Old Town & Gujarati Cuisine: Ahmedabad, India
Gujarat, India?! Uh…what about it? That was my first reaction when my cousin suggested I meet her in her temporary hometown of Ahmedabad (Gujarat’s ex-capital) on my once in three year visit to India. I could be trekking in Ladakh or hanging out in some random village in the south. What the heck would we […]
Village Travels – Gujarat (India)
Bhuj is a small town, approximately 6 hours from Ahmedabad. So what’s there in Bhuj?! Certainly no Taj Mahal, I can assure you. But Bhuj is a gateway to the desert, a large part of which is a seasonal salt marsh. It’s also the gateway to a smattering of tiny villages that are home to […]
New Year’s Eve in Montezuma
Sloths..sublime beaches…friendly people…surfing…coffee….volcano…ziplining…ah I fondly speak of Costa Rica with its lush rainforests and its warm beaches – it has something for everyone! Although if you really want to see wildlife, please take the time and head to the Osa Peninsula. Here’s a common route people take: San Jose to Arenal to Monteverde to Manuel […]
Walking the Salt Flats: Gujarat, India
Today was the day I was finally going to sleep in a mud tent and visit a salt desert. Wow. I was excited! But we first had to figure out how to get to this salt desert my cousin kept referring to. I hadn’t known India had a salt desert. Our overnight train from Ahmedabad […]
Kecak Dance: A Balinese Interpretation of the Ramayana
It was hot and muggy. My friends and I walked along single file on the narrow sidewalk looking for the temple. The dance started promptly at 7pm and I wanted to make sure we had seats. Every time we stopped to ask a shop owner they would say, “straight.” So we kept trudging along. When […]
An encounter with Bali’s famous medicine man!
“You so pretty, your lips like sugar.” The 98 year old frail man let go of my palm and made me turn around so he can read my neck and pronounced with a toothless smile that I would have great sex at midnight. Good to know. “Um Ketut, so what about my career?” Ketut coughed […]
Geckos and Paddy fields – Indonesia
Have you ever seen a Gecko? I’m sure many of you have. Have you ever HEARD one?! “Eh-oh. Eh-oh. Eh-oh.” I never actually saw the Gecko, but always woke up to the sounds of these creatures that cannot blink. Most of them anyway. They have a fixed lens within each iris that enlarges in darkness. […]
