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.

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travel theme: enlightened

Luang Prabang, Laos

whirling dervish, N. Cyprus

enlightened by sunrise in Yala park, Sri Lanka

enlightened in Austria’s Losium

A Vietnamese poem hat – you can only see the figures when the hat is held up to a light source

Hoi An lantern festival, Vietnam

young lantern sellers in Hoi An

awaiting the enlightenment of Angkor Wat at dawn

sunset at Bagan, Myanmar

Shwedagon pagoda at night, Myanmar

Did you illustrate Enlightened?

Travel theme: sound

Some years ago we visited a sound installation, called “Harmonic Fields” in Dorset. If/when the wind blew the various “instruments” suspended on wires were supposed to reverberate or make a sound. Unfortunately on the day we visited there was very little wind, but it was still beautiful to look at.

In Myanmar we saw one the largest bells ever cast, I can’t imagine what it might have sound like when struck. As you can see, most people feel the urge to bend down and creep inside the bell and then stand up and touch its interior. I love the girl standing behind my husband, just peeking out with a cheeky grin on her face.

These smaller bells, hung around the eaves of a temple in Thailand, were much easier to hear.

This is a print by a friend of mine entitled “bouche à l’oreille” which could be loosely translated as “gossip”

Find out what “sound” means to Ailsa and co.

weekly travel theme: gloss

some glossy images from our trip to Myanmar/Burma

glossy papier maché owls and other figures

looking a bit as if some of their gloss has been rubbed off

there’s definitely a high gloss on this Buddha figure

 

sharing glossy images with Ailsa & co.

one word photo challenge: balance

A fisherman poses with his fish trap on Lake Inle, Myanmar

these fishermen have developed an unusual method of steering their boats. They balance on one leg and, with the other leg wrapped around the oar, they paddle their boats

one of the many stilt houses balanced above the water

sharing with OWPC

travel theme: Buddha’s feet

Did you know that there are 108 distinguishing marks on the soles of the Buddha’s feet? I certainly didn’t and it took some research to track down what the meanings are. I have to admit that I don’t know if the interpretation varies in other Asian countries. These photos were taken in Myanmar.

Chaukhatgyi paya, Yangon

Shwethalyaung pagoda near Bago

posted in response to Ailsa dropping a ladder on her feet.

Travel theme: gleaming

Most of the countries we’ve visited in Asia go in for gilded decoration in a big way:
gleaming gold in Myanmar

the Shwezigon pagoda in Bagan, Myanmar

gold and white gleam in the golden temple in Amritsar, India

and white gleams at the white temple at Chiang Mai, Thailand

Thanks to Ailsa for this ‘gleaming’ challenge