This is the market not too far from the docks in Bangkok. It wasn’t the cleanest place in the world and could not be confused with the sterile aisles of Whole Foods in Austin, but it was still a charming place to experience new strains of Thai bacteria.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

I was in the middle of roasting deep inside a Buddhist temple, in some sort of sweaty Bikram walking yoga, when I decided to stop and take this shot… It was just too perfectly composed with the clouds and everything for me to ignore. I had to make a dozen attempts because my sweaty fingers could not even push down the shutter button.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

Thailand is a big exporter. They export corn, which the Indians call “maize”. In sum, Thailand is a nation of contrasts.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

I am leaving on a series of planes that will eventually get me to the Russian border in the Ukrainian town of Kharkov. I also plan on spending a weekend day shooting in Chernobyl and visiting a few radiated and abandoned ghost towns. I think the weather will be cold, but I am hoping the 80 RADS keep me warm.

This shot below is not of a CCCP secret testing bunker, but I think it looks like one, at least according to my 1980′s cold war Bond-shaped vision of the Soviet nuclear program. It is actually of the airport in Bangkok, Thailand. If you zoom into the large version, you can see some nice details.

Asia has some amazing airports, but this one in Bangkok is perhaps the nicest. After getting through customs, the selection of shops, restaurants, bakeries, etc., rivals any other high-end airport or upper-crust mall in the world.

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Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

Here is a room which has the collective net worth of Thailand’s neighboring countries. Unfortunately, since Buddhists renounce wealth, this is both priceless and worthless at the same time.

If they were to trade in a few square feet of that gold, they could probably buy some iPod Nanos for the entire monastery. They can get on iTunes and buy some of that Buddhist chanting music, which may be a good escape for them.

I put a few other pictures below of some neighboring temples.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

Here is just another sunset in Bangkok with a series of longboats streaming by on the river.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

This was taken a bit after the coup, so I was not able to capture the Molotov cocktails or anything dynamic like that.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

This is a nice HDR shot I grabbed of a Buddhist temple in Thailand. I would have called this “Heaven Opening”, but I don’t think that makes sense over a Buddhist temple. If you squint, closely at the sun rays, you can see your other lives.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

This shot is decidedly not Russian, not secret, not a bunker, but maybe it has held a few cosmonauts. Anyway, this place was just way too cool not to photograph.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

I was burning hot, sweating like a nearby migrant worker, but I just had to stop to take this HDR, since Buddha asked me to and all… you don’t want to ignore that guy.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

This is where one of the narrow dalipidated canals empties out into the main river. The living conditions aren’t the best, but you do get free meat from the dogs that float by.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel

I was lucky to catch the sun right behind the temple… Sometimes I say that luck is the residue of design. But in this case, it really was pure luck.

Filed under the categories: Bangkok, Musings, Thailand, Travel