Phuket Country Lodge

Nice memories from a private photo safari in may 2010...

... an abandoned Country Lodge on by-pass road (Phuket)

very abandoned

mushroom graffiti... are we going to have an "alice-in-wonderland" experience???

plants growing wildly

phuketpaparazzi in action!

camragirl in action!

exploring the building...

peek-a-boo...

cigarette break

strike a pose...

standing tall and proud

framed!

moody picture, love it!

when you smile to me, time stands still...

silhouette

who would have said that this would have been the beginning of "Phuket-based model"...

love sepia...

cigarette break in B/W

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more pictures to come...

and here we go!

just a sample of 2 pointless post edit manipulations...

PAINTSTORM

and WIZARD of the LODGE

all this to take you to an even more pointless pdf file that I did... a sort of 60s-70s delirious comic book, check it out!!!

scroll down for preview and download

k at the lodge

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Vegetarian Festival

One of the most bizarre, interesting, mystic events in Thailand...

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is an annual event held during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. It is believed that the vegetarian festival and its accompanying sacred rituals bestow good fortune upon those who religiously observe this rite. During this time, local residents of Chinese ancestry strictly observe a 10-day vegetarian or vegan diet for the purposes of spiritual cleansing and merit-making. Sacred rituals are performed at various Chinese shrines and temples and aesthetic displays such as walking barefooted over hot coals and ascending ladders with bladed rungs are performed by entranced devotees known as "Ma Song".


WARNING!!! EXPLICIT CONTENT AHEAD!!! Some images of the rituals are VERY GRAPHIC!


Some pictures from 2009...

the starting ceremony is usually very early in the morning...

some chanting, drums, incense...

everyone is in place, ready to start...

already in a state of trance

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firecrackers everywhere, I can still smell the burning powder...

at this point they start walking toward the city center...

fire truck on the way...

kids smiling for the camera

that's quite an elaborate one!

amazing THAILAND!

one more...

group picture

fire crackers part II

everywhere!

for everyone...

orange splash...

hope to attend the festival this year, at least one day...

stay tuned for the 2010 pictures...

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Bali quick land tour 2

after the diving safari, we had a couple of days in Sanur (Bali) before heading back to Phuket.

On sunday, we went for a coffee at a very nice bar called "Batu Jim Bar"; as we were having breakfast, we started hearing people and music approaching... a very colorful crowd was attending a funeral...
the people were heading to the beach in order to cremate the body, keep the ashes and give back to the nature (ocean) the bones...

In Bali, there's a very special "branch" of Hindus to be found only on the island and nowhere else in the world...

anyway, the funeral there ends with a cremation ceremony and a sort of celebration for all those who participated.

here is how it started: as you can see, everyone is wearing colorful clothes and the music played made it look like a party rather than a funeral... I like this style better than black clothes and sobbing partecipants... note to self: when I'll go, I want something like this!!!

fruits and food offers for the spirits...

Cow shaped coffin, here the body will be cremated (gas torched actually!), the cow will help the soul of the mortal travel to "heaven"...

family member gathering around the ceremonial spot

another shrine for offerings...

last few details before the fire...

ready to start! (notice the 2 gas tanks...)

family members...

master of ceremony in action...

remember! NO cars or motorbikes on the beach!!!

Miss Bali 1934-35...

kidz...

folks

another shrine near to the cremation ceremony...

street vendor...

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