After 100 hours in Tibet, I knew it was time to leave After 100 hours in Tibet, I knew it was time to leave Writer Pico Iyer understands that by keeping an outer journey short, you can make the inner journey that follows echo across a lifetime. In time, like space, a curious mathematics often […]

Mongolia’s obsession with pine nuts Halfway up the mountain, Enkhbaatar disappeared. “Enkhbaatar, where are you?” We swivelled, trying to spot his white hat through the tangled branches. This was no place to lose one’s guide. We were only a few kilometres below the Siberian border, in a dense, subarctic pine forest known as a taiga. […]

The country that brought yoghurt to the world A 4,000-year-old yoghurt Not only is the history of yoghurt tied to Bulgaria, but Bulgaria’s history and identity can be traced through its production. In Bulgaria, yoghurt is everywhere. You’ll find it dolloped on falafel wraps, slathered on moussaka and lined up in supermarket refrigerators. It is […]

How sausage flavours the German language The one that came up most often was the classic ‘Viel Regen bringt viel Segen’ or ‘lots of rain brings many blessings’, which I suspected was less a time-tested truth than a means of consoling an inconsolable bride. My father-in-law, however, only looked at me sadly, shaking his head […]

Lonely columns that once supported three open-air theatres, a basilica and a temple dotted the hilltop. From Alomari’s home, I took in the dramatic view of the Sea of Galilee and Israel. A little further east, Syria’s south-western corner spread out before me. Forty-five years ago, Alomari was born in this very place – a […]