OznAsia

At the bottom of my street is the local tofu factory. It's just a family business actually. They have a kitchen in the front yard where they make the tofu. That's it in the top picture with the flooded duck pond beyond.

I eat tofu several times a week so I wander down and buy direct from the manufacturer. No discount. But at least I know it's fresh.

About a week ago Vanna told me that his mother said the flood had peaked now and should be turning in a few days. The next day I rode my bike down for my tofu and had to ride through about 10—12 cm of water. No big deal.

But the water didn't turn. By time I returned a couple of days later, the water was almost up to the cross-street. I tried to ride my bike through again. It was much deeper. I had to push on the pedals really hard. But some weeds or a stick got caught in the chain. It came off and jammed at the back. I had to get off and push through the rest of the water. It was perhaps twice as deep. And then, after buying the tofu, I had to push the bike all the way back. There is a small leaved weed floating on the water. That's the green you can see in both the pictures here.

The next time I returned for tofu I was smarter. I left the (now clean and repaired) bike at home. I walked and took my camera with me. The water was almost up to my knees. And I don't think it's peaked yet.

I am experimenting with using HTML : ) to link this blog to some of my flickr photos. If it all works, here is what you will find.

There is a close up picture of a beetle swimming through that weed. It shows clearly what the weed is like. I know. I had to wash it off my bike and legs several times. If all goes well, you'll find that photo here.

The tofu people have a dugout canoe which I guess they use to get their produce out of the place. There's a picture of it here.

Last weekend I cycled around (where I could get through) taking photos of the flood in other parts of town. Some can be compared with pictures I took during the dry season. You'll find many of them here.

Enjoy