One often hears about the wonders of Japanese toilets. The heated seats. The fancy electric bidet with settings to wash all your parts from different angles and tinkly music to cover up the sound of your actual tinkling. Lids that open and close with a touch of the button. That’s all very nice, but I’m here to tell you about the wonders of ladies’ rooms in Japan.
Gyeongju was the capital of the Shilla dynasty for some 1,000 years. Its hilly terrain is home to dozens of Shilla-era tombs, ruins and temples. We rented bicycles to better discover Gyeongju’s secrets and its summer colors.
India is a grand, complicated place full of big ideas. It’s the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It’s the world’s biggest democracy. India inspired and challenged us on a daily basis. It would take many lifetimes to truly know India, but here are some of the things we picked up in our time there.
Pilgrimages are meant to be circular. But will you be the same when you close the circle?
We are used to hiking on our own, living on oatmeal, pasta, nuts and chocolate. A three-course dinner and a staff to wash the dishes is not really our style but on the Kuari Pass Trek, “you get what you pay for” took on a completely positive connotation.
The sound of fork against bowl is a clue that eggs are being beaten into omelets somewhere nearby. Laborers squat at tiny stands for thali while housewives line up to carry home freshly baked naan wrapped in newspaper. Placid cows are oblivious to the traffic jams they cause. This is Old Delhi Bazaar.
A tour of the bodegas of La Rioja had been on my list of romantic daytrips for awhile. But when A. and I got into specifics, we realized that only one of us could tipple liberally while the other would be the designated driver. Neither of us wanted to be the chaperone. Enter the Enobus to solve our problem.
A few things we like about Switzerland: the referendum system, clean public toilets and bread.
Just before 9 AM, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama made his entrance. Everyone stood up. There was a hush, that particular sound of hundreds of people holding their breath. A few people around us started crying. Practitioners of Buddhism bowed in prayer.
Click PUBLISH. Could I? Should I? Would I?