Saturday 29 November 2008

Protest in Bangkok Airports

As you should know by know, anti-government protestors took over the airports in Bangkok (see the CNN news here). The scary thing is how easy all the protestors got into the airport's control tower. And they now have access to the planes, if they want to. Speaks of terrorism all over...

Anyway, the airport have been closed since last Tuesday. Unfortunately, I'm due to fly back into Bangkok on Friday, but the protestors show no signs of leaving the airport.

So, I had to change my flights - and now I'm coming back to KL for a couple of days until the airport in Bangkok returns to normal.

Thursday 20 November 2008

Crazy India

You know you've landed in a crazy place when the first thing you see at the airport are exit signs such as these (at opposite ends):

PREMIUM exitCOMMON exit

What the....?? How do you know where to get out? Are you considered a commoner or do you want premium?

Then you see things such as this on the road:

Public transport

What the..?? Is this some sort of cheap public transport?

 

And you see signs such as this:

no alcohol...

What the...??? Are the people there not matured enough until they reach 25 years of age??

 

Things like this is a common sight:

rubbish and strays

What the..?? Rubbish everywhere (actually picture on top is considered "clean"), and lots of stray animals of every kind (cows, cats, dogs, donkeys, camels, crows, ponies, monkeys, squirrels, rats, pigeons, buffaloes, goats, chickens, ducks - you name it, its there).

 

And look at the shops here:

cloth shop

What the..?? Is that a cloth shop? Would you buy those from the floor? 

 

Well, even if you buy seemingly clean ones, chances are they were once like this:

drying clothes

What the..?? Are they drying cloth on the road side? And its beside the patches where they were drying cow dung (not pictured here)!! 

 

Ahh... India is unique indeed...

Thursday 13 November 2008

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal in India was majestic alright.... IF you can see it!!

DSC_4536-1

As they say here... the air is just very "foggy". So foggy in fact, that inside the airport you cant see clearly at the other end of the walkway! Oh, I miss all the polluted air in Bangkok already.

But going back to the Taj, its fantastic! Going there early in the morning was worth it... sun was a brilliant orange with all the pollution around.

no shoes

No shoes allowed. Shoe cover is included in the price of your ticket.

mosque

The mosque beside the Taj Mahal. 

 The Taj

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal with orangey skies and sun (thanks to "foggy" air).

View of Taj

The view of the Taj from my rooftop terrace... (that's the Oberoi, Taj is in the distance).

Sunday 2 November 2008

Harvest Time in Kathmandu

Although a city, Kathmandu and its surrounding are still very much a rice-planting society. This is harvest time... (I'll let the pictures speak for itself)

Cutting the paddy

Carrying straw

Spreading paddy to dry

drying the paddy 

making sure they're dried evenly

separating rice from husks