Sitting upright in a chair is so last year. Anyone who’s anyone over here has a zero gravity chair which ‘enables a neutral spine alignment, improves blood circulation, relieves muscle tension and promotes overall wellness.’ Now, I bet you all wish you were lying in a sort of head-down-legs-up contraption too … a bit like… Continue reading Only in California …
Author: Louisewp2016
The Only Living Goddess in the World (no, not me)
The Newari people have lived in the Kathmandu valley since prehistoric times and they are an interesting mix of Buddhist and Hindu. Essentially they’re Buddhists who have adopted the Hindu caste system, and have also adopted a Hindu goddess, Durga, who they believe lives in the body of a chosen little girl, the Kumari. Rather… Continue reading The Only Living Goddess in the World (no, not me)
Kathmandu: dreams, death rituals and dental problems
Kathamandu is rather like Delhi – busy, noisy and full of cars, motobikes and exhaust fumes. But unlike Delhi it is still recovering from the earthquake damage sustained in 2015, and some people live in houses with external walls missing and have to climb over rubble to get to their homes. They are busy rebuilding… Continue reading Kathmandu: dreams, death rituals and dental problems
Hot stone baths and an obsession with archery
Hot stone baths are the traditional way to de-stress in Bhutan so, after hiking all the way up to the Tiger’s Nest, of course I had to try one. You order your evening bath first thing in the morning because it takes seven or eight hours to heat the stones, so you can’t wait and… Continue reading Hot stone baths and an obsession with archery
The Festival of the Black-Necked Crane
There is great excitement in the Phobjikha Valley in central Bhutan when the black-necked cranes arrive for the winter. They swoop in from the Tibetan Plateau and settle in the wetlands of this huge U-shaped valley, where a conservation area has been set up to protect them. The Phobjikha Valley is also the site of… Continue reading The Festival of the Black-Necked Crane
A hike to the top of the world
Now, I can walk a fair distance at home, on flat terrain in Bedfordshire which is eighty-five metres above sea level. Walking in Bhutan, in the Himalayas, over three thousand metres above sea level, is a totally different challenge. For a start it’s much steeper than anywhere I’ve been before, and the altitude makes it… Continue reading A hike to the top of the world
Bhutan … the most photogenic country in the world?
I’ve never been to a country before which is so photogenic that you want to stop and take pictures of literally every single thing you see, starting from the moment you arrive. The photo above is Punakha Dzong, said to be the most beautiful building in Bhutan … a bold claim when the bar is… Continue reading Bhutan … the most photogenic country in the world?
How to be a Californian
Being a helpful sort of person, I’ve decided to compile a manual for anyone who, like me, spends a certain amount of time in California and would like to go native as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. If you follow my advice, you’ll find that you’re embraced as a local in no time at… Continue reading How to be a Californian
Rome: where the dead are so much more interesting than the living …
It would seem that a popular pastime among the English upper classes in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries was to go to Italy in search of better health, and then die there. This presented a problem for the local authorities, because it was forbidden for non-Catholics to be buried in consecrated ground. In Rome they… Continue reading Rome: where the dead are so much more interesting than the living …
The Royal Experience in Côte D’Ivoire
My first taste of the royal lifestyle was in Côte d’Ivoire, where we sped through the terrible traffic thanks to a police escort on our way to visit the old capital, Grand Bassam. I can now appreciate that any royal journey is made with the sound of sirens permanently in the background, which isn’t a… Continue reading The Royal Experience in Côte D’Ivoire
You can catch me on Sky News Liberia…
They don’t get many tourists in Liberia. We could tell this the minute we got on the bus to go and explore the capital, Monrovia. The backs of most of the bus seats wouldn’t latch upright and just flopped backwards, so half of us were lying in the laps of the people sitting behind us.… Continue reading You can catch me on Sky News Liberia…
Sierra Leone: How to speak chimpanzee
Sierra Leone has a lot of problems, but language barriers preventing communication between people and chimpanzees isn’t one of them. There are plenty of lessons available on how to speak chimpanzee, you just need to know where to look. We went to a chimpanzee sanctuary near Freetown, where chimpanzees who have been removed from private… Continue reading Sierra Leone: How to speak chimpanzee
Anyone been to Guinea Bissau?
Every island of the Bijagos archipelago in Guinea Bissau looks like the archetypal tropical island of your dreams. When you wander along a deserted beach here, you wouldn’t be surprised to come across Robinson Crusoe, Tom Hanks, Joanna Lumley or anyone else whose life has featured spending time alone on a remote, exotic island. I… Continue reading Anyone been to Guinea Bissau?
A warthog in the restaurant and other issues
Senegal is a former French colony, and you can certainly see the French influence here – the road signs, street signs and some of the shops look exactly the same as they do in France. And there are some other signs which, although I haven’t actually seen them in France, definitely look as though they… Continue reading A warthog in the restaurant and other issues
Joining the Ghana National Dance Company
Visiting Accra with a Stanford University professor who is an African expert with lots of connections definitely has its advantages. The Ghana National Dance Company didn’t have any performances while we were there, but were willing to put on a private show for us in the studio of the National Theatre. Ghanaian dance is a… Continue reading Joining the Ghana National Dance Company
My first Super Bowl
If you’d asked me what a Super Bowl was, any time up until a couple of weeks ago, I’d have confidently told you that it was a delicious healthy lunch dish with rice, avocado, kale, quinoa and various other on-trend ingredients. But I now know better. Last week a new display of cakes and biscuits… Continue reading My first Super Bowl
The Vancouver Foodie Trail
What better way to work up an appetite than to hire a bike and cycle vigorously around Stanley Park, admiring the views and the autumn colours? Then I hopped on the cutest little water bus and chugged across the wonderfully named False Creek to Granville Island, where the public market is a foodie heaven. The… Continue reading The Vancouver Foodie Trail
BC = British Columbia or Bear Central?
Following my close encounter with a bear at Lake Tahoe last Christmas, I was a little perturbed by all the signs around Vancouver warning of the possibility of coming across a bear as you walk merrily along a maple-fringed country path minding your own business. However, after spending a week there, I have discovered that,… Continue reading BC = British Columbia or Bear Central?
Picking a fight with the Williamites
If anyone had asked me before last week what a Williamite was, I’d have hazarded a guess that it was a member of the Prince of Wales’s fan club. But now I know better. I’d always believed that after James II scarpered to France in 1688, the English invited William of Orange to come over… Continue reading Picking a fight with the Williamites
Just call me Winifred…
Kinsale is the most gorgeous little town in County Cork. It really is picture postcard perfect, with sweetie-coloured houses, a marina with a full complement of yachts and super-yachts, a sandy beach, and plenty of lovely shops, pubs and restaurants. And what’s more, the sun shone for us this week! Of course when you’re in… Continue reading Just call me Winifred…