Tag Archives: architecture It’s autumn in Australia at the moment, which makes me think of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Defies logic, I know, but there is something about the freshness of the air this change-of-season that has me humming: “I love Paris in the springtime…” and thinking of my last time in France, back in the spring […]  Temples in Southeast Asia are living places. This is certainly true in Myanmar. The many Buddhist temples I visited there were architecturally beautiful – and different, with no two exactly the same. But what I generally find more interesting is the life – both sacred and secular – within and around them. On my first afternoon in Mandalay, […]  I guess that rainy weather is pretty common in Wales. One clue is the council workers: as we walked from Pembroke Dock to Pembroke, splashing through puddles that wet us up to the knees, huddling under raincoats that whipped in the wind, and clinging to umbrellas that turned inside out and failed to keep the […]  Enlightenment doesn’t happen overnight. Neither, apparently, does building a temple. I don’t know how long they have been working on the new wihan (พระวิหาร), or shrine hall, at Wat Ratchathammaram (วัดราชธรรมาราม) in Maret on the southeast side of Koh Samui, but we’ve been driving past on the way to or from somewhere for several of our visits […]  Bago is a golden city, originally build during the Mon dynasty. Destroyed by the Burman in 1757 and partially restored in the early 19th century, the city lost prominence when the Bago River changed its course and cut the city off from the sea. It must have really been something during its heyday, for even […] |
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