Laos Pastoral Life

On my recent trip to southern Laos I learned that Laotians living in this part of Laos live a pastoral life. I saw many rice paddy fields being worked by hand and buffalo standing waiting to help with the chores. The people of Laos seemed to be very similar to the Thais in that they were very polite and Buddhism and Hinduism makes up the majority of their religious beliefs. Once you got off the main road that runs north to south in Laos, the road quickly turned to dirt construction and the houses along these roads were mostly made of palm and bamboo.

For more photos of southern Laos Pastoral live click here...

Life Along the Mekong River

On my recent trip to Laos I spent a lot of time traveling on small boats on the Mekong River along the border of Thailand and Laos. The Mekong River is the 12th largest river in the world and flows through parts of southern China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The lands along the Mekong are reportedly one of the richest areas in biodiversity in the world, making a trip along or with its banks very interesting. The people there live simple lives, either fishing or making money off of people like me, tourist who want to see this area. As I traveled along the river I saw Laotian children playing in the river and many fishing boats. The river itself is fascination, having large waterfalls big enough to be called "the Niagara of the Mekong" which I will be writing about in a future blog.

For other photos of my Laos Trip on Flickr you can click here...

Protesting in Bangkok

I know I do not usually report on these things in this Blog but today I was able to get some good photos of the protestors traveling through Bangkok. Today the redshirts are moving through Bangkok stopping at various locations to drum up participation from the citizens of Bangkok. These photos were taken of the protesters traveling to a new location along Rama IV Road.  The news paper reported that Taksin and his followers were going to do this to try to get Bankok's Poor more involved in the protest. Taksin has been doing this, more or less since last weekend and I believe the Bangkokians are wishing he would stop and soon.

To follow more closely the Redshirted action you can go to the Breaking News link of the Bangkok Post.

Insects of Laos

If you frequent my Blog, you may know by now that I love to take photos of Insects on my trips. This blog focuses on the insects I came across while in Laos. The lands in this area are along the Mekong, which are reportedly one of the richest areas in biodiversity in the world.

The night moth was by far the coolest. If you look closely above the night moth there is another insect in the leaves.  The night moth and friend were found in Pakse, a small town along along the Mekong River.  The other insects were along the Mekong in the jungle, near some of the fantastic waterfalls found in southern Laos.  I hope you enjoy the photos!

For a collection of Thailand Insects click here...

Family of four on Motorcycle in Thailand

I finally got a good photo of this sight which I wanted to share, which is quite common in Thailand. Whole families on motorcycles, just amazing. I took this photo on a trip to Trat in eastern Thailand but I assure you this is common all over Thailand.  Let me know what you think!