You can’t talk very much about Asia without saying something about the monks there.  There are many temples and all are mostly ran by the monks of the Buddhist religion.  To become a monk is considered very noble and is a way for a local to gain a higher level in society.  Not all of them are monks for life, as some do 6-7 years to gain wisdom and stature while serving their religion and giving back to society.  I have seen monks smoke, smile, look you in the eye, ask for money  (all of which they are not suppose to do) but to be fair in general I think these people are some of the most loyal to their religion then any other (I know I’m setting myself up by saying that but it’s what I believe).

Monks to me are fair, polite, helpful and peaceful, all of which makes them seem so majestic in a way.  There are female monks as well, called nuns.  They have their heads shaven as well and wear a white robe instead of the orange.  Below are some pictures I got while in Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand of monks from different areas.

Since I’m finishing up my Thai stuff this week I thought might as well stick with the Buddha theme.  Below is yet another example of two different types of reclining Buddha statues, one from Ayutthata and the other is in Bangkok.  I think of all the styles out there I like this style best for some reason.  Not sure why but I guess it’s the relaxed posture or something.

Comparing two different Buddha statues from the same town.  Each were at different sites, created at different times.  Both are very similar in many ways, yet different.  As much as one might get “Buddha out” while in Asia I do always find it interesting the many faces and styles you see.  I guess it’s no different then Jesus in all the European churches but at least Buddha has a smile or grin most of the time versus the painful look of Jesus you see portrayed 24/7.

I think just about everyone has seen this picture at some point in their life.  It’s one of the most famous Buddha images out there and if your in Asia very long you will for sure see it 10,000x.  I had long thought that this statue was in Cambodia until I finally went to Angkor Wat and found out it wasn’t.  They have one like this but it’s very small and you would almost for sure need a guide to find it (about 6in tall and yes I needed the guide).  The below statue though is much bigger and sits in a ruin frequented by lots of tourists.  If you can’t find this statue all you need to do is ask anyone and they’ll point it out to you.  Think entrance to the site was 40baht (little over 1 USD).

This is one of the best pictures I got while in Ayutthaya, Thailand.  I had done some research on the place before leaving Bangkok of what professional photographers had shot while there.  I wasn’t going to try and reinvent the wheel here and was  just wanting to get some solid images to add to my own portfolio.  I had seen some shots of this temple but not anything like this.  I must have spent 30min with a tri-pod set-up waiting for tourists to pass so I could get a clean image.  Again this was one of the last shots I took that day and was rather pleased.  More to come…

One of the main reasons I wanted to come to Ayutthaya was to take the below pictures.  I can’t recall exactly how many Buddha statues there are here at this temple but I would guess it exceeds well over 200+.  The monks and nuns put the robes on the statues every day and it makes for a dramatic picture I think.  Every Buddha statue has a different facial expression, so no two are alike.

While trying to rush around the last few weeks in Thailand before I had to leave out, I went North of Bangkok a few hours by train to the old capital of Thailand called Ayutthaya.  At one time this was the mecca place for Asia and capital of Thailand from 1351-1767.  Now today it’s full of ruins and sites that one can spend a week long looking at them all.  I only spent two days here seeing the sites but if you have time give yourself at least 3 full days, as there are a ton of temples and ruins to see that are some of the best in Thailand.

I’ll be posting about Ayutthaya this week with everything I seen from there, then will start on Ecuador postings.  I can tell you now I have been getting some great picture here as the region is beautiful, the people unique and I always seem to get great light here in this country when I go out to shoot.

The below shot was from the city center where they have elephant rides.  Ayutthaya is famous for it’s rides and the elephants are very docile towards visitors.  Well worth a few dollars to feed them veggies and see them thank you or do tricks in return.

Picture was taken at Victory Monument in Bangkok.  I lived about 5 minutes from this place and had been meaning to photograph it for a long time.  Not until the last week I was in BKK did I get around to it though.  What was interesting to me about this place was that it’s Bangkok’s biggest around-about.  That in itself should tell you something, as I seen about 6 close calls and one real accident while there the 30min I was shooting at 11pm.

More pictures from Phetchaburi, at the Tham Khao Luang Cave.  If your down with Buddha and are into caves…this is the place for you!

Sorry for not posting anything the last few days.  I have finally left Asia and am now in Ecuador, South America.  The ordeal of flying for me anymore is wanted as much as a hemorrhoid check.  I used to love flying when I was younger.  The thought of going to an airport, the excitement of packing my suitcase and the joy of getting little bags of peanuts has been lost for some time now.  I hate the thought of flying now (especially after 9/11 and every Dick, Jane and Spot with an ego is working as security for airports) as it just gives me swollen feet and a headache.  In the month of April alone I was on 16 different planes and it just about killed me.  I can’t wait for teleport travel to start!

My flight had me leave from Bangkok, to Dubai (with an 18hr layover).  From Dubai to Washington DC, then to Chicago, IL and onto Kansas City, MO.  I stayed the night in KC with family and got to see my sister while there.  The next day started with an early wake up call at 0400 with a flight to from KC to Houston, TX, then switched planes to head to Panama City, Panama.  Got to spend 2 full days there (will post about it later) before I left out for Quito, Ecuador as my final stop.  I left Bangkok on 06July and arrived in Quito on 11July.

Needless to say the whole trip left me drained and I’m sorry for not posting after I got to Quito.  All I have done is sleep for the last few days but it’s great to catch up on missed Zzzz’s.  I still have a lot of stuff left on Asia that I’ll be posting in the next few weeks before moving onto Ecuador.  I signed up for Spanish classes today though and on a side note I haven’t had a cigarette in 3 days.  A few times I almost broke down and burned one but the worse thing for me has been dreaming of smoking.  Don’t know what it is about Ecuador but I have been having some crazy dreams since being here.  The best one was Obama invited me to be his personal assistant and then fired me the same day because I didn’t know how to make a warm vodka and whiskey drink that he called a “Rose-Mary.”  Maybe it’s the lack of oxygen going to my brain because of the elevation here in Quito…