Thailand is known as “land of a thousand temples”, each stunningly unique and overwhelmingly beautifully Buddhist. It’s also known as the “land of a thousand smiles”. I think there’s a connection… First, it’s hot. Plan your adventures for mornings, late afternoons and evenings. Not during the heat of midday. The city comes alive at night. It’s an easy city to get around. Tuk-tuks are everywhere, as are taxis. Buses circumnavigate …
A veteran of African game drives in Kenya and Tanzania, I thought South Africa and Zimbabwe would be much the same. I was wrong! Let’s visit Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve, a Big 5 Game Park in the KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa. Join me on my recent safaris in South Africa in search of the majestic five: Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Leopard and Cape Buffalo! Thanks to our group of …
It’s an 11th century Buddhist VM! Thangka roughly translates to “recorded message” in Tibetan and is an ancient form of Buddhist art. The art of India and Nepal is one of flamboyance! Color in capitals! Flags fly, ropes of marigolds are offered to visitors along with welcoming red bindis and bracelets. Each with a prayer. Carvings, sculptures, paintings…all celebratory and strange. But so beautiful! I watched artists in the city of …
It was the most imposing structure I have ever visited, dominating the landscape, miniaturizing the “Blue City” below. On par with the Great Wall but so much richer in ornate decoration and impossibly grand. Mehrangarh Fort stands four hundred feet in splendor on a perpendicular cliff above the sky line of Jodhpur. Burnished red sandstone, imposing, invincible and yet with a strange haunting beauty that beckons. Much has been written …
Many claim there are more gods than people in the Kathmandu Valley. It feels that way. Spiritually pungent, deliciously rich in culture and tradition. Flower petals, vermilion powder and rice are offered on brass trays daily at these sacred spots. The contrast with frenetic India is dramatic. Chill, more peaceful. An absence of car horns. The Himalayas loom, menacing with tectonic threat but grand and gorgeous. Nepal is the country of …
I loved watching Indian women draped in brightly colored, embellished silks managing to accomplish, to me, awkward side-saddle motor bike rides, managing unruly kids, raking basmati, worshipping at the temple all the while composed and lovely in their saris. In Indian culture, the sari symbolizes respect, dignity, modesty and confidence. The word “sari” means “strip of cloth” in Sanskrit. But for the Indian women—and a few men—who have been wrapping …