India is a large enough country to have corners that are totally un-Indian. Tawang Valley, located in a corner of Arunachal Pradesh, is such a place. Ethnically, this is a side-branch of Tibet, and the local Monpa people speak a dialect of Tibetan. The food is similarly Tibetan-influenced, as are buildings, clothing and the general [...]
Personal space means one thing to us and something all together different to Indians. When I board a bus at home (San Francisco), I hope that the empty seat next to me stays empty. It’s not because I’m antisocial (no, no – of course not). It’s because I like my space, especially on public transportation. [...]
How to receive a travel permit for Arunachal Pradesh trough a travel agent in Guawhati, Assam
Guwahati is the capital of Assam, and pretty much unavoidable if you wish to travel in India’s north east. It is a convenient hub with most of the mod cons (espresso, okay restaurants and travel agents). It also picks up a few points for its scenic location by the mighty Brahmaputra river. Other than that, [...]
Today, we yet again failed to secure a permit for Arunachal Pradesh (they’d moved the office to another part of town). We did, however, have a lengthy conversation with the Commissioner at the Manipur office. I’m posting this here for the benefit of travelers interested in visiting Manipur, because there is so much misinformation out [...]
The thali is a dish we’ve been looking forward to since we last left India. Actually, calling it just one dish is a misnomer – it’s really a bunch of little dishes served together with rice and/or naan (Indian flat bread). Thalis vary by region – one of the best meals we’ve had in India [...]
Color, color everywhere.
The Holi Festival took place today and, as promised, it was a rambunctious display of drumming, dancing and color powder smearing. We’re taking the train north today from Kolkata, so we’re missing most of it, but what we did see (and be apart of) was a whole bunch of fun.
What we didn’t expect [...]
“I’ll have a venti, one splenda, non-fat, no foam chai latte, please.”
Yes, this used to be something I said out load – to people, no less. Starbucks may have been my introduction to chai, but India and Nepal have been my education in it. Here whole milk is combined with tea and spices. A few [...]
While meandering through the BBD Bagh area today, we happened to stumble upon a curious sight: Kolkata’s Chinatown.
Today, hardly any ethnic Chinese live in Kolkata. Those who did – mostly merchant families brought there by the Brits in order to stimulate trade – moved to Vancouver, London and the US a long time ago.
Of the [...]
Kolkata is perhaps better known under its old name – Calcutta: a name that evokes images of poverty, beggars, Mother Theresa and vast overpopulated slums. After a couple of days here, I have to say that our experiences of the city are far different.
In contrast to other Indian cities, we’ve found Kolkata to be decidedly [...]
The Indian Museum in Kolkata is a glorious throwback to what museums used to be like. It has everything from intact whale skeletons to Egyptian mummies and Naga crossbows. The taxidermied animal section is especially freaky-looking, with a moth-eaten Polar Bear that has turned brown with age, a Tiger so amateurishly stuffed that he looks [...]
We’re foodies. There – I said it.
We can’t stop ourselves from talking about the food we eat on this trip. An observant person might say that when you’re unemployed, mealtime is the main focus of the day. And, yeah, I’d have to agree. We eat our breakfasts talking about what we plan to eat for [...]
Kolkata is the last place on earth that you kind find these things – the human-powered rickshaw. It’s a licensed job, but a dying one; it’s rumored that no new tana licenses have been issued for years.
Would we ride one? Absolutely not. We’ve ridden bicycle rickshaws on this trip and walked away from the experience [...]
![The Big Burma Post [LONG]](http://www.seatofourpants.com/wp-content/themes/openair/thumb.php?src=http://www.seatofourpants.com/wp-content/gallery/myanmar-2/shwedagon-baby-payas.jpg&h=350&w=480&zc=1&q=95)
The time has come to sum up our month in Myanmar. For me, it was the last unvisited country among the South East Asia nations, except for the Philippines (an eight hour stop over in the Manila airport lounge doesn’t count) and tiny Brunei. As with any place, there were positives and negatives, and personal [...]
Our famous pig Bacon once said that “To know a country is to know its beer”. While that’s obviously not quite true, we did sample most of the available brands in Myanmar. Here’s all you need to know about Burmese beer.
The picture above shows a Dagon beer station. Dagon is the new, upstart brand in [...]
You know the term, “fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on a 14 month round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
