Asia
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Burmese Monks and The Silver Snow Express
So I bought a shadow puppet. The first week into my trip I purchased a fragile, Balinese shadow puppet that now had to be lovingly wrapped in bubble tape and hung from a small brown bag tied to the top of my backpack, swinging to and fro and lightly hitting the bottom of my chignon as I walked. The problem with obtaining such a uniquely shaped and potentially breakable souvenir the first few weeks into a six month trip is that I now have the responsibility of said shadow puppet for the rest of the journey and this silly souvenir almost cost me thousands of dollars. “Are you alright?” The…
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Snapshot Sunday: Bewitching Bagan
What an incredibly special and beautiful city, Bagan. The week I had here was truly amazing with sunrises and sunsets over thousands of ancient temples, exploring the history, meeting some wonderful locals, a hot air balloon ride adventure and if that wasn’t exciting enough, my taxi driver and I stumbled across a farmer and his wife along with their cow delivering it’s calf on the side of a small quiet dirt road. It has been nothing short of magical here in Myanmar, many stories to come!
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The Challenges and Triumphs of Traveling Solo
My eyes squinted, adjusting to the sunlight as I wearily stepped through the sliding airport doors, pulling my luggage and making my way towards the taxi stand. I was surprised to see a woman emerge from the drivers seat, a light pink scarf adorned her head. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I had seen correctly. Not many women cabbies in general (only 2% of the world’s taxi drivers are women) and certainly even less in a predominantly Islamic country so it’s fair to guess she is a minority in the Malaysian transportation service arena. Bleary-eyed from my early flight I opened the door and slid across to the…
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Snapshot Sunday: "Happy World", a Yangon Sunrise
I quietly climbed out of bed, changed out of my pajamas and shuffled out of the room in the darkness. Misty, the sky lightened as I walked down Wisara Road, the street that just yesterday was teeming with traffic, at daybreak was desolate. As I headed into town the sun rose over a park with a gilded pagoda in the background and at that moment, it felt like truly a happy world.
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Snapshot Sunday: Balinese Cockfight
Driving back to town one afternoon taking another way through a small village to get back to Ubud, we sped by a line of men, all sitting together with roosters in their laps. It looked like they were all laughing, talking and enjoying the afternoon all the while sitting petting these chickens. I immediately hopped out of the car, asked if I could take a photograph, everyone smiled and a few gave me the thumbs up. I later learned from our driver that they are all grooming their specific birds for cock fighting, an event still practiced here in Bali today.
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George Town, Malaysia: The Ultimate Street Art
How have I missed sharing one of my favorite places!?! Ready yourself for an onslaught of photographs of one of my all time locations, George Town. The capital of Penang, Malaysia, the old town section is a UNESCO World Culture Heritage city founded in the 1700’s by a trader in the British East India Company with European architectural influences along with a predominant Chinese populations, it’s a wonderful blend of east meeting west. Oozing with charm the town is a fusion of cultures all from it’s architecture to the cuisine. The best thing I decided to do while in Malaysia was hang out here for a week, rent a bike…
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A Thai Tale: The story of Lady Mook and Lady Chan
When I was visiting Thailand, we kept passing a statue to and from sightseeing in Phuket that immediately peaked my interest. It was two women, both stern-faced with their swords raised, holding hands and looking off into the distance. There are always flowers adorning the base and small offerings are often left to honor these two women. I became curious about the pair after seeing them after a few days of driving on the island and finally into our second week I decided to ask our driver if he knew of their significance. “It’s a wonderful story of courage and friendship that has become a symbol of the people of…
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Snapshot Sunday: Indonesia on my mind
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My Favorite Moments of 2014
2014, what a whirlwind! I had several one of a kind experiences this year and I think I spent a lot of time pinching myself making sure I wasn’t dreaming, exploring new places, meeting new friends and enjoying life has a way of seeming unreal. It has been a treat to go through TONS of photos of the past year and I’ve collected a few to share some of the stand outs. My day as a Maltese falconer By far and away one of my more favorite memories of this year. While in Malta I decided to take the Maltese Falcon story to the next level and go to the…
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Snapshot Sunday: Malaysia in a minute, A Video Wrap Up