I have just been back to Rajasthan, India for the first time since I stopped importing old architectural pieces and handcrafts from this wonderful desert state. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was making this regular trip but the country has changed so much. Planes used to be crowded out with very traditionally dressed servants with televisions and appliances as their hand luggage … Continue reading Mehendi
The Beatles had been in Rishikesh only a few years earlier and although it wasn’t particularly obvious at the time, tourism was starting to find and take over this holy town on the banks of Mother Ganga. It has been a spiritual centre since ancient times and there is a complete ban on non vegetarian food and alcohol as they both run against the strict … Continue reading Rishikesh and a Life Giving Lotus
The incredible sound of Rajasthani musicians singing about their camels in the sunset of the Thar Desert. The day has cooled and we are sitting around a camp fire after dinner, tomorrow we will visit a Bishnoi village. The Bishnoi people have been following their ideals since the early fifteenth century, they are Hindu but follow a set of teachings which among other things bans … Continue reading The First Tree Huggers
The first glimpse inside a dreamily perfumed, heavily carved, sandalwood Kashmiri houseboat on Dal Lake, Srinigar is one of chandeliers, pink and red silk furnishings and carpets, sumptuous silk sofas and cushions and a silver samovar of cinnamon tea waiting for us. We collapsed in fits of giggles. It was so exotic and beautiful, so other worldly we couldn’t think of anything to say. We … Continue reading Sandalwood & Samovars
TRAVELS PAST & PRESENT 