Throwback Thursday – How a good luck symbol became one of terror.
“… it remains a symbol of auspiciousness – which sometimes leads to jarring images like this …”
Travel Thursday – A ‘back-breaking’ bridge in Vietnam’s Hoi An
A monster that causes earthquakes across Asia, a bridge the snaps the back of the mythical creature, a temple to say sorry, and a covered walkway to bring together two cultures – Hoi An’s Japanese Bridge has it all! Hoi An is in the centre of Vietnam – in the Quang Nam province – it was, for…
Travel Pics Theme: T for Temples. What a Champ(a)!
Strictly speaking, this is detail from a Group G (Temple mountain style) Champa temple at My Son, in Vietnam. But that’s gobbledygook – so perhaps I had best explain. In the My Son area of central Vietnam, there are a series of temples and other structures – the last remnants of the Champa people,…
Travel Pics Theme: T for Temples. Fiji’s Hindu Temple
The Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple is in Nadi, Fiji – and it is, like many Hindu temples, a continuous work-in-progress. The ceilings inside are covered in murals depicting adventures of the gods and scenes from the vedas – and as soon as the ceiling is covered, a section is whitewashed and a new mural is…
Travel Pics Theme: T for Temples. How a Sanskrit symbol became an emblem of horror
The word ‘swastika’ apparently comes from the Sanskrit “svastika” which translates roughly as “good fortune”. It’s been a symbol of luck and prosperity in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism for centuries – in fact, its first use predates all those religions by millenia – going back 11-thousand tears or more. But it’s also been used in Europe for…
Travel Pics Theme: Q for Quotations. Pulling the strings.
“I wonder if one day that you’ll say that you care? If you say you love me madly, I’ll gladly be there like a puppet on a string.” Puppet shows are common the world over – and for those of us in the west, whether its the traditional Punch and Judy show, or something more modern…
Travel Pics Theme: G for Gardens. Hoi An Market Gardens
This week, our Travel pics series is G for Gardens. Here in Australia, as in the US and other industrialised nations, agriculture has been industrialised – we have massive combine harvesters and air-conditioned tractors and giant insect-like cane cutters, and tea-picking machines that replace dozens of workers, and … well, you get the idea. While there…
Travel Pics Theme: Y for You should see the view
The theme letter for our travel pics this week is Y – for You should see the view! For Wednesday, we are at My Son, near Hoi An in central Vietnam. My Son was built by the Cham people, who ruled Central Vietnam from about 200AD to 1700AD – the area was finally annexed by the Vietnamese…
Travel Pics Theme: V for Vietnam
The theme letter for our travel pics this week is V, for Vietnam. For Wednesday of this week, lets go shopping! Here you can see the heads of a group of Aussie tourists, as we get set to head into the Hoi An markets. The Hoi An central markets are regarded as one of the…
Travel Pics Theme: V for Vietnam
The theme letter for our travel pics this week is V, for Vietnam. For Saturday, we head to the middle of the country, and the city of Hoi An. This historic city was initially a harbour for the Cham people – who ruled the coast of central and southern Vietnam for about 1500 years, until…
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