Photography

a close-up shot of a purple-pink lotus blossom with at least six bees in the center of it

a sign, not unlike many other signs, outside of a Thai temple saying, in Thai and English, “PLEASE TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF. WE WILL ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOST OR STOLEN SHOES.”

a Thai man is seen crouching next to his small boat on the beach; except for in the distance, there are no other boats and the sun has begun to set

one side of the Wat Arun temple, featuring several flowers that look like they are made of broken dishware

an image of Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, featuring several monkeys holding up pillars that look like they are made of dishware; non-temple Thai buildings can be seen in the background

a brief glimpse down a side street in Bangkok, filled with food vendors who keep large umbrellas open over their produce, several men on motorcycles, and a rickshaw

a stone statue of the Buddha with crossed legs sitting on a pillar that is made out of thousands of tiny, shiny tiles; behind there are even higher pillars also decorated in tiles

a standing demon outside of a temple, covered in tiny, shiny tiles and wearing blue and yellow shoes

a stack of empty Pepsi bottles waiting to be recycled

a Hua Hin resort meal–a stone bowl filled with a white soup featuring cherry tomatoes and a leafy green vegetable; a spoon is holding up a tiny, white and purple-speckled baby octopus

a shot of the Boudhanath Stupa, featuring a white dome and the painted eyes of the Buddha; there are prayer flags crossing the image

people are circumambulating the Swayambhunath Temple in the early morning, and several men of varying ages are sitting down watching

“All instruction is but a finger pointing at the moon”–part of the Swayambhunath Temple is seen, with a shot of a fading moon to its right

a close-up of the eyes of the Buddha on the Boudhanath Stupa, seeming to be staring at a group of pigeons that have landed on another part of the temple

two men stretch at the top of the Swayambhunath Temple, overlooking the sunrise over the city of Kathmandu

a scene around the Boudhanath Stupa featuring Tibetan and Nepali people sitting on benches

a sign in faded green reading “Discourage the Beggars/Chibahal Pariwar, Thamel”; surrounding it are multiple red signs with yellow writing for a music store, and both signs are on posts that feature a tangle of wires

an alleyway with a banner that reads “Saraswati Boarding Higher Secondary School” and announcing open admission to a management course; buildings surrounding are in muted reds, yellows, blue, and greens

A temple with a red valance and images of the sun and moon highlighted by a streak of afternoon light

a collection of small silver and plastic bowls holding water and marigolds; in the left-of-center of the image is a bowl holding several threads of saffron in addition to a marigold

a group of Tibetan males sitting on a tin-roofed building, waving Tibetan flags during the annual March 10th protests

a monkey digging through some maroon monk’s robes that have been thrown over a fence

a close-up of the Guru Rinpoche state at Tso Pema; he is golden, holding a dorje, and has the bright, round, reddened eyes that is typical of Tibetan representations

scene inside a cave where Guru Rinpoche was said to meditate in; there is a gold statue of him in a corner of the cave wall, illuminated by electric candles and strewn with multi-colored khatas and flowers

a pink plastic bowl and simple spoon with a Sunday lunch at Sarah: some green seasoned vegetables and two pieces of tingmo, a soft Tibetan bread

Sarah’s dinner most of the year, a rice and dal soup with hints of tomato and some sort of leafy green vegetable

another version of the rice and dal–this one has no greens but a thicker texture than the other rice and dal

two jars, one with a “Sunrise” peanut butter label but containing salt, and a labeled jar behind it containing Indian chili

a lonely boatman sitting on his boat in a row of boats alongside the Ganges River

a red brick doorway in the ruins of Nalanda University

a man kneels and woman stands in front of an altar to the Buddha, in the place where he once gave a teaching to beings from all worlds; there is a small statue of the Buddha with fresh flowers, garlands of marigolds, and money and incense offerings

a spot inside the rock walls of Rajgir where the Buddha supposedly sat; there are gold leaves pressed into the walls of rock and numerous candles lighting the area

at Rajgir there is a Japanese temple, and this Japanese-style Buddha with Kanji (?) behind him is part of the temple

a monk attending religious teachings with his robe over his head

a group of Bihari men awaiting a blessing from Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche leaning back with his hands in the air, giving blessings to the local Indians

my friend Lhundup is seen here trying to write English letters and, in turn, is teaching me how to write something in Tibetan

an image of the Taj Mahal, complete with the little stand in front of it, where a man can be seen with a camera around his neck, holding prints that he’s done of tourists

a bird flies away from a part of the Taj Mahal

a street sign in McLeod for the Yak Cafe–illustrating the name in English, Yiddish, Korea, Japanese, and French

a collection of potato chips at an outdoor vendor–some of the bags, such as a Lay’s Magic Masala, are inflated to their full capacity

a view on our way to the hot springs–there is a rag on the dashboard of the car and the small road winds gently into the distance, surrounded by plush green trees and shrubs

a cafe in Bir, with a blue door set into a light yellow wall, with a brown sign above the door with hand painted Tibetan letters

an open glass door with the words “ISD STD PCO INTERNET CALL” being laid on top of the street scene behind it

a collection of Buddhas, big and small, gold and silver and bronze and green, set on some red cloth along the street of McLeod Ganj

a view of Sarah College with the yellow temple in front of the taller white building of the boys’ dormitory; one can see two men leaning over the side of the roof of their dorm

a scene in the town of Gaggal–resting motorbike and motorcycles, women ambling about, lots of shops of the background selling everything from insurance to cell phones to butter

a view from the main intersection of Gaggal–in the foreground there is a man on his bicycle and a man walking almost in his way, and in the background there are large advertisements for cell phones and a resort; on the street itself there are paneer vendors, yarn vendors, produce vendors, etc. in little shops

a young boy waves a fan over some corn he is grilling and smiling

a typical McLeod scene, complete with brightly colored rainbow umbrellas, small taxis trying to make their way down roads not-quite-big-enough-for-two-lanes, and young men standing around talking

a stone image of Ganesha, decorated with flowers

some beautiful Tibetan trimming, featuring blocks of blue and green on an orange background, pink flowers on diamonds of green, and intricate gold leaves on various colors

various Tibetan trimmings, including handpainted lotus blossoms and snow dragon designs

more Tibetan trimmings of flowers and beads and geometric shapes

over a hundred Tibetan butter lamps on a table, all alight

a rusted red cross in the graveyard of St. John’s in the Wilderness, Dharamsala, India; gravestone belongs to James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and Viceroy of India in 1862

people stretch and chat while sitting on benches next to shops, waiting for the bus

a sign reading “March to Tibet” and “Tibetan People’s Uprising Movement” with an image of Tibetans marching

a close-up shot of some torn advertisement for a chemistry tutor; it’s been torn away to reveal bright blue paint

a brown door reading “Cave No. 40” in blue scrawled paint, surrounded by some rock and brick walls

sunlight filtering in through prayer flags at Tso Pema

large bronze prayer wheels at Tso Pema

a small mountainside snack shack, with a display of potato chips on one side, bottled waters and juices out front, with clipped packages of snacks hanging on the outside of the shack

a view of the snow-capped Dhauladhar Mountains over a small farm

a view of the Dhauladhar range from Sarah’s guesthouse roof–there are snow-capped mountains at the top of the image, and a row of prayer flags cutting across the bottom

a young Tibetan boy reads an illustrated book in Tibetan during play-time

several children are taking turns coloring on a piece of paper; one of them has a yin and yang symbol drawn on their hand

a ledge with lots of plants in various pots, including a round blue tin that reads “USA Not to Be Sold or Exchanged”

view of the Tibetan Children’s Village Handicraft shop; visible is the tin roof awning and rooms above, some of which have their green wooden windows open, as well as a grate connecting the street to the shop over the deep ditch meant to help with the monsoon rains