Photo of the Day (11.16.10)

This Sunday marked the beginning of the Hajj, the world’s largest annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. As the fifth pillar of Islam, the pilgrimage is a religious duty that must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim that can do so. Saudi officials have reported that a record-breaking 3.4 million people are expected to come from all corners of the globe to perform the Hajj this year.

This astounding photo, titled “Headed to Mecca” was taken by Flickr user Theodore Kaye as a mother prepares to leave Osh, southern Kyrgyzstan for Mecca. I love that Theodore was able to be present for and capture the intimacy of this moment and took advantage of the lighting to make the image even more beautiful. The result of being in the right place at the right time, and knowing how to capture a great photograph.

If you want to see more of the Hajj, Boston.com put up an amazing series of images of this year’s processions. Also worth checking out is VBS.tv’s short documentary of an inside look at the pilgrimage. What’s your personal Mecca? Share it with us by adding photos to our Flickr group and it could be our next Photo of the Day.

Word for the Travel Wise (12/10/06)

Just about anywhere you go in Central Asia to eat you’re bound to come across this slightly greasy, yet appetizing and filling meal of rice, chick peas, and sometimes meat. I ate it plenty of times in Tajikistan and once you get past the greasiness of all the food this is one you can enjoy easily.

Today’s word is a Uzbek word used in Uzbekistan:

osh – food, rice pilaf

Uzbek is spoken by 18.5 million in Uzbekistan and across Central Asia. It is the official language of Uzbekistan and classified as an Eastern Turkic language in the Qarluq. Wiki has great background on the lang as usual where as you can find an incredible list of the most common Uzbek words at this Introduction to Uzbek Language site. In addition to the wordlist there is also a small section for pronunciation and grammar.

Past Uzbek words: arzimaydi, hojathona