Yoga Ashram India series on TravelWireAsiaI write a regular ‘column’ for the TravelWireAsia website about India, yoga and travel in Asia (my favourite continent for travel!). Recently, I published a three-part series on How to “do” a yoga ashram in India. Here’s a synopsis of each post — to read the full article click on the link provided.
HAVE you considered going to an ashram in India? This is a 3-part series on where to go, what you need to know and what to expect. (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…)
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.
