I wanna know what it means to be free And I just want to know What it is to let go… I’m on up to the land above me Dust in my hair and dust on my shoes (…)
Travel to Heal Your Broken Heart
Places we love
Delhi Unravelled – Five Days Five Ways
Delhi is a city of polarities. It is as much modern as it is ancient. It is as much a child as it is a withering old man. No, not an old man—it is a grand old dame, one who has seen much splendour in her salad days, one who has had lovers flock to(…)
Quirky Restrooms Across the World
Doing your business is serious stuff. Sitting on the pot can be one of the most epiphanic experiences of your life. That’s where creativity strikes at its best. So isn’t it only fair that we have some food for thought whilst doing the oh-so-serious business? Whether or not you agree with the idea, there are(…)
8 Most Clichéd Tourist Photographs
They are the biggest clichés but also the most popular poses among tourists. You do have a picture of yourself holding the Taj Mahal by its tip, right? Pushing back back the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Kissing the sphinx? We have all been there, done that. If you are thinking boring clichéd photographs of tourists, then(…)
Weekends in Tamil Nadu, Manapad and how I became a sea lover!
I’ve often heard the question – “Are you a beach person or a hills person?” and wondered if it’s possible to be both. I love the hills – the crispness of the air, the pine scent, a slightly haunted feel after 7 pm, and the atmosphere pregnant with mystery – I love it all. I always thought beaches(…)
Sunday mornings with a Belizean lass in Mehrauli Archaeological Park
It all started with a tring, a tring tring perhaps. Or maybe not, because mobile phones are not landlines. So, it must have gone ‘Mauja hi maujha’. Some of us then went on to say hi. “Hi, I went through your website and read about the Delhi Heritage Walks that you conduct. Which one do(…)
How (and why) to go to Antarctica
Why should we go to Antarctica? Open a travel forum, and they shall tell you ‘for the ice capped glaciers, for the Emperor Penguins, for the unusual and pristine landscape and for its virgin nature.’ But is that only why we want to visit a land, where the weather can change in a matter of(…)
The Whirling Dervishes: Tales from Turkey
The lights dim. Men dressed in black robes and tall headdress walk to the wooden center stage. They take a bow. The men with musical instruments step back and settle down with their instruments. The dervishes or the dancers settle down perpendicular to the players. One dervish remains standing. Like the rest he has arms(…)
Up in the Air : Tales from Turkey
We sat around wooden tables shivering. The hot coffee did little to warm us. Each time someone opened the door the stinging chill of the morning rushed in. It was cruel to have to get out of bed and breakfast at 5 am. A little after half past five, a not so young yet not(…)
Of Bengal, porpoises and boat cruises on the Ganges!
Leaving behind the quaint and gully strewn island town of Navadwip, I stepped onto the massive Teak wood boat that swayed lazily over the forceful Ganges currents. I could spot my fuzzy destination far across the river, its plane banks camouflaged within tall coconut palms, and wild green shrubbery. A tug of rope here,(…)
Top 5 Places to Celebrate Dussehra in India
After every night, comes a new day. After every storm, there is light. And just maybe that’s why the Dussehra comes right after the stormy monsoon season – the celebration of Durga’s victory over Mahishasur, Ram’s over Ravan, good over evil. As a child, I used to love Dussehra simply because father would buy toy(…)
One Night at the Chowmallah Palace
The 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity has seen the host city Hyderabad get a facelift. Overnight, roads have been paved, widened and marked. Sculptures seem to have grown from the earth and colours of green, blue and yellow have merged themselves into artistic outlets to mask the graffiti alongside(…)
Art Escape Goa and a pair of fake Christopher Colombuses
So, as the story goes, the author’s flight has landed in Goa and he’s standing outside his couchsurfing host’s house. When he dials her number, she’s asleep and a different girl picks up at the other end and introduces herself as Oksana - a Russian couchsurfer staying over at Karen’s. “Well, I am not at(…)
The Man from Belgaum
“Do you believe in the supernatural?” I asked my audience of three. “Well, I did speak to a fortune teller while I was in Agra and he asked me to stop travelling and go back home to Germany,” Atul replied smilingly. “What about you Kroot, what do you think?” Typical of her to say(…)
One Night on the M.V.Harshvardhan
Disclaimer: This post is dedicated to a young girl who sent us a sweet email about the WAH Blog yesterday… ‘There is one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea,whose gently awful stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath.’ - Herman Melville (Moby Dick) “I think I need some alcohol,” Sanju informed(…)
Prancing in Pahalgam: Kashmir Tour Diaries (Part 3)
You can read the earlier parts, first here, and then here. Preface: There are several things nice about the Adhoos Hotel in Srinagar. It has history - being passed on by one family generation to another for the last eighty years. Its rooms are large and yet warm, and it has a great restaurant where(…)
Kashmir Tour Diaries: The Prelude
Often, when people ask me what I do for a living, and I loosely tell them, “Oh, I am a travel writer,” there is a visible note of approval in their voice, a “How exciting!” is the regular response. In Sri Lanka, at a party last New Year’s eve, when I mentioned that to a(…)
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