Travel theme: flavour

I have been lucky enough to travel to lots of interesting places and have tasted some wonderful (and not so wonderful) food.

a roadside food vendor in India

food catering on an industrial scale for the many pilgrims visiting the golden temple of Amritsar

freshly squeezed orange juice on sale in India

snake gourds in Sri Lanka

my birthday cake, Thai style

the “strained through an old sock” method of making fresh coffee in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Get your taste buds salivating courtesy of Ailsa’s post on the subject of flavour

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travel theme: hills

Does this count as a hill or a mountain? Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

tea plantations in the hill country around Kandy, Sri Lanka

Sagaing hill, near Mandalay, Myanmar. The entire hillside is covered with Buddhist temples and gilded stupas

early morning in Provence

shafts of sunlight pouring down the hills in Northern Cyprus

view from St Hilarion castle, Northern Cyprus

view of Kyrenia/Girne harbour with hills behind, Northern Cyprus

Ailsa’s inspirational “hill”s are here, along with links to many others.

travel theme: refreshing

water buffalo taking a refreshing dip in the sea

the elephants at the Pinnewala sanctuary in Sri Lanka get a daily dip too

a walk on the beach will blow a few cobwebs away

iced coffee on the beach

maybe you’d prefer a hot cup of Java

Luang Prabang

the sight of a field of red poppies is always uplifting

as is watching the dancers at a local folk festival

What refreshes you? Is it the sight/sound of water in some form? Is it a drink? a change of scenery?

sharing Ailsa’s travel theme

travel theme: masks

Venetian carnival masks for sale in Strasbourg’s Christmas market

Balinese mask

mask maker at the Ambalangoda mask museum, Sri Lanka

Eastern European masks used in festivals

theatre masks

this is a neutral mask

a mask without a face behind it

a mask with a face behind it

sharing “masks” with Ailsa and others.

Travel theme: move

the geese are more interested in moving than the swans which are only interested in hanging around because it’s nearly feeding time – Abbotsbury, UK

the dance of fire

on the move in Sri Lanka

old-fashioned train travel, also in Sri Lanka

sharing with Ailsa

Travel theme: hats

Hats in Luxembourg’s Street Art Animation festival

hat made out of a water lily leaf in Sri Lanka

girl making a “poem” hat in Hue, Vietnam. Called “poem” hats because when they are held up to the light you can see a picture in the hat

these very young boys and girls are about to undergo the initiation ceremony to become monks and nuns at Ananda Paya, Bagan, Myanmar

woman in tribal headgear, Myanmar

Sharing with other hat lovers and Ailsa

Daily Post: achievement in Sri Lanka

One of the sites that I really wanted to visit when we went to Sri Lanka was Sigiyria, home of the famous cloud maiden frescoes.

Appropriately enough, this is the home of the Cloud Maidens

The approach is innocent enough

but then you have to climb the cliff

don’t look down

better still, don’t look up either because this is what you are climbing up

so far so good, here are the cloud maidens but you haven’t reached the summit yet

a rare photo of the two of us

you have to go down a section of rickety-looking staircase to get to the next section

past the mirror wall

with the rock face towering above you

then out on to the plateau of the lions paws

before the final ascent

with spectacular views, albeit a bit misty, from the top

it’s hard to imagine that people actually lived at the top and had to carry all their supplies up

I have to say that the climb was daunting – not for the faint-hearted or the infirm and my husband declined to accompany me all the way to the top. However, I’m glad I made it.

What form did your achievement take?