Water Buffalo

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 The water buffalo is a very valued animal in India. The female buffaloes are used for their milk, and the males do the work in the field.a

 Buffalo milk is full of fat, and has more proteins than cow milk. Buffalo butter is as white as the wild jasmine.Wrightia tinctoria.

Water buffaloes like to loll in the muddy waters of swamps and ponds. They don't like to sea-bathe. I saw them walking on the Konkan beach at daybreak- probably going out to work!
I am joining Our World Tuesday and ABCWednesday. I thank both their organizers.

Wild orchids: The Foxtail and the Aerides

The Foxtail orchid was given to me by my friend Kanak Hagjer in Guwahati in 2011.

There it is known as Kapau Phool. When I saw the inflorescence a few weeks ago, I felt thrilled. It is known as Seethe Dande in Kannada, Sita is believed to have woven garlands of this wildflower during her sojourn in the forest for 14 years.

Aerides crispum is another wild orchid native to India. This is called Draupadi Dande. as Draupadi is supposed to have made garlands for her hair using these blossoms, during her sojourn in the forest. Sita had to cook for only three people, so her garland is longer than Draupadi, who had to cook for six!

A High Altitude Walk

 Wildflowers along the walk from Rakcham at 10,000feet to Chitkul at the Tibet border.

 The Himalayas are always awe inspiring and beautiful!

My grand daughter walking the ten kilometer stretch ,
I have finally bought a new laptop, hope to upload some good photos.

Tibet Road

 The old Hindustan -Tibet road , which I traaversed last month, was built in the 19th century. It is built on the ancient silk route from China. It also featured in the History Channel's 'Deadliest Roads of the World' series. Although it seems sccary, the scenery all round makes you forget the danger.
I did a ten kilometer walk  much further on this road, from a ssmall Himalayan hamlet called Rakcham to the Buddhist village Chitkul, which is at the border of India and Tibet.

These are some of the mountain flowers on the wayside. The photo below of the Himalayan peaks is taken on the way to Tibet , which lies beyond.
Thanking MrsNesbitt and Roger, I am joining ABCWednesday.abcwebnesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com

Konkan Beauty

These wayside flowers along the sea coast in Kokan attract butterflies in hoards. Since I am still without a computer, I could not find out their botanical name.

Along the River Baspa

The snow capped Himalayan ranges were so grand ! The ice cold rapids of the river , and the friendly inhabitants of Kinnaur made our holiday a truly memorable one.

Monkey Brush

Came back home after a lovely holiday at the seasidde in the Konkan coast , and another holiday in the cold heights of the Greater Himalayas, only to find my computer irrevocably kaput: Ne computer costs a lot!!
I'll post more pictures when I get a new one - hopefully quite soon.