Today we have more “street photos” from Asia (and two from Europe) by James Blilie. His captions are indented; click photos to enlarge them.
The first bunch are all scanned Kodachrome 64 slides from my trip around the world, mostly by bicycle. We averaged about 45 miles per day (when riding) and did a total of 11,900 miles on our bikes (Nov 1990 – Oct 1992). Egypt was part of the trip (Thailand, Nepal, India, Kenya, Egypt) we did without bikes and were “regular backpackers”.
I shot almost 400 rolls of Kodachrome, a few dozen rolls of Kodacolor print film (for showing around while we were traveling), and a few dozen rolls of Tri-X Pan black and white film on the trip. Boy, was photography more expensive (and heavy!) back in those days!
Young man, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The town is quite touristy; but lovely nevertheless. Right on the Red Sea:
Man with chickens and a scooter, Malaysia. As anyone who’s been to SE Asia knows, these little 2-stroke cycles are how everything gets around there. The amazing things I’ve seen stacked on these scooters! I saw a family of 5 on one (Dad plus Mom plus three kids!)
Roti-man, Malaysia. This pan-fried flatbread was our breakfast every morning in Malaysia, made in street stalls. We got up every day at about 4 am to be riding our bikes by sunrise in Malaysia. We wanted to be done by 11am because of the heat and humidity. I went through 10-11 liters of water every day in Malaysia.
Young woman beside the highway, east coast of Malaysia (peninsular Malaysia):
Fish for sale in a street market, Suva, Fiji:
Street food, Bangkok, Thailand:
Tools, Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is what happens to the saffron robes the Buddhist monks wear!
Footprints on the trail. Annapurna Circuit trek (back when it still took 3 weeks to do), Nepal.
Nepalese umbrella, Annapurna circuit:
Dishwashing, Muktinath, Nepal. This is why you never ate all the way down to the plate!
Wonderful photos, Jim! I envy your riding around the world on a bicycle. For photography, that would be the way to travel, especially now that photo gear is not so heavy and bulky.
I especially like your people and food shots!
Thanks! I was offline all weekend.
I especially like that first shot! And the trip sounds extraordinary. Besides rain, I suppose, and heat/humidity, what were the biggest difficulties you encountered?
Not many really. Yes, weather was the big one. But I had spent nearly every weekend for the previous ten years in a tent, so that didn’t bother me much. Bad headwinds! Climbing a big hill is hard; but you eventually get the downhill. Headwinds just stink.
Finding bicycle parts was a challenge. I started out with a bike set up for 650B (which is easier to find these days). I had it modified (in Christchurch NZ) to use 26-inch wheels/tires. That was a good move! It also meant the two bikes used the same tires. Also good.
Dysentery in south Asia. I got Giardia; but luckily you could buy Tiniba “on the street” in Kathmandu and that took care of it. We got all sorts of other diarrhea-inducing “bugs” as well. My friend I was traveling with eventually developed an illness from taking antimalarials (Larium is what we were using – it lasted a week, which was good from a supply and carry standpoint but you had to track it in your diary (I did anyway)).
We ran into the occasional asshole bureaucrat. Or asshole people. I had a guy in a car (I was on foot) stalk me in Cairo because I was taking street photos, mainly in markets. He had a bee in his bonnet that I should only be taking photos of museums and fancy hotels. He was the only asshole we ran into in Egypt though, I think.
The heat and humidity in Malaysia was pretty hard — even for my much thinner, stronger, fitter self in those days.
We were lucky to generally avoid injuries. When we went into cities, we would often just lock up our bikes together to a post or something, zip our tent shut over our camping gear, and leave it like that in a campground. We never had anything stolen. Our valuables, of course, were always on our persons, never left anywhere, including hotel safes, etc. Having two people (and young, strong, fits males to boot) helped prevent street crime.
Having one person to stand by the bikes, loaded with gear, while the other transacted business was hugely helpful in avoiding theft. And having another person to talk to who you knew and spoke your language was also important! We knew some other solo travelers that either quit or joined another group because of loneliness.
Mainly, it was, though hard physical work, just a wonderful, joyful lark. And a great education.
Terrific pictures! Wow, what an adventure. I would not be nearly as brave.
I would say I wasn’t brave, really. I was naive, even at age 29.
I also had the attitude (which I still have, pretty much, except for things requiring physical strength) that I could do anything I decided I was going to do. This was a very helpful attitude. For instance, I haven’t been “carded” for alcohol (except places where they card 100%) since I was 16. I just went in places and had the ‘I belong here’ attitude and people just went along.
Arrogant, some people would call my young self. But it generally stood me in good stead. I don’t think I was an asshole, just stupidly confident.
What an amazing adventure that must have been, two years behind handlebars! Thanks for sharing your photos.