Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

A nice cosy Sunday evening...and after the storm, it feels even more relaxing...and it just feels perfect to end the day with a post here...cos seriously, I really have a lot of catching up to do...so Ill just skip the chit chat too :)

First is a card I received from dear Sissel almost two years ago...when Sri Lanka was one of the cool places she got to visit...and of course sent me a bunch of surprises! ❤

And it is also a UNESCO whs! It's not so easy to get UNESCO cards from such exotic/rare countries, so this one feels even more special to me!

here you can see Polonnaruwa, that is considered to be the second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms. It was first declared the capital city by King Vijayabahu I, who defeated the Chola invaders in 1070 to reunite the country once more under a local leader
In particular, this card gives us a view of the Polonnaruwa Vatadage, which is believed to have been built during the reign of Parakramabahu I to hold the tooth relic of the Buddha, or during the reign of Nissanka Malla to hold the alms bowl used by the Buddha. It is the best preserved example of a vatadage in the country, and has been described as the "ultimate development" of this type of architecture.

For those wondering, vatadage is simply a word referring to a type of Buddhist structure found in Sri Lanka, also known as dage, thupagara, and cetiyagara. Although it may have had some Indian influence, it is a structure that is more or less unique to ancient Sri Lankan architecture

I've seen these small stamps before, but just now I realized that they are zodiac related - issued in 2007 in a set of 16, representing different constellations, and here you can see the Cancer, the Gemini, the Libra and the Scorpio...the big stamp was issued in 2012, presenting a Sri Lankan insurance building

thanks again and again dear Sissel!

Perfume Pagoda, Viet Nam

Hi everyone! Hope you didnt miss me much this past week :P  But I just really cant figure out how does time fly so fast and I just cant find the right time to post some cards here =/
Well, it is a chilly Sunday morning, so I better use the time while having some coffee, before I get stuck with some errands again....
And I have received such amazing cards lately, it is a real pity I am not able to post them all...but at least it is always nice to start somewhere....and today Ill start with this lovely card dear Jo sent me from Viet Nam

The card shows the Perfume Pagoda, which is actually a shrine on the limestone rocks of Huong Son Mountain and the only way to reach it is by these boats on this river (the Yen river). It is considered as a very important pilgrimage for the Vietnamese and they are  expected to do it at least once.

It is a really lovely card....the colours feels so calm, and give me the impression that this was taken on an early misty morning with that breeze in the air....the only thing you could hear is the sound of the boats 'cutting through' the water and the soft splashes of the paddles. So nice.....

And a very important part of this card are the stamps!

You probably know that this year is the Year of the Rabbit and hence many post offices (will) issue stamps related to that....I highly doubt Macedonia will, coz for example last year, when everyone was issuing stamps with the Year of the Tiger, Macedonia stayed aside from it all...but anyways. As I said, this is the Year of the Rabbit...BUT...in Viet Nam, and ONLY in Viet Nam, it is the Year of the Cat!!! Viet Nam follows the Chinese zodiac for all signs except for the Rabbit (and if the source is to be trusted, in Viet Nam, the Ox is also replaced with a Buffalo). There are several legends of why Viet Nam has the cat and not the rabbit, but despite the fact I love legends, the explanation is most probably a linguistic one, according to which The Chinese word for rabbit is 'mao', which sounds like 'meo' in Vietnamese, where it means cat. As the sound of the word changed, so did its meaning.  
The year of the cat is supposed to be a free-of-stress one.
And these are the two cute cat stamps that this issue consists of.

Thank you so much again Jo!