World Travels With Jeff

Uprising in the Middle East

2011-02-23T13:02:00.002+07:00

There is only so much a human being can take. We have a few thousand people inhaling huge petrol dollars telling billions of average citizens they are just just dogs on earth and oil money is none of their business.

Winter 2011, Wolf Creek Ranch

2011-02-21T15:17:00.001+07:00

We are building. Here are some pictures and an elevation of our exterior design. This will be a fun house.

Old Power House

2011-02-21T13:00:00.000+07:00

A redevelopment project of mine in the making. Very exciting. Likely to be converted from a power station to a home / work environment.

I'm sorry. This is Just to Strange Not to Share.

2011-02-20T17:38:00.000+07:00

Few would disagree a beautifully sculpted, healthy human body is wonderful to see on a man or a woman. Beauty of the human body has been exploited forever. More recently, graphic and highly revealing nudity has found a solid home on the internet. We call it pornography.

What I have come across are the following images I find both disturbing, interesting and confusing. I do not know who created these images and cannot give attribution for the work.

I guess we should just keep in mind, it's what the inside that counts.

Road To Hana

2011-02-19T15:11:00.007+07:00

The islands of Hawaii are a wonderful escape for Americans to enjoy great weather. A great place to go to a resort and chill.

In my world, I prefer to explore when I travel. As appealing as it is to many, I have zero interest in flopping on a chase lounge and doing nothing.

On my most recent trip to the island of Maui, I was very much impressed with our road trip from the heart of Maui to Hana. The dramatic features along this road rival some of the best of

New Guinea and Patagonia. Here are a few examples.

Kram'arts

2010-09-27T09:46:00.001+07:00

Apsara

2010-09-13T06:04:00.002+07:00

Washington State Is Calling.

2010-05-23T07:31:00.002+07:00

Nearly 18-years ago, I fell in love with Northeast Washington State. Unique timber land, big water an hour or two from Spokane International Airport. I bought a lot of it.

Fast forward to today. Discrete 40+acre parcels are being planned that may sell years from now.

A property I have ready for sale now is Wolf Creek Ranch. www.ranchatwolfcreek.com. But this is no time to be a recreational developer. Times are tough. Just the same, I want to take care of what I own and acquire new, spectacular properties.

Passage Through the Panama Canal

2010-05-19T11:13:00.016+07:00

While I have never been a big fan of large cruise ships, I have always been interested in the experience of going through the Panama Canal. My chance presented itself when longtime friend and cruise aficionado, Greg Carroll came up with the idea. He had never experienced the canal either. With over 20-cruises under his belt, Greg had a good booking company that seamlessly arranged our two cabins. On April 25th, we set sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on our 15-day adventure to San Francisco, California.

Once we arrived in the pre-boarding dockside terminal in Fort Lauderdale, we knew we were in trouble. We were, by far, not only the youngest folks to be boarding, it seemed we were among the few that were not either obese, with a cane, a walker or some form of mobility enhancement. I maybe exaggerating a bit, but not by much. Some extraordinarily nice people mind you, but a prominent demographic difference neither one of us even remotely expected.

Once on-board, Greg and I soon took stock in the situation and determined there were two things we needed to do on this 'cruise'. Number one determination came from Greg: "You and I are going to need to pay close attention to getting along". My contribution was to have fun despite our unanticipated circumstances. And that is just what we did.

Jamaica. Not recommended. Other than premium beachfront compounds, the island is not particularly safe. Jamaica was never on my, 'go' list. It just happened to be our first port of call.

Four railroad locomotives, two on either side-of canal, pull and release huge wire cables in coordination to keep the ship from scraping the sides of the canal. Significantly, these locomotives do not pull the ship. In the Panama Canal, all ships propel themselves. Near entering the canal, a crew from Panama Canal authority joins the captain on the bridge for the eight hour passage process.

Now. Check this out. Look carefully. Count three cargo containers back. See those three humps? Those are three tires filling a 40-foot cargo container that is eight feet tall. Well that's just not enough roof space for these tires. There are expensive tires, then there are these proportions. Wow.

Of all the huge folks on this cruise, this was one guy that knew what he was doing.

A frequented meeting spot. Our ship flies the flag of Malta.

Ship helicopter landing zone in case of emergency.

Some guy.

Expanding the canal.

Greg Carroll tolerating my photography.The picture does not do justice.

Greg and our driver in Costa Rica.

Taz. Hungarian. Out at sea to legally avoid the military draft.

Once settled in on this cruise, it became clear to me the ship entertainers were likely the most vital and interesting people on the ship. I was right. 8:45pm was the 'late' show. After that, everybody went to bed except the talent. The talent consisted of some fun folks. Hanging out with these folks made the trip more fun.

In the following series of photographs, I handed my camera to entertainment staff to take pictures as they saw fit, here is the result.

On a more serious note, there is command and control of the vessel. This is it.

Back to business.

Number two guy that answers to the captain.

Number three guy that charts numbers to discuss with captain.

Chean Long Images

2010-04-24T08:31:00.002+07:00

While I have made my way back to the United States some exceptional graphic work continues in Cambodia from the mind and eye of Chean Long.

Long and I have explored Cambodia near and far together over the past two years capturing memorable experiences and images. Long's work is exceptional and deserves the attention of those that appreciate the subtle nuances of nature and humanity. I miss exploring with Long.

www.cheanlong.blogspot.com

Evening Out

2010-04-20T06:24:00.002+07:00

Here are some snippets of one of my last evenings out while living full-time in the capital city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. While I'm thrilled to be back in the United States, I already miss many of my friends. I also will forever appreciate the visceral, free-wheeling, calm chaos that is the nature of Phnom Penh.

In this little video, I am out with the lovely and fun Victoria. My good Cambodian friend Chean Long is a good part of the fun and does most of the shooting. You will see Long near the end of the video.

I love to tease Long that no-way he is Cambodian...just look at him. He is a Spaniard that happens to speak fluent English as well as 'Khmer', the language of Cambodia. Go figure.

As you view this video, take into account how the third-world and the first-world is melting together in what you see.

Pet Resort: A Review

2010-04-04T11:51:00.004+07:00

My friends Long and Phany just took delivery of a very cute 12-week old Dachshund they have named, 'Dancer'. The name choice has a rather funny origin.

A commercial sign company here in Phnom Penh sells an 11"x14" aluminum sign that can be found around town. The sign boldly depicts the face a very mean German Shepard with psycho eyes. Very disturbing image.

In bold red letters, under the disturbing dog face image is the word: DANCER!

Best story I have ever heard in the category of, 'how I named my dog'.

Both Long and Phany travel for pleasure and work on occasions. When they are gone, how best to protect DANCER! from danger? There is only one pet resort in Cambodia. Long and I went to check it out. Here is my review.

Wandering Through the Wats of Phnom Penh

2010-03-31T12:30:00.005+07:00

Nothing exceptional here, just a glimpse of life in a Wat.

Kep Road Trip

2010-03-31T11:54:00.005+07:00

Kep, Cambodia is a sleepy (and I do mean sleepy) sea side town, three and a half hours from Phnom Penh by car. This is one of several long-weekend, get-away places I have enjoyed visiting time and again with friends and sometimes just by myself.

Preparation for Kep trips begin the day before with my multi-lingual driver, Phea, chasing a shopping list of healthy snacks, drinks and ice for the cooler. There is no such thing as, 'on-stop shopping' in Phnom Penh. To get everything on the Kep shopping list requires stops at several different stores including one of several French bakeries, German butchers and Chinese/Khmer grocers that cater to European, Australian and American tastes.

Once in Kep, I check into one of my two favorite accommodations.

www.knaibangchatt.com

www.veranda-resort.com

Both properties are, by Cambodian standards, ultra high-end ranging in price from USD$60-$150/night, depending on season and occupancy.

There are no corporate hotels or resorts in Kep. And that is just fine by me. Instead, Kep is made up of dozens of interesting and eclectic accommodations with a small smattering of fine restaurants and flimsy eateries run by both locals and expatriates from around the world. Shacks, sometimes rather precariously built in the gulf shallows, serve some of the most wonderfully seasoned wok crab available on this planet.

Not many pictures in this post. There are several earlier posts that cover Kep in more photographic detail.

Another person enjoying the pleasure of photographing the pending Kep sunset just like me from a different perspective.

In the middle is Phany (pronounced pohnee). Phany is my best friends girlfriend. Phany manages www.cambdialivingart.com.

Here is my friend Victoria walking her dog back from a trip to the end of the pier during high-tide.

Long. My best friend in Cambodia. Commercial photographer extraordinaire.

Video Tests in Central Market, Phnom Penh

2010-02-22T11:28:00.008+07:00

ISP bandwidth here in Cambodia makes 'up-loading' ultra high quality photographs and video impractical.

Just the same, this short video maybe of some interest.

My friend Long and I recently bought two different new cameras that I will call higher-end, 'crossover' cameras in the $500 - $800 range. Bigger than a point and shoot and smaller than an SLR. These crossovers have camera bodies maybe slightly larger than a pack of cigarettes. In some instances, with very high quality changeable lenses. The real magic with these emerging crossovers is not only the quality and width capture of the lenses, but also the huge sensors with crisp saturation that really pops. Not only that, with some limitations, video is stellar.

Royal Palace of Cambodia

2010-02-09T11:37:00.007+07:00

For the two years I have been in Cambodia, up until now, I never explored the Royal Palace. It is like someone living in Anaheim, California never seeing Disneyland. I'm glad I went. here is the result.

Around Cambodia

2010-01-29T10:28:00.005+07:00

Living in Cambodia has been a real experience for me. Time has not allowed me to write as much as I would like, but I try to make as many interesting pictures as possible.

From all over Cambodia, here are a smattering of photographs over the last two weeks.

Just Funny

2010-01-29T10:25:00.004+07:00

These are not my photographs, but they are rather funny.

This takes the cake. What an idea. Screened fabric at a whole new level. Ladies, don't venture too far from home wearing this.

Kampot Zoo

2010-01-29T10:18:00.003+07:00

A good size zoo, mostly empty since the war. What they do have is particularly interesting.

Take a close look at the rate structure, beginning with a price for, "Old people".

I'm not sure what Michelangelo would say, but this is common Cambodian human sculpture not uncommon across the country. Some are more creepy than others.

My driver, Phea and a local woman enjoying monkey antics.

Phea re-lights his friends cigarette. That's what friends do.

My Good Friend Reiner and His Restaurant 'Scoop'

2010-01-29T10:14:00.008+07:00

For being the Third World, Phnom Penh, Cambodia has a remarkable number of excellent up-market restaurants with authentic cuisines from around the world. Three years ago when I began visiting Cambodia in Earnest, I became friends with Reiner, Head Chef, Intercontinental Hotel. Cambodia's premier five-star hotel.

One of only a handful of Chinese-Khmer billionaire's said, 'Reiner, you are the best international chef in Cambodia. How about you design, build and menu the best restaurant in Phnom Penh. I'll fund it, pay you a nice salary and we will share the profits.'

Fast-forward two years, Scoop is doing very well. Here are some shots from a recent lunch visit Linda and I made.

Exploring Chiang Mai, Thailand

2010-01-29T09:37:00.017+07:00

My visiting friend, Linda Weaver and I took several days to explore Thailand's second largest city, Chiang Mai. Located about 700km North of Bangkok and about 100km South of the Burma (Myanmar) boarder. Chiang Mai is known for it's temples, art scene, interesting food and it's reprieve from hot and humid Bangkok.

The art scene I found to be non-plus. The best restaurants were good, but not remarkable. The food of Northern Thailand is nothing like Southern Thailand (which Westerners are more familiar with). Like Cambodia, Northern Thailand cuisine leans more toward bitter greens and rather pungent fish with rice. An acquired taste that I have yet to attain.

For me (and I think Linda as well) the highlight of Chiang Mai were the ZOO'S!

Those that follow this blog know I just love third-world zoo's. While in most instances, zoo's I have visited in South East Asia tend to animals as well as First-world zoo's, there is a big difference. In Western zoo's, animal enclosures are mostly idiot-proof for those that want to get too close. Not in third world zoo's. In the third world, there is often only chain link fence and a single, waist-high bar to keep visitors out of an animals reach. Here, there is a significant difference in the concept of liability and responsibility. Enclosures are much more dangerous and easy for visitors of poor judgement to get right to the fence where animals with arms grab people or their belongings.

Guests handling wild animals is also unique to the third-world. As cute as some of these animals are, I wouldn't dare. Linda on the other hand has an affinity for animals that is calm, gentle and irrepressible.

Restaurant in the foothills of Chiang Mai.

"Mahouts" and their charge.

Elephant takes the hat of the boy, wears it on his own head and then returns to the boy's head with attention to the fit of the boys head properly as he found it.

Morning bath and scrubbing.

The show begins.

Example of Chiang Mai art.

Our hotel room in Chiang Mai.

Our 27th floor hotel balcony in Bangkok. The Peninsula. One of my favorite hotels in the world.

Bangkok skyline from our room.

Another Short Visit to Vietnam

2010-01-29T09:01:00.015+07:00

Linda Weaver, a friend of many years had a chance to join me in Cambodia for a couple months. Here are some pictures while traveling the Mekong River from Cambodia to Vietnam.

Kids and their parents are always fascinated by foreigners. Long noses as we are sometimes known.

Our little cruise ship.

The three step process to get under a foot bridge.

Vietnamese Christmas Spirit for the kids.

A dog only a mother could love? No. On this small street, everybody knows and loves this little fellow.

Quail eggs.

THE FOLLOWING ARE EXAMPLES OF THE SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE MANNER NORTH VIETNAM MADE 1965 - 1973 HELL FOR AMERICAN TROOPS. WITH ALL OUR MONEY, TECHNOLOGY AND TROOPS (50,000+ U.S. solders killed), THESE ARE THE SIMPLE TOOLS THAT MET THE UNITED STATES AT EVERY TURN. We were out of our element and didn't have a good handle on who we were dealing with and paid a grave price.

Here are some pictures on a brighter note.

Sok Phea's New Bio Digester

2010-01-28T08:36:00.008+07:00

Sok Phea is my full-time driver, administrative assistant, handler and 'fixer' for two-years now. Besides working for me full-time, Phea runs a small ranch at his home about 20-minutes outside the city center of Phnom Penh, Cambodia where I live. At any given time he has between 25 and 50 pigs, hundreds of fish in a pond and a garden. He, his wife and three children (one in high school, two in college) never go to a grocery store as Westerner's do. They eat what they produce and barter or sell their excess production for cash, rice, sauces, clothes - just about everything else they need.

A couple months ago, I came across a non-profit organization that specializes in turning farm animal waste into natural gas for cooking and lighting. I loved the idea. So did Phea. We did our research, interviewed engineers and contractors and built a Bio Digester at Phea's home. This was Phea's 2009 end of year bonus.

The bio digester is up and running and is more than ample to light Phea's home at night and provide gas for three meals a day. Cost? Including cost over-runs, $460.00. It is a beautiful green thing. Not only that, there are no complex moving parts and by design this bio digester will serve several generations to come.

Here are some pictures of the construction. While not sexy, this simple technology is very important to our earth's future. There are billions of wood fires burning in villages across the globe unneccessarily. This is a viable alternative I support and encourage.

More Exploring on the Mekong

2009-12-28T09:43:00.016+07:00

Chiang Mai, Thailand & Bangkok

2009-12-28T08:41:00.019+07:00

Kampong Cham

2009-12-16T10:59:00.006+07:00

Kampong Cham is in central Cambodia and about a two-hour drive from the capital Phnom Penh. Linda Weaver and I made the trek there to see one of the oldest viable wood homes in the country. War, water, humidity and fire has taken most old wood homes long ago.

This home was built about 1910 and vacant since 1975 when its inhabitants were killed by Khmer Rouge for being among the Muslim minority.

Whenever I am deep in the Provence's, kids gather around close by and adults gather at greater distance to get a look at a foreigner in-person. It's always the same. If the kids warm up to us, the adults come in closer for a better look. Thats when my Khmer driver steps in and begins answering their questions and handles translations. For a real treat, I make a point of taking folks' pictures and them showing the results. They just squirm and go crazy with laughter.

Old prayer tower. Circa 1900?

Linda on one of our ferry crossings.

Thai Dog Fashion 2009

2009-12-16T10:56:00.002+07:00

Right now it is winter in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Temperatures can drop to 65-degrees at night. To Thai folks -- this is freezing, bitter coooold!

Not only do they bundle themselves up in winter, any self respecting dog owner has their Fido warm and toasty as well. Here is a small sampling of Thai dog-wear 2009.

It should be noted, unlike the Vietnamese, Thai folks do not eat dog.

FIRE!

2009-11-23T09:12:00.005+07:00

Poverty, on a good day, is difficult enough. No plumbing, no electricity - just wood, bamboo and tin shacks with small charcoal fires for cooking. When flames from cooking go wrong, entire sections of a community often are engulfed.

Yes there are modest fire brigades posted, but if roofs are made of tinder-dry palm leaves, nobody can arrive fast enough - when even a small fire takes hold.

In this instance, several neighbors identified the home where this fire started. The entire family of that home have permanently fled for their lives and will be never seen again. If they were to hang-around, the community would likely kill the entire family for their recklessness. The law would likely look at the circumstance and say, 'well there you go'.

Jimmy Carter Pays a Visit to Cambodia.

2009-11-23T09:02:00.009+07:00

Former United States President, Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) is my favorite ex-president of all time. While in office, I found his domestic and international policies to be weak, meek and uninspiring.

Once out of office, Carter really bloomed and began a tireless effort in world peace and the fight against world poverty. In the fight against poverty, Carter has been a primary driver in, "Habitat for Humanity", a non-profit that builds homes for the truly needy around the world.

I love Habitat and over the years have donated my heavy equipment and operators in Washington State to demolish derelict buildings, dig foundations and provide aggregate materials.

Here in Cambodia, my support for Habitat has continued with their first large project in this small war-torn country now complete.

Jimmy and Roslyn Carter came for the ceremony. They are becoming quite old, but both are spry, warm and gracious. Here's how the event went down.

The band warms up in preparation for the Carter's arrival.

In the background the former capital of Cambodia in the 11th and 12th century.

Phany, my friend and Country Director of, "Cambodia Living Arts" along with Oren, it's founder. Oren did undergrad work with Amy Carter. Amy was so impressed with Oren, she was successful in having her Dad lobby for Oren to do his postgrad work at Brown.

The Man of the Hour Arrives.

Third from left (sunglasses) Sok An, Second Prime Minister, Cambodia (kind of like the US Vice President), Jimmy Carter and Roslyn Carter. Can you pick-out who is Secret Service in the background?

Jimmy Carter has taken his presidential experience and maybe done more good after leaving office than in office. In either case, I respect the man as a great American and believe history will treat him fondly as a great humanitarian of his day.

A Primitive Vacation on the Island of Rung Samloem

2009-11-02T16:16:00.032+07:00

Some Cambodian-American friends and I just returned from several days enjoying an island in the Gulf of Thailand, 18-kilometers off the Southern coast of Cambodia. In the planning stage of this trip, I set sights on some up-market island resorts my friends felt were wildly expensive and well outside the budget they had in mind. My friends determined the small "Lazy Beach" resort on the island of Rung Samloam was perfect for their budget and a good choice. I was well outnumbered. Lazy Beach it was. I was concerned.

No reliable cell service, no hot water, no air conditioning, no power most of the time, no viable dock (mainland or island) to embark or disembark any size boat and only thatch and wood huts on stilts with the most rudimentary of plumbing. Oh boy.

Well, now I'm back home in Phnom Penh and sold on Lazy Beach and plan to return. This kind of adventure travel is not for everybody. Boarding boats often require swimming and carrying luggage above ones head and climbing ladders to board. As is all around Cambodia, there are friendly folks ready and able to help with heavy and tricky lifting for a reasonable fee. Once on the island and in my hut, I was comfortable. Nothing even approaching modern, but very clean. And I felt safe and relaxed.

Great food was a wonderful part of our experience. Staff seemed to outnumber guests. All from the same family and worked seamlessly, attentive but not intrusive. At today's rates, a couple can enjoy three nights lodging and food for about USD$200. That's not per-day -- thats total!

If you are ever in the neighborhood, Lazy Beach is an wonderful option to consider on a hefty or modest budget. Here are some images from our trip. The pictures are provided by Chean Long and myself. As you come across some exceptional photography in this series... it will likely be Long's work.

We had a good time. Enjoy some of our experience.

Phnom Penh to the coast is three-hours. This was shot at our 'half-way' break. I grabbed an ice saw to be Ninja Man. Long was tuned into form and shadow.

A prawn monger brings in a fresh batch to the kitchen for the evenings dinner. It just doesn't get fresher.

Here Phany (pron. Pony) enters the boat by ladder. A common way on and off the boat.

Amy.
Bathroom? Sure. Back of the boat on the Left. You can't miss it.

Boat crew member reading while on our two-hour journey to the island. No snappy white uniforms here.
Yours truly reading. While the waters of the Gulf of Thailand can get particularly nasty, more often than not the swells are long in length and shallow in height. Often calmer than the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans.
My good friend Long and his wonderful, no-nonsense girlfriend, Phany.

One and a half-hours off the mainland, part of our destined island starts to come into focus.

Everybody on-board except Long behind the camera.

Our first sighting of where we will be making our home for the next several days. Exhilarating. Sizing things up at this distance got me pumped. We are about to find out what things will be like in this very small primitive environment. As we got closer, I said to myself, 'we are not approaching a small resort, we are approaching a small village.' As we got closer and closer I knew we would have fun.

Our first greeting upon arrival. The guy in the black dog outfit is a undercover Customs Agent.

Help with the luggage.

***************************************

This is really interesting. What's happening in this series, Long has set his exposure for an extended time. in near total darkness, Long had me dart and hold in various positions. That's why you see two or three images of the same person in one photograph. Interesting.

Getting Ready For Water Festival

2009-10-28T08:42:00.009+07:00

Water Festival is Cambodia's biggest holiday celebration held over several days in the capital, Phnom Penh. While numbers are impossible to authenticate, it is thought a million or more poor rural folks pour into the capital to take part in the festivities. These subsistence farmers and merchants arrive in the city with their extended families in all forms of dangerous, rickety contraptions packed with people and stuff well in excess of the "vehicles" intended limit.

Even the very scruffy three to 12-dollar a night hotels in town is well outside the vast majority of these revelers budget. Camping in the city - anywhere one can afford - is the norm. This is where the police come into play and become the campers landlords.

In an informal manner, area police 'sell' public city space to camp with prices that reflect the quality of location, size of the family and how well the people speak and dress.

The fees the police charge to bolster their meager $30 - $75-monthly salary balloons and most often goes directly in their pockets and shared with their superiors and never finds it's way to National coffers.

To Westerner's, this is corruption. In this part of the world, this is lifestyle.

Interesting.

Labor in Cambodia

2009-10-26T12:28:00.012+07:00

The cost of labor in Cambodia is nothing like that in the Western world. Not even close. While an immigrant day-laborer in the United States may earn between seven and 10-dollars per hour, in Cambodia, semi-skilled workers earn between one and three dollars...a day.

You may ask, 'How does anyone live on that kind of money today?'. There are several reasons. For one, there are very few mortgages in Cambodia. During the Khmer Rouge regime (1975 - 1979) all private property reverted to the State and all homes in every city were vacated by force and occupants were marched to the hinterlands to plant and grow rice. Resistance to this immediate command was met with death - on the spot. No exceptions.

Details will be forever sketchy, but it is loosely thought that 45% of the rural population and 75% of the city population died prematurely from murder, disease or starvation.

How Sweet Is This?

2009-10-23T16:44:00.002+07:00

In-flight delivery: Malaysian gives birth on plane

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – An official says a Malaysian woman has given premature birth to a boy on a domestic flight, minutes before it landed in Kuala Lumpur.

Liew Siaw Hsia gave birth on budget carrier AirAsia's flight from Penang to Kuching on Wednesday.

AirAsia spokesman Nazatul Mokhtar said Friday that the flight was diverted to nearby Kuala Lumpur for anemergency landing when Liew started labor pains.

A doctor on the flight helped the 31-year-old deliver while the plane was still 2,000 feet (600 meters) in the air in its final approach to land.

Nazatul says both the mother and baby are healthy and will get lifetime of free flights. He says Liew was 27 weeks pregnant, 11 weeks short of the full term.

How To Fix Your Camera

2009-10-21T09:20:00.003+07:00

Here's how you fix a camera in Cambodia

Work in the Boutique Cruising World

2009-10-19T10:44:00.008+07:00

Like many, I have had to adapt and adjust in this current economic environment. These are particularly punishing times for land developer's like me - big and small.

My roots are sales management and advertising. In these troubled times, I have enjoyed going back to my roots.

A French firm, Compagnie Fluviale du Mekong, operate a fleet of boutique cruise ships along the Mekong River in Cambodia and Vietnam and a client for about a year. Here are some examples of our recent media works. My job is rainmaker and creative director. Chean Long's job is creating the images. Real fun.

Resource Development International (RDI)

2009-10-19T10:03:00.015+07:00

A Khmer-American friend named Amy wanted to visit a ceramics factory I never heard of just outside Phnom Penh that produce a rudimentary - but effective - water purification product for folks in the primitive Provence's. Very interesting to me.

Millions of poor people on this planet - most often young children - die of, of all things, diarrhea every year. Diarrhea from ingesting nasty water.

RDI produces a ceramic pot with a complex blend of natural earth elements. Water placed in the ceramic pot takes about an hour to percolate, drip by drip, through the porous pot bottom into a plastic holding tank and becomes safe to drink. First-world science, third-world implementation.

RDI is a non-profit company and gives away everything as fast as they make it.

I salute RDI, RDI is addressing the source of a huge health problem that is simple and cheap to fix and saves millions of lives and millions of dollars and the grief of millions of people.

Here are pictures followed by an interesting video.

Camera's For a Song

2009-10-14T18:30:00.004+07:00

Like most everybody, years ago I moved from film to digital cameras. In my instance, Nikon was my choice for camera bodies and lenses. All my Nikon film lenses seamlessly converted to my Nikon D3 digital camera body leaving my film camera bodies unused.

In my view, to keep anything that I do not use or appreciate but others can really use and benefit from should be sold or donated.

Take a look at how we decided to donate these high-quality Nikon film bodies. What fun.

Battambang City

2009-10-13T08:07:00.021+07:00

Long and I just roaming around town. In Battambang, like everywhere else in Cambodia, folks are friendly and the atmosphere is safe. Though, like anywhere in the world, one needs to pay attention and be aware of of one's surroundings and keep a good distance away from any form of vice.

Former train station.

I wanted to go in and meet the Chief, but I was concerned about being...exploited.

Long and his concrete monkey pal.

Third-world traveling amusement parks give me the creeps.

Quite a load of ceramic domestic water storage tanks for this little 125cc motorbike. In Cambodia, if you can balance and move forward - you have a legal load.

Learn to drive. Shirt optional.

Cambodian, Super Cool.

Top rider gestures 'left-turn'. Safety First.

A renovation underway.

"Hello Mister -- polio, polio", he says nicely as he points to his legs from his arm driven tricycle. Polio indeed. We enjoy a short criptic exchange. He departs with a smile a dollar richer. The equivalent of five-cents is a more common donation. All of us have a lucky day now and again.

Battambang Countryside

2009-10-12T16:49:00.011+07:00

The countryside of Cambodia continues to amaze me. I can wake-up in my modern home in Phnom Penh, drive for an hour and be among folks living as they have for hundreds of years. No electricity, phone, running water - or money. These are often illiterate farmers that forage and barter for nearly everything. While dirt poor, they eat well, tend to be very happy, friendly and sport a great sense of humor. Example of countryside humor:

"If a man speaks in the jungle and a woman does not hear him - is he still wrong?"

If there were to be an example of one of the millions of Cambodian households in the Provence's, this would be one of them. Zero utilities. Rich folks have a car battery to illuminate a single electric light after dark. For about 18-cents, one can visit a community TV.

Chinese style grave. Many Khmer have Chinese blood.

Long invites a water buffalo to view a picture he has just take. I think the buffalo liked it.

The face of this temple was removed for machine-gunners during the war of the mid-1970's.

Big Bats!

Woodcutter.

One of Cambodia's few wineries. Put in the most polite of terms, wine making in Cambodia is a work in progress.

Phare Circus School

2009-10-12T14:52:00.009+07:00

These folks are in full-time training to become circus performers. They pay no tuition and have free room and board. The school prospers from it's weekly show packed with local villagers as well as non-Cambodians.

Admission fee for Cambodians is .20-cents. Admission fee for foreigners: eight-dollars. We call this discrepancy, "Skin Tax". The show was great and well worth the admission.

Here are some stills as well as a short video of their performance.

La Villa

2009-10-12T14:30:00.009+07:00

Batambang is Cambodia's second largest city. Of interest to me are the old colonial buildings that remain from the turn of the century.

A good example is 'La Villa', a former mansion converted to a boutique hotel. Here are some pictures followed by a video.

Great retro fan.

Old fashion French light controls.

Are these a great set of doors - or what!!

Street view of La Villa.

Pursat

2009-10-12T14:10:00.007+07:00

Pursat was an important hub when Cambodia's railway was working at it's best in the 1920's and 1930's.

Creepy rabbits are sometimes depicted in the countryside. What I see as creepy, they may see as playful.

Freehand, backside of building wall art. Not bad. Better than traditional graffiti - in my view.

While roaming around residential Pursat, we found this home to be among the architecturally more interesting. We asked the owners if we may photograph their home. They obliged and afterwards invited us for tea.

After the overthrow of Khmer Rouge, it was established the original homeowners were killed and these people arranged title with the wobbly powers at the time.

The government took a little island, covered the perimeter with cement to look like a ship and put in a big event space. Interesting.

Derelict Pursat train station.