Many Moon Honeymoon's photostream  

We flew in this aircraft from Bali to Flores. It was, without doubt, the most terrifying flight I've taken.

The plane had a stopover on the island of Palau Sumbu before our destination of Maumere on the island of Flores. Both landings were frightening even though conditions were good. Both times, the pilot seemed unable to line up correctly for the runway on approach and had to correct his direction many times - not great for confidence! Twice, he landed with far too much speed and the plane violently swerved back and forth along the tarmac. Once we nearly overshot the end of the runway.

On Palau Sumbu, I saw a man who looked like he could be the pilot making some adjustments with a screw driver to one of the engines. Not the kind of thing you want to see on a plane you will shortly be flying on!

On landing in Maumere, I couldn't help but notice the sorry state of the nosecone, so I took this quick snap.

The thing that made the flight scary was not the conditions, just that it seemed the pilot was completely incompetent.

I was very saddened - but unfortunately not too surprised - to hear today that a Merpati Airlines flight crashed off Papau, killing all aboard.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13320313

Beng Melea is an large Angkorian temple about 1-2 hours drive from Siem Reap. Unlike many of the temples located closer to Siem Reap, Beng Melea has not been restored and is not visited by large crowds of tourists.

Although some access ramps have been built, exploring most of the site requires that you climb through rubble.

From Wikipedia:
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Beng Mealea is a temple in the Angkor Wat style located 40 km east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia, on the ancient royal highway to Preah Khan Kompong Svay.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beng_Mealea

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My blog: newdigate.me
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/suprememoocow

Ruins of a entrance gate at the Angkor Archaeological Park, near the town of Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Technique: I took this photo at midday and the light was very hard, so I used a 3-exposure (-2,0,+2) HDR to expand the dynamic-range of the shot.

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My blog: newdigate.me
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/suprememoocow

From wikipedia:

My blog entry on Angkor and Siem Reap: newdigate.me/2011/01/siem-reap-and-the-temples-of-angkor/

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All Buddhist traditions have nuns, although their status is different among the various Buddhist countries. The Buddha is reported to have allowed women into the sangha only with great reluctance, predicting that the move would lead to Buddhism's collapse after 500 years, rather than the 1,000 years it would have enjoyed otherwise (this prophecy occurs only once in the Canon and is the only prophecy involving time in the Canon, leading some to suspect that it is a late addition.) Fully ordained Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunis) have more Patimokkha-rules than the monks (bhikkhus). The important vows are the same, however.

As with monks, there is quite a lot of variation in nuns' dress and social conventions between different Buddhist cultures in Asia. Chinese nuns possess the full bhikkuni ordination, Tibetan nuns do not, and in Theravada countries female renunciates are discouraged from even wearing saffron robes. Disparities may often be observed in the amount of respect and financial resources given to monks viz. Nuns, with nuns receiving less of both in all countries with the possible exception of Taiwan. Despite barriers, some nuns succeed in becoming religious teachers and authorities.

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My blog: newdigate.me
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/suprememoocow

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My blog: newdigate.me
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/suprememoocow