Southeast Asia

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Southeast Asia skip's retirement travel
Vang Vieng
January 1, 2020 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Small mountain town, well known for outdoor activity. (See posts for countryside and blue lagoon for examples.). The 1st picture looks down the main street. If you look closely, there is a hot air balloon at the far end of town. 2nd is a Bhudda statue at the main temple in town. The rest look at views from around the townRead more
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Countryside around Veng Vieng
January 1, 2020 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
First is a cave called elephant cave. Elephants had been housed here. Legend has it that after the elephants were moved, the stone elephant in the 2nd picture appeared. So, the cave became a Buddhist shrine. The 3rd picture is the temple bell made from a bomb casing. 4th is the entrance to the water cave where we tubed through. The last 2 pictures look at the views we saw as we walkedRead more
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Luang Prabang, Laos
January 2, 2020 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Lovely, small city (by Asian standards) of about 400,000, located on the upper Mekong River. The 1st two pictures are of street scenes in town. 3rd is the royal palace. 4&5 are of Phousi hill: the stupa at the top and a few of Bhudda statues around the hill side.Read more
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Luang Prabang and the Mekong
January 3, 2020 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Luang Prabang lies at the confluence of the Nam Khan with the Mekong. The 1st two pictures are taken from the top of Phousi hill (see the other Luang Prabang post) overlooking the city and the river. 3rd looks along the Mekong from a ferry in midriver. 4&5 are taken along the Nam Khan a short way above the confluence. In both pictures you can see a bamboo bridge. This bridge is allowed to be washed away during the rainy season and is rebuilt by the people of the village across the river each year when the water level drops.Read more
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Kuang Si Waterfall
January 3, 2020 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Amazingly beautiful waterfall, or set of stepped waterfalls, about an hour from Luang Prabang. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves
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Alms-giving in Luang Prabang
January 4, 2020 in Laos ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
Every morning before sunrise, the Buddhist monks from all the local monasteries receive alms from the people in town, usually sticky rice. Stools and battery power lights are set up along the street where the monks walk along, and people add rice to the pots the monks are carrying. This is the monks' food for the day. After the last monk passes, the stools and lights are removed until the next morning.Read more
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Chang Mai old city, Thailand
January 4, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
This is the former capital of the Chiang Mai kingdom, and the main city in the north of Thailand. Sadly, most of the historic buildings are gone. Here are a few looks at what remains. 1st is the main or Thapae Gate. This has been restored. The old city is surrounded by a moat. The 2nd picture shows a corner of the moat and a bit of the old wall. 3rd is the remains of the old temple here. 4th is the three kings statue, remembering the 3 local kings most responsible for building Chiang Mai. Tha 5th picture is of a part of one of the newer Wats as temples are called here. Most are ornamented similar to this one. The last picture is a small glance of the Sunday market in the old city. To give you an idea, I walked for about 2 1/2 hours and didn't get to it all. Lots of good street food for dinnerRead more
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Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai
January 5, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Major temple here. The main unique feature is the staircase entrance to the main temple with its dragon statues shown in the 2nd picture. 3&4 are in the men only small shrine. 5th is a separate statue, and last is the great tree that is said to protect Chang Mai together with the spirit of the tree.Read more
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Villages
January 6, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We visited several hill villages a couple hours from Chang Mai. The villages were home to 4 different local tribes. This post looks at 2 of them. The post called Villages 2 looks at the others.
The first 3 pictures are of a village of the Akha people. Notice that the houses are elevated.
The Lisu people do not elevated their houses, but build them at ground level.Read more
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Villages 2
January 6, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
In this post are 3 pictures of a village of Karen people. Here are a house, a street and a man weaving a bamboo basket. The last group we visited was the Dara-ang or Palong people from Myanmar whe started coming here as refugees in about 1984. These pictures are of the community, with the last being an elevated corn crib.Read more
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Sukhothai
January 8, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Ancient and original capital of Siam, as Thailand was formerly known. The old city is in ruins but is preserved as an historical park. These are various images around the old city. Most were Wats, or temples, many dating to the 12th century. The earliest of the temples were started as Hindu places of worship that were converted to or completed by Buddhists after the kingdom converted. The last picture is of the king who made Sukhothai his capital and built much of what is here.Read more
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Thai Grand Palace, Bangkok
January 10, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
Unbelievably beautiful compound of buildings that have been the residence for Thai royalty, with construction begin in the late 18th century. The pictures are all outside as no indoor photography was allowed. These barely give an overview of the place. In fact, the most spectacular space is in the chapel where the famous emerald Bhudda is, but, alas, no photos. I have tried to show both the beauty of the many buildings as well as a closer look at some detail.Read more
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Wat Arun, Bangkok
January 10, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
Aka, temple of the dawn. Very different architecturally from other temples here. The 1st picture looks across the road ver to the temple. The rest are taken from on the temple grounds. Again, I gave tried to show both the scale and detail of the place. Amazing.
The temple's name is said to derive from the goddess Aruna who is often shown with the sunrise. This is where the day's 1st light hits the city, and the morning light is said to make the structure seem pearlescent.Read more
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Golden mount, Bangkok
January 10, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C
Another golden temple, this time atop a hill in the center of Bangkok. The 1st picture looks up at the hilltop building from the approach. Farther along the approach are several sets of bells that can be rung, which seems much like spinning the prayer wheels at a Tibetan Buddhist temple. At the top of the 300+ steps are a series of temples and shrines, a few of which are shown. Atop the main building is a deck overlooking the city. The last picture shows the view from one side.Read more
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Bangkok, first impressions
January 10, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C
What an amazing city. There are already 3 other posts showing specific places, and there will be more. These look a monument in the center of a rotary. If I find out what it is, I'll update this. Next is a look along the river at part of the city. A couple more temples follow, with 2 looks, day and night, along Khao San Road, probably the best known street in Bangkok. Much of the city's nightlife happens here.Read more
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More Bangkok
January 11, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
The 1st picture is at the Chatuchak weekend market, the largest in Bangkok, some 9,000 vendors. Like the Sunday market in Chiang Mai, I walked for a couple hours and days didn't cover it all. Lots of good street food along the way. Especially nice is the Craft Coffee stall. They grind the beans for each cup, heat the water to a specific temperature using a thermometer and slowly pour each cup. It's fun just to watch these competitive coffee brewers at work.
Next are a couple views from a river express boat, one looking up, the other down river. Last is another old small local market.Read more
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Wat Pho
January 12, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Another large temple and the first university in Thailand. Building started here in the 15th century, with additional structures added over the years and some restoration as needed. Best known for its giant reclining Buddha. Another beautiful place. I think the pictures speak for themselves.Read more
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Khao Sok
January 13, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Town at the eponymous national park. This is what I might call a typical backpacker, outdoor activity tourist town. The 1st picture looks at the road through the town. 2nd is the river running through the town. 3rd looks out from a table at lunch in a local restaurant. The rest are of the scenery. I took a night safari walk in the national park, but didn't see much: too many people on the same paths and too close to the town. Oh well.Read more
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Cheow Larn Lake
January 14, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Man-made lake in the center of Khao Sok National Park and adjoining Khao Sok Wildlife Sanctuary. Simply spectacular scenery. Photos were taken on a boat tour of part of the lake.
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Pakarang cave
January 14, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Aka Coral Cave. Located in Khao Sok Wildlife Refuge. This cave is above a hidden lake that we hiked to from the cruise on Cheow Larn Lake (see another post). To reach the cave, we rode a bamboo raft across the lake (see the 2nd picture). The last 4 pictures are of some of the formations in the cave itself.Read more
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Phuket
January 15, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
This is the most famous of the Thai islands well known as a world tourist destination. We stayed in Patong Town on Phuket Island, itself. There are many islands here (see another post), but this is the largest.
Since there will several more posts, here are 3 looks at Patong. 1st along the beach; 2nd along Bangla Road, the main party street here; and 3rd of the night market where we had great dinners each night.Read more
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Thai island hopping
January 16, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Incredibly beautiful place, with scores of islands dotting the area. Most are uninhabited. These are some looks at the area. Some of the more famous islands have their own posts. So these are some looks at the region generally, save for the last 2. The 5th picture is of rock art in a cave/overhang above the water surface. These are said to be over 800 years old. The last is of one of the few inhabited places. This entire community was founded about 200 years ago by Indonesians and is still inhabited. It is all on stilts.Read more
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Panak Island
January 16, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
This island is where the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, was filmed. The 1st picture shows the entrance to the hidden internal lagoon. The island is protected. So access is not permitted. The rest of the pictures give some detailed looks at what these islands are like. Quite interesting and beautiful.Read more
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James Bond Island
January 16, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
This is the island where The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed. If you've seen the movie, the 1st picture will be very familiar. The next 4 pictures look at various parts of the island, including some of the sea caves and the beach. The last looks back to see the famous rock framed by the rest of the island. There has been a lot of development here, which I intentionally left out.Read more
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Hong Island
January 16, 2020 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
This is, for me, the most spectacular of the islands we visited. The 1st picture is of the main entrance to the bay by kayak. It's the rest of the pictures that show why I found this to be such an amazing place. The 2nd picture is one of the caves where we passed through into internal hidden lagoons. There are 2 of them here, one behind the other. I had heard about and even seen pictures of such hidden places. Now I have been in them, and like I've said before, the real thing is far more than the pictures can show. The rest of these pictures are taken inside the hidden lagoons.Read more
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