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Approx. 2 weeks ago I returned from a trip to India, Sri Lanka and China, searching again to source some unique pieces for the shop. It was my fourth time in Delhi and I’m really coming to love this mad city and it comes a long way from when I first visited nearly 20 years ago.  The metro is very Singapore-like in its efficiency and I love how much it contrasts with the ancient feel of Old Delhi’s maze of alleys and pathways.  The spice market is a visual feast – the whole place is.

I found some good timber pieces, old lassi cups (coming end July) and some beautiful hand embroidered Gudari cotton throws (a few now in store). Sri Lanka was definitely the highlight of the trip. It’s a bit ‘India-light’ – it’s a more manageable size, the locals are gentle, friendly and eager to engage. The food is out of this world (lighter, more delicate and complex than Indian) and I found some truly beautiful stuff for the store.

I met photographer Nicholas Watt in Colombo and we travelled together for 6 days. As well as sourcing for the shop I wanted to document the trip for the book I’m working on and shoot some gardens for Belle. In Colombo we were lucky enough to stay in the home of the late architect Geoffrey Bawa. Much has been written and documented about the great architect and his talents – and it is certainly worth looking into.  He is the godfather, if you like, of tropical resort design and architecture.  Think pavilions, connection of the home to the outdoors - the whole inside-out movement was perfected by him.  We also stayed at his retreat ‘Lunuganga’ and looked at 2 other projects of his. All very inspiring!! Check out the next issue of Belle which comes out on the shelves beginning of July as I’m currently putting the story together.

I’ll leave you with some images – these are mine by the way, just from my iphone – you will have to wait a while to see the good ones, sorry!

P.S - I have just joined Instagram so will be putting all my images up on there, username RichardUnsworth.