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Malta | Smitten by the medieval Birgu
Birgu comprised of the last part of my Malta itinerary and I was already smitten by yellow limestone forts, grand harbours and azure blue waters that characterised the Maltese landscape. Birgu, also known by its title Città Vittoriosa, is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It served as the capital city of Malta between 1530 and 1571, until Valletta was built. The city still retained its medieval flavour with cobbled alleys, stepped lanes, converted townhouses (available for rents!), elegantly renovated art and curio boutiques. The Birgu waterfront was lined with modern cafes and restaurants and buzzed with…
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Malta | Sailing into the beautiful island of Gozo
The beautiful island of Gozo awaited our arrival and we sailed amidst the scenic blue Mediterranean with the cool sea breeze sweeping across my cheeks. The third day of our Malta itinerary (here’s my first Malta post on the fortified cities Valletta and Mdina) comprised of a day trip to Gozo, the second largest island after the main island of Malta. Unlike its sister island Comino, which has officially three residents only, Gozo is relatively large with a population of around thirty-seven thousand people. We boarded a minivan from Sliema to reach Cirkewwa Ferry Terminal on the northern tip of Malta Island via a scenic drive along the Coast Road.…
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Malta | Exploring the fortified cities of Mdina and Valletta
The island basked in more than 7,000 years of history, abundant sunshine, dollops of warm sea breeze and vitamin sea all around. Fortified cities, picturesque coastlines, pretty harbours in an azure Mediterranean surrounding thronged by fishing and leisure boats alike, Malta is regal and stunning. There’s more to this tiny island-archipelago than just picturesque locales in movies like Gladiator, Troy, Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt’s film ‘By the Sea’ or the legendary series of Game of Thrones. The country checks all the plausible boxes for an exotic travel destination – delicious food, gorgeous landscapes, archaeological relicts, architectural marvels and of course, the allure of history. Malta is the world’s tenth smallest country…
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Tharu Village Walk in Chitwan, Nepal – Innocence In Their Eyes, Joy In Their Faces
Chitwan Part 2 Our stay in Chitwan was memorable not only because it brought us incredibly close to nature but also because it gave us the opportunity to show the Z-Sisters a different world altogether. During our stay there, one evening we went to the nearby Tharu village where they the Z-SISTERS were confronted with some extreme but essential life moments. [Tharu is an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai, the southern foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal and India. The Tharu people themselves say that they are people of the forest. In Chitwan, they have lived in the forests for hundreds of years practicing a short fallow shifting cultivation.…
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Machan Paradise View in Chitwan, Nepal – Gift Wrapped & Preserved For Each Tourist!
We travelled almost 8 hours by car. Meandering and sometimes very dusty, these snaky Himalayan roads run through the mountains and along a few rivers and their tributaries. We stopped several times. For refreshments (read toilet-breaks), clicking pictures, collecting pebbles as mementos from the banks of the Trisuli river, for Mr Driver to freshen up, to visit the Manakamana temple in the Gorkha district, another sacred Hindu place of worship and finally arrived at Chitwan. Chitwan is one of the last remnants of the Terai – the fertile strip of grasslands and forests which at one of point time stretched along the northern border of India from the Indus river…
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Budha in Nepal – Where The Buddha Can Only See!
As I transcended on the second part of my spiritual and religious journey in Nepal, I realized that the first part of the journey reflected a strong orientation of Hinduism in Nepal, while the 2nd part of the journey was reflected by elements of Buddhism. Though both the journeys were markedly different, they joined hands to form an unusual assimilation which is very unique and the very essence of religion in Nepal. A little recap from my first journey – I have always maintained from the very beginning that I will refrain from expressing my personal opinion on politics and religion in my writings that might reflect any bias or…
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Mahasthan Ghar, Nepal – The Abandoned Women Amidst Many Prayers
I have always maintained from the very beginning that I will refrain from expressing my personal opinion on politics and religion in my writings that might reflect any bias or hurt any religious/cultural/spiritual sentiment. Having grown up in the multicultural Kolkata we have participated in all festivals from all religion. My previous writings dwell deeply on this aspect (Article 1, Article 2). But I cannot deny the fact that the enigma of varied cultural/religious aspects of different places simply fascinate me. The strong beliefs and faiths reinforcing the expression on the faces of devotees during worship, the colours, the rituals, the stories underlying these rituals – I have always wanted…
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