Monthly Archives: April 2008
Singin’ in the Rain
I checked into the Broadway hotel. 1/6 of the price and no free nightclub. I took my camera and walked down the hill to Iew Duh, where the Khasi tribespeople have a “colourful and lively” (Lonely Planet) market. It began …
The Sound of Music
My track record with hill stations is poor. In Darjeeling in ’94, I shivered and sweated my way through the ‘flu. In the Cameron Highlands in 2000, I had a cold so bad that the only thing I could taste …
Tibetan Protest
Today in Guwahati is hunger strike day. Under canopies set out on the grass in front of the lake in Nehru park, several hundred people sit cross-legged in silence. Some have overalls saying ‘Stop torture in Tibet’ or ‘China out …
Cafe Culture
It won’t surprise you to know that I’ve tracked down the best coffee in Guwahati (the largest city in Assam). Cafe Coffee Day is part of a chain catering to India’s new youth, and they do a pretty mean espresso. …
A Tea Bungalow
I always thought that “Burra Sahib”, along with “Punka Wallah”, was a pseudo-Indian phrase invented by the English to use in bad 1970s sitcoms. Then I stayed in the Burra Sahib’s bungalow on the Sangsua Tea Estate in Assam. To …
An Early Morning
I was awake at 4.18am. The animal noises and birdsong made it almost impossible to go back to sleep. At 6.30am I ventured outside. It had rained overnight and the sky was still grey. Children were splashing barefoot through the …