I had a nice outing to LA's Thai Town last weekend, where there was a street festival for Songkran, the Thai lunar new year. The last time I celebrated Songkran was in Chiang Mai, a historic city in Thailand near its border with Myanmar. I particularly enjoyed seeing the cultural expressions from different regions in Thailand—something that I didn't get to witness while celebrating in Thailand. Here are a few photos from the morning!

The following is a post I began in Ethiopia, from when I was there in August, which I never got around to posting. The subject is Rick Hodes, an American doctor who has been living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where, for over thirty years, he has treated extremely pathological patients whom have nowhere else to turn. 

This was my second time visiting the ancient city of Petra, a decision that, en route to Jordan, Bianca, my Australian travel companion, described as, "just greedy;" but I'm sure that Bianca came to understand why I jumped at the opportunity for a repeat visit to this wonder of world, as soon as she sunk her first footprint into the dusty floor of the narrow Siq—the mile-long gorge, which serves as the tourist entrance to the 102 sq. mi Petra Archeological Zone, renowned for its red sandstone landscape studded with ancient Nabatean tombs and other ancient monuments...

Bagan was founded in the second century A.D on the banks of the Irrawaddy River...Like so many other photographers before me, I came to photograph the epic sunsets and sunrises over the scattered ruins Bagan (unfortunately, the hot-air balloons were only operate during the peak season in mid October through mid-March.) But I had to work through some rigamarole before I would get the opportunity…

Kalaw is a quiet mountain town in Central Myanmar. Originally founded by the British as a hill station to escape the heat of the surrounding plains, Kalaw is still home to notable communities of Sikhs, Nepalis, and Indians, having ensconced themselves in the area since their ancestors came to build roads and railroads for the Brits...

I had a blast celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year, in Chiang Mai, a historic town and traveller-nexus in Northern Thailand. The water-festival, marking the Lunar New Year, has origins in the act of pouring water on someone as a sign of respect. Officially, Songkran, which lasts 3 days, doesn’t start until April 13th; however, celebrations were well underway the day before, with (mostly) young people taking to the streets in colorful clothing to spray one another with water guns. The country-wide water fight persevered for the next 3 days as Thais celebrated the transition from Pisces to Aries...

Phrae and Nan are remote, rural provinces in Northeastern Thailand. There are significant populations of ethnic minorities in the area, notably the Thai Lü, ancestors of immigrants from Xishuangbanna, in southwestern China. Both regions are a little off the beaten track and I didn’t see a single other tourist the entire time I travelled in this part of the country—probably also due to the fact that it was off-season...

Lopburi is one of Thailand’s oldest cities, developed during the Dvaravati period, circa 500-900 A.D. However, for most visitors to Lopburi, what remains today of its ancient architecture, is only a complement to the experience of the hundreds of rhesus and macaques permeating Lopburi’s streets and historic sites, which more than anything predicates Lopburi’s inclusion in the guidebooks...

Ayuthaya was my first real destination in Thailand after bussing from Cambodia to Bangkok...

My first stop in Laos was Luang Prabang, which I arrived at by way of a grueling, jam-packed 28-hour bus ride from Hanoi. A a sine qua non for first-time visitors to Laos, this UNESCO designated town situated alongside the Mekong River is the darling of Lao’s tourism industry. One of the most refined places in Indochina, the people of Luang Prabang have no reservation embracing the architecture and cuisine of its French colonizers. Thrown into the mix are more than 33 Buddhist temples and the grand Royal Palace, which served as the seat of the monarchy in Laos until the communist revolution in 1975. Every morning at dawn, monks shuffle single-file through the streets...

Maybe you remember reading a version of this headline within the last few weeks: “E.P.A. Chief, Rejecting Agency’s Science, Chooses Not to Ban Insecticide.”  Trump’s appointment of E.P.A. chief, Scott Pruitt—a climate change denier who previously sued the E.P.A.—was just the kind of appointment environmentalists dreaded, an inmate running the asylum. Yet, I still found it inconceivable that even Pruitt could simply ignore the facts provided by the E.P.A. on what should seem like a straightforward non-partisan issue, especially given the ample evidence of what happens when environmental regulation fails—notably the Flint water crisis. Of course, it’s not just Pruitt, but the entire Trump administration that chooses to ignore the evidence in favor of their "alternative facts.”...

I spent my last day in India, Christmas, in Kolkata, the bustling capital of West Bengal. The metropolis was India's capital under the British Raj from 1773–1911, and is the country’s oldest operating port. After arriving by night train from Varanasi, I left my bag at the station and headed into the historic area surrounding Fort William, an 18th-century British fortress and Indian army base. Indians love festivals. So it was no surprise that non-christian Indians came out in full force for to celebrate Christmas, crowding into the streets and parks to shop, snack, and hangout...

Varanasi is not for the faint-hearted. The infamous Varanasian touts scour the ghats with preternatural persistence in attempting to sell their wares or services. A maze of thread-thin alleyways studded with hundreds of Hindu temples pad the area between the ghats and the rest of Varanasi, a bustling, noisy, typically Indian city with cows vying with the tuk-tuks, rickshaws, and automobiles for space on the dusty streets. When they find their ways to the ghats, visitors must be prepared to witness the display of burning bodies on public pyres. Those who try escape by hiring a boat to take them down the Ganges, will be confronted by carcasses and corpses floating among the debris. Those who make it as far as the opposite bank will encounter members of the notorious clan of Aghori Sandhus who drag corpses from the river to engage in ritual cannibalism and other ghastly rituals. Indeed, Varanasi is full-on—India level 10. As Lonely Planet succinctly states: “Varanasi takes no prisoners"...

Manaslu is the eight highest mountain into world at 8,163 meters above sea level. It’s impressive doubled-edged summit sets Manaslu apart from the other mountains — white capped giants in their own right — constituting the Manaslu massif. Surrounding Manaslu is the eponymous Conservation in addition to the adjacent Tsum Valley (pronounced “tsoom”). I trekked for twenty-two days through the region...

The Diwali festival is a one of India’s most widely known and celebrated events. The festival is an auspicious observance, celebrating new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil represented as light over darkness...

The Dharmalaya Institute was founded in 2008 by an international team. According to its website, Dharmalaya is “devoted to education and empowerment for compassionate living, with a practical focus on sustainable village development, contemplative service-learning, and immersive ecotourism.” I attended a week-long Earthen Architecture and Sustainability Workshop held at Dharmalaya’s eco-campus located in the bucolic Himalayan foothills near the town of Bir...

Dharamshala is most-well known for being the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. (Actually, his holiness resides in Gangchen Kyishong, a suburb just up the hill from Dharamshala.) Located in the foothills in the Himalayas among thick coniferous forest, Dharamshala has become a popular location for tourists to trek, participate in yoga and meditation workshops, volunteer, and learn about the Tibetan people in exile...

 In January, 2015, Governor of California, Jerry Brown, declared a State of Emergency in response to the fourth year of the State entering a record-breaking drought. In August, I drove from Los Angeles to the Kings Canyon National Park in Northern California, witnessing first hand the devastation of the drought...

On the train to Amritsar I made the grave mistake of attempting to create a sleeping cacoon of solace by wrapping, around my a head and torso, an ocher dhoti— the same kind babas wear (baba, which literally means “father,” is term of endearment that a younger person can extend to all elders. The honorific title is also used to refer to the orange-clad Hindu monks). This resulted in my sleep being continually disrupted by the unpardoning index fingers of conductors believing that I was a vagabonding baba. However, despite arriving in Amristar with bags under my eyes, I have to admit in taking pleasure witnessing the deluge of chagrin overcoming the conductors faces the moment they realized I was a gora (the Indian term for a foreigner)...

I was on a tight schedule after leaving Mai Thik Hoo as I had signed up for an earthen architecture program at the Dharmalaya Institute in Bir. Although I could only afford to spend a day Pushkar, I just had to get a taste the iconic backpackers’ hub before I absconded north to escape the post-monsoon Rajasthani heat...

“What’s the name of your hostel?” 

“Mai Thik Hoo”  ...

For most liberals, voting yes on Proposition 59 would seem like a no-brainer. However, the LA Times, which declined to endorse Prop. 59, provided a compelling argument for why, at the very least, this initiative requires serious reflection for voters in favor of overturning Citizens United overturned...