Search Results for: india It is only a short hop from Singapore to Indonesia by boat or plane, but it may as well be a whole world away (q.v. From Resort to Reality). Last month, after a week in the ultra-modern high-rise city-state of Singapore (Magical Flying Machines and Gardens by the Bay), my husband and I took a side-trip to […]  It has been said that you can not count the number of deities in the Hindu cosmology. And while, technically, they are all manifestations of One Supreme Being, it does make for a lot of festivals and religious observances. Of course, some gods – and festivals – are more important than others. Chhath Pūjā, also known as Dala […]  What an amazing place Bagan must have been in its heyday! “Bagan is a gilded city alive with tinkling bells and the swishing sounds of monks’ robes” – attributed to Marco Polo‘s late-12th-century account. Probably founded in the mid-to-late 9th, the city was the political, economic and cultural capital of the Pagan Empire for 250 years, and would […]  If you grew up in one of the many protectorates or dominions of the British Commonwealth, and are as old as I am, you will remember a world map in the classroom, covered in pink. British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, was the last bit of pink on the left – before the […]  Florida welcomes you to the state with fresh orange juice and glossy brochures, and then subjects you to mile-upon-mile of billboards advertising everything from alligator airboats to the power of prayer. Endless highways and turnpikes are bounded by garish plastic storefronts advertising all manners of food, tacky souvenirs, alcohol, and entertainment. I found it vaguely […] |
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