Somewhere north

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I used to listen to Freakonomics podcasts in grad school and a segment from the show came up to mind the other day, about how people change their behaviour depending on their surroundings. It got me thinking about how our surroundings affect our daily lives, rhythm, lifestyle and the lessons we take from it all. Then I thought about one of the motorcycle trips I took years ago in northern British Columbia. Certainly feels like a world away today. What I now think I learnt from it is quite different from what I thought at the time. As silly as it may sound, one of the most recurring thoughts during the trip was about packing the bike as it affected the ride and is something I had to do every day, sometimes several times. I mean look at it, that mountain in the back of the bike looks pretty unwieldy. I felt quite pleased that the situation has been slowly improving day by day.

One of the things I now think I got out of the trip is a marginal lesson on how to enjoy myself. Let me explain 🙂 Such trips in northern Canada can get bumpy. It’s nothing to complain or write home about, but on some days with hands frozen to the handlebars, a numb face and sore body parts it’s easy to start to wonder “why am I doing this?”. Unlike the packing situation these thoughts have surfaced only once in a while. One day in particular comes to mind, a few days before I took this photo. Almost in Yukon the weather was woeful with a temperature around 0, rain and wind. At a much needed pit stop an RV driver came up and stated that my friend and I must be either very brave or very stupid. It’s probably a bit of both but my frozen face could only summon a smile in return. I didn’t really think much of his question as my mind had been fixed on a hot soup I was about to get. It’s quite fun to get surprised by a ready convenience at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. The attendant’s demeanour added to the whole atmosphere as she nervously and frantically rushed to serve the only 4 customers like she was serving a full house in lower manhattan 1000s of kms south. Maybe she wanted to hurry us out of the place to get back to peace and quite until the next pack of customers, whenever they might pass by.

What I’m trying to say is that it takes a certain mindset to smile and disregard every inch of your body screaming “get me out of here”. Then you stop wondering “why am I here?” and start thinking “isn’t this something!”

Somwehere north

Green Tunnel – Happy New Year

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This photo makes me think of these ridiculous “10 places to see before you die” type of posts you see go around the web. More specifically, it reminds me of one particular place I saw in one of these posts, the “tunnel of love” I believe it’s called in Ukraine. The reason I find them ridiculous, is that there is so much beauty to see out there that trying to come up with the list of only 10 best places to see just seems silly to me, and maybe a bit presumptuous.

I have never seen the tunnel of love in Ukraine but this one came out of nowhere on an average road in the middle of nowhere in Mexico. It was by the village called Villa de Guadelupe in Campeche. It’s one of those moments of amazement when you see something you were not expecting even in the slightest. One doesn’t have to follow lists, sometimes the things that awe you the most come out of nowhere. Happy New Year and I wish your 2015 to be filled with such moments.

(Colors disappear for some reason when the photo is enlarged)

Green Tunnel

In and around the market, Merida

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I spent a fair chunk of my time in one of the markets in Merida. I love wandering around these sort of places, get away from the sights into the hustle and bustle of daily life. The market was fairly big so I kept getting lost many times over. It wasn’t quite like the markets in many parts of China for example, but you could still find tons of things, from gambling sites to jewelry to thousands of knockoffs and more.

I feel like by now I have a good sense of when’s a good time to have my camera out in sight and when to keep it hidden. Sometimes though when I get interested in a certain way I just forget about the camera in my backpack. Here are photos from the few moments I did have it out.

MarketMerida

MarketMerida3

MarketMerida4

Gambling seemed to be in demand in many markets around the Yucatan peninsula. Merida being a bigger city had more machines than usual. The guy outside kept eagerly looking at me across the street. I felt it was alright to take my cam out and snap the scene. He didn’t seem to mind.

MarketMerida2

MarketMerida5

MarketMerida6

Unexpected side of Hong Kong

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As my previous post indicates I’ve quite enjoyed my time in Hong Kong. And that often for me has to do with expectations. I always imagined it to be an overcrowded urban center. So it was quite a pleasant surprise when I got to places like this. Needless to say I stayed for longer than I planned for 🙂

Unexpected side of Hong Kong

Night streetlights of Hong Kong

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I’ve realized that over the years I’ve become a little less trigger happy for several reasons. I know there are lot of photographers/bloggers whose advice is to keep pushing the shutter button. I can’t say I share the same opinion for various reasons, one of which is probably because I’m terrible at sorting hundreds of my photos afterwards. Still though, occasionally I find myself in a place, like Hong Kong, where I just keep taking photo after photo after photo.

I’ve arrived to the city fairly late and without an accommodation planned for that night and much change in my pocket I made my way to the Chungking  Mansions, where I knew I could get an ok bed for the night. It’s by far not the most glamorous place in the world. There is a book based on Chungking Mansions called Ghetto at the Center of the World, which is an indication of what kind of a place it is (though I wouldn’t quite call it a ghetto). I’ve never actually read the book, however it’s on my to read list so feel free to drop me a line about the book if you’ve read it. Anyways, these photos are random shots from my night stroll on my first night in Hong Kong.

Night streetlights of Hong Kong

Night streetlights of Hong Kong2

 

Another street shot, Beijing

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I’ve mentioned earlier that I enjoy shooting random people and things in foreign cities. It helps connect and possibly get attention of people who would otherwise just pass by without a notice.  This cool looking man is from Beijing.

Another street shot