Blogs from India, Asia - page 2107

Bhandasar Jain Temple In the previous blog entry we ended by writing about a very odd temple in the town Deshnoke in Bikaner district in Rajasthan. To go to that temple we passed through the city Bikaner. There we visited the Bhandasar Jain Temple, a temple with impressive wall paintings and artworks. Havelis In Bikaner there are many so called havelis, which can be described as a mansion or a townhouse in a city. The havelis are often quite spectacular buildings, heavily decorated with carved wooden reliefs and other works of art. It was interesting to see a few of these havelis. Unfortunately the streets were they were located were very narrow making it very difficult to take photos of th... read more

When my father went "into Tea" in 1903, it was stated that new Assistants were either Engineers or Gentlemen. I hope he was a bit of both. Life was very demanding with work starting around 5 am and not finishing until late. However there was a lot of social time at "The Club" where he played polo and my mother played golf. There seemed to be a never ending round of children's parties too. As I left India in early 1930 at the age of 6, I remember very little but I'm told I spoke fluent Hindustani. For our forthcoming trip back to Assam, I tried going to a hypnotherapist to see if the language would come back ! No luck... On a business trip for Oil India in 1987, I managed a very brief trip ... read more

I will always cherish my memories of our sojourn in Munnar, Kerala for its visual treats and serene surroundings. The nature lover in me easily bonded with the scenery around and left me spell bound in the beauty of the region. Our flight reached Kochi on a balmy afternoon on the 30th of June and we met our friends who were to drive with us to Munnar. As the plane was losing altitude, we got a great aerial view of Kerala below the thick cloud cover. All I remember now is my feeling that this place is ‘too green to be true!’ Our drive up the narrow winding road was bumpy and uncomfortable yet the lush green forest outside the window more than made up for it. Rows of coconut and palm trees dotted the region ... read more

ENTRY 51 — June 27th 2004 Visa Denied Miranda and I enjoyed our last couple of years in Peachland, but had decided we wanted to travel again. We were more than a little excited by the fact that -- after going through the interview process -- I had been offered the position of Rector, St. Paul's, Paget (Photo), by the Bishop of Bermuda. This tiny island is a British Overseas Territory, self-governing, with its own constitution. The Brits take care of defense and foreign relations. We loved our island paradise: the beaches, the history and the people. The capital city is Hamilton, which is where the Bishop is located. We were told that Bermuda has one of the world's highest GDPs per capita. We were also pleased to hear that although the island is in the ... read more

Mea culpa... sorry everyone... Je suis quelque peu silencieux depuis quelques temps (depuis mon arrivee au Kashmir), mais c'est pas aussi evident ici d'envoyer un mail que ca peut l'etre depuis d'autres parties de l'Inde... On est au Kashmir (Nord-Ouest de l'Inde), c'est a dire a la frontiere avec le Pakistan, qui n'entretient pas vraiment de bonnes relations avec l'Inde notemment a cause du Kashmir, puisqu'ils se battent depuis des lustres pour la possesion de ce territoire... et le champ de bataille, justement, c'est le Kashmir... Militaires partout partout mitraillette au poing pret a tirer sur le premier qui leur semble louche, bunkers, couvre-feu, authorisation pour certaines aeras de Srinagar, bref, aller au cyber-cafe, c'est pas si simple, d'autant plus que les heures d'electricite sont comptees (au compte-gouttes), et que je ne peux (et ne veux) ... read more