The collected writings of a Renegade Tourist

Tag Somber beauty

Tavan village 3:23 pm

I’m looking out over the valley below and the mountains rising up on the other side. The slopes are all covered with terraced fields making them look like the sides of giant stepped pyramids. It’s late in the year now, the rice has been harvested and the paddies lie barren and empty, just the prickly stalks sticking up from the mud. The mist lies like a thick blanket over everything and two days of drizzle has made things all damp and soggy. Standing here I imagine how it would look earlier in the year, just before harvest, the golden yellow … Read the rest

Nanzhuang mountains 7:15 pm

Umbrellas in our hands to shield us against the rain, we walk down a small dirt road in the dark. Save for a few burst from the flashlight to make sure we don’t veer off into the undergrowth, it is near perfect dark. A deep, blueish grey mist hangs over the mountain, the beam from the flashlight spreads a diffuse white glow around us. Against this misty background, the profiles of trees rise up from the shadowy undergrowth, black shapes on a dark background. Among all these half visible shadows are dazzling lights, hundreds of small, florescent dots, lighting up … Read the rest

Strandhagen 9:10 pm

The sky overhead is dark with clouds, a thin veil of ragged grey covering pale summer night blue.  A heavy cloud cover hangs over the strip of land on the other side of the bay as well, but in the middle is a band of clear sky.  The big orange ball of the setting  sun hangs over the western horizon, casting its rays beneath the clouds; like God shining his flashlight on a world clad in shadow. It illuminates the tree tops and laces the tall grass and bushes with color. The streaks of vivid color in the midst of … Read the rest

In my flat 5:50 pm

I look up from my computer for a minute  and notice I need to switch on the light as the room is getting dark, then, as I turn in my chair reaching for the light switch I happen to glance out the window.  From the low position in my chair the boring blocks of flats just outside are hidden by the window frame and all I see are the forest clad hills and the sky. Speckled with houses the hill is surprisingly green despite the spring not having reached my city, and the sky is a light blue with a … Read the rest

Silja Serenade 10:45 pm

The moon paints a streak of silver on the black sea. Just at the edge of it, where the sky meets the water, a series of lights mark out the shape of another ship. The wind is truly cold as it whips at my clothes and the pages of my notepad. The deck I’m sitting at is brightly lit but it is the blackness out there, perforated only by a big glowing disc, that catches my attention. The low humming drone of the ship’s engine and the rhythmic splashing of the waves fills my ears only to be pierced now … Read the rest

Chalmers campus 0:47 am

A myriad of streetlights penetrate the night and reflect on the soft blanket of fresh snow and it feels as bright as if it were day. The cold air is crisp against my face as I walk. Although the snow has already been trampled it has yet to be soiled by dirty boots. It is clean, innocent in a way, and the party goers passing by in the other direction don’t annoy me like they normally would. It is, in as sense, a perfect night.… Read the rest

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