Monthly Archives: November 2023 The Ganges River, known more commonly as the Ganga Mata (Mother Ganges), is revered in Hindu worship and culture. More than just a river, she is the embodiment of a goddess whose purity cleanses one’s sins: bathing in her waters releases the faithful from samsara, the endless cycle of death and rebirth. All along the banks […]  I spent less than a week in the Sultanate of Oman, an Islamic Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. In that time, however, I saw countless forts, castles, and towers (see: Oman’s Fortress Castles and Jabreen Castle). Perhaps this is unsurprising, as the country is called “the land of [a] thousand forts.” These […]  I was distressed to hear about the earthquake in Nepal earlier this month (3 November 2023): multi-storied brick houses in the remote, mountainous districts of Jajarkot and West Rukum collapsed after the 6.4 magnitude (USGS) quake, burying whole families in the rubble. This beautiful country has had a special place in my heart since my […]  I’ve had a love of the Canadian Rocky Mountains for as long as I can remember. In my earliest years in Canada, we lived on the West Coast, where the mountains and Pacific Ocean meet. Then we moved inland, to the foothills of Calgary, where the Prairies stretch out flat in the east forever … But […]  I’m not normally a huge fan of museums: there are only so many plaques I can read on dusty displays before I hit overload, or become mind-numbingly bored. But, all of the guide books and everyone I met on Crete recommended the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. It is reputed to be one of the greatest museums […] |
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