Following the unfortunate demise of the card reader which is incorporated into my computer, I finally got an external card reader and so am able to upload some pictures! I've got a LOT of pictures to share, so I chose some of my favorites and added some short descriptions! Enjoy!
The first one is from my last destination in Malaysia - Penang. Penang, aka Georgetown, was the colonial capital of Malaysia - it is an island off the very Northwest coast. Here's the view leaving the Butterworth harbor on the ferry to cross over to Penang:
Each dragon was composed of two people - a head/front legs, and a hindquarters. The temple was very full of people, dragons and altars, so there were a couple people like the man in the yellow polo shirt in the picture below. Their job was to wrangle the dragons in the correct direction. He often had to nudge a hindquarters over to make room for others, and he would tug at the dragons when it was time to move to a different part of the temple. He handled the dragons the way I am used to handling horses, which really made me forget that there were people in the costumes!
Another Chinese temple across town, this one much quieter. Very beautiful:
This is from a Chinese clan house in Georgetown - it's the front porch. The level of ornateness and intricacy is astounding:
From Malaysia into Thailand. Here are boats which are gathered to take us from Ao Nang to Rai Lay Beach. Even though it is on mainland Thailand (not an island), Rai Lay is only accessible by boat thanks to some giant cliffs. When you catch a longtail boat, you have to wade out in the water to climb in - I got paranoid and held my bag above my head even though the water was never more than waist deep.
A view from Rai Lay:
This next picture is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Two Thai boys were pulling in their boat at sunset, and I love the silhouette of the boys, the boat and the rocks against the soft colors of the ocean and sky as the sun went down. This was on Ko Lanta.
The view from the front porch of our bungalow on Ko Lanta, just after sunset:
Here is the cat who lived in the bungalow!! The cat is not dead! She was just really, really secure in her ownership of the bed.
Before sunset at Khao Lak:
The next two photos are of our idyllic beach (Hat Yao) on Koh Phangan. The water was very shallow and warm - you could wade out in the water for 50 feet and still have it be only thigh-deep.
Not too crowded here, either!
Love this guy:
More Grand Palace:
You would look stressed, too, if you were holding up an entire building!
The next two are also some of my favorite pictures I've ever taken - elegant sculptures inside the Grand Palace:
Buddhist temple near the river in Bangkok:
Now Alexa and I are in Kanchanaburi! We will write more about our time here soon, but here's a teaser just to get you excited/jealous:
That's our new Russian friend, Roman, swimming in a lagoon at the base of a gorgeous waterfall. Today was waterfall day!!
The first one is from my last destination in Malaysia - Penang. Penang, aka Georgetown, was the colonial capital of Malaysia - it is an island off the very Northwest coast. Here's the view leaving the Butterworth harbor on the ferry to cross over to Penang:
[click any photo to enlarge]
While in Georgetown, a friend and I decided to see how many places of worship from major world religions we could visit in a single day. (The answer? Five: Christianity (two churches, one Catholic and one Anglican), Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and Chinese ancestor worship (three Chinese temples). Why is there no synagogue in this town!?) We had the most fun at a Chinese temple where the dragons were dancing to prepare for Chinese New Year. (This is the explanation we got from a bystander.)
We arrived just before the dragon celebration was to start, and soon the whole temple was full of these giant, fuzzy dragons dancing all over the place to loud drums, while the air was thick with incense smoke. These two boys did NOT expect the dragons to suddenly turn around and face them - the younger one was terrified but the older one held him in place. Notice the full grown man trying to slink away.
Each dragon was composed of two people - a head/front legs, and a hindquarters. The temple was very full of people, dragons and altars, so there were a couple people like the man in the yellow polo shirt in the picture below. Their job was to wrangle the dragons in the correct direction. He often had to nudge a hindquarters over to make room for others, and he would tug at the dragons when it was time to move to a different part of the temple. He handled the dragons the way I am used to handling horses, which really made me forget that there were people in the costumes!
Another Chinese temple across town, this one much quieter. Very beautiful:
This is from a Chinese clan house in Georgetown - it's the front porch. The level of ornateness and intricacy is astounding:
From Malaysia into Thailand. Here are boats which are gathered to take us from Ao Nang to Rai Lay Beach. Even though it is on mainland Thailand (not an island), Rai Lay is only accessible by boat thanks to some giant cliffs. When you catch a longtail boat, you have to wade out in the water to climb in - I got paranoid and held my bag above my head even though the water was never more than waist deep.
A view from Rai Lay:
This next picture is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Two Thai boys were pulling in their boat at sunset, and I love the silhouette of the boys, the boat and the rocks against the soft colors of the ocean and sky as the sun went down. This was on Ko Lanta.
The view from the front porch of our bungalow on Ko Lanta, just after sunset:
Here is the cat who lived in the bungalow!! The cat is not dead! She was just really, really secure in her ownership of the bed.
Before sunset at Khao Lak:
The next two photos are of our idyllic beach (Hat Yao) on Koh Phangan. The water was very shallow and warm - you could wade out in the water for 50 feet and still have it be only thigh-deep.
Not too crowded here, either!
From Koh Phangan, time to leave lazy beaches and travel North to Bangkok! The Grand Palace complex is incredible and sparkles to such a degree that photographs can hardly do it justice!
Love this guy:
More Grand Palace:
You would look stressed, too, if you were holding up an entire building!
The next two are also some of my favorite pictures I've ever taken - elegant sculptures inside the Grand Palace:
Buddhist temple near the river in Bangkok:
Now Alexa and I are in Kanchanaburi! We will write more about our time here soon, but here's a teaser just to get you excited/jealous:
That's our new Russian friend, Roman, swimming in a lagoon at the base of a gorgeous waterfall. Today was waterfall day!!
thank you for more palaces! The dragon reminded me of the hideously large Easter bunny that scared you all as little kids.
ReplyDeleteAmazing amazing pictures
ReplyDelete