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Happy Holi! Celebrating the Festival of Colors in Goa
If you were in India today, chances are that you would now be sporting rainbow hues from head to toe, because today is Holi, the Festival of Colors. Holi is a Hindu celebration that welcomes spring and bids farewell to winter. Originally, Holi commemorated successful harvests. As we prepared to take on streams of colorful…
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Photo Du Jour: Street Art For Sale in Luang Prabang
With vivid strokes and vibrant hues, artists depict Buddha, saffron-clad monks, and shimmering banyan trees on delicate paper. This artwork can be found in Luang Prabang’s night market, as well as at stands set up along the town’s brick sidewalks. If you’re lucky, you might even spot the paper as it’s being made, drying in the…
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Stairway to Heaven: Hiking Through the Batad Rice Terraces in the Philippines
The Ifugao people carved the Batad Rice Terraces out of the Cordillera Mountains more than 2,000 years ago. Often cloaked in a mysterious fog, these magnificent rice paddies are located on the Philippine island of Luzon, about 470 km (290 miles) from Manila. Thanks to their grand scale and their amphitheater-like appearance, the terraces have…
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Photo Du Jour: A Tricycle Commute in Banaue, the Philippines
In the small town of Banaue, which is perched high in the Cordillera Mountains overlooking 2,000 year-old-rice terraces, a girl rides on the back of a tricycle. Tricycles are a popular form of public transportation in the Philippines. They’re the equivalent of a tuktuk (Thailand) or rickshaw (India).
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Vignettes From Phnom Penh’s Riverside
Carrying salmon and ivory-colored lotus blossom offerings, the Buddhist worshippers entered the crowded courtyard in front of a small temple along Phnom Penh’s riverside. Once inside, they left their spiritual contributions. The green, pink and white pile of offerings inside was apparently growing so vast that officials periodically tossed the decorated green coconuts and buds…
