Wedding photo book
At any time in Hanoi you will find couples taking pictures for their wedding book. Unlike in Western countries they are not married yet. The photo book will be presented at the wedding ceremony
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Getting your virginity back
Taman Negara being 130 million years old is the world’s oldest rainforest. The Orang Asli native people use a plant’s root called katchi fatima as a medicine for women who just had a baby. Drinking its infusion is said to be miraculous for the vagina, which “gets virgin back”. Potions for men instead are meant […]
The picture-loving monk
U Kon Da La is the 76-years old senior #monk of a monastery near Nyaung Shwe, #Myanmar. He welcomes warmly visitors and encourages them to take #pictures of and with him. He proudly shows a collection of pictures he received from around the world. I can imagine him looking dreamingly at them when the monastery […]
Monument to spies
Winners write history. Officially the Northern Vietnamese army in 1975 “liberated” the South from “capitalism and the Americans”. Many Southern Vietnamese had a different opinion then, remembering Viet Congs’ massacres of civilians years before. In nearly each town in the South nowadays you can find such monuments dedicated to the ones who “helped” the North […]
Learning to make art
On the riverside of Da Nang, Vietnam, kids and adults buy white little statues (of Hello Kitty and Doraemon among anonymous ones) and sit there to color it #makeart #easy #lovely
Curious students
In a city where every minute someone stops you to propose you a #bargain, when you hear “Excuse me sir, do you have some time now?” your instinct wants to shout “NO”. But then it turns to be three students willing to practise English and share #Vietnamese culture. Friendly #Hanoi
Long term consequences
From 1964 to 1973 the United States of America dropped 270 million cluster #bombs over #Laos. 40 years after about 100 people every year still die or are seriously injuried (losing arms and legs) by unexplosed bombs. #War is often motivated by short term politics. WAR ALWAYS HAS LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES. #dontforget #dontbelievetheirbullshit
Time perception
“This table football looks so old. Is it from the seventies?” “It’s only six years old!” Easy to go wrong on vintage in Laos
Portrait: Charly & Katja
Two German girls volunteering as English teachers for adults in Laos. I joined them as guest teacher for one class. #englishteaching #volunteering #teacherforaday
The craziest restaurant name ever
“Cabbages and condoms”, crazy, isn’t it? Mr. Mechai Viravaidya is an active promoter of family planning and AIDS prevention in Chang Rai In Northern Thailand, wishing condoms to be as common as cabbages. Profits generated by the restaurants are donated to an NGO helping Hill tribes population. #funnynames #socialresponsability