Commuters in Hanoi

Commuters in Hanoi II

Mount Fasipan

Fansipan or Fan Si Pan (Phan Xi Păng in Vietnamese pronunciation (help·info)) is a mountain in Vietnam, the highest in Indochina, at 3 143 m. It is located in the Lào Cai province in Northwest Vietnam, 9 km southwest of Sa Pa Township in the Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range. Fansipan is dubbed "the Roof of Indochina"

Art Vietnam Gallery

"The story of Art Vietnam Gallery and its Director, Suzanne Lecht, is as dramatic and transformative as the recent history of Vietnam itself.When Art Vietnam opened its first gallery in a traditional Vietnamese "tube house" in Hanoi's ancient quarter of "36 Streets," it blended the old with the new and quickly established an international reputation as the authoritative source for contemporary art in Vietnam.

With a track record of identifying and developing exceptional new talent, Art Vietnam became a destination for art tours of the world's leading cultural institutions, private collectors and diplomatic visits.Having outgrown the original gallery, Art Vietnam recently moved from its "tube house" on Hang Than to just around the corner at 7 Nguyen Khac Nhu. Visitors to the new space will find that the evolution of Art Vietnam's style mirrors the breathtaking pace of change of Vietnam itself-- a country steeped in tradition which stands poised on the leading edge of the international art world.

Now housed in a large contemporary space, Art Vietnam Gallery has three floors of video, photography, painting and sculpture, a piano bar and a large outdoor terrace. With international tours and invitations, Art Vietnam Gallery is recognized both in Vietnam and abroad as an avant-garde voice of Vietnam today."

http://www.artvietnamgallery.com/

54 Traditions

"54 Traditions Gallery is the only gallery in Vietnam focusing on the antiques, artifacts and art of Vietnam's 53 minority groups and the Kinh majority people. We have over 1000 objects on display and objects from our collection have been exhibited in museums in Hanoi. We focus on the cultures of Viet Nam’s 53 minority peoples-the things they make and the things they use.What we offer can be called antiques, art, or material culture.

We have a room dedicated to each of the following categories: The Central Highlands, Tribal Textiles, The Shamanic Tradition, Functional Objects and Water Puppets, Older Things.Our approach is “anthropological”- we believe that the value and appreciation of an object is increased when we know what it is , when and why it was made and who made it, who used it, why it looks the way it does.

We also offer select objects from the Viets (the Kinh), the majority culture of Viet Nam, including objects from the recent past and also from the distant past"

http://www.54traditions.com.vn/

The PURE essence of travel..

"Travel in 2009 and beyond is no longer about simply going away, indulging in "bling" holidays and coming home relaxed. It is now about participating in life enriching experiences and returning home transformed. It is about fulfilling the next and very final level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, self-actualistion. Self actualisation is characterised not by a willingness to consume prestige goods or services for the sake of upgrading oneself socially but, by a quest to find one's own true happiness through connections with loved ones or with the world. This is the PURE essence of the true travel experience."

Serge Dive, PURE Life Experiences.

Old Bangkok

Connections Vietnam

Travellers are constantly seeking a genuine cultural experience, but are often thwarted by the next bus load of tourists. Connections Vietnam aim to bring the real flavor of Saigon through meeting, eating, cooking, and learning activities. Through Cook, Dine, Learn and Meet, you can get a real perspective on the city, something that for most visitors would be totally out of reach.

http://www.connectionsvietnam.com/

Mekong: Milton Osborne

A popular account of some of the historical highlights of exploration and development along the Mekong, Milton Osborne's offering is as much travelogue as history. For the more recent material he draws on forty years personal involvement with Southeast Asia, focusing on development issues; for the earlier period he is most fascinated by the history of European exploration. The result is episodic and personal, but also readable and informative.

http://www.amazon.com/Mekong-Turbulent-Past-Uncertain-Future/dp/0802138020

The morning stroll around Luang Prabang

Why I love the Tea Country

The tea country is wonderful. This is the area of Sri Lanka I know best. I love waking up early in the morning and going on a long 5 or 6 hour walk through an endless maze of trails surrounded by lush fields of tea. I love to cross rivers, climb mountains, reach villages, talk to a planters I meet along the way and then return to the bungalow for a well-earned lunch, a swim in the pool, a massage or a herbal bath. And at the end of the day, I love to sit around the fire in the evening with friends and fellow travelers, playing games, playing the guitar and telling travel stories.


The Norwood Estate, Hatton, Sri Lanka, 2003

The wheather in Thailand

Lao Air Connections

Sri Lanka's Barefoot Act

The government is considering a proposal to usher in a new ‘barefoot revolution’ in Sri Lanka as part of its philosophy to revive ancient Sinhala traditions.

This will see the systematic phasing out of footwear use in all government offices, and other places where politicians and officials are present. The practice will be first introduced in Parliament, as well as offices of the President and Prime Minister, and later extended to cover all government offices.

“Wearing shoes and slippers is a recent habit introduced to our people by western colonialists,” says Emeritus Professor Amaradasa Gunasekera, originator of the idea. “The ancient Sinhalese knew that we living in a tropical country do not need to cover our feet. In our current quest to revitalise indigenous knowledge and traditional Sinhala Buddhist culture, we want to restore this excellent practice.”

Professor Gunasekera, who is Presidential Advisor (No 223) for reviving ancient traditions, has drafted a policy paper on transforming Sri Lanka’s public sector into a ‘barefoot zone’. When introduced, this will require visitors to all public places in local, provincial and central governments to remove their footwear and leave them in a secure place at the entrance.

“We don’t anticipate a problem in public cooperation,” says Professor Gunasekera. “After all, we all do it willingly when entering temples and kovils. So why not extend this good practice to our ‘temples of public service’?”

He was emphatic that this should not be seen as a ban. “Bans are another decadent concept of the crumbling west. We in the east do everything voluntarily through enlightened public consensus. Barefoot Nation will be introduced on this basis.”

Asked whether public officials themselves will be allowed to move around inside their offices with footwear, he said the matter was still under discussion. “We have to tread carefully on this one,” he said, intending no pun. “We don’t want any retrogressive public official petitioning Supreme Court on his fundamental rights being violated.”

Creating barefoot public offices is to be the first step in transforming Sri Lanka into a fully-fledged barefoot nation under the prevailing chinthana. The Health Ministry is to send a top level delegation of officials to study China’s barefoot doctors programme, with a view to emulating it here.

Meanwhile, a defence ministry source denied that this new national policy had anything to do with fears of disgruntled members of the public throwing shoes, sandals or slippers at politicians or senior officials.

Ethnic Minority Music of Southern Laos

This is a collection of landmark recordings by Laurent Jeanneau documenting music created by the Harak and various Brao ethnic groups in Southern Laos. Here you can hear the true historic roots of Molam music (now a venerable popular music style in Laos and Thailand) played on the Khaen along with vocal styles from this region. Also featured here are Gong ensembles, various stringed instruments, cymbals, drums, and sung poetry all captured live on location with the ambient sounds of the surrounding villages. These recordings were made in Xekong, Champasak and Attapeu provinces and because much of this music is unknown, this is probably the first time recordings have ever been released of indigenous music from these remote areas of Southern Laos.


http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/item.asp?Item_id=39&t=Ethnic-Minority-Music-of-Southern-Laos

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and pioneering recording labels.