Southeast Asia

9/30/2016

Southeast Asia

Long-tail boat in Phi Phi, Thailand. Some of the most beautiful water I've seen and great diving!! These boats put a lot of pollution into the water – should they continue to be allowed in this area?

Karst formations near Phi Phi, Thailand; same formations that make up Halong Bay in Vietnam.

Karst formations seen from the beach in Krabi, Thailand

Singapore Customs gave this stamp to me as I entered the country - Thailand has the same "death to drug traffickers" provision.

Hut in rural Laos

Arguably the best way to see SE Asia.

Borneo - girls riding in the back of a truck in Sabah - (This certainly wouldn't fly in the USA with all the seatbelt laws).

Luang Prabang, Laos - boat taxi's on the Mekong River.

Malaysia - agriculture in Sabah, Borneo... in a lot of areas in the world they still work the land by hand.

As the sun rises in Luang Prabang around 200 Buddhist monks depart from their various temples to gather their daily meal. The tradition of alms gathering dates back to the 14th century, yet still today locals wake early to prepare the food for the monks and wait quietly by the roadside to give their gifts. Although the main purpose is for locals to give alms to the monks, you will also notice small children kneeling with baskets in the hope that the monks will share some of their alms with them so that they can take food back to their family.

So many beautiful Temples in this sleepy little town on the Mekong.

Common site - Rooster walking through the yard of a Temple

So many Chameleons, everywhere

Millipede I encountered while hiking up to Mt. Kinabalu in Malaysia

Praying Mantis just hanging out on the bathroom wall above the urinal in the airport at Luang Prabang, Laos

Kuang Si Falls, Laos

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - my first encounter with a century egg; would you try one?

Laos - another encounter with century eggs (they are the pink ones in the front) sitting out in the early morning heat.

Luang Prabang, Laos - street scene

A son plays on a smart phone while his dad waits for customers at the night market.

Singapore - fish spa where fish ate the dead skin off my legs (they have full body treatments but I had a hard time doing just my legs - it tickled so much I couldn't stop laughing - the locals must have thought I was mental

Bangkok, Thailand - the fresh aroma of street food blended with emanating smell of sewer, so beautifully orchestrated in the uniqueness unto your own... yet I am so content sitting on a small stool eating noodles on the street at Midnight.

Chinatown in Bangkok - amazing street food and an overall better vibe than Khao San Road (where a lot of tourists go). Khao San Road is like the Cancun of Mexico, very pumped up for tourists (including prices) and you can buy pretty much anything there from Fake IDs (including US driver's licenses), odd herbal remedies like Shark Fin, I even saw a girl peddling laughing gas.

Pressed Pig Face in Bangkok - I was interested in tasting this but didn't want to buy the entire face just for a taste.

Rambutan stand in Bangkok

Basket of peppers and lime peels out on a families patio.

Some of the best desserts throughout SE Asia

I don't like pancakes but picked up five of these for 5,000 LAK = 62 cents and it was arguably the best pancake I've ever had (cocount-type batter and gooey inside). Notice the hot coals beneath the cast iron pot.