This is my world 2 Nov 2010

The rainy season seems to be finished and now we're into the cool clear days of winter. I'm back in my morning run/ walk routine and passed a neighbor's house. Their business is khao lahm, a confection made from sticky rice, black beans, sweetened coconut milk and shredded coconut - steamed in bamboo tubes. When the cooking is done, the vendors strip off the outer layer of the bamboo so when you buy it, you peel back the inner layer of bamboo to eat the sticky rice, which has been colored purple by the beans and is very sweet. Yum.

This is another view of the outdoor kitchen:

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My World

I've been doing some work and touristing in Nepal for the past three weeks. These are a few pictures of a hike around Dhulikhel. I last visited this town on the edge of the Kathmandu Valley and hiked to Namobuddha shrine and monastery in 1989. A lot has changed - but a lot remains the same.

From Nepal Mar - April 2010

Because of the general unrest in the country, I decided to hire the services of a guide. He was great. In addition to walking on trails which didn't follow the dusty main roads, he knew a lot about development and the education system in Nepal. He is the head of the school committee for the community managed school in his village. We had a lot to talk about.

Above: Prem on the stairway leading to the Kali temple.

The beginning of the hike went straight up the stairway to the temple. Once there, we had to walk carefully as the army had set up a camp around the temple, complete with razor wire and fortifications to protect the nearby cell phone tower.

That was certainly a big change. However, the fields and the labor of the farmers preparing their fields has not changed much.

From Nepal Mar - April 2010

View of Namobuddha Monastery from afar.

From Nepal Mar - April 2010

When I was there in 1989, there was only one building at the top of the hill, where a few old monks and nuns greeted us. Now, the monastery extends around the hilltop and on to the next hill. Several hundred monks are in residence and it's possible for foreigners to stay there and meditate. Next time...

From Nepal Mar - April 2010

Above - view of prayer flags from the top of the monastery.

From Nepal Mar - April 2010

View of the Namobuddha shrine, on a shoulder of the hill below the monastery. The story itself comes from the Jataka Tales, the 500 incarnations of the Lord Buddha before his rebirth. The tale of Namobuddha is from his last rebirth before his final re-birth. The Boddhisattva was walking near this place and came upon a starving tigress and her five kittens. He was so distressed to learn of her suffering that he gave up his own body for her and allowed them to kill him and consume his flesh.

The shrine allows people to think of his sacrifice and his loving kindness to care for all sentient beings.

That's My World!

Even in paradise, you have to clean and do laundry. I washed the slippers I offer for guests visiting my house since it's tradition to take your shoes off at the front door. It's been cool up north so it's been taking them a while to dry so I hung them on the metalwork of the window.

When I entered the room, I thought, "The shoes are dancing without me!" So here they are in flight:



This is my contribution to That's My World! where everyone plays tour guide for their part of the world.

That's my world! 31 March

A few shots of my life on this Tuesday. I woke up in Vientiane.



I took this picture before I started my morning run. This is a picture of one of teh Naga heads which will adorn the stairways leading into the new building housing the Buddha images. I wanted to get a shot of the workmen molding the images but they have eluded me.

So I set off on my three mile route. About halfway through, I saw this thundercloud lurking over Thailand on the other side of the Mekong.



I didn't think that it was coming in our direction so I trotted off on my regular route. Just as I was turning back, the storm hit and I had to stand on someone's porch until the rain slowed down a bit. It was just a bit surprising - it's been unusually dry at this time of the year so I'm glad for the rain.

Later on in the day - after a morning full of meetings, and finishing up odds and ends at work, I headed over to Thailand and took the overnight train to Bangkok. This was the scene at the Udorn Thani station.



The sleeper cars on the train are comfortable and not very expensive, so it's usually a nice ride to Bangkok. I kept waking up during the night though. Around midnight, I saw these people waiting at a train station.



I wondered where they were going at this hour of the night.

This is my contribution to That's My World.

Panoramas of my world

I enjoy fooling around with my camera settings and these past few days I've discovered photo-stitch, so now all my pictures are panoramas until I get tired of the novelty. I'm running around trying to take 4 - 5 - 6 pictures and more to make up a 360 view. However, the landscape starts getting a bit weird.

This street scene looks like it got stuck between two universes:



This one isn't so bad though check out the power lines:



The water in the Mekong looks like it's flowing uphill:



But it's fun. Have to keep practicing.

That's my world contribution for this week.

That's my World! Dry and Wet

The year is starting to propel us into the hot season. The fields are dry, the sky is obscured by dust. I took this picture of sugar palms in a very dry field near my house in Salavan. I walked into the field, behind someone's house and walked back and forth to get the angle right.

As I returned to the road, with its one-inch layer of dust, I heard a noise behind me. A woman came out of the house I had been standing behind. I guess she heard me and came out to see who it was. She looked shocked to see it was a foreigner!

Some of the fields are irrigated.



The fields in the front are not. Not all fields are irrigated, just enough to farm and to conserve water. Most of the small streams have dried up.

When the heat gets to be too much, we can stop by the Thad Lor waterfall.



That's my world, and my contribution to That's My World!

That's my World! On the road

I spent the day going from one place to another. Woke up in Vientiane, attended some meetings and flew to a project site. This was the scene at the airport in Vientiane. It's the only time I come even somewhat close to watching wrestling on TV.



I'm up in Xieng Khouang, taking around some new staff to meet the people we work with. So we ate out at the Sangna, one of the most popular of the twenty restaurants along the main drag.

This is posted for the photo meme That's My World!

My World Today in Vientiane

When I went out for lunch today, I saw this basket cart. Love baskets, and there are some beautiful ones here in Laos, especially those made from rattan.

For other pictures from around the world, check out That's My World!

The Morning Market in my World

In December, Laos is hosting the SE Asian games, with a variety of sports being offered all around the country. This clock is at the corner by the Morning Market in downtown Vientiane, counting off the days until the start of the games.

Just showing off a part of my world. For other places, go to That's My World!