-
It is hard to believe that just yesterday we cycled outside wearing only light cycling outfits, enjoying the perfect sunny warm day, the breathtaking scenery of the mountains & rivers.
Right now, outside my window, a serious snow storm is raging. Cycling would be totally out of the question.
Our Buddhist diet of no dinners and alternate fast days, is going superb, and in just a few short days, we trade the mountains for the sea, and fly back to NZ... YEAH!

Popular posts from this blog

Days 44 & 45 - Hengchun To Taipei, And Rewarding Ourselves In The Hot Springs Town Of Beitou, The Long Walk South In Taiwan

-
Image
  Days 44 & 45 - Hengchun To Taipei, And Rewarding Ourselves In The Hot Springs Town Of Beitou, The Long Walk South In Taiwan   Last night, the Taiwan National Weather Service issued a typhoon warning and evacuation orders for the southeastern coast, exactly in the location where we were scheduled to walk. We decided to cancel the coastal walk, because the heritage trail was closed anyway, and instead head back to Taipei. But getting back to Taipei from our southeastern location would take some time. First we needed to get to the city of Hengchun, where we could take a three hour long bus to the city of Kaohsiung, and then take the high speed train to Taipei Station. The hiking group was in good spirits this morning, cooking breakfast and packing up their gear. We were all a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to hike the scenic route along the southeastern coast, but it was clear now that this typhoon was a massive one. News reports described it as a once in 30 years stor...
Read more

The Sacred City Of Anuradhapura, and the Rock Carvings in Thanthirimale, Sri Lanka

-
Image
The Sacred City Of Anuradhapura, and the Rock Carvings in Thanthirimale Anuradhapura is one of two ancient Buddhist cities in Sri Lanka; the second one is our next destination, Polonnaruwa. The old city of Anuradhapura has many ponds, reservoirs and lakes, with many giant stupas and temples situated among green forests and rock-strewn pathways. To visit it, you must pay an entry fee to the entire area, and then you can hire a scooter, a bicycle or a car to tour the many monuments. You must remove your shoes and hat before entering each of the temples and stupas. The pathway stones are often very hot, which does not allow lingering, unless you find a space in the shade from which to observe, or sit to pray among the locals. I will not enumerate here all the names of the stupas to visit and the temples to see. If you plan to visit, you can get a local map that details all the names and their significance. The stupas are called Dagabas in Sinhalese.

Anuradhapura’s greates...
Read more