Glimpses from Bangkok

The two and a half weeks I spent in Bangkok were initially spent with stress and frustration, which slowly turned out to a quite enjoyable and memoriable experience. This set also has the pictures I took from a daytrip to Ayuttaya, the Old capital of the Siamese empire of citystates.
The ruins of ancient temples were impressive and one could have spent much more time discovering different areas with other types of ancient architecture.
But first -Krung Thep:
Views over Bangkok from the golden mountain:This pic from Khao san road with the little girl is a bit fuzzy, but somehow it really appeals to me:

This is for local people that don't have the time to take their children out of Bangkok -a waterpark built onto the roof of a shopping mall:

I keep awing how people keep creating these idyllic hideouts even in big metropols:

But so often its the opposite of idyllic:

Went around checking out some temples too:


I have a liking towards entropy and also in Bangkok I found some entropic perspectives..
-like somebody said: "I like things that are broken."
I guess this is also, why I love ruins. !)

Light in the end of the tunnel?:Here´s a few pictures from Ayuttaya:









Aight! Next..

The Missing Chapter vol. 2/2 Nepal

Nepal was something very unique. Although I was sick for about half of my stay and had some challenging times there it will certainly hold a special place in my heart especially because I met truly goldenhearted people there. The country is very poor, whith the economy almost solely based around Kathmandu. Beggars are common, but it's nothing like for example Tibet. Then again in the countryside people don't even have that much need to use money, because the villages they live in are self sustainable. But it's still very poor.



building big with bamboo:

Everything really shuts down after dark in Nepal. Once the sun sets the streets get empty and dead. It might not be that late, but it really seems several hours past midnight..


Some snaps from the streets:





They're seriously into cricket:

A Ganesha carved straight into the side of a banyon tree:
Here's a shot from a closer distance:


From a day party in a club named Roxy:
In Nepal, many young people can't go out in the evenings especially single girls. So, to counter this dicipline from their family they go dancing to parties held during the day. Windows covered to make it more authentic. Had a nice time one saturday on one of these.

Another street vendor:


It was somehow intriguing to be in Nepal at the time of the condemning of the king. The maoists really rolled into Kathmandu and you could see marches and cars spitting out propaganda..
Hope they can keep the peace..



Don't you just love the smiles on these people?:


A shot of the monkey temple:


And a view down from the same hill:


Me and Ile decided to start a bit of import and by buying responsibly buying stuff and trying to help these people by finding things made locally which are produced in a responsible way.
So this is one of the things I was doing after Ile left back to Finland and when I wasn't feeling that sick.
So here's some of the stuff we bought:
Some bedclothes for beds or hanging onto a wall. Different kinds.
Also bought a few khukuri knives being a friend of blades:
And last but not least I found a gems dealer called Barkat, who I could trust( and he actually helped me out in times of need). So I bought some stones. Mostly aquamarines:

Early morning in Pokhra lakeside:
It's almost funny, how small enterprizes people have. Here's Erich tasting sugarcane juice from a miniature factory rolling around the streets of Pokhra:

So I got to try how it feels to paraglide through the skies on a tandem jump I got really cheap hanging out at a restaurant the paragliders usually did and so when the season started getting low they offered to take us gliding for 2000 rs.. A nice experience, but I'd compare it with riding on the back of a motorcycle for the first time: you get the thrill of riding, but it's not really the same as driving one yourself.. Exiting though.






The temples of Durbari square are impressing.
I even got invited into one tiny shivatemple, where two young guys were squatting.

Lovers sitting in front of a temple:
The woodcarvings on these temples were very impressive:
The old Palace museum:
Some Shivababas:
A prayer wheel in Boudda:
Last some more shots from Pokhra. I'll let the pics do the talking:





Flying from Kathmandu to Bangkok didn't prove to be as easy as I thought. On the third I was going to fly the plane was overbooked and I had to extend my visa and wait until the tenth to exit the country.
That's all folks. Hope you enjoy the pic's.