A Journal of Travel Tales Across 72 Countries
Testosterone and four-wheel drives make for a heady, often deadly combination. Three fancy four-wheel drives, plastered with rally stickers and belting out thunderous music are roaring up the hillsides, crunching pebbles with their monstrous tyres and overtaking other vehicles nonchalantly, in their rush to get …
“I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills When all at once, I saw a cloud A host of golden daffodils Besides the lake, beneath the trees Fluttering and dancing in the breeze” Oh, treat the last bit as …
A gurgling stream flows right down the middle of the cobbled pedestrian-only high-street. Water wheels at frequent intervals ensure that the crystal-clear water does not stagnate. Ersatz bamboo bridges arch across the stream and lead to alleyways that meander seductively through the plaza. Not a …
Strobilanthus seduced. Visions of dazzling blue slopes crowding the horizon cascaded in the mind’s eye as I hurriedly packed my bag and hopped into the car for a six-hour drive to Coorg where kurinji had been spotted. But my date with the blossoms was not …
Spontaneous journeys throw up spontaneous charms. I have been to Ooty a few times, once even by that quaint heritage railway that chugs, hoots and heaves leisurely for six hours from Mettupalayam and serves up rectangular frames of pine-scented meadows. A road that snakes alongside …
Lepakshi is a non-descript village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, some hundred kilometers from Bangalore. It sports an ancient temple of stone, as do many in the Deccan, known for its artistic sensibilities. The temple itself is modest, compared to Hampi although both were …
Suddenly we decided to check out Dandeli for birding. But first we must go to Goa, pick up a friend and then drive to Dandeli. These being Covid times, we decided to just drive. We set out at 4 am from Bengaluru and reached Goa …
Old Magazine House at Dandeli held out tantalizing prospect of glimpsing those winged beauties who would rather hide themselves in the dense foliage. So, around mid-December of the year of Corona, we hopped into our battered jalopy and drove straight 15 hours to Goa, stopping …
The setting sun sends slanting shafts of smoky beams to stroke the top of the neatly-cropped tea bushes, strobe-lighting the dance of the dust mites. The tea bushes on the rounded peak remind me of the stylized sculptures of the Buddha, his curly locks neatly …
“JAI MATA DI” frenzied chants ring out in concentric echoes on the hillside. There is a riot of colours in the profusion of merchandise piled high on both sides of the winding path. Vivid red sequined nylon prayer scarves with fetching golden borders flutter from …