RIPping in Penang

I asked Dan, our driver in Penang, to take us to the local cemetery. As he was Chinese, he brought us to the Chinese cemetery. There had recently been a holiday honouring the dead, so many of the graves were festooned with blue and white flags and adorned with flowers and other honouring items. Dan was quite eager to point these out, guiding me to the enormous and very ornate grave of a wealthy couple, adorned with mythical creatures, statues of them and a wonderful view of the city before them. It really was quite spectacular, a deathstyle befitting their lifestyle. I took many photos.

As we were leaving and he got in the car, I asked for another moment – I wanted to look at the graves ‘over here.’  They were smaller, older, weedy and with an obstructed view. More my kind of place…

Mexican Cemetery II

Full of colour, relics and reminders, it’s a whole different take on ‘where you go’ after you die. In Mexico it’s rather like moving to a new address. You might even still get your mail…