A Tightrope Walker Monitored from Below

I was sitting in a generously large café (which probably prefers to be referred to as a restaurant) at the Fishing Pier when the boat featured in the first photo on today’s entry drew into port. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.


The captain lifted the boat’s propeller clear of the water, the first mate tossed a tiny anchor into the wet and the mud on the starboard side of the craft, and the little boat coasted calmly into port.

The two-man crew lashed their vessel to and alongside a larger fishing craft. The captain leapt from his humble vessel onto the deck of the adjoining larger craft. He then hopped, skipped, jumped and strutted his way across the cluttered deck of the larger vessel, and finally proceeded to access the quayside in the manner shown in the photo below.


The next photo shows his acrobatic access technique in more detail.


A tightrope walker? Not quite. Actually, in this case a less than tight-rope walker.

He climbed confidently on to the quayside, and a few moments later returned, but this time carrying a bag filled with large blocks of ice. The next photo shows him descending from the quayside on to the rope. He is holding the bag of ice in his left hand. This photo should give you some idea of the height at which he was performing his impromptu acrobatic display.


Apparently such athleticism and ingenious acrobatics are nothing out of the ordinary for this man and his colleagues. They’re just all part and parcel of a routine day at work. Wow!

The next photo shows our hero returning with his bag of ice across the rope bridge. The ice is used to pack the days catch and thus keep it fresh, and the amount of ice that he’s carrying is extremely heavy. Wow again!


As I watched this man perform what to me were extraordinary feats of acrobatic accomplishment, it came to my attention that mine were not the only eyes watching him, for from the area below the craft the creature featured in the final photo on today’s entry emerged. My guess is that it had been disturbed by the acrobatic antics taking place overhead.


The above featured creature is our old friend the Water Monitor . This particular specimen was about one and a quarter metres long (it’s tail constituted approximately half of its length). Water Monitors are very common throughout much of Thailand.

I continued to sit quietly in the riverside café, gently sipping at what was my fourth glass of refreshingly cool water, and eagerly awaiting the next performance in this magnificent display. And to my delight there were indeed more fascinating performers, in this case ornithological and aquatic performers, waiting in the wings, ready to continue this delightful show. They weren’t as exciting to watch as the opening display had been, but for me they were equally interesting. I took a few photos of these unwitting stars for you, and I plan to show you those photos and tell you a little about them in the next entry on Doodee’s Thailand. I think that you’re going to enjoy them. I hope that you’ll pop back for a look.

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