Friday, April 29, 2011

Misc. photos from Bangkok

Now some miscellaneous pix from my recent trip to Bangkok.

Royal Cemetery at Wat Ratchabophit













Little India, with the domes of the Sikh temple
Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha visible












Video: entering Saphan Han Market



Red Shirt rally












Riverboat approaching. This is a part of Bangkok's
public transportation system.














On the river boat



Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), floating down the Chao
Phraya river. It's a problematic invasive species.





Wat Ratcha Orasaram, final resting place of King Rama III













Same temple. Note the Chinese influence.













Oleander (Nerium oleander)

















Bangkok Protestant Cemetery













Shell of the Channeled Apple Snail (Pomacea canaliculata),
another invasive species.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Misc. photos from Calcutta



Motherhouse, the headquarters of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity



The Maidan, Calcutta's biggest park


The entrance to South Park Street Cemetery, one of the
most amazing cemeteries I've ever visited


A crow (Corvus splendens) in the cemetery


Milk spurge (Euphorbia neriifolia) that has grown into a tree.
It's intermeshed with Bougainvillea.


Video of the cemetery



Calcutta street scene


Video of the street. I held the camera at waist-level and walked fast, to prevent people from looking at the camera!


Another street scene













The curry restaurant I found


Here's something for my friend Sandhya:


St. Paul's Cathedral


The interior of the cathedral



Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Songkran - Thai New Year

It just so happens that I'm in Bangkok for the Songkran festival.

This is a time when people traditionally pay respects to elders, give food to monks, pray at temples, wash Buddha images... but the biggest emphasis is splashing water about! Which is nice considering that April is the hottest time of the year.

One of the big hubs of activity and partying is Khao San Road, where I'm staying.


People carry bowls and bottles of water, and increasingly popularly, squirt guns, particularly the "super soaker" type, and they soak passersby. Gangs of water-gun wielding young 'uns often engage in shootouts with each other! Even a quick trip to the corner 7-11 guarantees a soaking!















People also smear a water/chalk mixture on others' faces.


A lot of fun!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Bangkok!

Now I'm in Bangkok!

I've already visited the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery twice, and I also visited the Royal Cemetery. Besides that, I've been recovering from intestinal... uh... discomfort, but I feel OK now.

I got together with my friend Harry who I got together with in Singapore last August. We talked of many things... of cabbages and kings... had beers and smoked "shisha" (apple and fennel seed flavor). (Yeah, it looks like "hashish" spelled backwards, but trust me, it's not!!)

Here he is.














I'll be here for another week. That includes the Songkran festival.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Tollygunge Cemetery

This morning I decided to make the trek out to Tollygunge Cemetery, to the south of downtown. Fortunately it doesn't take long to get to: 20 minutes by subway, and a 15 minute walk. But the subway is insanely crowded! Plus the name of Tollygunge Station was renamed, further complicating matters. But it was worth the trip.


Tollygunge Cemetery gate


Later I had a tasty vegetable curry at this wonderful little restaurant I found.


Sacks of hot chili peppers I saw on the street

Sunday, April 3, 2011

More Calcutta

Day two: I saw more than just graves, but I did still see graves.

I saw the Black Hole monument (the Black Hole prison no longer exists). I saw the gigantic building known as the Victoria Memorial.

In no particular order, here are the pics. When I get my own wireless connection I'll fix them.





Saturday, April 2, 2011

Calcutta, a graver's paradise

(Hi, there are pictures now, but they're completely unorganized. Some weird changes have been made to the way they allow them to be edited and placed, and I haven't mastered it yet, so it's a mess.)

Hello from Calcutta! (They call it Kolkata now, but I'm a traditionalist.)

I'm sitting in an internet cafe across the street from the Mother Teresa House.

I chose to come here because of all the historic cemeteries. I visited South Park Street Cemetery, the Scottish Cemetery, Lower Circular Road Cemetery, and Mother Teresa's tomb. There is much more to see.





A rickshaw. This is the product of Japanese engineering from the late 19th century, and its design endures.














I would like to take the opportunity now to sing the praises of South Park Street Cemetery. It's a truly amazing place. Gigantic monuments and pyramids. Thousands of graves. A true shelter from the chaos of the streets outside. It's like the Protestant Cemetery in Penang, but on steroids. If you're a graver, you have to see this place!

The Scottish Cemetery fell into complete disrepair after 50 yeas of neglect. But in 2008, and organizaton started clearing away the dense underbrush and is gradually working on restoring it. It's not in the best condition, but its future is bright.



Lower Circular Road Cemetery is sprawling, and contains many new graves. People are still being buried here.

And Mother Teresa's tomb is quite nondescript, and is wrapped in a tarp right now. Some construction is going on beside it.