We’re really excited to announce that our own Ben Crosbie’s photo “Dulles Sunset” was selected to be included at the 2012 DCist Exposed Photography Show at DC’s Long View Gallery from March 21-April 1. The photo is among 40 diverse depictions of DC-area life and locales that were selected from over 650 submissions. This is Ben’s second year in the DCist show. In 2011, his photo “Wharf Afternoon” was selected and exhibited. Thank you to the DCist for making this event possible and for providing local artists an opportunity to showcase their work. Check out the rest of this year’s winners at www.dcist.com.
Tag: culture
Floating Mountains: Halong Bay & Bai Tu Long Bay, Vietnam
The creative director of the move Avatar must have been inspired by Halong Bay in Vietnam as there are few other places in the world where mountains appear to float weightlessly. While the imaginary planet in Avatar has mountains that suspend mid-air, Halong Bay’s mountains soak in pools of blue. Sunsets soften the edges of the sharp cliffs, color the sky and offer reflections that make sky and sea indistinguishable.
Vientiane: Moving at the Speed of Laos
The world is changing fast, especially in Asia. Yet Laos seems resistant to the pressures of modernization and globalization; its capitol city Vientiane as evidence. There are no high-rises or mega malls, and few if any movie theaters (that I noticed). Entertainment is mostly limited to karaoke bars and bowling lanes and the city has a curfew of 11:00pm. Lao women working or entering government buildings are required to wear a traditional sarong and most ride on the back of motorbikes side-saddle. It’s a quiet city in which you can wander into the courtyard of a nearby Wat and hear little more than the sounds of monks shuffling by.
Luang Prabang: Traveling Back in Time
Strolling through the sleepy streets of Luang Prabang, Laos is like being transported in time. For me, I was living in the 1942 classic movie Casablanca, wandering through colonial hotels and bars replete with wooden shuttered windows and courtyards filled with lush green palm trees and exotic plants. Ben felt as if he was in old Havana, Cuba with the dated cars, dilapidated sidewalks and children riding on rusty bicycles. With a world moving so fast, it is incredibly invigorating to be in place so firmly planted in the best of times. Luang Prabang has naturally attracted tourists but its UNESCO world heritage status has prevented the crumminess that tourism has brought to other Asian cities. All store signs are carved in wood and the narrow streets make passage by tourist bus impossible.
Elephant Ride to the Hills of Chiang Dao.
I rode an elephant once in my life as a child at a carnival in my hometown. He was chained and led to walk in a circle. I was at the back of the line of children riding the butt, which was so wide my legs shot straight out in each direction. The experience wasn’t especially memorable and so when I heard about elephant riding in Thailand, I wasn’t as excited about it as Ben.
Playing Seepak Takraw
There’s something romantic about traveling by motorbike. Perhaps its the open air, the winding and unknown road, or maybe the people you meet along the way. We’d been hesitant to try it because we’ve never driven a motorbike before. But Chiang Dao is a small area with little traffic and most residents drive slowly, conserving petrol by turning off the engine to glide down the hills. So we thought it the perfect place to practice. We rented a shiny red automatic from the neighbor for a total of $200 baht ($7) and set out with a hand drawn map from the Nest. We rode across town up through the jungle-filled mountainside and turned at whatever road seemed most intriguing.
Chiang Dao: Fairytale Thailand
I’ve been dreaming of glistening rice paddies, families packed four to a motorbike, hillside villages overrun with cute children and mist covered mountain tops. They’re the fairy tale images I had of Thailand. And I discovered them all in Chiang Dao, a small town just an hour and half bus ride north of Chiang Mai. So beautiful this place was, we lingered an extra day.