27 May 2015

Baby Louie


A windy, mountainous road with 762 bends leads up to the quirky, boho town of Pai in Northern Thailand where my best friend lives with her beautiful family in a quaint wooden house surrounded by lush green rice fields, and after a 12 hour plane journey and three hour drive I was more than ready to catch up with my bestie and finally meet her baby boy. 

Kerrie-Ann's lived in Pai for nearly 5 years with her partner Bee, his beautiful daughter Noa and now baby Louie, plus their dog Yaya and numerous 'soi dogs' that they feed and care for, including the temple dog Wanyen ;) I can totally see what she loves about this hidden gem in Thailand, the outside world barely exists, instead she lives in her little idil in the mountains, running a Muay Thai gym with Bee, meeting amazing people who pass through and stop for months and sometimes years on end whilst on their travels.

My trip this time was purely to meet Louie, and I'd had hoped of course that we might do a 'proper' photo session at some point, but in-between catching up and feeding, settling and cooing over baby Louie we nearly ran out of time to do the photos, so at the end of the week Kerrie-Ann suggested I join them on their weekly trip to the temple to give an offering to the monks and take some photos in a place that's special to them. 

Buddhism plays an important role in their lives, as of course do the Thai culture and customs, it's lovely to see, learn about and document these traditions - many Thais believe that family members who have passed away can sometimes be born again in the same family and the little string bracelets on Louie's wrists were part of a Buddhist ritual at their home. The string was blessed and tied on by Louie's grandpa 'Bpuh Keg' after he'd made a wish to the Buddha shrine outside the house. One of the neighbors also popped in to do the same thing when he heard Louie crying one day during my stay.

So with our hamper of goodies for the monks in hand we went to Mae Yen Temple, a stunning Buddhist temple at the top of a hill with incredible views over the valley. Louie was fast asleep when we arrived so we took some photos outside before going in to the temple to give our offerings. It was such a beautiful session, so peaceful and calm and I'm so thrilled I was able to capture this time for my oldest friend. 

My only regret from the entire session is that I didn't get a copy of the selfie that the monk took with us all - I kid you not!  

So let me introduce baby Louie at a precious 6 weeks old - I can't wait to get back and see you again soon sweet boy xox







































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