The sign says “No photograph” but they can’t stop me from taking one without a camera. In front of me is a kind of gilded bas-relief depicting two griffins facing each other and on top of them two fantastical snakes facing away from each other, their tales entwined in the middle. Behind it a stepped dias done in red and gold, at the top of which is a kind of pavilion, two pillars on each side supporting a stepped roof. Under the roof is a small gilded Buddha statue, standing erect with palms facing outwards. At the foot of the … Read the rest
I’m on a low forested hill. Scattered all around me are large stone jars, roughly cylindrical in shape, differing in size but generally a bit bigger than a person. Most are standing straight but some are canted over and few lying flat on the ground. They were carved by some ancient people, supposedly for burying their dead, and have been left here for thousands of years. The jars show their age, they are covered by moss and lichen and many of them have been cracked or broken. I get an Indiana Jones kind of feeling about this place, but then … Read the rest
I’ve made it! It took me three border crossings, four days and several hundred kilometers on the bike but im finally in Laos and I managed to get my motorbike across too. Sure the weather is bad, sure the road is bumpy, but I don’t care, all that matters is that I made it.… Read the rest
I’m on a small road running along a ledge above the river, jungle clad mountains sloping down towards the greenish brown water. The road curves it’s way forward, following the flow of the water. Normally it wouldn’t be possible to ride at significant speed on this kind of road, but it’s just straight enough and I’m pushing 75 kilometers an hour. This kind of speed on this kind of road is exhilarating, I let out a shriek of joy.… Read the rest
I have parked on a small patch of open ground just at the side of the road and turned off the engine. I am surrounded by the dark silhouettes of the mountains, only a few scattered lights here and there down in the valley. Further down the road, the lights from trucks and cars play through the light evening mist. Here where I’m standing everything is dark and quiet, no houses, no cars, no people, just me and the sound of the crickets. I stand contemplating the darkness for a moment then I look up.
Up above, the sky is … Read the rest
The light is fading fast; the sky, though free of clouds, is not as bright blue as it was a few minutes ago, and the road lays in shadow. I take a quick glance in the rear view mirror, see the road unfold behind me and in the distance, the hazy outline of the city with the mountains behind it. And there, over the silhouetted peaks, the sky is blazing orange, shifting into pink at the edges. It’s only a glimpse, I have to turn my eyes back to the road, but for a moment I feel a kind of … Read the rest
I wake up from my half slumber and look out the window as we trundle along. All around are mountain peaks rising up out of a sea of clouds, their silhouettes against the pale sky. In the middle, the orange glow of the rising sun, the rays spreading out over the clouds. What a sight to wake up to.… Read the rest
I’ve been riding through the mist and drizzle all day and then, just as I reach the highest point of the pass, I spot a patch of blue sky up above. Moments later, the whole sky opens up and I can see for miles, the mountains rising into the mists on all sides, the slopes down towards the valley below clad in verdant green against the clear blue sky. In the middle of this stunning vista is a sea of clouds, pristine white foam lapping the mountain sides… What a view.… Read the rest
I’m looking out over the valley below and the mountains rising up on the other side. The slopes are all covered with terraced fields making them look like the sides of giant stepped pyramids. It’s late in the year now, the rice has been harvested and the paddies lie barren and empty, just the prickly stalks sticking up from the mud. The mist lies like a thick blanket over everything and two days of drizzle has made things all damp and soggy. Standing here I imagine how it would look earlier in the year, just before harvest, the golden yellow … Read the rest
The road, raised on an embankment, cuts straight through the Vietnamese countryside. On the right are yellowish green fields with grazing cattle here and there, and a few scattered houses. In the far distance a row of mountains frame everything in, and up above pure white clouds tower majestically in the clear blue sky. To the left the square pools of the rice paddies are almost indistinguishable from the river that curves it’s way through the landscape; old barges that look too big to fit between the rice paddies floating lazily by. In the middle distance the karst cliffs rise … Read the rest
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