Bouzou Peninsula

Not the Shangri-La

Like a Rolling Stone, where ever you lay your head is home.

One of the grittiest stay in recent years.

The Great Railway Bazaar

Always loved traveling by rail. And if it's on a train where the windows and doors may be opened even the better. I have had the chance (cause I took 'em) to travel on trains trough Russia, (Through Siberia, the Trans Mongolian & Trans Manchurian both directions) China (South-West-East-North-Central), India (4 month and covered most by train), South East Asia, Japan and East/West Europe (Between Turkey in the East - Portugal in the West - Sicily in the South - Sweden in the North)…and for me this is the coolest most respectable life enchanting way. There is a certain charm with the bullet express trains in Europe and Japan but hey, Im seldom in a hurry when on the road so why rush the experience? Give me a seat, a good book and if possible, a cup of black coffee and I'm a happy man.

Beating Around the Mangrove

Went out exploring the less beaten track a couple of days. Small hidden fishing villages, mold clad mosques from the never ending rain. Rusted corrugated shacks on the outline of a dens mangrove forest. I was not the first Scandinavian here, Maskinmester (Master Engineer) J.V Larsen met his end here in 1909. His stone was standing in a small clearing completely left to be forgotten and it was by pure curiosity I found him. Makes you think.

Click

The mangrove roots came to life in B/W (for me).

                              Be curious







.

Lately…feeding the monkey...

Squid fishing boats

Rugged kitten

In my bathtub

The guys in the yard where I make my money this year for future grand continuous photo journeys…

Night walk down the fishing pier.

So, what happened to continue on all those Nepal Mt.Everest Himalayan, Wild dolphin, trans China and American Highway, logger Elephants photo assignments? The continuous of my Japanese underground and heavy metal photo sessions, going deep into the theme and holding on to the frame? Is this a sign on me loosing my eye or is it phase II on a never ending passion of curiosity for places and experiences…hard to judge someone / something that never sits still and constantly slips through the net of social belongingness.

Well, it is what it is and while widen my horizon this is just that. Pretty cool in a way cos I am not usually the photographer that just feeds the monkey from the hip. Moved house to southern Thailand, to the city of Songkhla to be precise. An over 1200 km road trip through the country on great little roads. Got lost going through Bangkok and ended up on a dead end lane in Chinatown, got blocked by a huge "red-shirt" demonstration and only one cop road block demanding lunch money (200 Baht at 11:45), could almost touch Myanmar at some areas, bringing up memories hauling cameras in spectacular sceneries.

Chi photography

Great shot pumpkin!!

Beyond The Point Of No Return

You ride past these places on almost any road in rural Thailand. Trashed little temples left to the elements by the road. People still offer a can of pop to the spirits just in case they did't got totally burned or smashed. Religion (All of them!!) is for me something really interesting and worth spending time studying and learn some about. The more you learn and study about this theme the more clear it is that it all evolves around the glorious three i.e. Power, Money...and Fear. Same topics as the best heavy metal that ever been made, yeah man...that's my religion! Live till you die.
While the traffic was speeding by just a couple of meters behind me kneeling in the ash and dust to get close angles, a man we would call the town's fool kept me company. Who is to say that this man with his taped spectacles and fucked up way of going about his business doesn't have it all figured out and can see more clearly what's up that any of us of the so called normal people can? While steering by in a VIP SUV with fake friends in the back seat and a grand life scheme written down on a forgotten note, you rarely see the man on the side of the road looking at you but through you with crossed fingers.

All by Canons simple and cheap 50mm, 1.8f prime plastic lens, a given back-up lens and many times better than the other so called up-scale lenses due to its light weight and small size. Fast enough for most situations as well.

The Spark

Since I needed to get around fast and without hinderance over in Thailand I opt to get me a motorbike. Yamaha Spark is a liquid cooled 135cc, one of the fastest 4 stroke fuel injection bike out there. Tops 140 km/h on good days so not many beat me on this one when I feel like giving it a full throttle (which is always!). It gives me the freedom to roam and explore the backwaters of this part of the country i.e. south eastern. You'll be surprised what's out there if you just turn off the beaten track. I was warned by my Thai peers of "bandits" and "highway robbers" on darker stretches of the roads at night down here in this corner of the country, but so far nothing interesting. Guess a white dude on a brand new bike is just too good to be true and if encountered, better left alone. I did run over a large King Cobra (can get up to over 5m!) one day on the way back to town, was no way to steer away since I was doing about 100 km/h. I looked back in the rearview mirror and saw how it was trashing madly before disappearing into the forest and I felt pretty down for a long time harming and probably killing one of these deadly but gracious animals.

Moments

Back in Japan. It proved to be a rather strange feeling to be back home after 4 months in a so different lifestyle and environment. Got to do some more work (never enough...) on my elephant project as well as some humble Street stuff from both Thailand and Singapore. Tokyo is colder that I have ever experienced due to being in a tropical South East asian summer with well over 36C as the norm. With grey weather greeting you from the airport and the stoic Tokyoites covered up in down-toned colored  coats, like going from highly saturated to overexposed monochrome.

Some street stuff I liked

An evening in Bankok's China town 

These guys are just the coolest

4649