travel
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Of deep fried rodents and raw eggs
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My journey across the Peruvian altiplano on the Titicaca train continued. No trip to Peru, I was told, would be complete without experiencing the national dish of Cuy – Guinea Pig. Peruvians preemptively go to great lengths to assure people that the Cuy is NOT a rat. Deliberately misquoting Shakespeare, I venture to say ‘the…
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A train to the top of Peru
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About midway between Cusco and Puno, the Titicaca train makes a stop at La Raya, the highest point on the route at 4 313 m.a.s.l. The scenery was beautiful. It was now as Peruvian as scenery could be. It was Peru, as it is sold by travel magazines. The conifers from the lower altitudes had…
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Travelling in the Company of the Urubamba River
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Travelling by train up the valleys and across the high plain between Cusco and Puno is a slow business. It takes every minute out of ten and a half hours. It is, however, designed to be a slow business. And to be enjoyed as such. At the beginning of the journey, people were highly strung…
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The Titicaca Train: A Long Day of Luxury
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I had just installed myself in my seat on board the Perurail Titicaca Train in Cusco. My carriage was elegant with wooden panels, white table cloths and plush seating. It exuded an air of elegance long gone from modern travel. My fellow passengers offered a compelling reminder that this was, after all, modern travel. While…
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Useful Notes on Getting to Machu Picchu
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There it was. Machu Picchu, a photographic cliché, if ever there was one. And still, cliché or no cliché, it was one of those views imprinted in my mind since childhood from countless travel magazines and innumerable travel documentaries.
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The Urubamba River
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Within an hour of landing in Cusco, I found myself standing at a bridge near Ollantaytambo, taking in this most pleasing scenery.⠀“This isn’t how Peru is supposed to look”, I thought to myself. “This is how Alaska is supposed to look. Where are the colourful, pipe-smoking ladies with bowler hats, where are the pan flute…
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“Jernteppet”
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Over: Biletet syner “Jernteppet” (skiltet og plastsløyfene på trea). Den kalde krigen gjekk ikkje så hardt inn på meg. Eg var meir oppteken av barne-TV og neste middagsmåltid. Det å unngå fiskekaker var for meg eitt viktigare mål enn å forstå kvifor Noreg engasjerte seg i noko eg ikkje visste heitte NATO eller kva var.…
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Hyderabad, India
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I 2001 då eg fyrste gong møtte Shankar planla vi at eg ein dag skulle vitje han på heimebane i Hyderabad i India. Shankar kallar byen Hyderabad “heime” men er eigentleg frå ein “landsby” med namnet Vijayawada nær 300 km aust-søraust om Hyderabad. Med sine usle 1,048,240 innbyggjarar er ikkje denne “grenda” stor nok til…
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Tørrmjølk og Tax-Free?
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I butikkane til «Muscat Duty Free» er det ikkje berre brennevin som står på Tax-Free-menyen. Her kan du velje mellom tre ulike merke tørrmjølk i pakningar på 2 til 5 kg. Mellom andre eksotiske varer finn vi «gul» saft og vaskepulver. Som småbrukarson frå eitt nedlagt mjølkebruk er det kjekt å sjå at også mjølkeprodukt…
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Scent of a (burning) woman
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The Shiva temple of Pashupatinath in Kathmandu is popular with tourists as well as devoted Hindus – and – with mourners who come there to cremate their family members. This combination sets the scene for a bizarre experience on the banks of the Bagmati River. Just as we arrived, a self proclaimed guide reared his…