The Secret to Good Travel: it's not about what you SEE, it's all about how you FEEL!

School Girls
Bhaktapur, Nepal - 2009

Preparing for a trip is fun; it's exhilarating to anticipate the thrill of being in a totally different physical environment, observing a totally different way of life. It allows us to step outside ourselves and our daily routines to gain a wider perspective on our lives and the amazing possibilities that stretch out before us. And it's that same wonderful feeling that we all work so hard to retain after our journeys are over and we are on our way home.

Trips are often scheduled around all the places we want to see - the Himalayas, the Piazza San Marco, the Potala Palace, the Uffizi Gallery, Machu Picchu. The list is endless.  However, when we head home and think back on some of the special moments we experienced, it's often the human stories unfolding before us that make the lasting impressions.

Without the crutch of language we learn to communicate with our faces and hands.  We express emotions more clearly with our bodies, without relying on words. I marvel at how universally welcoming a smile can be, how a shared laugh immediately bridges the gap between continents, and how we are all so effortlessly capable of spontaneous acts of kindness and generosity.

So this post is a tribute to all the wonderful people who have embraced me on my many trips. Rather than turn away from my camera, they've smiled into it and invited me, a total stranger, to share in that particular moment of their lives. And I seem to remember exactly where I was, and what I was thinking and feeling when I took every one of these photographs.

Proud Grandfather
Bungamati, Nepal - 2009

Pilgrims Crossing the Yarlung River to the Samye Monastery
Yarlung River Valley, Tibet - 2009

Family Outing to the Taj Mahal
Agra, India - 2007

Boy and His Bicycle
Village outside Lhasa, Tibet - 2009

Smiling Sadhu at Pashupatinath
Kathmandu, Nepal - 2007

Woman with Spindle
Zedang, Tibet - 2009

Smiling Monk in Doorway at the Temple of the Divine Madman
Wangdu, Bhutan - 2009

None of these photographs were staged, though I did ask if I could snap a photo just before I put the camera up to my eye.  Happily, they all agreed. 

Some of these photographs are included in a desk calendar titled "Himalayan Encounter", which you can find at my etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/82102104/2012-desk-calendar-himalayan-encounters. All of the images posted here are also available for purchase as 8x10 and 5x7 fine art prints and A2 size greeting cards (all printed on archival water color paper) at http://DigitalYak.etsy.com/. Be sure to send me a message if there is something you'd like that you don't see listed, or if you'd like a custom size or item, as I truly enjoy creating one of a kind items that hold special meaning. Thanks!!

Pilgrims of Tibet: Portraits of Unwavering Faith and Purpose

Tibet is one of those rare places where religion, faith and everyday life are one.  Religion is woven into the tapestry of Tibetan life, and everywhere you go, you meet pilgrims.  From all over Tibet they come with prayer wheels in hand, to flock to holy sites like the Jokang Temple in Lhasa, the Samye Monastery in the Yarlung River Valley,  the Tashilunpho complex in Shigatse, and Mount Kailash in western Tibet.

Mid-day Prayers
Barkhor Square in front of the Jokang Temple in Lhasa

Before paying their respects within the temple, pilgrims will undertake a "kora" - the clockwise circumambulation - of the site.  Particularly devout pilgrims will not just walk, but add a prostration between their steps.  A kora (without prostrations) around the Jokang Temple can be accomplished within an hour, but the 30 mile kora around Mount Kailash, at heights of 16,000 ft - 18,500 ft will take Tibetan pilgrims a very long day (the rest of us sea level dwellers will need three days).

One cannot help but admire these pilgrims who are so resolute and resilient.  The clarity of their purpose and the depth of their belief are etched on their faces.

Prayer
Barkhor Square in front of the Jokang Temple in Lhasa

Contemplation
Yarlung River en route to Samye Monastery

Time for Talk
Yarlung River en route to Samye Monastery

Time to Rest
en route to Yungbulakang Palace

All Smiles
Yarlung River en route to Samye Monastery

Friends
Sitting together for a photograph before saying our goodbyes...
Returning from Samye Monastery

All of the images posted here are available for purchase as 8x10 and 5x7 fine art prints and A2 size greeting cards (all printed on archival water color paper) at http://DigitalYak.etsy.com/.  Be sure to send me a message if there is something you'd like that you don't see listed, or if you'd like a custom size or item, as I truly enjoy creating one of a kind items that hold special meaning. Thanks!!

Tafoni: Architecture by Nature

To be surrounded by tafoni is to be transported to another world...a cavernous labyrinthine world where one loses all sense of scale and space and time.

This series of tafoni photographs was taken just north of Santa Cruz, California on the San Mateo Coast. The geomorphology of the area is so strikingly similar to Point Lobos (which is sixty miles to the south), that geologists actually believe that this stretch of coast sheared off from Point Lobos several million years ago, and that it has been transported northward along the San Gregorio fault to its current location (and that it is moving still!).

In his book, Introduction to California's Beaches and Coast, Gary Griggs writes:

"Tafoni seem to start as shallow pits, although why and when they start is not well understood. In some cases, the pits may form due to differences in the distribution of mineral grains or structural weaknesses within the rock that allow salt water, or the salt that crystallizes from the water, to etch, dissolve,or begin to break down small circular sections of rock. This process continues slowly over time as the pits deepen, expand and eventually coalesce. Tafoni continues to be a curiosity whenever we find it and stimulates even non-scientists to ponder on its origin."

While the science of tafoni formation may be complex, there is no doubt that it makes for a most fascinating tactile landscape that totally captures your imagination and begs to be experienced and explored.

All of the images posted here are available for purchase as 8x10 and 5x7 fine art prints and A2 size greeting cards (all printed on archival water color paper) at http://DigitalYak.etsy.com/.  Be sure to send me a message if there is something you'd like that you don't see listed, or if you'd like a custom size or item, as I truly enjoy creating one of a kind items that hold special meaning. Thanks!!