Strange Cities:Views From A Hostel Window

The first thing I ever do after getting into any hostel room is open its windows... well, if there'd be any, at all.  Spread out below me would be new territory waiting to be walked in and to get lost in. It could be priceless, downright strange, or I could be staring straight into another wall.

... and much like Forrest Gump's proverbial box of chocolates -- you never know what you're gonna get.

Vientienne, Laos
taken with redscale film 

China

Hanoi, Vietnam
taken with Fisheye 2 on bulb

Northern Thailand
taken with cross processed medium format Fuji Velvia

Lama Island, China

Bangkok, Thailand

Kalankichok, Nepal

Sandy Places

A Feast Of Strangers

I was cleaning up my files to free up some space on my hard drive and found some pictures I took of people I met along the way.

Such friendly strangers. 

I love how the world is full of them. And how the power of a smile make people into friends.

I met Rebeca in Kalinga-Apayao. She was so very gracious and so beautiful. The tribes in the Cordilleras are wary of strangers but she let me take a picture of her to remember her by. The necklace she is wearing in this photo belonged to her ancestors. Each bead would make it priceless beyond imagination.

This little girl I met in Vigan in a burnay-making factory. She took my hand and showed me around her family's estate where up till now the centuries-old tradition of burnay is kept alive. 

I met Karolina on jeep stop in Sagada going to Bontoc. She  and I had the same route and we ganged up till Banaue. While there, she found out her Chinese VISA got cancelled and she had to spend an extra day in Manila. So we ended up trekking back to the city and this is a picture of her on her send-off in Malate. 

During the Holy Week, residents of the older part of Makati celebrate the Holy Week by parading different statues of saints and Jesus. These men who carried this statue of Jesus crowned with thorns for at least 2 miles barefoot gamely posed for me for a respite. 

Girl from Krispy Kreme

Oh how perceptive. I asked this tour guide in Ha Long to pose next to the sign. Funny thing was, I don't think he got my joke. 

Maria and Andy were some random people I met up with on a Valentine night in Siem Reap. Along with other Couchsurfers, I still kept in touch with them, each of us promising a couch and a friend if anyone visits one another's countries.

A Last Look At Summer

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Puerto Galera, summer