The Strangely Surreal Landscape of the Atacama Desert Biome
The Atacama desert. A line read in a geography book long ago, its claim to textbook status was ‘driest place on Earth’. And it stuck at the back of my mind ever since, long...
Category: Our Random World
There are things that you come across and find interesting in travel, curiosities and oddities. Things that baffle you as a foreigner – being baffled, I think, is one of a traveller’s secret enjoyments. Observations and mementos, crafts or items from our random world.
And then there are random things that happen, and random places you wander off to and enjoyed. I love storytelling, finding a narrative and an arc, weaving a spell and breaking it, setting the reader free at the end. But not everything in our world has an arc – or at least one that my mind can discern.
So these travel odds and ends – whether whimsical or erratic or serious and philosophical – are all grouped here. Randomness doesn’t need a reason.
The Famous Delft Blue Pottery – As Street Art!
One negative thing about the efficient Dutch public transport network – it made me complacent. I thought I should go to Delft on my final weekend in the Netherlands, since it’s supposed to be...
The Curious Cylindrical Painting of Panorama Mesdag
In hindsight, I suppose I could have gone to Panorama Mesdag on the same day as when I went to the Escher museum. I could have saved a few euro. I was curious about it...
M.C. Escher Museum: The Mathematical Artist
Let’s get one thing out of the way. I had two weekends in the Hague, and I did not see the Girl with the Pearl Earring. In fact, I did not go to see any...
Mondrian in The Hague: Celebrating Dutch Street Art
For a couple of weeks in 2017 I was in the Netherlands, neither a tourist nor just in town for meetings. I had the opportunity to switch offices, and work with colleagues there for...
“What do you say when you pray?”
I paused in the dim light, still seated on the floor where I was praying. The room was near-darkness, in the hour before sunrise. My room-mate Belle had sleepily asked the question from where...
Heaven Is Not What I Did Yesterday
They asked if I could swim in the open sea. “What do you mean? Just put 10 for everything,” his voice came through distractedly over the phone. I had consulted my (ex)friend, regarding how...
When Solo Travel Growth Is Not Solo: The Epiphanies
Much has been said about solo travel, and how it needn’t be lonely and isolated. That you would meet people along the way, travellers and hosts alike. And so, while you may start out...
Teja on the Horizon is a Mystery Blogger!
I was intrigued when Chandrima of Travel Stories Untold nominated me for the Mystery Blogger Award. I hadn’t heard of this award before, and didn’t think I had the readership to even be noticed for a...
Solo Female Travel: Confessions of an Overachiever
I have about 2 weeks to go before I head to Nepal. And I am going alone. The big ticket things are booked now, and no cold feet madness can be tolerated. So I am...
The Subjective Treasures of Chatsworth House
Near the end of my Barnsley-Derbyshire trip, I went to visit the stately home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Chatsworth House. There I finally found the bluebells I was looking for, after...
What If We Made the World Our Valentine?
I have never identified with Valentine’s Day. Even when I was not single, and technically had a ‘valentine’. When your reputation for being a brain rather than a beauty is what precedes you, chances are...
