Old man and a monk

Badami, Karnataka

Luang Prabang, Laos

Many colours

The town walls. Hoi An.

High heeled bikers

Hanoi is, of course, over run by motorbikes and one large sub segment of those bikers are women, navigating the narrow streets and crazy traffic of the city, perfectly styled and in their high heeled shoes. I am one of those klutzy people who feel out of their depth just trying to walk straight in heels, so imagining someone controlling a bike and navigating one of the craziest cities in the world in them is mind boggling to say the least. Yet everywhere I looked, I saw these women. Absolutely perfectly put together, completely graceful, going about their business in the most no nonsense manner possible. It may be a small thing, but it caused me great amazement and a certain admiration.

Faces in stone

Bali, Indonesia

Stone carvings and sculptures in Bali are omnipresent. The weird, familiar (and sometimes, not so familiar) creatures from Hindu mythology quietly watch over every street corner, every garden, every road and of course, every temple. The grey volcanic stone used to sculpt in Bali ages fast and ends up covered in moss even faster - the hints of green made everything seem musty, strangely beautiful and even the new often indeterminately old.

Colour again

Door-side sight. Hoi An, Vietnam

Monks in monochrome.

Monk and dog - watching over the road below. Luang Prabang, Laos.

Studying for the exams. Luang Prabang, Laos.

Verde (II)

The Bali version.

Verde (I)

Verde que te quiero verde.

Green, how I want you green.

This Lorca line (first read over at Verbal Privilege) was a constant refrain during my time in the Vietnamese countryside (and later in Bali, photos to follow). The photos here were taken in Ninh Binh

A line of saffron

Luang Prabang, Laos

Hands and feet

Both photographs taken at Sukhothai, Thailand.

Vietnam Snapshots

Yellow hued lantern seller. Hoi An.

Boat conversations. Tam Coc.

Hello, Goodbye. Hoa Lu.

A touch of French. Hanoi.

A green door, what else?*

Hanoi, Vietnam

For BM and Veena, who came back from a jealousy inducing Silk Road trip bearing gifts of lovely green doors**. Spacebar, who shared a picture of a rather special door, albeit a blue one. ?!!, who is already claiming a 5% commission on any book on green doors/ windows I come out with. And for everyone else also, of course. I took many pictures of green doors and windows in Hanoi - they were everywhere, but this is my favourite. It even has a green bicycle. And those red flags, a very apt reminder of the (semi) red country it was taken in.

* Technically, a green window. But since I have already identified myself as a green door fetishist, I'll go on with that terminology.

** And also the image of Daniel Day Lewis in terracotta warrior headgear. Very hot.

Monks. Painting.

Luang Prabang, Laos

Monks are calming, are they not? I think it's the robes.

Roadside Roses

This sight in Hanoi reminded me of this particular photo, one I really like, by Twilight Fairy. The unmanned roses in the midst of the chaos of the old town were a lovely and surreal sight.

Hanoi Blues

Hanoi is an assault on the senses. I spent a few hours here at the begining of the Vietnam leg of the trip while waiting for the night train to Danang but I didn't hit me as much then - maybe because things quiten down in the evening. But I think its mostly that I am making my way here after spending the last couple of days in Ninh Binh, which have to count as the most amazing, beautiful and peaceful I have had on the trip so far.

I wasn't even staying in the town - more like ten kilometers outside of it with the most amazing landscape outside - rice paddies galore with lime stone karsts abounding in the background. I saw more shades of green than I could care to name. I went motorbiking one day - my adorable motorbike driver spoke no English and I had to use more French than I have in years, but he was lovely and utterly amused that I wanted to stop everywhere to take pictures - I didn't take nearly enough (some three hundred or so), mostly because after a while it just seemed pointless and photos just couldn't capture anything, really. We made our way through back alleys of villages, riding on the soil boundaries that demarcate the paddy fields, to ponds where people were fishing for escargots. It was bliss. I didn't see another tourist for miles, I was the only one staying at my guesthouse and the only sounds I heard apart from the patter of rain and the rustle of the rice fields, were of the ocassional motorbike.

And now Hanoi is just noise and chaos and full of touts and American accents. I think I just need time to recover and I might like it, but if I could I would be on the next bus back.

Dispatch

Wat Si Saket, Vientiane

Lovely as Vietnam is, I miss Laos terribly. I adored the place and the people and was lucky to have some wonderful traveling companions who I met on the road (though that has been true of Vietnam too).

Am exhausted as I write this, having spent the day on a motorbike visiting old tombs and rice fields around Hue, now waiting for my pick up for an over night bus ride. Only another five days of traveling left.

In other news, happiness abounds - I got through Michigan, Ann Arbor (with a fellowship! Though it sadly doesn't cover all my expenses) and also Harvard (first without any funding, but now apparently they are offering me some, though its very minimal). All things considered I think I would still go to London, though my family is having a collective heart attack that I would even consider (gasp!) rejecting Harvard. Let's see - but London >>>>> Boston!

Golden Fingers

Sukhothai, Thailand

On the road

Writing from Ayuthaya - via Bangkok - after an exhausting and very hot day. Have taken a tonne of photographs already - another 22 days to go.

Melaka Snapshots

Upcoming travels

I had mentioned earlier that I might be going to Chennai for - well that's not happening. Instead more interesting things are. I think I will be traveling a lot next month - well actually it's kicking off from this weekend itself - I am going here. Next weekend I am going to Thailand and from there Laos (though still working that out) and then after probably Vietnam and Indonesia, again.

Hapiness.

Speaking of Thailand, I never did put up very many pictures from my visit to Bangkok last year. Some here. And well, with some more to come hopefully.