Our two months self-drive safari in Botswana and Namibia is now over. We drove nearly 11’000 kms without any major incident and I shot about 6000 photos. After a first selection, 1700 remain and about 150 are now available online on a dedicated gallery.

Our trip went quite smoothly without any major incident. Indeed we got some visitors at night in our camps (Elephants, Hyena, Baboons and Lions) and we got some minor technical damages (the auto-focus of the Sigma lens 50-500mm gave up, a tyre exploded in Southern Namibia and our 350W power inverter did not go further than Maun).

As I’m leaving Thailand for Côte d’Ivoire, the traditional content of this blog will certainly change a bit and get an African perspective on new technologies. Nothing clearly defined yet, but for sure, moving from South-East Asia to Western Africa will have an impact.

In the meantime, enjoy the photos and feel free to drop questions and comments about our trip

Tags: blog, botswana, gallery, namibia, Photography, safari, wildlife

A warm and friendly greeting derived from the Dabawenyo word "dayaw" that means good, valuable, superior or beautiful. Such is "Kadayawan," a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of living.

Photos of the today's parade have been now published on Flickr

More about Kadayawan.

Tags: 2007, 24, Davao, Festival, Flickr, fon, im, Kadayawan, lan, nomadcom.net, Parade, Philippines, photo, sharing, Thankgiving, www

Tags: 24, Flickr, im, lan, nomadcom.net, photo, sharing, www

Just on time to take some nice photos and to find a covered place…to finally decide to go and visit Le Louvre. 

More photos on my Flickr gallery 

Tags: 2007, 24, blog, find, Flickr, im, lan, le louvre, New pictures, nomadcom.net, paris, photo, space, storm, Travel, wp, www

Time for switching off the computer at work, pack the camera with some clothes and board  tonight's flight Bangkok – Paris. 

Next postings will be, if not about, from Europe.

Forseen stop-overs are Barcelona, Bergerac, Bayonne, Bilbao, Carcassone, Mende and Paris.

Expect plenty new photos soon to be published on my photostream.

 

 

Tags: 2007, arc, Bangkok, bergerac, blog, camera, computer, europe, Flickr, flight, htc, im, lan, light, New pictures, nomadcom.net, On The Road, paris, photo, post, space, This Web Site, Travel, wp, www, XP

This year, started on Friday 13 (when the Sun entered into the sign of Aries), Maha Songkran which is traditionally the Thai New Year. It is also known as the "Water Festival" as people believes that water will wash away bad luck. Thais traditionally celebrate Songkran like this:
 

• On the eve of Songkran day, it's a Spring cleanup and people clean their house and burn all the refuse.

• Early on the first day of Songkran, the people both young and old in their new clothing go to the Wat or monastery belonging to their village or district to offer food to the monks there.

• In the afternoon of the same day there is bathing ceremony of the Buddha images and also of the abbot of the wat. After this begins the well-known "water throwing feast".

  The bathing of images is done as ritualistic ceremony, but it is no other than a New Year's purification. Younger people will also on this day or the succeeding days go to pay their respect to and ask blessings from their elders and respected persons. They will pour scented water into the palms of the old people and present them with a towel and other bathing requisites.

Now, as far as I could experience it on my own, in Bangkok, the "water throwing feast" did not wait until afternoon to start. At 11h00 I was already soaked head to toes while moving in direction of Kao San road. In addition of water, chalk is also widely used to make "blessings".

More about Songkran traditions: Thailandlife
My Songkran 2007 Photo Set is on Flickr

Tags: 2007, 2550, art, Bangkok, chalk, Festival, Flickr, Fun, HP, ict, im, ITU, lan, list, New pictures, new year, On The Road, Our World, photo, songkran, space, splashing, street fighting, street water fighting, sun, thai new year, Thailand, water, water festival, www, XP

The weekend was the grand opening of the 28th International Motorshow of Bangkok. The perfect opportunity to see how different such an exhibition can be here in Asia, as the only one I knew so far was the Geneva's one. 

The first surprise was to see where some exhibitors are located inside the exhibition hall. Imagine, just beside the prestigious british car maker Bentley you can find Carryboy (fiberglass hard tops & accessories manufacturer) and Club Car (golf cars & utility vehicle).

Then, come the real show…lots, but a lots, of pretty models everywhere. Normally (or I guess so), they are here to guide and inform potential customers on presented vehicles…nothing is less sure. In fact, I was wondering if cars were just there to serve as shiny background for the casting of new Southern Asia Top models (it's not a complain).

In South Korea, times have changed, and Korean design has advanced to the point where the need has waned to employ hundreds of pretty models at the upcoming Seoul Motor Show (6-15.4). Hyundai models will drop in number from 46 to 36, Kia is going from 44 to 36, and miniskirts and "sleeveless shirts" will be less prevalent in an effort to put more emphasis on the cars.

In resume, with global warming concern, if car sales go down and skirts stay up, the planet will be a better place to live (Monday philosophy!).

 

Flickr Photo Set : Intl. Motorshow
Source (about Seoul) : Autoblog 

 

Tags: 2007, 24, access, asia, asian girl, automobile, Bangkok, blog, cars, ces, CTU, customer, design, exhibition, find, Flickr, Fun, geneva, global, global warming, ia, im, International, lan, live, models, motorshow, New pictures, Our World, photo, Photography, power, pretty girls, resume, sexy, space, thai meet flickr, Thailand, vehicles, www

Today took place a Flickr Meeting in Thailand. 10 Flickr members in Bangkok today participate to a short visit, organized by Andre, to Koh Krep were numerous photos have been taken.

Check all pics taken today on Thai Flick Meet pool or visit Flickr group page.

 

 

 

Tags: 2007, art, Bangkok, blog, community, Flickr, Flickr Meeting, im, Koh Krep, lan, New pictures, nomadcom.net, organize, photo, space, Thailand, wp, www

As I'm not a big fan of Christmas & New Year parties, I took few days off, un-plugged everything and flew "ahead in time"..to year Poush 2063 of the Nepali calendar. 

These 10 "disconnected" days were spent in the Kathmandu Valley visiting ancient cities, buddhist & hindu temples while enjoying the surrounding of Himalayan summits. All pictures are available as usual in the Gallery

Happy New Year !

Tags: 2007, art, blog, christmas, cities, CTU, himalaya, HP, ict, im, kathmandu, lan, MIT, Nepal, New pictures, new year, nomadcom.net, Photography, picture, sco, space, Travel, wp

After walking for days in Telecom Word 2006 exhibition, I spent the weekend in Hong Kong to discover the city and its landmarks.

During the day I went to "The Peak" using the swiss made funicular called "Peak Tram". Up there you get a wonderful 360°C view including Hong Kong central district, Soho, Victoria Harbour as well as Kowloon.

Later on, back to "Des Voeux Rd" again to ride the 800 meters World longest escalator which link Central Market to the upper part of the city and Hong Kong's mosque. A walk down through the Botanical & Zoological garden, passing by the Governor House and back to Central Station and the famous HSBC building.   

In the evening I took the ferry and cross Victoria's harbour to Kowloon to get an amazing view of the whole city and enjoyed the huge permanent light show when at 20h all buildings of both sides of the Harbour erupt in coloured lights, laser beams and searchlights.

Hong Kong's gallery is here

More about: Discover Hong Kong 

Tags: arc, art, blog, exhibition, Fun, HP, ia, ict, im, King, lan, LED, light, New pictures, nomadcom.net, sco, search, space, swiss, telecom, Travel, world, wp, www