After quite a few days in Chiang Mai trying to sort out what our next move was going to be, we finally moved on. One day we rented a motorbike and drown up to an artist's village where artist could come to do artists residencies. We arrived unannounced, but about 10 moths ago I had been in contact with them to try to sort out a residency for me, so after some chatting I was accepted to come and stay since they had space for me.
Now I have been here for just over a week, and part from me and the lovely host Ong (who is Thai) I am here with a British girl that is from the north-east of England (from nearly the same area where Roy comes form, Newbiggen) who is a visual artist and a Canadian woman who is a dancer and performance artist. It is such a luxury life I lead here. I wake up and go for my morning run before the heat gets too bad and then I paint and get fed, three meals per day of the most wonderful Thai food. The afternoons get really really hot, about 40 degrees in the last few days, and it is quite hard to keep the work up, so often that is the time for the siesta, and then a bit more painting before darkness.
The houses on the piece of land that make up ComPeung, the artist village, are all build by Ong himself (I am well impressed) in alternative building styles with stacked sacks filled with dirt form the land and with roofs of the dried grass and leaved that have been growing on the grounds (see photos). The house that I live in is double story and the walls are about one meter thick. There are no straight angles and no flat walls and it is the most charming house I have ever lived in!
ComPeung is located in the middle of nowhere where western looking people are rare and when Ong come dragging with 3 of us girls we get stared at. There is a temple and a lake nearby and although there is not much happening around I am surprised about the noise pollution in the area. There is always either dogs howling or barking, rosters going cock-a-doodle-doo at any time of the day and night, the ice cream tuk-tuk (a 3 wheeled moped with used for any kind of business, like taxi or transportation) with its audio logotype-song, or some kind of singing or prayer in the morning and the evening coming through some amplifier across the land. It is a bit crazy really, but I love it.
While I have been here Roy has been up too some other exiting experiences: A mountain bike off road day, apparently it was quite challenging but he says it was a good laugh. A 3 day and 2 night jungle trek with additional elephant encounter, tribe village visit and crazy temple party to get funding for the temple. (see photos).
Right now he is doing a 12 day Thai massage course in a jungle village. I am looking forward to meeting him and being a tester person for his new skills :)
love
ania
