Tag: Mountains
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At home in Kumaon
A row of old village houses; the ground floor reserved for the animals, the people upstairs. All built, cut and painted true to tradition. But times have changed. In the background we see a glimpse of a new building, constructed with brick and cement. And so the charm and beauty of the old is gradually…
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Cow lifting game
What to do when a cow is lying down in the middle of the path, blocking the way through and in no way willing to get up and move? Such cow stubbornness is rare but here it happened. Only combined forces – and lots of fun – could bring help. And only then this patiently…
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Bhang
Yes, it grows in the wild in the Kumaon hills. I’m talking about the Cannabis sativa, the Indian hemp plant. The seeds get blown in the wind or are taken and dropped by birds and so, all of a sudden, you can have some hemp plants growing in your garden. Local farmers may – unofficially…
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Tap tap!
That is what you hear in the pine forest when the man who collects the resin from the trees fixes the cone back on the stem. Then he moves to the next tree, empties the cone, puts it back, tap tap, and he goes on to the next. The resin is used for making turpentine.…
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Like mother, like daughter
Human life may have changed in many respects since prehistoric times, but at a certain level, the level of basic needs for the organism to survive, we are still the same, and not much different from other animals for that matter. We need food to eat, we need water to drink. For millions of people…
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Lakhudiyar
Already in prehistory humans must have been enchanted by the natural beauty of the Kumaon hills. They have left their traces, as we can see for example in the rock shelter the board on the photo speaks so nicely about. Lakhudiyar can be found between present day Almora and Jageshwar. It looks as if the…
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The Kumaon hills
66 % of the world’s population will live and work in cities by 2050. In India too, rapid urbanization is a continuing trend. In the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand where I spend most of my time when in India, I see the other side of this drift to the towns and cities: a steady exodus from the…
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Natural beauty
Tanned by the burning rays of the sun weather-beaten according to age breathing pure mountain air marked by culture and tradition slightly amused, somewhat concerned ………….. Two living feminine faces of Kumaon. Photo of the week: Almora, Uttarakhand, India 2013
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The three graces
Three raven-haired mountain graces looking intently at life in the valley below. Even from behind and fully dressed they’re beautiful. Quite different from Canova’s three graces whose charming postures I can admire daily on a picture postcard in my room. Women together in a world of their own: wherever, ever a treat for the eye. Photo of…
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Treacherous Cook
At the foot of the Cook massif there is a big stone cube carrying dozens of brass-plates with the names of climbers that have fallen to their death on the treacherous slopes and glaciers of this high mountain peak. You’d better stay down and look up in awe at Cook from below, while contemplating the tragic…
καιρός remembered 