Blogs from Asia - page 143

YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT - RECOMMENDED - THEN GO BACK TO THE BLOG OR GO THROUGH THE 67 PHOTOS - CLICK ON NEXT OR PREVIOUS IN THAT ENLARGED FORMAT. I PUT LOTS OF INFORMATION IN THE PHOTO CAPTIONS SO YOU CAN SKIP THE NARRATIVE, JUST LOOK AT THE ENLARGED PHOTOS AND CAPTIONS AND YOU'LL STILL GET MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU EVER WANTED. TO RETURN TO THE BLOG ENTRY, CLICK YOUR BACK BUTTON OR ON THE NAME OF THE BLOG - BELOW THE NUMBERS ON THE LEFT. As you have probably figured out, these travel blogs are a way for Bernard and me to keep track of our adventures. I can't tell you how many times we've referred to one of our over 70 travel blogs looking for various details, maps, dates, ... read more

Gaumukh glacier is the source of river Bhagirathi – which ultimately merges with river Alakananda at Dev Prayag to form the holy river Ganga. The Gaumukh Tapovan trek is a Must-do for every trekker due to its unpredictable challenging conditions and stunning beauty. To top it, for spiritual people, it is of incredible significance as it is the source of River Ganga; and Tapovan is the abode for several yogis and rishis till date. Being a Yogini myself, these were huge reasons enough to get me excited for this trek, but as every moment during the trek passed, I realised I was in a place with astonishing history and could just feel it. It starts with a 10-hour drive from Dehradun to Dharali – a small town close to Gangotri. Dharali is one of the places ... read more

Kerela Wow, what a shock! It’s as if we’ve been put in a time machine and fast forwarded about 60years. Apart from the heat that greeted us at 10pm. our taxi driver was the only one waiting for passengers! The drive to Fort Kochi was on good roads, hardly any tooting, passed numerous large car showrooms, plenty of neon lights, not a single cow and from what we could see in the dark, no obvious piles of rubbish. Usually Fort Kochi is a very popular tourist visit, however all the attractions have been closed due to the Corona virus. There are a few White people around, very few! Consequently plenty of tuk tuk drivers trying to get a job. One guy we were talking to, asked if we could do him a favour, he didn’t want ... read more

For the sake of completing this journey on the blog, I will simply say we returned home after an arduos and fraught time. Then commenced a 14 day self isolation period.... read more

About 2 weeks ago, I began writing about our time in Goa and the odd transition to the nunnery, as India began it’s decent into Corona Hell. I imaged I could provide a short escape for you from the daily stress of getting sick, running out of supplies or losing your job/money during this horrific time. I’ll leave those initial thoughts here before I join the rest of you in grief and worry… Upon arriving in India, I realized it turns out taylor is a completely normal, average person…when we left the airport in Mumbai and jumped into a taxi (driven by a woman…both inspiring in India and terrifying, she was a horrible driver!) he said “whats that smell?” Has there ever been a person, ever, to react differently?!!! Social Distancing is easy in a Nunnery ... read more