the interior of the 'healing fruit' , bol, revealing the honey-like syrup interspersed with the dry, pumpkin-like meat, and a thick, impenetrable shell.
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two burmese milkshake makers in the act of cutting (hacking) a bol fruit - the bol fruit is also found in India, where it is known as the medicine fruit, since it cures most kinds of diarreah (everything except amoebic). The fruit has a hard shell something like a coconut, stringy orange pulp which is quite honey-like. Someday I hope to include it in my coffeetable book of "Exotic Fruit Around the World"
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more than just a metaphor, this cart REALLY was before the horse....
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DUCK EGG OMELETTE.....to quote a Christopher Guest film, sometimes "...even I'M jealous of me!"... This morning, got up lazyboy style at 11, threw together this PURFEC omelette lovely jubbly-style, made with toasted garlic, peppered (literally) with sweet red bell peppers, grated hard Gouda and Romano cheeses, the whole damn schlossmik was so good looking and smelling I just had to get this picture (scratch and sniff at your own peril)
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something tells me that the word 'picnic' for these people has a totally different meaning, independent of language translation problems...
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This is a kind of convenience store (the pile on the left, not the right, which is a kind of buddhist-shamanist good luck pile) on a mountain pass in the wilds of Mongolia
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The first time I saw outdoor billiard tables, they were beside a lake in the Himalayas, surrounded by glaciers and peaks over 5000 meters- I thought it was something that these tribes of different traditions could get together over. This picture, from a marketplace near the former capital of Genghis Khan, sort of confirms that theory (Mongols were once many tribes as well)
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Yes, that is a "PARKING" sign there, and next to it, a "Do Not Enter, One Way" sign next to it. The Mongolians can be neat, tidy, AND logical in the middle of nowhere. The tent in the foreground is the equivalent of a tourist trap concession, selling, naturally, things made of wool, the only material availiable here. One wonders how much it cost to build the fence out of wood, which grows ever scarcer here.
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The timelessness of the wheel is reflected in this truckstop in the middle of nowhere (which is EVERYWHERE) in Mongolia....
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For Today's Day of the Dead, this comes to you from the dashboard of our 'taxi' in Ulan Batur - a Mercedes Benz (we had to pay extra)
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Why are you showing us a pile of styrofoam?...Well, for one, it is a particularly LARGE pile of styrofoam, neatly bundled - but the main reason is that when I was in Mongolia, I scoured the capital for bits of throwaway styrofoam, so I could package my bicycle- at one point even dumpster diving, and then I nearly got in trouble for 'stealing' some guys livelihood (I gave him a few bob for it, though) - then the day I come back to Korea, this is the kind of excess and contrast that I witness on the street...
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although I've lived in Korea many years, and have watched nearly as many MASH episodes as the next guy, I never really associated 'choppers' with Korea - but finally got a good closeup of this service helicopter in Sorak San Mountain which was ferrying building materials for a temple being built halfway up the mountain.
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Mongolia was full of fun-looking beer labels. Of course this one didn't pan out so well, sort of tasted like the stub end of Ol' Winnies cigar doused in water...
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mongolian knobs (not as bad as it sounds)
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Welcome to my 'Hometown' of Portland...follow the river south through town, just down and to the left of Lake Oswego, you'll find a very amusingly named town. Apparently town fathers finally got a clue that tourists, especially British ones, were having a lot of fun, so the name no longer appears on maps- replaced by a blank spot- a bit of a shame, really. The old name makes you wonder if everyone in town is like David on The Office...
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I travelled with three polish guys, two polish girls, and another American who teaches at my university. Here Ana, a self-confessed ketchup junkie, demonstrates just how good ketchup can spice up any meal inside of a Mongolian yurt (Ger)
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a natural swimming pool at Soraksan National Park. This emerald-green water is quite a bit different than the turquoise/carribean blue color I photographed ten years ago.
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BUBBLY FOR BRATS...

From a shelf in a rural Mongolian shop, we bring you...Champagne for the kiddies! Why should adults have all the fun?
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? ? ?

Well, we thought the Berlin Wall would never fall, either....I really didn't know what to make of this poster I saw on a wall of an office near mine in Seoul, South Korea.
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Eerie rock piles constructed by bhuddist visitors to Whitelake, TseTserleg, Mongolia
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