Manny and I received a kind note from Sonum, our hostess and guide during our stay at the Tibetan Settlements in Bylakuppe. At the time of our departure, we had spent much of several days in her company, given a walking tour of the monasteries and the farmlands in the area. We left a little …
The beauty of the subtropics — as I experienced them for years in Brazil, and on other journeys far and away… … and now I understand that I was making a home of the Earth, not a home of – Spencer, New York, where I was born at the foot of a minor tree-crowned mountain; …
It is interesting that, in a country whose infrastructure is far less consistently developed than that of our own digital nation, I had far greater success in posting thoughts and impressions to this journal than I do now that I am home. Part of it is, of course, that the sheer volume of experiences, their …
The grace of going away is that your eyes are refreshed for when you return. What you see once in your daily, then see again and again, gains a transparency, loses its edges, so that after a time it is no longer visible at all. This is to be expected: our senses are used to …
The weather having softened somewhat today, I fired up the R100 and took it out on the road to make sure my driving skills hadn't deteriorated. I pulled out into the correct lane — that would be the right one this side of Her Majesty's Commonwealth, I think. The shift from a 225cc buzzing insect …
Manny Muros: I had been looking forward to my time alone but I've had quite a bit of apprehension about it. I have never spent this much time on my own. The four weeks journeying with Mark have been amazingly special. It was great to share the intensity of the travel and the constant humorous …
How often are we fortunate enough to fly without clouds, to be up above the noise and jostling of the daily? How often is there nothing veiling the eyes?
Just before dawn only a few roosters have roused themselves — or never went to bed — and with most humans still in bed, I can hear the falling of the surf away here inland. Yoga is sweet and quiet, Manny still in bed; then a quiet seat in the restaurant gazebo and time to …
The waves amble onto the beach at a leisurely pace, one smallish wave every ten seconds, six waves per minute — as unhurried and undemanding as the restaurants or services here, a definition in action for the word languid. In some magical configuration of sea and sand, the waves which fall to earth are reflected …
Hm. The face of India changes yet again, and we poor freshmen have to shift our energies to make space for it. The beach at Palolem, in southern Goa, is every bit as riveting as we had heard it would be. The essential coconut palms providing shade overhead, the incredibly gentle surf that is warm …
Fortunately, I can make a better report of this beach myself. Whatever was up with people yesterday (and I do include myself in that population) — the fights, the unsmiling eyes, the shabby shacks — seemed to have eased with the setting of the sun, and Manny and I found ourselves sitting up on the …
Manny Muros: On our last morning with the Tibetan family Mark and I tried to express our appreciation for all their warmth and hospitality given to us. Deep emotion and tears came to Sonam's eyes as she wanted to express thru us the gratitude she has to the "American people" who have helped them so …