Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

DAILY PHOTO: Village Kids

Posted on July 22, 2015 by B Gourley

Taken June 14, 2014 in Himachal Pradesh

DAILY PHOTO: Nek Chand Waterfalls

Posted on July 21, 2015 by B Gourley

Taken on June 26, 2015 in Chandigarh

DAILY PHOTO: Prayer Flags, With Fun Facts

Posted on July 20, 2015 by B Gourley

Taken on June 16, 2015 in Manali at Gadhan Thekchoking Gompa

Now heavily associated with Tibetan Buddhism, colorful prayer flags are believed to have originated with Bon–an indigenous religion of Tibet that predated Buddhism’s arrival.

Traditionally, the color progression from left to right is blue, white, red, green, and yellow (i.e. as seen in the top row), but variations can be seen.

Besides monasteries and temples, one will often see strings of flags out in natural settings on mountains.

The day and time of placement of the flags is considered carefully because it’s believed that if they are hung at inauspicious times they may bring bad fortune instead of the desired compassion and peace.

DAILY PHOTO: St. John in the Wilderness

Posted on July 19, 2015 by B Gourley

Taken June 23, 2015 in McLeodganj

This Anglican church dates to 1852 and was built for British troops stationed here back when Dharamsala was a British garrison town. (FYI: Dharamsala retains a large military base to this day and thus is still a military town in a sense, though I doubt there is a significant number of Anglicans among the officers or enlisted troops these days.)

This hand-cut granite structure was said to be one of the few that survived a major earthquake in 1905. It features a bell that has survived damage and attempted thievery.