Dave's 6 Shots

[Dave]

Alright, giving myself a go. I'm not like you guys, though. Family is important and all, but that's not what I live for. What I live for are experiences. Seeing and doing amazing things. I've been lucky enough in the last few years to be able to travel to 6 different countries, so I've included a snap for each, all of which I have taken. They're in order of visitation.

1. South Africa

This is Blyde River Canyon, one of the largest canyons in the world. While I was here, I went on an activity called canyoning. Basically, it's a mixture of hiking/jogging/jumping and swimming in a forest setting, and this is said to be one of the best places in the world to do it. I'd highly recommend it. Fitted with a life jacket and a helmet, you're running through the forest, jumping from large rocks into deep ponds in increasing increments, the finale being an 11m drop that you have to launch into (or risk hitting rocks below). It's an exhilirating experience in one of the most beautiful areas of the world.

2. Costa Rica

Here we are at Playa Ostional, in Costa Rica. I lived here for two weeks, in the attic of a local family who spoke no English (and I spoke very little Spanish). Each day, this beach was patrolled and cleaned by myself and about a dozen other volunteers, working on a project to protect nesting leatherback turtles. During the day, temperatures reached late 30s celsius, meaning there was really little we could do. At night, though, in teams of 2 we would patrol the entire beach, up and done, in five hour shifts, looking for these turtles. It was long, difficult work, walking in heavy sand for extended periods without reward. But seven days in, finally we found a nesting leatherback. In the night she crawled up the beach, laying her eggs which we collected and took to a makeshift hatchery, where others of our group were rostered on in six hour shifts to protect from poaching.

This work is incredibly important. Ostional is one of the few beaches in the world that leatherback turtles nest at, and there are only 7 that nest here. They lay hundreds of eggs across a season, but without human intervention predators like wild animals and egg poaches prevent hatchings, putting the species in danger. Our group recovered over 400 eggs during the two weeks we were there, at a 25% successful hatching rate. 100 baby turtles made it to the ocean because of the work we did.

3. Thailand

Chronologically, this was the last photo taken (I entered Thailand, went through the next three countries, then came back into Thailand where this was taken). This is Wat Rong Khun, known as the White Temple to travellers. It was commissioned and built by an artist, rather than an architect, and is the most unique temple I've seen. There's a bridge leading in with sculpted hands reaching out of a pit beneath. On the inside, with the traditional Buddhist imagery, pop culture icons litter the walls - everyone from Spider-Man to Minions (Despicable Me) and even motifs of 9/11. I saw lots of temples during my time in Asia, and this one is one I remember clearer than most.

4. Cambodia

Does the name Pol Pot mean anything to you? Did you ever learn of the horrors that went on in Cambodia in the 1970s? Here's the abridged version: a communist party called the Khmer Rouge rose to power, led by Pol Pot, and instituted what is referred to as genocide. Somewhere between 1.5 and 3 million Cambodians were killed in prisons and death camps. Intellectuals were killed without mercy... doctors, teachers, scientists, etc, in order to build a perfect communist state of obedience. This is a monument erected on a killing field. Not pictured here are the dozens of mass graves in the area, where you can still see bones in the ground. Not pictured here is the inside of this monument, thousands of skulls of those brutally executed. I was here for two hours. I don't think I said a single word the whole time. Cambodia has a dark history, one that the western world doesn't really know about, doesn't teach. It's a harrowing place. While I was here, I also visited one of the former prisons. I took no pictures. It felt wrong.

5. Vietnam

Let's lighten the mood again. Welcome to Hoi An, Vietnam, a small town with French architecture, a street lined with bars and hostels, and quite well known for the dozens of tailor shops. It's a quiet place despite a decent number of tourists, with a great nightlife. I often found the bigger cities in Vietnam like Ho Chi Minh to be too crowded, too frantic, but Hoi An was slow, relaxed, and just perfect to wander through.

6. Laos

Laos is the place that surprised me most about my trip through Southeast Asia. This was by far the friendlist place I visited. Here I am riding a junk on th Mekong River, heading towards an overnight stay in a town - the town is only accessible by the river, it's locals do not speak any English. But we arrived, and we were welcomed (group of about 15) by the village chief, who fed us and placed us in local's houses for the night. We played soccer with the kids. We gathered with the community. One of our group had a Rubik's cube, and the kids of the village watched with awe as he solved it in three minutes, and then they passed it around, having a go themselves. Our guide showed them magic tricks with a pack of guards. It was a seriously grounded moment, a moment that the every day tourist will never experience; sharing laughs with people who don't understand you, who you don't understand. This is the way of the traveller. And I can't wait to see where my next journey will take me.

[Jade]

I was looking forward to your 6 shots ever since I saw your animal pictures ages ago Scott said you like travelling and you didn't disappoint. I LOVE that you included pictures of 2 of my favourite places, South Africa and Vietnam. I visited Cape Town recently myself but wasn't able to get any pictures near as nice as your first one haha, brought back lots of good memories of that place though for sure. And Vietnam is one of my fav places to go of all time. I have family there so I'm lucky enough to be able to visit fairly frequently and I definitely agree with your opinion that smaller places like Hoi An beat the hell out of Ho Chi Minh, although Hanoi is a personal favourite big city of mine to this day

Next time you go to Asia give me a heads up and we can meet up and grab a Sake or Tsingtao or whatever floats your boat

[Dave]

I debated whether going with that one of Blyde River or one of Table Mountain, but ultimately decided more people probably know Table Mountain. That was the whole motivation behind each photo, really; the things you don't know about these places. I spent 4 days in Cape Town in December 2011, including New Year's Eve where I went to a massive party on the roof of a car park near the wharf. It was awesome. The whole town was cool, hell the country was brilliant.

I also did a tour of the township outside Cape Town. Ate pig's head and drank homebrewed beer. Good times.

I enjoyed Hanoi, too. The water puppets show was fantastic, and the city felt small enough that I was always comfortable. There's a coffee shop with a great view of the lake, I don't know if I have photos of that, they should be somewhere. Throughout Vietnam, it was probably Hoi An and Hanoi that I liked the best (visited Hue, Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang, and stayed in a village near the Mekong Delta).

[Jade]

New Year's parties in car parks, pigs heads and home brewed beer is such a great combination of things to describe South African counterculture haha, I'm suddenly getting the urge to rock out a roleplay for Yolandi now :')

[Dave]

Cape Town was just brilliant as that kind of hub. One way you've got the township, another way you've got sandboarding dunes, you've got the mountain (and the abseil on that is awesome), wineries nearby... I could go back and spend a lot of time there.

[J-Dub]

When we started doing this I figured yours would be like this. You always where most proud of the people and experiences you had while traveling.and these photos are really good. Have you thought of freelance scenic photography? There is money to be made.

I do love reading what you talk about from being there because you've been to countries I haven't. Nicely done though and wonderful pictures.