Recent Travelogues

Auroville (City of Dawn) is a township in Viluppuram district on the south eastern coast of India. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa (also known as “The Mother”) and designed by architect Roger Anger. It has about 2500 residents hailing from over 40 countries.

Auroville is a model for sustainable living and is home to many researchers and engineers from around the world. Most of its energy needs are met through renewable and alternate technologies.

A cluster of bamboos outside the guest housing complex.

Indian Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis)

October in Sun Valley, Idaho in the foothills of the Sawtooth mountains.

These pictures are from last year’s (2010) Trailing of the Sheep Festival in central Idaho.

These pictures are from last year’s (2010) Trailing of the Sheep Festival in central Idaho.

These pictures are from last year’s (2010) Trailing of the Sheep Festival in central Idaho.

It’s a long wait at the barber’s shop.

The region around the Sawtooth Mountains in central Idaho has a strong sheep ranching tradition since the 1860s. Over the past 150 years, settlers from sheep-herding communities from around the world – Scotland, the Basque region of Spain, Peru, Chile, Mongolia – have together established what is a uniquely American sheep herding heritage.

Each year, in spring, bands of close to 1,500 sheep wind their way up from the lower elevations of the Snake River plain of Southern Idaho, through Highway 75 and populated residential areas to the high mountain pastures. In the fall, they retrace their path south to the high desert plains. Like the Almatrieb in Austria, the sheep herders of the Sawtooth region celebrate this annual return migration as the Trailing of the Sheep Festival. It takes place in early October. These pictures are from last year (2010).

… is greeted by a kite.

The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world’s tallest stone structure and the world’s tallest obelisk, standing 555 feet 5-1/8 inches (169.294 m).