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6/19/25 A high wire act over a busy street in downtown Ubud.

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6/18/25 Canang Sari

These offerings, called "canang sari," are a daily ritual of gratitude and respect offered by Balinese Hindus to the gods. These intricate, woven baskets are filled with symbolic items like flowers, incense, rice, and sweets, representing a selfless act of devotion. They are a ubiquitous part of Balinese life, found everywhere from homes and shops to temples and roadsides.

There are a great many varieties of canangs but, basically, each consists of a square frame, about ten centimeters on a side, made by folding the leaf. A flat bottom is fitted and skewered in. Then the little basket is filled with the porosan, a slice of banana or sugar cane, a colored leaf or two, and then filled with flowers of various colors, but generally containing red and white ones, and green in the form of shredded pandanus leaves – the colors of the Hindu triad. A dash of perfumed oil completes the little offering. You can see thousands upon thousands of them for sale at almost any market in Bali. – Fred B. Eiseman, Jr., from "Bali: Sekala & Niskala"

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6/15/25 Goa Gajah Temple

The gaping mouth of Boma presents an entrance to the Elephant Cave at the Goa Gajah Temple in Ubud. Over a thousand years old, the cave was once used for meditation practice, with recesses carved into the rock for meditators to sit in. There’s also a shrine to Lord Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god.

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6/11/25 Roadside shrine outside Colombo

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6/10/25 Poson Poya dance performance along the road in Ruwanwella.

On Tuesday, under rainy skies, I left Sri Lanka beginning with a five hour taxi ride to the airport in Colombo. By an interesting coincidence, it was also the Buddhist holy day of Poson Poya, which commemorates the arrival of Buddhism to the country in 300 B.C. This is a big, nationwide day of celebration. Every town, no matter how small, participates. I saw this firsthand along my westward trip to the airport. Most conspicuously, communities were giving out free food along the roadsides, both to pedestrians and motorists. Every town thus became a bottleneck of traffic! But even with the time to my departure ticking down, I couldn't resist asking my driver to stop the car as we came upon this colorful procession of dancers along a rural road outside the town of Ruwanwella. The road behind me was packed with spectators, and on the hilltop above you can see more watching from under umbrellas. It was a beautiful scene that ended abruptly with a sudden downpour. On to the airport!

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6/2/25 Nuwara Eliya

I spotted this Hindu temple from my taxi as I arrived into Nuwara Eliya. Through the open door, I could see the orange glow of a devotional fire burning in the darkness and felt at once a strong pull to visit.

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6/2/25 Swarnagiri Maha Viharaya / Single Tree Temple, Nurwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

Statues represent the 500 arhats, or early disciples, of Buddha.

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5/29/25 Arugam Bay

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5/28/25 Fishing boats at Arugam Bay

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5/27/25 Near Elephant Rock, Arugam Bay

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5/26/25 Arugam Bay

Overgrown with vines, and over-topped with a beautiful Sinhala script (like an elvish riddle in my imagination), this simple door has an air of magic about it. Ready to step through?

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5/25/25 Arugam Bay

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5/24/25 Sri Sambodhi Dharmayathanaya, Buttala, Sri Lanka

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5/23/25 Yala National Park

After ten days in the mountains, today I came back down into the heat, relocating to a rented cabin outside Yala National Park. Yala is famous for its wildlife, particularly the elephants and leopards. There's even a road passing through the park nicknamed the "Elephant Highway" because of how common it is to see these animals there. Taking a bicycle from my rental, I rode a few miles into the park and did indeed see an elephant eating along the road! Concerns for self-preservation prevented me from getting any real photographs, but this family of gray langurs are pretty cute. They assembled in front of my camera like professionals, ready for their portrait. It’s harder to pose a family of humans.

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5/22/25 Ella, Sri Lanka

Tuk Tuks lined up and waiting.

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5/19/25 Three views of Ella, Sri Lanka

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5/18/25 Hanuman, from temple near Balleketuwa, Sri Lanka

It was an interesting contrast visiting this humble roadside Hindu temple just a day after seeing the lavish Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery.