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Mingun, Myanmar. The Mingun temple (or stupa) was never finished, and it got damaged by an earthquake in 1839. From Mandalay it is only a short boat ride away. There is a big white entrance to a very small room, but you can get on top of the temple for some beautiful views.

Leisure & pleasure; a dragon selfie

There is room for creativity and fun in the Buddhist way of life, enter the dragon's mouth and work your way up to the temple. This cave temple is located near Kanchanaburi (Thailand), can't remember exactly where as we stumbled upon it by accident.

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From Kinpun to the "Golden Rock" this is Myanmar at his best. Travel should be fun, and a bit of a challenge. Social contact on the back of a truck, my cup of tea...

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A battered and bruised beer can.

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Lovely, Chiang Mai graffiti and me, getting along quite well.

Leisure & pleasure; Bangkok Fortune Tellers and Astrologers.

Get in line, Bangkok Fortune Tellers and Astrologers. Not a believer, but it is a lot better than your average newspaper horoscope. This one is in front of Wat Arun, Bangkok.

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Near Bagan, Myanmar. The beautiful Shwezigon Pagoda or Shwezigon Paya in The little town of Nyaung-U. If you are staying overnight in Nyaung-U it is definitely worth a stop. Nyaung-U is a lovely town with some good places to stay and eat.

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A school bus drives by in Phnom Penh, Cambodia 2002. With Cambodia still recovering from the Pol Pot regime, most of downtown Phnom Penh was covered in dust roads and colonial buildings. Loved the atmosphere, it's a bit more aggressive and grim , but still a lovely place.

Leisure & pleasure; 2 on a moped.

A nice trip, with two on a Savannakhet rented moped. It's a wide open (country)road, one of the many in Laos. You can easily plan a loop from Savannakhet, even if you are not a skilled driver you should be able to make it on the roads around Savannakhet.

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Flirting with the Armenian border, the ghost town of Ani, Turkey. Called the "City of 1001 Churches," it is a great place to visit, easily reached from the town of Kars. Went up there in 1993, The Kurdish PKK was very active these days. Meaning no tourist / no transport to the old Armenian town, but we were able to find a Kars based taxi to give us a ride. A lot of the big magnificent buildings are still around, and the scenery is just great. Don't know what the situation is these days, but in 1993 you could spot the guarded Armenian watchtowers on the other side of the river.

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Muang Ngoi Neua, Laos 2002. The only way to get up there is by boat, it feels like an island but it isn't. We have been back a few times over the years, making our way up the Nam Ou (river). It's still a nice place to stay and head out into rural Laos if you don't mind a stiff walk. It's mainly populated by tourist nowadays (not like Vang Vieng Though) and the best time to visit is on market day. Make your way to one of the parties when the market comes to an end, be prepared for the hangover afterwards as they love sharing their Lao Lao.

Most people go up the Nam Ou from Nong Khiaw, but you can go downstream from Muang Khua.

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The little village of Ban Nam Wa , Nan province Thailand. This lovely beach is situated just in front of the small road going up to the village. A nice spot to have a swim and a pick nick while traveling through rural Nan. Thanks to my Swedish friend Per for telling me. It is about 45 km from Nan (city), the direction of Mae Charim.

Leisure & pleasure; Jaipur stand!

August 2000 Jaipur, India. Hectic traffic scenes are part of everyday India. Nobody seems to care where, how or when you move. The donkey is making a stand 'reclaim the streets'!

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Proud to present my DIY solar drying box. Not my invention, just combined some ideas found on the internet. You can find loads of freely shared solar power ideas. Don't know if they all work but my drying box does. 18°c outside and clouded it produced 35°C, once most of the clouding disappeared it quickly reached 55°C. Excellent for drying fruit, tomatoes.....

Solar panel made from old soda cans.

On the road 0009

Sarcophagus is on the road again, staying at "openluchtmuseum Bokrijk" , Genk, Belgium. 22/06/14 tot 31/08/14 open every day from 10:00 until 18:00. More info here. Curated by Herman Maes.

© Joke Timmermans

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Coming down from Inle Lake after being stuck there for five days due to heavy rain. It took about 26 hours to reach Bagan. Myanmar 2007. Love being on the road, sometimes more than reaching my destination.

Leisure & pleasure; Ihlara

Before the digital age, posing with people and sending them a copy was good fun. It got me invited into peoples home a lot, had some lovely conversations and posted loads of pictures once home. This one is taken in 1989. I just loved Ihlara (Turkey). 

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Sticking the gold leave to the rock, Myanmar. Only men are allowed so close to 'Golden Rock', It is a lovely place to spend the day, which starts down at Kinpun base camp. First part you spend in the back of an overcrowded truck early morning. Offloaded with a bunch of pilgrims, follow the steep foot trail which winds true small shops and food stall. It is a stiff 1 hour walk (about 1.5 km). You can stay until sunset if you like. You can engage yourself to a 11 km hike to Golden rock from Kinpun. Kinpun is a great place to stay the night before you head out, not many tourists do.

A glimpse of the "gravity defying" Golden Rock is believed to be enough of an inspiration for any person to turn to Buddhism.

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Another one for the photopolymer process. Still working on getting more detailed results, more tonal range that is. 

Leisure & pleasure; snooping around as usual!

Snooping around as usual I came across this great sculpture. Didn't expect to find this in the back yard of Wat Lok Molee, Chiang Mai.

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Ameba or amœba. For the lithographic stone look here.

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Chang Mai graffiti, there is a lot of nice graffiti in Chiang Mai's backstreets. This one really shines in the afternoon sunlight.

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1994 near Mae Hong Son, Thailand. proudly they showed me the poppy fields. These days most ofthe hill tribes are into coffee or vegetable farming. A lot of these projects are supported by the Thai Royal Familie.

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Two pictures from a stop motion I once made, can't remember where I left the disk though. 

Well, for what it's worth, once the disk is found, I'll share it.

Here is another one.

Leisure & pleasure; Crystal bal.

Wat Pha Sorn Kaew or Temple on a glass cliff. Easily reachable from the city of Lom Sak, Thailand. It's great fun walking around although it isn't completely finished yet. To get there with public transport, the easiest way is to start from Lom Sak bus station. Get on a bus going to Phitsanulok (road nr 12), after about 30 min. there is a seven eleven shop on the right hand side. Get off, walk about 100 meters and take a left (1). It takes about 40 minutes to walk to the temple just follow the road. Or you can wave down a car going up there.

(1) Take a left here, walk under the red, white and blue sign. It is about 2 km, you can't miss from here.

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Dabbling in the Euphrates river near Deir Ez Zor, more or less. On top you can see the archeological remains of  Dura Europos, about 85 Km from Deir Ez Zor, Syria (August 2000). I don't know what is left of either after three years of war.

Layout of Dura Europos.

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2 women in a dressing room.

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              Well, the cat seems to like it. The nice green floor belongs to the
              lovely Wheeler guest-house in Kuala Lumpur. Wheeler's serves free
              extensive rooftop diners on Friday.

Leisure & pleasure; a distinguished self-portrait !

Found this place in the back of an Indian temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Sri Mahamariamman Temple is the oldest (1873) and richest Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur. Before opening the doors to the public it used to be a private shrine to the Pillai family.

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           The green entrance of a Malaysian temple in Kuala Lumpur. Not that far
           from Petaling street. Right on the edge of China town. Known as the
           green temple or Chan See Shu Yuen it is one of the oldest surviving
           Buddhist temples in Malaysia. Best known for the specially-crafted
           terracotta friezes showing Chinese legends and mythological scenes.

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Working on a new small lithographic stone, Probably in two colors.

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              Pigeons on a lotus leaf at Wat Jedlin, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Past
              the Wat, follow the path to the monk's quarters. It's a nice place to
              get away from the bustling city live. Relax or read a bit...

Leisure & pleasure; rainbow !

A rainbow will eventually find you. In case you should find a pot of gold, it will probably be guarded by an Irisch leprechaun. Knowing the Irish you will still end up having a good time.

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A video installation at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre. The public as the performers. More info on the BACC (Bangkok Art & Culture Centre) here.

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               Kuala Lumpur graffiti combined with my own work. A photoshop 

               tryout, but might be something to do for real. 

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Petronas Twin Towers on a rainy day, Kuala Lumpur, Malasya. Still impressive, you can cross the sky bridge between the 2 towers for free if you like to. Meaning: wake up in the morning, go over there, wait in line for one of the 1300 tickets which are issued each day. Or order and pay in advance. Closed on Monday.

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Khorat or Nakhon Ratchasima is a nice place to start when you go to Laos via Pakse, or when visiting Isaan. At the city's main square, don't remember what the religious festival was about.

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A rather exciting exhibition at Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, opposite MBK shopping centre.

A very nice place to spend a few hours, and easy to go there by public bus or Skytrain.

Transportation to Bangkok art & culture centre (BACC)
Buses: 15, 16, 21, 25, 29, 34, 36, 40, 47, 48, 54, 73, 79, 93, 141, 159, 204
BTS Skytrain: The centre's 3rd floor entrance is connected to the BTS, the National Stadium Station.

Happy 2014 !

                WHAT WAS WRONG ?? I could give you a list, but you can make up
                your one one. And yes never saw pink pinguins before, elephants...yes....