Many cameras were clicking at the very same moment, but I am quietly confident that all of the others were pointed in a different direction,
I took the photo less than 30 seconds after the one in #3 of this series.
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On 19 July the world lost one of its most eloquent instrumentalists..
Malian kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate was 58; he died after a short illness.
He was not the only great kora player, but he was, unquestionably, the kora’s most prominent and most influential exponent; Toumani Diabate turned it into a “concert” instrument.
At age 22 he recorded Kaira – the world’s first absolutely solo kora album.
(oft-misdescribed as an African “harp”, the kora is in fact a harp-lute)
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This post’s image does not at all resemble #30’s shot of a “Silk Road” remnant.
Its vantage point, however, was only a few footsteps distant from #30’s; #31’s photo was taken less than a minute later, from the same side of the Karakoram Highway, whilst en route from Gilgit to the Hunza Valley.
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In the “western” world, polo is associated with toffs and tycoons.
That is certainly not the case in northern Pakistan.
There, we witnessed a much “earthier”, less “regulated” kind of polo.
Its players – both human and equine – were highly skilled.
Their stamina was remarkable.
Arguably, the match’s conduct and spirit were closer to polo’s origins than would be any match played on 21st century “western” turf.
Khaplu’s polo ground has no turf…
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Amritsar’s Golden Temple complex is refreshingly non-commercial; even its suitably-huge toilets are free. (and meticulously maintained)
All nearby streets are another matter, entirely; shops abound.
Rents for commercial premises are reportedly among India’s highest,
However, a lot of commercial activity does not benefit landlords – it is “informal”, “al fresco”, conducted on the actual streets.
read moreTriple K “expedition” (#11 in teaser series: massive inflation in Amritsar + musical bonus)
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Every word in today’s subtitle applies to the Hoarusib River, shortly before it sometimes flows into the Atlantic.
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Each photo in this post has a distinctly different “feel”, I think.
All three were taken within the same “window”, of fewer than four minutes.
The (400 mm) telephoto image, below, looks closely at what occupies just a small portion of the left side of the wide-angle (30 mm) featured image, above.
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Some Namib-dwellers – plants and animals – look extremely tough, “hard-shelled”, “brutal”.
Others, however, have a surprisingly “delicate” appearance.
I have no idea of even the common name of the pictured example.
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This post and the next two in this series are devoted to striking examples of plants that have evolved/adapted to survive in the least-rainy part of the Namib Desert.
The featured image’s stark centre of attention is (I am almost sure) a particularly hardy member of the geranium family.
It is probably one of the “Sarcocaulons” – members of what was formerly the generally-recognised genus Sarcocaulon.
Since 1996 these plants are usually numbered as members of the genus Monsonia.
One species – which may or may not be the one pictured above – contains a highly flammable resin which persists even when the plant is “dead”…or “dead”-ish.
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