Most Rings of the Long Neck Tribe - Thailand

This woman was noted as wearing the most rings as compared to all the women of the Karen Tribe in northern Thailand. It was interesting that they were having a ceremony the evening this photograph was taken to remove the brass rings from her neck. After about three months there would be another ceremony where the rings are re-heated and place around the neck again.

Monk at Wat Doi Suthep - Chiang Mai, Thailand

This young monk was seated at the Wat Doi Suthep just outside Chiangmai, Thailand. The serenity of the monks was very calming. I took this image in February 2008.

Angkor Thom-Banyon Cambodia

I could have spent an entire day just exploring Banyon at Angkor Thom. If you see only two temples, Angkor Wat and Bayon should be the ones. The giant stone faces of Bayon have become one of the most recognizable images connected to classic Khmer art and architecture. There are 37 standing towers, most but not all sporting four carved faces oriented toward the cardinal points. Who the faces represent is a matter of debate but they may be Loksvara, Mahayana Buddhism's compassionate Bodhisattva, or perhaps a combination of Buddha and Jayavarman VII. Bayon was the Jayavarman VII's state-temple and in many ways represents the pinnacle of his massive building campaign. It appears to be, and is to some degree, an architectural muddle, in part because it was constructed in a somewhat piecemeal fashion for over a century. The best of Bayon are the bas-reliefs on the exterior walls of the lower level and on the upper level where the stone faces reside. The bas-reliefs on the southern wall contain real-life scenes from the historical sea battle between the Khmer and the Cham. It is not clear whether this represents the Cham invasion of 1177AD or a later battle in which the Khmer were victorious. Even more interesting are extensive carvings of unique and revealing scenes of everyday life that are interspersed among the battle scenes, including market scenes, cockfighting, chess games and childbirth. Also note the unfinished carvings on other walls, likely indicating the death of Jayavarman VII and the subsequent end of his building campaign. Some of the reliefs on the inner walls were carved at a later date under the Hindu king Jayavarman VIII. The surrounding tall jungle makes Bayon a bit dark and flat for photographs near sunrise and sunset..

Angkor Wat at Sunrise Cambodia

Cambodia was a very interesting country. Having a 4:00am wakeup gave the opportunity to see Angkor Wat at sunrise. The temples at Angkor are spread out over some 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap, about 192 miles from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. They were built between the eighth and 13th centuries and range from single towers made of bricks to vast stone temple complexes. There are two main sites where the Khmer temples are located. The first is at Roluos which is about 10 miles south east of today's village of Siem Reap, where only a few of the earlier temples were built. This was the first Khmer capital in the Angkor area. In the late ninth century, Yasovarman I moved the capital to the immediate vicinity of Siem Reap. This is a much larger site, where the majority of the Khmer temples are located. It is officially known as the City of Angkor. There are other temples located in the area, some up to 20 miles away from Siem Reap. Khmer temples can also be found in many other parts of Cambodia, as well as China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
ANGKOR WAT: Regarded as the supreme masterpiece of Khmer architecture, it is a huge pyramid temple built by Suryavarman II between 1113 and 1150. It is surrounded by a moat 570 feet wide and about four miles long. The mass of bas-relief carving is of the highest quality and the most beautifully executed in Angkor

Longnecked Woman Thailand

This image was taken in early February during a visit to northwest Thailand. Today, a small number of Karen - Padaung tribes reside in Thailand. Some are in the Mae Hong Son area of the Northwest. These are most commonly known as the Long-Necks, this term signifying the practice of adorning their women with brass rings around the neck. Other Karen-Padaung tribes reside in Phrae Province, in the north central part of Thailand, and Baan Thanton in far north Chiang Mai province. Their primary female beauty feature is the use of carved elephant tusk in the ears. These unique methods and mediums of adornment go back a long way, and the Karen-Padaung of Mae Hong Sorn and Phrae continue these traditions today.

Floating Market Thailand

This images was taken in late January at the Floating Village at Damneon Saduak outside Ratchaburi, Thailand. Bangkok has once been dubbed by the international community as the "Venice of the East," for its diverse network of canals, locally known as "Klongs." Since the reigns of King Rama the 1st , the residents of Bangkok did a great deal of commuting by small boats on the Klongs, similar to the way of life so characteristic of Venice for centuries long. Commerce throughout Bangkok was often conducted on boats, and merchants would take their fresh produces by boat each day to the so-called floating markets, where they would meet and conduct trade. At the floating market, you will find all kinds of "floating shops," such as floating fruit shops, floating flower shops, floating culinary and food shops, and much more.