Inca Design, Architecture and Technology Machu Picchu & Ollantaytambo Peru, South America While in Peru in January I found myself at two sites where examples of Inca architecture and design could be observed in its finest form. Here below follows a visual tour. [click to…
Uros Floating Islands, Lake Titicaca, Peru Uros islands are floating reed islands found on Lake Titicaca, the largest fresh water lake in South America, situated between Peru and Bolivia. At 3800 metres above sea level Lake Titicaca is considered to be the highest navigable lake…
Tikal National Park, Petén, Guatemala, Central America Tikal is the largest excavated Maya site in the Americas and once was one of the greatest and most prominent cities in all of the Maya world. Besides general sightseeing, of interest to me during my recent visit…
Copán Maya Ruins, Honduras, Central America “Archaeologists believe that the Maya culture in Copán collapsed because the land could no longer support it. As the valley of the population grew, so did the need for wood, cooking and construction. Deforestation caused the valley to heat…
In Mesoamerican theology, the sacred World Tree stands in the centre of the world, vertically connecting three horizontal levels – namely, the heavens above, the earth in the middle and the underworld below. It has its roots embedded deep in the underworld, with its trunk…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Highlights of Day 5 (continued) + Days 6 & 7 Te Pito Kura the magnetic stone, Manavai plant enclosures, Hare Moa stone chicken coops and Anakena Beach. Right next to Paro (the toppled moai) I found a stone enclosure with a…
Travelogue – Highlights of Day 5 – Rapa Nui: Rano Raraku Crater and Lake, Papa Vaka Petroglyphs and Garden and Paro the fallen Moai at Te Pito Kura Day 5 (Part 1) I woke up at about 3am and something was amiss. It was quiet…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Day 4 Highlights In the morning I went to the tourist information office to pick up some maps and brochures. When inquiring about the weather staff assured me that it would be raining for 3 or 4 days and that the…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Day 3 Highlights The following morning I set out early. It was raining all night and the clouds were just starting to clear. I came across a lonely horse next to a small moai, but soon encountered more. I passed by…
Travelogue: Rapa Nui – Days 1 & 2 (June 2015) Day 1: After about five hours of flight time from Santiago, we were nearing our destination. Serious turbulence started up during our descent in the stormy weather. Just before touch-down a very strong tug to…
June 9 – 12, 2015. Santiago de Chile. Photography by Jean-Jacques M. Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Gypsy Café.
In this second half of the analysis of the film Groundhog Day [1], we will look closely at Phil’s transition and personal transformation. The first half can be read here: Part 6. Shortly before Phil decides to “check-out of life” multiple times over, we see…
‘Espacio de Arte Contemporáneo’, situated in Uruguay’s oldest (ex-)prison. Montevideo, Uruguay, March 2015. Photography by Jean-Jacques Montagnier — Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Gypsy Café
Cordón, Montevideo, Uruguay, 12.04.2015. Photographs by Jean-Jacques Montagnier © 2015. All Rights Reserved. Gypsycafe.org / Travelosophy.org
Street art is big in Montevideo, with interesting styles. Here are a couple of examples which I took pictures of recently in one of the older neighborhoods, Cordón. – Jean-Jacques Murals, Montevideo, Uruguay, March 2015 Photographed by Jean-Jacques M. Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.…
I arrived in South America 3 weeks ago and spent 5 days in Buenos Aires. I got these shots with my Film SLR and then as usual I had to wait for them to be developed. I might take most of my future shots with…
In the context of Groundhog Day, after having reviewed the first part of the film, it is worth contemplating at this point where we are right now, as a society. Or rather, who we are right now. And it’s not too difficult to come to…
Hogsback “Hogsback is a magical world of mountains and forests. It is situated high up on the Amathole mountains of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and is surrounded by centuries-old indigenous Afro-montane forests.” Quoted from: http://www.hogsback.co.za/ Hogsback in a Nutshell – Read More…
In the 1993 film, Groundhog Day, by writer Danny Rubin and director Harold Ramis, Bill Murray plays the role of a television weatherman, Phil Connors, who gets stuck in a small town due to strange circumstances, a situation which ultimately leads to his individuation and…
Just over a year ago I returned from Ireland. For me this is so recent that I could just as well still be there, but I’m not. I could just step out of my Irish Sea red brick sea-facing house (in which I rented a…
Folklore has the purpose of educating us about the real world as we grow up. It helps children become aware of archetypes in relation to the nature of people. When they then come across such characters in real life, they won’t be completely new…
This brings us back to the story of Chicken Little and the metaphors within. Chicken Little is merrily strolling in the forest when something (an acorn) falls on her head. She doesn’t look up. She doesn’t investigate to see what it is. She gets frightened…
“Having resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die” — Malachy McCourt.
What is individuation? In a nutshell, it is purposeful personal growth. According to Jung, individuation is a lifetime’s work while being at the same time a natural process of maturing. The idea is for an individual to enhance and deepen this process by consciously working…
When we explore folklore and mythology we realize that history is replete with symbols and images of cataclysm, disaster, wholesale destruction and apocalypse. Let’s consider the ancient and well known tale of Henny Penny also known as Chicken Little, found in many countries around the…
People are like trees. Depending on the forest, they are all similar, yet different. In very many forests the trees are so similar that the odd trees really stand out. These are the trees we are drawn to, to find shade under, or talk to,…
Introduction “World without end”. We find this phrase in various religious scriptures and prayers, including Catholicism and Rastafarianism. It is a Doxology and it means forever. “Forever” is not dependent on the planet or the solar system or the galaxy. Neither does it depend on…
“Emancipate yourself from mediocrity” – JJM
* We are in the Liminal Space A Dangerous Place Where predators lay and tricksters play Where good people pray then look away … “Though shalt not enter the fray” Bless the lambs that are slain It is not our pain They are weak We…
LOUGHCREW, COUNTY MEATH, IRELAND Megalithic rock engravings at Loughcrew Megalithic Cairns, County Meath, Ireland. Photographed by Jean-Jacques Montagnier (06.10.2012) © 2012 – 2014 All Rights Reserved. — Loughcrew dates back to between 3500 and 3300 BC (older than the pyramids at giza in Egypt at 2560 BC)…
It could be said that our life cycles include Circles and Spirals. Circles can become Spirals and Spirals can become Circles. There are two types of Circles: The ones we need to transcend: Circles which need to become Spirals. The ones we have already transcended:…
“What lies beneath or beyond composition?” – JJM
NEWGRANGE Neolithic rock art at Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland (11.02.2012) Photographed by Jean-Jacques Montagnier © 2012 – 2013 All Rights Reserved. ** Related Post on Gypsy Café: Megalithic Circles and Spirals
— Graffiti along the Liffey, Dublin, Ireland (01.02.2012). Gypsy Café © 2012 All Rights Reserved.
Pechory Monastery, Pskov Region, Russia, 2006. We were told on arrival not to address the monks directly, not to stare at them or attempt to take photographs of them under any circumstances. Along with a few local pilgrims, our small group had already been waiting…
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. – Mohandas Gandhi Happiness belongs to those who are sufficient unto themselves. For all external sources of happiness and pleasure are, by their very nature, highly uncertain, precarious, ephemeral…
Carl Gustav Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, was quoted as saying: “Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.” We certainly live in interesting times. No matter our place, position or status in society, we are now…
You have to return eventually, To see everything differently. To see what you see differently. And how you see it differently. Due to having gone away. Old points of reference Faded through absence Return to conscience And highlights the essence Of what you have…
From a bleak Pskov city we were transported by bus into the rural Russian countryside. On the way, we were asked not to consume liquids as it may be detrimental to the activity we were soon to engage in. Miles of winding forest roads decorated…
We all have our own personal journey, yet I would like to propose that evolving is part of everyone’s path. Going beyond geographical borders is as easy as buying travel tickets, but not everybody is affected by the process in the same way. We don’t…
The long term traveler makes short term investments in short to medium term experiences. During the investment period, short term loss of income may occur, but the long term profits are immeasurable and immense. Even the shortest experiences yield high returns of knowledge and continuously…
DUBLIN I arrived on a shoestring and found this little youth hostel on top of Doran’s Pub in Marlborough Street. It was downtown North Side, the area was seedy, but the place was affordable and reasonably clean. I ended up in a dorm room with…
Early in 2004 I was about to start my first blog. I had already been on the road for a few years and was trying come up with an appropriate title. It had to describe quite closely what travelling really meant to me. I knew…
It’s a wind-blown Saturday afternoon in Belfast in the north of Ireland. A new restaurant called Ratz, with an international theme has opened on Bradbury Place. The display menu boasts a wide variety of exotic dishes from around the globe. The exterior has an attractive…
The ability to think freely could prove to be more important than a high level of intelligence. There is apparently more than one type of natural IQ, although conventionally only one type is measured. Others are emotional intelligence, social intelligence and spiritual intelligence. There may…
I’m standing on the access road to a German motorway, close to the Polish border. I crossed over about an hour ago by train and a fellow passenger offered to drop me off. It’s absolutely freezing and I reflect on how I’ve misjudged the sting…
The Road to Travelosophy The word traveller covers a broad spectrum of people on the move. Most people associate the word with short-term travellers, as in tourists or backpackers. Certain types of travellers would fall into a more long-term category. They would practice travel as…