Tag Archives: dancer Over the last few weeks, Bhutan, that Haven of Happiness, has been making an appearance in my various electronic news feeds and re-asserting itself into my consciousness. In part, this is because it was around this time of year, six years ago, that I visited. I was in this beautiful Himalayan Kingdom for two weeks in September 2009, as part of a […]  How do a people preserve the important values inherent in their culture – more than just a traditional headdress and a signature food – without sacrificing the good things that participating in the modern world can offer? I often ask myself this when travelling – especially in poorer areas of the world where the people […]  Cool sands underfoot. Starry, wide-open skies overhead. Firelight and music and drums. There is magic in the desert air. “Midnight at the oasis Send your camel to bed Shadows paintin’ our faces Traces of romance in our heads…” – Midnight at the Oasis by David Nichtern for Maria Muldaur It was nighttime in the middle of the Thar Desert. The Great Indian Thar […]  It was hot. And dark. And – unless you enjoy clanging discordant pentatonic music – noisy. It was almost time for the evening performance at the Mandalay Marionettes Theatre. As we filed into the tiny space, a small band played Burmese classics to welcome us. Yoke Thay, traditional Myanmar puppet theatre, dates back several centuries. It was entertainment, held […]  Angkor Wat. There can be no symbol more iconic of Cambodia’s attempts to guard its glorious Khmer past or of it’s hope for a self-determined future. The world’s largest religious monument, built between 1113 and 1150 during the reign of Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat was designed as a microcosm of the Hindu universe. The outer moat represents […] |
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