Friday 20 November 2020

Caernafon castle

This is the place where the Princes of Wales are crowned. In 1284 the English king Edward, who conquered Wales, promised the Welsh that the future Prince of Wales will e somebody born in Wales who does not speak English, and then presented his baby son, also Edward, who had been born in Caernafon only a few months earlier. The prince succeeded his father as the king of England and ever since there is the tradition of crowning the heir to the English throne as the Prince of Wales. The last of those coronations took place in 1969, when Prince Charles was crowned as one.

Being the place of coronations the castle is in good repair and a major tourist attraction. It certainly is photogenic, if one knows where to look.











Saturday 7 November 2020

Zanskar

 A few pictures from Zanskar Valley in Indian Himalayas taken in early 1980s. Nothing special, just a hike in a valley about 4000 metres above sea level, a few Cashmere goats, peasants drying yak dung as a fuel for winter, innumerable stones with sutras and Buddhas etched on them, Buddhist monasteries built into a rock face, and children just being happy and playing in the sand as anywhere in the world.

That was in 1980s, of course. I haven't been there for a long time, possibly nowadays they play with their smart phones.