Textiles

One of the many beautiful things in India is the various textiles all over the country. From turbans to musical instruments, there is so much life, beauty and colour in these handmade pieces of art. They also give us a glimpse into India's culture and traditions. Here's a sample of some the beautiful textiles that I stumbled upon during my trip. 

Turbans

Handbags at the market

Blankets

 Engravings on the outer walls of the Taj Mahal

 Tools used for Block Printing 

The result

Natural stones used to make paint 

 Yellow Paint 

(Neat tidbit: In order to produce this colour, farmers feed elephants with mango leaves (which apparently make their urine more yellow), then they leave the urine to dry in the sun - and voila - yellow paint!)

Traditional Oil Painting 

Traditional, handmade wooden crafts 

A beautifully crafted musical instrument 

Indian Cowboys

Jodhpur pants & slippers are the classic uniform for many men in the city of Jodhpur (no joke).  

And a close up of their amazing shoes! 

A Real Circus

The first thing most people in India tell me was: "If you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere". This is true. The traffic in India is one of a kind - the roads are filled with people, cars, tuk tuks (taxis - crammed with more people!), tourist buses, motorbikes, elephants, camels, cows, monkeys, and more cows all moving and crossing the street at the same time. Below are some pictures to prove to you that no circus could ever compare to the streets of India. 

India

Welcome to India!

After my visit to Taiwan, I thought India would be a nice escape from all the food and hustle and bustle. But two tired legs, sore shoulders, and 50 pounds of curry later, I was wrong. Our schedule in India was more jam packed than in Taiwan - touring forts and palaces, driving through safaris, shopping at markets, etc... And of course, there was the food. The best (perhaps the worst - by the look of my waistline) part of all. I was warned that after a couple of days of eating curry I would quickly tire of  the stuff. Unfortunately, the opposite occurred - to the point where I began having stomach pains due to overeating (embarrassing to admit). And even now that I'm back home, I don't regret it one bit (my trainer would beg to differ though).

Bits & Pieces

Here are some of my remaining shots from Taiwan. Hopefully you will get a chance to visit this beautiful country.

Smoke? Fire? 

Nope, fireworks for Chinese New Year!

Preparations to celebrate the New Year

Kimchi, Curry, Ice Cream & Toilets

In my posts on NYC, I talked about how marketing has a big influence on how we perceive food and what we choose to eat. Well, here in Taiwan they've taken it to a whole new level - toilets. It's a kitschy take on dining - using toilet themed dishes to serve the food and toilet seats and bathtubs as chairs and tables. When you get over the thought of eating and drinking out of such dishware, the experience is quite fun :)

 Please take a seat...

Some of the scraps found in the bathtubs

Drinking out of a toilet ;) 

 Curry Beef Toilet 

 Kimchi Toilet Hot pot 

Poop with a twist (no pun intended)