Action/Cut

"Don't stand on sentimentality", he said.
"Don't make it out to be more than it is. Sure, it has been 4 years now, more or less. Sure, you have come to be identified with it by many (for good or bad), others have not known you differently. It has fuelled debate and love, amusement, dislike, sighs and squeals and shakes of the head. But why be sentimental about it?"

He sighed. The silent one looked on.

"Yes, it will spark reactions of all kinds even in departing. People might see you in a new light. Or not care at all. Departures are always bittersweet, separation is never easy, more so when wilful. It is, at the best of times, tinged with emotion or sentiment or-"
"Oops", he paused.
"Sentimentality", the silent one completed the thought.

He seemed at a loss for words for a moment. Then, with an air of finality, he just shouted, "CUT!"

DNA lights

The Helix Bridge by night with the Marina Bay Sands in the backgroud.

Singapore.

from flickr

Tatooine?

at Tabo Monastery, founded 996 AD.

Tabo, Spiti, India.

from flickr

anti cool

wall philosophy in Venice, Italy.

from flickr

sacred tangle

Praise of the Hindu god Ram, on a wall above the back lanes.

Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

from flickr

showcased

A sort of live display at the Mehrangarh fort : charming but also a bit sad. On display is a hookah and also the apparatus used to consume opium.

Jodhpur, India.

from flickr

locked away

A very old, beautiful lock at the Ki monastery in Spiti.

setting out

Kibber, Spiti, India

Ko Lanta

Quick thoughts on a quick getaway to Ko Lanta.

When: May 19-23, 2010.
Highlight: getting back on a scooter with D and rising around an island, stopping at beaches and bars and shops and massages. I felt free.

Flew into Phuket late night on Wednesday, stayed at Casa Brazil on Karon beach. We stayed here in 2008 as well for a couple of nights, and found it cute, cosy, clean, quiet and and inviting. Ok, no more alliteration.

We met a friend at 11pm, just as we got in. He rode from Phuket town where he stays to say Hi. We shared a few drinks, there were no places open for dinner anymore. The beginning of off season and the Bangkok troubles meant it was all pretty quiet. The same places we had seen alive and buzzing in December 2008 were shut now. Sang Soms done, we went back to our room for more chat.

Early morning we are picked up to go to Rasada Pier. Our journey to Ko Lanta is not going to be short.

The ferry sets off at 8.30, and we are at Phi Phi by 10.30. We must change ferries here, but there is a one hour wait. We pay the 20B each for the Phi Phi Island entry and say hello to it again. We had stayed here for a few days the previous trip. Its quieter, its hot, but the water is still as stunning. Mango shake, anyone?

on the ferry

Ko Lanta taken another hour from here, and our pickup has not arrived at the pier. A Thai couple who D asks about a public phone just make the call from the cell phone from us. A little while later we are on a make shift tuk tuk with two chatty young men. They drop us off at Nautilus, where we discover we are the only 2 people staying! I can’t see how thats a negative, especially considering we the get the best room, the one closest to the beach.

tuk tuk in ko lanta

our little corner of the island

Joom, the only one running the place right now, says its low season and they had a whole Danish group cancel on them because of the Bangkok trouble. Their cafe is shut so they wont serve us food, but luckily the place next door (about 15 steps from our room) is open. Its a family who runs its, husband, wife, mom, (young sister?). The first look at the sea, the first sight as I stretch my legs to ward the blue, the first sip of holiday beer...and I, predictably say, “This is the life.”

Killer spicy salad

at Kantiang Bay

We spend till Sunday in Ko Lanta. We rent a scooter, ride around, consume pleasant materials, eat absurdly spicy food and get absurd chilli rushes, drink some beer and SangSom, swim, read, talk, fool around, chill, get massages, meet an interesting French couple and their kid whose bar/cafe we spend time in, see some incredible sunsets, an approaching storm, a police ‘raid’ on a small local restaurant we are eating at, buy chappals....did I mention eat, consume, swim and get massaged?

afternoon storm

sunset at Phra Ae beach

the good ol' Sang Som bucket


Nui beach, which was all ours

more practical details on the trip here

black & white

The first of a fair few Tudor-style houses I saw in England. I find them striking, and very charming. Some were just facades but in Oxford we saw a couple that were real Tudor buildings, all creaky looking and leaning.

a swiss gerbera

At the table; a wedding recption in Sion, Switzerland.

from flickr

bamboo tattoo, anyone?

street wall outside a bamboo tattoo shop. This little street had art work on walls either side.

Phi Phi Island, Thailand.

View On Black

into the distance

sun. sea. blue. silence. peace. immense. endless.

much better viewed here

from flickr

earth hour

better on black

from flickr

lay down on me

first from a series of such shots I took last month, in Delhi, India...


better on black

from flickr

an intricate glow

detail from decorations at an Indian wedding...

better on black

from flickr

up

reach out.

from flickr

thought!

A fleeting, incendiary idea. A flash, transitory brilliance. Fugitive inspiration, lighting up and fading away.

Better On Black

- from flickr

solitude

sometimes nature can touch you with such solitude that you feel like you are with no one, not even yourself.

A rock climber practises at Ao Ton Sai Beach. Railay is a hub for rock climbers with stunning cliffs overlooking soft sands and crystal water.

Krabi region, Andaman Coast, Thailand.
View On Black

red chillies

a window just outside the ghost town of Kayakoy
near Fethiye, Turkey

a trip so long ago...

from flickr