Craig September 15th, 2007
September 15th marked the day that two large rallies were held in Taiwan in support of Taiwan’s UN bid. The DPP, who want to enter the UN under the name Taiwan, held their rally in Kaohsiung attracting almost 500 000 people, while the KMT, who want to re-enter the UN under the name Republic of China, saw 50 000 people at their rally in Taichung. I chose the KMT’s rally in Taichung as my destination for the day, mainly because Taichung is a lot closer to where I live. I met up with Michael Turton, Taiwan’s pre-eminent English language blogger. Feiren at Taiwan Matters has a report and photos from the DPP march in Kaohsiung.
______
_____
Continue Reading »
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite 
Craig September 12th, 2007
Low-res film scan of a snake charmer, taken in Pushkar, India in 1997.
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
Craig September 10th, 2007
It’s time for the second installment in the featured photographer section. This week we have MJ (Michael) Klein, an American photographer who is now living in Taiwan. Michael is the brains behind the popular blog New Hampshire Bushman in Taiwan.
_______
_______
Taken around 17:00 on a rare afternoon when the air was clear enough to see all the way to Taipei city from Bade, about 32 KM distant. That’s Taipei 101 in the distance.
Continue Reading »
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
Craig September 6th, 2007
Built to the same floor plan as Angkor Wat, Beng Mealea was constructed by Suryavarman II (1112-52). A moat measuring 1.2km by 900m once enclosed the site, although this has mostly dried up today. Located 40km (60-80km by road) away from the main Angkor temples, Beng Mealea has been almost totally claimed by the jungle.
______
______
Approached by a four causeways; Beng Mealea appears to be a huge pile of rubble partially hidden in the trees. Once you get closer to the high walls, the ancient Khmer architecture reveals itself. Cloaked in vegetation and with few concessions to tourism; this temple looks like it would have done when the early French explorers found it.
______
_______
Care is needed when exploring the temple, as the surrounding jungle still contains land mines leftover from Cambodia’s wars, and the temple itself is slippery and unstable in parts. Local legend has it that as recently as 10 years ago, the temple was home to a tiger. Whether or not that’s true is something I don’t know, but in 2005, a hunter was attacked by two tigers in the nearby jungle.
_______
_____
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
Craig September 5th, 2007
Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet. Low-res film scan.
Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite
