Rakhee Ghelani

Tag: Culture

  • Is it too late to save Majuli Island?

    Is it too late to save Majuli Island?

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    Majuli Island, in the remote North East Indian state of Assam, is the largest river island in the world. It is rapidly being lost to the savage effects of climate change. Surrounded by the mighty Brahmaputra River, scientists predict that Majuli Island will be entirely reclaimed by the river within 20 years, and along with…

  • Meghalaya: Root bridges and climacophobia

    Meghalaya: Root bridges and climacophobia

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    Meghalaya is a wonder. In the western corner of North East India it’s rolling hills are silent, a welcome contrast to the busy dustbowl that is Guwahati (in Assam) where most visitors begin their journey. Even the small town of Shillong has lost the romantic aura of a hillside town, now packed with merchants who…

  • White Night Melbourne 2016

    White Night Melbourne 2016

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    White Night is the Melbourne edition of an all night event, where the arts (in all its forms) takes over the CBD for 12 hours. While Paris was the first city to instigate its own White Night, my home town has made it its own. The first Melbourne White Night was in 2013, so I’ve never had…

  • Exploring Bhubaneshwar: Dhauligiri and Ashoka’s Edict

    Exploring Bhubaneshwar: Dhauligiri and Ashoka’s Edict

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    I’ve been very bad at keeping my blog updated this year, busy working, travelling and collecting new stories. But I’m keeping a record of all the incredible things I’ve seen, eaten and done so that I can keep sharing them. Visiting Dhauligiri near Bhubaneshwar is one of those experiences, I visited there a couple of…

  • My Shoe Addiction

    My Shoe Addiction

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    One of the rather decadent pleasures of living in India is that you can find anyone to make almost anything you want. For me this has meant that I now have my favourite dress in 6 different colours, (all for cumulatively less than I paid for the original), and I have some rather special shoes…

  • Discovering New Places To Visit in Bombay: Mazagaon and Khotachiwadi

    Discovering New Places To Visit in Bombay: Mazagaon and Khotachiwadi

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    I seem to spend so much of my time these days either at home working or going to the same places to meet friends, that I’d almost forgotten about the joy of discovering new places to visit in Mumbai. So one surprisingly sunny monsoon afternoon a friend and I decided to do just that. We…

  • One of the 7 Wonders of the World : Chichen Itza

    One of the 7 Wonders of the World : Chichen Itza

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    Chichen Itza was virtually unheard of on the mainstream tourist trail before 2007, when it was named as one of the 7 wonders of the world based on an online poll. The poll gave it status alongside India’s Taj Mahal, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu in Peru, Petra in Jordan, Italy’s Colosseum and…

  • Exploring Old London Town

    Exploring Old London Town

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    Old London town has to be one of my favourite cities in the world. I’ve been there so many times now, it feels like a second (or perhaps now third) home. I’ve always a had a lot of family there, and have a bedroom in one of my cousin’s homes, which always makes it such…

  • India Travel Advice For Women

    India Travel Advice For Women

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    As promised in this post, I’m writing a few posts with my advice on travelling to India. The advice is based on my experience, and that of other travellers whom I know and trust. There is a lot of bad and sugar coated advice out there, designed to please tourism boards and PR / Marketing…

  • Nagomi Visit : Eating Local in Tokyo

    Nagomi Visit : Eating Local in Tokyo

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    It’s no secret that I love food. I particularly like trying out local delicacies when I travel, which isn’t always easy when you’re in a new city only for a few days. Eating local in Tokyo was particularly challenging because of my language constraints. Aside from hello and goodbye, I didn’t know any Japanese and…

  • The Ancient Capital of Japan : Kyoto

    The Ancient Capital of Japan : Kyoto

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    Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan. With picturesque temples, old cobble-stoned streets and the occasional kimono-clad Geisha wandering down the street, it’s a postcard view of Japan. The temples are certainly a highlight of the city, along with the haunting bamboo grove in Arashiyama and the peaceful public parks. They need no words, the…

  • Bright Lights Big City : Tokyo

    Bright Lights Big City : Tokyo

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    I had always imagined Tokyo as a huge city of towering buildings and flashing neon signs. Something like this: But now that I’ve seen Tokyo I would describe it as green, peaceful and almost European. I spent a few days just wandering through different parts of the city, and was just amazed at how calm,…

  • The Toilets of Japan

    The Toilets of Japan

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    I know, I know, toilet humour really is the lowest common denominator. But this post isn’t about toilet humour I promise, but rather it’s about toilet etiquette in Japan. You see the Japanese are incredibly clean people, and their obsession with ensuring everything is pristine starts with themselves and in particular their toilets. From my…

  • Dating the Indian Woman

    Dating the Indian Woman

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    A few regular readers have asked me recently why I haven’t written much about dating or Indian men lately. Truth be told, there really isn’t much to tell. I haven’t dated for a long time, and am actually quite happy that way. I do still have some interesting experiences trying to understand men here, but…

  • The Big Fat Indian Wedding : Shaadi Time

    The Big Fat Indian Wedding : Shaadi Time

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    This is the fourth and final part of The Big Fat Wedding, you can find the rest here: Introduction Pre-Wedding Rituals The Engagement It was a rather rude alarm that woke me up early in the morning to have my saree draped the morning after the Sangeet. It was a little hard to believe that…

  • Paradise Found: Inle Lake

    Paradise Found: Inle Lake

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    Just the mention of Inle Lake makes anyone who has been there sigh as they drift off dreamily remembering this region of Burma. It really is a paradise. What makes Inle Lake so lovely is that it’s relatively untouched. I fear in only a short while it will become just another tourist region, and all…

  • Myanmar Travel : What the Guidebook’s Don’t Tell You

    Myanmar Travel : What the Guidebook’s Don’t Tell You

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    Before travelling to Burma, I dutifully read through my guidebook to ensure I was prepared and listened to my travel agent (I rarely use an agent to book my travel, but I was working so much before I left I didn’t have time to plan my trip so I used an agent to book hotels…

  • Bagan: A Temple Junkie’s Paradise

    Bagan: A Temple Junkie’s Paradise

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    Bagan in Myanmar would have to be one of the most incredible places I have ever visited in the world. I don’t think I can actually do it justice in words or photos either. The ancient city of Bagan originally had about 4,000 pagodas and temples dotted around its countryside. While not all of these…

  • The Day India Nearly Broke My Spirit

    The Day India Nearly Broke My Spirit

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    I finally had that day where India nearly broke my spirit. It’s the end of monsoon, which means the air is thick with moisture and oh so very hot. Not the kind of weather where you want to be shuffled around from one government department to another, made to wait around cramped offices or having…

  • Eating Out in Melbourne

    Eating Out in Melbourne

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    I am still hungry after talking about eating in Paris last week, so I thought I would keep with the theme this week. I have just spent 7 weeks in Melbourne (with a couple of days in Sydney), enjoying family, friends and the food!  It feels like I ate for the entire 7 weeks (so…