Darjeeling is amazing set in the foothills of the Himalaya in northern India. The oncoming monsoon season brings with it great rain and, sometimes, lightning storms. I snapped this pic on one such night.
Darjeeling Spark
May 2nd, 2009 — India, Photography, Travels
Asian Attitudes on Foreigners
April 21st, 2009 — China, India, Japan, Quotes, Thailand, Travels
China, I thought, preferred to keep visitors out; many Southeast Asian countries invited foreigners in, with ambiguous wink and smile; Japan smilingly greeted visitors at the door and appeared to admit them without ever really doing so. India, by contrast, took in all the hordes and simply swept them up in the undifferentiated tide.
-Pico Iyer, Video Night in Kathmandu, p 281
Darjeeling: Queen of the Hills
April 17th, 2009 — India, Travels
The one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse of the rest of the world combined.
-Mark Twain on his 1st visit in 1896
I love the hill stations of India. Darjeeling, set at 2,128 meters, is no exception. Started by the British as a sanatorium in the 1800′s, members of the East India Company used it to escape the summer heat of Calcutta. My trip would accomplish much the same.
Tongba: Himalayan Beer
April 3rd, 2009 — Food, India, Tibet, Travels
Tongba is the traditional and indigenous drink of the Limbu people of eastern Nepal. To Limbus, Tongba is analogous to what vodka is to Russians, wine to French, Guinness to Irish and saké to Japanese.
-Wikipedia
SteveO Saves a Life
March 23rd, 2009 — friends
You may remember Stephen Michael Kulkhe from such “classic” blog posts as Kumamoto Cliff Jumping, Surfing in Miyazaki, and of course as my trekking partner on my first journey to Nepal.
We knew each other from university at Iowa State and were placed a few hours from each other as teachers in Japan. He has since moved on as a swimming instructor in Taiwan’s Taipei American School with the lovely Aki-chan, where he “teaches stroke development, boating, snorkeling, is an assistant coach and the BSA Swimming and Lifesaving merit badge counselor”.
Well, he’s back! And he’s saved a life.
Baba Srinath
March 18th, 2009 — Nepal, Travels
Back when I first visited Nepal in 2006, I met a local villager named Ram. You can see Ram and his house in Episode 2 of the video series I created about that trip.
On that trip and after my trek was completed, I went back to the village and Ram took me to meet a sadhu living in the hills nearby. For some strange reason, the video I took of that disappeared.
This time around, I contacted Ram again and went back to see Baba Srinath again.
To Be Defeated
March 13th, 2009 — Quotes
He explained that to be defeated was a condition of life which was unavoidable. Men were either victorious or defeated and, depending on that, they became persecutors or victims.
-Carlos Castaneda, A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan (1971)
Comparitive Internet Cafe Studies
March 5th, 2009 — Commentary
Photo courtest Flick user Marc Shandro
Over the last few months I have taken buses, trains, boats, rickshaws, bikes, and horses through a multitude of cultures and minorities therein. It occurs to me that a lot can be inferred about these places based upon my main means of communication: the internet cafe.
Michael Palin’s Himalaya
March 1st, 2009 — Books, Video
Michael Palin may be best known as a member of Monty Python, but I’m fond of his travel documentaries produced with the BBC. Before I started my trip I watched his series entitled Himalaya where he traverses the cultures in Pakistan, India, China, Bhutan, and Bangladesh that reside in this greatest of mountain chains.
I’ve recently stated reading the book published of his journey and am quite taken aback at the similarity to my previous 7 months of travel. For example, his Pakistan travels mirrors my own greatly with stops along the Karakoram Highway, Hunza Valley, and polo matches in Gilgit. (With all do respect, though, I have done mine without the BBC treasury and have come overland from Japan.)
If you’re interested in further detail about the places I have visited, by all means put this in your Netflix queue or get it for your Kindle. You can also find the book, DVD, and of course torrent file. You won’t regret it.
Death and Life of Buddha
February 20th, 2009 — Buddhism, India, Nepal, Travels
With my Indian visa quickly expiring, I decided to take heed and depart Benares. Off to Nepal I head for a refresh of both my visa and head in the crisp mountains.
I entered the train station to await my train to Gorakhpur from whence buses will complete the journey to Pokhara and then Kathmandu. As I entered the crowded station I noticed a monk in auroral attire monitoring the entrance to the platform. He quickly engaged me in converstation about my destination and our plans were the same: journey to Kushinagar on the Indian side to visit the place of Buddha’s death and to Lumbini on the Nepali side where Buddha was born.