During our four months trip in India this year, my husband and I stopped in Khajuraho to visit the Erotic Temples. There, we heard of a small village Kundalpur, where hundreds of Jain Monks will gather in a two-day festival to celebrate fifty women becoming Jain mothers. We left Khajuraho together with a local Jain couple and their family car for Kundalpur to take part in the festival. Kundalpur turned out to be a very enriching and deeply … [Read more...]
A Brush with Africa
But it took more than two decades in England, a self-confessed dull career in manufacturing, before these youthful experiences found expression in a style of art that has captured the very essence of Africa. What strikes you first about Simon's paintings is the extraordinary colour: an earthy yellow that manages to be both intense and transparently delicate. This is the colour of Africa and Simon achieved it in an accidental and unorthodox way. … [Read more...]
BBQ Goat in Oaxaca: The Pomp, Ceremony and Tradition
Some say it's one of the oldest professions in Oaxaca, yet it garners little if any respect from most of the population notwithstanding the tradition and ceremony that has been its trademark for generations: the chivero, or slayer and preparer of goat, and its barbequing Some say it's one of the oldest professions in Oaxaca, yet it garners little if any respect in a clay, in-ground oven. There are a number of caprine cattle that are cooked in … [Read more...]
Walking with Ghosts
Hurricane Katrina had no favorites. She picked equally on the weak and the strong, black and white. She stomped on the rich and the poor and she stopped life in its tracks. Imagine life with all your possessions in the front yard or in the gutters. Worse yet, imagine you have no possessions, no house. Imagine searching for your friends, your family or your pet weeks after they disappeared. Yes, just imagine! This is the reality for thousands … [Read more...]
Los Angeles, CA – California Missions
California has a total of 21 Missions running from San Diego to Sonoma ranging in date of founding from 1769 until 1823. The intent with each mission location was historically to place each one approximately a days journey between each other. Greater Los Angeles and Orange County have three representatives of these, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Mission San Gabriel Archangel (the closest mission to downtown Los Angeles) and Mission San Fernando … [Read more...]
Los Angeles, CA – Chinatown
Chinatown is located just north west of downtown Los Angeles - take the Hill Street exit off of the 110 Freeway - across from Elysian Park. Chinatown is in the "backyard" of downtown Los Angeles and is easily within driving distance. Just take Hill Street and you will end up in downtown. The present location has not always been Chinatown's historical location. The current location along Hill and Broadway Streets used to be little Italy and … [Read more...]
The Kingdom of the Atlas Mountains
Dear Friends, I got bitten by the travel bug again, after more than eight months of staying put around my home base of Orange County, California. I gave South America some serious consideration, especially now that it is summer in the more southern and chilly parts of the continent. But for various reasons, the most important of which is the chance to meet up with my brother Abdul, I settled on Africa. He is roaming around South Africa now … [Read more...]
India: Sixty million villages and still counting
How on earth do you cover one billion people and more than five thousand years of history in one short article? I am afraid I won't be able to answer that question in regard to writing something about India. I can do no more than give you my week's worth of roaming about in northern India, a country which I found as diverse as it is huge and old. Just to get primed for the speed at which life proceeds in much of this country, our train to … [Read more...]
Mt. Fuji Climb
Our trip to Mount Fuji began at 7 AM last Friday when Kathy and I left our apartment to catch our early morning bullet train to Japan's most famous mountain. After nine hours of traveling via taxi, bullet train, and bus, we arrived at Fuji-san's 5th station (7562 feet) at 4:30 PM. With our high tech graphite walking sticks and backpacks filled with rice balls, water, and winter clothes, we began our ascent up the mountain at 5:30 PM. The … [Read more...]
Maun, Botswana
I remember looking out my window on the night flight from Europe to South Africa and seeing nothing but black below. No city lights for hours. Not until the next morning when the plane was over South Africa, were any signs of civilization present. On that flight I tried to imagine what it would be like to actually be in one of those areas that seemed so dark from above. Well, we finally entered this part of Africa when we crossed the "veterinary … [Read more...]
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