I reached Jaipur after almost 24 hours straight of traveling, having left the hill station city of Darjeeling the preceding morning. I was shambling by the time I got into an airport taxi, and couldn’t find the energy to care when the driver charged me a couple hundred rupees extra. But even as fatigued as I was, …
architecture
The Fort over the Blue City of Jodhpur
A palace that might have been built by Titans and colored by the morning sun.” – Rudyard Kipling I came by night through the teeming bazaar, so I didn’t see the azure city until the following morning. The fort I glimpsed only from a distance — as the train I rode chugged into town under …
A Walk through the Lanes and Tea Fields of Darjeeling
I slept well Friday night. I had to, for the next few days would involve very little sleep. I only managed a couple hours collectively over the next two nights — a few minutes grabbed on an airport bench, a few passed out against a wall, a few more in the shuddering seat of the Boeing …
A Walk through the Lanes and Tea Fields of DarjeelingRead More
Top 10 Memories: Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend
I treat the camera like a person – I gaze into it. Photos are a flat thing, and you need to put life into them.” – Cara Delevingne Sometimes travel is dangerous. I know it as well as anyone. From being jumped on a cobblestone street in France to battling altitude sickness while crossing a pass …
The Flowscape of the City of Angels
pal·imp·sest /ˈpaləm(p)ˌsest/ noun something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form. The Chao Phraya winds through Bangkok like a serpent, muddied waters twisting through the haphazard urban sprawl before emptying into the Gulf of Thailand. The canals are lined with communities and open spaces; as we walk up, children play basketball …
Meatballs in Stockholm
It was barely past 3:00 p.m. and the sun was setting. That’s the thought that kept coming to mind as I walked to my hostel from the bus station. Wandering through Stockholm’s maze of canals, each twist and bend seemed to offer a new view of the Scandinavian city at dusk.
Love in Kashan: A Tale of Two Houses
Kashan was notable because it was the end–the final stop of our tour before returning to the clamoring urban jungle of Tehran. A small oasis in the middle of the Dasht-e Kavir, Kashan has captured the minds of travelers for centuries. Instead of reading more about it in my guidebook, however, I found myself staring out …
The Town that Time Forgot
“Whatever you do, don’t take pictures.” As we passed anti-aircraft turrets and razor wire fences, none of us felt inclined to even make the attempt. There are some places where a warning to abstain from photography merely stokes the desire to sneak a shot. Driving past a nuclear facility in the middle of Iran was not …
Eight Things to See in Esfahan
Esfahan nesf-e jahan. Esfahan is half the world. That’s the old adage you’ll hear thrown around within minutes of entering Iran’s cultural hub–the treasure-filled, but surprisingly modernized city of Esfahan. Like Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Esfahan is more than a historic city, it is a commercial hub and one of the largest cities in the country. …
Nine Things to See in Yazd
The city of Yazd: nearly as ancient as the desert which surrounds it, rich and timeless. There is a great deal to do there; here are some recommendations of things to see in Yazd! Masjed-e Jameh Yazd’s main mosque is visible from all over the Old City–provided one can get a view of the sky …