The other trek I had wanted to do in Ladakh was the high altitude walk from Rumtse to Tso Moriro – not a technical trail but apparently one of the most stunning in the region. Arranging it was slightly problematic as almost everyone does this 100km on a group trek with horsemen, guides, and a …
Holidays with hubby are very different to solo adventures. Five star hotels, afternoon naps, sleep ins, and no guilt about not ramming the day with tourist activities. We are in Ladakh for a relaxed week visiting monasteries and seeing the famous Hemis festival before hubby heads home and I go hiking. Getting to …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 »
Stopping over in Sanchi Stupa Driving in rural India is a sensory assault. Every driver and rider has their hand on the horn about 70% of the time. Every cow has priority on the road (including large herds of sleeping ones), and it also is sensible to avoid hitting the dogs, monkeys, and bullocks as they …
Inching around India (2) – Sanchi, Bhopal and the Ellora and Ajanta caves Read More »