September 20th, 2006
I’ve just added more photos to the ever-expanding collection of Thailand images. This time, it’s Bangkok’s Golden Mount.
The brilliant chedi on top of the Golden Mount would make the trip up the 300 stairs worth it, but cool breezes and lovely views of the surrounding city provide further incentive for the climb. The artificial hill rises above all other structures in the immediate area and lets you gaze down on the orange rooftops of Wat Saket immediately below.
September 11th, 2006
Today brings another group of photos from another Bangkok temple, Wat Benchamabophit.
Normally, an explosively bright sun would have irritated my photographic sensibilities, but this day stood as another of the rare exceptions in my month of overcast Bangkok skies. Not to mention that the temple fared quite well in the bright sun with the white marble gleaming in the light. Its best side was uniformly exposed to the afternoon sun and harsh shadows weren’t much of a problem.
The temple itself was, of course, lovely. It’s not as grand as some of the other Bangkok buildings, but it had a European influence to its architecture that made it unique. And with far fewer tourists cramming its walls, the atmosphere of the temple was much different from its larger cousins.
September 10th, 2006
Another collection of images has been posted, this time it is photos of one of the symbols of the city of Bangkok: Wat Arun also known as the temple of the Dawn.
As with most of my photos of Bangkok, I was lucky to get any clear skies at all since my time there was plagued by what seemed to be a never ending supply of overcast weather. While visiting the temple, I was fortunate to have the blue peep through the cracking clouds.
The central prang/spire is said to be approximately 82 metres high and is an impressive construction, but what may have been more interesting to my eyes was the courtyard and galleries surrounding the main ordination hall. Long rows of golden Buddha images line the shady halls and small stone Chinese figures hid in the corners ready to jump into action. I would have stayed and wandered longer in that enclosed area, but I was ushered out rather hastily by a groundskeeper who seemed to have some urgent business in there. Not sure what it could have been, but I hope it was important!
September 9th, 2006
On one of the few days during my time in Bangkok, nothing beat going to Sanam Luang, the park next to the Grand Palace to watch everyone letting their kites soar in the windy skies. Since I already discussed my day there in this post, I won’t go into too much detail here and simply invite you to check out a few photos from my time there.
September 6th, 2006
For a place I called home for a month, I don’t actually have that many photos of Khao San Road. Perhaps it was because I was so close to the spectacle of backpacker central that I neglected to take more shots. After all, how often do you take photos just around the corner from your house? Then again, how many of you have your house next to such a vibrant and bizarre area?
Of course I have a few photos to share with you from Khao San Road and I invite you to take a look. After going through my selected images, I know I should have taken more - it really was a sight to behold.
From the vendors who fed me ridiculous amounts of spring rolls, falafels and other veggie delights to the tuk-tuk drivers who were so convinced they were going to be able to persuade me into their rides to the dreadlocked hippies living out their bohemian dreams in the backpacker mecca, the whole place was teeming with characters. I watched cultural performances of Khon dancing, impromptu games of football, and even a Bollywood video shoot.
The stores and vendors will sell you just about anything you may need and plenty of things you don’t: purses made out of recycled cans, body parts that looked like they had melted when you threw it against a flat surface, radio-controlled flying saucers, and hair extensions galore.
The characters of the road were also always entertaining. As an example, there was a woman with iron lungs who, during every hour of daylight would shout a sing-song “Hello! Orange juice, ten Baht!” every time a potential customer passed. And people never stopped passing. I have no clue how her vocal chords didn’t just fly up out of her mouth. I never really talked with her, but I’m sure she, like everyone else there, had a good story to tell.
Like anywhere else in the world, you take the bad with the good. Khao San Road isn’t always smiles (yes, even in the supposed “Land of Smiles” you won’t find a grin around every corner), but I won’t dwell on the downsides of Khao San Road. Instead, I’ll savour the memory of a cold fruit shake in hand in the tropical heat while wandering up and down the road, wondering what weird sight I will see next.
And as always, a couple preview photos:
September 4th, 2006
The work of adding photos from Asia to the gallery continues and I invite you to check out my images of Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha located inside the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
I spent a good portion of my time in Bangkok waiting for some decent weather that would allow me to shoot the temple in the best conditions, but whenever those opportunities arose, it seemed I was across the city an unable to head back in time to make the most of the blue skies. I wanted to be able to show off the gleaming golden architecture with the blue skies serving as a backdrop.
On the day I decided to finally go to the temple, I had to wait three or four hours to be able to see any patches of blue sky and they only lasted about 20 minutes. During that time, I ran around the (by now) thoroughly explored temple, trying to get the shots I wanted. I succeeded in a few places, but it would have been nice not to have to hustle around the temple with all my camera gear in the midday sun.
But if there’s a good place to spend a few hours in Bangkok, Wat Phra Kaew is probably it. The architecture is varied, ornate and frequently stunning. The crowds filtering through the temple make for fun people watching. The murals on the walls surrounding the temple are imaginative. And the interior of the main hall is a fine spot to sit, relax and contemplate the mysteries of the universe with the Emerald Buddha presiding over your ruminations.
For all the photos, click here and here’s a quick sample:
July 10th, 2006
For most of my time in Bangkok, I’ve been lamenting the less-than-perfect weather and lighting conditions. Two days ago, however, the clouds dissipated and blue skies dominated the air above. Shocked at this fortuitous development, I grabbed a camera, stuffed it into my smaller bag and took it hunting.
I headed towards the vast open park of Sanam Luang that happened to be surrounded by tents where Buddhist monks and worshippers were performing rituals and, well, watching TV. The festive atmosphere extended into the park where more worshippers could be found circling what looked like a temporary shrine. But of more interest to me on was the large number of people flying kites in the windy air.
Adults and kids craned their heads to the skies where dozens of kites danced in the blue skies. Vendors had kites staked down so the ground was covered in colourful streamers. Families sat on mats on the grass and happily watched the ballet above them. It was a great scene.
I didn’t hesitate to bring out my camera. But when I raised it to my eye, composed my first shot, then hit the shutter, I heard a click. That’s all fine and good, but really I should have heard two clicks. The first is the mirror flipping up, the second should have been the mirror flipping back down.
Ever since shooting the water fights of Songkran, the Thai New Year festival, this camera hasn’t been itself. This issue with the mirror sticking up has happened before. Once it has flipped up, I can press the shutter again and it will flip back down (with no image recorded of course). And after a couple times, functionality went back to normal. I could take pictures without a problem. It was like it just needed to warm up.
But no amount of warming up could get my camera going under the kites. It was over thirty degrees out after all. I clicked and clicked, but it just wouldn’t do what it was told. Disheartened I returned to my room, dropped off my defective gear and went to the Internet cafe to search for camera repair shops here in Bangkok.
The next day, the plan was to go out to the shop and see about putting things right inside my camera. The one thing I was worried about was that the shop might be closed – they didn’t list hours on their site and it was, after all, a Sunday. But, I thought I might get lucky. Wrong. Not only was it a Sunday, but I found out later that it was also a national holiday here – there was no chance it was going to be open.
I eventually found my way back to my room where, undaunted by an irritating previous 24 hours, I willed the skies to stay blue. I summoned all the kite fliers back to the park. And with my other camera (yes folks, take a backup!) I headed back to the park where I had a lovely time shooting everyone who once again had their heads happily craned to the skies.
July 8th, 2006
You know those impromptu dance routines that seem to break out at the drop of a hat in every Bollywood movie ever made? Whenever I see these silly spectacles, in the back of my mind, I’m always hoping that their elaborate choreography and coordinated steps and notes are all improvised, but that a certain Hindu magic keeps the whole thing together. The many arms of Vishnu guide the players like marionettes and no strings ever get tangled.
Unfortunately, that not-totally-believed illusion of mine was shattered last night amidst the Khao San Road Friday night party. Out for a wander, the usual bizarre bohemian hubbub of the road had additional participants. With a crowd of onlookers surrounding them, a somewhat bedraggled man and better-kept woman were learning dance steps from three choreographers. The Indian man wore a black patterned shirt that was presentable enough, but then his jeans were ratty and full suggesting that they may have only been shooting him from the waist up.
But given the footwork they had to learn, I’m guessing a full-body shot or two would make the cut - why learn to wriggle your foot a little bit if no one will see it? The woman wore more traditional Indian garb and was causing a lot of folks to stop and stare. When the cameras weren’t rolling, she looked hot and bored, but when the director counted down, she beamed and took on a zealous, flirty smile shot straight into the camera.
I haver no idea why they were shooting on Khao San Road at the busiest time of the week or if I was watching Indian film history in the making - maybe this was going to wind up being India’s Citizen Kane… the musical version. Really, I know next to nothing about what was going on here and I suspect I never will. That doesn’t dampen how silly it all was.
Watching take after take of a three-second dance move, (many of the predictably ridiculous), just ruined that image of India being a land where you better be prepared to participate in an extravagant dance pageant at any moment. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a bed in Mumbai while hauling two big backpacks around - when the feeling hits, you’re going to have to drop everything and strut your stuff.
No, watching two practiced actors attempt relatively simple moves only confirmed that dozens of Indians never really do suddenly communicate with each other in improvised dance and song. If they tried to, carnage would ensue. The papers would speak of the piles of broken bodies. The government would run public service announcements warning against the dangers of spontaneous cabaret shows. The people would live in fear that the song in their hearts would reach their feet and all those around them would be doomed.
July 7th, 2006
The last two days have been a holiday of sorts. Caroline, an old travelling friend from my time in Peru was in the area and her time in Bangkok overlapped with mine for a couple days. With three years between encounters, we had plenty of catching up to do and with the recent news about Arthur’s passing, it was good to have a friendly ear around.
As an added bonus, we spent none of our time on or near the bohemian madness of Khao San Road. In fact, the other side of Bangkok, over in Siam Square and along Sukhumvit there is a whole separate country. It’s a place where foreign people don’t outnumber the locals and when they are present, they aren’t wearing those horrible braids or dreadlocks in their hair. It’s a place where shopping doesn’t mean walking along the road and having suspicious-looking men slyly ask, “Hey buddy, you want nice suit?” at every pace. Nope, over there, they have malls.
Caroline and I spent a good amount of time at Bangkok’s malls indulging in all-too-many food court offerings and chatting up a storm. When our gums got tired of flapping, the movie theatre was only an elevator ride away so we caught both Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and Superman Returns. For the latter, Caroline decided to splurge and we went for the VIP tickets where you get a nice reclining chair, pillow and blanket to make your movie experience that much more cozy.
But now with Caroline gone, I’m again friendless in Bangkok (poor me!) and I have to get back to working on photos. And one of these days I may even take some new ones. Maybe the sky will take some pity on me soon and serve up some good light.
July 4th, 2006
I still haven’t seen Bangkok. I’ve been here a few days now and I haven’t wandered too far from my guesthouse. And I’m okay with that.
I have as much time here as I want, so I’m biding my time, waiting for the weather to cooperate. It has rained every day that I have been here, though certainly not all day. It’s been those tropical storms that charge into the city hoping to catch unsuspecting vendors off guard so that wares might be blown away or soaked.
When it’s not raining, it’s threatening to with spitting drops randomly reminding you that the sky is boss and you better pay attention to it. Combine that with the overcast clouds that still manage to let enough sun through to harshly light the scenes on the ground and my camera just doesn’t want to come out to play.
So, I’ve worked and I’ve wandered. The processing of my backlog of photos is progressing nicely as I sit in a room free from distractions. No Internet, no TV, no people. Just me plugging away at images I shot long ago. Until I go out to shoot new ones, I have plenty to keep me busy.
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