Beyond Belief

Just when you think it can’t get any better, someone comes along with an unthinkable idea to push the envelope. One such moment came while reading about the sweeping London to Sydney overland journey. Such is the scale and sweep of destinations, cultures, terrains it covers, that one could’ve been forgiven to think: ‘This can’t [...]

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Bus ride of a lifetime

A friend once stated ‘there’s only that much that you can do with travel content. Just about everything there’s to know about destinations, routes and related matter is already known.’ Travel magazines and websites would be out of business had that been true. Travel as a subject isn’t quite as static as some believe it [...]

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Skiing in Solang

Skiing is an attractive sport. Sliding down alpine slopes in brightly coloured attire sure is a picture postcard sight. The sport though is still to catch the Indian imagination. Luger Shiva Keshavan, India’s sole representative at the winter Olympics, is beginning to have some impact. However small, it is a beginning. The irony of the [...]

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Travel & Living

Over many a beer session across pubs in Delhi, Manoj and I often discussed watching a marquee contest at a beautiful venue. Watching a Federer-Nadal match at Wimbledon & India-England at Lords was high on our dream list. In India, watching an India-Australia Test Match at Mohali, near the Le Corbusier deigned Chandigarh, far and [...]

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Backpacking Vs Luxury Travel

The verdict it pretty much out on the two most desired ways of travelling. Not surprisingly it straddles either extreme of the travel spectrum — backpacking & luxury. The carefree abandon of traveling on a shoestring budget with a flexible itinerary has a counterpoint in travelling club class and 5 star living. The natural progression [...]

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US travelers to India overtake UK

The UK traditionally has sent the maximum number of travelers to India. A shared history, nostalgia and Indophiles amongst the Brits have made sure the fascination for India hasn’t waned.  But these are changing times. Old alliances are giving way to new. Keen interest in contemporary India among American clearly goes beyond the much discussed [...]

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Oriental Travel Accounts

Travel writing is popularly perceived to be a Western monopoly. National Geographic Travelers’ list of top 80 travel books has just three authors of Asian origin – Amitav Ghosh, Michael Ondaatje and Pico Iyer.
 
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/extras/travellibrary/library12.html
 
Asked to name legendary travelers of yore – most of us would rattle off names like Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da [...]

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Notes from Kerala II

Driving down NH 17 from Kozhikode towards Kochi, Kerala unfurled all its natural hues. The flaming gulmohars in bloom seemed just that shade brighter, coconut trees and paddy fields again a wee bit greener…this is a landscape awash with colors of nature. So driving into the lime washed white walls and sloping tile roof of [...]

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Kerala Notes – I

The fact that Kerala has revolutionized the way tourism in India should be run is no secret. There are many reasons for National Geographic featuring the state as one of the 50 ‘must experience’ in one’s lifetime. Culture is one of its USPs. Its rich history with European, Arab, Jew, South East Asian and Chinese [...]

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While on the road

The only source of knowledge is experience. (Einstein)

India can be at once daunting, overwhelming and heady to a visitor, especially a first time, female traveler from the western world. Recently a question by a lady on raahi.com’s Q & A section set me thinking. India is so varied and vast that even for a south [...]

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