Benny

Rubys etc

Go Kali!

Lach, Zepphyr, Rickshaw

Mendhi drumsticks

Osho by day

Osho by night

Ganesh attends a party with Natraj on the Bulgarian mat

Sunil teaching me Mendhi design

Yet another gorgeous sunset

Vase

1940s Indian posters

Beer Bar, Aurangabad

Blow Horn

Geoff, Gerbras.

Doorstep Rangoli for Diwali

Raheja Woods, Diwali

Watching the spectacle

Lyn, Diwali

Pink flecks, Diwali

Diwali

Diwali, Kalyani Nagar

Other photo essays from India: http://yellowambergris.wordpress.com/category/art/india/

The Ajanta Horseshoe

Ajanta Buddhist Caves - Interior

Reclining Buddha

Figure on roof

Fresco at Ajanta

Cow, Ellora Hindu Caves

Hayagriva God

Hindu Devi

Buddha, Ellora

Mahakali God

Ajanta

Los Elefantes del Templo Kailāsanātha

Buddha didn't seem to mind my translucent-white legs

LRW, Ellora

Durga

Ganesh & co.

Kailāsanātha Temple @ Ellora

Ellora

Fin

Bridge @ Kalyani Nagar

Wali-inspired advert

Traditional Wali painting

Cow, Kalyani Nagar

Dashboard, en route to Aurangabad

Feeding time for local elephant

Looking Back @ Kalyani Nagar

Pig, Kalyani Nagar River

Rickshaw Stand

Startings of a studio...

Previous weeks’ photo essays here: http://yellowambergris.wordpress.com/category/art/india/

Gerbras

Spanish Dinner Party

Indian Dinner Party

Dinner no. 4

Dinner no. 5

MG Road

Belly photography

Skyscape

Birds Eye View of Tennis Ball in Palm-frond

Dinner no. 7 (!)

Previous weeks photos: http://yellowambergris.wordpress.com/category/art/india/

Chai, Indian style

Mabu and the Staring Chef

Directions to Valley of The Flowers

Gorgeous fabrics, Ishanya

Rose and Watermelon Lassi

Gonza El Euskaldunak

Lachy, Valley of the Flowers

Indian Diet

Sunset from 11th floor, Pune

Controposto

Heel clickn' in the Valley... but where are the flowers?

Valley of the Flowers

Toilet stop approaching Syria

Early the next morning Hodge told me he was feeling slightly weird in the stomach. Strange, I was too. Not a good sign.

We had gorged at lunch in a local place, and so later had only eaten a small bar snack with our (compulsory) evening beer. The bar food must’ve been a bit dodgy… We decided to not have breakfast, just water, hopefully that would fix it, as we were meeting the taxi driver in the foyer at 7.30am, and heading north crossing the border to start our Syrian leg of the journey; 5 more exciting days in Damascus, Aleppo & Palmyra.

The border crossing was to be interesting as we didn’t prearrange Syrian visas. Several people had advised us several differing advices, (quite a common theme we were discovering), as so all we did know was that we didn’t know anything. The moral of the story is: get the visa before you go – it cost me 85USD to buy my right into Syria from the smurking official – (it said in the Lonely PLanet it would be about 6USD). And with simultaniously gurgling stomachs getting louder every minute, we just wanted to get outta there.

<<no images available (luckily)>>

A couple of hours later as we entered Damascus, our symptoms were worsening quick. We only saw the seemingly charming, alive city through the taxi window that trip, the next 36hours we took turns staring at and backing the porcelin bowl of our shared toilet, and moaning support across beds to each other in our crumby twin room, as we fell into a violent, violent, food-poisoned hell.

I will spare you the details, only saying, due to a series of good people, we managed to get an early flight back to Dubai the next day. We have been in recovery mode and after brief hospitalisation, antibiotics and bananas on toast, we are finally returning to life 8 days later.

A bummer of an end to out trip, but our spirits are still strong. Bedridden, I have been watching the news a lot, a devastating earthquake in Indonesia and tsunami in Samoa, and I guess it puts it all in perspective; we are very lucky.

——–

We get to Abdali Bus Station and catch a local minibus up to Jerash, known for it’s Ruins, an hour northwest of Amman. It’s a gorgeous day – desert hot already and it’s only 11. We wander through the well-preserved Roman city, marvelling at their techniques so long ago, and shading ourselves from the hot sun with a rain umbrella.

Oval Plaza, Jerash, built approx 50AD.

My favourite is the Temple of Artemis, (she was the goddess of hunting and fertility), with its columns so simply stacked, yet still so sturdy.

Artemis Temple