Some time ago I found an old wiro notebook in a drawer. A scruffy wiro bound notebook with a photo of 2 men in a kayak with a bear on the front cover. In that notebook I found terrible sketches drawn in pencil made while travelling in 1991. One sketch leapt out at me. It was a rough pencil sketch of Mt Ararat from a backpacking trip to eastern Turkey. The sketch really surprised me – it was a very basic pencil sketch, drawn using a .5mm technical pencil on a cheap notepad. The sketch is just black and white… To my surprise the sounds and smells of the day came flooding back. Meeting some Kurdish goat herders and their flock near the base of Mt Ararat, about 10km from the Iranian border on a bright sunny but cool, alpine day. Along with memories of driving across the mountain steppe in an old Renault 19 and the smells of chai and coffee in a Doğubayazıt pasta solunu. It all came back come flooding back! Why did it evoke such vivid memories? I’m not really sure to be honest. Maybe t...
A walk around Fort Kochi is like walking through a history lesson. From Chinese fishing nets, ancient Portuguese churches and Dutch houses.
This is the 15th century St Francis church. India’s oldest Christian church and Vasco de Gamas original burial place. A short walk away around the harbour entrance you’ll find giant Chinese fishing nets introduced in the 1300's the design of which is still used today along this coast.
I visited Mahatma Gandhi Beach on the evening after Eid and the beach was swarming with people enjoying the sun setting over the Arabian Sea.
Parts of the old Portuguese fort are still visible around the waterfont.
The Bristow Hotel drawn in the cool of morning while dozens of people stop to introduce themselves and talk – about cricket and the Black Caps mostly!
An interesting combination of architectural style – old Portuguese and Dutch colonial to modern Middle Eastern styles.
The harbour entrance is fascinating. It wasn't easy but I found a place on the waters edge that sold beer, bought a large Kingfisher and spent an hour sketching the huge variety of vessels coming and going.
They included narrow, nimble 1-2 man fishing canoes right through to large container vessels. As I finished the beer, packed my sketchbook and drawing tools away, an impressive Indian navy aircraft carrier cruised past at what seemed like 20 knots.
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