Travels – Page 6 – Bluegreen Butterfly

Carpet weaving

I spotted this man weaving a carpet. It was beautiful.

carpet-weaving

There are many souvenirs to buy, and other products in India that they also export, and one of them are carpets. We stopped by one large store to see their products for sale. Most of that store’s displays were jewelry items, carved products and woven stuff. In one corner of the store I spotted this man weaving a carpet. It was beautiful. Such an intricate handwork, that it is so great seeing what he has woven thus far. Of course he must have very long patience.

Frontier trivia of the day:

The hand-knotted pile carpet probably originated in Central Asia. The importance of carpets in the culture of Turkmenistan is such that the national flag features a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs). (Wikipedia)

Children vendor

child-vendor

This was on our way out from the Taj Mahal. Children selling souvenirs. The girl was selling a pencil. I have had a load of souvenirs that time. It was a great time. It gave me the souvenir of the Taj not just in pictures but in my mind, forever.

Frontier trivia of the day:

Poor children in India begin working at a very young and tender age. Children are often exploited and deprived of their rights in India, and until further measures are taken in the matter of tackling the problem of child labour, many Indian children will continue to live in poverty. (indianchild.com)

Airport cats

Inside the airport, I saw a cat! One of the airport guards said that she is a resident there

airport-cats

I arrived in Manila from the US late at night during my last vacation, but I decided to just stay in the airport since there are many people there also. I would not spend a penny for a hotel because I was so tired, I might miss my early morning flight. I was just so anxious to arrive home after all the longs hours of flying. Inside the airport, I saw a cat! One of the airport guards said that she is a resident there. That was so funny seeing her running around the corners, and also because I just lost my cat that time, Lady Gishi that I was supposed to bring along with me to the Philippines. Seeing that cat made me smile, I was really amused. Cats are really something, aren’t they?

Frontier trivia of the day:

In Minuteman Airfield in Stow, MA , circa 1978, there was “Airport Cat” called Barclay. What made him unique was that he loved to go flying when in the right “mood”. He would enter through the open pilots door and made himself at home atop the instrument panel. He flew many times giving pilots’ ‘company’. (http://www.videointerchange.com/cats.htm)

Calm in the midst of chaos

I witnessed one of the Harvest festivals. There are a lot people witnessing and some of them are participants. In the midst of the crowd this little calm girl caught my attention. Despite the heat, noise and chaos she remained calm and patiently waiting for their turn to perform. Hope we are like that girl when we are in the midst of trouble or problems, we still remain calm. happy WW everyone.

A camel ride

It was rough. So rough! I was not expecting that hubby wanted me to ride a camel while we were there in Agra right after our Taj Mahal tour. Of course I grabbed the opportunity, for an experience, that I didn’t mind climbing up the uncomfortable camel’s back. The owner didn’t even put a decent covering there (he was as surprised as I was), but “I’m a cowboy” kumbaga. It was very funny and rough experience. All the people around in the streets were amused and laughing because I am sure my face was showing something funny when the camel started to get up. Camels can run up to 65 km/h (40 mph) in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h (25 mph), and I mean it. Those long slender legs walk so fast we were a good distance already in less than a minute. We paid 500 rupees for the ride, a rough 2 minute ride.

Frontier trivia of the day:

The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at retaining water (hence perfect in the desert). Urine comes out as a thick syrup, and their feces are so dry that they can fuel fires. (Wikipedia)

WW: Gateway of India scene

I wanted to go there but on that second time it was kind of ‘wrong timing’ as the Gateway was ‘retouched/repaired’ with those grayish brown material covering it. I said ‘wrong timing’ because the cloth kind of hinder the view when we took photos. Needless to say we did. I realized upon looking at the picture that, ‘oh no, they are staring at me’. It was kinda funny scene.

Gateway of India

On a holy ground

I grew up in a tradition of leaving our shoes or slippers outside when we enter anyone’s house. For respect. And also to prevent dirt from coming into the house. But gone are those days (Spanish occupation in the Philippines) when rich hosts would let their servants follow your footsteps with a rag, that made the guests a ‘bit’ uneasy. In India, there is still this culture of respecting the ground you walk on, especially those old ‘sacred’ structures by way of being barefooted or covering the shoes. This man’s job is to see to it. Somehow, when I recall those places, I always remember that man by the entrance putting visitors’ shoe covering. It’s a noble job.