Northeast of the power-stepping guards at the Wagah crossing (see previous post, MOAR IV) there is a telling scene about what borders born of duress can inflict on a populace. Punjab is the cradle of Sikh faith, home to the great majority of its faithful who now live in India. On a clear day, from … More Mother Of All Roadtrips (MOAR) – V: Darshan in the Indus Valley
It’s ticklish business navigating a cemetery. There’s that saying, “Someone’s walking on my grave,” prompted by some chill running up the spine. Travel thoughtfully, not least the great river valleys of the world, and you find stories of near cosmic scale lying at your feet, stories that send a shiver through the soul. A traverse … More MOAR IV: Someone’s Walking – Er, Strutting – on My Grave
The Woodstock School campus, midst wooded foothills, has commanding views of some of India’s most sacred geography. (When Pearl Buck visited she referred breathlessly to the school setting as ‘vertical real estate.’) To the south and east winds the course of the Ganga (Ganges) whose sprawling valley is the axis of Indian civilization. To the … More Mother Of All Roadtrips – MOAR (III): A Long and Winding Descent
Almost all epic travels begin in innocence. The prospective miseries, perils and vagaries of a journey are dwarfed by promise: of discovery, breathless tales, companionship, of besting challenges. So it was that four school-leavers from an Indian boarding school began dreaming of a Eurasian crossing in the winter of 1965. Our imaginations were aflame with … More The Mother Of All Road Trips (II): A Schoolboy Fantasy
Got a fantasy road trip squirreled away in the imagination? Tiptoeing the spine of the Rockies? Tracing the shores of the Great Lakes? Driving US Route 1 the length of the Eastern Seaboard? The fantasy jaunt of the American soul would have to be a ramble down U.S. Route 66 – in a tail-finned convertible … More The Mother of All Road Trips: Beyond Route 66 (I)
Few places on earth can rival the exquisite beauty of Kashmir’s Dal Lake, mirror to the Himalayas of central Asia. Along its shores in morning mist, you might hear the sound of a single, unhurried oar. A shikara (watercraft) slips into view passing wordlessly on its way and then vanishes leaving only a rippling trace. … More Kashmir: Troubled Jewel of Central Asia
You cannot embark on any daily traipse for more than a few steps before engaging in a universal social ritual: the act of greeting. Customary though it be, this practice, full of possibility, possesses enormous significance whether in encounter with neighbor, stranger or even stray dog. Echoing the Hippocratic oath, the rule of thumb for … More Traipser Rule of Thumb: One Soul Salutes Another
