Tag Archives: environmental portrait Gulangyu. “Drum Wave Islet”. Named for the sound that the waves make as they roll off the Taiwan Strait and hit the off-shore reefs and rocks, Gulangyu Island is a delightful place. Just a short ferry ride from downtown Xiamen, in the south east of the People’s Republic of China, it is a popular destination for local visitors. Gulangyu’s charming pedestrian-only streets are filled with traditional […]  The Masjid-i Jahān-Numā (the “World Reflecting Mosque”), situated in the heart of Old Delhi, is the largest and most important mosque in India. Built between 1644 (or 1650 – depending who you believe) and 1658, it was “the final architectural extravagance of Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort”. Situated on a small hill, […]  Names drop like musical notes – and me, once again, am caught without an umbrella… Apologies for the paraphrase, but when I envisioned dropping the names of some of the musical heavy-weights we had the good fortune to listen to at the Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014, I “saw” the names coming down like rain; like the tears in […]  Isn’t it funny how we experience a “kinship” with identities whose views and/or behaviour we admire? And, how we feel a “connection” with personalities whose faces are visible in the media or whose opus with which we are familiar? We “know” these people – even though they have no idea who we are. Music is so evocative […]  One of the pleasures of ground travel is the access you get to those places outside city centres. Ancient treasures and glimpses into the old ways of doing things can often be found just “off” the usual paths. The ancient Rajasthani village of Abhaneri is only a fifteen minute detour off the main Jaipur – Agra highway. Abhaneri is home to a ruined tenth-century temple […] |
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