“Mariam’s final thoughts were a few words from the Koran, which she muttered under her breath.
He has created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He makes the night cover the day and makes the day overtake the night, and He has made the sun and the moon subservient; each one runs on to an assigned term; now surely He is the Mighty, the Great Forgiver.”
By Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
I had to start this travel wrap 2018 up photo blog with sunsets and sunrise pictures with this prolific quote from my favourite book, Thousand Splendid Sun. They say, reading a book is the best substitute for travelling, physically. I knew that when I was reading this one particular book, bought from the streetside vendors of New Market, Kolkata who would pirate the best sellers and sell them for one dollar. Thus, by spending just one dollar, I had flown down to the bleak landscapes of Afghanistan, the old bazaars of Kabul, the Bamian Buddha statues, the Kabul river banks, seen a few Bujkhashi games, watched Titanic with Laila’s children when the Taliban were done with mandatory strolling, starved during the Kabul draught, attempted a few fateful and failed escape routes and so much more.
You see, travelling does not need a lot of money!
But it does need world peace and a privileged visa.
Which we are yet to attain.
“At sunrise everything is luminous but not clear.”
― Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
Sunset in West Bengal. The natural iconic beauty of Bengal.
” বাংলার মুখ আমি দেখিয়াছি, তাই আমি পৃথিবীর রূপ খুঁজিতে যাই না আর”
A golden sunset by the Arabian Sea, Bombay
The Sun sets by the ancient ghats of Benaras, where Hindus commence on a hopeful afterlife.
“The first stab of love is like a sunset, a blaze of color — oranges, pearly pinks, vibrant purples…”
― Anna Godbersen, The Luxe
Ganges, sunset and Indian railways: so much love in this picture!
Also read, a photo blog on the rivers I met on the road in 2018!
Found gold, en-route Northeast India
Also read, why North east India should be on your bucket list in India?
A perfect sunrise over Kaziranga Forest, Assam.
Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leave you speechless, remain that way. Say nothing, and listen as Heaven whispers, do you like it? I did it just for you.
– Max Lucado
Also read, the most delicious tribal food at Manas National Park: the authentic Bodo thali at Manas Spring Festival
Also read, how the Manas National Park is coming back from the brink and saving its rhino population.
“There’s always a story. It’s all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
A one horned rhino stands witness to yet another spectacular sunrise at Kaziranga, Assam.
“I caught the sun today.”
Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.
– Vladimir Nabokov
Also read about the one week travel guide from Guwahati to Tawang!
Also read about my first experience of birding at Old Magazine House, Dandeli
My sun sets to rise again.
– Robert Browning
Every sunrise is a poem written on the earth with words of light, warmth, and love.
– Debasish Mridha
“It was sunsets that taught me that beauty sometimes only lasts for a couple of moments, and it was sunrises that showed me that all it takes is patience to experience it all over again.” — A.J. Lawless
Read all about Thailand here.
Glimpses of old life captured in
A photo blog on Kuang Si waterfall at Luang Prabang, Laos!
Bursts of gold on lavender melting into saffron. It’s the time of day when the sky looks like it has been spray painted by a graffiti artist.” — Mia Kirshner
“Meet me where the sky touches the sea.” — Jennifer Donnelly
Not everyone was privileged to see another sunrise like you did, so before you start complaining; remember that the breath of life, is not for sale.”
― Gift Gugu Mona
“The sunrise, of course, doesn’t care if we watch it or not. It will keep on being beautiful, even if no one bothers to look at it.” — Gene Amole
Read about the lost kingdom of Hampi.
“There is, I have heard, a little thing called sunrise, in which the sun reverses the process we all viewed the night before. You might assume such a thing as mythical as those beasts that guard the corners of the earth, but I have it on the finest authority, and have, indeed, from time to time, regarded it with my own eyes.”
― Lauren Willig, The Garden Intrigue
Every day a million miracles begin at sunrise!
– Eric Jerome Dickey
Also read, a guide to Amboseli reserve forest, Kenya!
Also read: the grandest sunset show in the world at Africa!
“You fool, what better motivation are you looking for in the morning than the incredible motivation of the morning sunrise?”
― Mehmet Murat ildan
“Never did the world make a queen of a girl who hides in houses and dreams without traveling.”
― Roman Payne, The Wanderess
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds
“And though I came to forget or regret all I have ever done, yet I would remember that once I saw the dragons aloft on the wind at sunset above the western isles; and I would be content.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore
“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
How safe it it to travel to Egypt? read here.
“When sunset, like a crimson throat to hell, is cavernous…
(“A Wine of Wizardry”)”
― George Sterling, The Thirst of Satan: Poems of Fantasy and Terror
“At sunrise, the blue sky paints herself with gold colors and joyfully dances to the music of a morning breeze.”
― Debasish Mridha MD
“When the sun has set, no candle can replace it.”
― George R.R. Martin
We need to be reminded sometimes that a sunrise last but a few minutes. But its beauty can burn in our hearts eternally.
– R. A. Salvatore
How I loved my trip to Kerala!
The blog post on Goa beaches you should read!
“For one minute, walk outside, stand there, in silence, look up at the sky, and contemplate how amazing life is.” — Rhonda Byrne
“Every street of Kabul is enthralling to the eye
Through the bazaars, caravans of Egypt pass
One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs
And the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls”
By the 17th-century Iranian poet Saib Tabrizi
Pin it because you loved it!
This post didn’t just leave me speechless, but also gasping for breath! Yes, I have heard of people skipping a heartbeat when they are in absolute excitement, but I think I was just holding my breath while scrolling down while my eyes absorbed the scarlet beauty!
Bow!
You manage to win hearts over and over again with your posts… Keep them coming!
Oh Ramyani, you are just too kind with your words for me! Thank you so much! I loved seeing and reliving these sunset moments and so glad that it made you feel good too!