Kathmandu Street Life

Kathmandu in Nepal is the stepping stone to many of the Himalayan mountain treks and it is usual for visitors to spend a few days here before or after heading to the many popular trekking areas in the mountains. Kathmandu is the gateway to tourism in Nepal and is also the nerve center of the country’s economy. It has the most advanced infrastructure of any urban area in Nepal, and its economy is focused on tourism, which accounted for 3.8% of Nepal's GDP in 1995–96. (Tourism in Kathmandu declined thereafter during a period of political unrest, but since then has improved.)

The city has around 2.5 million population and sits at a height of 1,400m in the Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal. It is a bustling, chaotic city with poor roads and infrastructure but offers some  great photo opportunities of daily life.

Saigon Street Scenes

Saigon, or rather Ho Chi Minh City as it is called now, is a wonderful place for observing street life. It is a vibrant Asia city where many activities occur on the street from peddling goods to preparation and eating of a multitude of foods. Many years ago the bicycle was the king here but this has now been replaced by the motorcycle which predominates the traffic in the city. On Sundays people simply cruise the streets on the motorbikes and it is a real challenge to actually cross the road given the density of the bike traffic. The trick is to slowly, but positively, walk out into the street and the bikes will part and move around you ..... that theory has held up for me so far!!

Bag Boys

A common sight in Siem Reap, Cambodia are orphan children roaming the streets begging or scavenging for food and other basic necessities to scratch out a living. These two boys were walking the streets with their large bags collecting useful items to use or to sell. Amazingly many of these poor children still have a happy smiling face as we can see here as this boy looks round and spots me lining up my photograph.

The Rubbish Man

The streets of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam are always a great place for street photography given the diversity of activities that happen on the busy streets. This is a rubbish collector immaculately dressed in bright orange and wearing a face mask, gloves and hard hat - prepared for anything.

Penang Shutters

This is a lovely example of a renovated shophouse in Penang with beautiful wooden window shutters and ornate wall moldings to maintain the heritage style of the building. Again you can see the use of the traditional blue wall paint made from a natural dye from the indigo plant.

Backstreets of Brugge

When I travel I usually like to get off the beaten track and the well travelled tourist routes and quite often just dive down any alley or back lane to try and discover the real local life. This small back lane in Brugge, Belgium is a good example of what delights you can find down these small streets. These small houses were all very well maintained and this one had beautifully painted doors and windows with decorative flower boxes.

Ipoh Tauge (beansprout)

Ipoh in Malaysia is well known for its wonderful street food and one of the most famous dishes is the Ipoh chicken rice usually served up with a large plate of bean sprouts (locally called tauge). These wonderful fresh, fat, juicy bean sprouts are basically blanched for a matter of a few seconds in boiling water and then served with soya sauce and usually a springing of pepper.

Street Life

This is unfortunately still a common sight in Siem Reap, Cambodia with children and whole families living on the street. These two children had been left to sleep by the roadside while the mother probably headed off to try and find or beg for some food.

Tricked-Out Trishaw

These colourful trishaws can still be seen around Georgetown in Penang and can be hired for a tourist tour around the streets - certainly beats walking in the stifling heat. This trishaw rider is taking 5 and catching up with the news in the local newspaper.

Blue Indigo Window

This blue coloured shuttered window was photographed in Lorong Stewart in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. The back streets and lanes of Georgetown are great to wander through to view old historical and heritage houses. I particularly like windows and doors and this window was a great example of that run-down, dilapidated and decaying style that I like in these Asian buildings. You can make out a blue colour in the surrounding walls as well as on the window shutters and this was a very typical colour used in the colonial period. The distinctive blue colour is made by mixing lime with the natural blue dye made from the indigo plant and this dye was imported from India during those days.

Heritage Buildings of Georgetown, Penang

Backstreets and lanes of historic towns like Georgetown, Ipoh and Malacca are a wonderful place to find some colorful old heritage style houses and shops. This corner house has had some rather unique renovation carried out as you can see with the tacked-on extra room made from corrugated iron. Of course I'm sure that proper planning permission was granted here and that these modifications adhere to good building practice and regulations!

Accordion Player, Paris

Accordion Player, Paris by HighlanderImages

This classic French accordion player was entertaining passers by in the streets of St. Germaine, Paris.

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.

It is played by compressing or expanding a bellows whilst pressing buttons or keys, causing valves, called pallets, to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called reeds, that vibrate to produce sound inside the body.

The instrument is sometimes considered a one-man-band as it needs no accompanying instrument. The performer normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the right-hand manual, and theaccompaniment, consisting of bass and pre-set chord buttons, on the left-hand manual.

The accordion is often used in folk music in Europe, North America and South America. It is commonly associated with busking. Some popular music acts also make use of the instrument. Additionally, the accordion is sometimes used in both solo and orchestra performances of classical music.

The oldest name for this group of instruments is actually harmonika, from the Greek harmonikos, meaning harmonic, musical. Today, native versions of the name accordion are more common. These names are a reference to the type of accordion patented by Cyrill Demian, which concerned "automatically coupled chords on the bass side.

La Rambla

La Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both tourists and locals alike. A 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall between Barri Gòtic and El Raval, it connects Plaça Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell.

La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural form Les Rambles (Spanish: Las Ramblas). From the Plaça de Catalunya toward the harbour, the street is successively the Rambla de Canaletes, the Rambla dels Estudis, the Rambla de Sant Josep, the Rambla dels Caputxins, and the Rambla de Santa Monica. Construction of the Maremàgnum in the early 1990s resulted in a continuation of La Rambla on a wooden walkway into the harbour, the Rambla de Mar.

La Rambla can be crowded, especially during prime time tourist season. Most of the time, there are many more tourists than locals occupying the Rambla, which has changed the shopping selection, as well as the character of the street in general. For this reason also, it has become a prime target for pick pocketing.

Spanish poet Federico García Lorca once said that La Rambla was 'the only street in the world which I wish would never end'.

The name rambla refers to an intermittent water flow in both Catalan and Spanish, and is derived from the Arabic 'ramla' which means 'sandy riverbed'. The name of the city of Ramla, now in Israel, shares the same origin.

Minimilist Micturition

It took me a minute to figure out what this structure actually was ..... yes it's a toilet in central Amsterdam .... and definitely in the minimalist category. No need for those time wasting trips into a toilet when you can just duck behind the beautifully aquamarine painted walls of this stall in the street. You can even carry on that conversation with your loved one through the grill as you tend to your badly needed micturition in a quick, efficient albeit rather public manner.

Canal Lights

The canals in central Amsterdam are delightful to walk around and as evening comes many of the bridges are lit up creating a beautiful sight. With many restaurants and bars along the banks of the canal it is easy to wander for a while then stop for a drink then head on for some dinner at a canal-side restaurant. 

Pretzel Logic

Pretzels are a common street food seen in New York and always reminds me of that famous Steely Dan song and album Pretzel Logic.

I would love to tour the Southland
In a travelling minstrel show

In a traveling minstrel show

Yes I'm dying to be a star and make them laugh

Sound just like a record on the phonograph

Those days are gone forever

Over a long time ago, oh yeah

I have never met Napoleon

But I plan to find the time

I have never met Napoleon

But I plan to find the time

'Cause he looks so fine upon that hill

They tell me he was lonely, he's lonely still

Those days are gone forever

Over a long time ago, oh yeah

I stepped up on the platform

The man gave me the news

He said, You must be joking son

Where did you get those shoes?

Where did you get those shoes?

Well, I've seen 'em on the TV, the movie show

They say the times are changing but I just don't know

These things are gone forever

Over a long time ago, oh yeah 

Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic by Aural Villains

Streets of Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain is full of interesting streets to wander through with some excellent architecture such as this street here just off Las Ramblas with classical wrought iron balconies and distinctive street lights. As well as the beautiful and historic buildings there is always something to watch going on in the streets with street vendors, musicians, street artists or just observing the local Catalans at work.

Pasar Malam

Pasar malam is an Malay and Indonesian word that literally means night market, "pasar" being related to "bazaar" in Persian. A pasar malam is a street market in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia that opens in the evening, usually in residential neighbourhoods.

It brings together a collection of stalls that usually sell goods such as fruits, vegetables, snacks, toys, clothes, shoes, alarm clocks, and ornaments at cheap or at least reasonable prices. Pirated DVDs, CDs and computer software are often sold at a pasar malam. A pasar malam often takes place only one to a few days of the week, as the traders rotate around different neighbourhoods on different days of the week. Haggling over prices is a common practice at such markets.

Pasar Malam are often differentiated by ethnicity. A Malay pasar malam will often contain stalls selling Islamic books, kopiah hats, sarongs and other Malay specialty items. Chinese pasar malam may sell Mah Jong sets, incense, joss sticks, joss paper and various Chinese prayer supplies. Indian pasar malam may contain Hindu prayer supplies

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Kirin in Kyoto

This is a small back lane in the centre of Kyoto with the ever present vending machine offering Kirin beer as well as a selection of other beverages. I love the way the Japanese can squeeze so much into small spaces and even a small back lane like this can have numerous restaurants and bars.

Street Mime

This has got to be one of the most ornate and bizarre street mimes I have ever seen as spotted in Barcelona, Spain. I'm still trying to figure out what the gun is for!