Peru, Peru, Peru .... South America is unquestionably the land of superlatives. It appears that around evey metaphorical corner is the world´s highest lake, volcano, deepest canyon, wonder of the world etc. Mick met me at the airport in Lima at the start of September and from the momement I landed I was delighted to be here. Even fog-ridden Lima entranced me. The colours, the sounds and the feel of Lima was different to anything I have ever seen, but at the same time, unlike India, it felt comforting and homely. The latin American beat coming from every shop, the laid [View Full Entry]

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Australia (A lot of the photos in this are actually from South America! I uploaded them and haven´t managed to transfer them to the South America folder so please excuse) It has been a while since my last blog. This is in part due to laziness and to the fact life has been considerably calmer since leaving India, ergo I have had less to write about. After my last blog I arrived back in Sydney where I met Judy Walsh. We had a great day together and I finally got to see the Sydney opera house after a week there. Unfortunately [View Full Entry]

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I know it has been quite a while since my last blog so I have decided to give a whistle stop of where I was for the month since my last blog and a little more detailed information on one of my more recent exploits which was a 10 day silent retreat. After leaving Rishikesh in the middle of May, I met Mick in Delhi and we took the overnight train to Varanasi. We had the usual shenanigans with touts in Delhi and particularly in the train station. Varanasi, reputedly the holiest (or at least one of the holiest cities) had [View Full Entry]

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Rishikesh is the seat of spiritual materialist tourism. Whatever you want you can get. Holy men called babas, sannyasins, saddhus* wander the streets, ghats and bathe in the ganges. People's everyday lives are easily interwined with the religious and ceremonial. The man who owns the place I go to for breakfast says his prayers and conducts his ceremony, which consists of lighting incense, delicate bells and singing, in between serving breakfast. It is really nice to witness but timing is kinda tricky - you have to make sure that you don't get arrive when he is in the middle of his [View Full Entry]

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Well, the singathon was a bit of a washout. On Thursday morning, I took a tuk-tuk to Haridwar, about an hour away. (A tuk-tuk is a mechanical rickshaw that can comfortably take five people but can frequently be seen carrying ten.) At Haridwar I spied a policeman across a busy roundabout. As I made my way towards him to ask for directions, a small man with a humped back, dressed in orange robes, and carrying a stick spied me and quickly attached himself to me. Orange robes are worn by holy men and conmen alike in Rishikesh. The man, who subsequently [View Full Entry]

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The bridge was closed for the last two days. The boatmen told me that it was closed because it was dangerous, broken and they were trying to fix it. Such a happening had a twofold effect on me. One, I began to think I was psychic because I myself had thought the bridge was broken and needed fixin' a couple of days ago. Two, it exponetially increased my exposure to bona fide Indian pilgrims, who were now forced to take the boat instead of the bridge. I found myself at the end of the two days, taking a ride across the [View Full Entry]

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I have had a very busy day, what with photoshoots and booking train tickets. The former has become a regular feature of my life and requires that I am available at all times to pose with my adoring fans. Photoshoots usually come about if I am stationary for any period of time and are generally preceded by sly glances, pointing, and the production of a camera. The 'plese, plese, photoe photoe" refrain signals to me it is time once again to don my photo position. A number of snaps are then taken with various shuffling of positions to ensure all family [View Full Entry]

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Having been subjected to two days of drip dry I was ecstatic to see my luggage arrive. I had also started to worry about my luggage entering the abyss of Indian travel and with it, my beautiful new rucksack and malaria tablets. Last night a couple of people staying in the same spot had warned me about the monkeys. The monkeys according to them, came onto the balcony without any warning, were persistent and liable to come in your window, particularly if they smelt any food. So I was glad I had been forewarned when at 5.30 this morning I heard [View Full Entry]

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I just arrived in Rishikesh about an hour ago, minus my luggage and attendant clean clothes. I didn't think it was possible to dry myself with a sock but hey that's life - full of suprises. Delhi was crazy. Everyone says it is a culture shock but nothing could have prepared me for the pollution and the ever-present smell from Delhi to Rishikesh. The 7 hour drive from the airport to Rishikesh was unbelievable. There was no discernible road. I kept waiting for Delhi to end and to become countryside - it didn't. There was an awful lot of throat clearing [View Full Entry]

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