved the holes, as long as it was along the same line, but not to far from target it would be okay.

Back to the outhouse ! after we got down to 4′ and yet hit another rock, we stopped. I had an Outhouse idea , essentially to have the side walls pitched out and a pretty steep roof. Reasoning was to keep the rain from splashing on to side wall, and to shed the snow. We also have to be able to move it, onto another hole for obvious reasons. I prefabbed both side walls and roof half’s. Usually when I do something like this, I will screw something up? but this seemed to go together with a little elbow grease and a lot of help from Arissara. Probably  should have set the toilet seat back  another 6″ back from the door

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as I need to open the door? well not really, just makes it more comfortable as my knees hit the door. I ended up framing the door out with 2″ maple stock, but still not really enough. You can see the little generator we purchased for the project. We will paint the outhouse , to look like a birch forest. Not sure what to do with the gabble open end? maybe wattles.

The plan was to focus on the outhouse, and once finished we moved to the 21 holes for the Yurt platform. When I first spoke to White “Mountain Yurt” (Paul) , I visited a newly erected 24′ Yurt , the first thing i noticed was that there were no footings,  all of the post were set a little bit below grade on 10″x10″ concrete pedestals, the 4×4  fit into the top of them. It was like the Yurt and platform were   floating? However when I downloaded the platform design, it included posts below frost line?  Seemed like a  floating deck would be affected by frost heaves?? Plus would be susceptible to big wind.  Normally I would dig a 4 ‘ deep hole, set a sona tube to the bottom,  pour concrete, and set  a PT 4×4 into it. Of course, with no water for concrete, and with  rock bolder’s randomly broadcast through out the sub-terrain, at random depths, we ended up just going as deep as we could , mostly at 3’ with a few inches of gravel on the bottom . with a 4×4 or 4×6 in the center beam ?? Not sure why i did that? The gravel made it easier to set elevations, just twist the 4×4 and they would settle down  to what was needed. A lot of opinions on the longevity of 4×4 in these conditions ? My friend Al has built many raised cabins, that are over 30 years old, and still supported by 4×4 direct bury?No  issues.. So whose to know ? I will get back to you on that.

Arissara and Danielle at it, digging those holes!

 

Because of the boulder situation we did move holes, but only along the beams, not more then 6-8″ though. The best way to dig, is with a digging bar, which we had a few of. Just keep pounding away till we hit a rock, and sometime we could pry it out, if not we used the rotary hammer. Drill a series of holes then change to a splitting bit. I think at some point we needed to see progress, so started putting the posts and beams into place.

This how we moved most of the lumber up through the woods. You can see the truck in the background . When we bought the ATV, Arissara talked the seller into throwing in and old trailer. After a lot of thought, I decided to cut 12″ out of the middle, as it was to wide to pull through the woods, I also cut a foot off of the end. At some point I am going to weld the rear frame, as it is pretty wobbly , when you load fifteen 12′ 2″x8″ on it

 

 

Here we are installing the insulation panels between the beams, as the beams are in place. You can also see the 2″x6″ TG boards on top, as we are starting to install these as well. The decking was built with TG decking as they are 2″ thick or really 1″-1/2 thick so combined with how the fit together they can span 4′, as opposed to plywood or 1″ boards that can only span 16″, which would mean more lumber and probably more digging.

Well here is Ma and Pa kettle, having just cut the 24′ circumference . We used a 13′ 1×1 with a nail set in and through, at the 12′ point. Just set the nail in the center and a pencil at the other end and voila a pretty perfect circle.. I thought I was going to need to buy another tool for cutting this radius, but  ended up  trying my  7″ circular saw , which did a great job. After this we screwed on the bender board around the circumference, which is a 3/8 PT plywood , cut into 12 ” strips.. The bender board is what the child gate walls set against.

But, before all of that, we needed to buy a wood stove,, A big wood stove ! so back to Craigs list, where we found a Dutch West stove including  double insulated stove pipe, including Tee’s, elbow’s , brackets, for $500.. I am still amazed about this find.. Now we had to find away to get it off of the truck onto the trailer, up to the yurt and onto the deck.. The stove weighed in around 500 lbs..  All I can say is that my Wife is amazing , as she is always ready to tackle any project

Moving the stove from one truck to other was easy enough, as we just backed the trucks together and slid the stove over, lucky the legs had been removed. Once we arrived at the land we backed up the ATV trailer, and set the ramp from truck bed  to ATV trailer..

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We tied the stove to a 2wheeler and tied  a rope  to it that was also attached to a point in the front of the bed.. The thinking was once it got on incline , it would take off, so I needed some way of controlling the descent.The next problem was toit enough so it would not shift. Many of the loads were heavy enough that because of the speed and uneven trail, things would shift. I was worried that it would flip the trailer over, so we tied a few extra straps secure

Here is the whole Yurt in the back of our pickup ? kind of amazing.. although maybe Nat had a couple of buddies. It was lucky we had him with his car.

This is the morning that we started.. you can see we have already brought everything up from the road . Now just to start.

This obviously is the Dome. Nate and Arissara  will bring up the frame .

Some items like the dome and frame as well as many other items , were easier  brought up by hand

we strapped a long 4×4  to the top of the wood stove and were able to lift it onto the deck.. Figured this was the time to get it up there.

this is the door which goes in before the wall. You can see where we left an opening in the bender board. their is actually a facia board on the frame of the door with a couple of wing nuts. The end of the wall fits between the boards, and you just tighten the nuts , which captures the walls.

so this is the wall? I know it does not look like a wall, but it is the structure that supports the roof and the siding.. Important to spread it around and against the bender board, and make sure the height of the top is constant around the circumference

After adjusting the height of the  the wall,  next step is to interwind the steel cable through the top of the wall. The cable is precut with hardware mounted on both ends, so pretty easy.

The dome frame is suppose to be  erected from staging? it seemed easier to just mount it temporarily with three 2×4, and work off of the ladders (12 footers)

so this is where I fucked up.. the end of the 2×6 rafters are pre-cut angled and pre-drilled. So it seemed that that is how they should be mounted,, Wrong>> ,. so we mounted a bunch that were upside down.. If you look at the end of the rafter below they should really be flush with the wall, not angled out? Lucky we had some clear thinking folks to help see through this. Thanks to Mike P.

The other issue is how to determine that the center frame  brackets are in line with open spaces on the walls , where the rafters are to be connected ? The directions were useless, I had asked for the directions a couple of weeks early, but was told that they would come  with the Yurt? ( we live in the electronic age right?) I did find the directions later , after the assembly was completed, on line, as they seem to be standard bad  directions that many Yurt companies use. At any rate,  part of  the problem is that the wall has a few more spaces for rafters then there are on the center bracket ( 24′ dia yurt only).. so we needed to skip 3 spaces?  So in the end Mike P suggested that we number all of the brackets on the center ring and number all of the spaces on the wall( careful to skip 3 spaces, as long as they were opposite each other . Then we just  connected rafter to same number on ring and to the wall. It is good to install opposing rafters first, then fill in the remainder.

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After all of the rafters are in, you will need to shift the center ring around until it is level, When it is level then tighten all of the bracket bolts that the rafters are in , on the center ring. After that we slid the liner on top of the rafters and also placed the insulation on top of that.. The liner is really to just find the shiny insulation.

Now we have arrived to the hard part,, The roof! Not sure what this weighed , but maybe 150b’s.. so 2 people need to carry it up the ladder, set it on the center ring and unfold it to one side then the other. it does matter how you open it, as there is a valence over the door.. Suppose to be a mark indicating where this is, obviously we never saw it, even though we looked for it. Yes we did open it 180 degrees wrong.It turned out to be not a problem as the roof was setting on insulation that was sitting on a liner so we were able to rotate it around to it proper position . It was a little chilly , and we did set it in the truck with the heater on, probably should have left it in the truck for a lot longer, as the plastic as it is  hard to work with when it is chilled.

In this photo you can see the roof is on but the roof flap is peeled back  to accommodate the wall panel/insulation which is a white vinal interior and aluminum insulation on the out side. Generally start on the left sie of the door or 1;pm if the door is at 12, and work yourself around.. this is important as the windows are placed based on a clock systems, which will have to match with the exterior cladding.

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The outside wall has rope loops sewn in the top, so to attach we needed to  daisy chained the rope loops through through grommets mounted to the edge of the  roof. The  problem we had was with the height of the wall? It turns out you can and should  adjust the height of the wall with these rope loops? never knew that based on the instructions. We were suppose to do this? but if the wall is to high then the roof is going to hang over the window  cover roll up? We have not corrected this yet, but now I assume that you set the top of the wall based on the top of the door. The edge of the wall is captured by an aluminum plate that is bolted to the door frame..

So here we are all finished? as far as as we could go.. I cannot describe how much fun, and more importantly how mush everyone helped to make this happen. I never knew who exactly was going to show up, but friends did! and they showed up at different times and contributed when the time was right for them.. This is why I love construction! because this is what happens. 😉

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Now the Yurt is up, and it looks so small?  But we still have more to do? get the wood stove installed, snow load 2×4 installed, sand the floors and stain.

We did get the Stove installed. When you buy the kit they offer another add on, which is essentially 2 aluminum plate 18×18″ or 24″x24″.? Seems like you can get this on your own? any rate, set the stove and pipe will  through the wall  frame, mark the wall and the plate and cut.. drill 3 holes on each side and bolt wing nuts  through the plate.. Based on the square footage, one would assume that you would need a small stove? But because of the wall thickness ( lack of), and  the cold.  i suggest in the strongest terms to get a large stove, possibly twice the size based on square footings. The other issue is the floor, which should be insulated but still will be cold. Regarding the floor, my only suggestion is to wear slippers. 🙂 A radiant floor heating system would be worthwhile, just not sure how to accomplish that goal, as if you install a water heater in wood stove or wrap stove pipe with tubing, what happens is that you cool the stove  which  creates another problem .. So we are still investigating options.
Here you can see the wall supports have been installed, and we have 1 futon .. The option for the wall sports was $500. this included all of the 2×4 with brackets on both sides of rafter to studs and studs to floor.  Good to install brackets on both sides . I think we spent $200. so saved a few bucks but it was a lot of work.  Just after this photo we started sanding the floors by section and staining/ urethaning. Always better to finish the floor first but some times timing does not allow this.. I used an orbital sander, maybe a belt sander would have been better.?Now things are starting to look good, the floors are finished. we have 2 futons with cool covers.

For the past month , well starting in Jan. we posted an Ad in Air BnB figured we could rent  the Yurt on weekends. My worry going into this, was that some folks are going to rent it with expectations that there would be heated towels, clean sheets, etc, etc.. You know what I am talking about. So when ever I was contacted from perspective customers, I would  list all of the “don’t have” items. No water, lights, electric,cable, cell, heat but with a wood stove that will need to be tended around 2 am. Also facilities is an out house, and the potential show stopper, was the real potential of having to walk in a mile. Well, surprising to me after my full disclosure speech ,  was that every one said that that is exactly what they wanted! We did have couple rent it, one weekend when it was -20 f  , they were cold, but managed it.

Going forward , we are going to build a deck, and  get a couple of solar panels , so we can have light . This was a problem in the winter, when the sun goes down at 3:30.

So, the long term projects will be to build a 12’x 24′ cabin on another corner of the lot, and  possibly build a 2nd  yurt. As the retirement yurt business may be a viable option.

Shikoku 4 days

And we were off to temple 2, and beyond .

I am not 100% sure about which temple picture is which? when I return we will keep better track?

There are markers on the road, such as this, some time just an arrow, but you do have to pay attention.

Along the way, locals will serve tea to the folks doing the pilgrimage.

 

 

This was between the 1st and second or third.. very nice,, They also told us about a bell tower we could sleep in.

 

 

 

Noticed oranges still on the tree’s.. This was after the winter, so we would have assumed that they would have been picked? another secret

 

 

 

 

 

We thought these were cherry blossoms,, but were assured that it would be another month. maybe orange blossoms .. Regardless it was quite beautiful!

 

 

 

All of the temple you are suppose to announce your arrival by ringing the bell.. These are not little dinner bells!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at this point Arissara started  having knee problems,, seemed to be IT band. nothing one can do but get off of the knee .

 

 

 

 

 

This is the monk  that did this 1200 years ago and so they now have 100,000 folks participate in this Pilgrimage every year.. Most are in tour bus, but still it is quite a commitment

his name is KoBo Daishi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

this is in the Bell tower, hard to see the Bell as it is quite a small room. But there were matts and blankets, so we were quite comfortable

 

 

 

 

One of the last temples.

We decided that we needed to return home as Arissara knee was just problematic.. She said that we could continue, and she did with a smile on her face,, But the pace was just to slow,, really slow.. So off we go back to Thailand and I will either return next year, or both on a bike.

 

 

The vegetable gardens were perfectly tended. The care was evident.

 

 

 

 

 

 

seems like where ever you go in the world, their are folks that like to jack up their cars , trucks.. It is pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see Arissara was not to depressed about the change of plans. Seems to be happy regardless! this was across the street from our hotel in Osaka. Looks like a golf driving range in the distance.

 

 

So all is well, we have been back in Thailand , on the beach for the past 5 weeks, and enjoying ourselves.. this week end we are taking an overnight bus to the south of Thailand to visit one of the most beautiful reservoirs in Thailand

Shukoku 1st day, just cause i have time .

We arrived in Osaka around midnight, as the plane was delayed in Bangkok for over an hour. Now worries here, I would prefer they take all of the time they need. So because of the 2 hour time difference, we were late and all of the trains had stopped , so it was Taxi time, that is Japan Taxi time , not Thailand Taxi time,and  it was a shock , as we are use to taking a 3 hour taxi ride for $100?

One of the cool things we discovered, is that because Japan has  a different system in their phones, so unlike most places in the world, where you can get a sim card for phone and data at the airport or 7/11, in Japan you cannot.  So  some enterprising folks have a work around and it is called a pocket WIFI, just keep it charged up, and all you have to do is connect to it on your lap top or smart phone, and you are off and running. I had completed a request for a 45 day rental, and they delivered  it to the hotel we were checking into, so when we showed up at Osaka at the Best western at 1am, they had the Pocket WIFI waiting for us. They also had a self addressed envelope, so this is the best work around I have seen in a long time.

got to stay connected

We ended up taking a train, which can freak one out, as there is not so much english lettering noticeable? It is probably there , but initially with times and landing that have to be  connected, some folks tend not to see what is at the end of their nose..

However the ticket guy, printed out an itinerary , which made it as easy as can be.. We did end up transferring between 3 separate train lines ?  We did get to Bando train station around 1 pm, and promptly found   local Ramen , which was perfect as it was  raining with temps in the 45F range. That would be driving rain, similar to other places I have lived in. After that we made it to the 1st temple and purchased all of the required paraphernalia . Have posted a few pics from the train station and temples..

 

I posted this photo, as I have never been in a bathroom, with a square section of the mirror that is heated, so it does not condensate, and so you do not have to be delayed in those, so important final touches.

 

 

 

Some of the products one can purchase at one of the many vending machines in Japan.. these coffee varieties are hot out of the vendor

 

 

 

 

This is a spot on a train platform for women to stand on? I think during the evening hours they have a camera trained on that spot.. Just guessing though

 

 

 

We just arrived at the train station that is the closest to our 1st out of 88 temples..we ended up changing between 3 train lines from near the airport to our destination.. Only 10-15 min. between train platforms, but we connected to all? surprisingly.. No One is Japan speaks english, well none that we found.

 

Just off the train we or Arissara found a Ramen shop, just what we needed, as it was driving rain and about 45 F degrees

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bad weather but plenty of smiles

 

 

 

 

 

just leaving the 1st temple with sedge hat, walking pole, vest, ect.

 

 

 

 

 

The white shroud or shirt is traditional garb , and  is  a burial shroud.. Long ago when folks started this pilgrimage they were not sure if  they would live through it, so just in case they wore it .

 

 

Some of the stone statues out is of one of the temples

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful staircase leading up to a temple

 

 

 

 

 

Woodwork is just amazing,

 

 

 

 

This is still at the first temple, just as we were getting ready to leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shikoku thoughts

Sitting in Arissara’s home in Chonburi, Thailand thinking about what are life will be like next week ? I have hiked so much in my life and this is really nothing more than a hike, just a combination trail, mountain, urban, but much longer than I have ever walked, like 1400K or around 900 miles. We are bringing a tent so we can go as far as we want or really camp out when we are finished for the day , either early or late. The issue with camping will be where to camp, which will probably be more apparent then I think, at this moment . OF course we will stay in local hotels , but probably every 3-5 days. The food and water will be out of convenience stores, as well as vending machines ? which seems to be what folks do on this pilgrimage
Originally I wanted to go hard core on this, as we needed to walk the whole way, now because we are leaving a week late, and more importantly I am not sure how the knees will hold up, as well as the weather, and our schedule to catch a flight back on 14 of April ? But the preference will be to walk.
The fun and scary part of this for me, is lack of control ? I am use to controlling much of my life ? or maybe it is just a perceived control, which seems as good as reality I guess.

My  intent is to write a post once a week with a few photos,  and limit the verbiage

The Loss of a Father, Thai style

This has been a difficult  week, especially for Arissara, as she lost her Pa this week.. Funny how thing work out, as we were asked to come out to Singapore a month earlier  than we were planning, so we arrived in Singapore 2:30 am Sat.morning, when we awoke,  Arissara got a phone call from her sister telling her that her Father was in the hospital, so she flew out the next morning.. The following week, she took care of him, bathed him, cleaned him up, fed him, and got to speak to him when he was able too, the following Tuesday he passed on..It was not to pleasant , but relatively fast, it was also a gift for her to be with him to the end.  She had some funny stories of those last  days with him. Thais  certainly mourn with the best of them, but have a way of turning it into something that I can’t really describe, probably because  I am not Thais. It is like Dying is so much more than I thought, that is unless you are the one dying.

When I realized what had happened I was not sure what to do, as I have met her father and mother, but really could not connect as it was only for  a few hours, not to mention the language issue , it is so  easy to pick  detached.. So, I e-mailed some one that has lived in Thailand for 30+ years for some advice.. Sometimes I just need to hear perspective, than my path becomes more clear, John indicated that it would be okay not to show up, as I am working? but if I did show her family would be impressed, as well as it would give  Arissara Face ( Face is always very important in Thailand ).. The most important point was also to ask, and Listen, not something I do very well, but always working on.

So I arrived Wed. Am , and took a taxi to Nokan Sawan, which is a 3-1/2 hour ride,, I could have taken the skytrain, bus, than a van,, but just was not into making this a 6 hour process.. The cost was 2600 Bht , which is around $90. , not a bad price considering the distance/time. The remaining 4 days, was all Thais, no Aircon, slept on the floor with her extended family, and ate, ate , ate, drank, drank  beer  as well as Thai whiskey.. But most importantly met her grandmother, uncles, sister, and Mother.. I think they have a better idea who this Farange is?

I have posted some photos , and will try to give an insight into what is happening. I have not researched the Why’s and For’s , regarding all of the events, sequences, and meanings.

This is Pa, ( Sanay Chimsuwan), Quite a handsome young man !

Pa was a scoundrel, no doubt? At this point, however her family all seem to laugh at his exploits . Arissara’s memory of her Pa,is of him taking her on road trips, buying and selling cattle, sleeping in fields curled up in the grass, no pads , tents, sleeping bags? that is just what they do.. Pa taught her how to fight Muay Thai, how to drive a stick shift, drive a scooter when she was 7, tie a load down, essentially problem solve anything that came by, and she still does that.. But also he took care of her, made sure her school clothes were clean, when her mother gave her a few baht for something to eat at school, he would than sneak out side the house and give here a few more baht. Pa  loved his daughter, and Arissara always knew it.

I  really didn’t get a good comprehensive photo of the cooking area,, but there was a couple more of these pots cooking, I think she had 10 family members as well as friends cooking for hours behind the house in anticipation of the hundreds of people who were coming Wed. night

Arissara sister is on the left, I should know the lady on the right, but just wanted to show  you how cooking is done in this situation. They had these platforms about 5′ Square around 2′ high, for food preparation, stacking dished or just sitting and chopping

Besides the benefit of having your husband during family tragedies,  the downside is that I was underfoot at times. The solution is to farm me out with the uncles, who happen to be Rice farmers .. These to gentleman are Arissara’s mothers brothers.. Not sure if this is typical, but Arissara tends to never tell me the names, but if they are on the mothers or fathers side of the family. Some time on Wed. noon I went off to Uncle’s   farm, which was only about 20 min. from her farm  , not many farm landscapes are as pretty as Rice farms,, the greens are like non-other.  We walked up a hill to a large Buddha, as well as down to the Rice fields, than headed back for Beer.. I think everyone figured their job was to feed me beer, regardless if I said yes or no. So, I went with the flow.. I cannot express how much I like these guys!

One of the really cool dynamics is the care of the children, this is Arissara’s niece and nephew.. Because their parents work at factory’s, both children spend months with their Aunt and uncles or grandmothers,, So the intimacy between all of them is amazing, just all of the  touching , playing,  hugging, cleaning out running nose, some time it is hard to tell who the mother or father is?

This is Arissara’s mother, Niece , Aunt ( married to her mother’s brother) and their daughter.. cool T-shirt.. Most folks spend their time sitting on the floor, no chairs..

Well back to the Event

When we got back home, the music was going, here is the local group,,.

 

These guys were at it for 2 days solid, they also had a saxophone group  ? But it was all Thai music,, something  you need to get use too?

Like all events, their was a  drinking group,  as the ceremonies gained traction,, the drinking started moving away to the boundary of the yard.. I moved back and forth.. This is Arissara Uncle and her Cousin ( fathers sister son) . Arissara told me of a story, when they were young (10) her cousin said something bad to her, so she broke a bottle over his head, than she hid in a tree for a day, as her cousin was her grandfathers favorite. Seemed not to hold it against her. He was a pretty funny guy, I never understood him, except you could tell by his face, and the laughter. I laughed as well.

As I was having so much fun, it seemed everyone was into the game of finding activities for me. So I was soon sent  off to help load Charcoal onto a truck, and then to bring it to the crematorium.. after seeing this, I have noticed that every Buddhist temple Wat has one of these. Makes sense as Cremation is the standard process in Thailand.

 I apologize as I am already getting a little fuzzy as to the sequence, but I believe at some point on Wed. the day before the funeral/cremation, as part of the evening ceremonies  a group of monks came to the house, adjacent to the casket..( Casket has a refrigeration unit on one end)

That Wednesday evening, the place filled up quite a bit? not knowing what to expect I immediately jumped to conclusion? Assuming that they were not going to  get the numbers anticipated.. Well I was as far off as I could be.. and the  the Thai music played on with Thai prayers..

Like all events, parking and traffic is a problem, as this is a country farm on a country road? the traffic is not to bad but what is there, can be quite fast.. So what I believe to be standard , are the lights and signs for the dark hours, indicating a funeral is going on.

Not sure what time we went to sleep, but as this was my first night sleeping on a concrete floor, along with oscillating fan, needless to say, not too much sleep the first night.. I seemed to be the only one with this problem.

Thursday morning after breakfast, started off with more music, more chanting . Soon after, we  had some youngster that were going to be a monk for the event  , included were Arissara Nephew ( on the left) her step brother and his son, not sure who the other 2 were? but they were shorn in the morning  We than ( I got to go along) went to another Wat for chants as well as donning of the traditional saffron outfits.

Here they are , completing their chant or prayers before they get outfitted in their monk robes.

One of the monks that seemed to be the Go to Guy , cool tattoos..

..

After we returned things were gearing up ,, but  music and chanting continued. After  an  early lunch, more monks arrive, I am sure they had some food, than the procession starting moving outside along with the casket to Pa’s truck

Traditions seems to be,  that the monks are fed than the serious business starts. At some point the family brought Pa’s Pick up truck  to the front yard, and a group of 10 men carried the casket to the truck. ( Pa was not a very big man so I believe that a lot of the weight was in the refrigeration)

The procession is made up of Arissara carrying a picture of Pa, her sister carrying  a candle, than a  group of monks holding onto a string that is ultimately tied to the casket.? that is untill they are loaded unto the truck.

Here is Arissara carrying her  Pa’s Photo.

At some point, as we left the driveway and  entered the road , you can see Arissara and her step brother, cousin rode Pa’s truck the final  Kilometer till we entered the Wat

This did seem to be choreographed , but still, no one was issuing out directives who has to be where? or here. their was a lot of talking /shouting but by no one in particular? everyone seemed to know what to do !

I am always intrigued with the equipment, so here is a shot a typical tractor  in Thailand, as he along with everyone else was waiting for the procession to be finished, and  off the road.

At the temple the casket was moved up the stairs into the main area, festooned with flowers and  always with pa’s photo.

Before the proceedings started  in the temple, Arissara brought by a tray of food , knocked on the casket, and left it there as this was to be his  last  meal in this world.

A couple of shots of  the family carrying the  Casket into the Temple and of myself with her uncle

Like all family events this was the time for family Photo’s, a dozen variation of pictures with someone to be remembered or not. I snapped a couple here and there ,with the ones I wanted, but mainly  tried to stay out of the  professionals way.

 

Arissara’s grandmother is to the left of her mother and Niece
During the early lunch, the Thai music was forever present along with  another gentleman either reading or chanting, and of course their was cooking at the temple as well, as everyone there needed to be fed along with the monks.

During all of this, folks are streaming in and out, eating, kids are running around , roosters and dogs are crowing and barking, but still, the seriousness of the business at hand was ever-present. Around 4pm, the Men gathered together to take Pa out of  the refrigerated coffin, as he  was  in light cardboard coffin inside of the larger one, Arissara and her sister walked in front.

The monks were  always in front of  the procession.  The whole procession then walked around the crematorium 3 times.

The musicians  were somewhere in the mix as well.

 Looks like they were trailing, as the monks were coming from behind

After the third pass the Men placed the casket on a couple of stand in front of the crematorium door, as this was going to be the last time for all to say their farewells .

But before the  goodby” we had a traditional  Thai dancer, which was so amazing in itself.. The dancing  and the symbolism.

I found my self on the wrong side of the dancing , so could not capture all that I wanted. At some point she ran up the stairs to the coffin, as if to say ” it is alright Pa, we are all here for you and you will be okay on your next journey”

Of course, sometime it is just good to stop taking Photos.

Well, it seems that Pa was not done with us, as we had a beautiful day,, but as we were all to  walk up the stairs and say our good by’s ,, the Skies opened up. Arissara and her sister just stayed out in the pouring rain saying their thank you’s  to those folks coming down   the stairs, they than  said their own final goodby’s

We also had a propane canon going off every 5 few minutes as well as a 21 gun solute, and to end it all a gentlman came out and played taps. I haven’t experianced that since my father died .

As an American when I experiece a full dose of culture and tradition, I  want to hold on to it,, as it is real, in an unreal world.. I was truly blessed to marry a Thai women, because I not only got  a great partner in life ,  but a real person as solid as her culture and traditions.

Snow Man and Igloos?

Building Igloos always brings a smile to my face, regardless of attitude , or  age. Arissara has never seen or heard of one ? And coincidently we seem to have at least 16″ of snow on the ground,, and the best part, is that the temp has moved from -18c to 0c,, which makes it much more fun to build . 😉  as I say this on my warm couch in front of the wood stove on a Sat morning.

There are many ways to build an Igloo, the traditional method, is with snow blocks, however, here in New Hampshire it really is not practical, as there are no blocks, maybe in the Far north, one could cut blocks out of the frozen lake,  I have also seen plastic molds , something similar to making bricks. One method is the Pile Way, just pile it up to the desired height and Diameter, than dig it out?  Of course the best way ( Lazy way), is to look for snow drifts, and if conditions are correct with enough snow and wind,  we could have drifts over 10′ high, the only down side is that you can’t   pick the location. I wanted to have this one in the middle of the back yard, so it was the pile method,  the difference  from previous years, was that we would use a snow blower and just keep going around in a circle, while re-directing the chute toward the center! Literally  within  an hour we had a 10′ Diameter, as well as 3-4 feet high.. The next step is to let it sit and firm up.. I think I waited to long ? probably a day would do , but I decided to hang out on the couch the following day, than off to work for a week, so I did not get to it for a full week, Yikkes. The problem is that during that week, it got warm , than it went down to -15c.. now the shell of the Igloo was a frozen sheet of snow/ice for at least 8″ , I ended up using my axe to get through the first 8 inches,  as I got deeper into it, it didn’t get much easier, but still a little easier.                                                   I started the digging, Arissara kept looking at what I was doing from the house, as she is curious and wants to be part of what ever is going on, it did not take long for her to be hip deep in it.

The weird part about digging out igloos is the feeling of claustrophobia , not something that I am susceptible too.. But once you’re in past your hips and the ease of getting out is gone, there is a feeling of un-ease? I have had them cave in, and it is just a matter of standing up, as once it falls, they also  lose their  structure  and no longer have strength? But logic and primal fear are not often aligned.

Once  you can get in, that is  all the way in and can turn around, things go much faster, especially if you have some one removing the snow from the opening.. We did have plan of spending the night in our new home,  I just could not get motivated ,, but who knows..the winter has another month to go.  I could stretch out, but as you can see the  height could have been 8″-12 ”  higher?.Well it has been a few weeks now, and we have been in Portsmouth working , and , and the temp has gone up to 60F with rain,, wonder what will be left. We got in Friday night around 7pm, as we pulled into the driveway we could not help noticing the lack of snow, except for a big pile of snow where our Igloo still was.. One of the first things to check out was , how much was left?        As you can see .. it does look sad, but it still stands,  with the returning cold weather ,as well as the real possibility of more snow ( NH tends to get most of its snow in Feb).. The Igloo may be revitalized, and reborn ! The next snow fall Arissara and I will build a snow Man!

Back in the U.S of A

Let us see if I can get back in the groove.. as it has been possibly 2 years since I have Blogged?  When we moved? from Singapore to Taiwan my life seemed to be to full for 2-3 hours of pounding out those beautiful prose ? yeah right..  I am going to take the easy out and blame “She who must be obeyed” And here she is at the conclusion of the ceremony.. All smiles,, and after 10 months still smiling

Happy time are here again

But the 1 year spent before the wedding and after Singapore was on a project in Taichung,Taiwan. Many pictures and trips through out that Island nation.. and

Many mountains

I scrolled through a few hundred, but this really seemed like the Taiwan that i would like to return to..  We did not get a car or scooter, so where limited in our weekend forays.. Will do some thing different next time .

Southern most tip of taiwan

Last walk through Taichung

Near the end of our tour of duty, we snuck off the projet for a long weekend touring the beaches.. If we had been a little more adventurous,, we probably would have gone here ever month?

Facebook is killing me

Well not really !  unfortunately , when ever I go anywhere or do anything it immediately goes to Facebook.. Yuuck  Why you might ask Yuuck?? The reason for me to Blog is to capture in Pictures and Words exactly what happened, this event that I have captures is also accessible for myself and friends for eternity ( long time word)  the bigger reason is when I write it is the only time i am able to think retrospectively ( what ever that means)  ..  With Face book it seems to be more ” Look at Me! see how cool I am ”  Yuuck .. 

The other problem with Facebook is that it is highly addictive, as I am compelled to see what my family and friends are doing multiple times of day, so I can comment and bla bla bla, instead of living my life, living my life.. 

So how to live with this monster residing in my computer, I-touch,-Iphone?? I am essentially a On or Off person , no rheostat build in. So this is going to be difficult at best, I am going to try to limit my visits to once a week  ,, nooo  , okay twice a week ( Wed. and Sunday ) I will get back to you about how succesful I am 😉

A Volcanoe called Rinjani

This is the starting off point, very cool and lush.

Long agoI had heard about  a volcano called Rinjani, and for the past 2 years have been trying to organize a trip their. Before climbing Kilimanjaro, I was told “go to Rinjani it is a prefect training mountain”, Why? because of the scree? Now you might ask “what is scree?” the political equivalent would be to pass a Health care bill in the U.S., you know ?take 2 steps up , slide one step back.   I was planning to go last fall, but than Rinjani did what all volcanoes do, started  erupting! not enough to cause evacuations but enough for the authorities to shut the mountain down. Than , a couple of months ago , I received  an E-mail flier from Java Lava , for folks that don’t know who these folks are? it is a loosely bound club formed in the 60’s by a few young western  drug importers, and like everything over time they have become respectable to the point where they have a web page, as well as a lady ( Jenny D.)  who is in charge of the organization. They are based out of Jakarta, where most of the participants come from? well they really are ex-pats from U.S. Ireland, Germany, Australia, Quebec, and even some Indonesians that live in Jakarta. These folks work in Jakarta, and like to get out for hikes on a regular basis , but don’t have a lot of time to organize , the flights, Losman or hotels, guides, porters, and all of the other bits and pieces that needs to be done when you are hiking in a country with 300 volcanoes   spread over  15, ooo islands  which are also spread over 3,000 miles.

I asked Kahlid if he wanted to go, as he is in pretty good shape for a youngster. Kahlid  goes to Yoga 12 times a week as well as hikes Singapore mountains every week, so I figured i would not have to wait for him and would probably have a hard time keeping up with him.  This is a 3 day hike, so we would need sleeping bags, tents, but not food as the trekking service provides porters and guides, The porters carry food and any bags you don’t want to carry. Don’t ask! The porters also cook all of the meals, including a stop for lunch, which they cook over an open fire. The greatest value they bring is the water that they carry for everyone. wonder how much  water 15 people go through in the tropics over three days?

WEll the first adventure or disaster we had, was when we  arrived in Mataram on Lombok,  and realized that  “They Lost The Luggage!!!!!!! MY shoes, hiking clothes, tent poles, trekking poles, ear plugs, and contacts. I did have my pack, a warm hat, sleeping bag, and my tent without poles. So we were off to mataram to find boots?? well maybe running shoes along with all of the other clothes. Just a note to myself ” X-large is not American X-large, and they don’t sell XX-large .

This next picture is a few minutes out.

Actually the first day was walking through high grass, luckily it was over cast, otherwise it would have been a little warm. My big worry was leaches, but none showed up. We had 2 sons and a dad with us? I am guessing they were in the 10 year old category, they were very comfortable with the group and hiked up front as much as possible. It was fun hiking with kids, reminded me of mine ;-(

There are two ways to carry a load in Indonesia, one is with a pack the other is with a bamboo pole with a load on either end. The porters carried fresh eggs ( 10 dozens) . All the vegetables were fresh with roots and all, The benefit of the bamboo pole is that you can rotate the bamboo on to either shoulder with little effort? for them anyways!

This was the scene whever we were having lunch or dinner? or as the Australians say “Tea” which means Lunch or Dinner? always on an open fire, they have been their so many times they know where standing dead wood is. They bring and Ax, start chopping down tops of standing dead trees, about 2′ long, than split it 10 times into little sticks, and presto, dinner is around the corner

This guy is about 20′ up the side of the tree.

Now dinner or Tea is being prepared, while the wood is being cut, another few folks are peeling and chopping up vegetables.

And dinner is served, similar to ramen , except everything is fresh.

Oh yes the Egg in the middle is a nice touch of protein .

Of course I had to try out this Porter carrying arrangement, so during one of the breaks I tried it out! Not to bad actually, well I think I grabbed the lighter  loads.

This is the last push before we top out on the ridge where we camped. The high grass, with all of the views was very different for me, could have been extremely hot, but with the cloud cover , quite nice.

This picture is of the  ridge before the tents were put up, very idylic

The view to the right was of the Caldera, which has filled in with water , and is now called., “Child of the Sea” The mountains surrounding the lake are actually the edge of the crater? I think this blew around the 1300? but it has been a long time.

Because Kahlid is now advancing light years ahead of me in the cosmic Yoga universe, he is able to do head stands where ever and when ever he chooses. Of course planing your head on the side of an active volcano, enables you to commune more efficiently  with mother volcano. The goal being to get some inside information 😉 , sure she is not going to blow her top in the next 3 days

That evening we decided NOT to leave at 1 Am , and forgo the sunrise  from the summit? Instead we started around 6Am? Of course some of us never slept, seemed like their are Water Buffalo’s wandering  in our campsite, funny how they breath, very loud! Almost like sleeping at the end of Changi airport with 747’s jets landing every 5 min. And of course my ear plugs were  with my lost luggage.

We woke up before sun rise to a great banana pancake breakfast, and started off  with head lamps.  About an hour latter we were treated  to a  fantastic sunrise. Actually I think this was the sunset? oops

And about 1/2 hour latter we were treated to a volcanic Blast!  It looked just like an explosion? well duhh. One was cool, was that it kept rising and rising. I should explain that the Original Volcano blew it lid in the 1300, subsequently the crater has filled in with water to form a beautiful lake. On the side of the lake a cone  has been building up over the years, which is where this explosion came from. We were about 2000′ above it and maybe 1/2 mile off to the side.

This is the blast cloud getting higher , now into the sun.

How could anything be better than that? A beautiful sunrise, fantastic explosions! Well it di d get better 😉 Now we got to  enjoy the scree, yumm and I particularly enjoyed it, for I did not have my hiking poles with me , as they were on that darn plane.  This is the picture looking down slope to a couple  from Australia. 

To get an idea of how far we had gone , you can see our tents in this picture , and we  were still awhile from the top. The tents are just below the second bump on the ridge.

Almost at the Top now . looking at the ridge line we had just come up, nice silhouette.

Well finally on the summit! yeah. This was definitely a hard hike, heck this was just the beginning of the hard! we still had to hike back to the tent, than drop another few thousand feet to the lake. Than the following day hike  up and over the ridge line, a couple of more thousand feet back up, than down, and down and more down. It was hard but definitely worth it.

Looking down from the summit , you can see the  lake and cone. I can see why this is the most beautiful volcano in Indonesia.

Now, we got to have some fun, glissade down a scree slope, which is really a lot of fun. 😉 Of course Jungle Jane  had no need for shoes!

Next stop the lake. Not much for views but still, with the fog  it was very peaceful,

 

The Fog  seemed to come and go,  but we did get some views as they appeared 

The next day we had another great breakfast, and started climbing immediately, but first Rinjani had  to have another blast, and this one was even more magnificent.

The climb up out over the ridge took a few hours, the next picture  is of some of the smiling folks . The sides of this trail dropped at least 45 degrees, their were some places were we stopped , I had to look away.

This next picture is Kahlid with Eric and the guide, naturally they are in front. 😉

We eventually reached the ridge than hiked down the other side , had another great lunch ( It was raining at this point) Than another hour or two and we were out. Thankfully they had our new found luggage waiting for us. So after 3 days in the same clothes I was finally able to  change.

This was the entrance or exit  depending which directions, although at this point I think the direction we went was perfect.

This was a great hike, and I would definitely do it again! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!  as much as I have.

Take Care

Kashmir land of Snow and Kalashnikov

Hmm, maybe the last winter in the east? While in Asia I have skied in Japan twice, as well as New Zealand once, time to try out something a little more out their. Options are China, Korea or Kashmir?? Some assumptions; Korea is probably to crowded ( less than 2 hours from Seoul) and China is , or could be way to cold?? holy moly listen to me ;-).

Well the decision was made, Kashmir! For folks that don’t know it,  Kashmir is a state/province in India, which abuts Pakistan, Nepal, China . So needless to say there are some mountains in this area, called the Himalayas?? also to make this a little more fun, this is probably the most contested real estate in the world! It was always amazing when I told folks that we were skiing in Kashmir! India?  The look on their face? was They have snow their? It also didn’t help to have Mike  send me regular news flashes of political killings, avalanches!!

THe plan , was to fly to Mumbai late, stay over night , than catch the early flight to Shrinagar , via New Delhi, Jummar, . No

problems, just stay on the plane and watch the change of passengers at each airport. This picture is in Mumbai arranging for our Taxi,  they have a good system, just  seemed a little  bit chaotic after living Singapore’s efficient machine. So they threw the skis on top of the cab and we were off, essentially moving closer to the domestic terminal, so we could catch the early flight in the morning to Shrinagar.

Oh, did I mention that ? Mike agreed to keep me out of trouble , and ski if their was time. Here ,he  is inspecting the rope system ,  make sure it was meeting spec. We  would have included more Mumbai pics. but we got their late and left early , never saw light.

What a fantastic view out of the window! first view of the Himalayas

When we got to Shrinagar our contact was their, so it was  just

a matter of getting gear and skis . What we realized, quick enough was that we were not the only skiers, and their were a lot of nationalities their. We ended up sharing the truck with  4 Italians.

If you look close you can see folks , standing on top of cars, loading skis.

On the way to Gulmarg, all we could see were  houses in construction. The area was booming. Who would have thunk?

Nothing like a gas stop, but their was

petrol! I think it was a joke, or when they really did not have gas, the sign was their.

While we where fueling, I had  the chance to full fill one of those long-lost  dreams ” driving a steam roller”! well maybe not drive it but certainly sit in the drivers seat!

At some point on the way up to Gulmarg , you might see something that reminds you ( like a horse and carriage? not a tourist ride) , that you are not going to loon mountain. This was on the main road.

Hmm the next stop is Telemarsk, where we traded vehicles from no chains to one chain and also to note the monkeys sitting on the roof.

The idea of a monkey at high elevation is hard to get use to, I kept thinking they would  jump on me! yikes! but they seemed to be more scared of me. Here one is picking lice off of the back of the other.

here we are unloading and actually surrounded by SNOW!

This is the store /lunch  canteen at the lower gondola lift

This is one of the lunch places I went to,  .

The guy was more friendly than he looks

The next group pictures are mountain skiing? the first day it was pretty bullet proof for me, although some folks seemed impervious to it, I just need to get out more .

As you can see it was snowing! not a lot but every day a couple of inches was all we needed

The first time or maybe everytime, it is generally wise to get a guide, When this was first getting arranged we wondered how the local guides would be, but it turned out that they were great and could ski anything! this is Faziz and Mike.

This is an old avalanche run out? they said it was not because the mountain was so far away?? but still

This picture is hard to capture the true magnitude of this but, it was more apparent at the top, looking up to the mountain .

Well , after a hard on the slopes we had to relax, and there is nothing like a beer to unwind with. Looks like Mike is dropping off. Sorry mike but could not resist!  

Mike ended up leaving a couple of days before me, so we wanted to get a  good pic. of the 3 of us.

As you would have it, the day after Mike left the clouds blew out and  the sun came in!  Than we could really see what was above us.

Looks Like?? hmmmm India??? really . Hell we could have been in Idaho 😉

Holy Moly! that is awesome. You can see the lift on the left side, kind of the best of both worlds, back country with out skins!

One of the fun aspects of skiing here, is the amount of different countries represented here. They may be in the alps, but the area  is so small, as far as the  gondolas .

While we were their we ran into ( literally ) in to folks from Finland, Spain, Italy, Ireland, France, US, and Russia.  the next picture is with a russian couple and her brother. All snow boarders! I think they are taking over the world.

We did have a couple of shots with clouds coming in.

I have a couple of more pictures ?? yeahh right , maybe 300!  but the next 2 are pretty good after that , I took off to Shrinagar

Untracked Snow, nothing is better than that.

High stuff

The last part of the trip was to be spent in Shringar on lake dal, on a house boat! but first we needed to drive down the mountain, on essentially  a lane and 1/2  road, with on coming trucks and buses, all chained up?? well mostly chained up.

On the way up we only had one chain ? which means that the wheel without the chain will get all of the power and, much fish tailing 😉 In this picture  we were almost down so he was taking the chain off.

This is what many of the Kashmiri men do for income, they pull people on sleds up and  down this road. Most of their customers are  either Chinese from Hong kong, or Singapore , as well as Indians from down south. Check out the snow banks? and these are not plow banks. Off to the right is the gold course,  which is at the highest  elevation in the world. Wonder how far golf balls travel their.

This is yours truly on the boat being row’d out to the house boat.

Back in the day,this is one of the  few places where Indian Raja’s went to escape the heat,as well as the Brits .I don’t believe I saw any motor boats, the locals were very aware that it was important to keep the Lake in pristine condition, after all it is a destination point for many tourist.

Some of the House boats or House barges had some pretty interesting names:

Their was also the Neil Armstrong house boat, and many more;-) . All of the floors are covered with beautiful carpets? “You want to buy one? good prices?

The next few pictures are of lake Dal and the mountains surrounding it.

This looks like a couple of guys heading off to work.

One of the interesting points, is that these folks were  very focused on letting me know that they loved us, and their country was safe! that was the big message, Kashmir is safe. On another note, I have never seen so many soldiers in my life, because  Pakistan would love to include Kashmir in its territory. I asked a few Kashmiri’s and their responce was that they would like to be their own country?? So we will see what becomes of this little Gem of a country.

When I first arrived at my house boat, they started calling me GodFather like the movie, Than they gave me a beer and I understood, it was pretty funny. I was the only one in the boat, looks like each boat had 3 bedrooms.

Well this was the last night in Kashmir, hmmm wonder what the light means? No one can say I am not the brightest bulb?  It was a great trip, I think the skiing had me a little intimidated, took me a few days to get everything clicking, I passed on some runs that I should have taken? So if I am here next year I will come back, but instead of end of Feb, maybe the first of Feb. Hope ya’ll liked the pics! Take care