Category Archives: Portraits

Monks, Nuns and a Monastic Life: Mahagandayon Monastery and Sagaing Hill, Myanmar

It is a different world… Temples and monasteries are an integral part of life in Myanmar. They accommodate about half a million males, who are either vocational monks or novices, and around 50,000 nuns. That is: roughly one percent of the population actually lives in one of the many monasteries or nunneries, completely dependent on the laity for all their…

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Singin’ the Blues ~ Byron Bay Bluesfest, Australia

Got your gumboots? Got a raincoat, plenty of water, a folding chair and/or an inexhaustible supply of energy? The Byron Bay Blues and Root Festival is the place to be on an Easter (Autumn) weekend in Australia. There is nothing like music to lift your spirits. Add good company and wholesome food, and you have an unbeatable…

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Life in the Temples (Times Three) ~ Mandalay, Myanmar

Temples in Southeast Asia are living places. This is certainly true in Myanmar. The many Buddhist temples I visited there were architecturally beautiful – and different, with no two exactly the same. But what I generally find more interesting is the life – both sacred and secular – within and around them. On my first afternoon in Mandalay,…

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“Something precious, something wild.” Potoroo Palace Animal Sanctuary

Where can you go when you have overseas visitors and a new camera lens that needs trying out? What could be better than a native Australian animal sanctuary! Luckily for us, we have one right in our neighbourhood. The quaintly named “Potoroo Palace” is set off the Princes Highway, not far from Pambula and Merimbula on…

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Light the Way ~ Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, Naung Shwae, Myanmar

The end of another year is fast approaching. In preparation, I’m packing a bag for my escape to Australia’s Snowy Mountains. For while many regard New Year’s Eve as a time for noise-makers, fireworks, and drunken revelry, I prefer to use the time to take stock of the year past and to sketch out tentative…

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