Archive for Pictures
George Town Festival Pictures
Posted by: | CommentsPictures from George Town Festival, Penang, Malaysia
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Armenian Street during the George Town Festival 7 July 2010. Note the Festival banner on the lampost.
The Chea Si Hock Haw Kong Kongsi Chinese Clan Temple was opened to the public. On the right are Funeral Memorial Plaques placed behind the alter
Cheong Fatt Tze was one of the most successful and wealthy merchants in South East Asia. He had mansions in Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Melaka as well as this one in Penang.
Lion Dancers drew huge crowds to watch their acrobatic performances.
Malay Heritage Cultural Dance Performers relaxing between shows
Chinese Opera performed in the streets of George Town
Amongst the many craft demonstrations and stalls was stone painting, left, and wood carving, right. The craftsman is holding a pair of toast tongs he made from reclaimed orange boxes.
Long Lamai Pictures
Posted by: | CommentsPicture of Long Lamai, Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia.
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Twin Otter skimming over the jungle to land at the Long Banga Airstrip in the Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak.
Our Twin Otter plane at Miri Airport. There were no allocated seats. So the six passengers had the choice of the nineteen available seats. Sitting up front there was a view through the cockpit window as well as the side windows.
We walked up the rocks on the side of the river whilst the boatmen pushed and dragged the boat up the rapids. Coming back down was much quicker as the boat shot down this section of the river.
There were intervals of gentle water where we glided under spreading trees with creepers and liana’s caressing the brown river.
Penan hunter returns with long blow pipe over his shoulder. The blow pipe has a spear head lashed to the front as a defence against wounded wild boar and for finishing off the animal. The hunter also carries a broad blade knife for cutting trails.
Wilson, the headman, holds a haunch of barking deer bought from the hunters. Gerit a village elder demonstrates how to make blow pipes. A stave of hard wood is locked in a vertical jig and a long mental augur is used to drill out the hole. The augur is also fixed in the jig to ensure the hole is perfectly aligned.
Margaret following a jungle trail. Allan examining the tree where the sap is tapped for the poison tips of the blowpipe darts. The community are marking out walking trails for visitors and tourists.
The Penan people are skilled at woodcarving and producing ratan baskets from jungle resources. All of the back baskets used by the community are produced locally. The black dye on the ratan baskets is produced by boiling rambutan skins.
The Penan Mouth Harp, left, is made from a sliver of bamboo. On the right, the Penan nose flute is difficult to play but produces haunting melodies that we enjoyed into the evening.
Families live in linked wooden houses with a communal balcony for chatting, community gatherings and enjoying music and dancing. The General Store is also located within the Longhouse.
The school was modern and well equipped with clean toilets and dinning facilities. The twelve teachers lived in modern wooden bungalows with 24hr electricity supplied from a 20MW diesel generator.
The Government, with 10% support from the Government of Japan, had recently financed a new solar powered Telecentre. The project was managed by the University of Malaysia Sarawak UNIMAS. The children enjoyed using the internet for Facebook and computer games whilst the adults used Google to explore religious themes.
Allan writing reports with views of Longhouses behind.
Delhi Roundup Pictures
Posted by: | CommentsPictures of Delhi, India
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We loved to visit Humayun’s Tomb and spend a day strolling in the gardens.
Humayun’s Tomb, built by his widow, is a beautiful well proportioned and well maintained building set in park land with other interesting tombs.
Although getting far fewer visitors than the other Delhi monuments we always liked being at Safjardung’s Tomb to enjoy the peace and quiet,
Although Safjardung’s Tomb has similar proportions to the Taj Mahal without being clad in white marble the building is less impressive.
Lodi Gardens is a large peaceful park right in the centre of Delhi. In spring it is a riot of colour, the flower beds setting off the tombs of the Lodi Kings which are dotted around the park.
The New and Old. The Habitat Centre on the left is a new complex housing restaurants, theatres, art galleries and office. It is the focus of many arts and culture events in New Delhi. By contrast Purana Quila is one of the oldest forts in Delhi and thought to be one of the sites of the earliest Delhi settlements. Today its ramparts are the setting for traditional Indian dance performances and other cultural events.
Chandni Chowk is in the heart of Old Delhi. The narrow lanes and tightly packed markets are full of thousands of busy bustling shoppers at festival times.
The colour and excitement of the Chandni Chowk alleyways were infectious. We visited this area often to shop and just to mingle.
No visit to Chandni Chowk was complete without a cup of hot sweet chai. The best Chai Wallahs added a pinch of spices from their trouser pockets.
Chandni Chowk swarms around the sides of the huge Jama Masjid, the biggest and most important Mosque in Delhi, From the minarets the view of Old Delhi is spectacular.
Across a busy road from the Jama Masjid sits the impossing mass of the Red Fort, an icon of Old Delhi.
The Red Fort contains many interesting historical buildings dating back to the Mogul Emperors. Some have been converted into pleasant cafes where visitors can relax during their visit to the complex.
New Delhi is dominated by stately Secretariat Buildings and the Presidential Palace at the upper end of Raj Path. The Raj Path ceremonial boulevard links India Gate.
India Gate, the memorial to Indian war dead
Towering over the commuters and metro lines the huge Karol Bagh temple is the focus of many Hindu festivals.
Surrounded by lovely gardens full of picknicing Indians Qutb Minar soars to comemorate ancient battles to establish the dominance of Delhi
In the grounds of the Qtub Minar complex is an ancient iron pillar which has not rusted over the hundreds of years it has stood there.























































