Blog on Hawaii

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http://hawaii-travelogue.blogspot.com/

Color me!

 

Sunrise on the desert

We raced up the sand dunes to catch the sunrise, but it was cloudy. Could only see the sun after it was high up.

Rissani

This is the entrance to town of Rissani, which is the gateway to the desert.

Another Scene from the desert

Valli took this pic as we sipped mint tea from a cafe after a long, exhausting and eventful overnite journey to Rissani.

B/W pic

This is a B/W pic I obtained after some processing. I took this pic in the Paradise valley near the coastal town of Agadir.

Moroccan Paintings

As I wait for my simulations to run, its so easy to just go back to Morocco. Here's a pic of paintings sold on the streets of Marrakech. The paintings had a lot of warm colors, to be expected in a desert environment. However some paintings depicting the coastal town of Essaouria had lots of blue. Apparently all the houses there are white washed with a bluish tinge. I bought a medium sized painting with Bandits on the horses. The image of Bandits conquering the harsh desert climate held some fantasy. I was only later disappointed to learn that these depicted tamer version of things, namely horse races in the villages. Alas ! It was quite a task protecting the painting thru' our rough journey. Thankfully my conference bag did the job well. Now it hangs over my dresser.

Marrakech carpets

It feels good to be blogging again. I was looking through the pics (inevitably as an excuse of taking a break from research) and came upon this pic of carpets hanging on roof-tops in the central square (Djemma-el-efna) in Marrakech.

Revisiting the desert

I already broke my decision to end this blog. This is Valli's description of the Desert Storm.

" The wail of Berber song flows across the dunes, backed by the thunderous roar of the approaching sand storm which you can see in the background. We were a day into a desert trek in the Moroccan Sahara when we spotted that the sky was darker in one part. Our guide announces, in a voice so calm he might have been ordering tea, that there is a sand storm coming and probably a thunder storm too right after.

We start running but we are running with the storm. The wind fill our hearts like a sail and there is no fear, just sheer exhilaration. The guide begins to sing and suddenly you feel heartwrenching sadness but at the same time and more strongly, the utter, heart thudding joy of being alive. I have never before felt so much a part of this world. Everything is waiting for the storm to hit and the very air was holding its breath.

The throbbing tension before an approaching storm is undescribable with words, but theberber music defines it perfectly."

The journey's over, but the destination is nowhere in sight

Like all journeys even this came to an end and so should this blog. As I settled back at my predictable world, I realized that I would treasure the memories and decided to write this blog. I still have tons of photographs with me, but I believe in less is more. But the urge to revisit is strong and I might again post stuff here. But more importantly, the travel bug has caught on, and I plan to infect as many with it, as possible !

French countryside

We drove around the Quercy region stopping at random places to take pictures or even just to relax. Driving on narrow roads in steep hilly region was a challenge and it is no wonder that compact cars rule here.

Village of St. Cirq Lapopie

Cabrerets, near the Pech Merle caves.

Prehistoric Caves

We rented a car in Toulouse and drove around the countryside. The drive was pleasant. Although we missed an exit, we got to drive through narrow country roads. We ended up in remote charming villages and finally reached the caves of Pech Merle. Pech Merle has the largest collection of Prehistoric drawings, some dating back 25,000 B.P. Entry to the cave is limited to reduce the CO2 exposure. Photography is not allowed inside the caves, although you can take a look at the pictures at this link.
Pech Merle caves
We were awed by the huge stalactites and stalagmites in the caves. As the guide explained (in French) , we could figure out that he was conveying the aesthetic sense of the caveman. The paintings were everywhere including the ceiling and included human forms, bulls, mammoths, bear, handprints and even abstract art.

Backpacking in Paris

It is funny how my name showed up in an ad near Notredame, Paris.

 

Flowers in France