During my travels I am always interested in the people of the places that I visit. Sometimes the culture of the people in a location make the location even more interesting. Other times I will visit a location during a celebration and the celebration reveals the spirit of the people in that location.
Occasionally, out of the hundreds of thousands of people that I have seen, I see someone that catches my eye. Sometimes I notice someone because of the things that they are doing or how they are dressed but other times it is something that I see in their eyes or their smile. No matter what it is that catch my attention, I always notice them because it creates an emotional reaction in me. Sometimes it is as simple as they make me smile but other emotions that I have experience are sadness, joy and wonder.
People have always captured my interest and I wanted to share my photos of the people that I have photographed in my travels. People are really the heart of “Our Planet” and this section is a collection of my posts that are dedicated to cultures, local events or a group of individuals from a location.
I hope that you will enjoy these my posts on the people, cultures and events of “Our Planet” and that you will share your comments with me.
The Lantern Festival Night Parade is colorful, cultural and a fun experience! The Lantern Festival Night Parade is held on the second night of the Chiang Mai Lantern Festival. The majority of the parade is made up of walking groups that are representing organizations but there are also floats, figurines and banners that are manually…
Read More
The Chiang Mai Lantern Festival lasts for three days with beautiful nightly events. The Chiang Mai Lantern Festival is really a combination of two festivals, the Loy Krathong Festival and the Yee Peng Festival. The Loy Krathong Festival is also known as the Floating Lantern Festival and is celebrated by floating lanterns on the water….
Read More
My previous post was on the Gyeongbokgung Palace but a visit to the palace is not complete without watching the changing of the guard ceremony. During the Joseon Dynasty, the royal guards were responsible for guarding and patrolling the gates of the capital city and the royal palaces. The guards were split into a day…
Read More
Spring in Japan can mean only one thing, cherry blossoms! There are over 100 varieties of cherry trees in Japan. A large majority of them have been cultivated by humans over the centuries for decorative use in gardens and parks but a few varieties are wild and native to Japan’s forests and they can be…
Read More
The Great Race is one of the world’s longest continuously running offshore speedboat races. The race began in 1969 and this year’s race on August 17th will be the 51st consecutive year of the race. The race begins in the Gulf of Paria near Port of Spain, Trinidad. It makes its way across the North…
Read More
The changing of the guard ceremony takes place every hour at the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” near parliament in Athens, Greece. This is an event that I would classify as a “Must See” activity when visiting Athens and I would say that it was one of the highlights of my trip to Greece. The…
Read More
This post is a continuation from the post on Lunar New Year (Part 2) Lion Dance. The Lunar New Year Dragon Dance and the Lion Dance are part of the same celebration. I chose to make separate posts because I wanted to have individual focus on each part of this celebration. The photos in this…
Read More
Being in Ho Chi Minh City during the Lunar New Year is a unique experience. Normally the city is very busy but on New Year’s Day the city seems almost deserted. It is really strange, the normally packed streets are empty, restaurants and stores are closed. Over the next few days thing start to re-energize….
Read More
Happy New Year! Today is New Year’s Day for people that celebrate the Lunar New Year. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in Asia for the Lunar New Year? I had always wanted to see a Lunar New Year Celebration in the Far East and I finally had that opportunity…
Read More
The Rose Parade is held in Pasadena, California every year on New Year’s Day. The parade was established on January 1st 1890 and has evolved into one of the most watched events of the year. Approximately 1 million people line the 5.5 mile parade route to watch the parade in person and millions of others…
Read More
Every day at 5:00 P.M. for the past 23 years, “The Pelican Man” shows up at Kingscote Wharf on Kangaroo Island and so do the pelicans. The pelicans don’t need a clock to tell them when to show up, they just know. About 10 minutes before 5:00 P.M the pelicans start to come to the…
Read More
The Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as the Moon Festival or the Moon-Cake Festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most popular events celebrated by the Singaporean Chinese community. It takes place on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month of the Lunar Year and has been celebrated for more than 1000 years…
Read More