Category Archives: Pictures

The Great Ocean Road, Victoria

by ladina

We had hardly put our feet on the Australian continent when we set out to discover one of the most impressive coastlines in the world: the Great Ocean Road. Built in the 1920s, this world-famous road runs along the wild ocean in the south-west of Victoria. During our roadtrip together with my aunt and uncle, though the weather was definitely not postcardlike, I felt that the clouds, the wind and the rain actually showed the force of nature: its domination was immensely present. After all, those elements — together with the constant coming and going of the waves — shaped the cliffs and rocks over thousands of years to the stunning form they have today.

Standing near the edge of a precipice, surrounded by this powerful nature, I was overwhelmed by the vehemence and beauty of our planet.

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Tropical bliss in Goa

by jose

Since the last time I was in Goa, three years ago (already!), I only wanted to come back; and deep in the cold of the Himalayan mountains, a few days before entering India again, I thought of Goa to cheer me up. Not of the Taj Mahal, not of the Indian food, not of the bright, colorful, ever-joyous and crazily chaotic Indian culture. I thought of Goa.

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Mumbai & Ellora

by jose

Ladina put down her whip, took off her hat and wiped the sweat off her brow. We had just escaped a deadly arrow trap followed by swinging axes when we had stumbled upon a long gallery. Astonished by our discovery, we slowly made our way along the walls, using our torch to bring light to ancient, crumbling bas-reliefs depicting what seemed to be forgotten gods in scenes of daily life: battling demons, wrenching entrails out of an agonizing enemy, or sometimes simply lifting mountains above their heads.

“I think we would better appreciate all of this if we had some historical context, or better still, theological explanations.”

“Let me get the Lonely Planet out”

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Rajasthan

by jose

Although it is seldom mentioned in Western education, India has a millenary-old history going back to the earliest stages of Antiquity, full of the drama of warring kingdoms and crumbling empires, mighty Maharajas and decadent peoples. In particular, almost the whole subcontinent of India was united under the banner of the great Mughal empire from the 16th to the 18th century, after years of conquest and military supremacy of the Muslim armies. The Mughal emperors would leave a lasting trace of their glory in History, with Shah Jahan having erected the Taj Mahal, and the mighty Akbar being still today revered as both a skillful general and a wise ruler.

It is thus unsurprising that so much of their passage could remain visible today, all across the state of Rajasthan. Immense (as well as impregnable!) forts dot the countryside, while majestic and luxurious palaces sometimes emerge at the most unexpected locations.

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The Taj Mahal

by jose

This picture has no originality whatsoever, since it is arguably the most famous sight of the whole India: the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum Shah Jahan built to mourn the death of his beloved (third) wife Mumtaz Mahal, is a wonder. There is no other word.

But I felt no shame in taking it, a few million times after the first photographer entered the Taj grounds, and I feel no shame in publishing it here either. Firstly, because its staggering beauty, even clouded in the mist of a wintry morning, is well worth taking my hat off to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and the architects who designed such a marvel, by rendering it as they envisionned. And, secondly, well, because no photograph can give the Taj Mahal justice anyway.

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Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

by ladina

Our arrival in India was not an easy one. Even for us veteran travellers, the first few days within the borders of the subcontinent constituted a challenge; and we dived directly into all of it, as we chose the overwhelming city of Varanasi, one of Hinduism’s holy cities, as our first destination. More than in any other country we have visited so far — and I daresay it will not get any bigger than India — the roads were crowded with people and animals, the scents ranged from the heavenly spices of a hot chai to the disgusting excrements of animals, the streets were flooded with waste and vendors permanently insisted in selling us their goods. The intensity of all those impressions and, especially, the poverty of the many, many people in the streets made me feel quite uncomfortable at the beginning. How would I cope with all this for almost two months?

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