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Indian Wedding Plus
Eleven days in incredible India. I’ve seen incredible beauty (my favourite picture of the bride: Chris Tine. Ah! ?). And there was splendour and totally exaggerated décor of course. And Love actually! Deep, deep – couples, parents, friends, people, random. Yummy. And pure heart-felt friendliness like the unknown neighbour offering me support and a ride, when I had this long-lasting intimate date with my toilet bowl instead of wearing a sari dancing on the main wedding party. Or my taxi driver well-known for the most erratic monkey mind of all, who ended up being the one who held my hand very patiently when we eventually drove to the…
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From Bridge to Bridge
My favourite walk along the river Ganges in Rishikesh: starting on top of Lakshman Jhula in Tapovan, going all the way down and crossing the first of the two bridges named after the famous brothers of Indian mythology; then continuing through the hustle and bustle of the touristy bit of town, coming into the far end of Ram Jhula with all its ashrams, following Ganga Ma until the crossing of the second bridge is possible, lastly continuing to the burning ghats and have a moment of contemplation there.
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Khao San after the Funeral
Banglampoo. Just the blink of an eye and the curtain opens again for the usual play in Thanon Khao San and Soi Rambuttri. What a stark contrast to the all-pervading and all-silencing funeral two weeks ago! The flood of foreigners is back with their GoPros, selfie sticks, short shorts, “Inner Tubing Vang Vieng”-shirts and slight disorientation in their eyes. Where did they crash during the week of the royal festivities, one wonders. And the skinny beer girls are back. And the insect snack dealers (photo 10 baht!). And the frog ladies with the pretentious hill tribe hats. And the “Thai massaaaaaage”. Of course. And the “ping pong” (add…
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On the Indochina Rooftop
Some of my mountaineering guests were a bit reluctant, but in the end everybody came along – up the 3.143 metres of Fansipan, the highest mountain of Vietnam. By cable car. ? Accessible like this since February 2016. And it is SO worth it! We were just so lucky with THE perfect weather conditions and very few other visitors. It seems the brand new service draws the crowds from Hanoi on weekends and in the summer months. Apparently 35.000 have been here on the long weekend around the Vietnamese Reunification Day this year alone. People had to shuttle from hotels as far as Lao Cai that time. Nearby…
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Grab a Ride – One of the Last True Adventures of Hanoi
After Ubud and Rishikesh – motorbike madness one level up: Hiring a Grab driver in Hanoi! What I thought would be a quick errand at the other end of Old Town ended in one of the last true adventures Hanoi has to offer. ? Entirely fascinated by the possibilities the digital age nowadays offers I’m watching with curiosity on the live map how my “1 minute away” driver takes a lot of turns and loops before he arrives some 15 minutes later at the starting point of the trip – and this only after calling for a better offline (!) description. He looks like 12 years old, is…
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A Truly Royal Funeral
My heart is deeply touched after these few days in Bangkok joining the events around the cremation of Rama IX. Apart from the incredible splendour of the processions and ceremonies what really moves me is the kindness and care of the Thai people, their dedication and patience throughout this very special season in their history. It reveals the core values of a country, deeply driven by the Buddhist motivation to share, to give, to offer and to serve. Jai dii mak mak. ❤ Everyone, really everyone helps and supports – starting with month-long preparations of sandalwood flowers for the last offering to being available for any kind of…
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The Victory of Virtue over Evil
No end to the holiday season in Bali. Just a few days after Balinese New Year we now celebrate “Galungan”, “the victory of virtue over evil”. And Ubud is getting even more photogenic than usual… The streets are lined with hundreds of “Penjors” – intricately decorated bamboo poles, featuring a little box for offerings at the bottom. The tradition says that all the gods descend on earth to celebrate on Galungan, and the spirits of ancestors visit their homes. Rituals and offerings on that day are meant to welcome these otherworldly spirits to the material realm. All the families have one or two days off and after days…
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Monsters, Demons and Silence
Even 15 years in Mainz couldn’t prepare me for the processions they have on Balinese New Year. You need to see this video to catch a bit of the high energy, high adrenaline half dance, half mock-fight they performed today on the streets with their “Ogoh-Ogoh” called figures representing demons. It is about chasing away the evil spirits from the island after quite a few days of ritual and purification in families and communities. After the frantic and noisy play in the streets the whole island will fall silent tomorrow. This coming day, Nyepi Day, the “Silent Day”, requires EVERYBODY to stay indoors, not to have light or…
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Rishikesh: Serenity in the Madness
Rishikesh must be one of the most beautiful places in India. The serenity of Ganga Ma and the possibility of getting really quick out of the usual Indian madness of traffic, touts and all sorts of screaming colours and intense smells into stunning nature make for a perfect balance. The pictures of this trip do only capture the motionless, serene side of this equation though. I’d love to have a camera at hand when I’m riding the motorbike towards Rishikesh town. What’s happening there is quite hard to process for a Western mind. A good practice to come to a state of no-mind actually, accepting what is, or…
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The Alternative Goa
Hibernating through December and January on one of the beaches of the sleepy little Indian town of Gokarna, Karnataka, is still a good way to make it through winter. Basecamp is lovely Kudle Beach. It comes with daily flea market and sunset Kirtan by the water, modern beach pilgrims from Bangalore and lately meat and alcohol in the restaurants. Times are a-changing…
Reisen & Yoga.
