By Rhishi Pethe

“Amigos, it’s not chicken pizza.” That was the first thing our guide Vincent told us when we reached the ancient Mayan town of Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza is about 30 minutes from Valladolid in the state of Yucatan and just a couple of hours drive from the tourist hotspots of Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Valladolid was one of the first towns established by the “Conquistadores” and you can tell that they used a lot of stone from Mayan structures to construct their buildings and churches.

Chichen Itza is a testament to the scientifically advanced Mayan civilization. Mayan astronomy was very well advanced and they knew about the revolution of earth around the sun and did very accurate calculations about it. The pyramid is a living example of that fountain of knowledge. As can be seen from the picture, each side has 91 steps, which makes it 364 steps for all the four sides. There is an additional step on the north side corresponding to 365 (364 + 1) days of the year. Each side has 9 levels and the steps split each side into two parts giving 18 separate levels on each side. The Mayan calendar had 19 months, with 18 months of 20 days each and a 19th month of 5 days. The Mayan calendar is believed to have been created sometime between 16th and 6th century BC, compared to the Julian calendar which was introduced in 46 BC. The Mayan calendar is considered to be more accurate than the Gregorian or Julian calendars.

The central attraction of Chichen Itza is the massive pyramid which forms the center of a large city occupied by the upper classes that covered almost 25 square kilometers. The lower class lived outside the main town.
We were lucky to be at Chichen Itza on the day of the Spring Equinox. On the equinoxes, a shadow representing a serpent comes down the pyramid and meets the snake statue at the base of the north side of the pyramid. The serpent represents the Mayan feathered serpent deity of Kukulkan. It is amazing to know that this structure was built around 600 AD with such precise astronomical knowledge.

Towards the west of the pyramid is the ball court in the shape of an “I”. The Mayans believed that humans went to heaven in their after-life and so it was an honor to get sacrificed. Typically the captain of the ball team (either winning or losing team) was sacrificed at the end of the ball game. The way the stones have been laid on the walls of the ball court also allowed for excellent acoustics on and around the court. This was in sharp contrast to the announcements being made at Cancun airport.

Another interesting feature of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico is its geology. The ground of the Yucatan peninsula is like cheese. There are a lot of natural holes (called cenotes) in the ground and a lot of them are filled with fresh natural ground water. We had the chance to visit a very popular cenote in the town of Ik-kil, which is very close to the ruins of Chichen Itza and the town of Valladolid. You have to go down winding stairs to the get to the water level. A platform has been created for people to jump into the cenote and then swim around. Going up the platform (about 20 feet from the water level) and jumping into the water after so many years from such a height, caused me to skip a beat.

A lot of people start and end their tour of the Yucatan peninsula in Cancun and Playa del Carmen, but there are a lot of other side tours like Chichen Itza, Tulum, Mayapan, Uxmal etc which are also very interesting and are highly recommended. I would highly encourage everyone to look beyond the beaches to soak up the local culture and get acquainted to the rich history of the place as well.

Rhishi Pethe works in supply chain management consulting and is currently pursuing a part time MBA at the University of Chicago. His interests outside of work are spending time with his wife, travel, reading, economics, jazz, good food and blogging.

You know you’re in Chennai when the pocket of the passenger in front of you starts blaring “Palaniappa, Swami Palaniappa.” The heavy set gentleman on the seat in front of me could have been straight out of central casting for the role of the villain in a Tamil movie (or hero, in Tollywood you can’t often tell the difference). His wards were a gaggle of elderly ladies, diamonds dripping from noses and ears, though if you had met the bunch on a Chennai street sans their jewelry, you might have compassionately pressed 20-rupee notes into their palms. Hey, I was pretty scruffy too, after 20-odd hours on the plane!

The airport looked very different from my visit a year ago. Apparently a major renovation had happened in the meantime, though already there were cracks in the off-white tiles (seriously, who picks off-white for a highly traveled concourse) and betel stains on the bottom of the steel columns hiding the wiring (at least, I hoped they were betel stains).

The gleaming conveyor belt had not started up when we arrived at the baggage claim and we took our positions right next to the tube which dropped the luggage on to the belt. “Dropped” is a mild word for what our poor suitcases had to go through; the design of the chute is closer to that of a ski slope and the bags came hurtling down to the guardrail. More than once we flinched and reflexively braced for a collision and pitied those poor suckers who had “Fragile” signs on their stuff. Even the address labels painstakingly duct-taped to the suitcases were not spared; many caught the lip of the sharp steel blades of the belt and ripped right off.

Outside, a sea of humanity bubbled and swelled. A bunch of flights with returning Hajj pilgrims had landed just a few minutes ago. Entire families had come to receive the lucky pilgrims, grandmas, kids, all waiting for a glimpse of the now-sanctified members of their brood.

As we maneuvered around the multitudes, I realized that it took very little to rip off the veneer of civilization that had taken me years to acquire in the orderly suburbs of San Francisco. It had taken years of conscious training to curb my tendency to jump in front of queues and jostle to the head of lines (I am a veteran of Mumbai locals) but within minutes of arriving in India I was ready to ignore pesky stop signs and run over troublesome two-wheelers.

For all that Chennai is still a bastion of culture; the last refuge of the bibliophile, theater aficionado, and classical music lover. Within hours of arrival we had attended a book launch; author Roopa Pai read from her fantasy book for kids, Taranauts and the Shyn Emeralds and conducted games for kids. We made tentative plans to see Little Theatre’s production of Shylock, Merchant or Menace and, of course, this is kutcheri (concert) season.

More later.

Picture courtesy Julian Limjl under a Creative Commons attribution license.

Rhishi Pethe

Fantastic ads by Corona, constant in-your-face late night infomercials for Girls Gone Wild videos and the rising toll due to drug violence on the border, fuel a common perception in the United States that Mexico is either too crazy or too unsafe to travel. If you follow a few basic rules and little bit of Spanish, Mexico is one of the most wonderful places to explore, enjoy and experience. Late last year, my wife and I decided to take a slightly less traveled road and took a trip to some historic and colonial towns north of Mexico City. Our destination was going to be the historic and beautiful city of Queretaro, a UNESCO heritage city about 160 miles north-west of Mexico City.

We took a hop at Dallas from Chicago on our way to Mexico City. (You can get to Queretaro from the Leon, Guanajuato Airport as well). Mexico City airport can be confusing for newcomers but things have improved significantly over the last 7-8 years. We took a luxury bus from the Mexico City Airport for Queretaro on the ETN line. The high end buses in Mexico are not very expensive, are very safe and provide top notch service. We paid just $ 23 per head for a 4 hour journey from Mexico City to Queretaro. A sandwich, a bottle of water and a fruit drink, along with extremely comfortable seats was included in the fare.

la Casa De La Marquesa

We had booked our stay at one of the best hotels in Mexico, La Casa de la Marquesa. La Casa was an 18th century gift from a Marquis to his wife Dona Josefa. The hotel is divided into two sections with exceptional rooms, a very nice restaurant serving local Mexican specialties and just a few minutes’ walk from the impressive Plaza de la Armas and other interesting squares and sites in the city.

Queretaro is one of the earlier cities established by the Conquistadores during the Spanish Conquest. The architecture is colonial, grand, beautiful and tends towards the religious. Queretaro is a city made for walking around. You go there to relax, spend a couple of hours in a square, eat some local food, have a beer and then move on to the next square. The people of the city take great pride in their heritage status and history and the city spends a lot of effort in keeping the city clean. The city is spotlessly clean with cleaning crews visible even at 11:00 PM in the night.

Queretaro was definitely the cleanest tourist destination I have seen anywhere in my life. The people in the city are extremely friendly and helpful. Very few people speak English, but a little bit of Spanish on your part will open up doors, bring out smiles and take you a long way. Most of the tourists are Mexicans and people from other Latin American countries as well. We spent a lot of time in the Plaza de la Armas, which is a beautiful square surrounded by restaurants, cafes and bars on three sides. We really enjoyed eating at El Meson de Chucho El Roto and the Restaurant 1810. (1810 is the year of the beginning of the Mexican war of Independence). Both restaurants serve a large selection of Mexican specialties including cactus (nopales), sea food, corn dishes and a very large variety of tequilas and margaritas. One should definitely try a dish served in a molcajete, which is a stone mortar.

If you are vegetarian, both these restaurants will accommodate you. The magic words to say are “sin carne, sin pescado (without meat, without fish or sea food).” Both restaurants have really good artists playing live music and if you are lucky to be there on the weekend, you can get to see and hear some Mariachi music as well. If you are slightly more adventurous, definitely try some Gorditas, made from corn flour in any of the squares. If you want a vegetarian option, the Gordita places are more than willing to do potato and cheese gorditas as well, which are to die for. We made it a point to spend at least half a day in each square, while doing lot of people-watching and engaging in some relaxed conversation. The leisurely hours spent can be great for couples to reconnect and bond and for friends to have a great time.

Queretaro is not just about great squares, good food and drink. There is lot of history to the city, with its museums and beautiful churches. It was also one of the early centers of the Mexican War of Independence and the treaty between Mexico and United States which gave California, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah to the United States was also signed in Queretaro.

Aqueduct - Queretaro

One of the landmarks towards the outskirts of the city is the magnificent Aqueduct with 74 gates. It was commissioned to bring fresh water to the city. The walk from the city to the Aqueduct is hardly 2 miles, but it took us almost half a day to get there. We started around 11:00 AM and kept stopping at different places to check out churches, do some shopping for silver trinkets, have lunch and some cerveza. The walk also takes you through the non-touristy residential part of town and it gives you an opportunity to watch the locals up close and personal. We finally reached the viewpoint for the aqueduct after a couple of hours and it is not only an engineering marvel but also a spectacular sight.

Another interesting site to visit is Cerras de la Campana. (Hill of Bells) This is the hill on which the death sentence on Archduke Maximillian was carried out and there is a very austere memorial to the Archduke still there. The hike up the hill is pretty easy and you can also marvel at the huge statue of President Benito Juarez towering over and keeping an eye on this beautiful city.

Queretaro also provides a great experience for shopping for silver. There are literally hundreds of stalls selling different silver items like beautiful earrings, rings, bangles, chains and what not. You could get a lot of good quality stuff without emptying your wallet, provided you do some tough bargaining.

El Teatro De La Republica

The city is clean, safe and tourist friendly. They even hand out blue sweaters with the city logos to beggars during winter months to keep them warm and looking clean. Queretaro is a great place to learn about Latin and Mexican culture, which is in many ways similar to Indian culture in terms of family values, importance of traditions, spirituality, and extremely friendly people who are fond of music, food and festivals and like to have a good time. We have been traveling to Mexico for almost 7-8 years now, but this was definitely one of the best trips to the country.

Rhishi Pethe works in supply chain management consulting and is currently pursuing a part time MBA at the University of Chicago. His interests outside of work are spending time with his wife, travel, reading, economics, jazz, good food and blogging.

By Naren Pradhan

I was so excited when the train started to come to a halt. I looked out the window, and what I saw was a vast wonderland thick with trees, bushes, and other greenery. When I  caught a glimpse of the land, I immediately knew that I was going to love my 3-day stay in Thekkady, Kerala.

I was on a holiday in India with my grandparents for my summer vacation, and on August 13, we took a train to Kottayam in the district of Thekkady, arriving the next day. My grandparents told me to expect a beautiful mountainous region in the clouds up in the Western Ghats range, a land full of sparkling turquoise waters, gigantic tropical trees, and plants bearing all sorts of spices, medicines, and fruits. And when I got there, I was surprised to see how right they were.

At the Waterfall with Grandma

After our train arrived, we took a long (114 kms) car ride through the hills. It was a majestic sight, trees and greenery blanketing the hills with snow-white waterfalls streaming out like precious liquid pouring out of a mystical fountain of nature. A few times, we got out of the car to see some of the sights up close. Once we came to a small rubber plantation, where we saw the sap of the rubber tree slowly pouring out of long cuts into coconut containers, which would later be taken to a factory, where it would be refined. I even got to pull out some of the hardened rubber and stretch it in my hands!

After that, we stopped at one of the many waterfalls of the range. Around here, waterfalls come in all shapes and sizes, from small streams flowing down a smooth stone wall to raging rivers tumbling down a carefully but naturally carved hillside. This one was one of the latter. It was a wonderful pathway of sparkling white water flowing out of the forest above into a serene pool, looking as if god himself had taken time to clear a path for these falls. This car trip took four whole hours, but it was definitely worth it.

A Bumpy Ride

Finally, we made it to our destination, the Aranya Nivas, a small but luxurious forest hotel. The special thing about this particular hotel is that Jawaharlal Nehru himself stayed here, so we were eager to come here. After we settled in our room we went downstairs and had a meal fit for a king. We were ready to go to our first activity.

My grandparents and I took a short car trip to the Elephant Junction, a farm and nature preserve containing lots of trees, spices, and over a score of elephants. The great thing about this particular trip is that we got to see all of it from the back of a massive elephant! After we mounted the magnificent grey beast, a man on the ground started to lead the elephant, and the ride began. It was a bumpy ride, but we got to see the forest from a high point while the elephant walked. I loved it of course, but I don’t think my grandparents will ever want to repeat the experience! After that, we got to feed the elephant and watch as it crunched up a small pumpkin and a whole cucumber.

Checking Out the Spices!

The next day, after a hearty breakfast, we got into the car again. This time we were going on a tour of the farmland in the hills. As we drove, I noticed the many bushes covering the hills we passed. It turns out those bushes contained tea leaves, one of the most valuable plants in the world. And that was just the beginning. Soon, the three of us came to a spice garden, where we got a complete tour of  spice, medicine, and fruit-bearing plants. There was tea, pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, coffee, cacao, jackfruits, bananas, papayas and much more. There was even a plant that is made into a medicine that can improve memory. I bought that of course! The land is full of riches in the form of plants, and if it were up to me, I would call this range the Rupaiya (Money) Mountains.

That wasn’t the end of our tour. We headed over to a forest museum. There, we saw the preserved remains of all sorts of animals, including snakes, rats, flying squirrels, and deer, even an elephant!  But perhaps the best part of all was when we came to the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The border was a small unpaved path on a cliff bordering the Tamil Nadu Valley. There, the three of us climbed a tall watchtower, where we could see the entire valley while feeling the wind in our hair. It was a magical experience, one that I will treasure for a long time.

We were to leave in the evening the next day, so all of us had to savor our last excursion the most. This time, we were going on a boat ride from our hotel through the Periyar River to the Lake Palace Hotel. We boarded our boat in the early morning before we could have any breakfast, but it was worth it. As we drifted along the river, we saw that it wasn’t just a body of water, but a submerged forest, with the tops of gigantic dead trees poking out. Who knows what was below those turquoise waters! Throughout the trip, we saw several jungle animals, including turtles, cormorants, bison, and more elephants.

Naren With Thatha and Patti

Finally, we came to the Lake Palace Hotel. This was a fitting name, for this hotel was once a forest palace of an Indian king who used to keep an eye on the forest and prevent over-hunting. And what a palace it was! There were high ceilings, expertly painted walls, ivory ornaments, and a balcony from which you can see a large part of the lake surrounding the island, and the forest beyond. I actually got to eat breakfast at the king’s table and sit on his bed! Some people were even staying here as guests. We didn’t, as there were only six rooms, and it was too far above our price range.

As we drifted back to our own hotel, I knew this would be the last part of our short vacation, so I savored every moment and took in all the beautiful landscape around me. When our boat got back, we ate a light lunch, packed up and said goodbye to our wonderful hotel and its marvelous employees. We got into our car, and as we drove along the hills once again, I took one last good look at those beautiful green hills. Finally, my grandparents and I boarded the train and headed back to their home in Chennai. We all were extremely sad to leave this undisturbed paradise. In my heart, I know that someday I will return.

Naren Pradhan is an 8th grader at Thornton Jr. High. His interests include piano, soccer and Runescape.

Beautiful Prague

What is the best time to visit Prague?

If you want to avoid the crowd of tourists and the cold, I recommend visiting Prague in May. The bonus is that the Prague Spring Music Festival starts on the 12th of May each year, though this makes accommodations slightly trickier and you might have to book well in advance. The imminence of the music festival gives an amazing ambience to the city, with makeshift stages being set up in the Old Town Marketplace and free concerts playing in the square, leading up to the days of the festival. Check out the dates of the Prague Marathon as well to make accommodations easier.

Where should I stay?

Prague is very neatly divided into the old town with its medieval buildings and the rich history and the modern downtown. When booking, make sure you are within walking distance of the Old Town Square. This should ensure that you are situated somewhere in the heart of the old city and can walk to all the attractions, including the castle on the hill.

How many days do I need?

Cesky Krumlov

Ideally, you will need a minimum of 3 days; two to soak in the history of Prague’s old city and one to explore the countryside. We chose our out of town excursion to Castle Cesky Krumlov, where one of the families of Czech nobility had a winding castle and beautiful gardens. The trip was made special by an amazing tour guide, so if you plan on visiting this castle, make it in time for the English tour. If your tour guide’s name is Rose, trust me, you are in luck.
Plan to arrive on a Wednesday and leave on a Sunday, since the town’s nightlife is dead Sunday nights through Tuesday.

Are those historically dressed guys distributing concert pamphlets for real?

Church at Old Town Square

Prague is filled with churches (it is called the “City of a thousand spires) and the city has had the brilliant idea of turning each and every one of them into a concert venue. Each evening, the churches feature classical music concerts with pieces by the best known composers of the region. Walking about the old city, you are sure to end your day holding a fistful of pamphlets advertising concerts around the town. Be sure to attend one – the acoustics of a church make for a soaring musical experience.

Should I be concerned about a dress code?

Any American traveling to Europe will find that jeans and t-shirts will set them apart immediately. Even the city employees sweeping the street are dressed well, so pack some of your better things to blend in. Though the music festival attracts the young and hip crowd who a re a little more careless about what they wear, in general this is a sartorially
conscious town.

What should I shop for?

Prague is intensely touristy when it comes to shopping and the old city is dotted with shops selling the Czech specialties of garnet jewelry and handmade crystal. Beware, original and unique crystal ware can only be found at some ateliers..most of the stuff is for tourists. Check your guidebook for the couple of jewelry places certified by the government so you can be sure of the quality of the garnets. Don’t expect to bargain a lot; despite their recent freedom from communism, the Czech have not yet figured out the art of the deal.

What if I am a vegetarian?

Clock tower

Not to worry; every restaurant in Prague (even the holes in the wall) features some vegetarian food in addition to the local favorite, pork knees! Our party was mostly vegetarian and we never had a problem, dining on pasta, pizza and a variety of soups. Try really hard and you’ll even find the odd vegetarian restaurant, though the best known among them, an Indian restaurant named Govinda, is only open till 5 p.m.
We even found a pure vegetarian restaurant called Laibon in the small town of Cesky Krumlov, and dined on “Sabdzhi” and rice made by a Ukranian chef.

Should I take my kids along?

Not unless your kids have a real passion for history. Otherwise, I anticipate the young ones being heartily bored in half a day by the preponderance of churches and medieval relics and the necessity of walking everywhere. The presence of kids might also put a damper on your ability to enjoy the Prague nightlife, with its smoky restaurants featuring jazz bands and local singers.

And finally, is beer really cheaper than water?

Yes!

Singapore: “Even the trees know to behave here,” said a friend only half-jokingly as she drove us to her apartment from the airport. Indeed, the pristine sidewalks and the immaculate topiary lining the road speak of a force of will that transformed a Malay fishing village into a model city-state that sets an example of modern urban planning.

We spent touristy time at the Jurong Bird Park, Sentosa Island and the Night Safari, but the highlight of our trip was a conversation we had with several expat Indian friends one evening. After 8 years of the Bush administration in the US, we really didn’t have much of a leg to stand on, but we still vigorously defended the institution of democracy, messy though it is in practice. Yes, Singapore is a democracy, with regular elections where the ruling party wins overwhelming support cycle after election cycle, but there’s more than meets the eye. Dissent is ruthlessly crushed by the simple expedient of bankrupting the odd brave soul who dares to stand in opposition. This is done (according to friends who whispered to us sotto voce) by analyzing every single pronouncement and speech made by the candidate during campaign season, finding the odd discrepancy or inaccuracy in their statements and then suing their pants off. The logic (and this applies to any criticism leveled against the State) is that since the State is doing such a great job for its citizenry (an unarguable point) any criticism must be false. The Supreme Court, of course, heartily concurs.

Our friends were completely on board with such actions, even though to us they smacked of dictatorship, benevolent though it may be. “Democracy is just oppression of the minority by the majority or of the majority by a minority,” said one. “The man on the street is just not capable of making an informed decision,” said another. To us, freshly emergent from an election where we saw the likes of Sarah Palin almost make it to commander-in-chief, that hit uncomfortably close to the bone.

It’s not hard to see their point of view, especially when things work so well in Singapore. The government of Lee Kuan Yew has made few missteps since it came to power over 4 decades ago. English has been adopted as one of the official languages and nearly every Singaporean is a polyglot as a result, well equipped to respond to international opportunities. When there was some clash between the various races that inhabited the island (Chinese, Malay, Tamil) public housing was structured with quotas for each race, so people wouldn’t ghettoize and would learn to get along with their neighbors. The education system, considered to be among the finest in the world, separates achievers from drones( my word) very early and fast tracks the former. Average students still have the potential to earn a decent living in jobs that are more suited to their capabilities (late bloomers – too bad!)

To an outsider, there is something awfully Big Brother about it all, but Singaporeans appear to revel in the safety and prosperity of their city. When I questioned whether such authoritarianism stifled creativity, it seems the government has realized that eventuality too, and encourages immigration as a way to get fresh blood and fresh ideas from the outside. Yes, free speech of the American sort is a casualty – friends would only hesitatingly mention the strictures and constraints they operated under, as if they were afraid it was being recorded somewhere. But if greatest good of the greatest number is the objective of any establishment, then one can unequivocally say that Singapore is a terrific example of governance.

Is it replicable? I doubt it. Experience has shown that dictatorships and authoritarian regimes are more likely to misuse their power than genuinely work for the public good. Witness Mugabe, Kim Jong Il..the list goes on.(Even China, which is often cited as an example of how a centralized, opposition-free government can make quick decisions, has shown a disturbing tendency towards disregard for human capital, corruption and environmental degredation). The rest of us will just have to muddle along in our flawed democracies. As Winston Churchill said, “… it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Bangkok: Krung Thep or City of Angels is its Thai name, but Bangkok lives up much more to the seedy connotations of its farang moniker. Steamy in every way, Bangkok is the yin to Singapore’s yang. It is colorful and gaudy, with streets full of cars in shades of neon pink, green, yellow and orange. All the wats( temples) are generously plastered with gilt and the many Buddha statues in a multitude of poses all gleam with gold and scraps of gold flakes pressed on them by devotees. The sidewalks are crowded with hawkers selling everything from fried meat( of nameless animals) to pirated DVDs( really high quality!) to cheap clothes and brand knockoffs.

We reached Bangkok a few weeks after the protests that had shut down the airport. Apparently this is one of the worst years for Thai tourism, but we were still cheek to jowl with other tourists in every excursion we took to explore the city and its environs. Buddhism with its message of stoicism is a perfect fit for these laid back, indolence-loving people who shrug off any disruption to their lives with admirable insouciance. (Also, you would need to be a Buddhist to put up with the traffic on Sukhumvit, an arterial road that cuts through the entire city and can jam up even during off-peak hours.)

Bangkok is also a city of hustlers with approximately 50 percent of the people out to cheat you and the other 50 percent warning you against those very same cheats. “Don’t let the taxi driver charge you more than 150 bahts from the palace to the hotel,” said our kind concierge and sure enough, on the way back a taxi driver nonchalantly asked for 500. When we asked for directions from the Grand Palace to Wat Po( the temple of the giant reclining Buddha) a helpful guide warned us, “No matter what anyone tells you, the temple is open.” Predictably, on our walk we were stopped and assured that the temple was closed for an afternoon siesta and we could see a “lucky Buddha” instead!

John Burdett’s thriller series is an invaluable read for tourists planning a visit to this garden of earthly delights. I read Bangkok 8 and gained a much better understanding of all the middle-aged white men with their nubile Thai companions, all of whom appear perfectly content with their respective bargains. I learn that somtam is a spicy papaya salad that has 12 varieties of chilies ground into it and can consequently blow the roof of your mouth. And most importantly, I had an insight into these beautiful people who have never been colonized and are so fiercely patriotic that not understanding English is almost a badge of honor.

Yes, it is an inexplicable fact, but very few Thais have even a working knowledge of English. Considering how much of the economy is dependent on tourism, they somehow get by with hand gestures and lovely smiles. Forget about making special arrangements or accommodating special needs in Thailand( unless they are needs of a certain kind, in which case nothing is impossible) and live as they do, enjoying life one day at a time, making up for their sins with acts of generosity and compassion( the karma all balances out) and philosophically accepting (what in the Western world would be termed apathy) of whatever life has to offer them.

Bangkok is not the first destination that comes to mind if you are family with little children, but there’s plenty of fun for them for a couple of days. I would recommend the canal tour to see the houses built on stilts( surprisingly unsmelly), a visit to the Tiger temple outside the city( a full day tour) and a tour of the Grand Palace and some of the more important wats. Of course there are the many gorgeous beaches which can be reached within a few hours from the capital where the kids can have a glorious time in the warm water while you get every part of your body massaged for incredibly low prices in USD.

The city is a complete contrast to the staid and successful Singapore. The government is constantly in a state of instability (though the king and queen are universally beloved), the police are famed for their corruption and the traffic is permanently snarled. People in the rural areas live in abject poverty, which is why so many young people show up in the city to participate in the flesh trade. It is still a joyous and vibrant place that welcomes the visitor with open arms. It is exciting, amoral, colorful and unpredictable.

Which city would you prefer to live in?

By Vidya Pradhan

Bhubaneswar may not be the first choice of destination for tourists visiting India but this sleepy capital of the state of Orissa is a gateway to many beautiful spots on the eastern Indian coastline like Puri, Konark, Gopalpur-on-sea and of course Chilka, the largest saltwater lake in India.
 
The lake is home to the Nalaban bird sanctuary and the best season to visit is October to March when migratory birds arrive from as far as Siberia.

One winter morning, our family of six and driver piled into a Tata Qualis and set off for the town of Barkul, which is situated on the lake. Continue reading →

By Vidya Pradhan and Ram Badrinathan

Imagine under a clear moonlit night, in the midst of a dense jungle, the silence that pervades the darkness is nudged with an alaap in raag Chandrakauns. As the shrutis (notes) ascend the higher octaves, the jungle opens up to the strains of the tanpura and to the musical expression of Dhrupad. The music is rendered Baithak style with only candle light and unplugged: one of the rare moments in modern India where the sangeetkar (musician), vatavaran (environment) and the shrota (discerning listener) are connected deeply.

There are no barriers such as time limits, poor audio equipment and other contemporary concert baggage. The artiste is free to share his music as long as his spirit and body allows him. Continue reading →