Taken in October of 2012 in Phnom Penh.
Phnom Penh contains an interesting mashup of architecture from traditional Khmeri to French colonial era, to the glass high-rises that are currently popping up. This looks to me like the middle one, but I know almost nothing about architecture.
Taken in October of 2012 in Phnom Penh.
An estimated 95% of Cambodians are Buddhist, and Buddhism has been the dominant religion since the time of Jayavarman VII (i.e. the late 12th century.) This begs the question, why might one see a statue of a Hindu deity in a public space in Cambodia’s capital city?
If you’ve visited Angkor, you know that Hindu imagery abounds. This is because before Jayavarman, the Khmeris were Hindu. In a great early act of recycling, Vishnu sculptures became Buddha sculptures by decree. (In what is–as far as I know–a coincidence, many Hindus believe that Buddha [Siddhartha Gautama Buddha] was an avatar, or incarnation, of Vishnu.)
This still doesn’t explain why a relatively new sculpture of Ganesha would reside in present-day Phnom Penh (Phnom Penh is not as old as Angkor, and by the time it was founded Buddhism was dominant.) Just as contemporary taxi and auto-rickshaw (tuk-tuk) drivers in India display Ganesha in appeal to this “remover of obstacles,” 10th century maritime traders did the same. This desire to court the favor of the remover of obstacles has continued on into the modern-day.
It’s an interesting commentary on how cultures never interact without getting some of their chocolate into the other culture’s peanut butter and vice versa (for those who have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s a reference to an old Reese’s commercial and not some dark coded message.)
Taken in December of 2013 in Kuala Lumpur.
This pic is taken from the pedestrian bridge over Simfoni Lake in KL’s City Centre Park. The park is located between the Petronas Twin Towers and the KL Convention Centre.
Taken in February of 2014 in Bangalore.
Taken in Western Hungary in the summer of 2011.
Take in the summer of 2011 in Hungary.
These were taken at a homestead restoration in Western Hungary in the area called the Őrség. This is how one might have lived in the late 18th century.
Taken Friday the 13th of June in 2014 in Bangalore.
I haven’t been traveling much lately (or even getting far beyond commutes to the yoga studio, kalari, etc.) so I’m resorting to posting pics of what I’m doing in my day-to-day life as Daily Photos. The past few days I’ve been refreshing my training in the side, prone, and seated sequences of Thai Yoga Bodywork (Nuad Bo Rarn) at the Inner Mountain School of Healing Arts.
This photo is taken at the end of the seated sequence as a series of percussive actions are applied to the back.
Taken June 12, 2014 in Bhuvaneshwarinagar.
From the “only-in-India” files, here are a couple of photos a of a man who travels door to door whipping himself–or rather pretending to–with the accompaniment of a bongo soloist–to make it groovier, I presume. The lower photo is mid whip-crack, and the top one gets the bongoist in the picture.
For a nominal tip you can take their picture. It’s interesting–to say the least. I thought self-whipping was unique to some Catholic (e.g. Opus Dei) and Islamic sects, but you learn something new ever day. It’s a little out of character in a religion that advocates non-violence (against self as well as others) but as has been said many times, “The one thing you can say about India upon which everyone can agree is that everything and its opposite is true of India.”
Taken in January of 2014 in Phuket Town
Taken in January of 2014 in Patong, Phuket.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 