Hand Luggage.

Bit of a change of pace now, from the heat and colour of Thailand to the sunny yet blustery South coast for our annual Easter jaunt.

Stopping overnight in Plymouth to break up the long drive we were headed for Cornwall and the little fishing village of Mevagissey.

First up on routehowever – Rame Head to visit the volunteer’s in the National Coastwatch Institution lookout on the top of the headland.

These dedicated souls give up their free time to monitor and record the vessels going into Plymouth harbour and listen to the radio frequencies for boats in distress.

They asked if we were “from abroad” (ie England) as the Cornish consider themselves a breed apart from their Northerly counterparts. Incidently, a few days later, the Cornish were officially recognised as a national minority group. Next up passports to enter Kernow? . . .

The Rame headland has a prominent but lonely little chapel, dedicated to St Michael, accessible only by a steep footpath . . . and off we clamber.

St Michael’s chapel was first licensed for Mass in 1397 and is probably on the site of a much earlier, Celtic, hermitage.

It remains as an intact shell with intricately built stone walls shoring it up against the bracing weather.

Dartmoor ponies are dotted around the headland grazing in the sunshine.

They look very cute but the signs warn that they kick and bite! I don’t need telling twice but some people just have to get closer!

I sneak upto one of the deceptively placid little fluff balls to grab a snap before running away again.

The Rame headland is prominent to sailors and fishermen leaving Plymouth through Plymouth Sound.

Very often it’s the last piece of land they see when leaving England, and the first they see when returning home.

According to my favourite internet guru (Wikipedia) Rame Head appears in the sea shanty “Spanish Ladies”.

Spanish Ladies lyrics (in case you’re curious about ancient sea shanties!)

The first land we sighted was call-ed the Dodman,
Next Rame Head off Plymouth, Start, Portland and Wight;
We sailed by Beachy, by Fairlight and Dover, (or “Dungeness”)
And then we bore up for the South Foreland light.

Here’s a few more snaps of the tiny but speedy Dartmoor ponies as they chomp their way contently across the grass.

Next up is the tiny picturesque village Looe before our final destination – squashing four adults into a caravan outside of Mevagissey!

Well that’s it for the Thai reminiscing folks. All the heat and colour is captured,  trapped like insects in amber and laid out for your readerly enjoyment!

While I plan the next global jaunt I’ll be taking a random look back at oddities from trips gone by. Here’s one about architectural details . . . .

As I travelled around various different Asian countries and snapped away at all the fascinating temples, a particular decorative element kept catching my eye.

Beautiful slender, elegant women, dancing, adorn so many temples from Angkor Wat in Cambodia to hill side temples in Chiang Mai, Thailand and the many ornate temples in India.

I know them as Apsara, and decided to find out a bit more about the meaning behind the symbolism (by which I mean I went on Wikipedi!!)

According to the bastion of internet knowledge “An Apsara is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.”

I read one of the most beautiful descriptions of Apsara while in Cambodia “Dancing for Gods and Fallen Heroes”.

Below are just a few of the delicate celestial dancers to be found at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple complex, captured in stone forever but still swaying to the universe’s music.

English translations of the word Apsara can include nymph and celestial maiden.

Apsaras are beautiful, supernatural female beings who excel in dancing. They are often the wives of the Gandharvas, the court musicians of Indra.

They dance to the music made by the Gandharvas, usually in the palaces of the gods, and entertain and sometimes seduce gods and men.

They pop up all over the place – here they are decorating a Jain temple in the Indian city of Udiapur,

As ethereal beings who inhabit the skies, and are often shown taking flight, or at service of a god, they may be compared to angels.

Here are a few more of the cheeky ladies carved into the amazing, ornate pillars at the Indian temple of Ranakpur in Rajashthan.

One of the prettiest beach spectacles are lines of traditional Thai longtail fishing boats all bobbing in the shallows.

Garlanded with colourful flowers to bring the skipper and crew good luck they are a ubiquitous sight on many Thai beaches.

Now often used to ferry boatloads of tourists around the islands, these lovely wooden vessels always make for fantastic photos.

Here’s the line up of boats at Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh.

The colourful ribbons provide a vivid contrast to the almost unreal turquoise of the tranquil seas.

The boats are basically a tractor engine with an extra long prop shaft that acts as a rudder as well. They produce a distinctive sound as they bomb across the sea.

They can produce quite a cloud of smoke though and do contribute to the pollution of the area.

I don’t usually deviate from my usual blog post style of posting lots of lovely photos and creating a visual diary of my travels, more for my own memory aid then anything else to be honest!

But I spotted an article today on that bastion of journalistic prowess – the Daily Mail – about a tourist who was offended and shocked by one of the murals at Wat Rong Khun, the gorgeous white temple in Chiang Rai .

This intrigued me as I have very recently visited the temple and was enchanted by it. While the exterior of the temple is a spun sugar confectionery of whimsical whiteness and shiny mirrors, the inner temple is a riot of colour, depictions of demons and hell and unusual modern imagery.

Photos are forbidden inside the temple however (gahh!)  which I why I have none to post. But many others were not so considerate and you can find lots of pictures online.

The murals feature a wide range of disparate subject matter ranging from superman and the villain from the Saw movies to the striking and emotive image of the trade towers being hit by a plane on 9/11.

What has this to do with Buddhism you may well ask? Some say it is a reminder that superheroes can’t save you, only the supreme love of Buddha, others speculate it is a warning against the evils of materialism and sensualism.

Whatever the actual meaning that architect Chalermchai Kositpipat meant his paintings to convey, it certainly divides opinion and sparks debate.

You can read the whole article below (although when I say article, I actually mean – one angry quote from an unnamed Nottingham bloke and then some words that the Mail just lifted straight off a blog and published – epic journalism skills there – no really I do mean it! )

Daily Mail – Tourist offended by murals 

What are your thoughts? Are you offended by the use of the trade towers? Do you feel that Kositpipat is right to appropriate this tragedy for his own ends?