November 25-27, 2015 Everyone recognizes the incredibly picturesque karsts of Halong Bay... those limestone peaks that jut skyward from the water creating a landscape unlike any other... and like the millions of other tourists, I wanted in on that beauty. But my aversion toward crowds led me to do some research, and upon careful consideration … Continue reading Deep in the Flow – Tam Coc, Vietnam
October 28-30, 2015 Getting to this antiquated hill station is no easy task. Having been in India for over 3 weeks now, I fully understand the traffic (total insanity) and the roads (completely unmaintained) but did not anticipate these two factors hosting a 2-way thoroughfare on a single-lane road going up the side of a … Continue reading Darjeeling, More than Tea – India
October 26 & 27, 2015 Early morning, before all the street vendors have set up, I walk through the quiet village on my way to breakfast, pausing to sit on one of the stairwells leading down to the river, smelling the subtle incense that permeates the air. At this hour, the river is a surprising … Continue reading Namaste, My Friend – Rishikesh Part 2 – India
October 24 & 25, 2015 Situated in the foothills of the Himalayas and built along either side of the sacred Ganges river near its source, Rishikesh has a beautiful intensity that is entirely unlike every other place I've been so far. While still densely populated, the chaos is severely dialed down, letting the natural beauty … Continue reading Om Namaha Shiva – Rishikesh Part 1 – India
October 22-24, 2015 My very first impression of this Capitol city is - it's so clean! And green! And there are road signs! Yes, there are still a ton of people and the traffic is still insane by US standards, but it's notably less chaotic than Mumbai... and thank god for that. I arrived in … Continue reading Two Days in Delhi
October 18-21, 2015 I will admit, I've been a little stressed since I arrived in India. Bombay was super intense and although I absolutely loved my time at the caves in Aurangabad, the logistics of traveling from place to place has been difficult. And of course there was my time at Vipassana.... wonderfully transformative, but … Continue reading Gorgeous Goa (and getting there.)
October 7-18, 2015 Impermanence. Have be you ever really stopped to consider just how temporary every incarnation of life is? From the moment of our conception, we are an ever-evolving, never-resting cluster of cells... perpetually changing, growing, multiplying, degenerating and regenerating... not one cell ever staying the same. Day to day, the change is imperceptible, … Continue reading Vipassana Meditation Center – Nasik, India
Tues, Oct 6 After such a wondrous experience at Ellora I wondered if the wow factor at Ajanta might be a little less so in comparison, but that was nowhere near the case. Gigantic monasteries hand-carved into a mountainside could never be anything less than breath-taking. The setting at Ajanta is, in many ways, more … Continue reading The Ajanta Caves
Thursday, Oct 2 Ok. I'm just going to be honest. Today was kind of a rough day. It started out with an early morning walk and getting lost in a local neighborhood. Being the only Westerner around definitely changes the feel of things, but that's not altogether bad and I did get a glimpse of … Continue reading Bombay v2.0
Here we go. Eight weeks, three countries, countless cities, towns, villages, archaic ruins, astonishing monuments, temples, tombs, churches, mosques, sacred spaces, ancient mountain caves, jungle caves, river caves, glacial rivers, holy rivers, river rituals, sunrise rituals, old-world traditions, candle light, flashlight, moonlight, mantras, mandalas, monks, mystics, monasteries, prayer flags, gurus, Himalayan peaks, urban wealth, overcrowding, … Continue reading Prologue – India, Myanmar, Vietnam Oct-Nov 2015
The Wanderlusting Files 