Freak show

Oops, this is a bit similar to yesterday's post isn't it? Never mind. I'll try and avoid ranting this time.

So anyway, the kids in the photo are not the freaks in the title. I'm the freak, and they're enjoying the show. After university I spent a few months travelling through south-east Asia. Everywhere I went, the kids were fascinated by me. I'd walk through a village and I'd have hundreds of them following me, about ten paces behind. When I'd stop and look around, they'd all run off and hide, laughing their heads off. Sometimes, in bigger towns, the bolder boys would actually come right up to me and stare at the blond hair on my legs and arms. FREAK! Lovely kids though, you never seem to see surly or aggressive kids in these countries.

This photo was taken in Berastagi (also spelt Brestagi, Berestagi), a market town in northern Sumatra on the road from Medan to Lake Toba. I was walking from my 'losmen' (guest house) along the edge of town to climb a volcano. A couple of hours into the climb, near the top, I was overtaken by a little kid wearing flip-flops and balancing a huge bag on her head. Madness.

Details: Minolta X-500, 50mm lens, exposure not recorded. Berastagi, Sumatra, Spring 1992. Placemark.