Category Archives: Mountains
Glaciers’ Breath ll – Gangotri Update l
First steps towards Gangotri Glacier involve words from an impeccable source. For six decades Swami Sunderland has climbed, wandered, and worshipped the great bodies of ice and stone from his simple home in Gangotri. He arrived here and was held … Continue reading
Glaciers’ Breath ll Update – Ice, Ganges, and Shiva
the name Ganga or Ganges was given to the River Bhagirathi which originates at Gomukh. The wonderful tale continues that the Holy Ganges River was once a celestial river called the Akash Ganga (Akash – sky or space, and Ganga – river). Akash Ganga is the Hindu mythological equivalent of the Milky Way. Akash was convinced to come down from the heavens by King Bharigath. She descended into the locks of hair of Shiva and broke up into several channels. Thus in many paintings of Shiva, one can see the Ganga River issuing from his locks. Continue reading
The Glaciers’ Breath ll Expedition – The Ganges’ Source
Sources of rivers are rarely seen or acknowledged and it is perhaps more clearly in the sources that one can feel the absolute core vibrancy and life of what is known as पानी – paanee – ‘water’ in Hindi. It is said often in India that “water is life”. This journey is to travel to a source of so much life. Continue reading
World Explorers Summit – Cardiff Wales, Exploration and its vital people and tales
Exploration and its tales. The World Explorers Summit in Cardiff, Wales in September, 2016. Continue reading
Tea Journey Begins
Tea Journey Magazine documenting all things tea, tea people, culture, and the methods of consumption. A tribute to tea in all of its forms and personalities Continue reading
Tea’s Last Guardians – The Himalayan Muleteers and the Tea Horse Road
Joining the storied Royal Geographical Society here in London as they host my upcoming talks: Tea’s Last Guardians – The Himalayan Muleteers, this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. A magnificent venue to rant on about two great fuels: tea and mountains…and their epic custodians whose grand work rarely gets a worthwhile bit of mention. A grand tribute to the Tea Horse Road. Continue reading
Pu erh Tea and its Precious Pickers
There is much made of a tea’s geographic designation, its altitude, its harvest season, and its growers…and there should be! The earth, the temperate surroundings and the handlers and coaxers of the leaves are to be thanked and acknowledged. Every … Continue reading
Nomad’s Fine Food – Air-Dried Yak
Tibetan styled air drying. Slabs of yak meat hang in a nomad’s tent letting 4500-metre air and wind dry one of the vital protein sources for families in the Himalayas. Yak have long been one of the essentials for the very highest of high-residents, providing sustenance, cloth, mobile transport and tools. Continue reading
Speaking About the Ancient Tea Horse Road
In a day and age of digital everything and seemingly every topic at our fingertips, it’s rare nowadays, compared to say 50 years ago, to meet a true ‘explorer’: a person who has ventured out into truly unique and remote lands, having cultural exchanges where outsiders have perhaps not, and bringing the tales home. Our guest today, Canadian Jeff Fuchs is just that – an explorer. Continue reading
Toronto Tea Festival – Speaking About (and Sipping) Puerh
Delighted to be speaking and slurping away at this year’s annual Toronto Tea Festival on behalf of our own JalamTeas. January 30th’s talk “Puerh’s Roots – Caravan Fuel to Boutique Idol” will look at the ascent of the unique … Continue reading