James of Plus Ultra nominated me for the Hostel Bookers 7 Super Shots, more than two months ago, and I know now what he meant by “choosing your best photos is like choosing your favourite children“! It was hard selecting 7 images from the hundreds in my archives, but fun as well, trying to remember exactly […]
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Few conquests have been as devastatingly final as the annihilation of the legendary kingdom of the Incas. In under 40 years after their first encounter with Francisco Pizzaro in 1532, the Incas were history. Their gold looted, their religion wiped out and their architecture demolished. With the exception of Machu Picchu and a few other uninhabited […]
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Built by a dutiful son for his retired parents, the Yuyuan is a 400 year old classical Chinese garden in the midst of the urban jungle that is modern Shanghai. Located in the heart of the old town in Puxi, not far from the bund, it is high on every tourist itinerary. Not surprisingly therefore – […]
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Showcasing my dining table below, a personal favourite from a series of solid granite furniture that I designed and R got made for me based on my drawings. He was most sceptical about anyone wanting to own heavy stone furniture so my sell-out exhibition was a huge surprise. The top is toughened glass. The pattern […]
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There are some secret places on this earth that man has been forced to create, not to enjoy, but to be able to survive. To escape harsh elements, but mostly, as a refuge from tyranny and persecution. Because he was perceived to be different. Or just because he did not happen to pray to the ‘right’ […]
Read MoreThere is a stretch of land between the airport and Mangalore town that is so verdant and beautiful that it never fails to bring a lump to my throat. I get off at the bridge to inhale the fresh, earthy fragrance that I have missed so much. “Wouldn’t it be lovely to buy some land […]
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There are many images in my albums, that transport me back to Peru and the wonderful days we spent there last fall. Of the colourful, pensive Quechua women, their lovely rosy cheeked little children, the Ceviches, the stuffed potatoes (!) and the Pisco sours, the amazing Incan architecture of the sacred valley, the streets of […]
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Some rather far fetched myths are ascribed to the reason why South Kanara – the province that Mangalore is a part of – adopted the matriarchal system of inheritance as early as 10 AD. (You can read a rather sketchy and badly written version here.) This was a very progressive law for the time and continues to this day, […]
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A distant murmur reminds us of the purpose of our visit long before we catch our first glimpse of the cataracts from the dining room of the Sheraton hotel within the Argentine National Park. It gets louder as we clamber onto the jungle train, a short distance from the hotel, that takes us to long, creaky, metal catwalks […]
Read MoreThe plan was to walk up to the Galata Tower with our friends, stop for a snack at one of the little cafes in this newly gentrified neighbourhood and then take a cab across town to the uber cool Ulus29 for dinner. When we spotted a stage being readied for a concert right beside the […]
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One of the joys of wandering the streets of Barcelona is to suddenly stumble upon gorgeous art nouveau buildings sitting smack in the middle of nondescript shop fronts. The Antigua Casa Figueras is one such gem. Located halfway down the Rambla, this former pasta factory was built in 1820 and decorated by modernist artist Antoni Ros i Guell in […]
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My interpretation of ‘summer’? A warm sunday morning on Ipanema beach. Several agua de coco’s later, we walked on to the Feira Hippie de Ipanema – the weekly fair on Praça General Osório nearby – and then all the way to Lagoa, stopping en-route to pick up Bossa Nova CD’s and grazing on shrimp and vegetable empadas and fresh […]
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The Urge To Wander 