At a market in Bhutan

  

Leaves and beans(?) 

  

Sausage anyone?

Yak cheese on a string

Little boy NOT posing...

Butcher shop window

Older boy posing willingly!

Bhutan December 2012

Self portrait when landing in Kolkata

Meat drying in Bhutan. 

Chillies drying on Thimphu roof.

Halloween 2012

Pickled brain shots I made

  

Secret recipe! 

   

Self creation...
I won the Best Costume.

More India from September 2012

  

I drove through a film being made...
Some were not impressed!

Old fans in a Kochi church

Not little Vasco de Gamas but they are at his tomb in Kochi.

 

Photos, photos!!

Update from India:

      

Cameleon spotted in a tree

          

Felix found a local friend! 

God's country with a nice pool

Felix in a Kochi spice shop

15 hours and 55 minutes...

...is the flight time ahead of me before I get to Santiago.
See, I'm posting already!
Happy Birthday Mum and Krisztina, (both middle children out of 3 girls!)

Empty Room?

When one doesn't write for months, nobody reads...
Apologies (again)...
Since last post I have:

• visited India again;
• visited Bhutan again and bought a magic yak tooth necklace there;
• visited Pakistan for the first time (country number 41) and stayed in the all new/renovated room at the infamous Islamabad Marriott;
• got my driver's licence (!!!)
• bought a car;
• moved house so I live alone now (no cats...);

And tomorrow I am flying off to South America which will add countries to my collection!
42 Chile
43 Peru
44 Colombia
45 Mexico

Since my laptop decided to have a sabbatical, I will just be taking the ipad and will learn how to post from that... ;-)
See y'all on the road again! Now I have to pack!

I'm almost an Indian (again)

I have spent a glorious Sunday in Chennai, my first day off since the beginning of this trip. Since lists are apparently easier to read, here's what I did:
1. A late and long breakfast with masses of natural yogurt set in little clay pots. This reminds me of Nepal and Dwarikas hotel from previous post.
2. I hired a white ambassador taxi for the whole day to take me shopping and drive me around. The driver stopped by the side of the road and bought the fragrant flowers on a string so the whole car was cool and fragrant. Nice!
3. I promised someone a silver bracelet so I went to Chennai's Spencer's Plaza, which i visited on my last trip and bought 2 bracelets and..... A Magic Wand. Yes, a magic wand made of crystals and different stones to cleanse my chakras with. The guy who sold me the wand accepted the price i suggested, without argument, he said the wand was mine as soon as I looked at it. I think I made a special mystical connection with the seller of the said wand and we discovered we were numerological 11s (and 11s are special!) I love spiritual India! Anyway I'll post photos of my magical wand later.  :-)
4. I also stocked up on my John Abraham bolywood stock and I think I now have his entire collection... I also bought many more bolywood classics, so if anyone wants to borrow some, let me know.
5. Lunch was at Amethyst which is an old villa converted to a cafe, surrounded by lush gardens. This is where I spotted a chameleon lizard in a bush, again, photos coming.
6. I then made myself look like an Indian with a few kameez dresses. Photos maybe coming... ;-)
7. A pedicure and a (very mild) foot massage by the poolside and then a mango lassi before the giant mosquitoes threatened to eat me alive.
And now I'm off to enjoy John Abraham in peace before work starts again tomorrow. An evening with JA is again a spiritual experience! ;-)
Good night lovely friends, I might come back. :-)

I survived Bangladesh!!

And I even liked it! Yes, after my fear of the place it turned out way better than my low low expectations suggested. It is wild and extremely poor and so congested at first it looks like the scariest place on earth but after a day or so I saw the charming face of Bangladesh.
The best thing about the place are it's people, of course. They don't take anything for granted, not even living... After that are all the colours - from the shiny, multicoloured rickshaws to the amazing  sarees the women wear. Photos will come when I again have access to a real computer. 

The road is long...

And the road is my life again.
Namaste from Sri Lanka.
I'm here until Monday 10/09 and then I go to country number 40 - Bangladesh.
Then to India and back home via Cairns (where I will start learning how to drive - hmmm maybe that's why the road is so long, because I'm not driving?) and final stop - Melbourne.
I haven't written much. But I am going through many profound internal experiences at the moment.
Peace to you.
A.