My top 5 cafes & a Balinese cooking experience in Ubud, Bali

Here are my top 5 eating spots in Ubud, Bali for a dose of nutrition and relaxation featuring a Balinese cooking experience. 

Time to get ‘naked’

It's time to get naked. A personal rollercoaster journey of seeking inner truth!

Temporary | Weekly Photo Challenge

This is my entry for the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge 'temporary'. In this photo a young Buddhist monk cycles along Boudhanath Sadak in Kathmandu, Nepal. On this election day, Thursday 7th December, people from Kathmandu went to the polls. No vehicles were permitted on this day. Our lungs rested and welcomed this peacefulness, temporarily. Photo …

An expat in Nepal | A personal rhapsody

I write this with all seriousness yet it could be seen as quite comical! I never thought I’d move abroad long-term, away from my tiny island. Let alone get married (those who know me may have thought I'd be forever single!) and start a life in a foreign land so far away from home. There …

Today I danced

I danced and I cried. Music blared out of our small apartment in the chaos of Kathmandu. The soothing voice and heavy rock tunes of Evanescence, ‘My Immortal’ and ‘Bring me back to life’ electrocuted my body; a reminiscence of my teenage years came down on me like a tonne of bricks as I tried …

Nepal, 1 year after earthquake

One year has passed since an earthquake shook Nepal and its people into massive challenges. When I listen to stories from this day my skin shivers with goose flesh. The destruction it caused it to many historical sites is just the beginning; it goes on to The loss of lives, children orphaned with nowhere to …

Rural vs city life

For the last 3 months I've been on the road almost every week, staying a maximum of 7 days at one time in one place. As I do this I'm "leaving a piece of my heart in every place" a special person told me. I've created and developed new families in the same country living …

Marriage in rural Nepal

Growing up as a village girl in Nepal and around most of the country, you never really know your fate and who you will spend the rest of your life with. It's still custom in Nepal for arranged marriage. Last week, my bahini (little sister), aka nani (little girl) was married off. She's 19 years old …

Gaule days

I recently acquired the nickname Gaule meaning villager in Nepali. Rather befitting to the situation, as I left Kathmandu to carry stones in a dhoko and plaster classrooms in dung and mud in Udaypur. On my return to Tanahun I finally decided to take this Maya experience to a new dimension. After 4 months contemplating and …

Searching for the kid in me

I was never the fun park kind of kid. I don't think my parents were either. I've never been to Disney land or anything similar and always shied away from the small pop up fun parks back home. Whilst in Udaypur, I received a call to request that I present to some college students in …