http://www.followtheboat.com Tales (not just) from the high seas Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:30:12 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.followtheboat.com/2012/02/07/a-murder-of-crows/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2012/02/07/a-murder-of-crows/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:30:12 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25686 For all their jingoism and arrogance, I felt humbled by their intrepidness. We call ourselves travellers today, but catching a flight over to the other side of the world for a quick jaunt up to Machu Picchu, or a guided tour round a wildlife park, doesn't compare to the terrifying adventure into the unknown these individuals must have endured for the sake of commerce.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2012/02/07/a-murder-of-crows/feed/ 4 http://www.followtheboat.com/2012/01/19/the-kites-of-kolkata/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2012/01/19/the-kites-of-kolkata/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:00:20 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25569 As the sun began its rapid descent, the sky began to fill with black kites, some of them tiny specks a mile high. At first we took them to be of the raptor variety, but as we emerged from the undergrowth into wide grassland we saw a hundred boys and men wrestling with long twine stretching into the distance.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2012/01/19/the-kites-of-kolkata/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/14/photographing-the-limboo-people/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/14/photographing-the-limboo-people/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25430 Our last blog post on our trip to Sikkim ends with a photo-montage of the Limboo people. As you read in our last post we spent some time with out guide, Perna, and his family. They reside in the village of Darap in an old house passed down through the generations. Perna lives in relative luxury with a TV in his room, but the main house is like something out the dark ages. We were privileged to be allowed to spend a morning with these gentle people, even more so that they patiently allowed us to snoop around their house and photograph them going about their daily chores, which was mainly drinking salted tea and cooking pop-corn.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/14/photographing-the-limboo-people/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/07/we-meet-the-president-a-darap-village-homestay-in-sikkim/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/07/we-meet-the-president-a-darap-village-homestay-in-sikkim/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:30:15 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25301 Ever been to Shangri-la? We have. It's alive and kicking in Sikkim. Almost anywhere in Sikkim, outside a large town or tourist area, will do. We found our lost horizon in Darap, near Pelling. Two hundred year old houses growing out of the side of the mountain in which tiny people and chickens share their home with you is not something that happens every day. An afternoon getting high on hooch in the Himalayas is something to remember.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/07/we-meet-the-president-a-darap-village-homestay-in-sikkim/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/01/kechopari-lake-almost-gave-me-a-heart-attack/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/01/kechopari-lake-almost-gave-me-a-heart-attack/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:30:39 +0000 Jamie http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25378 Liz has very kindly omitted the tale of our 17km trek to Kechopari Lake. In a nutshell it is the story of a 40 year old man realising his limitations. Realising them in a way that involves clutching the left arm, breathing like a 100 year old, having to walk backwards up hairpin tracks to avoid the constantly seizing leg muscles, all the while watching his girlfriend skip gaily by, light as a feather, hopping from leaf to cobweb like a woodland fairy.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/12/01/kechopari-lake-almost-gave-me-a-heart-attack/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/24/the-best-view-of-kanchenjunga-gangtok-and-pelling-in-sikkim/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/24/the-best-view-of-kanchenjunga-gangtok-and-pelling-in-sikkim/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:30:58 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25297 Searching for the best view of India's highest mountain took us to India's Shangri-la. Relatively recently swept into the united states of India, Sikkim is like another country: we had to obtain permits to enter the ancient Kingdom of Sikkim.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/24/the-best-view-of-kanchenjunga-gangtok-and-pelling-in-sikkim/feed/ 2 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/17/sleeping-in-a-dung-house-walking-in-kalimpong/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/17/sleeping-in-a-dung-house-walking-in-kalimpong/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:30:55 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25293 Sitting on ankle-high stools we ate fresh pork straight from the flames of a dung oven, which we washed down with 'Tongba' and home made millet beer. After a few glasses of Rakshi this Arcadian village life became more and more attractive.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/17/sleeping-in-a-dung-house-walking-in-kalimpong/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/10/salty-buttery-tea-a-trek-in-the-himalayas/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/10/salty-buttery-tea-a-trek-in-the-himalayas/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:30:57 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25039 He knew he would never get out alive, so after twelve days he escaped, taking his mother and father with him. He didn't know how many miles they walked over the mountains, but he told us it took two months to get here and build their first farm out of the local bamboo. ]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/10/salty-buttery-tea-a-trek-in-the-himalayas/feed/ 2 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/01/do-you-believe-in-the-big-bang-theory/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/01/do-you-believe-in-the-big-bang-theory/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:30:31 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25034 The entire school was eager to meet us, so we made a point of visiting each of the tiny, cold classrooms. With saucer-eyes, they drank in everything we said. We played games, swapped stories, listened to them sing and watched long and intricate dances.]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/11/01/do-you-believe-in-the-big-bang-theory/feed/ 0 http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/10/27/boxed-blessings-a-buddhist-procession-in-darjeeling/ http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/10/27/boxed-blessings-a-buddhist-procession-in-darjeeling/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:37:17 +0000 Liz http://www.followtheboat.com/?p=25022 "We watched the procession snake past the Dekeling for about half an hour. No sooner had one group of musicians receded with its attendant crowd of worshippers, than the next little band would arrive." The next in our Himalaya trip where Liz gets all spiritual...]]> http://www.followtheboat.com/2011/10/27/boxed-blessings-a-buddhist-procession-in-darjeeling/feed/ 0