Dakshin Kali – Bloodbath for a Goddess, in Untamed Travel Magazine

There are many Kali temples in the Kathmandu Valley but only one demands daily sacrifices – Dakhshin Kali. And on Saturdays, the blood runs faster, deeper and longer than on any other day. The first rays of the sun break through the pine trees that cover the steep slope that seems to drop right down […]

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The Pain Of Vegetables – The Phuket Vegetarian Festival, in Untamed Travel Magazine

  The Vegetarian Festival on the tourist island of Phuket in Southern Thailand is a truly bizarre occasion. Men and women, ostensibly possessed by gods, pierce their tongues and cheeks with sharp implements. Adepts apparently feel no pain, and show little no sign of real injury. The young man wears only shorts. He is drenched […]

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Buffalo soldier – Thailand’s Mighty Water Buffaloes Face Extinction, in Emirates Inflight

Thailand’s mighty water buffaloes are facing extinction. Replaced by technology, ridiculed by people as stupid beasts, their last journey is to the slaughterhouse. One Buddhist monk is taking steps to change this. The sun rises across freshly planted rice-fields. The farmers are out at the crack of dawn, there is some plowing left to do. […]

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Tomb raiders – Plunder of Prehistoric Artefacts in Cambodia, in Farang Magazine

What do Nawi, a middle-aged Khmer woman living in a dusty village in north-west Cambodia, and Angelina Jolie, who lives in Beverly Hills, have in common? In their own ways they are both diminishing the cultural heritage of Cambodia. And they are both tomb raiders. But the reasons for the two women’s respective actions could […]

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