Category Archives: Architecture

India! The heat, the crowds, the colours! And, the intricately beautiful – and historic – architecture. All my previous forays into this vast and varied country have been in the north (see: Weekly Wanders India), where turbans and Mughal palaces and mausoleums are commonplace. In the south, French, Portuguese, and British influences are still much […]

View full post »

Historically, the medieval Newar (Newari) village of Bungamati was known for its woodcarvers, its ancient temples, and its views of the surrounding mountains. Bungamati is a tiny town of about 6,000 residents, sitting on a spur of land overlooking the Bagmati River at the southern edge of the Kathmandu Valley. When I visited, almost two […]

View full post »

It was not yet 7:30am. I’m not a morning person, but I was excited! Our bus was already in the car park outside the Petra Visitor Centre. In an attempt to beat the heat and the crowds, my fellow travellers and I were making our way into this magical ancient city early. We had gone […]

View full post »

In the traditional town of Bungamati – or Amarapur – in the fertile Kathmandu Valley about nine kilometres to the south of Kathmandu, people live and farm simply, much as they have for generations. These are the Newars (Newari): the historical inhabitants of the region. This settlement site has probably existed since at least the […]

View full post »

As someone born and raised in the colder reaches of the Northern Hemisphere, I spent much of my life dreaming of a White Christmas. I still have difficulty associating the festive season with hot nights and Summer in the City. But I love the city of Sydney in the Antipodean summer – and some years […]

View full post »