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Asia Galleries

HONG KONG - Contrast in the Asian City : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Hong Kong began as a coastal island geographically located in southern China. While pockets of settlements had taken place in the region with archaeological findings dating back thousands of years, regularly written records were not made until the engagement of Imperial China and the British Colony in the territory.

Starting out as a fishing village, salt production site and trading ground, it would evolve into a military port of strategic importance and eventually an international financial centre that enjoys the world's 14th highest GDP (PPP) per capita, supporting 33% of the foreign capital flows into China.

HONG KONG - Contrast in the Asian City

INDIA - Land of Contrast : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

India (autumn 1997) - My first trip in India occured in 1997. Color, feeling, noise, smell but also culture and tradition were so strong and different from any other part of the world (as far as I knew at that time!). In spite of significant leaps made by India in economy, poverty is still a dominant reality. Majority of the population of India still lives in utter poverty without access to health care, housing, drinking water and education.

Major policy change has to be enforced, to do better than survive, for the benefit of millions of Indians.

INDIA - Land of Contrast

JAPAN - Beautiful gardens : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Pictures from Japan taken from 2005 to 2008

TOKYO - Japan has many gardens. The most important one is Tokyo. Although Paris, London, and New York had long-established urban cultures with central concentrations of multistory buildings, Tokyo's retooling former farmers preferred to stay far from the center, close to the land. The vast majority of properties in the city, then and now, are two-story single-family dwellings. So the city was, in effect, feudal and suburban before it was industrial and urban. Even with frequent necessity to rebuild--after the 1923 earthquake and devastating attacks during the last two years of World War II--the renewal didn't fundamentally change the scale and type of buildings constructed. For decades, Tokyo resisted high-rise development, but a new vision of the city is rapidly taking shape. The capital of the world's second largest economy is clearly an international city, but its built form remains utterly unique and defiantly Japanese.

KYOTO - Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture. Although there was some consideration by the United States of targeting Kyoto with an atomic bomb at the end of World War II, it was decided to remove the city from the list of targets due to the "beauty of the city". As a result, Kyoto is the only large Japanese city that still has an abundance of prewar buildings.

HIDA - Besides two historical hotspots in Hida region (Takayama city and Shirakawa village), you will discover in this gallery one of the fundament of the Japanese culture. The Japanese gardens concept allows us to understand better the Japanese culture as a whole.

REAL GARDENS - Gardens or "niwa" were a means of achieving the peace of mind for which rulers so desperately sought during the periods of strife and conflict which marked much of Japan's history. The character of most of today's famous gardens in Japan owe much of their development to the influence of Zen Buddhism brought from China in the thirteenth century. The visual entities which may appear as a design in the Western sense of forms, textures, and colors are less important than the invisible philosophical, religious, and symbolic elements.

JAPAN - Beautiful gardens

MYANMAR - Golden mystery : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Myanmar (spring 2008) - The former Burma has roughly as many monks as soldiers. Although the country is ruled by force, the monks retain ultimate moral authority. The lowest ranked soldier depends on them for spiritual approval, and even the highest generals have felt a need to honor the clerical establishment. Begging is a ritual that expresses a profound bond between the ordinary Buddhist and the monk. The people are feeding the monks and the monks are helping the people make merit. When you refuse, you have broken the bond that has tied them for centuries together.”

Last year, the country’s two largest institutions were confronting each other, the monkhood and the military, both about 400,000 strong, both made up of young men, mostly from the poorer classes, who could well be brothers. Rejected by both its spiritual and popular bases, the junta that has ruled for 19 years had little to fall back on but force. In Myanmar and other Buddhist nations, many join the monkhood as a lifelong vocation, but many other young men become monks for shorter periods, ranging from a few months to a few years. These young monks remain closer to the lives and concerns of the people whose alms they receive. That attack came as a shock to people who said the military would not turn violently against the monks, and it had the predictable effect of arousing the fury of a devout population.

The junta’s 2007 action shows that the generals are willing to go far to protect their power. However, it may be impossible for the regime to go back to normal daily legitimacy.

MYANMAR - Golden mystery

PAPUA - Towards assimilation... : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Although Papua represents 22% of Indonesia, this region only welcome hundreds of tourists a year. Baliem valley channels more than 80% of Papua's visitors. The Grand Baliem Valley is 1600 meters high, 60 km long and 15 km wide. Over the last decades, Indonesion Government helped by missionaries have succeeded in their entrepreneurship to "civilize" Baliem and specifically the Dani people.

Although electricity is still missing in most villages, pants have replaced the "penis gourd" and concrete houses are now set-up at the place of straw and wood "honai". Christian doctrine is now everywhere. Traditional beliefs are disappearing. While Dani people remains very kind and nice, a moderate but continuous flow of trekkers during the peak season are doing their part. Fortunately, the Baliem festival still allows some "free" pictures few days a year.

PAPUA - Towards assimilation...

SIBERUT - Human paradise or military heaven? : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Indonesia (summer 2007) - Siberut is a wonderful destination within the Mentawai islands. Tattoo is one of the most important symbol for Mentawai people, its reflect maturity, manhood and status. The art of this body painting inherit from their ancestor. The tattoos ink naturally made from leaf. The present life of Mentawai people categorized as the legacy from Neolithic era and they have a strong believe in nature spirit, for their life strongly affected by nature. They believe that nature is the center of life. A 11-hour local standard cruise from Padang to Muara Siberut open the access to this memorable world from Siberut Island.

Few days of muggy and rainy trek leads to Butui. This traditional village has a simple and rare atmosphere. Inhabitants' friendliness please the traveller. Every opportunity is used to associate the visitor to the Mentawai's day-to-day life. With about 40 tourists a year, Butui's world come to see the current hosts at the uma they stay. Mentawai children play with them and are listening carefully any instruction provided while the adults supply to their guests hunting and fishing advise. The village of Butui may be a peaceful place to live.

SIBERUT - Human paradise or military heaven?

SUMATRA - No tourist anymore? : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Indonesia (summer 2007) - Things have been bad in Indonesia for a long time – the rupiah devaluated horribly in 1998 under President Suharto when he swindled the country out of 35 billion dollars. There were subsequent riots and killings at political demonstrations in the capital. Sumatra, located in the North Western corner of Indonesia, has the richest wildlife in entire Indonesia leading many people to describe it as "Africa of Asia".

With large rivers, great flora and fauna (including Orchyds), sunny beaches, and a great history, Sumatra is a complete tourist destination. The region could not keep up the pace with its neighbours like Java and Bali in attracting tourists due to political problems and internal violence. Moreover, on November 2nd, 2003 the flooding of the village of Bukit Lawang deeped in the tourism in the island of Sumatra.

SUMATRA - No tourist anymore?

TIBET - Buddhism, religion or philosophy? : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Tibet (summer 2005) - Distinct forms of Tibetan Buddhism, (incorrectly named) Lamaism, became firmly established across the World. The Tibetan Buddhism strongly relies on mudras (ritual postures), mantras (sacred speech), yantras (sacred art) and secret initiation rites. This gallery focuses on Lhasa palace and Ganden, Sera and Tashilhunpo Monasteries. Most of the tibetan considers monasteries as places to pray and Dalai Lama as a living God. I am convinced that Buddhism is more a religion than a philosophy, at least in Tibet...

If you want to know more about Tibetan Buddhism, please find below a summary description of the 5 main influential sects which participated to the development of the concept of buddhism in Tibet.

TIBET - Buddhism, religion or philosophy?

TIBET - Lost country : PHOTOS SANS FRONTIERES - PARTIR A LA DECOUVERTE DU MONDE ET SORTIR DES VALEURS CONNUES POUR RENCONTRER DES GENS ET DES PAYSAGES MERVEILLEUX...

Tibet (summer 2005) - The invasion of Tibet by troops from the People's Liberation Army in 1949-51 is described in official Chinese history as a "peaceful liberation". A 17-points agreement was signed between the Communist Government and the Tibetan officials in May 1951, which apparently "enjoyed the approval and support of the people from every ethnic group in Tibet". In fact, discrimination and suppression of traditional practices in eastern Tibet drove hundreds of Tibetans up into the mountains to conduct guerrilla warfare, while thousands more fled west to Lhasa to escape Chinese persecution.

In March 1959, growing Tibetan resistance exploded in an uprising against the Chinese occupation. The 14th Dalai Lama fled into exile in northern India, and the subsequent Chinese crackdown in Tibet was brutal. Even the figures from the Chinese Government record 87,000 deaths in the National Uprising and its aftermath. Being said that, this gallery will not focus on politics but on the wonderful geographical environment and people of Tibet.

TIBET - Lost country

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