ULPOLTHA, SRI LANKA, 2004
Birds with the zigzag coloring of Charlie Brown's T-shirt. Along the temple walk: centipedes, ants, butterflies. Elephant shrine built at edge of village, on the spot where a herd of marauding elephants stopped suddenly and turned back. Breathing beneath the banyan trees, as monkeys chatter overhead. Startled by a large monitor lizard while swimming in the tank, thinking it a crocodile. The fear at night, of large cats, snakes; five species of deadly snakes live in the surrounding jungles, which has me in constant fear for the first few days until I realize that millions of people have live beside deadly snakes for thousands of years. By the end of my time here, I'm walking barefoot at night.
(Photo courtesy Upoltha website.)
On the turntable: Mark Lanegan, "Whiskey for the Holy Ghost"
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