Himalayas Nepal

Racing around an Ornamented Heap

An extraordinary footrace around Manaslu: the world’s eighth highest mountain, where positive memories were forged from discomfort, separation from ‘stuff’ and camaraderie. In the late afternoon, Manaslu the mountain has become an artist. High altitude westerly winds are evidently blowing hard, and where they meet the icy twin peaks, chaotic clouds are formed like smoke signals sent by a...

The Lions of Gujarat

Not everything is what it seems in the forests of Gir, this is after all India, the land of the tiger, and the air is filled with the deep bass sound, of low rumbling roars, split by the lamenting, echoing cries of Peahens and excited, screeching barks of Grey Langur monkeys. The roar however, does not come from the tiger, but the Asiatic lion, known as Panthera leo Persica, and this is their last...

Festivals

Hanuman Jyanti, April 25 – The birth of Hanuman the Varana god, is celebrated on this date, all over India; the spiritual son of Vayu god of winds, to Anjana, and incarnation of Shiva and Parvati. An ardent devotee of Rama, he is a central character in the epic tale, the ‘Ramayana,’ helping Rama to defeat Ravana the demon king of Lanka. The monkey god is especially worshipped by wrestlers and...

Tibet – A life and Society in Exile

The refugees making their way up through the snow and ice are badly equipped, often old people and small children, very few the trained mountaineers you meet in the Base Camp who came to conquer the peaks. It is a chilling thought – why oh why would you do something like that?! The newly arrived refugees are battered and bruised from their journey. They have fled; make no mistake about this, as much...

Behind the Curtain – Thimphu Tshechu – Bhutan

Festivals in the mystical land of the ‘Thunder Dragon Kingdom’ are richly resplendent of its ancient Drukpa Buddhist culture. A whirl of fantastical colour, sound and drama and a carnival atmosphere prevails, as large markets set up shop and huge crowds gather from far and wide. All the dances have a meaning or story behind them going back to the 8th century, and all are in honour of Guru Rinpoche...

The Gori Temple – Pakistan

Whipped by the hot desert sands of Thar for centuries, the Gori temple now stands alone and abandoned, in Tharparkar a district of Sindh, forgotten. This precious Jain temple was once a famous tirtha or pilgrimage site, and is the original Godiji Parshwanath temple where the original Shri Godiji Parshwanath icon, believed to have been studded with one large diamond between its eyes and two smaller ones on...

Winning a Safari to Bardia – Nepal

Congratulations! You have won the Himalaya magazines wildlife safari competition! It was one of those dreary days when my email inbox brought nothing but pressure selling and questionable products…when suddenly my world was brighter… With a smile on my face bigger than a child’s on Christmas morning I immediately contacted my daughter Roxanne to ask her if she would be my travelling partner to which...

The Ruby Trek, Ganesh Himal and the Ruby Valley

This is where rubies and crystals were harvested from the foot of the Himalayan goddesses, the peak named in honour of the Hindu deity Ganesh, the son of Shiva and Parvati. Sandwiched between the popular destinations of Langtang National Park and the Manaslu Conservation Area, the region is a well-kept secret to all but the most avid trekkers. Read more about this fascinating place in the latest...