Doing Words

Kthxbai till August

I’ll be turning off the flashing neon sign, drawing the blinds and turning off the fridge at the end of this week. Doing Words will be closed fo’ bidnez from 10 July - 20 August as the family and I take an extended school holiday.

Where are we going? Well, last year we visited the Himachal Pradesh region of northern India, part of the Himalaya ranges to the north west of Nepal. This time we’re going back to Himachal Pradesh and staying in the village of Tabo for a few weeks, enjoying a three-yearly Chakkha festival there, going camping with a busload of schoolkids up around Ki, then off to Leh in Ladakh via some of the highest driveable mountain passes in the world.

Most Aussies head to Nepal when they want to see the Himalayas. Himachal Pradesh is a bit more off the beaten track and yet just as beautiful, maybe more so. There’s a fascinating mix of Tibetan and Indian cultures and you can experience a simple, happy way of life that hasn’t changed much in a few hundred years. Just going off the grid for five weeks has got to be good for me. I’m sure the interweb will still be here when I get back…

If you ever fancy doing something like this yourself, I highly recommend the lovely and knowledgeable people at YakTrak Tours. Here’s some photos from the trip last year (and the complete collection is on Flickr.)

Help destroy the Death Star and get a tax deduction without getting up from your chair

High net worth individuals like us are assailed by charities of various flavours in the months of May and June, asking us to part with our heard-earned to save the Lesser Tassled Dimwit from certain extinction at the hands of evil developers, faceless corporations, climate change, radical religious groups, the Grand Moff Tarkin and the unchallenged might of the Imperial Death Star.

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