Travel

Lens-Artists Challenge #331 – Resilience

/ Leya / 51 kommentarer

Anne‘s theme this week is Resilience. And that is what we all have to show to survive. Resilience is the ability to maintain psychological well-being in the face of adversity. It’s the ability to “bounce back” from difficult experiences.

There is so much trouble in the world today, so we have no other choice. The most obvious example here in Europe is the Ukrainian people. When everything seems hopeless and impossible, they rise again and fight back. The fires now in the US, the war in Gaza – somehow most of us manage to go on – Life works that way. Be resilient – or break.

I guess you all know my love for Iceland, its landscapes and its strong inhabitants – people, animals, plants. Living in constant danger of disaster molds you to be resilient. And it is not only people and homes, but their whole livelihood – cattle, horses, sheep. They must be resilient in a volcanic area that often ”comes alive” We have visited Iceland several times, and sometimes soon after eruptions too.


This is Eldfell volcano after the big eruption on Vestmannaeyar, 1973. We went there in 1979, when the surface had cooled down and it was allowed to walk everywhere. Then we returned in the summer of 2019, from when these photos are.

Some of the half buried houses were left as a reminder of the disaster. This is Heimaey, the main town on the islands.

Luckily their whole fishing fleet was in the harbour those days because of a storm – so within 6 hours 5300 people were safely evacuated. Only one life was lost – a man who walked into a house to get medicin, but was poisoned by the gas.


Krafla erupted in 1984, and Hekla’s last one was in 2000. Hekla is a well known volcano that always displays a trail of smoke – erution or not. The picture shows Eyafjallajökull during the first day of eruption in 2010. This eruption caused a stop in the air traffic in the whole of Europe. The planes could not safely fly because the ashes could destroy the engines.


One of the gigantic lava fields in Iceland. You should not risk walking out there – holes deeper than 200 meters hide under the moss. Here resilience from nature is shown in flowers, grasses and mosses that came back rather fast.

The newest volcanic island, Surtsey, was created from an eruption in the ocean in 1963, south of Vestmannaeyar. Now it is a World Heritage site, but only scientists are allowed to visit. In 1965 the first living plants were discovered there and today birds are living on the island too.

Horses, I have to mention the Icelandic horses, they are among the toughest and sturdiest – and most resilient breeds on Earth. They stand close together in the winds on the open plains, often with their backs to the wind, and don’t seem to suffer at all. For this Viking people, they are priceless treasures.

This week the hosted Lens-Artists Challenges are resumed, after the fantastic Favourite Images of 2024 last week. Anne is leading us with this timely theme and her post is truly inspirational. Please visit her beautiful site and when you join us, please tag Lens-Artists and link back to Anne’s original post.

Next week it’s Ritva’s turn to host so make sure to visit her magnificent site Saturday 18th January. Until then, take care and stay curious.

Thursday Thoughts – Memories from Tibet

/ Leya / 26 kommentarer

I was thinking of Tibet today. Maybe because the sun made a short glimpse through my morning window. A shining memory it is, from 2009. I just hade to go back to the archives…

Through all the sorrows for the people there with the occupation, this nunnery was a gleam of joy. The nuns going about their daily business with a smile. The shining spheres in the yard were for warming water with the sun. The kettle was put in the middle.

The most sacred monastery in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, was built in 647. The smoke from the fires was thick and people from all over the country gathered to pay their respect, fueling yak-butter lamps, eating and praying. They all waited patiently in line to come inside.

Outside Lhasa people lived off the land and every house had a cow in the street or on a small balcony. Not a great life for the cows not being free – but so much better than in the big factories here in the west. In Tibet they were family members and got some words of love every day.

There were always welcoming doors to the temples…

Seldom is the journey to go to a place more interesting than this one was. We entered the train in Beijing, and I think we sat by the windows with cameras tight every minute of those 48 hours – not in the darkness though. There was extra oxygen in the compartments, and the rails were laid on the permafrost, which I guess now is melting… We were not allowed to leave the train anywhere on the trip.

The landscape was spectacular with long views, open plains and mountains on the Tibetan Plateau.

Nomads with Yaks like little dots – and only once we got this close! A beauty.

How I loved that landscape! And the clouds seemed so huge and so close to the ground.

The beauty of it all seized us and will keep its grip forever.

I have hundreds of photos from that train ride. Every time I look at them I must take a deep breath. And remember. Because I will never see this again.

Thursday Thoughts – Bicycles, Bicycles…

/ Leya / 41 kommentarer

The city most known for a multitude of bicycles used to be Beijing – but as they are getting much fewer there since the 1980’s, my guess is that Amsterdam has taken over the lead.

Or, do you have another suggestion?

Thursday Thoughts – Dahlia Festival in Holland

/ Leya / 43 kommentarer

I guess Holland doesn’t need more presentation than this: canals, boats, bicycles – and flowers! Not only tulips, but this year we decided to visit the Dahlia Festival instead. And we were not disappointed!

The gallery features some glorious dahlias from Keukenhof Castle. We arrived just after a shower and could savour all the colours and shapes – and some raindrops too.

We also visited a couple of Dahlia farms with a multitude of different sorts. Pompon Dahlias are still popular and I understand why. They don’t look real! I thought I would buy some bulbs and give away to Dahlia lovers back home – unfortunately they are not for sale in September – but in early Spring…

Well, I loved photographing them, and a couple of days later we saw the Dahlia Parade too, with flower floats you could only dream of…

Thursday Thoughts – What to Do with a Leftover Firestation

/ Leya / 17 kommentarer

Well, on our visit to Kent and Sussex we lived in the little town Tonbridge. Scouting one day, I came across the old fire station.

The fire station was no longer in use…or so I thought at first. But this is what they had made it into!

This grey day it still looked a bit abandoned – but soon arrived some chatting ladies. I talked to the girls at the bar, and they showed me the massive amount of dog photos on their wall. You should take a photo of your dog and hang it here – with the dog’s name on it. And there were many of them – I could swear there must be more dogs than people in this town. Never verified though.

A lovely place anyway, with excellent coffee.

Lens-Artists Challenge #320 – Looking Back

/ Leya / 58 kommentarer

Sofia makes us look back. It can be both good and bad – but we always learn something in the end. I wish the world leaders would learn from looking back too.

Sofia has shared some very special experiences from her looks back in time – please visit her lovely site for more inspiration!

I did not know where to go with this challenge at first, but as I have been scanning old slides and right now Nepal and Peru, I have tried to find some of those overwhelming experiences I had as a young woman never been outside of Europe before.

In my home we had many grand picture books from travels near and far, and during winter time my nose was deeply buried in them. I read and savoured everything about interesting places, and two of my major dreams were to see the Himalayas and the Andes. All the treasures hidden, Machu Pichu, Annapurna, Mount Everest…Shang-ri-La from the old novel by James Hilton…

In 1986 we flew to Kathmandu in Nepal. Here are some important ”looking back moments” from that journey. Moments of beauty and moments of pain and sadness. I certainly grew up some and learned much from these experiences.

After some days in Katmandhu and biking in the Kathmandu Valley, we decided to go to Dakshinkali. D is an important Hindu temple in Nepal where they sacrifice animals to the fierce goddess Kali. Not a place for the weak hearted – like me. But I went. This was a place that truly made me understand the difference between reading facts and seeing them in real life.

There were endless queues with people holding flowers or leading goats to their last minutes. The stairs down to the temple was crowded with holy men and disabled people.

This woman suffered from leprosy and hade neither fingers nor toes. I could not bear to look at her closely. This day was a day of tears only.

Today I do not regret I went, but that very day, and for some weeks after, I really did. Leprosy was in my mind something fearsome from the Bible, and I automatically kept the distance to this poor woman.

Fishtail Mountain – or Machapuchare (6993 m) – is the majestic mountain close to Pokhara, where we stayed for some days at a Ghurka lodge. I knew about the British Brigade of Ghurkas, they were considered among the bravest and most feared soldiers in the world.

We had a lovely stay, and planned an Annapurna hike some day in the future. (But this never came true.) Our last day here, a big monitor lizard walked by our breakfast table, something I very clearly remember as I was home alone…

Back in Kathmandu again, we went to Nagarkot in the early morning to walk towards the best point for the sunrise over Mount Everest – Sagarmāthā (himmelens huvud). A sensation never forgotten. Was I really here?

We also wanted to go to Chitwan to see wildlife from a bit closer up. (It’s us two in the photo, taken by someone I no longer remember.) While we passed through the river in an oxcart, the owner asked us if we came from Sweden – we said we did. ”I’m sorry about Olof Palme”, the man said. That was both surprising and heartwarming – so overwhelming to sit in an oxcart in the middle of nowhere and people knew that our prime minister had been shot less than a week ago.

The next long journey was in 1987, and went to Peru and the Andes.

Machu Pichu needs no introduction. This photo was taken when we first arrived at the top and could see the old city. The moment I went through the opening in the stone wall, is one of my best moments ever. And certainly when it comes to travel. No picture in the world can show the feelings I had there and then.

I had read a great deal about the Nazca lines too. They cover an area of 500m2 in southern Peru. They were made 500BC -500 AC, and there is still no answer to why or what for. Only theories.

We soon realised that our plane was very small and only took 6 passengers. OK, smaller planes are said to be safer… but when I looked out of the window and saw them pumping up the tires by hand…I had my doubts.

We survived of course, and had a great flight seeing signs that Von Däniken had proposed coming from outer space.

This is one of the animals in the Nazca lines – The Condor

We went by train over the great plain to Cuzco. A wonderful tour with llamas, vicunjas and the majestic mountains. The trust and confidence these happy women showed! They threw up their handmade carpets to us in the train and expected them to either be bought or to come back again! And it never failed.

The Uros are an indigenous people of Bolivia and Peru. They live on floating islands in lake Titicaca near Puno. I guess they still are – and I had seen them in my books. They used Totora reeds to make reed boats and the islands they live on. On the islands they grew different vegetables and potatoes and they had pigs too. An island lasts for about 25 years.

I hope you could follow my thoughts, and maybe understand something of how much I learned during those two journeys. Travel is one of the best teachers.

Before finishing off with the volcano Misti at Arequipa, I want to thank you so much for Setting a Mood in every post last week! Incredible variety on how we can create moods and how we can feel differently about them too.

Next week Anne’s challenge will be on Intentional Camera Movement, ICM. You can learn all about it by checking out the various online tutorials or wait for instructions from Anne. She says it’s all about having fun and there’s no wrong way to do it! Hope to see you then – and before that, stay nice and curious.

Thursday Thoughts – Inside and Outside

/ Leya / 24 kommentarer

Arundel castle again – still in use by the Dukes of Norfolk – interesting! But after so many castles, maybe you too need a rest?

I really loved that dog…I should take out my sewing machine.

Time for a rest again, before entering the Castle itself.

A truly impressive castle that didn’t disappoint inside either. I would have loved a sleigh ride with that beauty…I guess it’s on wheels as England doesn’t get much snow?

Thank you for good company. Now there is only one castle left…Leeds Castle. Maybe next Thursday. Have to rest again!