.jpg) Water Lily in Bloom
Wherever you find water in South East Asia – whether it be in lakes, or ponds, or pots – you will find a dazzling array of water lilies and lotuses. (iPhone6) When ever I think of Sri Lanka, I think of water: lotus and lily ponds, flooded rice paddies, dams and reservoirs, and rain. Lots of rain.
I was travelling solo on a trip that had been originally planned for two, and although it was November, the south-western monsoon clearly didn’t realise it was meant to be finished. Fortunately, the property where I was staying in North Central Province had great food and good internet. I had access to a kayak, and spent a couple of hours paddling on the local reservoir.
My room was also equipped with giant umbrellas, so I could enjoy my rainy morning walks around the rice paddies and lily ponds in the middle of nowhere. And, better yet, it came with a bicycle! I had a few ideas of places to visit, but the transport prices in the compendium were listed in US dollars and clearly well over local market value! There had to be a better way. I took advantage of a brief break in the weather, google-mapped the route to the nearest town, and set off on the bike to try to find a tuk-tuk driver.
The locals in town – who spoke no English – were clearly not used to tourists who weren’t prepared to pay resort-prices for over-sized over-chilled air-conditioned cars, and basically stared at me in wonder. I must have been at the only resort in the area catering to foreigners! But, I was determined. I’ve spent enough time in Asia to know that if you simply smile and dig your heels in, eventually someone will find a way to problem-solve.
Sure enough, they finally managed to locate a local tuk-tuk driver who was able to travel outside the town (I think the tuk-tuks are colour-coded?). He recognised the name of one of the places I had written down: the Aukana (Avukana) Buddha Statue (අවුකන බුද්ධ ප්රතිමාව). With a lot of sign-language and pointing at my watch, and the help of half the neighbourhood, we agreed he would pick me up after lunch.
Although he spoke the barest few words of English, and I speak absolutely no Sinhala, my driver and I managed fine (much to the surprise of the reception at my resort, who noted all his details with concern before they let me go off with him). Although the site was only an hour away, if I understood him correctly, he had last visited when his children (now grown) were small, and he clearly enjoyed the trip as much as I did.
.jpg) Rice Paddies
The rains were intermittent, and between the showers, the skies were blue and the temperatures soared. My bungalow was set among the sparkling rice paddies of Thirappane, where people were hard at work. .jpg) Water Lilies
Every morning on my walks, I paused to appreciate the flowers. One of the differences between lotuses and water lilies is that lotus leaves and flowers rise up out of the waters, while lilies float. Even so, I think these are lilies. Like the symbolic lotus, these flowers are rising out from their muddy roots and base desires, up to the higher realms of divine awareness and beauty. (iPhone6)  Trees on the Tank
The local reservoir was a tangle of water hyacinth and other floating plants, and huge, water-loving trees. (iPhone6) Kayaking on the Tank
In spite of the short rain squalls, it was a lovely paddle on the tank – just mind you don’t go down the overflow! (iPhone6) Kayak and Horses on the Tank
The skies darken, as it threatens to rain again. A pair of horseriders pick their way through the water hyacinth in the distance. (iPhone6) Tuk-Tuk Selfie
One of the things I love about using local tuk-tuks is that you feel much more a part of the surrounding countryside. On this occasion, that openness meant getting pelted with rain periodically in spite of roll-down platic windows. Aukana (Avukana) Buddha
According to most reports, this large Buddha statue was sculpted out of the granite rock face behind it in the 5th century AD. Standing Tall
At almost 12 meters (about 40 feet) tall, the Aukana Buddha is the tallest ancient Buddha statue in Sri Lanka. Looking up the Aukana Buddha
It is also considered to be one of the best examples of an ancient standing Buddha statue in Sri Lanka. The graceful pleats of the robe are impressive. At the Feet of the Aukana Buddha
It is said that the statue is so well aligned that a raindrop on the nose would fall straight down to small depression carved between the toes. We had plenty of rain, which dulled the light, but the scafolding in place for ongoing maintenance meant I couldn’t test the raindrop story! Asisa Mudra
The hand position of the Buddha, the Asisa Mudra or “posture of blessing”, is not commonly seen outside Sri Lanka. Visitors to the Standing Buddha
It is a quiet site – and not a particularly extensive one. Only a few faithful braved the rain to pay tribute. Buddhist Stupa
I was the only foreigner there, and the Abbot made a point of coming out to talk to me. After a short chat – his English was immaculate – he found out I had worked in Thailand, and promptly offered me a job at the local temple school! Buddha in an Alcove
Buddhism was officially introduced into the country in the 2nd century BC, making Sri Lanka the oldest continually Buddhist country in the world. Today, about 70% of the population practice the state religion of Theravada Buddhism. Hindu Priest
Adjoining the site, there is a small temple to Ganesh; freedom of religion in Sri Lanka is constitutionally protected and about 13% of the population is Hindu. I paid my dues and received extra blessings. Kala Wewa
While the provenance of the Aukana Buddha is under some debate, there is no doubt about the giant reservoir nearby: Kala Wewa was built by the King Dhatusena in 460 A.D. Kala Wewa
Dhatusena (Datusena/Dasenkeli) was king from 455 to 473 AD. This twin reservoir complex, with a capacity of 123 million cubic meters, is one of 16 interconnected tanks built under his rule to develop agriculture in the country. More Water Lilies (iPhone6) After making it back to the resort safely, my driver and I were both enboldened, and with the help of a translator, we agreed arrangements for a trip further afield the next day (see: Sigiriya).
In the meantime, though, I had time to wander among the rain, the rice and the water lilies.
Until next time,
Happy Wandering!
Photos: 02-04November2018
Posted in Every Day Life,Landscapes,Sri Lanka,TravelTags: buddha,buddhism,Photo Blog,Sri Lanka,temple,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall
Mirror, Mirror!
High in the steamy, mountainous jungles of Papua New Guinea, a Western Highland tribal warrior gets ready for a local sing-sing – a festival of culture and dance. I don’t know how many of Papua New Guinea’s more than 7000 different cultural groups live in the wide, fertile valleys and surrounding mountainous jungles of the Highlands in the country’s interior, but there are a lot!
The Highlands were first populated about 50,000 years ago by nomadic foragers. By 10,000 years ago, people were planting crops and settling into villages. Those tribal groups developed their own unique languages, beliefs, and customs, as they remained separated from their neighbours by the rugged terrain and a culture of inter-tribal warfare and animosity. They had no contact with Europeans until the 1930s, when explorers came into the area looking for gold. In spite of those, and later, intrusions by European mining and logging companies, and the presence of Australian and New Zealand soldiers during World War II as they (with the help of the Papuans) stopped the advance of Japanese troops south towards Port Moresby, life here has changed little. Traditional practices and beliefs remain strong.
The easiest way for a visitor to appreciate some of this incredible cultural diversity is to attend a sing-sing: a peaceful gathering of tribes or villages that showcases their distinctive dances and traditions. I was in Papua New Guinea with a small but intrepid group of photography enthusiasts and photographer Karl Grobl from Jim Cline Photo Tours. We were attending the Paiya Village Mini Cultural Show, which takes place annually before the better-known and larger Mount Hagen Show.
We arrived at Paiya Village early, allowing us to appreciate how long the extensive preparations take! I was able to spend time with a number of tribal groups as they painted their faces and crafted their costumes for the afternoon’s performances. I have previously shared pictures of people from Jiwaka Province (see: Feathers Fur and Facepaint) and from Engan Province (see Big Hats and Small Drums) as they got ready for the show.
Now, it was time to focus on some of the dancers from the Western Highlands Province, which is where Paya Village is located, and the well-known and popular Huli Wigmen, who had travelled in from Hela Province many miles away. Originally, all these vibrantly painted faces and elaborate costumes were meant to instil fear in ones opponents during battle, but the process of getting ready also served as a group bonding exercise, and today, the ritual is a means of passing on traditions and stories.
Join me in the jungle for some environmental portraits of these men in what was traditionally war-paint, and is now reserved for sing-sings.
Huli Wigman
Even before they apply their distinctive red-and-yellow facepaint, the Huli Wigman of the Hela Province in the Southern Highlands stand out. Fixing the Wig
Their extraordinary structured wig-hats are made from their own hair. The young men go to a secretive Huli Wig School to learn the magic and special diet required to grow enough hair to craft the wigs. Helping Each Other
The men wear kina shells around their necks with a kokomo (hornbill) beak on the back. The headdresses are adorned with precious parrot and bird of paradise feathers. Western Highlands Man
Every tribal group has their own face-paint style. It takes time and concentration to achieve the final result with small hand-held mirrors. Here, a vehicle rear-view mirror gets a second life. Smoke Break
The Western Highland headdress starts with a stitched bilum-bag form that is padded out before being decotated with feathers, fur, vegetation, and shells. String Ties and Kina Shells
The whole process is fascinating to watch. Face in a Shard of Glass
All along the jungle track, the men are applying their ritual colours. That distorted cheek on the woman in the background is a wad of ever-present betel nut chew. Another Smoke Break
Tobacco is also ubiquitous: mostly long-leaf and self-rolled. This stylish looking cigarette is actually rolled in carefully cut newspaper. Eye in the Mirror
If ever I come back to this area, I will bring a bag full of hand-held mirrors! Makeup in the Mirror Arm Band
Full costumes incorporate a lot of fresh local greenery. Applying Face Paint
A little way down the jungle track, another group of Huli Wigmen are at various stages of of readiness – each with his own small looking glass. White Face Paint Yellow Paint and Eye Contact
The second colour layer is the yellow face paint. Traditionally, the men used ambua, a bright yellow sacred clay. Today, store-bought acrylic paints are more often substituted. Young Wig-Boy
Only young, virgin males from Hela Province can go to wig school. They usually enter at 14 to 15 years of age, and don’t leave until they graduate after at least 18 months. If they want a second (or third) wig, they re-enroll. This young lad’s hair has a way to go before it will be woven into a headdress. Ceremonial Wig
The wigs are wonderful concoctions! Most men own more than one, but all the hair has to be grown before they get married. Ceremonial wigs are meant to look like the silhouette of a bird with its wings stretched out. Getting Ready
Looking at the bird parts and feathers that go into these headdresses is rather alarming, but the Huli have a reverence for birds, and the feathers are carefully looked after from one year to the next. Hornbill Beak and Pig Tusks Young Western Highlander
Not everyone is performing. A local lad is as fascinated by the Wigmen as I am. Yellow Paint on the Wigman
Paint brushes are made from twigs with one end chewed to make them pliable. Portrait of a Wigman in the Making
The young lad didn’t have to do his own paint; one of the elders was looking after him. Triangle Eyes
Like the wig decoration, the face paint has minor variations on a general theme. Concentration
I’m impressed by the men’s sustained concentration, … Tourists
… especially considering the number of phones and cameras in their faces! Huli Wigmen Dancing
Finally it all comes together! The Wigman ‘dance’ involves a singing-chant while the men jump up and down as if they were on invisible pogo sticks. Western Highland Men Dancing
The Western Highland men, with their headresses topped with tall feathers, approach with a yodeling march. It is easy to imagine how terrifying either of these groups would be be, coming at you through the jungle!
I’m very glad that inter-tribal disputes – although far from ended – are greatly reduced these days. Sing-sings give the tribes a chance to maintain and show off aspects of their culture without the bloodshed.
And, they give us the chance to enjoy them as well.
Until next time,
Safe Travels!
Photos: 18August2017
Posted in environmental portrait,Papua New Guinea,TravelTags: environmental portrait,environmental portraits,Paiya Village,Papua New Guinea,people,Photo Blog,PNG,sing sing,travel,Travel Blog,tribal life,Ursula Wall,Western Highlands Province
Nori Aoki at Bat for the Seattle Mariners
The ‘American Dream‘ and baseball’s ‘Field of Dreams’ are tightly interwoven, in myth and in reality. In a nation built on immigrants, Norichika Aoki (playing here for the Seattle Mariners) is one of over 25% of pro-baseball players who were born outside the USA. (06June2016) “Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don’t care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win, it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.”
There can’t be a North American child who doesn’t know that chorus from the 1908 Tin Pan Alley song Take Me Out to the Ball Game. A central element in countless television shows and popular movies – including the eponymous 1949 musical starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, the song has been recorded by artists as diverse as Carly Simon, Bing Crosbie, and Dr John.
This chorus is also a feature at the baseball games for which it was written. What I didn’t know when I attended my first professional game, however, was that you have to wait for the middle of the seventh inning before you hear it!
This year, there is no music blaring from the loudspeakers. It is, as they say in baseball, a whole new ball game. The fields and ballparks are quiet and the bleachers are empty. Around the world, various sports have experimented with playing to empty stadiums. Here in Australia, the major football and rugby codes are struggling with social distancing regulations in attempts to get games up and running again. In the United States, it is spring, which is normally the start of the baseball season. But in March, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Major League Baseball announced that the season would be postponed “indefinitely”.
That has to hurt! Baseball has been called the National Pastime and the Heartbeat of America. In 1954, French-American historian and social commentator Jacques Barzun wrote: “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.”
Baseball is so embedded in the American psyche that its idioms are an everyday part of the language: to hit a home run or bat a thousand; to go to bat for someone or to touch base with them; to play hardball or make a ball park figure estimate; to have two strikes against you or to strike out completely; to step up to the plate or swing for the fences; to play ball, throw a curve ball, or take a rain check; to be on the ball, off base, out in left field, or out of one’s league, to list just a few.
Unlike me, my husband spent most of his early years in the US and grew up to be a keen fan of basketball and baseball. No matter what time-zone he was living or working in, he would find March Madness basketball tournaments on television. He called the Seattle Mariners his “home team” in baseball, and followed their games – by phone and wifi where necessary – from one end of the season to the other. Twice we were able to co-ordinate short travel-stops in Seattle when the Mariners had home games (both times against the Cleveland Indians), so, off we went to the home field.
I don’t know enough about baseball to find the game all that interesting, so I took my cameras with me – otherwise those long intervals during which nothing seems to happen would have driven me to distraction!
Join me at the ball game.
Safeco Left Field
We were lucky enough to have beautiful weather for our excursions – via public transport and foot – into the ball park. (29May2015) Womens PGA Players
Before the game starts, all sorts of things happen on the field. One year we watched pro golfers returning baseballs! (06June2016) Miller and Seager Warming Up
The home team does their warm-up routine on the field. (29May2015) Stretches
Some of the players get the trainers to help with their pre-game warm ups. (06June2016) T-Shirt Bearers
Security staff are visbly present, and giving out gift-packs. (06June2016) Meeting the Fans
Many of the players meet fans at the fence … (29May2015) Nelson Cruz
… or just smile at the audience from the field. Another foreign-born player, Dominican-American Nelson Cruz is a six-time MLB All-Star who spent four years with the Mariners. (06June2016) Local School Choir
Once the National Anthem has been sung, the first pitch is not far away. (29May2015) Meeting Team Mates
Robinson Canó, currently with the New York Mets, is another Dominican-born player who was four years on the Seattle Mariners line-up. He was named for Jackie Robinson, the civil rights hero and legendary ball player who broke the baseball colour barrier in 1947. (29May2015) Walker Pitching
Seattle’s starting pitcher Taijuan Walker winds up and lets a ball fly. (29May2015) Kipnis at Bat
The first batter for the Cleveland Indians was Jason Kipnis. To amuse myself, I tried to catch the balls in flight; you can just see this one streaking towards his bat. (29May2015) Jason Kipnis at Bat
I’m sure it was pure coincidence that Seattle was once again playing against Cleveland when we attended our next game over a year later! (06June2016) Confab
A lot of discussion seems to take place between innings – and even between plays. Center-fielder Austin Jackson is on first base; coach Chris Woodward is there to give advice. Who knew you needed help to decide whether or not to run? (29May2015) Nelson Cruz at Bat
When the batters connect with the ball, you can hear it – and see it. (06June2016) Fresh Lemonade
Half the fun of the game is watching the vendors spruiking their wares. (06June2016) Popcorn, Peanuts, and Cracker Jacks!
Cracker Jacks were a real treat when I was a kid – one I didn’t get very often. Today, many ball parks sell only popcorn because of the risks to people with peanut alergies. (06June2016) Nelson Cruz at Bat
Baseball fans love their statistics: 2015 was possibly the best season of Cruz’s career. (29May2015) Cruz on the Run
By the end of the season, he had a hitting average of .302, with a career-high of 44 home runs and 93 RBIs. (29May2015) Cruz Heading for Base
Fortunately, Cruz made it to base before the catcher got that ball! (29May2015) Young Fan
Baseball is a family affair, and many of the fans are very young. (29May2015) Yes we Canó!
The big screens gee-up the crowd. The home team is losing and Robinson Canó is the last hope. (06June2016) Canó at Bat
The ball comes in… he hits it, but it wasn’t enough: the game was lost by two runs. (06June2016) Evening Skies
As the games draw to a close, the skies over Seattle darken. (29May2015) Farewelling Teammates
The Mariners won this game, and happily congratulated each other after the final runs. (29May2015) Friday Fireworks
We had the added bonus of enjoying the fireworks display … Safeco in Lights
… that started as soon as it was dark enough. We won one and we lost one. Not bad, I guess!
Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the lights over Safeco Field – now called T-Mobile Park following the expiry of the original naming deal – are currently off and the Seattle Mariners have been told to enter off-season mode.
This year’s spring training never happened. Once the season opening is announced, it will take time for players to recondition. Even then, the competition won’t feel the same without the audience.
Like I said, it’s a whole new ball game.
Posted in Sport,Travel,USATags: Ball Game,baseball,environmental portrait,Photo Blog,Safeco Park,Seattle,sport,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,USA
A Nepali Spice Palette
The colours and flavours of Nepali food are wonderful, and they start with a perfectly balanced spice mix. This masala dani (spice box) contains some of the more commonly used flavours: salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin powder, fenugreek seeds, coriander powder, and ground carom seeds. One of the great joys of travel is the food.
The colours, smells, and tastes of local cuisine are so evocative of the place. When you have the opportunity to break bread with the locals, there is a warm friendliness that lives in your memories long after the trip has finished.
I love taking part in cooking classes when I travel. It is not so much that I will replicate the recipes at home; it is more that learning how the local food is prepared enriches the taste experience, and also gives me a glimpse into people’s lives.
The first meal I ever ate in Nepal was at a restaurant in Thamel called – believe it or not – the Kathmandu Kitchen. I guess every city has one – even Kathmandu! Since that first trip, I’ve made a bee-line to momos any time they are available. I just love Nepali food.
On my most recent trip to Nepal, I was especially lucky.
I was there – in part – to participate in a workshop with travel photographer Gavin Gough and photojournalist Jack Kurtz. When we weren’t exploring various outdoor locations (e.g: A Thousand Steps, Boudhanath Stupa, Bhaktapur Ruins, and Swayambhunath, etc.), we were grouped in an airy Airbnb home in Thamel and enjoying meals cooked by our host Indira in a genuine Kathmandu kitchen.
Indira has the deftest hand with Nepali spices that you could wish for, and a love of cooking that is infectious. We persuaded her to give us a ‘cooking lesson’. Of course, when you are dealing with a group of enthusiastic photographers, that involves a lot more watching and clicking than it does dicing and chopping! But we did help a bit – and we definitely enjoyed the final products.
Join me for a typical Nepali meal.
Fresh Produce
Great meals start with the best ingredients. Some of this is from the market; some is straight out of the garden. Grated Carrot
Although this is a modern household, complete with solar electricity, many of the kitchen tasks are done by hand. It takes time and effort to grate the kilos of carrots that will go into our carrot pudding desert. Indira and the Moka Pot
An army marches on its stomach, and Indira knows that cooks and kitchen-hands live on coffee. Maas Ko Daal
Lentils (dal) are a key feature in Nepali cuisine, and there are as many ways of making dahl as there are ways to spell it! Dahl Bhat (lentils with rice), made with yellow or red lentils, is a staple in the country, but black gram beans (maas ko daal) are another favourite. These lentils are cooked in an iron pot, and the herbs and spices are fried in ghee separately and added last. Nepali Saag – Curried Greens
Saag (greens: spinach, chard, kale, or mustard) are stir-fried with garlic, cumin seeds, salt, pepper, and curry powder for a simple and nutritious side dish. Pots on the Stove Slicing Beans
Indira slices her beans lengthwise opposite the vein so that the flavours (fenugreek, Himalayan chives, turmeric, chopped garlic, chili powder, asafoetida, and salt) penetrate. Whisking the Daal
Once the lentils are soft, they are lightly whisked. Painting Flavour
Meanwhile, in a fresh pot of heated oil, more spices are being gently fried. Chopping Garlic
You can never have too much garlic! Chopping Okra
Another side dish on the menu is tare ko ramtoriya – pan-fried okra. Salting the Okra
Salt is added to the okra that is cooking with red onions, black cumin, green chilies, turmeric and chili powder. Chicken in a Pot
Chicken pieces are stewed in preparation for making curry. Cutting Potatoes
Small potatoes have been peeled, boiled and cooled. Now, they are cut in half … Alu Ko Achar – Potato Pickle
… and coated in mustard oil with fenugreek, Himalayan chives, asafetida (Hing), turmeric, and chili powder. They are then tossed in final dressing of ginger paste, black cumin seeds, lemon juice and coriander. Ginger and Garlic in a Pan
More herbs and spices are toasted; there is always something fragrant warming up. Cooking Carrot
The grated carrot (remember the carrot?) is added to a pot of melted ghee with bay leaves. After steaming, milk is added and the mixture is covered and cooked over low heat until the color comes back… Nepalese milk cream (which is a lot like mascarpone) is then stirred in, and the mixture cooks for another hour before sugar (and nuts if you like) is added. Delicious! Mixing Chilli Spice
Meanwhile, a deadly amount of chillies are added to another fried spice mix … Mixing Chilli Spice
… and the whole lot is blended to dress the chicken, which is now falling off the bone. “Many Hands”
They say that: “Many hands make light work.” In this case, however, most of the hands are observing! That is the carrot-milk pudding on the back burner. Baingan Pakoras
The eggplant fritters – coated in chickpea batter – were a dream! They didn’t all make it to the dinner table. The Table
Finally! Time to eat. Our meal was, of course, wonderful!
So that we could try to replicate some of the unique flavours at home, a couple of my fellow travellers went to the markets with Indira to buy a few of the herbs and spices that were less familiar to us. I was pretty sure that Australian Quarantine would confiscate my large plastic packets of herbs and toasted seeds, but they just laughed.
Thanks to Covid-19, the world is currently at a standstill, and I’m really missing travel. Not as much as people in the hospitality industry in tourism-dependent locations like Nepal are missing incoming visitors, to be sure, so I do consider myself very lucky.
But, I do miss travel. Going through old pictures cheers me up, and so too does getting into my spice cupboard, pulling out the mustard oil, the Himalayan chives, and the asafetida – and cooking up something exotic.
Bon Appétit
Pictures: 17March2017
Posted in Food,Nepal,TravelTags: cooking,food,Kathmandu,Kitchen,Nepal,Photo Blog,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall
Young Hamar Woman
The Hamar women of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley are made immediately recognisable by their ochre-coated hair. This young woman is a high-ranking first wife, which we know from the heavy leather and metal necklace with the large cylindrical detail on the front that she is wearing. Her husband also has a second wife, which is indicated by the second plain metal bangle on her neck. The Hamar captivated me.
A tall, good-looking people who are mostly relaxed and unselfconscious in front of a camera, the Hamar are a delight to visit and photograph. They are possibly the most distinctive of the many ethnic groups living in the far reaches of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, near the border with South Sudan.
There are about 50,000 pastural semi-nomadic Hamar (or Hamer) tribal people in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia. Although they skirmish with their neighbours – necessitating the regular carriage of Kalashnikovs – they have been left mostly untouched by modern society and maintain a traditional lifestyle with generations-old cultural practices.
Cattle are central to Hamar life, playing a role in rites of passage and tribal rituals (more about their unique cattle-jumping ceremony some other day). Wealth and status is measured by how many head a family has, and any man who loses a family’s cattle herd will have his reputation ruined – hence the AK-47s. Men marry when they are in their mid-thirties, with the number of brides they can have determined by the ‘bride wealth’ their family can afford to pay to the young women’s families in cattle, goats, and guns.
To the visitor, it is the Hamar’s unique body decorations and clothing that stand out. Traditionally, women and girls wear soft leather smocks richly decorated with beads and cowrie shells, and coat their tightly dread-locked plaits with ochre. Both men and women cover their arms in copper bracelets, and sport liberal beads and scarification (more about that another time). Young men tend towards intricately braided hairstyles, and warriors add elaborate clay caps to their hairdos.
I was lucky enough to make several visits to a large village not far from my accommodation in the market town of Turmi (see: Hamar Village and Hamar Faces). I was travelling with photographer Ben McRae as part of a small-group Piper Mackay Photo-Tour, and we were all contributing to the local economy through the “pay-per-click” photo-tourism prevalent in the Omo Valley. It is only fair that these tribal people should trade on their distinctive appearances, but I couldn’t help but wonder about those who might be considered ‘less attractive’, and therefore earn less supplemental tourist-income.
Join me on a visit to a Hamar village – it is like a journey to another world.
Hamar Village
The Hamar are pastural semi-nomadic people living in villages of simple huts in the hills on the eastern side of the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia. Shells and Beads
Even the young unmarried women have a poise and elegance that is admirable. As girls marry at around age seventeen, I assume that this young woman is younger than that. Mother and Child
Very young girls also sport the characteristic ochre-coated hair, copper bracelets, beads, and cowrie-shell trimmed smocks. Elder Women
This woman caught my attention on every one of my visits to this village. Hamar Warrior
This man with his regal bearing was another of the villagers that I photographed on more than one occasion. Clay Cap
Traditionally, men who have proven their courage by killing an enemy or a dangerous animal fashion a mud-clay cap into the back of their hair and decorate it with precious feathers. This cap can last for many months. Girl in a Kraal Doorway Young Hamar Girl
Those eyes! And perfect poise. These children are completely unphased by the visitors in their midst. Milking the Cows
Getting candid shots in a pay-per-click village has its challenges! This man was worried about me photographing his cows over the fence around the enclosure until I assured him I was intending to pay him appropriately. Each cow costs extra! Milking the Cows
Cows are central to Hamar economy. The men are responsible for them, and their futures depend on the herd: unless their family has enough cattle, the young men can’t negotiate for a good wife. Earrings and Braids
As he turns back back to his milking, I can admire his beautiful tight braids and copper bracelets. Beads and Braids
Both men and women value their appearance in Hamar society. Hair grooming is an essential part of this: this young man’s beading and braiding clearly have taken a lot of time. Bird in a Bush
This village is in a beautiful pastoral setting. I think this is a superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus). Grandmother in a Hut
The only light in the small and dark Hamar huts is from the low doorway … Family in a Hut
.. and from the chinks in the walls. Woman outside her Home
As is the case with most traditional societies, Hamar people divide tasks according to age and gender. Hamar Woman
Older women – even second wives like this one – have a role and status in the community. Because women marry much younger than men, they are often left widowed, but they maintain some familial control over their husband’s younger brothers and the family livestock. Young Adolescent
This young girl, barely into her teens, was one of the more popular subjects in the village. Young Woman in Saffron That Direct Gaze! Backs and Beads
Two young girls proudly show off their back scarring that they have acquired at a cow-jumping ritual. Beads and Blankets
One of these young women has embellished her pink sunglasses with pink flower. We get a good view of her decorative midriff scarring. Layered in Beads
Another pair of friends, layered in their best beads, present themselves to the camera. Youthful Smile
It is the clear-eyed smiles that I love the most. It is another world.
But, the road network in the region is improving, local towns are expanding, and land is being grabbed for hydroelectric dams and water-guzzling plantations.
 At least some modernisation is inevitable, but the Hamar are confident they can preserved their cultural values and traditions.
I do hope they are right!
Photos: 18October2018
Posted in Africa,environmental portrait,Ethiopia,TravelTags: environmental portrait,environmental portraits,Ethiopia,Hamar,Hamar Village,Omo Valley,portrait,portraits,travel,tribal life,Ursula Wall
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