The sky is growing imperceptibly lighter, it’s just possible to make out the black silhouette of the temple against dark grey sky, and the perfect reflections in the still waters of the pool in front of it. Up above, myriad stars twinkle in the sky. The only thing to dampen the mood is the mass of people pressing in on me from behind and from the sides.… Read the rest
To the left and in front of me is an L-shaped wall about three meters high. It is built by large, square blocks of dark grey stone, the top and bottom decorated with geometric carvings. To the right it is connected to a stone tower with a sort of stepped dome and a passage right through it, the door posts decorated with bas relief figures of Hindu gods. After nearly a thousand years of neglect, the stones are covered in moss and lichen, giving it a copper green hue. A gigantic tree, its roots as large as the trunk of … Read the rest
There’s a large tree straddling the top of the ancient building. The roots, as big as a man’s leg or bigger, come spilling down the walls like a mass of grey tentacles over the dark, moss covered stone. From the top of the roof, the trunk shoots up towards the blue sky, to the green crown high above. In front of the building is a small wooden platform, on it, two Chinese women posing for a photo and in front of the platform, a long line of tourists, all waiting for their chance to take a picture. The place is … Read the rest
The central chamber of the main stupa: despite the size of the the surrounding structure, the room is small and cramped. Save for the sunlight that comes in through a small hole at the very top of the high, narrow, conical roof, the only light inside comes from a few candles. In the center of the room a seated Buddha statue wrapped in an orange cloth with a few decorations on either side. In front of the Buddha is a family, sitting on a thin mat, praying. The room smells of incense, sticks of it burning in a vase at … Read the rest
It’s well neigh impossible to capture this place on a photo. In the middle, the giant, mountainlike central stupa, the peak soaring above the rest of the temple. The sides of the stupa are crumbling, large blocks of stone missing and the reliefs that used to depict faces have withered away during hundreds of years of neglect. Around it there are four smaller towers, one in each direction of the compass, the tops of which consist of four faces, facing four different directions. Lower down, on the sides of both the main stupa and the surrounding towers are dark openings leading in … Read the rest
The soft whoosh of the breaking waves fills my ears. The sea in front to me is black save for the white foam that flows up the moist sand only to recede back into the darkness, a thin line that changes with each wave. To my is left a pier, lighted at intervals by street lamps like a chain of glowing, yellow orbs in the darkness, then further out the shape of an islet, jagged black against the almost imperceptibly lighter night sky. To my right, the beach, the normally pristine white sand turned a dirty yellowish grey under the … Read the rest
A large rock just beneath the surface of the water. It’s surface is encrusted with shells, down at the deep end, a forest of brownish green kelp and higher up, closer to the surface, a layer of fine, bright green seaweed waving in the current like grass in the breeze. Small, tiger striped fish keep flitting about, just inches above the rock, hiding in nooks and crannies. Every now and again a wave passes by, sending down a cascade of silver bubbles from the shimmering surface.… Read the rest
Though I know it’s only a .22, I hug the rifle tightly to my shoulder and peer down the scope. It’s harder than I remember to see clearly but after a few sweaps left to right I find the target, a white piece of paper against the orange brown wall. I center the crosshair right between the eyes of the printed figure, hold my breath then squeeze the trigger…… Read the rest
This used to be a classroom, white concrete walls, yellow and white tiled floor, even an old black board at one end. A hole has been knocked though the back wall, a rough opening connecting this room with the next like a long corridor. The walls on both sides are lined with cells, doors that swing open on rusty hinges. Simple wooden partitions that have been installed for separating the inmates from each other, each cell about two meters long and no wider than I can touch both walls simultaneously with my elbows. I can but imaging being locked in … Read the rest
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