My apologies for the long hiatus during the holiday season, I was taking some much needed time off. Now that 2014 is in full swing, I’m back to blogging, starting with my annual Southeast Asia Photo Tour.
Southeast Asia has long been a favored destination for adventurous travelers. This trip is what I’d call our “Southeast Asia sampler trip” because we visit some of the most interesting and photogenic locations in 4 different countries of the region. Yesterday we started our tour in Bangkok, Thailand’s bustling capitol city where we will explored and photographed the Grand Palace, the floating markets, salt production, kick boxing. We even had the opportunity to photograph Patpong’s vibrant nightlife, including some transgender entertainers known in Thailand as “kathoey”.
Today we’re off to northern Thailand where we’ll get to know and photograph hill tribes, including the famous Karen Long Neck tribe. Then we embark on a two day boat journey down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang, Laos. During our boat journey we will be traversing and photographing largely unexplored areas of the rural Laotian countryside, still rich in traditions and authentic Southeast Asian culture.
After two days on the river we will emerge in Luang Prabang, one of the most beautifully preserved French colonial towns in Asia. There, we’ll photograph temples waterfalls and hundreds of Buddhist monks taking their morning alms walk through town.
Finally we will then head to Cambodia’s bustling capitol city of Phnom Penh to photograph and explore the city while staying and dining at the world famous, photographer-friendly Foreign Correspondent’s Club.
Following Phnom Penh, our group will travel overland to Siem Reap, Cambodia to explore and photograph the stunning ruins of Angkor: a collection of over 100 temples set against the dramatic backdrop of lush jungle greenery and verdant fields.
I’ll start off this new series of blog posts about this trip with some images from or first few days in and around Bangkok.
Enjoy
John surveys the photographic possibilities at the salt production facility
Man holding a Python which is used as a prop for tourist photos at the floating market.
Soldier at Grand Palace, Bangkok
Two Kathoeys with friends outside of Pinnochio’s Club, Patpong
Swiss tourist getting tattooed in Patpong
Pre-kickboxing entertainment
Muay Thai (kickboxing), Patpong
Great pictures! Waiting for your pictures since a long time. Finally you are back! Keep going!
Dear Paurav Shah, thanks for your enthusiastic encouragement and thanks also for following the blog. Cheers, Karl
The prodigal master of light, settings, and composition wows us once again.
Great photos evoking lovely memories. Enjoy the trip and say hello to Luang Probang for me.
Thanks Barbara…I’ll tell Luang Prabang that you said “hi” 🙂
Some fabulous shots here, Carl! Cheers, Ian
Much to appreciate here, but the salt-making series is really rather wonderful.
How about extending your stay in SEA to the Philippines? It has a festival (Panagbenga) this February which starts with a landscaping competition by Feb. 1. The street dancing parade is on Feb. 22 and the float parade is on Feb. 23.
Wonderful pictures , as always. They sure bring back excellent memories.