Bangkok Week 214 — Mika's Photos

On Friday, a contingent from the office went mangrove planting in Samut Sakhon province, to the west of Bangkok.

The office is much larger than this, so I guess a lot of people were too intimidated by the prospect of planting in the mud.

Before the drama: still dry and clean.

One of the two long tail boats that we would take out to sea.

These little twiggy things are the saplings that drop from the bigger mangrove trees on a daily basis.

The two boats, ready to set out.

We raced out to sea. Little did we know what we were racing toward.

Out at sea, with the mountainous shoreline behind us. This must belong to Ratchaburi province.

It's go-time! Into the quick sand-like mud we go.

It was pretty shocking, at first!

It was really difficult to "walk" because you sink into the mud well past your knees. Turns out, "walking" on your knees was the fastest way to get around.

We would have to plant the saplings about wrist deep, and then tie them to the stakes.

While trying to advance, I lost balance on my knees and took a face plant into the water. Yes, that black post right behind me is actually my leg.

All hope on staying clean has been long abandoned.

Once we realized there was no hope of staying clean, it was actually quite fun to play in the mud.

400 saplings planted. Whoo!

Yum yum. (The guy on the right is from our Tokyo office. He must've really been shocked.)

Yeah, this shirt was white about an hour earlier.

This would've been a true mud fight.

It's a challenging task, getting back into the boat without slipping and falling right back into the water.

Not exactly a clean task!

The after shot... although Tomtor (on the right) looks suspiciously dry.

This is the area we planted. Hopefully at least some of them grow!

More victims of the mud.

Now, it's time to "rinse off" in the slightly deeper water...

...and try our luck at "mud skiing."

It was easier than I'd thought to stay up.

Although some people made it look much cooler than others.

Here I go, giving it a try.

Did I succeed in making it look cool?

You can be honest, don't worry.

Tomtor and I are laughing at something. (Or someone.)

It's time to try doing it in tandem!

Ahhh! Talk about hard to hold on!

We made it full-circle. Phew!

Anyone up next?

Here goes the courageous duo: French and Chinese-American.

Well. This is one way to do it.

Poor Thomas probably got more than he'd bargained for.

On the way back, we slowed down near the home of many, many monkeys. They know what the boats bring!

They were brazen enough to come grab the bananas straight out of our hands.

They're definitely not afraid of people!

Stuffing their faces.

Back in the civilization of Bangkok, some even more exotic wildlife.

Weekend cuisine: pad krapow (stir fried basil) on the left, and tofu sate with peanut sauce on the right.