Animal Pictorial

Seoul, South Korea. Who knows what this bug is?

Wild camels somewhere in Mongolia.

San Francisco, CA. Some guy paired these two creatures to generate tips.

Okinawa, Japan. At a cafe, this cat jumped right onto the chair next to my table and started eating from a bowl. Obviously, he had done this before.

Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 2009. Check out how much gas prices have risen in one year.

Rishikesh, India. Cows in the street are a common sight.

Varanasi, India. Steps leading down to the river are called ghats. Varanasi has dozens of these narrow ghats, most of which have animals cohabiting with humans.

Rishikesh, India. Cows eat directly from dumpsters and ditches in India. This pile of trash was on fire, but that didn't bother the cows until licking a hot piece of coal. Check out the "American Spoken English Institute" sign painted on the brick wall behind the cows.

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka. A large calf feeds from its mother in the middle of a dirt road.

McLeod Ganj, India. This picture was taken literally within a couple hundred meters of where the Dalai Lama lives.

More cows from India. Varanasi. I could never figure out how Hindus see the cow as such a holy and motherly creature, letting them cohabitate freely, yet will sometimes tie them up and take ownership.

Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. This beautiful beach town was massacred by the tsunami a few years back. While walking around, I was surprised by this huge water monitor. It must have been over 6 feet long. You can see its tongue flicking.

Varanasi, India. Most of the people in the picture traveled to this location for funerals or religious travel. They will sleep in the open air, sharing space with the cows. During my time in India, I came to really love the cows, which were so docile, tame, friendly, and seemingly content.

Kota Kinabalau, Borneo, Malaysia. These tiny turtles were being sold for about $2.75 each. One street market there had vendors selling all kinds of animals illegally. Most had signs saying "No Pictures."

Ko Chang, Thailand. People visiting Thailand who want a wonderful beach experience away from the crazy tourist areas (like Phuket) should check out Ko Chang.

Rishikesh, India. One of my favorite pictures! This road was really smooth compared to most, which made it all the better for napping.

Colombo, Sri lanka.

Of all the pictures I took in the last year, this is my favorite! My #1 of about 5,000 pictures. To me it sweepingly symbolizes modern India. Really, I should say that it reflects my perceptions of the country. In the picture, I see an animal that is respected enough by the people to be painted with a purple religious bindi (forehead dot), yet has two legs tied together and is standing idly in the scorching sun, matted in its own excrement. I see India as this incredibly religious country, so religious in my opinion that traditions and beliefs overpower common sense to help oneself. The donkey's bindi represents the strong spiritual nature of India. The tied legs represent the self-sabotage or self-inflicted suffering that so many seek or feel they deserve. The dirty hair represents the inability or apathy to help oneself.

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka.

Rishikesh, India.

Ko Chang, Thailand. At sunset, monkeys sit on the rooftops near the main street, catching bananas that people toss in the air. This mama monkey is full of bananas and enjoying a little relaxation with baby.

Manali, India.

Hilo, Hawaii.

Agra, India.

Hong Kong.

Mongolia.

Pinnawela, Sri Lanka. Every afternoon, elephants rescued at this orphanage stroll to the water for a drink. Elephants housed here include abandoned babies, blind adults, and elephants with missing legs from land mines.

Okinawa.

Manali, India.

Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka. This lizard was so well camouflaged, I was lucky to see it. Some heavy googling was necessary to figure out what this thing was called. It looks like a cross of snake head, frog legs, and lizard scales and tail.

Sri Lanka. Imagine seeing this on your bathroom sink. Now imagine it crawling into the hollow plastic handle of your disposable razor.