The first image is Wat Phra Kaew [Temple of the Emerald Buddha] as viewed from the Grand Palace grounds, the 2nd is a building at the Grand Palace. The «emerald» Buddha is actually made from jade/jasper and not emerald..... The others photographs are from Wat Pho [famous for the massive Reclining Buddha which is 15 mtrs high at 46 mtrs long, and the 1000's of other Buddha images].
   
   

Thai Flickr Meet - June 5th 2008 at Bangkok. A trip on the Chaopraya River past Wat Arun ~ a visit to the Museum of Siam ~ then to Pak Khlong Talat [flower market] ~ and finally a few beers and look at Wat Arun at night. Thanks to all the great people I met at the TFM.. see you again sometime soon!

A trip to Sonargaon, around 30 KM from Dhaka city.... the ancient Capital now in ruins. Like a ghost town, the homeless living in abandoned buildings. Buildings that were probably majestic and stately at one time, now crumbling in neglect, robbed of their ornate carved doors and windows, full of rubbish and the homeless... pathetic but still beautiful. The old Hindu temples and the Havalis in a similar state of disrepair.

We had first made a stop at Sadarghat, the jetty on the banks of the [very highly polluted!] Buriganga..... it was disgusting. The stench from the river, the jetty and the street was overpowering and so we made a hasty retreat to the car and were off to Sonargaon as quick as we could. Here are a few images from Sadarghat - we stepped on to the jetty the ferries were coming in [or leaving?, or both?].
   

THANKS HEATHER & STEIN. Great trip!

The limestone Batu Caves just outside Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, the Hindu temples established in 1891 though the caves are 60 to 100 million years old. A [new] statue of Lord Murugan - standing 42 mtrs high- with 272 steps leading up to the upper entrance. There is another cave opening a bit below the upper caves, called the «Dark Cave» [last picture below, there is one wild looking dog in the pic which gives a perspective on the size of the entrance height]. This cave was closed to entry beyond the first few 100 mtrs.. completely dark and full of bats - at least that's what it sounded like - so I got a few photos and retreated. Apparently, the Dark Cave remains mostly unexplored.

Forbidden City
      

Tiananmen Square

When I was taking this photo, just after exiting the Forbidden City gates, there was a firm tap [more like a grip] on my shoulder - a uniformed policemen telling me no I could NOT take any photographs. He was very insistent and rude. I hand to shrug him off. Got my photo a bit later though. LOL!

The Great Wall
     

Lama Temple
  

Hutong - old quarter in Beijing