Galleries

Enjoy my observations about life in Sweden with photos that each tell their own stories.

February 2015: If I am counting correctly, this is my fourteenth visit to India, starting the first time in 1971, again in 1982 & 1983, again in 2002, and finally practically every years since 2005 on tour with Mynta. It is very gratifying to have made so many great friends here, that my social calendar is filled with trying to connect with everybody. . .

Bali is an island populated by 95% Hindus, but are only 5% of Muslim-majority Indonesia.  As early as the first century CE, Indian traders spread Hinduism and Buddhism to East Asia, including what is now Indonesia.  Hinduism in Indonesia reached its height by the 7^th century. It was during this period that the Buddhist temple of Borobudur was constructed.  (Borobudur was featured in my previous Indonesia blog.)  By the 13^th century, Islam spread through the islands of Sumatra and Java, supplanting Hinduism.  However, Bali remained almost exclusively Hindu, despite the rise to dominance of Islam throughout the rest of what is current-day Indonesia.  Bali has maintained the ancient Hindu religious practices which are also still practiced in India. 

Our first trip to East Africa was a great experience.  The people were very open and hospitable.  The safari logistics were performed without a hitch.  But above all, the animals were amazing. 

The gallery for this blog features the people, not the animals.

DISCLAIMER

My photo gallery for this blog is of varying quality.  That is because many photos were taken from the moving jeep.  Sometimes, the subjects were far away, such that expanding and cropping of the subject lowered the resolution.  Some of the subjects were not happy with my having taken their photos.  I tried to be unobtrusive when possible.  Don’t forget to click the photos to expand them and see the short descriptions.

Whenever I travel to “old Europe,” that is, the continent of Europe, I’m reminded that Europeans are much more aware of history than Americans are.  They see the old cathedrals, the castles, the city walls, the statues, the artwork…all products of their long history. . .

Having visited India at least fifteen times over many decades, I’ve made friends among the musical community that has enabled me to book events in advance of my visits, filling the two short weeks with musical opportunities.  Another enabling factor is my decades-long study of Indian (Hindustani) classical music, starting in 1975 at Ali Akbar College in Marin County, California.  My knowledge of Indian music has enabled me to collaborate with Indian musicians in both classical and jazz-fusion-world-music concerts...

Following our two weeks in Germany and Sweden, we flew into Oslo, Norway, one day early before the flight to join our Hurtigruten cruise around the Svalbard island chain.  Upon the recommendation of my old friend Per (who is Norwegian but lives in Germany), we . . .

The city of Hue is located approximately in the middle of Vietnam and was the seat of royal power from the 19th and into the 20th centuries.  There were thirteen kings who reigned from Hue.  Many of the ancient structures were destroyed during the Vietnam-American War, which have since been restored.  The photos show scenes from the Imperial Palace as well as the three hundred-year-old Buddhist pagoda.