I had a nice outing to LA's Thai Town last weekend, where there was a street festival for Songkran, the Thai lunar new year. The last time I celebrated Songkran was in Chiang Mai, a historic city in Thailand near its border with Myanmar. I particularly enjoyed seeing the cultural expressions from different regions in Thailand—something that I didn't get to witness while celebrating in Thailand. Here are a few photos from the morning!
Read MoreA patient of Dr. Rick Hodes'.
The following is a post I began in Ethiopia, from when I was there in August, which I never got around to posting. The subject is Rick Hodes, an American doctor who has been living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where, for over thirty years, he has treated extremely pathological patients whom have nowhere else to turn.
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Ethiopia and India were the only two countries that I had planned to visit before leaving for my travels. There were several forces that drew me to Ethiopia. Having spent a lot of time in Israel, I had interfaced with Ethiopian Jews and had become interested in their culture. I had also been quite obsessed with Ethiopian cuisine for the greater balance of my life...
Read MoreI went to Phoenix last week for a family event. Here are some pictures from a short desert hike squeezed in between Bat Mitzvah activities
Read MoreEl Deir or "The Monastery", Petra's largest monument, dates back to the 1st century BC.
This was my second time visiting the ancient city of Petra, a decision that, en route to Jordan, Bianca, my Australian travel companion, described as, "just greedy;" but I'm sure that Bianca came to understand why I jumped at the opportunity for a repeat visit to this wonder of world, as soon as she sunk her first footprint into the dusty floor of the narrow Siq—the mile-long gorge, which serves as the tourist entrance to the 102 sq. mi Petra Archeological Zone, renowned for its red sandstone landscape studded with ancient Nabatean tombs and other ancient monuments...
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Rosie Road, the new EP by Trevor Sohnen.
Check out my friend, Trevor Sohnen’s, new EP release, Rosie Road. The album shapes a retrospective of American pop and roots music into a fresh sound. Album art by yours truly! ...
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San Fransisco, CA.
Never could I have imagined the shape my peregrinations would take when in November, 2015, I left my home in Los Angeles to travel the world, aiming to set foot in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Although I return home without setting foot in South America, and only in Ethiopia as for Africa, in retrospect, I feel pretty good about having spent far more time in Asia than I anticipated. Namely, India, which I called my home away from home for just shy of a year...
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The Bagan Archaeological Zone consists of thousands of temple ruins.
Bagan was founded in the second century A.D on the banks of the Irrawaddy River...Like so many other photographers before me, I came to photograph the epic sunsets and sunrises over the scattered ruins Bagan (unfortunately, the hot-air balloons were only operate during the peak season in mid October through mid-March.) But I had to work through some rigamarole before I would get the opportunity…
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I'm excited to share that I've started a new Instagram @buddha_natures. The feed will showcase images of children and animals from around the world! In addition to showing my images from my travels, I will feature inspiring work of other photographers. Send me a note if you have photos of children or animals that you'd like to have featured!
Read MoreA traditional thatch house in the countryside between Kalaw and Inle Lake.
Kalaw is a quiet mountain town in Central Myanmar. Originally founded by the British as a hill station to escape the heat of the surrounding plains, Kalaw is still home to notable communities of Sikhs, Nepalis, and Indians, having ensconced themselves in the area since their ancestors came to build roads and railroads for the Brits...
Read MoreThe diaphanous Wat Rong Khun (left) and sinsiter Baan Dum house (right) are both Thai modern architectural masterpieces.
Chiang Rai, Thailand northernmost province, is home to two remarkable expressions of Thai contemporary art, each wild and bewildering in its own way...
Read MoreDuring my visit to the 40-story Buddha at Wat Huai Pla Kung, a break in the clouds occasioned these heavenly rays.
Short post, just to share images of this epic 40-story Buddha I happened across in the area sounding Chiang Rai, in Northern Thailand. The Buddha, located at Wat Huai Pla Kung, just north of Chiang Rai City, was only completed in 2017. You can even take an elevator up into a room behind the Buddha’s face, and peer out through the eyes of the Buddha. Windows to the back of the room provides a view of the landscape of rolling hills and small villages...
Read MoreThe Songrkan tradition of spraying water originated in the act of pouring water on someone as a sign of respect thought to wash away sins and bad luck. Over the years, that practice has transmogrified into the four-day country-wide water gun fight to mark the Lunar New Year
I had a blast celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year, in Chiang Mai, a historic town and traveller-nexus in Northern Thailand. The water-festival, marking the Lunar New Year, has origins in the act of pouring water on someone as a sign of respect. Officially, Songkran, which lasts 3 days, doesn’t start until April 13th; however, celebrations were well underway the day before, with (mostly) young people taking to the streets in colorful clothing to spray one another with water guns. The country-wide water fight persevered for the next 3 days as Thais celebrated the transition from Pisces to Aries...
Read MoreYoung Thais hanging out on the banks of the Nan River, eating traditional foods and drinking watered-down whiskey.
Phrae and Nan are remote, rural provinces in Northeastern Thailand. There are significant populations of ethnic minorities in the area, notably the Thai Lü, ancestors of immigrants from Xishuangbanna, in southwestern China. Both regions are a little off the beaten track and I didn’t see a single other tourist the entire time I travelled in this part of the country—probably also due to the fact that it was off-season...
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A contemplative monkey at the Prang Sam Yot Temple in Lopburi, Thailand. Lopburi is home to hundreds of rhesus and macaque monkeys.
Lopburi is one of Thailand’s oldest cities, developed during the Dvaravati period, circa 500-900 A.D. However, for most visitors to Lopburi, what remains today of its ancient architecture, is only a complement to the experience of the hundreds of rhesus and macaques permeating Lopburi’s streets and historic sites, which more than anything predicates Lopburi’s inclusion in the guidebooks...
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A Buddha statue entwined in a Bodhi tree's roots at Wat Maha That in Ayuthaya.
Ayuthaya was my first real destination in Thailand after bussing from Cambodia to Bangkok...
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Craftsman taking a break from making wicker chairs in a village near Muang Ngoy.
My first stop in Laos was Luang Prabang, which I arrived at by way of a grueling, jam-packed 28-hour bus ride from Hanoi. A a sine qua non for first-time visitors to Laos, this UNESCO designated town situated alongside the Mekong River is the darling of Lao’s tourism industry. One of the most refined places in Indochina, the people of Luang Prabang have no reservation embracing the architecture and cuisine of its French colonizers. Thrown into the mix are more than 33 Buddhist temples and the grand Royal Palace, which served as the seat of the monarchy in Laos until the communist revolution in 1975. Every morning at dawn, monks shuffle single-file through the streets...
Read MoreMaybe you remember reading a version of this headline within the last few weeks: “E.P.A. Chief, Rejecting Agency’s Science, Chooses Not to Ban Insecticide.” Trump’s appointment of E.P.A. chief, Scott Pruitt—a climate change denier who previously sued the E.P.A.—was just the kind of appointment environmentalists dreaded, an inmate running the asylum. Yet, I still found it inconceivable that even Pruitt could simply ignore the facts provided by the E.P.A. on what should seem like a straightforward non-partisan issue, especially given the ample evidence of what happens when environmental regulation fails—notably the Flint water crisis. Of course, it’s not just Pruitt, but the entire Trump administration that chooses to ignore the evidence in favor of their "alternative facts.”...
Read MoreLao Cai Province, Vietnam.
Like many Americans, my thoughts and knowledge about Vietnam have been greatly colored by the Vietnam War (or the American War as it is called in Vietnam). Never before had I visited a country in which I had such strong impressions of a particular time in its history, but such a dearth of knowledge about the country or its history on a whole. I knew that Vietnamese perspectives of the War must differ from those held by Americans...
Read MoreChristmas day in Kolkata, India.
I spent my last day in India, Christmas, in Kolkata, the bustling capital of West Bengal. The metropolis was India's capital under the British Raj from 1773–1911, and is the country’s oldest operating port. After arriving by night train from Varanasi, I left my bag at the station and headed into the historic area surrounding Fort William, an 18th-century British fortress and Indian army base. Indians love festivals. So it was no surprise that non-christian Indians came out in full force for to celebrate Christmas, crowding into the streets and parks to shop, snack, and hangout...
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