A Journal of Travel Tales Across 72 Countries
There are journeys that defy definition or slotting. They happen, often without aforethought. And bring a wealth of unanticipated pleasures, pain and perspectives. Perhaps they happen for a reason. Every trip need not be a themed one. Leave some to serendipity and see what it …
Confront your fears before they conquer you, they say. I did. What does it take to jump out of an aircraft flying 15000 feet as the ground rushes toward you at the speed of light? How does it feel when your instructor pushes you off …
Mountains are majestic and irresistible. Linking the plains and plateaus with the skies; reaching out to suspended droplets of water in the clouds and gathering them in glaciers and snow peaks; sheltering the treasures of the sea floor in their crests; cherishing unfathomable secrets in …
Islands are magical. They often are quirky, funky, wilful, eclectic and more. Islands are never insular even when isolated. Vibrant, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual or pidgin, multi-cultural in a way mainland can never be, islands are the stuff of legends and lore. They are too independent to …
Our planet is hopelessly trodden upon. There is hardly a spot untrampled by human feet or unclaimed by human greed. Even in the remotest jungles of the Amazon or Borneo, or the wastelands of Patagonia, our insatiable race is digging for buried riches – oil, …
My love of train journeys began in 1981 when I travelled all the way from London to Moscow, by train crossing the channel by ferry and resuming the train ride in Belgium to reach Paris. We stopped in Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin (those days it was …
If Charles Lamb were to live in modern times, he would amend his famous quote to say, “the automobile has entered my soul”. It clogs up our cities, sprays carbon into our lungs, turns our environs into a dreadful cacophony of blaring horns, screeching tyres …
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome and dangerous, wrote a friend. No, not a curse, but a blessing. My wild trails have been all this and more; if only you care to walk with me, you will track the frustratingly elusive orangutan mom as …
The most fascinating journeys are those that lead you backwards – in time – step by chipped, cracked, crumbling step. If you manage not to trip or slip through the cracks, a world of wonder awaits you. These are places that tease and tantalize, excite …
1000 km return, 7 days When was the last time you drove off Google Maps into uncharted territory? After all, google maps have a million tentacles which reach out everywhere and strangles almost the entire planet in its vice-like embrace. Yet, there are hidden corners …
The craggy coastlines have an irresistible allure. The pond stretched all the way to the Americas from the west coast of Spain. Finsterre is truly Lands End, on the Atlantic coast. It is a fishing village. The coasts is studded with practical fishing boats with …
Porto, another UNESCO World Heritage site in a planet crowded with such sites, is a coastal city in northwest Portugal known for its stately bridges and port wine production. Cobbled and sloping narrow streets lined with colourful homes and ornamental windows face the river and …
Where in the world can you hike through a tunnel of green canopy for miles through charming villages with their antique stone masonry and fecund farms bursting with produce? In Gallicia in Spain. Even for the non-believers, the Caminho is such an enchanting trail that …
As you drive south from the swaying emerald rice paddies of Tiruchy and Thanjavur peppered with magnificent temples, the land becomes less lush and even arid in patches. Don’t let the apparent aridity fool you though. Karaikudi, the main town and the villages surrounding it …
Melaka, sitting astride the busy Malacca Straits is a quaint little town that fancies itself as the Venice of Asia. It has the Melaka river (more a canal) running through the town. Kitschy bridges criss-cross the canal while the dilapidated houses on its banks have …
As you drive through the dusty plains of northern Karnataka, dun-coloured rocks and boulders, some as big as hillocks line up on both sides like sentinels. Chalukya kings were captivated by these boulders that they decided to turn them into works of art. Burrowing the …
Like Delhi, Windhoek is perched on the edge of the desert, but unlike Delhi, there’s no alluvial river to fertilize it, nor is there abundant vegetation to clothe it. To me, Windhoek appeared like a disrobed town, fair, clean and orderly in its nakedness. The …
