Chota Char Dham. Pilgrimage in the days of mass tourism
Sahdev Rana, my trusty driver and guide (1) and I left early Friday morning to drive to Gangotri, source of the Ganges and one of the famous Chota Char Dham Pilgrimage destinations sacred to Hindus. We had been here before,…
Rishikesh for addicts
It’s 1st May today and this marks my fourth week anniversary of arriving here from Sri Lanka. May Day traditionally marks the first day of summer and throughout the UK Morris and maypole dancers will be celebrating with the time…
The Sixties called. They want their icons back
During the long period of the Indian lockdown across the summer of 2020, my home became an attractive hotel on the edge of town along the Badrinath Road, called Hotel Sixties Greenhills. Here I might be found many a day…
Rishikesh for Ravers
Rishikesh lies in the valley of a gorge of the still young River Ganges in the first low foothills of the Himalayas in the northern state of Uttarakhand. It has an ancient pedigree as a sacred pilgrimage location, home to…
Island of tea and tourism
The British love affair with tea can probably best be seen in Sri Lanka, one time island of Ceylon. Committed advocate of decolonisation as I am, I must nevertheless confess that I do find the name Ceylon more attractive and…
Passage to India
Last year when I went to Nepal, my journey strangely took me from Manchester to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Istanbul, then Istanbul to Kathmandu, taking some forty hours in total. This owing to the limitations and convolutions attendant on international travel…
Leaving the City of Temples
When I first arrived into Kathmandu mid June, I had no idea how long I would be in Nepal, what I would do, or where I would travel to. I knew I wanted to go up into the mountains again,…
Curious Kathmandu
You certainly see interesting sights in Kathmandu; extraordinary even. Observing the dogs with their red tikka mark and garlanded with flowers was striking, but there were many other things that attracted my interest too, like a vendor of flutes, all…
Diwali
I returned to Kathmandu two days ago and am now back in the hotel with the large yeti in the back garden. It seems strange being back here after a full and very eventful five months further up country in…
At the Kedareshwor Temple
My last full day in Pokhara, I went up to the Kedareshwor Shiva Temple to conduct a brief farewell and thanksgiving puja. I had been there ahead going to Muktinath and upon returning too. The temple location is really beautiful,…
