I'm squished shoulder-to-shoulder in a crowd of native Tibetan Ladakhi people, packed neatly next to fellow onlookers. We are all patiently waiting to hear a mystical proclamation about the future. Today, of all days, two oracles—Tibetan monks who have been meditating in an isolated trance for the past year—will emerge from their stillness in order to predict the future of the village.
Read MoreStories about finding your heart and soul around the world.
Filtering by Tag: Asia
The Curse of Varanasi: 24 Hours of Bad Luck in India
Bad juju was bound to happen at some point during our Indian journey. Unbeknownst to me, 2.5 months in India was just the right time.
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Surviving Agra to Visit the Taj Mahal
"There are three things you need when driving in India," says our rickshaw driver after nearly colliding with another taxi. "A good horn, good brakes, and good luck!"
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The Pink City of Jaipur, India + A Traveler's Privilege
I'll admit it—Jaipur is not one of my most favorite places in India. Two months and 13 Indian cities later, one might say that I have something to compare it to.
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Camel Trekking in Rajasthan, India
About two hours north of Jodhpur, the roads are unkempt, bumpy and uneven. We are on our way to the Thar desert in Rajasthan, India to ride camels.
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Street cow chillaxing in Jodhpur, India.
The Street Cows of Jodhpur, India
There are cows everywhere.
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An ancient 24-foot reclining Buddha inside the Ajanta caves
A Buddhist masterpiece: The Ajanta caves of India
We've flown north, through Mumbai and then east to Aurangabad to visit another impressive art historical site—the 2,000-year old Buddhist caves of Ajanta.
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Part of a school group touring the temple, these girls eagerly asked me to take a photo of them with my camera
On begging, giving, and choosing empathy in India + A tour of ancient temples
The woman pulls my hair tightly. She stabs my scalp with a bobby pin while looping a garland of orange and white flowers on either side of my ponytail.
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Lakshmi the elephant at the Virupaksha temple, Hampi
Falling in love with an elephant in India
In Hampi there is a temple. In that temple lives an elephant.
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En route to Hampi, women construction workers walk along the train track
Stepping off the path + A train ride to Hampi, India
"Chai chai chai! Chai chai chai!"
"Pakora! Samosa! Pakora!"
We are on a train heading east to Hampi. Food hawkers jump on and off at every stop, rushing through the cars shouting, selling refreshments. I want to taste everything that passes—samosas served from a worn cardboard box, crispy masala rice snacks in a giant plastic garbage bag, fresh mango lassis carried in a tattered milk crate. Yet I cringe as the vendors grab food with their bare hands, passing it to customers wrapped in sheets of used newspaper."Chai chai chai! Chai chai chai!"
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Driving away from an angry mob of kids swarming the rickshaw
The sting of fear, poverty & injustice in India
I am being mobbed and I'm scared.
A crowd of kids is swarming, pushing the rickshaw with me inside. My driver yells, telling them to back off. Crowd psychology has already kicked in though, and more little arms reach inside to grab me.
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Cows at a farm along the road in Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, India
Jungle Leopards + Adventuring in Goa, India
Goa is where we motorbike through dry rural winding country backroads, weaving past gypsy camps filled with colorful Rajasthani women who wear brilliant red orange saris and layers of silver jewelry. Tents line the road where these workers from the north live temporarily doing hard construction labor, carrying bowls of rock on their head. Yaks and cows lazily wander, oblivious to the cars and motorbikes that zip past. The farther away from the beach we get, the more worn and dry the landscape becomes. Yellow haystacks á la Monet and brown rice paddies void of crop or water fly past as we move deeper inland.
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