Kashmir – Afoot In Shehr-e-Khas
An atmospheric walk though Sher-e-Khas: the historic centre of Srinagar, its cultural monuments and its bustling bazaars arrayed along the river Jhelum.
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TRAVELOGUES
The best part of travel, for me, is when I manage to connect with a destination, when random foreign names on a map end up becoming almost as familiar as home sometimes.
These are my travelogues: the stories of my connection with the customs, folklore, traditions and value systems that shape people and the places they inhabit.
Hampi – The Echoes of Glory
The empire is long gone. Its relics scattered across a breathtaking boulder strewn landscape once chosen for its impregnability. Desolate ruins, lacking the antiquity of Egypt, the precision of Inca stonework or the mathematical coding of Angkor Wat. But Hampi’s stones – those chiselled by man into intricate divine forms, as well as those worn smooth by the elements – whisper stories. […]
Read MoreDubrovnik – Undeniably Beautiful
Dubrovnik is Croatia’s star destination for a reason. And once you get over the feeling of having stepped into a fantasy set and learn to sidestep the cruise ship surge (even in early May!) there is a lot more to do than click selfies at key Game of Thrones locations.
Read MoreSan Sebastian – Belle Epoque Charm & Sublime Pintxos
Exploring the sophisticated charm and the sublime pintxo culture of San Sebastian.
Read MoreThe Pagoda Fields Of Bagan
Bagan has always been synonymous with Burma for me. The vivid imagery of hundreds of mystical pagodas rising out of vast misty plains or silhouetted against a gloriously golden sky has beckoned me for as long as I can remember. The reality however was unexpectedly mixed. The temples are stunning from afar. Close up, the mystique gets eroded somewhat, and you begin to understand why a […]
Read MoreMyanmar – Romancing The Irrawaddy
A cruise isn’t mandatory for a Myanmar itinerary. Most central Burmese attractions are easily accessed from Mandalay or Bagan by road or public ferry. But there is something about a river cruise, about floating lazily on an ancient body of water while witnessing life unfold along its banks, that is intimate and immersive. We had experienced the magic on the Nile, and […]
Read MoreMyanmar – The Considerable Attractions Of Inle Lake
The Heho (airport) arrival hall dominated by a baggage scanning unit reinstates my pre-conceived notions. Its a bit like India in the seventies, when passenger comfort played second fiddle to paranoia over contraband. The authorities definition of it anyway. Once luggage is identified from the heap in the middle of the room however, and passed through the all seeing machine, […]
Read MoreFine Wines, Bodegas & Hill Towns Of Rioja Alavesa
For our 40th anniversary last month, (You read right. And ditch the math, I am not quite as old as you are thinking right now!) we consciously decided to give showy sights a miss for a slow savouring of food, wine and languorous coastal villages. And the Basque region came up trumps on all counts. With just the right amount of […]
Read MoreCuenca & The Last Of The Casas Colgadas
The avant garde metal and glass interior of the Fernando Zobel train station was the last thing we expected when we disembarked after our 45 min. high speed train journey from Madrid. A nagging feeling that we had inadvertently got off at the wrong station persisted as we climbed into the lone taxi out front and sped […]
Read MorePondicherry – An Ersatz French Weekend
Travel had taken a backseat in our lives with the past several weeks being consumed by hospital visits and doctors appointments. Thankfully R is fully recovered from a minor surgical procedure, and a condition I was diagnosed with turned out to be less scary than it initially sounded, but they made for some awfully stressful moments. A final all […]
Read MoreJodhpur – Marwar Meets Andalucia In Mehrangarh…..
The fusion of traditions at the Jodhpur Flamenco and Gypsy Festival is a visual and emotive exploration of rhythm! Of the passion and pathos of the Cante, with the joyous, raucous melodies of the Thar desert. The mellow tones of the acoustic guitar, with the shrill keening of the Kamaicha and the Sindhi Sarangi. The power and the poise of the […]
Read MoreZanzibar – The Allure Of The Familiar
Everything, barring the intensely turquoise waters of the Indian ocean, felt startlingly familiar. The sultry weather, the spicy coconut infused curries, the colorful attire, the ornately chiseled doors. Even the traditional game of Bao. My Indianness, and the fact that I had grown up watching monsoon winds billowing the lateen sails of Arab dhows and dreaming of following in the wake of mythical adventurers, […]
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