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: 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

One word photo challenge: getting wet in Myanmar

While we were in Myanmar we were recommended to go to Pyin Oo Lwin which lies to the north of Mandalay. En route our driver stopped off at Pelk Chin Myaung holy cave complex. The extensive cave system is home to hundreds of Buddha statues but part of the attraction for the locals is the spring which rises inside the cave and then flows over the rocks outside providing endless photo opportunities of people getting wet or just enjoying a paddle.

A few shots taken inside the cave complex

don’t you just love the child’s protective headgear?

The day trip to Pyin Oo Lwin, recommended to us by a couple we’d met in Bagan and then met again on Lake Inle, was the best trip we took. At this cave complex there were very few other tourists and everyone said hello to us, asked us to take their photo or asked if they could have their photo taken with us! Obviously a fair number of them had never seen a European before and the photo opportunity was too good to miss. We were always happy to oblige and no one objected if I asked to take their photo.

What does ‘wet’ mean to you? See how other people interpreted it here

Travel theme: handmade gold leaf

The work of a gold beater is very hard. Each tiny piece of gold needs to be hammered for hours to achieve the required thin-ness. They can only work for a short time before having to take a rest.

The hammered sheets are then individually packaged ready for use – sometimes to be used in the making of the traditional lacquerware, sometimes to be sold in the temples where the faithful will apply the sheets to the statues of Buddha.

In some of the temples, Maha Muni for example in Mandalay, only the men may apply the gold leaf to the Buddha statues. Images of this are broadcast on big screens around the shrine. Lesser mortals like women and foreigners have to watch from afar.

Do handmade things appeal to you? Do you make a point of buying handmade things rather than mass-produced? Do you make things by hand yourself?

Sharing with Ailsa

DP weekly photo challenge: on the way

Like Michelle I always have a camera with me – I never know when photographic inspiration will strike and I like to be prepared.

Earlier this year we went to Myanmar. We to flew to Yangon and then on to Bagan. From there we took the proverbial slow boat to Mandalay. We flew from Mandalay to Heho to visit Lake Inle and then flew back to Mandalay. In between flights there were plenty of sights to see on the way:

arrival by boat at our hotel

Part of our trip involved staying on the lake Inle where we had to travel by long-tailed boat to get to our hotel. Apart from seeing other long tail boats, the local fishermen obligingly posed, balanced on one leg, for photos with their cone-shaped fishing nets

an unposed shot of the lake fishermen

monk transport

prawn cracker delivery

dragon fruit farm

irrigating a garlic field by hand using a shovel shaped tool to lift the water out of the channel and tip it over the young plants

a road construction worker

ricefields at Inle

most homes in the country seemed to have a couple of bullocks in the yard

winnowing grain

basket vendor in Heho

Do you shoot photos on the way or wait until you arrive at your destination?