Ponto de Vista

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At Kamakhya Debutter temple, a cat keeps an eye on two rock doves sheltering in a nook by a sculpture. Look in the bottom right for the birds.
The temple itself is imposing. I didn’t go in. The fast track entry (Rs. 100) was almost as long as the general (free) entry queue to enter the vestibule and visit with the Goddess Who Bleeds* was estimated at an hour and a half and I didn’t feel like paying Rs. 500 for super fast entry. I did see a monkey attack devotees and help himself to their food offerings though, as well as some atavistic goddesses in surrounding chambers. And this curious cat, ready to spring.

Sal trees reflected in a cast iron kadhai over a wood stove at Narmohan Das’ silk home-industry. The boiling water is going to be used to make dye from harad – a bitter dried seed pod used as a digestive in triphala and churan. Handwoven fabric is dipped into it, allowed to rest, and then hung up to dry. The resulting silk is a  beautifully muted charcoal gray – absolutely my favorite color.
#Assam #travel #handmade #handicrafts #India #silk #natural

Borrow

In the Grand Palace, Bangkok, a mysterious edict near the entryway. Whatever could they mean?

P.s. We saw perfectly marked ATM’s everywhere. Is this the rogue machine that calls a spade a spade? Is this the ‘rage against the machine’ machine?

Bhumisparsh

At the UNESCO heritage village of SukhoThai, the seated Buddha in bhoomisparsh mudra. Elegant, graceful, serene. Nina and I got there early is, on a scooter (with helmets, thank you very much) and explored much of the old ruins on foot. A lot of people had the same idea though. We saved the best for last and although it got hot, at least the crowds had thinned. We got a private audience with many Bodhisattvas and Buddhas.
The audio guide was useful, but the site map was confusing. And no one told us there was a separate entry fee for the other older park, but we snuck into a section of the old kilns anyway. I think two nights in the city were plenty, and we stayed in such a fantastic Ruen Thai hotel, made in the old Lanna style with solid teak, structured around a swimming pool. Great breakfast, helpful staff, free bicycles, sturdy tree furniture. And a bus stand pickup we somehow missed. Oh well. Still a superlative layover.

Humayun’s tomb, through lattice work in Bu Halima’s Gate. We’re developing an audio tour for Humayun’s Tomb and Nizammudin’s Dargah. Check it out at www.audiocompass.in.

In a soul-less mall in Singapore, we chanced upon this space where volunteers were asking passsersby to leave a message and a little bit of themselves behind through impromptu art made from colorful pipe cleaners. I made a flower (of course) with two different colored pipes but I was amazed at the imagination and skills of the other artsy-craftsy people who’d come before!

Even in white, there is color. This moulin (or mill) is maybe a few hundred years old, but could have formed overnight, too. And there are rich veins of blue, compacted ice exposed as the hole widens. Breathtaking.
(Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue, near Jökulsárlón, Iceland, October, 2013)

Sentinel near our hotel in Benares, this little chap kept his perch (and his profile angled away) regardless of who went past.