Happy Nepali New Year, everybody! Around here, the first day of the new year is not greeted by littered streets and hungover masses. Instead, people flock to the holy places to bring offerings. I joined my guest family on their visit to the chariot, where they wanted to offer rice, fruits and a chicken. The […]
Taking the Red Pill
In the movie Matrix, the protagonist is offered a choice of two pills. Blue will make him forget all he uncovered, while red will show him the world as it really is. That analogy was given by the hostel owner when I told him how my pre-defined image of Palestine was shaken up by reality. […]
Wreck Diving
Another first! This time it was wreck diving, something I had had on my list for quite a while. As already mentioned, Coron is a great place for this as the surrounding waters feature more than a dozen wrecks, most of them 100+ meter long ships in good condition. Today it took us more than […]
Yoshin Pole
It’s New Year’s eve today (in the local calendar) and as part of the celebrations, a huge pole was erected on Bhaktapur’s pottery square. The small square was jam-packed with locals and a couple of visitors. More than a hundred people were working on erecting the pole with ropes and supporting tree trunk constructions. Even […]
Music and Dance
It’s the last day of Bisket Jatra today. Or second to last, I lost track. In comparison to huge chariots, even bigger poles and pools of chicken blood, today was almost mundane. Devotees of the various gods and goddesses walked through the streets, visiting their favourite temples. Many of them were wearing traditional Newari dresses […]
A very diverse Day
Friday started with a visit to Cambodia’s recent history. The Tuol Sleng museum in town is a former school that was turned into a prison by the Khmer Rouge. They used it to ‘interrogate’ political opponents and interrogation here as the same meaning as with the catholic inquisition. Those unlucky enough to end up here […]