Yearly Archives: 2015 It was only the promise of masala chai, or “mixed-spice tea”, that got me out of bed before the sun, and onto a Jaisalmer rooftop with my tripod and cameras on a cold November morning. I love chai. Nothing says “India” to me like chai: that hot sweetened tea, made rich from the boiled buffalo milk (or full-cream cow milk) and spicy […]  You have to be early, and you have to be quick, to catch Theravada Buddhist monks on their morning alms rounds. For over 2,500 years, since the Buddha decided that monks and nuns should not cook or store their own food, Buddhist monks have walked alms rounds. The practice was intended to free religious monastics from the worldly burden of cooking […]  After being tipped onto the tarmac at Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, Namibia, one night last month, the first thing I noticed – after the cold, mind you; it was still mid-winter in the Southern Hemisphere – was the sky. The sky was black, with very little ambient light. And it was full of stars: stars so close […]  The Tiverton Canal Co. calls it: “The Fastest Way to Slow Down!” I think they are right. Being transported up a canal, towed by a slowly plodding shire horse, makes one imagine English country life as it must have once been. Scenes from Thomas Hardy novels spring to mind. It was towards the end of July – the last […] Castles: they are a study in contrasts. There is nothing quite like the glimpse of a medieval castle on a sunny day to evoke thoughts of fairy tales, with damsels and dragons and chivalrous knights… But, once inside, it is easier to imagine the cold drafts, the lack of light, and the drudgery of those who work […] |
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