Rickshaw Runners like to put on a hardened front. We’re adventurous, tough as nails, and capable of withstanding whatever the Indian roads throw our way…literally. But maybe, just occasionally, we slipped up. I can’t say for certain, but rumor has it… 1. There may have been air freshener… When we stumbled on this convenience store … Read More
“Blessed is he that expecteth nothing, for he shall not be disappointed.” — D.H. Lawrence Kathmandu was supposed to be good. Better than good: great, enlightening, or even–dare I say it–magical. Somewhere in the back of the worn-down local bus I’d sat in for the last eight hours, packed deep in my dusty backpack, were … Read More
“The language of friendship is not words but meanings.” — Henry David Thoreau Anu greets me at the door with a hug and a kiss on each cheek. Before I can even take my shoes off or set my bag down, there’s a cool glass of fresh lemon soda in my hand–and the sugar-to-soda ratio … Read More
“Many travelers find themselves saying of an experience in a new country that it wasn’t what they expected, meaning that it wasn’t what a book said it would be.” — Edward Said, ‘Crisis [in Orientalism]’ India, so it seems, is a popular place. Whether visiting the three points of the Golden Triangle [what the cities … Read More
“One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.” — Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright Before leaving for India, a friend who did the Rickshaw Run last year sent me a few emails with advice, tips and … Read More
Yes, that is me astride a [what-I-hope-to-be] lovable, 30-year old female elephant named Sonakali. And yes, I am absolutely, bone-drenchedly soaked. So, you ask, what happened? I pulled into Chitwan, Nepal, yesterday, after an eight-hour bus journey from Kathmandu, having teamed up with Cox and Kings UK to do an elephant ride this morning through … Read More
Santosh is driving a hard bargain when I return to his shop Thursday morning. “Prices are fixed…fixed prices,” he says sternly to a group of Asian tourists, pointing at a laminated sheet of paper. Laminated. There’s no bending the rules with this guy. But why should he? He runs the shop of a recently founded … Read More
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust Normally, I’d be inclined to agree with Proust. But after passing 3,000km through India in a rickshaw, I find myself disagreeing…our own voyage of discovery through the subcontinent brought with it so many new landscapes that … Read More