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Nihang warriors

Nihang warriors

Moonpeak Magazine No. 2

Tragedy in Crimson – Tim Johnson

EARTH TREMORS AHEAD Pay no attention to the subtitle of this book, ‘How the Dalai Lama Conquered the World but Lost the Battle with China’. The author says relatively little about His Holiness, possibly because so much has already been written. As for losing the battle with China, if one thing emerges it is that … Continue reading →

Vientiane – foodie’s paradise

Vientiane might be short on sightseeing, but it makes up for it with fabulous food and wine. And it’s cheap as chips. Although Laos is becoming an increasingly popular destination for travellers, many of them only pass through the capital, Vientiane, in their eagerness to get to other parts of the country such as Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang … Continue reading →

Indrahara Pass trek – McLeodganj to Bharmaur

OVER THE HILLS The trek from McLeodganj to Bharmaur takes about a week and is not for the faint-hearted. But the rewards are spectacular, and arachnophobes should do just fine. Eight of us set out for Bharmaur – Wendy, Neil, Dave, Claire, Ramesh, Jaggi, Pappu and me – a motley crew assembled in McLeodganj over … Continue reading →

Why you don’t need an SLR to take great pictures

MIRRORLESS IMAGES For almost a decade, the digital SLR has been king. But while the current offerings from Nikon, Canon and Sony are almighty machines, the convergence of format has tended to constrain style. Pictures made with the same kind of camera will all, to some degree, look a bit the same. Here and in … Continue reading →

Is the Mamiya 7ii the best camera in the world?

It’s not digital. It’s not autofocus. It’s made of nasty plastic. And yet. It costs less than half your top Canon or Nikon, and its image quality blows them out of the water. How does it do it, and what, exactly, is it? The Mamiya 7ii is that rarest of beasts, a medium format rangefinder. To … Continue reading →

Miss Tibet 2011

NO EVENT GENERATES AS MUCH INTERNATIONAL PRESS IN McLEODGANJ AS THE MISS TIBET CONTEST,  A SMALL TOWN BEAUTY PAGEANT WITH A BIG FOLLOWING. THIS YEAR, SIX TIBETANS COMPETED FOR THE CROWN. Tenzin Yangkyi, a 17-year-old Tibetan from Zurich, Switzerland waves to the crowd after winning the Miss Tibet 2011 beauty pageant in Dharamshala, India, Sunday, June … Continue reading →

Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity – Sam Miller

LONG WAY ROUND There can’t be too many books where the footnotes are more entertaining than the text. Who would’ve known that cockroaches are related to lobsters – although not as closely as humans are to rats, apparently? There are other embellishments as well – hand drawn maps, intriguing black and white photos sprinkled throughout … Continue reading →