Author: bratislav

Despatches from the Silk Road :: The Great Tibetan High

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Travel2 Comments

The traditional ceremonial scarf in Tibetan Buddhism, the khata symbolizes purity, and as a part of our welcome into Tibet, each of us is draped in one. Feeling like true VIPs, we file into a van and make our way from “New Lhasa”, where the station is located, to the old city. We’re booked to stay at the Gang-Gyan Hotel, a property owned by the family of the Panchen Lama, apparently. One look at it though, and the ownership credentials hardly matter, for this is a Tibetan-run establishment through and through.P1130159

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Despatches from the Silk Road :: Train to The Roof of the World

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Trains, Travel2 Comments

Headed west out of Shanghai, we’ll be retracing much of our route from this morning – a few hundred miles of it in fact – with quick stops at Suzhou, Wuxi, and eventually Nanjing, whose station looks even more impressive by night. Not that we can see the river at this hour, but as a token nod to it, its lights out after the crossing of the Yangtze.P1110998 Continue reading “Despatches from the Silk Road :: Train to The Roof of the World” →

Despatches from the Silk Road :: Suspense in Shanghai

On By bratislavIn Trains, Travel2 Comments

By day, its an imposing enough sight. By night, Beijing Main Station will be sure to dazzle, if not blind you altogether. In a country known for its over-the-top illumination of public buildings, its a sight not to be missed. For the five of us, as we prepare to depart the Capital, it truly is a lasting impression.P1110749 Continue reading “Despatches from the Silk Road :: Suspense in Shanghai” →

Despatches from the Silk Road :: In search of Peking Duck

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Trains, Travel1 Comment

Beijing International Hotel, where we’re staying, is a short walk from Beijing Main Station. Having showered and bid farewell to HV – we’ll see him in a few days time – I browse the hotel literature for some late lunch options. There are a handful of restaurants to choose from, apparently, so I make my way to the most enticing of the lot, a rooftop revolving restaurant. Greeted warmly by a host at the elevator, I’m led by another to a table of my liking, and handed menus by a third. Only to be informed by a fourth – as I proceed to place my order – that they won’t be open till 5 pm. The puzzled look on my face couldn’t be more telling. Oh well, at least the views were worthwhile…IMG_8943

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Despatches from the Silk Road :: The Trans-Mongolian

On By bratislavIn Trains, Travel1 Comment

Depending on which day of the week you board it from Ulaanbaatar, Train 24 could be Mongolian, Chinese or Russian. When SK and I saw it off two years ago, it was a Mongolian train. Today, we’re boarding a carriage that bears the bright red emblem of the People’s Republic of China, and fittingly, Beijing is our destination.

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Despatches from the Silk Road :: The Yurt life

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Trains, TravelLeave a comment

A brief spell of rain has resulted in water logging across the city, and off-peak traffic snarls are worse than usual. Two years on, UB or Ulaanbaatar continues to grapple with infrastructural constraints. But a few things have changed, since SK and I were here last. The venerable Chinggis Khaan International is slated to get a swanky new home in a matter of months. The main highway leading out of the city is undergoing extensive repairs, and all along it, modern apartment blocks are rising, looking astonishingly un-Soviet as they do so. The city center now has a bike share – who would’ve thought? And our US-issued mobile devices finally have data coverage in the country. This time around though, we’re headed out. East of the Capital, to be precise, past Nalaïkh – a town who’s name SK and I derive immense pleasure from – into quintessential Mongolian countryside.IMG_8495

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36 hours in Panama

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Trains, TravelLeave a comment

Overcast conditions, a cover of threatening clouds, and a thickness in the air that is unmistakably tropical. Stepping out from the climate-controlled interiors of Tocumen International couldn’t be more predictable. Racing along the Pan-American highway some 15-minutes later, from the comforts of my air conditioned Uber, the distant skyline appears almost as dramatic as the sky above it. The highway, at this point, nothing more than a causeway, with low tide conditions to the right, and the vastness of the Pacific to our left. Up ahead, Ciudad de Panamá or Panama City. IMG_8092

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CDMX 3.0

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, TravelLeave a comment

It was 2013, on my second visit to Mexico, when I had a longish layover at Benito Juarez International, en route to the northwestern city of Chihuahua. Determined to get a taste of the country’s capital, I made the dash into el centro, returning suitably impressed, and vowing to return for longer, sooner rather than later. Years passed. A half dozen or so friends and acquaintances visited, and every one of them came back singing peans. FOMO ensued.

In the second half of 2018, I finally made it back there. The city had rebranded itself, appeared even more welcoming, and I realized quickly that my first foray there was not even worthy of a teaser. There was just too much to see, do and absorb – I had my work cut out for me. And so I’m back, less than 6-months later, to pick up where I left of; that love affair only getting stronger. Wish I could say the same about my Spanish.

Speaking of love…

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Isla bonita

On By bratislavIn Food & Drink, Travel, Wildlife4 Comments

The BN-2 Islander is a nifty little aircraft. Probably one of the smallest I’ve flown in. Over five decades in production, its been the light utility aircraft of choice for militaries and police forces alike. In the Caribbean particularly, its found favor amongst civilian operators too. The airstrip at Ceiba, a tiny coastal town on the eastern edge of the Puerto Rican mainland, is home to over a dozen of these, flying regular eight-minute sorties to the little island of Vieques… P1080228

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