As mentioned already in my last few posts, I came to Chile this time with the main purpose of flying down to Antarctica. In order to make sure that I wouldn’t miss the chartered flight and cruise, I decided to arrive in the Punta Arenas in southern Chile a couple days earlier. There is not … Continue reading King Penguins in Porvenir Feb 2020
With the halt in all travels and everyone homebound, hope these posts from my February travels can provide a brief respite from the coronavirus and all the troubles we are now facing. Hopefully life will return to normal soon! Chiloé means “place of seagulls” in the Huiliche language and this island in Chile had always … Continue reading Churches of Chiloe Feb 2020
After a short couple of days in Pucon in the Chile’s Lake District, I moved south to Chiloé which is a good 7 hours drive away. Chiloé archipelago was originally inhabited by the Mapuche Chono, Huilliche, and Cunco peoples and was one of the last places to be taken over by the Spanish conquistadores in … Continue reading Castro, Chile Feb 2020
This is my 4th visit to Chile and the main reason for coming here this time is to do the Air-Cruise to Antarctica. Most Antarctica cruises leave from Ushuaia in Argentina that involves crossing the rough seas of the Drake Passage which takes 2 days before arriving in Antarctica. As I am prone to sea-sickness, … Continue reading Pucon, Chile Feb 2020
Yogyakarta means “a city that is fit to prosper” and is named after Ayodhya which was the birthplace of Rama from the Indian Ramayana epic. Yogya, as the locals call it, is no doubt the soul of Java where the traditional arts and culture are still very much alive. It is a royal city still … Continue reading Faces of Central Java Jan 2020
Most probably built to rival the Buddhist Borobudur temple 19 km away is the 9th century Hindu Prambanan temple in Yogyakarta. Prambanan, dedicated to the Hindu gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, is the largest Hindu temple in Indonesia and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. Archaeologists believe that Prambanan was first built between … Continue reading Prambanan Temple Central Java Jan 2020
On my recent trip to Central Java, I had the privilege of visiting the most famous kris maker in Yogyakarta, Empu Jeno Harumbrojo. The Keris or Kris is an asymmetrical dagger made by pounding iron and meteorite nickel together layer by layer over 250 times. After which it is meticulously polished and designed. The alternating … Continue reading The Javanese Kris Jan 2020
I vaguely remember coming to Yogyakarta and Borobudur as a child with my family. Sometimes memory is a strange thing, you remember the most random things. I actually don’t remember much of this mesmerizingly beautiful temple that is the Borobudur Temple. What I do remember from that trip was seeing ladies in sarongs without their … Continue reading Borobudur, Central Java Jan 2020
A less visited but still beautiful palace in Sintra is the Monserrate Palace. This palace surrounded by beautiful gardens is a blend of Arabic, Gothic, and Indian architectural styles. The actual palace was imagined by an Englishman, Sir Francis Cook, who decided to build a summer residence from the ruins of a pre-existent neo-gothic palace … Continue reading Monserrate Palace, Sintra Dec 2019
Sintra in Portugal became one of the first places to exemplify a new architectural style during the period of Romanticism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sintra became a canvas where the wealthy and artistically-minded built whimsical buildings in bright colors and embellishments that previously only existed in fairy tales. This mix of decorative art, … Continue reading Pena Palace, Sintra Dec 2019
