Rantepao, Sulawesi, Indonesia July 10, 2011 Having arrived at Rantepao, I searched for an internet café and found one. To my delight there was a spa and massage place upstairs in the same building. There was also a small library of books in English. Needless to say I spent a good chunk of the day … More Do You Want To Go To A Funeral ?
La Candelaria, Bogota Dec 30, 2010 Bogota may be a large sprawling modern city but the district of La Candelaria, especially the old town retains a quaint flavor of days of old. Narrow cobble-stoned streets weave their way through the area. Some are just wide enough for one car while some others have been widened … More All Quiet In La Candelaria
December 26, 2010 Terminal 2/3 JFK Airport, NY There had been repeated warnings of a big winter storm headed our way but I took this with a veritable mountain of salt, given that the online as well as TV weather forecasters have a penchant for dire forebodings. Forecasts that are delivered with a generous splash … More Stranded!
Among the Tsaatan I had been to Mongolia twice before, but this time my focus was the extreme north, past the Khovsgol Nur. This is the summer pasture of the reindeer herders of Mongolia – the Tsaatan. I traveled from Ulan Bator to the town of Moron and then began the search for the Tsaatan. … More Among the Tsaatan
Dunhuang, China July 8th, 2010 I had been travelling west along parts of the Silk Road and had reached Dunhuang at the eastern end of the Taklamakhan desert. The town has the feel of a ghost town with its wide empty streets, empty cafes and general air of good times gone bad. Even the travel … More Mogao Caves of Dunhuang
In Search of Hidden Gompas Qinghai province, China June 28th, 2010 I was in what used to be the Amdo province of old Tibet but is now called Qinghai, in western China. Someone in Xining told me about little known and less visited monasteries high in the mountains near Xining where incredibly there are still … More In Search of Hidden Gompas
Lake Nasser, January 7, 2010 “Open, open bag” said one of them impatiently, his flashlight flickering over my daypack. When the beam ebbed he muttered under his breath and thumped the flashlight against his palm until it steadied. “Permit?” barked the other one as he looked at the straggly line of people who had got … More Rescued From a Watery Grave
Bagan, Burma Aug 10, 2009 On the banks of the Irrawaddy in Burma, is a vast open area dotted with a multitude of temples and stupas. Built mostly between the ninth and thirteenth centuries, in a Burma that was united under Theravada Buddhism this was once a grand and shining city, reputedly awing Marco Polo … More Faded Glories
Saigon, Vietnam June 21, 2009 I have been trying to see if I could wing it on my own to the much-talked-of Mekong delta and chances are I could possibly make it there but transport back is dicey. In Vietnam, if you are a tourist, you are firmly put in a box labeled “Tourist”, deemed … More The Mekong Delta
Ratanakiri June 15, 2009 I wanted to go trekking in the hills of the north-east. In part because I was beginning to hanker after mountains and in part because this area sees few tourists, especially in the rainy season. It was far enough off the beaten path to suit me. And so began the interminable … More Among the Pnong
ITCHY FEET TRAVELS 