Category Archives: Travel When I think of northern India, it is the incredible Rajput (Hindu) and Mughal (Islamic) architecture of Rajasthan that I remember: fortified walls and sandstone edifices climbing across hillsides; exquisite turrets floating in the hot, dusty air; delicate lattice work shielding windows and casting intricate shadow patterns in the cloistered rooms behind them. But, I also think […]  Charlemagne (c.742-814), the medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 814, dreamed of traversing the European continent, from the North Sea to the Black Sea by water. All that was needed, in theory, was a trench around 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) long, connecting the Rhine River and the Danube. In the absence of pumps, […]  The smiles from the windows and doorways along the trekking trail between Panauti and Namo Buddha in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, are as warm as the bright sun overhead. I was walking with a friend and local guide Angfula Sherpa (our porter had long since left us behind!) towards the sacred pilgrimage site of Namo Buddha, where […]  Every cell in my body was alive and smiling! I had sun on my head and dirt under my feet. With my arms swinging and my feet walking, I was finally on the move, and every step was a joy. I love walking – that is, until my knees lock up and my hips inflame, […]  Rice is absolutely central to Balinese society. In Bahasa Indonesia, the lingua franca in Bali, nasi, the word for rice, also means “meal”. But in Bali, rice is so much more than that: the whole process of growing and harvesting rice is at the very core of the island’s religion and culture. Since around 900 CE, the Balinese have followed […] |
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