for a lifestyle full of love and adventure
Yesterday, my Khasi friend Jonathan checked in to see if I was fine. It turned out that he’s actually enjoying his quarantine days. He wakes up and goes fishing. For Khasis, fishing is their ultimate hobby. Jonathan—or, Jona, as we call him, lives in Shnongpdeng, […]
6 AM. It was mid-January. I remember getting off the train at Howrah. It bustled with sounds. I remember manoeuvring past railway platforms lined with passengers in their deep sleep. They were overnight wanderers waiting for their morning train. Perhaps, late arrivers catching some sleep. […]
Recently, we were passing by the makeshift stalls covered by piles and piles of rambutan, mangosteen and duriyan on Havelock Road, and wondered why we haven’t written anything about the glorious amount of tropical fruit available in our island. So here we are, writing about […]
“I think we and Sri Lankan people are the same level nice,” says Oksonam, which according to her is extremely nice. Over the years, traveling in Sri Lanka has taught me one thing – it’s that its people, my people, those who live in far […]
She’s beautiful. She glistens in the warmth of the morning light as if she was like a sunkissed carpet of grass decorated with tiny wildflowers. They dance in the soft October breeze. Some of them are painted pastel purple. Others: yellow, pink and lily white.
Thailand is a beautiful country with warm, kind souls, making its “Land of Smiles” title well-earned. It’s also no wonder that the country draws in thousands of visitors per year, thus making the tourism industry one of their biggest economic contributors. Tourists actually play a […]
They all sang and danced together. “It was like a party inside the train,” Anne would tell me. It is now our dream to visit the vibrant, bustling cities of Punjab and the rural countryside brimming with life.
Some days, during my trips, I sit quietly on new cafes, sipping local coffee. Other days, I, unable to speak the local language, walk past locals, grinning. I observe them from far, quietly.
We take a scenic route to reach the Nuwara Eliya – Welimada Road, passing colonial-era tea gardens, eucalyptus trees where mist journeys like an old mystic character from Russian children’s fantasies, and pink daisies dance to the chilly mountain breeze.
His memories take him to his childhood where he and his family would walk through the tree-clad paths after the monsoon showers, where wild, edible mushrooms popped up on old, dilapidated tree trunks.
There are many ways to experience Sri Lanka, but to know her real side – the warmth of strangers, the nose-tingling aroma of a seasoned chicken curry, and the mythical beauty of paddy-fields where fireflies dance in a moonless night – one has to dive deep into her community.
I too grieved. I too sobbed. I too cried. I never went through the pain the people directly affected went through. But looking at nothingness, my eyes filled with tears. So then I decided to take care of myself. To take care of my fragile heart.
Hello, we are Nathan and Zinara. In 2015, we met in a quirky backpack hostel in Colombo, fell in love, and started travelling together. Through NatnZin, we document our real, honest travel experiences coupled with captivating photography. Read more about us here.
