Chariots and Pierced Tongues: Bisket Jatra Festival in Bhaktapur It takes something special to keep me in the city of Kathmandu for an extra week instead of jaunting off to the mountains of Nepal. I’ve had good luck in the past with festivals in this country, though, whether with Tibetan […]
Recent Posts
Albertina Museum: Vienna’s Most Elevated Art House
Albertina Museum: Vienna’s Most Elevated Art House There’s a lot of pun built into that title, but I’m going to be a jerk and not explain it to you till the end. There are just so many museums in Vienna. There’s Freud and Hundertwasser and Leopold and Strauss and Beethoven […]
Snow Leopard Conservation in Kyrgyzstan: Snow Leopard Enterprises
Snow Leopard Conservation in Kyrgyzstan: Snow Leopard Enterprises Note: this article originally (apart from some minor changes) appeared in the Winter 2015 issue of AUCA Magazine, of which I’m the Editor-in-Chief. See the full version on the AUCA website. If you’re looking for gratuitous pictures of snow leopards, check out […]
Defenders of the Fatherland Day: Holidays in Bishkek, Soviet-style
Defenders of the Fatherland Day: Holidays in Bishkek, Soviet-style (This article originally posted on Defenders of the Fatherland Day in 2014. To follow updates from 2015’s holiday in Bishkek, follow my Facebook Page and Instagram feed.) Once ‘Red Army Day’, then ‘Soviet Army and Navy Day’, and now finally ‘Defenders of the […]
Winter in Kyrgyzstan: Snow Camping at Ala-Archa
Winter in Kyrgyzstan: Snow Camping at Ala-Archa The long frozen Bishkek winter takes it toll on my traditional pastimes. Growing up in Louisiana, deep in the US south, my love for the outdoors has always extended to camping and hiking and multi-day backpacking but given the locale usually only the warm-weather […]
Photographer’s Guide: Varanasi ‘Ganga Aarti’ Puja Ceremony
Photographer’s Guide: the Varanasi ‘Ganga Aarti’ Puja Ceremony Whether for Hindu pilgrims on a spiritual journey or international backpackers on a decidedly more voyeuristic trip, the Indian city of Varanasi draws visitors from all over the world and one of the headline attractions in town is the nightly Aarti puja […]