chiang mai through the eyes of a sleep-deprived photographer
i woke up at 2am from a dream about shutter speed and sore knees. the weather data from the app says 18.36c feels like 17.92-whatever that means, right? chia seed yogurt. i thought i’d freeze to death. turns out, wearing three layers of h&m basics and pretending it’s thailand’s version of ‘comfort travel’? maybe not the move.
i checked the lens on my old canon. aperture ring loose, memory card reading like a bad ex. the plan was to shoot chrismathamin at the old city walls before they opened, but the ‘before open’ sign had been knocked off. classic. the monks there later told me monks don’t dream in autofocus. small world.
overheard a local at the coffee shop say, ‘if you wanna get lost, phasing’s a 20-minute drive with better temple merch than anywhere else.’ got curious. drove, didn’t get lost, but found a guy selling scrunchies at the gas station. hospitality. 10/10.
the yelp thread for san kamphaeng market says ‘skip the effing pad thai stall, go to the one next door.’ so, naturally, i ate there. bliss. the owner, a guy named kachin, had a camera obsession too. he said the best light here’s 5am at the night bazaar. tried it. woke up 4am, drank lucozade to jumpstart the weirdness.
tripadvisor swear by the night bazaar’s street dancing improv. didn’t start till 8pm. saw a guy breakdancing next to a buffet table. his moves were smoother than the kimchi i ate later. my stomach regretted it, but the photos? golden. blur, dream, everything.
if you’re a freelancer drowning in thai visa paperwork, just know the street food here’s cheaper than a coffee habit. i’m talking ‘i once met a bartender who was also a part-time mechanic’ cheap. the weather’s legit ‘i checked and it’s 18.36c, but you’d never guess how sweaty you’ll be’ kind of thing. embrace the fog over the mountains. it’s the local version of ‘forever.
someone told me the daisies on the way to dui suthep shrine were cursed. i took three pics. still cursed. the locals were chill, though. one guy played a harmonica melody that sounded like regret and hope.
ingredients: 1 overcooked egg, 1 truckload of ambition, 1 rejects studio apartment. recipe for chaos. i’ll post the lightroom preset if you send me your credit card. just kidding. go to the markets. break things. shoot strangers. don’t let the humidity win.
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