Buddhist monks at a temple – probably one of the most photographed scenes. Add a bit of sunset and sprinkle with some shallow depth-of-field – and you get a very classic image. yet I still love this photo. In Lightroom I have about 5 virtual copies, with different crops and filters applied. The most important part – I really enjoy looking at this photo!
It was taken the second day in Bagan, Myanmar, while waiting for the sunset.
This photo I took at one of the temples in the Bagan area. This lady was taking a smoke break from selling at the temple entrance.
Bagan in Myanmar is every photographer’s dream. On an area no larger than 40sq km there are thousands of temples. I think it is impossible to visit all of them – so there is still room for someone to find his ‘own’ favorite temple. Renting a bicycle and moving from place to place is the best way to experience this amazing place.
The magic moment is at sunset – when from one of the taller temples you can see the surrounding area – a huge plain dotted with countless temples.
I took countless photos of people from Myanmar – from children, field workers, monks, people on the streets of Yangon – everywhere you point the camera there is an interesting face. The only other place where I could literally not stop from taking photos of people was India. Myanmar is just as fascinating.
This is the beginning of a short series of photos I took in Myanmar, especially portraits of people.
I am not the greatest bird fan – but how could I say no to visiting the largest open aviary in the world? All thoughts of birds crapping on me, the standard afternoon rain did not even count. So – in Kuala Lumpur I had to visit this park. And of course take lots of pictures.
This happened almost one week ago – I am already that late in posting photos and stories.
I do have a post in work regarding the joys f an open-water diving course – but that is in the future.
Now – enjoy these bird pictures.
After 3 days spent in Kuala Lumpur, a daytrip to Melakka, countless bubble teas and lots of pictures taken it is time to move on.
Tonight I have a train ticket to Tanah Merah – and then a ferry from Kuala Besut to the Perhentian Islands. Right now I am in an Internet Cafe, trying to get a bit up to date with the blog writing. Fortunately I have uploaded a few photos to Picasa, but still a lot are only on my netbook.
Kuala Lumpur is far more pleasant to walk and do some sightseeing than Bangkok. That is the first thing I noticed.The second – the combination of skyscrapers (Petronas towers are just some of them), large parks and small green patches, different street food and a better hostel made me really enjoy Kuala Lumpur. Some of the better photos – or at least more interesting – unfortunately will come later.
For now – these are some pictures I took in the first evening here.
One of the things to see in Bangkok, and a very pleasant introduction to Thai art, is a visit to Jim Thompson museum. The ex-OSS (what is today known as CIA) turned entrepreneur and who revived the Thai silk manufacturing was also a passionate art collector. And what better setting for sculptures, glassware and traditional furniture than a group of traditional Thai houses in the middle of Bangkok? Even if a visiting a museum is not high on the to-do list in Bangkok – this one is a very refreshing and pleasant experience.
Ayuthaya – the old Thai capital – is just 1h30 by train from Bangkok. So after a morning spent at the Myanmar embassy applying for the visa I decided to spend the rest of the day doing a short trip to Ayuthaya. So off to the train station – which fortunatelly is just 2 MRT stations from where I have the hostel.
The train ride costs a whooping 15 baht (the metro costs 18, and a beer starts at 60 baht), and riding the 3rd class is an experience in itself (good one, just to be clear).
Once in Ayuthaya I discovered that seeing most of the temples can be done either with a tuk tuk ride,or by renting a bike, as the distances are too much for simply walking. So after 2 or 3 years of no riding I decided to test the old saying that “biking once learned is never forgotten.”. True saying by the way…
The downside to the bike ride is that I took very few photos – meaning less than 100 – but being able to visit most of the temples, the floating market, and a few out of the way areas was absolutely great.
I definitively intend to repeat the experience in other cities.