pictures from Isaan ( Nakon Phanom province Thailand) – September 2010
Isaan, also known as Isan, Isarn, Issan, or Esarn is the northeast region of Thailand. For the most part it is a rural agricultural area. I spent some time in the region – starting in Udon Thani and heading east to Nasadao, a village that’s not on the maps but close to a larger village …..
Mahout and their elephant- Chiangmai, Thailand
Riding a motorbike in the hills about one hour southwest of Chiangmai, Thailand I noticed a bunch of elephant in what looked like an aborted subdivision – a few short paved roads going into a pasture. We pulled a U-turn to check it out. There were about ten young men (I’m not sure if all …..
Amman Jordan Full Moon
I have a long layover in Amman, Jordan and Royal Jordanian airlines offered me a free transit visa along with a ride to a hotel to kill some time. Never before has a customs agent stamped my passport and shoed me away so quickly, not what I expected. The hotel was a dive and I …..
Sukhumvit Soi 38 – Bangkok street food
It’s hard to beat Thailand’s street food – various noodle soups, pad thai, grilled meats, fried chicken, fresh ice cold coconut, papaya salads and so much more. And it’s not just the food – there’s something about the whole scene – it’s very social with no pretense. You order something from your favorite vendor, grab …..
Not everything in Bangkok is red
Not everything in Bangkok is red and I’m pretty sure that the red shirt demonstrators fall into the category of vocal minority. After a late lunch near Victory Monument last week I ran across a ‘no color’ demonstration as I walked back to the sky train station. The ‘no color’ group supports the government and …..
Bangkok Red Shirt Occupation/Demonstration
Riding around in a Bangkok taxi, I realized the red shirt demonstrations/protests have become a red shirt occupation. The red shirts control a key commercial area of Bangkok and have caused the army to occupy another area. Barricades made of old used tires and bamboo poles with the ends sharpened have been placed in some …..
Red Shirt Protests – Bangkok, Thailand
Although it doesn’t get much news back home, there are a number of protests/demonstrations going on in Thailand. A few of the larger demonstrations are taking place in Bangkok. Known as the “red shirts”, the UDD (National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship) feel the current government wasn’t elected democratically and are demanding change. Combined …..
Good morning Vietnam
Around 5AM local time April 13, 2010 somewhere over Vietnam. Equipment Details: Thai Airways #794, Airbus A340-500, seat 11K, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40MM f/4L USM, ISO 1600, 40mm, f/4.0, 1/15 sec
Colombo, Sri Lanka and environs
I spent five nights in and around Colombo, Sri Lanka last July. It was my first visit to a country that had been through a recent war. In Sri Lanka’s case it was a civil war, and the resulting terrorism, that was on and off for the past 30 years. The conflict was finally settled …..
Sri Lanka – southern coast from Galle to Mirrisa
Last July I spent a few nights south of Galle, the largest town in the southern most part of Sri Lanka, in a town named Thalpe. I never figured out exactly what constitutes Thalpe – it is just south of Unawatuna, a very tiny but better known town. The area is about 3.5 hours south …..
Ampawa Floating Market – Thailand
The other night I caught the tail end of Anthony Boudrain’s No Reservations on the the Travel Channel – they were in Thailand at the Ampawa floating market. One of his comments that caught my attention was “This is really high quality food” and I can not agree more.
Sri Lanka Tea Country – Bogawantalawa Valley, near Hatton
While visiting Sri Lanka this past July, I spent a couple of nights in the Bogawantalawa Valley near a small town named Hatton. This is tea country. It’s a verdant mountainous area about four hours inland from Colombo. The hills are covered with bright green tea bushes. I stayed at a place named Castlereagh bungalow, …..
Ivankiv’s – Cherche, Rohatyn, and Lviv Ukraine
I wrote the first version of this post a couple of years ago and published it on my old web site. I thought that it was worth carrying over to the new site so here it is again. Since my first visit to Ukraine, I have been back a couple of times – in July …..
Photographs from Ayutthya, Thailand
Ayutthya, the former Thai capital, was destroyed by the Burmese in the 1700′s. Ayutthya is still a bustling town, with a large number of ruins interspersed with modern surroundings. I spent a day riding around Ayutthya on bicycle (it cost about three U.S. dollars to rent a bike for the day), visiting many of the …..
Back from Thailand and Sri Lanka
After flying back to Phoenix Arizona to fetch my dogs, I’ve made it back to my home in Oakland, California, readjusted to the time zone, and started going through images from my trip. Overall, it was a great trip, although I feel like I did not spend enough time shooting photographs. I spent about a …..
Thantakit Dental Clinic – Bangkok, Thailand
I’m into the fourth week of this trip and I have not done a good job of putting notes together – I’ll try to work on that during the flights home. An unintended highlight of this trip is my experience with dental care in Thailand. I had two incidents – a crown that fell off …..
Taking a leap – Galle Fort, Sri Lanka
While walking around Galle Fort yesterday evening I ran across a couple of guys hanging out at a point near the lighthouse. Like a number of the friendly people that I’ve met here, these guys had a gig/hustle going – for a few dollars they’ll make a few jumps off the cliff. I thought why …..
Colombo, Sri Lanka
I’ve been in Sri Lanka for a couple of days, spending most of the time around Colombo, including Mount Lavinia and Negombo. So far the weather has been great – not much of a monsoon and very temperate. I guess that it is typical equatorial seaside weather. Today I’ll head inland towards Kandy and the …..
Bangkok Monsoon
One of the great things about living in the San Francisco bay area is the climate and weather. But since the climate is so nice and consistent you don’t get much of a chance to “see” any weather. So when the Bangkok monsoon clouds rolled in the other day I thought that it was a …..
Thailand, Sri Lanka, and maybe India
I leave for Bangkok, Thailand this evening, arriving there early Thursday morning Bangkok time. The nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok is scheduled for 17 hours – something that I’m not looking forward too. I’m hoping that there will be favorable winds. I’ll spend six nights in Bangkok before heading to Colombo, Sri Lanka. …..
Cruising Bangkok in a 1957 Chevorlet Belair
I never expected to ride around Bangkok in a restored bright red 1957 Chevorlet Belair. It came about because of an opprtunity to go on a photo shoot with a photographer named Tada Varich. Turns out that Tada is into vintage cars and his current favorite is the 57 Chevy. You can check out Tada’s …..
Monument Valley
In March 2007 I drove from Phoenix, Arizona to Moab, Utah, stopping at Monument Valley along the way. I recently converted one of the Mounument Valley photographs to a tinted black and white image – this is what I came up with: Monument Valley, March 2007
Bangkok – more Snapshots from the Chao Phraya, Chian Town, and Ragnam Road
Here’s another set of snap shots, most taken around the Chao Phraya river around Bangkok, Thailand. Some were taken at two places where I had dinner – one a more upscale place and the other totally local and basic. Both were equally good, on the river, just different scenes. Music at Victory Monument, Bangkok Thailand. …..
Bang Nam Peung Nok
Just about any Thailand or Bangkok guide book will highlight photographs from a floating market. I wanted to visit a floating market and found out that there are two popular markets, both about 90 minutes outside of central Bangkok, and that they get packed with tourists after nine AM. I told a friend that I …..
