sun temple in Konark (east coast)

This temple is from the 13th century and is a chariot carrying the sun god. One of the most interesting things about it is that it is covered in erotic sculptures, which seems like quite a diversion from this incredibly conservative culture... (In an effort to keep my blog clean, I did not post any photos of these sculptures, sorry to disappoint some of you.)


one of the chariot wheels


the top of the temple


elephant carvings

beyond kolkata...

enjoying ice cream with my indian friend


the shore of chlika lake, asia's largest brackish lagoon and host to millions of migratory birds and irrawaddy dolphins


a typical street scene

sights in kolkata

I am finally able to update some photos. Here are a few from Kolkata (Calcutta) and the beginning of my trip.


The back of a bus in Kolkata: "India is great" and "Danger" Intriguing!


the roles are reversed; the rickshaw driver took this ride with white knuckles


Victoria Monument: if it weren't built for a colonial queen it would have been one of India's best buildings

cows rule the streets

Spending any time in India will inevitably result in some quality time with cows. I have spent significant time in places where cows wander the streets freely, but until yesterday, never turned around to find myself staring straight into the eyes of a bull walking down the street, not caring what was in its way (would you if you were a bull?). It was harmless, but still gave me a small adrenaline rush.

Then today while in a rickshaw, several cows were literally laying in the middle of the road with a whirl of activity surrounding them: cyclists, rickshaws, cars and buses. They didn't mind at all, nor did they budge. Later, in another rickshaw, we passed a dead cow lying in the street. Someone covered it with a cloth, people had placed money on the cloth as an offering, and our rickshaw driver crossed himself as we passed it. Fascinating.


this cow parked itself like a bike/motorcycle

Indian wedding

The Hindu wedding did not disappoint. It was an amazing evening of colors, smells, tastes, and sounds (much like India so far). Most women wore the most gorgeous sarees (sari) out of amazing silk, including most of us visiting from the states. The ceremony itself was very interesting and performed in Sanskrit. The first part consisted of a ceremony between Sourav, the groom, and his new father-in-law. Then there was a part with just Sourav, followed by Mary, the bride, entering and circling him several times with her face covered. Afterwards, Sourav, Mary, her dad, and the priest sat down and performed some more rituals, including lighting a fire, then extinguishing it. It was all fascinating.

I'll post more photos of Kolkata (Calcutta) itself soon.

musicians at the wedding
all the U.S. attendees

the last latin american ruins for a while...

a tower in the palace at Palenque, my favorite ruins so far (well, in this part of latin america)

a view from one of the temples

a view inside the palace

more tropical flowers - this one is at my hostel on isla mujeres

one of my favorite flowers throughout central america; i never saw it when i was able to take a photo (always on the side of the road when i was on a bus) and now the one i have is blurry. oh well, i'll take what i can get!

waterfalls

me at a waterfall called agua azul (blue water)

a view from above

this doesn't do the blue justice...

another waterfall, not sure what it's called

the view from behind the waterfall