tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33608424335274342892024-10-06T23:20:39.514-07:00joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-77192748898648859812020-04-20T13:00:00.000-07:002020-04-20T13:00:35.574-07:00

The weather in Cambodia feels fantastic, after the oven of New Delhi. I've been here since midnight Friday, and the temperature varies between the low 80s and low 90s, although the humidity is pretty high. The city of Phnom Penh is beautiful, especially now, in the winter, with palm trees, tasty food and towering, otherworldly temples. Jodi Hilton, the photographer who went to Pakistan with me in

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-57950303512331307722010-04-30T08:36:00.000-07:002010-04-30T22:18:56.772-07:00

While 'Jesus' hung from an invisible cross, the Roman/Khmer guards polished off the rest of the Coca Cola behind him, passing the glass bottle between the three of them. The bottle had been quite a hit earlier, when Jesus had produced it while murmuring the words, "This is my blood," as the Khmer kids reenacted the famous Last Supper scene. The audience roared. The guards, leaning on their

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A friend and I stopped for a drink on a recent afternoon in one of the small streets of Siem Reap, Cambodia. We were exploring the town, where we had stopped on our way traveling overland from Bangkok to Phnom Penh. I have a story to do in Cambodia, and she is on holiday. Incidentally, this is my third visit to Cambodia this year. I can't visit any more countries on this trip, or else I might

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-73186905914217623452010-03-12T08:35:00.000-08:002010-03-12T08:43:42.507-08:00

Today went without incident. Got some OK photos, nothing special. But tomorrow is supposed to be really crazy with demonstrations, maybe riots. I have a cool guy named Ta who volunteered to guide me through the town though. He is half Thai and half Japanese, and knows Bangkok inside and out. He was here for the last two or three series of riots/coups. Tonight we had some beers and went out

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-25876093821052734942010-03-06T02:07:00.000-08:002010-03-07T02:25:13.643-08:00

I watched Hurt Locker in Bangkok. I haven't read any reviews on it, so I don't know, and also don't care what anyone thinks about it. Here's what I think.First, the good: It had a lot of action. Ok, now for the rest. It's the most blatant bit of pro-George W. Bush propaganda since FOX's 24. There should have been a disclaimer at the end, "This Program Bought and Paid for By the RNC." It doesn't

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-54398026745232938552010-03-04T03:52:00.000-08:002010-03-08T20:18:05.883-08:00

Really, if I never see the inside of another South Asian emergency room, I wouldn't complain. I don't need to make this a habit. I am on pain meds right now for some gashes in my wrist, so I apologize if this gets too rambly, etc. My Thailand visa was set to expire, so I had to leave the country and return. The Red Shirts, supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, decided it would

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-22360876412797364152010-02-26T06:13:00.000-08:002010-02-26T18:06:55.208-08:00

Regardless of your politics or your shirt color, you can't deny the Bangkok riot police wear some kickass boots. I've been staying in the Bangkok area for the past week and a half or so, waiting for some riots that so far have failed to materialize. Nothing was happening other than a lot of talking. I got bored waiting, rented a motorbike (a Honda 200 cc Shadow that is OK, but, well, it's just OK

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-3853816243578184812010-02-17T18:56:00.000-08:002010-02-27T03:33:45.239-08:00

A Thai filmmaker last night invited me to play Buddha in a flick he is putting together involving the major characters from the various major world religions having romantic time together. He wanted me to be Buddha, and to make out with Jesus on a park bench. "We already have Jesus; he's staying right up there," he said, gesturing to a hippie lounging on a balcony above us. He did have a nice

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-71960887484591925492010-02-10T04:49:00.000-08:002010-02-10T17:32:58.423-08:00

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-43648519074588931352010-02-05T02:51:00.001-08:002010-02-05T02:53:14.071-08:00

Saw this family on the street in Saigon burning money. I asked around, and it seems it is traditional to do this to honor ancestors.

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-16052804355817126292010-02-03T20:09:00.001-08:002010-03-12T03:33:36.330-08:00

I had been out all day taking photos at the Moon Bear sanctuary, about two hours away from Hanoi, and rolled into my hostel about 7 p.m. This Finnish couple was waiting up for me.Turned out the timing was perfect, because the taxi was waiting for us to go to the snake restaurant. Well, apparently I had forgotten committing the previous evening to go to this place. The taxi took us through a

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-6650857706108088602010-01-31T02:56:00.000-08:002010-01-31T11:16:31.160-08:00

So many mopeds here in Saigon! Traffic is pretty crazy. I took the above photo through the front windshield of the bus I took from Phnom Penh. We'd been rolling right along for seven hours or so, and then came to a full stop. Everywhere we looked were these little helmets, people jostling and swarming on their mopeds. (I'm not actually writing about hookers. I just wrote that so you would read

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-19240165472745774142010-01-21T02:09:00.000-08:002010-01-23T07:37:05.781-08:00

I arrived in Cambodia Jan. 8, the day after the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge, an absolute nightmare of a regime that murdered as many as 3 million Cambodians. So with this as a general news peg, we are taking a look at various aspects of human rights in Cambodia, trying to examine how human rights have progressed during the three decades since Pol Pot's fall. On the surface at

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-43947348699511597972009-09-09T08:45:00.000-07:002009-09-09T09:22:56.779-07:00

Non-functioning stop lights, Buick-sized road craters, insane autorickshaw drivers and suicidally oblivious pedestrians (not to mention itinerant cows!) make riding a motorcycle in Delhi quite an adventure. Add the fact that you are riding a Royal Enfield, an infamously troublesome but oh-so-sexy bike, and also the fact that you have never ridden a motorcycle before, and it makes for an

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-56661134109261282332009-09-06T22:31:00.000-07:002009-09-06T23:40:47.974-07:00

Just so I can keep a collection here in the blog, here's a link to Global Post's version of my polyandry article. Here are some photos from the trip.

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-33610417680288406532009-08-03T10:45:00.000-07:002009-11-18T10:28:35.386-08:00

Prayer bells at the Swayambhunath Stupa, the most ancient and holy site in Kathmandu.Spire of Swayambhunath Stupa seen through flags.No wonder Sherpas can climb to such ridiculous heights and carry such loads! They do it every day! This guy was barely four feet tall. KathmanduPriest and prayer bells at Swayambhunath Stupa, also known as The Monkey Temple.Representation of the phallus of Shiva,

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-52117413362346298922009-07-09T00:36:00.000-07:002009-07-09T00:39:52.825-07:00

Here are links to my latest two articles in Global Post:Himalayan HashishHijra articleAnd now, I really will be without Internet access for a while.

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-41424472470482788122009-07-08T00:41:00.001-07:002009-07-08T01:18:28.985-07:00

Polyandry, or a family structure involving one wife and multiple husbands, is a rarity in most places around the world. But in Himachal Pradesh there are at least a couple of villages that still practice it. In the Lahaul-Spiti Valley -- a deceptive name, since the elevation is over 14,000 feet -- polyandry has been practiced for centuries. In about six hours I am taking a bus there to write an

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-6569472413115940722009-07-04T21:20:00.000-07:002009-07-04T21:44:10.992-07:00

It seems like dancing here is a one-gender-at-a-time thing, unless maybe you're in a big club, and even then I rarely see men and women dancing close to one another. But the guys really get into it, and do all kinds of pretty dirty dance moves with each other. These photos aren't very artsy, but I thought they were funny. It was at an Indian wedding, and all the guys were dancing to beat the band

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-1044253706284477192009-06-27T18:33:00.000-07:002009-06-27T19:35:39.403-07:00

One of the biggest reasons I haven't blogged in a while is that I haven't had power for long stretches of time. For almost three weeks, the power has gone out every night. Sometimes it goes at 11 p.m., sometimes midnight. Sometimes it goes out for an hour, and sometimes for 30 hours straight. The reason for the outages? It's hot, and people are using more power to try to stay cool. Monday, it's

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-62357857775848239502009-06-18T06:05:00.000-07:002009-06-18T09:02:00.107-07:00

Two friends in Rumsu, near Nagar. If anyone is curious as to why I tend to put more photos of women on this blog, it's because a lot of the guys in the villages do exactly nothing, as far as I can tell. I am generalizing from the few I've seen in Himachal Pradesh, but I'm also corroborating my observations with others who've explored similar villages. In Malana, for instance, the guys sit in the

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-26078718723780028352009-06-13T01:01:00.000-07:002009-06-13T02:24:31.309-07:00

Family business, or rather, village business in Malana, a hard-to-reach village in Himachal Pradesh. This guy and his friends smoked hashish, or 'charas,' from 7 a.m. till 2 a.m. the next day. Every day. This priest, the priest of the Krishna Temple in Naggar, stole my pen. He plucked it from my collar and told me, 'You are a rich man. Let's trade." and handed me this kind of crappy pen. So then

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-42357399841755202672009-06-04T22:56:00.000-07:002009-06-04T23:19:47.628-07:00

For some reason, Blogspot again is transliterating my blog titles into Hindi. Anyway, I'm up in Himachal Pradesh, a gorgeous area in the Himalayas. I'm staying at a guesthouse in a little town called Naggar, which, centuries ago, served as the capital of the district. Half a dozen Hindu temples dot the town of Naggar, and a castle juts from the mountain side overlooking the Beas River. I don't

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-36818095170552645852009-05-30T23:10:00.000-07:002009-05-31T00:24:44.138-07:00

Well, at least it's not boring here. I walked out on my balcony this morning, and this was what I saw: an elephant waiting to take us for a ride around the neighborhood.Bulbul checks out the elephant in front of our gate. This was the absolute best part: Great, the Great Dane who is larger than me and who growls and snaps any time he sees me, finally ran into a creature that was bigger than him.

joeldelliott@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08668778110186278814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3360842433527434289.post-7042739451068596352009-05-29T11:20:00.000-07:002009-06-01T08:59:55.470-07:00

So I'm freelancing a story about hijra, or eunuchs, which are really pretty interesting and you should Google it sometime because I'm not going to write about them here quite yet. They're a difficult bunch to photograph or interview, but, to get them to warm up to me, I've started visiting a support group for gay men and transgendered people. I think a lot of them think I'm actually cruising, no

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