Blogs from Chattisgarh, India, Asia

Dalla sempre piacevole Visakhapatnam sta diventando ormai sempre più di moda la deviazione verso la non lontana Araku Valley, situata tra le verdeggianti montagne dei Ghati orientali; qui si è recentemente affermato un ecoturismo di buon livello che attrae frotte di turisti indiani desiderosi di fresco e natura, per il momento ancora poco contaminata. Anche il caffè di Araku sta cercando di crearsi un nome e, oltre ad una modesta bottega sul lungomare di Visakhapatnam e ad un negozio a Bangalore, ha puntato decisamente in alto aprendo un elegante caffè in pieno centro di Parigi! La valle si può agevolmente raggiungere in treno, ma in pochi si saranno accorti che la linea ferroviaria in questione prosegue oltre, addentrandosi sempre più in valli montane ricoperte da fitte foreste primordiali abitate da popolazioni tribali che vivono isolate e ... read more

Let’s start with the good: The affable old man who I met in Ujjain and spoke excellent English, with an English accent mind you! He had learned it in the good old days of the British Raj... We had an interesting conversation on the importance of good education. His only flaw was a curious dislike of Sikhs to which he attributed dubious sexual morals and greediness... The ghat's of Ujjain, the most relaxed I have seen in India, with the kids frolicking in the water, the saddhus preparing for the evening blessings and everybody else either bathing or just strolling along the ghats... This sounds of course like any ghat, but the relaxing part was that nobody seemed to notice me or at least took any notice of me and that is rare in this country. ... read more

Walked 5km to the Shiva cave. Took the wrong path and interrupted a monkey asleep on a rock. Walked on and found a great spot overlooking the river, decided to top up my tan. Got on the right track and walked through a slow-moving village. The people in Tattapani don’t do much work. Last 2km of the walk was on a cliff-side road overlooking the river, very quiet except the occasional jeep and trucks that had psychedelic paint work and the slogan "beep now". Walked to the cave through a forest, found a concret seat so caught up on some sleep. Cave was not as inspiring as the walk, sat near the shrine and admired the waterfall. Took a bathe in the spring water with AD and played guitar with a Spanish guy who had an ... read more