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.

Cee’s fun foto challenge: feathers

peacock feathers in Malaysia

a feather duster seller in Bangkok

birds of a feather in Singapore’s Jurong bird park

the new hairdo

fifty shades of pink

the aptly named ‘superb’ starling

“shake a tail feather, baby”

Cee’s fun foto challenge

travel theme: pastel

Sometimes ones eyes need a rest from the garish colours that surround us. Pastel shades have always been restful. Here are some of my pastel photos:

pastel shades in Köln (Cologne), Germany

London

a Christmas rose flower (hellebore)

water lilies for sale in a temple in Myanmar

cherry blossom

lotus blossom bud with grasshopper

Do you prefer pastels to brights? Take a look at some more here.

Travel theme: plants

Travelling as much as I do, I’ve seen a fair few plants in my time. Here are some of the more unusual/spectacular ones I’ve come across

parrot plant

pitcher plant

angels wing plant

sea pandan

Napoleon’s button tree

sharing with Ailsa and other plant lovers

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: flutter

olive backed sunbirds, photographed a few days before they flew the nest

Sri Lankan paper cut

the flutter of an Indian dancer’s costume

Balinese temple pennants flutter in the breeze

sharing with Ailsa’s flutterings

travel theme: routine

Ailsa’s theme this week is ‘routine‘.

Noun

routine ‎(plural routines)

1. A course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure.
2. A set of normal procedures, often performed mechanically.  
   
3. A set piece of an entertainer‘s act.

 

watching the world go by

carrying building materials up the steep hills of McLeodanj, N. India, is daily routine for these pack animals

preparing to feed the thousands of pilgrims who flock to Amritsar’s golden temple every day

every day the Indians and Pakistanis go through an elaborate ceremony, watched by thousands, of opening and closing the border between the 2 countries

bathing one’s water buffalo in the sea in Thailand

Do you have a favourite or hated routine?

travel theme: fruit

fruit offerings in Bali

strange fruit found in Thailand

“custard pie” fruit found in Thailand

fruit sellers in Hanoi

fresh orange juice sellers in India

mango and sticky rice as prepared at cookery school in Cambodia

sharing with Ailsa

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

photo a week challenge: tilted in Thailand

Some people hate photos taken on a slant but sometimes they can cast an entirely new perspective on a scene.

Do you tilt towards the tilted or do you only operate on a strictly horizontal or vertical plane?

Share your tilted photos here.