Sansara: Fully Recyclable

Bahai gardens : Haifa, Israel

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 10:31:48 +0400

26.07.2011 | 48 photo

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Whatever : Haifa, Israel

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 10:26:48 +0400

26.07.2011 | 23 photo

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Whatever : HolanHeights, Israel

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:48:02 +0400

25.07.2011 | 50 photo

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Abandoned mosque : HolanHeights, Israel

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:52:57 +0400

25.07.2011 | 19 photo

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Whatever : Transit, Israel

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:25:11 +0400

23.07.2011 | 30 photo

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Art : Website : DiplomZachet

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:17:34 +0400

21.03.2012 | Commercial

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Retreat and boat trip : Eilat, Israel

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 07:26:43 +0400

21.07.2011 | 30 photo

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Dead Sea : DeadSea, Israel

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:09:51 +0400

01.07.2011 | 40 photo

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On the way : Transit, Israel

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:21:29 +0400

01.07.2011 | 12 photo

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Panorama : DeadSea, Israel

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:54:45 +0400

01.07.2011 | 1 photo

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Food in Israel : TelAviv, Israel

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:08:37 +0400

12.06.2011 | 23 photo

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Gay pride : TelAviv, Israel

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:06:32 +0400

10.06.2011 | 29 photo

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Whatever : WadiQelt, Israel

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 03:52:49 +0400

01.07.2011 | 40 photo

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Whatever : TelAviv, Israel

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:14:16 +0400

14.06.2011 | 50 photo

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Urban intarface : TelAviv, Israel

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:10:45 +0400

14.06.2011 | 35 photo

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Shore : TelAviv, Israel

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:48:50 +0400

14.06.2011 | 28 photo

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People : TelAviv, Israel

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:35:05 +0400

12.06.2011 | 12 photo

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Yafo : TelAviv, Israel

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:35:40 +0400

14.06.2011 | 32 photo

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Street art : TelAviv, Israel

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:48:58 +0400

12.06.2011 | 35 photo

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Moods : TelAviv, Israel

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:46:31 +0400

09.06.2011 | 35 photo

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Lika home : TelAviv, Israel

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:39:16 +0400

09.06.2011 | 6 photo

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Whatever : Rehovot, Israel

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:35:51 +0400

30.06.2011 | 3 photo

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Whatever : Safed, Israel

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:10:35 +0400

26.07.2011 | 50 photo

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First and general impressions : Israel, Haifa

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 05:42:45 +0400

06.06.2011 |
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Whatever : Haifa, Israel

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:56:24 +0400

06.06.2011 | 44 photo

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Thinking of Thai character around Kao San : Thailand, Bangkok

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 01:01:39 +0400

30.05.2011 | Whether you like Bangkok or not depends on where you live. Is it chic Siam Paragon, panoramic views from Bayok Sky and luxurious condos at Asoke?.. Or is it backpacker Kao San and Samsen where you can rent a room in a tiny hotel resembling hen-coop for 120 baht only? Or maybe bawdy Patong and night life for sale of Nana... For long time Bangkok has been about quiet backlanes of Sathorn with its food courts at office buildings and embassies for me. But this year none of my friends could let me stay with them and I've taken typical backpacker route to Samsen. And got myself a room with good view from the window.

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Last Asian wanderings : Malaysia, Transit

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 04:33:12 +0400

20.05.2011 | Traveling is definitely cool but the more I travel the clearer I see that there is something in my head what just does not let me stay at same place for long even if I want to. I would gladly stay in Penang for much longer but I've already made plans with a friend to meet in the train and go to hills. So I had to get packed and go against my own will. Now we're drinking tea at train pantry car to get warm. Malaysian trains are just as freezing as Thai ones.

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All kinds of dragons and other varieties : Malaysia, Penang

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 01:30:05 +0400

30.04.2011 | There was certain time of my life when I could not understand what was so special about Malaysia. Neighboring Thailand seemed better suitable for life, neighboring Indonesia was much more colorful and interesting, relatively neighboring India is something special, not to compare... And only after I've had enough of all these counties I could appreciate the charm of Malaysia. Also I understood why I didn't feel it before: it wasn't the abundance of something but rather its balanced variety.

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Abandoned resort : Thailand, Phuket

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:25:59 +0400

18.04.2011 | While realty prices are growing, tourism industry is booming and organized tourists are invading the island from all the directions a certain resort on to of the hill with panoramic view is standing abandoned. We park our motorbike next to big glass hall where future guests of the hotel should have been sitting waiting till all the forms would be filled up and obliging porter would come to show the room and help carry suitcases.

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My cozy little world and sunsets : Thailand, Phuket

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 21:37:30 +0400

04.04.2011 | One of Thailand's special features, one of the reasons why it's so much appreciated by foreigners is that it's quite easy to build your own little paradise here. Air-conditioning in you car and apartment and you may forget about tropical heat. Good Italian cuisine and chili won't bother your delicate tongue. Golfing clubs as an entertainment. Or yoga. Or go-go bars. Or unlimited internet from morning till night. All according to desires and possibilities.

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Phowa and nothing else : Honkong, Honkong

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:47:38 +0400

02.03.2011 | My experience of attending buddhist courses shows that the best is not to plan anything else during its time. Do not try to finish any other tasks, do not hope to see the city in the breaks, you even have to choose just one of spend enough time with your friends and have enough sleep. It's also the best to life in a hostel that nobody knows and nobody else stays: this way if I even decide to miss the first session I am not obliged to explain this to anyone. The hostel I rent was very nice. There was gread view right from my bed if dormitory.

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Wordly suffering and buddhist blessing : Thailand, BangkokPattaya

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:31:41 +0400

24.02.2011 | This isn't the first story where these two cities go together. Same situation repeats itself constantly: I arrive to Bangkok, I am too lazy to go to the big city, worry about transport, look for hotel or getting a train ticket that's why I get onto a bus to Pattaya right from the airport. On the way I can call my old friend, he would meet me and find a place for me to stay. So it was this time: Kostya received and brought me to cheap condo at Pratamnak where I could sheep all day after the long flight and two sleepless nights.

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Behind the scene : Ukraine, Kiev

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 04:01:18 +0400

31.01.2011 | For two weeks in Kiev in January I was bored and did not know that to do but then during only one night between flights from Sofia and to Bangkok I had to manage dozen of things. I even gave an interview to TV channel right before going to airport but they didn't use it in the end so there's no link. Also me and Delnara decided to make earrings and pendants out of my drawings. That means she was making them and I was going around in circles and admiring how amazing things come to being. At first Delnara sit before her laptop screen, chooses illustrations, finds and orders supplies from shops all around the world. And table next to her is full of prototypes and finished works.

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Winter tale with buddhist motives : Bulgaria, Transit

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:53:36 +0400

25.01.2011 | I did not ming coming back to Ukraine in winter because I haven't seen snow for so long that even had started to think of a trip to line of snow in Himalayas together with Indian tourists. Winter Kiev was somewhere between slush and ice-crust on roads which wasn't the best weather. But then Bulgaria was perfect from very beginning: I went to apply for my visa on January 7, right on Christmas. City was totally empty and that's why untouched: white roads, white trees... Next time I've seen something similar was in Ruse.

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New Year's Kagyu Monlam : India, Bodhgaya

Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:47:35 +0400

31.12.2010 | Bodhgaya is the place where all the wishes get fulfilled. It works not only with the wishes that you whisper while walking around the stupa but also and mostly with what you sincerely wish from the inside, sometimes even without realizing it. Last year I've seen how this works especially clearly. As a result of wrong wishes that I made I had to try a lot to be able to come to stupa once again.

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Feasting next to the ashes : India, Varanasi

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:24:00 +0400

23.12.2010 | Every group has its karma, its own mood and style that the trip goes. My long-haul flight and tickets bought right before departure added some premium class feel and then we had to go to Sarnath by first class of Indian train. Premium class was, of course, totally Indian style as we waited at terrible train station of Gorakpur and the train was much late.

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Red time between seasons : India, Kushinagar

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:50:33 +0400

22.12.2010 | Sometimes it's better without the guide. All my groups used to arrive to Kushinagar at sunset hardly having time to dine and see the most important places. All because their guide likes to sleep a lot and does not like to go out to freezing Nepalese morning. But that time I commanded everybody - all out at 7! � and could not cancel it to stay in warm bed because I was too far away. In the end there was enough time to see everything and some places even twice. For example this park with ruins of old temples and the main stupa.

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Winter Boudah and farther adventures : Nepal, Kathmandu

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:19:02 +0400

21.12.2010 | I always want to recreate with photograph that specific moment when you finally arrive to Boudah after all that long and hard way. This is the main gate between two houses where you look at the Stupa for the first time and the stupa looks at you. All those times I've come there the road always had been was long and hard. You might still remember what happened in Kiev but my adventures were not over yet. Why? Because... I lost my passport!

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Suvarnobardo and new pasport in two weeks : Ukraine, Kiev

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:33:12 +0400

13.12.2010 | Stamp with visa on arrival but just millimeters away from my passport page when that Thai woman hesitated and decided to examine it more carefully. These are the moments when time stops and stands still. It stopped and stood still two night and one day that I've spent in transit zone of Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok because both of my passports were declared invalid because of no free space. But once I came to Kiev it rushed until all I've missed was regained. I had two options at that moment: going back to Surabaya where I boarded on my flight to Bangkok or as far as Ukraine. I wasn't sure how exactly the procedure of coming back to Indonesia would happen so didn't really consider that option. Now I know that my exit stamp would simply be canceled and I could have easily stayed in Indonesia till the end of my visa, maybe even extend it few times because that stamp takes up very little space. At that moment I thought they would put me into immigration prison and doubted it would be nearly as comfortable as airport in Bangkok where I won't ever be lost anymore because after all the time spent there I know it perfectly. I had enough money to buy ticket to Kiev because I planned to buy new laptop in Thailand. I could not come back before to change my passport because I waited for a certain situation to solved so that I had my own apartment and registration there once again. Coming earlier and facing perspective of not knowing where to live in my hometown wasn't very attractive to me. When my family asked me where I want my apartment to be I said I did not care, it just has to be a place which is easy to let. Then my mother made another pathetic gesture in her usual style choosing apartment in the region of Kiev that I grew up, in exactly same type of house and with view to my first school from my windows. This is it.

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The last frontier : Indonesia, Bali

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:31:35 +0400

10.11.2010 | "Why did we fly to Surabaya when we wanted to go to Bali?" - that's what you might be asking at the end of last story. The matter is that we decided to go quite spontaneously - in about a month - and direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bali had got quite expensive already. But then we could get to Surabaya about 2 times cheaper - for $40 or about that. Then we could get onto night bus to Denpassar for $10 more and there you are - at your beloved Bali! This was is good also because it's much easier to catch local bus to somewhere in the island from bus station in Denpassar than from airport which is heavy monopolized by taxi drivers. We got ourselves sim cards, went to cyber cafe, had our breakfast with sugary sweet Indonesian coffee, then went to another bus station and got onto local bus to Jimbaran. And then we took motorbikes to my friends' house in Balangan. I found room for Sergey at Puri Gading for just 70 dollars per month, got him a motorbike for rent and then my common days started. They were all the the same - three people with three laptops working. The only thing that changed was places where we sat: at the table, at the stove-bench, on the floor by the wall... What? Did you notice the surfing board? It's only for the picture. To call friends by Skype, mention you're in Bali and let it appear in the background. This is photo of Andrey who is the main creator of FireFly game where a flying bug has to overcome numerous obstacles to fulfill its sex instinct.

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Plus Kuala Lumpur and all in short : Malaysia, Penang

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:51:24 +0400

12.10.2010 | This entry is dated October 2010 and now it's October 2012. Ooops, I am quite late publishing entries. It's been more than year like this. Luckily, I've realized this bad tendency just around that October and started taking much less pictures. Now I feel pity that so many interesting things have nothing to illustrate them with but then it's good that I don't need to spend so much time processing the photos. This one if on ferry from Georgetown to Butterworth.

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Walk through familiar places : India, Dharamsala

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:30:21 +0400

23.09.2010 | The say people from Moscow have been spoiled by housing problem and, as you know now, people from McLeod Ganj too. But if you managed to solve this problem for yourself at least then you can definitely enjoy all the rest and take a walk through familiar places. Once I manage that endless stairway up I face a choice: either to go left to the Japanese restaurant or to go right to bus station and temple. I go right, it seems more interesting. First person I meet is this old man with handheld prayerwheel. He's wearing cap and sunglasses also like every modern Tibetian man does.

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Terraces, mists and strange dances : India, Dharamsala

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:18:39 +0400

14.09.2010 | Once McLeod Ganj was my most favorite place in Himalayas. Now it's dropped down in my imaginary list to just "one of favorite" and over-priced hotels are the main reason for it. Usually I would come in end of march or beginning of April. Finding good place to live for a reasonable price was hard but yet manageable. But we've hand to go round almost whole McLeod. The place where I lived last time for 200 demanded 500 and not a single rupee less which is very disappointing because it did not become and newer or cleaner in the last two years. After three hours of looking we finally got ourselves the place where was the most important thing ever: perfect view. Like this.

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Two shores : India, Manali

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:05:09 +0400

30.09.2010 | Manali is the biggest city in Kullu valley after Kullu itself which is its capital. Technically it consists of new and old Manali and also Vashisht which is located on the other side of the river. All these places can easily be reached by an auto rickshaw or even by feet which allows me and most guidebooks to unite them altogether. We got up by car and walked down by feet. Vashisht is famous for its carved Hindu temple and hot springs.

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Matreshkas, samovar and surely mountains : India, Naggar

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:55:18 +0400

29.09.2010 | Sometimes I come back to the places I've already visited only to see some special spots I missed last time. When I first came to Naggar the Roerich museum was closed, when I came to Naggar next time, I had to rush to Srinagar and for third time I finally made it. I suppose there might be third one day as views to Kullu valley are among the best in Naggar.

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Stupa and bodhi tree : India, Tashijong

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:17:35 +0400

25.09.2010 | It's a tiny village approximately halfway between Dharamsala and Mandi. It's a good place to stay for a while in monastery's or common guesthouse but if you just want to see the most important attraction consisting of stupa with bodhi tree growing right from it then few hours on the way would be just enough. The place to get off the bus is near this big bridge. Just ask the driver to stop in Tashijong if you're afraid to miss it.

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Fair dakinis, sun and rain : India, Bir

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:51:05 +0400

26.09.2010 | I was in Bir for the first time in August when it was middle of monsoon. When we came back here in end of September we hoped to paraglide but firstly the season hasn't started yet and secondly it cost 5000 rupees (more than $100) and everybody made up their minds. So we were just relaxing from overpopulated and excessively misty Dharamsala, enjoyed blue sky and visited Nyingma monastery to see dakinis surround statue of Padampa Sangye.

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Scary tales of misty forest : India, Dharamsala

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:27:02 +0400

24.09.2010 | India has its charm though number of subjects that you can be charmed with is limited. For example, Gothic. Is Gothic possible in India where cathedrals are lit with multi-colored lamps? Finding something empty and uninhabited is also problematic. The more precious are the places where you actually run into an unusual combination. But everything starts simply: from broken road sign next to exits from the villages, from old motorbike and a dog which easily could have been shabby.

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The second and also the last day : India, Nubra

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:21:04 +0400

06.09.2010 | It's widely known that birds sing the loudest during the sunset. It's not so widely known however that the reason for that is far beyond any romanticism: they just fight for good place on trees to spend a night. At least it was so in Nubra valley when we were drinking our tea under a rain of feathers accompanied by wild martial screams. Why do I mention it? Because it was more interesting than the hot springs we would have visited on the next day.

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The first day : India, Nubra

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:33:21 +0400

05.09.2010 | Can you believe that one can get bored with there amazingly beautiful mountains? Can one be looking at these landscapes and feel nothing but boredom? Yes, surprisingly yes. At least during few last trips my group's favorite joke was to ask me "Oxana, when are we going to see mountains? I've always dreamed to see mountains..." or "Mountains! Finally!" with very vivid sarcastic tone. Maybe we would not go to Nubra at all if only the perspective of desert and camels. In Himalayas! But first comes the pass.

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Or to and back : India, Pangong

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:17:02 +0400

03.09.2010 | Never ever try to recreate other people's trips. It does not matter if you simply liked the pictures and want do either shoot same ones or just see all this with your own eyes. It does not matter if you really liked somebody else's adventures and revelations. Whatever you think and imagine your trip is going to be completely different. And so my Pangong lake was dark and dramatic instead of bright azure I dreamed of. But let's start from the very beginning. We leave Leh on a jeep and Rudolfo follows us on motorbike. After few hours he's so far behind that we cannot see him anymore. And then we stop at the top of Chang La pass.

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Academical part : India, Leh

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 19:38:33 +0400

02.09.2010 | Al the places of interest in Leh can be seen in one day only if you really try. And if you're on a bike or a car then you won't even need to try: everything is very close. We've traveling enough by cars so decided to walk. I tried to remember those secret paths that Boris Erokhine showed us few years ago but in the end we got lost as those paths must have been really secret. But then we found big road and everything got easy: we just had to walk till the top of the valley and till end of Leh.

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Of work and love : India, Leh

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:47:17 +0400

08.09.2010 | If you've started to think my life is nothing but grand monasteries on top of forbidding mountains and nobody but chaste monks with whom you can't even enjoy a cup of tea... then I will tell you about my ordinary life in Leh: of my work and of my love. Imagine upper side of the city called Changspa. It's where the most simple tibetian guesthouses are located and where you can see apple trees and distant glaciers from you windows.

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Hemis monastery and its hospitality : India, Ladakh

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:55:09 +0400

01.09.2010 | This is last big gompa not too far from Leh that we visited. We missed at least three important places so you can imagine how many of them are there in Ladakh. We saw Hemis during out second day on a jeep, right after Taktok and Chemrey monasteries. Sky was surprising us with clouds of interesting shape hovering above neat white glaciers.

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Taktok and Chemrey: wings of clouds and pretty details : India, Ladakh

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:55:15 +0400

31.08.2010 | Aren't you bored with pictures of monasteries? I hope not. But me and my friends had started feeling so by the end August. It's human nature, no matter how beautiful are things you perceive, it's still unsatisfied. All the temple in Ladakh are similar, true, so what? They are all located at a slope or top of mountain and you have to climb up a steep stairway.

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Moving around the country : India, Transit

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 01:31:13 +0400

13.09.2010 | I never know what to do with pictures which are shot between the cities: in trains, taxi, planes, train stations and airports. Usually they are too few for a separate story and yet they don't fit into any existing one too. Often I simply forget about them just as I've forgotten about beautiful sky I've seen on the way to India. But if I gather them altogether and publish ahead of all the other photos then they can be something like and announce of next stories. So, we're in Leh and we have to move to lower Himachal from there. Because of natural disasters which destroyed the roads it's not so easy. Usual "short" way to Manali is completely broken, we can travel only through Tsokar and Tsomoriri lakes which takes more than two days and cost awful lot of money. Suddenly we decide to check airplane tickets and their prices surprise us pleasantly. Before the disaster a ticket from Delhi to Leh or back used to cost more than $200 and now prices start from $30. And this if we take a flight and train we can reach Manali or Dharamsala much faster than we would by a jeep. Low prices may be because there is such low demand or because of government's attempt to support tourism in the region. It would be nice to think the latter. We get Jet Airways for $40 which leaves early morning.

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