Judi Dench in Jaipur, Rajasthan
These are the words of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel narrator Evelyn Greenslade, played by the luminous Judi Dench. She is one of seven British retirees who travel to Jaipur, Rajasthan, India to live in a restored “luxury” hotel for the elderly. Predictably, their expectations are not met — the hotel is a shambles and its future in doubt — and just as predictably, the characters who take up the challenges thrown at them find a new, unexpected life.
“What do you like about this country? What do you see that I don’t see?” asks unhappy Jean Ainslie (Penelope Wilton), who recoils in India and retreats into seething negativity. (I’ve seen this reaction among people quite often in India, unfortunately; and I’m sure other experienced India travellers have too.)
“The light, the colours, the smiles. The way the people see life as a gift, a privilege — and not a right. All life is here,” answers retired high court judge Graham Dashwood, played by Tom Wilkinson. (more…)
Travelling to magical Jaisalmer in RajasthanAt the western edge of India, in the middle of the world’s second-largest desert, the fairytale kingdom of Jaisalmer appears, as if by magic, like a golden mirage in a desolate landscape
Despite the chaos of unmarked coaches, the train left the sodden grey bedlam of New Delhi Railway Station on time. But it still took more than 21 hours to reach the far side of Rajasthan, India’s largest state. Stuck in a cramped compartment, with nothing to look at but flat desert terrain, I had plenty of time to think about the heavy heart I was dragging from Delhi; and wonder if the long journey to Jaisalmer would be worth the effort. (more…)
Bangkok, Thailand 1992
I started travelling long before Breathedreamgo was launched, long before I went to India in 2005 and long before digital cameras were invented. Recently, I dug out my old photo albums and scanned a bunch of photographs of me travelling around the world — to Asia, Europe, Central America and Australia. So, for a lark, here I am in in Tokyo, Japan and Bangkok and Koh Samui, Thailand in the 1990s. (more…)
Lake Pichola, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
The hand prints of women about to commit sati; an off-duty Naga Sadhu; a dish inspired by the last dinner on the Titanic … just three of my 7 Super Shots. I’m highlighting seven photographs in a game of blog tag. Thanks to Kit Whelan of Seek New Travel for tagging me to participate in 7 Super Shots from HostelBookers. I have never met Kit, but I am convinced we are related as my grandmother’s maiden name was Whelan … and because I would WANT to be related to Kit!
So, without further ado here are my seven super shots. I hope you enjoy viewing them even just a seventh as much as I enjoyed taking them! (more…)
Crew from Halifax ship Mackay-Bennett recover Titanic victim
Before I went to Halifax for the Titanic 100 commemoration events, I didn’t get it. I didn’t really get the full impact of the loss of more than 1,500 people when the ship sank on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg about 600 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland. I didn’t get that the crews of two Halifax-based cable ships, the Mackay-Bennett and the Minia, unhesitatingly made for the wreck site on April 17, two days later, after being contracted by the White Star company. I didn’t get that these men braved the cold, choppy waters of the North Atlantic to pull 302 dead bodies — one of them a 19-month-old baby — into small boats lowered from the cable ships for the purpose.
This photo, above, is now the enduring image for me of the epic disaster. It has replaced photographic images of the great steamship leaving Southampton and of Captain E.J. Smith standing on the bridge. It has replaced the drawing of the Wallace Hartley band playing on the deck as the ship sinks in my old Titanic book and computer generated images of the Titanic breaking in two before slipping beneath the waves. (more…)
An Indiana Jones movie without the bad guys:GreenGlobalTravel (GGT) is a unique and fascinating website / travel blog all about ecotourism, environmental and cultural conservation and sustainable living published by partners Bret Love and Mary Gabbett. These two travel the world — to places like the Peruvian Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, Yellowstone National Park and South Africa — and share their amazing adventures on GGT. I am a big fan of their work: their writing, photography and especially their commitment. It’s great to see them gaining recognition and success as interest in sustainable travel and ecotourism builds. Here’s my interview with Bret Love and Mary Gabbett of GreenGlobalTravel. Read on to find out more about this inspiring couple. (more…)
The view from Shey Monastery, Nepal
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen is an adventure travel masterpiece. It is about the author’s adventures hiking deep into one of the most remote regions of Nepal, on the border with Tibet, to accompany biologist George Schaller on a field expedition to study blue sheep. But the book is about much more than that. Matthiessen, a devoted student of Buddhism and a sensitive, gifted writer, had just lost his wife to cancer, and his book is an exploration of both the outer world of soaring, pristine mountains and his own inner journey through grief and awe.
I love this book for so many reasons. To start, I love Quest stories, and The Snow Leopard is a Quest in every sense of the word. First, is the physical quest itself, to Shey and the Crystal Mountain in a very remote corner of Nepal, back in the early 1970s when hiking in Nepal was not as popular as it is today. Mathiessesn and Schaller — and a changing assortment of sherpas and porters — walked 35 days through almost uninhabited regions, over snow-bound, high mountain passes, to get there. This journey is what makes the book a great adventure story. (more…)
Intrepid Travel campaign supports gender equalityIntrepid Travel has always been a leader in terms of promoting responsible travel and sustainability. However, I am particularly taken by one of their latest campaigns, called SAMA, which supports gender equality in developing nations by emphasizing education for girls. In my interview with Katy Rockett, Marketing & PR Specialist with Intrepid Travel Canada, she explains the project, the objectives and, most importantly how you can help.
SAMA means “equal” in Indonesian. As the main objective of the project is to support gender equality in developing countries, it was a natural fit. (more…)
“It was called the Ship of Dreams.” Today, April 4, the Titanic in 3D movie opens in theatres, in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. I will be in Halifax — the only officially designated Titanic city in North America — on April 15, 2012 for the commemoration events. I wrote a blog about my plans: The legend of the Titanic lives on.
Fully 100 years later, people are still fascinated by this tragedy. The James Cameron-directed Titanic movie is the second highest grossing movie of all time (after Avatar, another Cameron flick). And the Titanic 3D movie is sure to do well this time around. See trailer, below.
This blog post is about why the Titanic fascinates me, and the strange and uncanny connections I have had with this story throughout my life. To find out, read … (more…)
Travel to India is like going through the looking glassWHEN I TRAVEL, especially in India, I feel like Alice in Wonderland; I feel like I’ve fallen into the rabbit hole, or stepped through the looking glass. I lose my bearings and everything is challenged, including my sense of self in the world and my ideas about how life and people should be.
And the experience of being in the alternate universe of a foreign country has helped me become more aware of myself and of the role perception plays in shaping reality.
In India, I meet other foreigners who tell me they think Pahar Ganj in Delhi is “the real India,” and who say the only way to travel in India is by staying in 150-rupee-a-night hovels. I also meet Delhi-born Indians who tell me they think Pahar Ganj is a ghetto and wouldn’t go near it. They prefer Delhi’s five star hotels and the shopping malls of Gurgaon.
When I live with my partner’s Indian family in Delhi, I am accepted into the family and I live as an Indian. But when I travel, I am seen as a foreigner and as if I know nothing about the culture. What’s the truth? (more…)
On the morning of April 14 approximately 10 million people streamed into the sacred town of Haridwar in north India to bathe in the Ganga on the most auspicious day during the 2010 Kumbh Mela. I was one of them. Find out how I found myself alone, and at home, at the world’s largest spiritual gathering.
In Varanasi, where the veil between life and death seems very thin, a boat ride on the river can become a journey to the other side. Come along with me on a boat ride on the Ganges River in India’s oldest, holiest city and pierce the veil.
The Ganges / Ganga River is the Mother of India. The River speaks in many voices as she travels from the high Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. At the source, her song is joyous, full of the the jubilance of youth, the rush of fresh mountain streams, the sincere chanting of pilgrims and the excitement of the onward journey.
