Turkish Delights

Hi everyone,
We were recently in Turkey and Greece and had an absolutely wonderful time. It was our first time in Turkey and I would highly recommend it to anyone. The food was amazing, the people were very friendly, and the sights were spectacular. I thought I'd share a few photos and hopefully inspire your travel bug.

The Blue Mosque at night

The Hagia Sophia

The Blue Mosque (Istanbul)

ruins at Pergamum

unique villages in Chios, Greece

beautiful Greek beaches

ruins at Ephesus Turkey

Travertine pools in Pamukkale, Turkey

ruins at Hieropolis

Cappadocia

Inside the rock formations are churches and living spaces

We took a hot air balloon ... one of my dreams since I was a child :)

If you would like to see more pictures, here are links to my albums:

Turkey and Greece (2011) - part 1

Turkey and Greece (2011) - part 2

I hope you have enjoyed this virtual tour of Turkey and get a chance to travel there if you haven't done so already.

A Whole Lotta Love,

Adrienne

Bali Bliss

Hi all,

I am now back from my trip to Indonesia, which was incredible. I absolutely loved it there. The people are so warm and gracious and the Balinese culture is beautiful. They love to celebrate life and do so at every chance that they get... even if that means stopping traffic for a parade or festival - or stopping all work on the whole island for a full day (imagine if we did that in western culture!). 

The island is absolutely perfect for holiday travel as well. Most people speak English, there is a wealth of great restaurants and the list of things to do was endless. There are many interesting temples and historical sites, amazing dance and cultural shows, and lots of activities such as volcano trekking, scuba diving and snorkeling, and white water rafting. I was travelling solo, which is not something I have done much of, and it was extremely easy to get around and I felt very safe. Plus, its quite inexpensive, with most of my hotels averaging around $20/ night - including breakfast. Do I sound like an advertisement for Bali or what?

Anyway, here are a few pics of my trip:

And if you want to see all 800, you can go to my online album here:

Indonesia (and Hong Kong)

A Whole Lotta Love,

Adrienne

A Time to Keep Silent

Hi all,

Sorry for the long silence here, but I have been doing some self-reflection and travelling and right now I am in Bali, Indonesia for the next few weeks. It is absolutely wonderful here and very warm, which is what I needed.

On March 5th here, the Balinese people will be celebrating Nyepi Day, which is their New Year. It is a really interesting celebration, where the entire country shuts down... no electricity, no flights, no walking outside your home. It is a day of self-reflection and purification. It is the day of silence. I am very excited to be here during this time and also witness many of the celebrations and rituals leading up to it. I was just looking up some information and reading about it online and I thought I would include some links to information here in case you haven't heard of this day or would like to do something to celebrate it in our own way where you are. The Balinese government is urging people around the world to take part in whatever way they can also as a way of reducing our world wide consumption of fuels, even if it is for one day.

http://balifriend.net/nyepi_day.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyepi

The Nyepi Day, the silence day


On the first day of the New Year after the noisy night a silence and quiet day is performed. Nyepi derive from 'sepi' means silence. The activities in all over the Bali island is stopped for 24 hours. There are four mandatory religious prohibitions called Catur Brata Penyepian that should be followed by common Hindu people in Bali. The prohibitions include amati geni or no fire, amati karya or no work, amati lelanguan or no entertainment and pleasure, and amati lelungan or no travelling. These prohibitions help people to control their five earthy senses by mind and wisdom in order to increase the quality of life for the upcoming year. For people with higher spiritual ability or willing to have higher spiritual life are expected to perform further prohibitions include fasting by not eating or drinking, stay still by not talking, meditating by focusing the mind to the God and praying.

Ngembak Geni, a day of forgiveness.

The anti-climax of the Nyepi day is on the following day, which is called Ngembak Geni where people share happiness by visiting their relatives and friend. The new year is started by forgiving each other and forget the hate in the past year and work together to face the challenge of the New Year.

A Whole Lotta Silence,

Adrienne

Favorite Foto Friday - Holi Colorful India!

My sister is in India right now for the next month and I have been hearing bits and pieces about her travels and adventures. Although I love to travel, I have yet to go to this part of the world and I'm so eager. When I think of India, two things immediately come to mind for me - the colors and the festivals. 

Recently, I came across the incredible photography of Poras Chaudhary. Some of my favorite photos of his are of Holi - The Festival of Colors. Holi is celebrated as a welcoming of Spring, and a celebration of the triumph of good over evil. What that translates to in action is an enthusiastic dropping of inhibitions, as people chase each other and playfully splash colorful paint, powder and water on each other. When I go to India, I'm definitely going to make sure its during this festival because do I ever want to join this celebration!

Poras is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Northern India. He is a completely self-taught photographer and is best known for his color work and unique compositions. If you want to find out more about him or buy his prints, check out his website. 

Have a Happy and Colorful Friday!

A Whole Lotta Love,

Adrienne