Ron Emmons          Writer & Photographer
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      • A Culture Blossoms
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      • A Hike up Chiang Dao Mountain
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    • As Dawn Breaks over Choroni
    • The Hungry Eye
    • On Spirit Mountain
  • Biography
    • Ron's CV

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What an amazing world we live in...to watch an audio slideshow introducing my website, please click here.
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2017 update

17/1/2017

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A photo essay on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam
Time to freshen up the website for the new year, so I’ve made a few additions and changes. Firstly, I’ve added a few scans of stories that appeared in printed magazines (an increasingly rare form of media!) during 2016. These are:
 
- Deep in the Delta, a photo essay on the Mekong Delta for Jetstar Asia magazine.
--Strange Town, a focus on Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar, for the South China Morning Post.
--Blissful Bloom, a story about the sacred lotus for Morning Calm (Korean Air inflight).
 
I’ve also changed the sample story from my collection ‘Searching for Shangri La’. ‘Sweeping Meditation’ is a chronicle of my changing attitudes to the fascinating activity of sweeping leaves. There’s also an audio version of the story, so rest your eyes for ten minutes and listen to the tale unfold.


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Wicked Wikipedia

19/5/2016

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Y'all know Wikipedia, dontcha? That wonderful bastion of philanthropy, the so-called ‘free’ encyclopaedia staffed by selfless sharers of essential information—one of the world’s ten most popular websites, written by the people, for the people?
 
Well, I got news for you—Wikipedia is wicked, and I don’t mean that in a ‘so bad it’s good’ way. I mean wicked, as in nasty, calculating and, worst of all, corrupt.


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If you can't beat them,...

29/12/2015

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I’m sure I’m not the only photographer who has watched with dismay as online stock photo (or microstock) libraries have mushroomed over recent years. Why dismay? Well, I used to sell my travel stories to clients as a package of words and images, of which the images would often be worth half or more of the fee. Yet since these image libraries have expanded to cover every destination and topic under the sun, and since their images are available for use at US$1 or less, most publications I work for now want me to provide text only, which means I’ve lost about half my previous income.

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Cruising the Red River Delta

17/12/2015

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Watching the view unfold from a sun lounger
Usually when I travel, I’m updating a guidebook, so I’m rushing around from dawn to late, checking hotels and restaurants for inclusion in the next edition of the guide. But a few weeks ago I lucked out, spending ten days on a Pandaw cruise around Ha Long Bay and the Red River Delta in Vietnam in order to write and photograph a story about it for the company’s magazine, as it was a new route that they wanted to publicise.
 
Loved it! Sprawled on a sun lounger, taking in the endless change of view, from towering karst outcrops to container cranes, brick kilns, fields of rice and passion fruit, locals waving from the riverbank. Wandering around small villages, watching water puppet shows, seeing conical hats made, listening to traditional songs sung by teenagers. Writing a few notes about the experience and getting to know my fellow passengers, gorging on gourmet food three times a day. Following are a few images from the trip.
 
If you want to read the full story, take a Pandaw cruise and read it in the Pandaw Magazine while aboard, or sign up as a subscriber on their website—www.pandaw.com.


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The way up
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Red River abstract
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Making conical hats
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Enjoying a glass of bia hoi
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Container crane in Haiphong port
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Youngsters watching the boat from the riverbank
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View from the wheelhouse
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Clouds over the Red River
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Girls in ao dai at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
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Ron testing the local hooch
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Upturned eaves at Tay Phuong Pagoda
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Graduates throwing caps at the Temple of Literature
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What's New in North Vietnam 2014

23/9/2014

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Schoolkids riding through the Ho Citadel


Having suffered perhaps more than any other nation in the 20th century, Vietnam is making up for lost time in the 21st century. The economy is growing fast, communications (especially roads) are improving everywhere, new hotels are being built and tourists are arriving in ever increasing numbers. 

Though few of the following places are 'new' as such, they are all either new to the Rough Guide for the next edition (2015), which I've just spent several months updating, or have been subject to change recently, such as the restoration work at My Son, a temple complex of the Cham people near Hoi An and Da Nang.

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Restoration work at G Group, My Son
Restoration at My Son
The My Son complex of Cham temples located in a lush valley around 40km from Hoi An is one of Vietnam's World Heritage sites and brings a steady stream of visitors every day to view the ruins of a once-powerful civilization. However, many of the ruins were in such a decrepit state that they gave little idea of how the site once was. Now a sensitive restoration project by UNESCO has brought back to life Group G of these temples, and ongoing work is transforming the ruins of Group E, which dates back to the 8th century.


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An Ambition Realized

5/1/2014

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Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark






Like most writers and photographers, I have always seen National Geographic as the pinnacle of excellence for travel writing and images, so have often dreamed of seeing my work in their hallowed publications. A few years ago, out of the blue, I got that opportunity when they asked me to update the National Geographic Traveler Guide to Vietnam. And while that made me feel proud, I still longed to see an image of mine in a Nat Geo publication as well.


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Google kills Frommer's kills me

29/3/2013

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The life of a guidebook writer can be full of surprises, such as world-famous clients suddenly disappearing overnight.

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I was just about to go out for a Friday evening meal with a few friends, to enjoy a few beers and some witty conversation, then thought that before I left home I should check my email to keep my inbox clear for the weekend.

Big mistake.


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Searching for Shangri La

26/4/2012

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I sometimes despair of our modern world (as you'll see if you read my new book) when I read or hear about people's obsessions with techno-gadgets like GPS devices to help them find out where they are. However, there's one aspect of the modern world that is a wonder for me, and that's the possibility of self-publication. 


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As with many writers, I find there's always a gap between what publishers want me to write and what I'd really like to write myself, which leads to a fair amount of frustration. However, I've spent the last couple of weeks struggling with re-formatting the text and images for this new publication, Searching for Shangri-La, and now it's been released both as an ebook by Amazon Kindle and as a print-on-demand paperback from Create Space, another branch of Amazon.

Searching for Shangri-La consists of a collection of short writings culled from over a couple of decades, describing unusual places or experiences that I have come across on my travels. Since they are very personal and opinionated pieces, they are the kind of stories that are difficult to sell to magazines and websites, which prefer their travel stories crammed with hard facts.

Nevertheless, I have confidence that there are readers out there who will be intrigued by such writings, which are (I hope!) both entertaining and informative. So please consider splashing out $2.99 (for the ebook edition) or $4.99 (for the paperback edition) to read the entire collection, and if you find it a worthwhile read, please tell your friends! To see a sample, click here.
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Seeking the Source of the Thames

8/3/2011

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As my book Walks along the Thames Path has just been released in its fourth edition, I got to pondering the magical attraction that the source of a river has, and in the case of the Thames, the nagging doubts about its true origin. Then the pondering turned into a story, called...

SEEKING THE SOURCE OF THE THAMES
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Statue of Old Father Thames at St John's Lock, Lechlade.
Locating the source of a river is not as simple as it may seem. For a start, most rivers have dozens of tributaries, all of which originate at springs, so just how do you decide which is the main source? Interestingly, there is no internationally recognized method of determining such an essential fact, though logic would suggest it is the spring that is furthest from the mouth of the river, or at the highest elevation above sea level, or that produces the greatest volume of water; yet this logic does not always apply.

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    Ron Emmons 

    is a British writer and photographer based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

    Categories

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Text and images copyright © Ron Emmons 2000-2023

Contact details:

Ron Emmons
122 Moo 7, San Pisua,
Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand.

Tel/Fax: (66-53) 115150
Mobile: +66-841758104

ron@ronemmons.com


Contact Ron
  • Blog
    • Introduction
  • Teaklord
    • Description and buying options
    • News of Teak Lord
    • The Making of a Book Cover
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 1
    • Tracking the Teak Lord 2
    • Review of Teak Lord
    • Teak Talk
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Periodicals >
      • A Culture Blossoms
      • Black, White and Blue
      • Deep in the Delta
      • Strange Town
      • Blissful Bloom
      • The Wonder of Water
      • Striking Signs
      • A Hike up Chiang Dao Mountain
      • Quirky Chiang Mai
      • Trailblazer
      • On the Road to Rio
    • Digital content
  • Portfolio
    • Searching for Shangri-La
    • Travel
    • Biography
    • Nature
    • Buddhism
    • Photography
    • Article List
  • Short Stories
    • Beyond the End of the Road
    • The Green Monkey's Tale
    • The Red Lion's Tale
    • Eruption in Ethiopia
    • First Flight
    • As Dawn Breaks over Choroni
    • The Hungry Eye
    • On Spirit Mountain
  • Biography
    • Ron's CV