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Jaffna

On Jaffna, the Long-Lost Home and the Sweetest Plain Tea at Karaitivu

January 1, 2018

On Jaffna, the Long-Lost Home and the Sweetest Plain Tea at Karaitivu

That one weekend we boarded the train, and went all the way to Jaffna for a mini fam trip.

Good morning. Thinking of this village on a platea

Good morning. Thinking of this village on a plateau in @meghtourism today 🌿❤️

#natnzin
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#meghalayadiaries #meghalaya #meghalayatrip #meghalayatourism #meghalayaphotography #meghalya #incredibleindia🇮🇳 #incredibleindia #indiatourismplaces🇮🇳🏝️🎋🌿 #india #northeastindia #northeast_india #northeasttrails #whereisnortheastindia #whereisnortheast #thisisnortheast

I WROTE A NEW BLOG POST. It's so long and personal

I WROTE A NEW BLOG POST. It's so long and personal. It's about being a traveler, but also about being a nestler, the concept of home, family and happiness.

LINK IN BIO 🌿✨

An excerpt: My relearning of a place happens when I walk through its streets, eat in its many hole-in-the-walls, and drink with its people.

When I relearn, my heart, without me knowing, soaks up the tidbits of a place. And then, even before I know it, I become emotional about the smell of teh tarik in a Malaysian cafe, or the earthy smell of paddy in the Sri lankan countryside. I become emotional about the uncles retreating with the daily Telegraph on a roadside bench in Kolkata. They slowly sip their mud-coloured tea.

I’m emotional about the blue waters of Meghalaya and the misty mountains of Mizoram. I’m emotional about women-run markets in India, where women talk and shout and chatter and laugh. They chop meat and sell clothes and carry baskets full of living chicken on their heads. I’m emotional about the dust that once caked my tangled hair as I slept during a bumpy bus ride through rural Uttar Pradesh.

I relearn [about] places and savour them and love them. So wherever I go, they go with me, their smells, sounds, memories and laughter. They lay in a corner of my heart, treasured.

Zin xx

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#writing #traveling #travelphotographer
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Thinking about mountains, today, tomorrow and fore

Thinking about mountains, today, tomorrow and forever 🌿✨

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#mountains #mountainlifestyle #srilanka #srilankatourism #srilankatravel #traveljournal #travelphotographer #travelwriting #srilanka🇱🇰 #sosrilanka #visitsrilanka #mountainlife #mountainview

Fav Indian train food 🧡 aloo puri— fresh, war

Fav Indian train food 🧡 aloo puri— fresh, warm and comes with a green chili 🌿

#natnzin
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#india #incredibleindia🇮🇳 #incredibleindia #indiatourism #indianfood #indiatourismplaces🇮🇳🏝️🎋🌿 #indianfood #indianstreetfood #streetfood #indianfoodbloggers #kolkata #trains #indiapictures

Filed a draft about Mizoram recently and these pic

Filed a draft about Mizoram recently and these pictures came to mind 🌿 I'm equally amazed and equally terrified by seeing all my friends traveling in India right now, but also vicariously living through their pictures 🙏

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#india #mizoram #aizawl #incredibleindia🇮🇳 #incredibleindia #northeastindia #northeast_india #northeasttrails #northeastindiatourism #indiatourism

Turned 26 yesterday, and Nathan did the cutest gar

Turned 26 yesterday, and Nathan did the cutest garden decos with a cutesy newspaper cake ❤️☺️ Super grateful to have the best people in life, here and far 🌻

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It's almost Christmas (I know I know how did it ha

It's almost Christmas (I know I know how did it happen???) So I was in this Ao Naga village last year — alright, Ao Nagas are an ethnic group in Nagaland. But where is Nagaland (always needs an introduction)??? It's in India. Northeast corner of the country. For context, @flipkart has declared that Nagaland is somewhere outside India.

So yes, finally, this was Christmas last year, in this really small Ao village. These villages every year has a feast for the community on Christmas. Usually, a family funds it. So the community gathers at one place and prepares food for the entire village.

The pig 🐖 is a big part of the celebration. But when they came to know that my friend doesn't eat non-halal food, they were so kind enough to cook fish.

Last photo is the lovely fam who had funded this feast 🙏❤️

Until we can travel again//

Zin
xx
📷: @sahidulislaml
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Missing mountains today 🌿 . . . #natnzin #sril

Missing mountains today 🌿
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#natnzin #srilankatrip #srilankatravel #traveljournal #travelphotographer #travelsrilanka🇱🇰 #travelwriting #srilanka #sosrilanka #visitsrilanka #mountainlife #mountains #mountainview #mountainlifestyle

Happy Children's Day to the child in us that never

Happy Children's Day to the child in us that never left, thank you for being there to quirk our lives when all else dulls and shatters us; our hearts and minds and souls and bodies.

On a cold, misty day in Idalgashinna, the child in me stopped at a assorted grocery shop for a ice(d) packet, or — a popsicle covered in creamy milk. The real shop owner — a charming furry king in his territory — came and sat beside me, demanding for the milky ice.

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#srilanka #childrensday #happychildrensday #idalgashinna #srilankatravel #srilankatourism #travelphotographer #traveljournal #travelwriting #travelwriter #traveljournalist #visitsrilanka

nsfw • not for kids content 😉 • Picture t

nsfw • not for kids content 😉 •

Picture three: a few moments later.

Who else loves birds? Caught these two in #NuwaraEliya a few weeks back!
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Last weekend in the mountains 🌿♥️ The hills

Last weekend in the mountains 🌿♥️ The hills are so so dear to our hearts.

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#mountains #mountainlife #srilankatrip #srilankatourism #srilankatravel #srilanka #travelphotographer #traveljournal #travelsrilanka🇱🇰 #beautifuldestinations #mountainview

Hello there 🐦 Nathan took a photo of this littl

Hello there 🐦 Nathan took a photo of this little friend when we were in #NuwaraEliya two weeks ago. Does anyone know their name?

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#birdsofinstagram #birdphotography #birds #birds_captures #birds_adored #birdsofparadise #birdwatching #birdlovers #birdlover #birdlove #srilanka #srilankatrip #travelphotographer #traveljournal

Nathan printed out my king coconuts story for Vitt

Nathan printed out my king coconuts story for Vittles last week to give to Uncle Sudath, the king coconuts vendor who I interviewed for the piece. He doesn't have a smartphone to view the link.

(This also made me want to print out all my stories and make a hardcovered book with them. It's crazy I know)

So we went there and Uncle Sudath wasn't there. His friend was, who was so very very overjoyed to see the story and photos of his friend — Uncle Sudath. He was happier when he got to know that the printout was for them to keep, who started showing it to his other friends around.

I've written many things for many places over the 2+ years in the industry, but this was truly the happiest moment. I often don't want to write anything about Sri Lanka (because the experience is so brutally cold) but it's moments like this that really motivates me, and truly, this country, and her best elements — they are all a work of the people in the grassroots, the ones we often forget to celebrate.
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Some railway stations are straight out of a fairyt

Some railway stations are straight out of a fairytale ♥️

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#srilanka🇱🇰 #srilanka #nuwaraeliya #thalawakele #srilankatravel #srilankatrip #traveljournal #travelsrilanka #travelsrilanka🇱🇰 #wanderlustsrilanka #kandy

HELLO HELLO EVERYONE!!! REMEMBER, FARM TO THALI???

HELLO HELLO EVERYONE!!! REMEMBER, FARM TO THALI????

The wonderful Divya, or you may know her as @gonewithawhim, is doing her totes amazing food-y series Farm to Thali (check her feed for her intro post!!!).

Sooooo, I'm taking over her Instagram today and I'm on the first episode, talking about Sri Lankan food. Follow @gonewithawhim and check it out later today! So so excited for this. We'll be doing a video in the future too, as part of the Farm to Thali series.

And and, I'm not the only one. There are many other contributors and creators from across the world who grew up in or are part of South Asian cultures. Farm to Thail will feature episodes from Assam, Bhutan but also from the Indian communities in South Africa. It's gonna be amazing and a platform where we can learn about South Asian food, which is always hindered everywhere.

So see you all later at @gonewithawhim ♥️

#natnzin x #farmtothali
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NEW BLOG POST! Always love writing about the North

NEW BLOG POST! Always love writing about the Northeast! LINK IN BIO 🌿

An excerpt:

"This chutney is packed with bright red Northeastern chilis. It blazes your palate and heats your mouth with the sapid, strong taste it carries. It’s so hot that it puts my spice-withstanding skills to shame.

I grew up eating my father’s coconut sambal every day at home. For his coconut sambal, my father picks up a handful of deep red, dried chili and crushes them. He chops them with scraped coconut, Maldive fish flakes, and salt, and sprinkles a lime before he serves it with his stir-fried dry fish. My mother would often complain that my father’s sambal carried heat one couldn’t stomach. I agreed, but I loved his spicy sambal. For years, it trained me for any spicy food I came across in my humbly evolving food journey. Yet, when I finally mouthed a chutney made of northeastern chili in Nongnah, I realized I wasn’t quite trained enough for it."

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#natnzin #northeast_india #northeasttrails #northeastindiatourism #northeastindia @northeast_trails #traveljournal #travelwriting #incredibleindia #india #lonelyplanetindia #indiatourism #meghalayatrip #meghalaya #meghalayadiaries #westkhasihills #southwestkhasihills #nongnah #nonglang #ruraltourism

I'm always so fascinated by the sheer love the Kha

I'm always so fascinated by the sheer love the Khasi community of Meghalaya has for fishing. They aren't devoted fish eaters like the neighbouring Assam or Bangladesh.

They don't use nets that catch tiny fish and harm the river life.

But they—mostly men, but also women—spend hours and days—standing, sitting, lying flat—on rugged boulders scattered in shallow rivers with their fishing rods.

They'd float and twirl in their tiny wooden boats the entire day to catch one fish. Young people swim, wear diving masks and dive deep to catch giant fish hiding behind river-drown rocks. They cook rice over a blazing fire by the river banks for smoked fish with a charred tinge. If their rods bring them fingerlings—or, tiny fish—they are returned to the waterbodies.

Some villagers hike for several days inside the wet jungles to fish—fishing trips—or, fishing treks. Fishing competitions happen often in many parts of Meghalaya. Kids spend hours after school in the rivers, picking up bits and pieces of their fishing culture.

📷: @sahidulislaml

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Hi everyone ✨ hope you are all well. In the last

Hi everyone ✨ hope you are all well. In the last two weeks, I filed copy for five articles while working on three social media accounts. Also moved houses with Nathan and went on a con call with my friend's Vietnamese students—happiest moment in the week.

Now that it's done, I'm working on a small passion project. Also writing a blog post for next week!

What are you up to?

Zin x

Jumpsuit by @ayana.apparel at @beverlystreet (not an ad but absolutely love it).

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Turmeric from the backyards in Majuli. Funnily eno

Turmeric from the backyards in Majuli. Funnily enough, the whole of Sri Lanka don't have turmeric now—except for those who grow them in their gardens, like my father.

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#majuli #assam #assamdiaries #assamtourism #travelassam #northeastindia #northeast_india #india #incredibleindia

NEW BLOG POST 🙌 We recently did another collab

NEW BLOG POST 🙌 We recently did another collab and published this blog post on the most beautiful Himalayan villages in India one should visit ♥️

Link in bio!

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#himalays #himachalpradesh #ladakh #spiti #arunachalpradesh #dharamshala #northeastindia #sikkim #india #incrediblenindia #indiafeatures

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