There are many upsides to being married to an arty stylish Frenchman – he is a great cook, he takes me to wonderful restaurants, he is ruthless and graceful in his wardrobe support advice (his words ‘ I tell you what not to wear not what to wear’), and he is a perfect husband on […]
Abandoned buildings in Tbilisi, Georgia Read More »
I visited Armenia and Georgia in 2011, and I loved it – the modernist architecture, the nature, the food and the monasteries. I didn’t spend as much time in Armenia as I would have liked, so am back with hubby* in tow to do a longer easter tour, and we will pop by Tbilisi while
There are four circuits in Nepal that I have put on my ‘must do’ list – and to ‘must do’ soon as there is significant development of roads in most of these areas. The first was the Upper Mustang which was wonderful and I visited in October 2022. The second is the Manaslu circuit –
Meandering around Manaslu, Nepal Read More »
Relaxing in Rishikesh I didn’t make it to Rishikesh in my earlier tours of India. Its famous for yoga – the Beatles (and the west) discovered yoga here. It is also a hardcore travellers hang out with lots of restaurants selling hummus and shakshuka for the long term Israeli travellers. And of course, it is
Indriya in India (9) – Rishikesh and Kerala Read More »
I am back in Mother India for a moochy month. I realised my travels in December and January were at pretty high speed – mostly spending only 1 night in each place. I saw a lot, but it wasn’t very relaxing. So this trip I am taking it easy, will be drinking more tea, doing
Indolent in India (8) – A week in Delhi and Lucknow Read More »
The second week of my trip around the wonderful state of Gujarat – birthplace of Ghandi, home of the mighty Rann, and the makers of the best thali in India. This post covers Kutch, Gondal, Palitana, Champaner and returning to Ahmedabad. On the road to the Rann of Kutch We left the little Rann of
India (7) – Grooving around Gujarat Read More »
Kite festival and jetlag in Ahmedabad Jetlag sucks. I had a lovely flight from London to Dubai – three seats to myself, super quiet, a nice lunch and some excellent movies. From Dubai boarding the direct flight to Ahmedabad was an abrupt reentry to India. It was chaos – at least 20 babies, and more
India (6) – Gambolling around Gujarat Read More »
Tamil Nadu has some of the most well worshipped `Hindu temples in India. I am not visiting all of the famous ones, but will visit the best. First up we are heading to Thanjavur to see the Brihadishwara Temple. The landscape is lovely – Tamil Nadu is a lush farmscape of rice farms and luminous
Inspiring Devotion in India (5) – Chola temples, Gopurams, Pondicherry and Mahabs Read More »
Meandering around Mysore The journey to Mysore was not an easy one. There is a direct train from Hospet (near Hampi) to Mysore, but it sold out four months ago (or at least tickets in any class I wanted to sit in had sold out four months ago). So I ended up taking a night
Increasing the spice levels in India (4) – Mysore, Madurai and the Chettinadu Read More »
On the long road to Hampi My next target for the trip was to get down to Hampi from Aurangabad. By road it was a mere 620 km, but even google suggested it was a 13 hour drive, 2-3 hours more driving time if you detoured at the 5 good sites on the way.
Indulging in India (3) – Hampi, Bijapur, Aihole, Pattadakal Read More »