Bangkok,
Thailand
Saturday
April 28, 2007
My Dear Friends in India,
This morning I wandered into the Alif Laila (Arabian Night) Restaurant. The posted menu indicated Indian food and the owner of the restaurant looked Indian. (He was Burmese.) The restaurant is spotlessly clean with wooden tables and chairs and upholstered leather booths. Read more »
Bangkok,
Thailand
March 15, 2007
Beginning in early February and continuing for almost five weeks, I traveled more than 3000 miles in central and western India. Over the road and in the air, there surely were a few challenging moments. But most days were exciting. And every day was special. Read more »
Bangkok
Thailand
March 16, 2007
Hello Everyone,
I am back from my five week trip to India. Happy. Healthy. And heavier!
In a word, India is splendid.
I am exhausted, exhilarated and overwhelmed.
As my friend Amy O' R observed, I am also "saturated."
Mumbai,
India
March 11, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary who visited their colony in 1911.
The Gateway stands tall in Mumbai (Bombay) on the shore of the Arabian Sea. This "bold basalt arch of colonial triumph" greeted the many thousands of soldiers who arrived during the later years of the British Raj.* It also was the last structure they saw when they departed in 1948 after Indian Independence was proclaimed.
Palitana
Bhavnagar
Gujarat, India
March 10, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
Kem cho,
The green and yellow aluminum beach chair is lashed to a bamboo platform. The platform is then lashed to two long bamboo poles. Here in Palitana this litter, this contraption, is called a dholi.
I sit. Charged camera is at my side, binoculars strung from my neck, cap atop my head, my day-bag loaded with water and sunscreen. I give the signal. In the late morning sun, one on each end of a pole, the four young dholi bearers deftly hoist yours truly aloft for the two hour, four kilometer (2.5 mi) scenic ascent of 3572 steps. Three thousand. Five hundred. Seventy two. Steps. Six hundred meters. Up.
Lothal
State of Gujarat
India
March 9, 2007
Dr. Oscar White Muscarella
(Cc: Family and Friends)
Ancient Near East Department
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, New York
Dear Dr. Muscarella,
Oscar, my friend. One of us slipped up!
Was it you? Did you cut the Indus Valley Civilization from the curriculum of your Ancient History course at The City College?
Ahmedabad to Bhavnagar
State of Gujarat
India
March 8, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
I am going to Gujarat. Gujarat?
A few people asked me, "Where is Gujarat?" I didn't know either until I looked at a map.
South of landlocked Rajasthan, Gujarat is on the west coast of India. It's a large state with mountains, desert, marshland and a 1600km (1000mi) coastline. The population is almost 51 million.
Udaipur, Rajasthan
India
March 4, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
Here I am at the Amet Haveli, another one of those recommended Special Places to Stay. [*] The broad terrace of the Ambrai Restaurant overlooks a very inviting Lake Pichola. (12 sq km. 7.5 sq mi.)
Jodhpur, Rajasthan
India
February 28, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
Jodhpur is blue. Yes, blue.
I am sitting astride the barrel of the cannon, ten feet long, perched on the muscular ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort. From here, 125m (410 ft) above the desert, the roofs of Brahmapuri village are a "washed blue." [*]
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
India
February 27, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
India is blessed with ancient stone -- deep deposits of granite and marble and sandstone. For centuries, for millennia, masons, architects, artisans and artists have quarried and designed and cut and carved their local stone to build a dramatic and eternal heritage.
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