But For the Sky

Author: Claudia

  • The Golden City of Yangon

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in

    Our first stop in Myanmar (which, by the way, was called Burma until the government changed the country’s name in 1989 when they replaced a slew of British colonial names) was Yangon (formerly called Rangoon, as in that ubiquitous crab appetizer that shows up on Chinese take out menus everywhere). We arrived in this hot sweaty…

  • Khao San Road, Bangkok

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in

    Are you a bro on spring break from college looking to score? Then you’re going to love this place! Let me back up… We took the overnight bus from Krabi to Bangkok, and arrived at the unfortunate hour of 5:30 am. As we walked down Khao San Road toward our hotel, the smells of beer-stained…

  • Koh Tao: Slightly Underwhelming but Relaxing Nonetheless!

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in

    India and Nepal left us a bit disheveled. Well, mostly it was just India, but we never had the chance to catch up on comfort and relaxation while trekking in Nepal. So we made a beeline for a beach in Thailand. We needed a major recharging of our batteries so that we could genuinely enjoy…

  • Hiking in the Himalayas: The Ghorepani-Ghandruk Trek

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in ,

    After washing the Holi dye off our bodies (actually we would continue to find it in our ears, nose, and between our toes for a few days to come), we set off for the main attraction of our Nepal trip: a five-day trek through the Annapurna Conservation Area, a part of the Himalayas well known…

  • Colorful Holi

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in

    We had heard about Holi well before leaving Africa for the South Asian Subcontinent. “It’s that crazy holiday in India where everyone throws colored powder and water at each other and people just go nuts”, fellow travelers told us. So we immediately looked it up and started doing our research on where to be for…

  • Rajasthan Part II: The “Blue City”

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in ,

    Jodhpur is in western Rajasthan and is known as the “Blue City” due to the large number of light blue painted houses in its old city section. The color was originally reserved for homes of high-caste Brahmins but others started painting their houses the same color, eventually resulting in beautiful splashes of blue all over…

  • Rajasthan Part I: The “White City”, Kumbalgarh Fort, and Ranakpur Temples

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in ,

    Our next and last region was the large western state of Rajasthan. Travelers always recommend a visit here; the vivid colors of Rajasthani womens’ bright saris and mens’ colorful turbans, the famous wide and smiling mustaches, and the plethora of forts, temples, and palaces stay engrained in every visitor’s memory. We arrived in Udaipur, Rajasthan’s…

  • Delhi and Agra: Friends and the Taj Mahal

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in ,

    We had finally reached the portion of our India trip we were most excited about: meeting up with our friends Amy and Ben, who were coming all the way from Austin, Texas, and staying with friends Bion and Caitlin in Delhi, and then traveling with Ben and Amy to Agra and Rajasthan. Nick and I…

  • Yum: South Indian Cooking Class

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in ,

    We found ourselves in Delhi with a couple days to kill and not much of a desire to sight-see, so we signed up for a South Indian cooking class.  The class was taught in the home of our teacher Jyoti, a fast-talking and down-to-business expert chef. First, we learned about the main spices and ingredients used…

  • Orchha and Datia: Palaces and Temples and Tombs, Oh My!

    —

    by

    Claudia
    in

    We had several days to fill between Khajuraho and Delhi, so we headed to Orchha, a riverside town filled with palaces, temples, and chhatris (tombs) built by the Bundela dynasty in the 15th and 16th centuries, but quickly abandoned when the Bundelas had to flee Orchha for safer ground. I won’t bore you with too…