Cambodia/Thai/Laos Pictures
Here's some more pictures. Also check out the movies in the post before this one if you like.
A few Angkor shots below:
These don't do it justice, it's just amazing to see.
Riding the bamboo train! As fun as it looked.
One of many cambodian families living on Tonle Sap, a huge lake/marsh in the center of the country off the Mekong
Sukhothai historical park, Thailand
Kid, if the shoe fits...
Some more Burmese. The stuff on their face is combination sunscreen/buddhist anointment or neither, my guide wasn't all that clear on this part.
Wat Sisaket, in Vientane, Laos.
A few Angkor shots below:
These don't do it justice, it's just amazing to see.
Riding the bamboo train! As fun as it looked.
One of many cambodian families living on Tonle Sap, a huge lake/marsh in the center of the country off the Mekong
Sukhothai historical park, Thailand
Kid, if the shoe fits...
Some more Burmese. The stuff on their face is combination sunscreen/buddhist anointment or neither, my guide wasn't all that clear on this part.
Wat Sisaket, in Vientane, Laos.
posted by Miguel V | 12:08 PM
2 Comments:
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!
I have to say, as great as your writing is, your pictures nad movies are just amazing.
Now I have a bazillion of questions, but I'll try to keep it down to the bare minimum:
First, all of the Buddah statues lined up - were they all identical, or slightly different? are they representing different saints who have ascended to the level of the Buddah, or was it for asthetic purposes?
Second, when you are visiting all of these temples and holy places, does it feel in any way similar as if you were in Europe, visiting an old catherdral? I guess I'm wondering, in a culture so far away, with a relious tradition so different, can you still feel a sense of sacredness? Is the energy of the place similar? Or completely different and unique?
I know you are eating to get the local flavor of the regular people, but when you splurge on a more formal restaurant, can you taste the French influence/see the classical techniques applied in the Thai cuisine especially? What is the best new thing you've tasted/ What has been the worst?
The movies are incredible, especially the chanting and the adorable little kids. Do they start school as young as American children? (3-4 years)
How are you able to keep all you electronics charged and dry and not destroyed with so much moving around, especially when you've been in remote places?
Would a woman ever be able to take the journey you are on, travelling alone, or would it be too dangerous? (Wondering if I can even dream of "someday" for myself.)
1. the statues are basically identical. You tend to see rows of identical statues in theravada buddhism (the kind that you see in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Burma) more so than you see in mahayana buddhism - where theres groups of statues but they're usually different and many have a small sanskrit scroll of prayers hidden inside the base. I'm not really sure what the deal is with the Theravadas and the rows of identical statues, but it seems unique to them (and particularly, thai and lao)
2. I've seen hundreds of them by now all over Asia. The ones that are the most devout are in Tibet by far and have the most openly "spiritual" quality. But its very different from the way you perceive Buddhism in the US as I think I've written before.
3. Even in the smallest towns you can find baguettes ready to eat. Yeah the French influence on food is fairly obvious, probably the most in Vietnam as that's where the bulk of the French colonialists were concentrated. Thai doesn't have much french influence save by the border as they were never under french control. In my experience the most prominent outside influence in Thai food, which you detect more as you go west, is probably Indian. The best new food I had was proablly southern Indian food, which I hadn't had before and is hard to find in the US. The worst new food - well the lowland Lao like to cover everythign in a very salty, lox like fish paste that I do not enjoy too much.
4. not sure when they start school, probably about the same, but those kids in the pictures and movies are probably older than you would guess - they're just small and look really young to us - conversely they have a hard time picking out how old we are too, everybody here thinks I'm about 5-8 years younger than I really am.
5. Ziplock bags and a pretty durable, small Sony Cybershot DSCW7 that takes awesome 7m pictures.
6. I've run into some women traveling alone, though they're in the minority. They do OK in most places, save parts of India where sexual harassment (locally known as "eve-teasing") is not uncommon. It's not really threatening but more annoying, or so I've heard.
MAV
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