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Sambhali Trust: Charity begins in a Rajput Home

Published September 8, 2011

“We teach them about their appearance, good dress sense. Most don’t know where Jodhpur is, or even that they live in Rajasthan. Their lives are simply this: get up, brew tea for Dad, do the dishes, clean the house, cook lunch, sleep, clean the household, make dinner, go to bed. Every single day of their lives. They have no weekends, no holidays. They are married at 15, and then have the exact same life with a husband who probably rapes and certainly beats them.” This is the account of one man’s mission to ‘empower’ disadvantaged women from Rajasthan, in a superb write-up by Liz that is packed with first-hand accounts, facts, sad stories and, ultimately, the positive action of the Sambhali Trust.

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Fatehpur Sikri: City of Victory

Published July 14, 2011

Cliché or no cliché, Akbar’s ‘City of Victory’ really does “rise majestically” from a barren rocky plateau. Referring back to my note book, before writing up this visit, I found a string of exclamations: “The scale! Location and position! Extraordinary! Fabulously well-maintained! Power! More palace than fort!” An extraordinary place…

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Finalist in the Bradt/Independent on Sunday Travel Writing Comp

Published July 12, 2011

“…We all liked your entry – an interesting and atmospheric piece of writing… you should be very proud of yourself – there were a lot of good entries this year. The six finalists now go forward to Matthew Parris to select the final winner, so who knows who that will be. Meanwhile crack open the champagne!” Hilary Bradt. Wow! Very excited to have reached the final of this prestigious award. All six pieces are available to read right now on-line, so have a look and, if you feel like it, do leave some feedback.

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Giggling And Haggling Amongst The Monkeys And Elephants

Published June 23, 2011

When we last left you we’d taken advantage of some holy Jaipurian urinals. Now we cross the street and go check out the rather ornate Jaipur City Palace, the Hawa Mahal (where women could see but not be seen) and mingle with monkeys and elephants. In amongst more wee spots we sample a refreshing beetroot drink and then round the day off with some good old fashioned police brutality.

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A Rajput Gentleman – Introduction To The Golden Triangle

Published June 9, 2011

With Liz being short-listed for another writing competition this week we thought we’d start off our Rajasthan series with one of her latest entries, which we’ve also made available for the iPad and Kindle. Beautifully written, this pulls together a number of themes set in Jaipur, Jodpur and Agra (Taj Mahal), the classic traveller trail called The Golden Triangle. The central story, however, concentrates on a remarkable man we met whilst in Jaipur whose quest to empower women from the lowest castes affected us deeply. Setting the scene for the next few blog posts this is moving, brutal yet ultimately uplifting. It is, in my opinion, Liz’s best non-fiction writing to date.

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Munnar Munnar – Do Doo Da Doo Doo

Published April 7, 2011

Munnar is a corner of Kerala that’s tucked away in the mountain peaks of tea plantations and lush green valleys. Miles and miles of strange looking tea trees, interspersed with cardamom bushes and coffee trees, provide great walks and views not seen anywhere else in this mainly tropical state. In this post Liz provides some insight into these wonderful valleys, and throws in a visit to a tea factory.

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Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace – Easy For You To Say

Published March 24, 2011

As is probably evident from our previous posts, Madurai is a pretty crazy place. Rest, then, from the madding crowd in the calm of one of her grandest buildings, Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace. Deceptively understated from the outside, the open court-yard of the interior is imposing and beautiful. Liz: “If you are in southern India please do not miss this most beautiful palace. I fell in love with it in many ways. Its shape, colour and structure are sublime. Palest peach, vanilla, apricot, and cream combine to impart an ethereal quality”. The palace is close to becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site, which goes some way to illustrate how wonderful this simple building is. At the end of this short post we include a little slide show of a few of the buildings of Madurai.

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Meenakshi Amman Temple Of Madurai

Published March 22, 2011

Last time we left you we’d been wandering the back streets of Madurai and offered plenty of photographic evidence of its energy. In this post Liz gives a more cerebral account of our experience in this fabulous city, taking in the huge Meenakshi temple, which wouldn’t look out of place in Disney World. Her guide teaches Liz about the five sense, and they’re not the sense you or I learned about at school. Strangely every single photograph taken inside the temple ‘disappeared’ from Jamie’s camera, but we have plenty more images of the huge ‘gopurams’, as well as the people of Madurai. Liz’s prose is what travel writing is all about…

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Jamie’s Review of The Porta-Bote Published in Sailing Today

Published February 28, 2011

Jamie makes it as ‘technical advisor’ in April’s edition of Sailing Today, which sees his initial review of the famous American folding dinghy in print. In the article Jamie looks at the simplicity with which the boat is commissioned, and takes it for a row. The review will be followed up in six months time when he puts the outboard on the back, takes it into rougher weather and attempts to stow it on deck.

You can see the full review by subscribing to Sailing Today online; better still, head down your newsagent and buy a copy!

Jamie Is Awarded LRPS Distinction

Published November 16, 2010

I am proud to announce that Jamie was awarded his Licentiateship at the Royal Photographic Society on Saturday and can now put the letters LRPS after his name. He is thrilled that all the hard work and studying he has put in over the last six months has paid off.

Encouraged by a win in the Times newspaper for best travel photograph earlier in the summer he hesitantly put his images onto the appraisal gallery of Amateur Photographer. Some of the senior members of the AP forum suggested he work towards membership of the RPS and it was their words of wisdom and constructive criticism that lead Jamie to assess his own work with a more informed eye.

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Dreamy Goan Bus Stop Pic Shortlisted For Telegraph

Published August 19, 2010

We’ve yet to publish our blog on our trip to Goa. We spent a few weeks there and Jamie took a lot of pictures which he is still editing. On one trip we stopped off at a tiny village near Shri Mangesh and took a picture of the busy bus-stop. The Telegraph’s Big Picture editor clearly liked it enough to shortlist it for this week’s competition. It’s a wonderful, dreamy HDR (high dynamic range) photograph that captures the late afternoon ambiance of that part of the world.

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The Times Shortlists FTB AGAIN!

Published August 16, 2010

I wonder if the picture editor of The Times is as bored as we are of seeing Jamie’s photos? Apparently not, as he was runner-up again this week with one of his recent images from Fort Cochin. Just kidding, Jamie, keep ‘em coming, I’m so proud of you.

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The Times Shortlists Another Followtheboat Photograph

Published August 9, 2010

I’m almost embarrassed to announce that Jamie has been mentioned again in the Times weekly photo competition. He didn’t win this time, but was runner-up with a shot he took recently in Fort Cochin, of a sweet maker. Here’s a grab of the Times on-line…

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Followtheboat Shortlisted For Scott Dunn Photography

Published August 3, 2010

Jamie’s photography is starting to receive the recognition it deserves. Encouraged by his appearances in The Times and Telegraph I suggested he enter one of my favourite shots into the Scott Dunn Photography Competition for a “Face” or “Place”. Jamie’s image of rough-and-tumble boys in the Dharavi Slums is a great shot.

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Tales (not just) from the high seas

About Liz

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