13 August 2010
12 August 2010
1° g - 12 Ago: Partenza per lo Spiti ed il Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Arrivo a Nuova Delhi
Torno in India, sarà la settima o ottava volta, mi sento un po' a casa mia. Questo promette di essere un viaggio di grande interesse culturale, incentrato sul Buddhismo lamaista. Soprattutto nello Spiti, ma in misura minore anche in Kinnaur, c'è una forte presenza di questa religione da secoli, rafforzata recentemente dai profughi del Tibet invaso dalla Cina. Per chi è stato in Ladakh e Zanskar qui i monasteri sono forse meno ricchi, o almeno appariscenti. Ma per chi, come me, è stato stimolato dalle visite del Ladakh e dello Zanskar ad approfondire, questo viaggio sarà senz'altro un valido complemento...
11 August 2010
Map of India, physical and political
click on the maps below to view in full size
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| Physical map of India. From mapsofindia.com |
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| Political map of India. From welt.atlas.de |
In Europe, you can buy a National Geographic map of India here
In the US and worldwide buy here
Itinerario di un viaggio in India, Himachal Pradesh: Spiti and Kinnaur, India, 12-29 Agosto 2010
viaggio in Himachal: Spiti and Kinnaur ITINERARIO clicca su una data o un percorso per andare al relativo post | |||||
Data | Percorso | Km. | Ore auto | ||
1° | aereo | 0 | |||
2° | treno | 11 | |||
3° | piedi | 0 | |||
4° | jeep | 170 | 8 | ||
5° | jeep | 89 | 6 | ||
6° | jeep | 58 | 8 | ||
7° | jeep | 135 | 9 | ||
8° | piedi | 0 | 8 | ||
9° | jeep | 85 | 6 | ||
10° | jeep-piedi | 47 | 7 | ||
11° | jeep-piedi | 50 | 8 | ||
12° | jeep | 86 | 8 | ||
13° | jeep | 42 | 4 | ||
14° | jeep-piedi | 102 | 8 | ||
15° | jeep | 129 | 9 | ||
16° | bus | 350 | 11 | ||
17° | train | 300 | 5 | ||
18° | aereo | ||||
TOTALE | 1.643 | 116 | |||
02 July 2010
Book Review: Exploring Kinnaur and Spiti in the Trans-Himalaya, by D Sanan and D. Swadi, ****
Review
This book fills a gap in the literature in that while there are a number of guides and travelogues on Ladakh, Kahsmir and Uttarankhand, this region has been somewhat neglected. A great book about travels here is by Giuseppe Tucci: "Dei, demoni e oracoli", but it dates back to 1933 and as far as I know has not been translated in English.
This book fills a gap in the literature in that while there are a number of guides and travelogues on Ladakh, Kahsmir and Uttarankhand, this region has been somewhat neglected. A great book about travels here is by Giuseppe Tucci: "Dei, demoni e oracoli", but it dates back to 1933 and as far as I know has not been translated in English.
01 July 2010
Book Review: A Sense of the World. How a Blind Man became the World's Greatest Traveler, by Jason Roberts, *****
Synopsis
When Lieutenant James Holman sailed to Russia in 1822, intent on crossing Siberia on his way to circumnavigate a globe still largely uncharted, the authorities of the Tsar arrested him on suspicion of espionage. Their scepticism was understandable: James Holman was completely blind. Holman returned to London and wrote a bestselling book about his abortive trip. But the wanderlust remained: as he put it, "In my case, the deprivation of sight has been succeeded by an increased desire for locomotion." In 1827 he set off again, this time for Africa. He would not return until 1832, having visited India, the Far East and Australia en route, and indulged in seemingly suicidal adventures such as stalking rogue elephants in Ceylon and helping blaze a road through uncharted New South Wales.
It would be difficult today with all the modern conveniences that technology provides, but it was much much harder to do two hundred years ago. Yet James Holman did it. After blindness interrupted his naval career at age 24, he started a new life as a world traveler and became a well know writer and highly paid of his adventures. In this, I am sort of envious of him, though in the end he ran out of money and readers and died a lonely man, his funds having dwindled and his fame all but vanished.
In my view the main point of the book is that Holman sang an hymn to curiosity for the world which I find admirable for anyone, all the more so for a blind person. Whereas others might have been discouraged and would have given up after disease cut short one career, he had the energy to pick himself up and start again on a completely new path. A path more challenging than the Napoleonic wars he had been fighting at sea.
Perhaps not so amazingly compared to his travels themselves, he kept a diary of parts of them, which he wrote with the help of an ingenious writing device, and the text is available for free at Project Gutenberg.
The book may have some holes in the facts here and there, but that does not distract from the main aim, which is to convey an extraordinary life through a high readable prose that makes it hard to put down.
When Lieutenant James Holman sailed to Russia in 1822, intent on crossing Siberia on his way to circumnavigate a globe still largely uncharted, the authorities of the Tsar arrested him on suspicion of espionage. Their scepticism was understandable: James Holman was completely blind. Holman returned to London and wrote a bestselling book about his abortive trip. But the wanderlust remained: as he put it, "In my case, the deprivation of sight has been succeeded by an increased desire for locomotion." In 1827 he set off again, this time for Africa. He would not return until 1832, having visited India, the Far East and Australia en route, and indulged in seemingly suicidal adventures such as stalking rogue elephants in Ceylon and helping blaze a road through uncharted New South Wales.
For Holman it was the raw intensity of such experiences that kept depression at bay: he travelled in order to regain the sensation of feeling fully alive.
Maps courtesy of Jason Roberts. See more info on Jason Roberts' website.
Review
click on each of these maps to see them in full size
Maps courtesy of Jason Roberts. See more info on Jason Roberts' website.
Review
It would be difficult today with all the modern conveniences that technology provides, but it was much much harder to do two hundred years ago. Yet James Holman did it. After blindness interrupted his naval career at age 24, he started a new life as a world traveler and became a well know writer and highly paid of his adventures. In this, I am sort of envious of him, though in the end he ran out of money and readers and died a lonely man, his funds having dwindled and his fame all but vanished.
In my view the main point of the book is that Holman sang an hymn to curiosity for the world which I find admirable for anyone, all the more so for a blind person. Whereas others might have been discouraged and would have given up after disease cut short one career, he had the energy to pick himself up and start again on a completely new path. A path more challenging than the Napoleonic wars he had been fighting at sea.
Perhaps not so amazingly compared to his travels themselves, he kept a diary of parts of them, which he wrote with the help of an ingenious writing device, and the text is available for free at Project Gutenberg.
The book may have some holes in the facts here and there, but that does not distract from the main aim, which is to convey an extraordinary life through a high readable prose that makes it hard to put down.
30 June 2010
File review: Whatever works (2009), by Woody Allen, *****
Synopsis
Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm) is angry, opinionated and happy to live a reclusive life. All that changes when he begrudgingly allows naive Mississippi runaway Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) to live in his apartment. When her simple optimism proves resistant to his bitter sarcasm, an unlikely friendship begins. A comedy from the inspired partnership of Larry David and writer/director Woody Allen.
Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm) is angry, opinionated and happy to live a reclusive life. All that changes when he begrudgingly allows naive Mississippi runaway Melodie (Evan Rachel Wood) to live in his apartment. When her simple optimism proves resistant to his bitter sarcasm, an unlikely friendship begins. A comedy from the inspired partnership of Larry David and writer/director Woody Allen.
03 June 2010
Film review: Kama Sutra, a Tale of Love (1997), by Mira Nair ****
If you're looking for a deep, intelligently romantic movie with complex characters and a richly rewarding plot, don't bother with Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. On the other hand, if you're feeling sexy and in the mood for a lush, seductive, and visually stunning film set in 16th-century India, this one will please you like the best foreplay you've ever experienced. Or it will relax you like a full treatment at a pampering spa--either way, you're gonna feel pretty fantastic. Okay, okay... maybe we're getting a little carried away, but there's no denying that director Mira Nair (best known for her acclaimed film Salaam Bombay!) has crafted a sumptuous film for the eyes if not the head. Its melodramatic plot is involving enough to elevate the movie high above soft-core adult fare, so you won't feel guilty after watching it.
Kama Sutra is the story of a young woman named Maya (the stunning Indira Varma) who has always been lower on the social scale than her well-born friend Tara (Sarita Choudhury), and has always lived in Tara's shadow, wearing her used clothes and being made to feel inferior. When Tara is betrothed to the handsome King Raj Singh (Naveen Andrews, from The English Patient), Tara sneaks into the king's tent on the eve of the wedding and seduces him. Later, after being trained to master the Kama Sutra's many "lessons of love," Maya will be the king's courtesan, and emotions will run high between the former best friends. But the plot is of secondary importance here (a fact that resulted in many mixed reviews), and so Kama Sutra works best as a colorful and irresistibly sexy story that is worth seeing just for the startling beauty of the film and its cast. --Jeff Shannon for Amazon
26 May 2010
Film Review: Katyn, by Andzrej Wajda, *****
KATYN is the story of Polish army officers murdered by the Soviet secret police in the Katyn forest during the Second World War and the families who, unaware of the crime, were still waiting for their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers to return. It is a film about the continuing struggle over History and memory, and an uncompromising exploration of the Russian cover up of the massacre that prevented the Polish people from commemorating those that had been killed.
21 May 2010
Recensione: Storie di New York, di Alessandra Mattanza, ****
Sinossi
Una New York che non si può dimenticare, capace di entrare nel sangue e scendere profondamente nell'anima. Un banchiere sull'orlo di una crisi di nervi, in piena crisi finanziaria, si accorge di aver perso letteralmente la testa. Una fotografa che si nutre della malinconia dell'uomo che ha perduto per sempre. Un romantico medico che spera un giorno di diventare musicista. Una giornalista che finisce per trovare un momento di consolazione in una sconosciuta incontrata sulla lista di Craiglist. E, come loro, tanti altri: anime alla deriva che formicolano tra grattacieli, strade, stanze di appartamenti, salotti , bar, locali e situazioni. Sono tutti, inconsapevolmente, alla ricerca dell'amore. Ma quel sogno, il sogno americano, in fondo non esiste. Una New York reale e attuale, inedita e talvolta sconcertante quella che viene descritta in queste pagine crude e sincere, forse amare, ma incredibilmente vere. Una New York borderline , al limite, uno specchio crudele della crisi di un'intera società, oltre che di un capitalismo economico che sembrava invincibile.
Una New York che non si può dimenticare, capace di entrare nel sangue e scendere profondamente nell'anima. Un banchiere sull'orlo di una crisi di nervi, in piena crisi finanziaria, si accorge di aver perso letteralmente la testa. Una fotografa che si nutre della malinconia dell'uomo che ha perduto per sempre. Un romantico medico che spera un giorno di diventare musicista. Una giornalista che finisce per trovare un momento di consolazione in una sconosciuta incontrata sulla lista di Craiglist. E, come loro, tanti altri: anime alla deriva che formicolano tra grattacieli, strade, stanze di appartamenti, salotti , bar, locali e situazioni. Sono tutti, inconsapevolmente, alla ricerca dell'amore. Ma quel sogno, il sogno americano, in fondo non esiste. Una New York reale e attuale, inedita e talvolta sconcertante quella che viene descritta in queste pagine crude e sincere, forse amare, ma incredibilmente vere. Una New York borderline , al limite, uno specchio crudele della crisi di un'intera società, oltre che di un capitalismo economico che sembrava invincibile.
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