Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
In the mid-90s, I trekked around the Everest region of Nepal. Last month I returned, retraced my steps and found both the mountains and myself in good shape. Though a little more torn and frayed than almost 20 years ago. Everything changes quickly, even amongst the world’s highest peaks. And that, apparently, is the way […]
Continue ReadingEvidence of my presentation of Sacred Skin, the first English language book on Thailand’s sacred tattoos (co-authored with photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat and published by Visionary World), at the Nepal Tattoo Convention, held at the Yak & Yeti Hotel in Kathmandu from April 27th to 29th. Great event, great venue, amazing and patient audience! Sacred Skin […]
Continue Reading“They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the […]
Continue ReadingI will be presenting my book Sacred Skin, the first English language book on Thailand’s sacred tattoos, Sak Yant, at the second international Nepal Tattoo Convention. The event takes place from April 27th to April 29th at the legendary Kathmandu hotel Yak & Yeti. I’ll be giving several talks on Thailand’s sacred tattoos and presenting […]
Continue ReadingYes, there is now a facebook page on The Devil’s Road to Kathmandu, my 2005 novel. This new amazing facebook feature will feature news, reviews and updates on this ripping story of three hippies who drove a bus full of drugs from London to Kathamndu in 1976. There are plans to republish The Devil’s Road […]
Continue ReadingI have just published a feature in the Friday supplement of The Rising Nepal, one of the country’s Eng;ish language newspapers. Why? Well, The Rising Nepal helped me start my career in 1997. The paper graciously offered me the use of a typewriter and I hammered out a series of feature stories on Nepali culture […]
Continue ReadingI just found a seven year old feature of mine called Seven Years out of Tibet, the story of Tibetan refugees stranded in Nepal, published by Asiatimes Online in January 2004. For this story, we visited the Tibetan Buddhist shrine at Bodhnath and interviewed monks who had walked from Tibet to Nepal to find themselves […]
Continue ReadingTom Vaters erster Roman, ‘The Devil’s Road To Kathmandu’, ist 2006 in Hong Kong bei Dragon’s Mouth Press einem Imprint von Orchid Books auf Englisch erschienen. When Dan, Tim and Fred, three naive hippies, set off from London to Kathmandu with few funds and a dodgy bus, a drug deal in Pakistan seems like the most common sense […]
Continue ReadingIn 2004, writer Tom Vater visited the war stricken kingdom of Nepal and met a Maoist cell high up in the Annapurna’s for four days of talks. Two years on and Nepal’s belligerent king has shut down democracy alltogether and driven communist rebels and pro-democracy advocates into the same corner, while his police forces in […]
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Charles Sobhraj, one of the world’s most notorious serial killer celebrities, also known as the “Bikini Killer’ and the ‘Serpent’ was convicted for murder in 2004 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Prior to his conviction I spoke with one of the allegedly scariest men alive, as well as his captor, police officer Ganesh K.C. who had no […]
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