I arrive at Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery for tea with visit with Ani Tenzin Palmo. Her private study is spacious and packed with books and a writing desk, dark brown and burgundy, with clear light streaming through the windows. She sits in an upholstered chair in her robes. If I was at all nervous, her genuine kindness and humour immediately puts me at ease.

In South India there is a lonely hill that is revered in Hindu sacred tradition and legendary history. My travels in Tiruvannamalia, India, take me to the heart of the Holy Mountain and the teachings of Ramana Maharishi. 

A visit to the inner sanctum of Arunachaleswar Temple for darshan 

The Mountain Path. I get up early after a noisy night of surreal dreams, eat an iddly breakfast and take a rickshaw to the Sri Ramana Maharishi ashram. It’s a beautiful morning to climb Arunachala.

Karma yoga, a lecherous pundit and Advaita satang in Tiruvannamalai

Giri Pradakshina is an ancient ritual where thousands of Siva devotees circumambulate Arunachala as an act of bhakti (love) for Siva and ultimate union with the Self. While it can be done at any time, certain times are considered more powerful. New Year’s Eve is particularly auspicious this year because it’s full moon, blue moon and lunar eclipse.

Boat-tripping through Myanmar's labyrinth of canals to visit cheroot factories, jumping cat monasteries, floating markets and the ancient archeological site of Indein.

....From agony to ecstacy on a 10-day silent Goenka Vipassana retreat at the Dhamma Joti Meditation Centre in Yangon, Myanmar.

A journey back in time. Thousands of Buddhist pagodas and temples dating back to the 11th century C.E. rise up from the plain in Myanmar.

....Powwow is a collision of traditional and contemporary dance styles. Fancy Dancers twist and spin in rapid beats, their ‘pan-Indian’ outfits of double bustles of dyed turkey feathers, and bright ribbon streamers, swirl in a blaze of colour, blending Native movements with popular, contemporary styles like break dancing.