“No refusal” is written on all the egg yolk-colored cabs of Kolkata, a pledge sometimes kept by the cabdrivers, but always fulfilled by the city itself. From the first time I had a chance to wander the decaying colonial city, Kolkata's been a mysterious yet open city for me, its wide sidewalks like something out of Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities.” I’ve always wanted to come back to dig deeper, not...

This season I went down to Mysore via Bangalore with my trusted travel companion Gavin, a local expat and professional collector. Just as we were heading down South from Delhi we learned the two states we were travelling through were having water disputes; roads were shut down, trucks were being set on fire. In India one never knows how bad these situations really are—there is always something going on—so we...

Portugal, just a quick jump from New York City, has the same cracking glaze of history as Italy but the shorter distances between regions makes it easier to see more in less time. Fly into Lisbon and take it all in: eat, hunt and see all of the quirky museums. I stayed at the York House, a boutique hotel on the cobblestone streets of Alfama. A block away is the...

   "Better the spear that missed an elephant than the arrow that killed a hare." - Indian proverb Gavin, my pal in Delhi, tells me about a remote town in the deep South of India with rows and rows of antique shops filled with castoffs of wealthy Indian merchants. I am always on the hunt for new ideas and old markets and I jump at the chance to tag along...

I’ve just returned from Leh, the Indian town on a perfectly blue, high-altitude desert bordering China and Pakistan. Set at the crossroads of the Punjab and central Asia, Kashmir and Tibet, it was once the hub of 17th century caravan trade. I warn you there is a lot to do here, so plan your trip with a generous amount of time. I wish I had. I was there shooting so...

Thailand and I go way back… 20 years, in fact. I was a recent art-school graduate trekking across India in search of block printing workshops, and frankly, I was worn out. I flew to Bangkok for a break, showed up at an art opening for Julian Schnabel, and somehow emerged from that party with a job working for a Thai who was developing what can only be summarized as the...

…Whereas, Pepper has nothing in it to that can plead as a recommendation… its only desirable quality being a certain pungency; and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India! - Pliny The Elder, 77 CE I am always searching for pungency, and Cochin Fort seemed like the perfect place to explore. Tucked in a corner of the state of Kerala, Cochin was once...

My memories of Goa are from twenty years back: the palm-lined funky Anjuna beach, the lithe hippies covered in jewelry and dreadlocks (and attitude) selling all their earthly possessions on beach towels. People who lived out on the skinny branches of existence. I wanted to join them or at least grab some of their style. Goa has exploded since then. The foreigners have settled for good and more Indians have...

  Upon landing in Sri Lanka, I immediately wanted to compare it to India. At a swanky dinner party in a renovated colonial mansion, the smartly outfitted host gently reprimanded me to leave India in India- so I did that. With that, I could behold Sri Lanka opening up before me- a land of Buddhist, Tamils, Muslims, and Christians recovering from a war but moving forward, surrounded by perfect oceans, rambling jungles,...

  Who has not heard of the vale of Cashmere, with its roses the brightest that earth ever gave its temples, and grottos, and fountains as clear as the love-lighted eyes that hang over their wave. - Thomas Moore, Lalla-Rookh   Expecting machine gun bunkers, I was pleasantly surprised to just stroll out from the airport in Srinagar into any other Indian town except with air-the fresh, soft alpine! I am...