Location: Phang Nga Bay, Thailand (8° 17′ 0″ N, 98° 36′ 0″ E)
Date: 6 March 2009; 11.25am
Camera: Canon IXUS IZoom
As introduced in this post, Phang Nga Bay is full of little isolated islands with collapsed cave systems and hongs- tidal sink holes in the middle of the islands- opening to the sky. These hongs are connected to the sea by narrow caves., some so narrow that paddlers have to lay on their backs to get through. As the opening gets closer, one's vision switched from that of darkness to greens reflected on tranquil waters like this photo.
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Location: Karakul Lake, Xinjiang, China (38° 26′ 0″ N, 75° 3′ 0″ E)
Date: 10 June 2004; 8.15am
Camera: Canon 300D with kit lens
Karakul Lake is approximately 200 km on the road towards Khunjerab Pass, the border crossing between China and Pakistan. It is a beautiful high alpine lake at about 3,600m and is surrounded by snow-peak mountains (also see this post). There are a couple of Kirgiz settlements along its banks. However, around 2003, a small cluster of yurt-tents and a couple of Chinese restaurants sprang up. A gaudy gantry was also erected near the same spot, at the entrance of a small paved road leading from the main road to the lakeshore. These people who run the restaurant and rent out the yurt-tents (think a couple of Chinese families) started collecting entrance fee of 50 RMB per person to visit the lake. Honestly, I am not sure if these people are actually authorised to collect any entrance fee (like many parts of China) but they will not allow one to go pass without paying. When I attempted to go back to Karakul Lake at the end of 2008 (after the Tibetan disturbances), I was told that I need to get a special permit to visit the lake. I guess the Chinese government was sensitive with foreigners in remote places of China after the Lhasa disturbances. Unfortunately, they did not trust their instincts enough and so did not start enacting policies or taking steps to reduce the marginalization of the Uighers that lead to the deadly riots in Urumqi on 4 July.
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Location: Dhobi Ghat at Saat Rasta, Mumbai, India (18° 59′ 0″ N, 72° 48′ 0″ E)
Date: 11 April 2008; 1.30pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5
Dhobi- laundry- is common everywhere in India. Traditionally the laundry was washed close to a river, lake or reservoir and then spread on the banks or hang on lines to dry in the sun. This is still a common sight in many parts of India. In major cities, it is more common for the laundry to be done in "ghats” open-air concrete wash pans with flogging stones. The most famous of these Dhobi Ghats and perhaps the largest outdoor laundry is at Saat Rasta near Mahalaxmi Station in Mumbai, where around two hundred dhobis and their families work together in what has always been a hereditary occupation. The dirty garments are washed in soapy water- stubborn stains are removed by soaking them in boiling vats of caustic soda- thrashed on the flogging stones and then hung out to dry. They are pressed the next day using heavy wood-burning irons and piled into neat bundles to be returned to their owners. I am always amazed at how they can remember which garments belong to whom.
P.S. Even modern Singapore also has such ghats during the colonial times. The laundry was washed in a stream that used to be known as Sungei Bras Basah that flowed from Orchard Road to the sea (it is now the Stamford Canal). The laundry were then dried in the open space between Bras Basah Road and Stamford Road- which is why that area and the MRT station today is known as Dhoby Ghaut.
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Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA (37°43′18″N 119°38′47″W)
Date: 14 September 2006; 7.15pm
Camera: Canon Canon 300D with kit lens
I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed with Yosemite. I have read and seen many photos of the Park but when I was there, I was not exactly impressed by what I saw. I am a bit of a "mountain person" and so was expecting to see some relatively impressive mountain sceneries. The Half Dome and El Kapitan are not quite as majestic as the mountains I used to see in Asia. I guessed I was not used to the fact that a National Park such as Yosemite is so crowded, like an urban park.
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Location: Richardson Range, Kinloch, Otago, New Zealand (44° 51' 0" S, 168° 20' 0" E)
Date: 22 May 2009, 11.30am
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5
Kinloch is a very small settlement situated at one end of Lake Wakatipu in the South Island of New Zealand. It is directly at the opposite bank of the lake to another small town, Glenorchy. Glenorchy had quite a high profile in the last few years as the site of no less than four Lord of The Rings film shooting locations. Many of the outdoor locations of the movie "X-Men Wolverine" were also shot around here. One can quickly understand the popularity of this area for such locations after spending a couple of hours driving or walking the vicinity. The scenery is one of sheer stark beauty with snowy peaks of both the Richardson and Humboldt Ranges framing the west and east shores of the lake, fed by both the Dart and Rees River. However, drivers have to be always on the alert for this road sign- 1-way bridges, give way- that are common in the South Island.
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Location: Off the beach of Jimbaran, Bali, Indonesia (8° 46′ 10″ S, 115° 10′ 26″ E)
Date: 17 May 2001; 8.20pm
Camera: (analogue) Canon 500N with slides and scanned
Jimbaran has got back on its feet more than 3 years after the 2nd Bali bombing there. Tourists are returning to Bali, generally and to the luxury hotels at Jimbaran specifically. As written in a previous post before, Jimbaran beach is a popular night dining spot with fresh seafood barbeque being the specialty. The seafood is normally caught on the same morning by these fishermen. It is actually quite fun to see these boats back to shore in the morning. One can also buy fresh seafood very cheaply from them here, before they left for the markets. By the way if you planned to enjoy some seafood at Jimbaran in the evening, make sure you head for those ramshackle stalls set up along the beach rather than the nice neat ones along and facing a paved road (with their back open towards the sea). The beach ones are those frequented by locals and they served very delicious seafood at very affordable prices. The others along the paved road target tourists and generally are pure rip-offs. If you catch a cab from town, they will bring you to these ones; you can see the beach stalls coming closer- just ask your taxi to drive you there instead.
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Location: Birrarung Marr, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (37° 49′ 6″ S, 144° 58′ 21″ E)
Date: 20 May 2008, 8.40pm
Camera: Canon 400D with Sigma 17-70/f2.8-4.5
Melbourne was named this year as the 3rd most livable city in the world by an annual survey done by The Economist magazine. Melbourne is quite an interesting city to wonder about at night. It is fairly lively and I believed one of the reasons for that is the large number of colleges and hence, students in the city area. There are also lots of activities along the Yarra River- with many pubs, clubs, arts and cultural centres and not forgetting, casino. The city also has a number of public parks and gardens. One of the more interesting and newer parks is Birrarung Marr. The distinguishing feature of the park is the Federation Bells- a collection of 39 inverted temple-style electronic bells of various sizes mounted on steel poles. The bells are controlled by computers and play seven different tunes composed by Australian composers, three times a day, with each tune lasting five minutes.
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