Author: Priyanka Dalal
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Buying Camping & Cycling gear in Berlin, Germany
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This post can be relevant for anyone who plans to go to a foreign city and buy stuff for the next leg of your travels. I had 12 days. I had to buy camping & cycling gear in Berlin for my long distance trip from Berlin to Copenhagen – 750 km. I had spoken to…
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the Refugee Space at Keleti Station, Budapest #SyrianRefugees
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What is happening at Keleti (Background): With the ongoing 4 year civil war and the push from ISIS-islamic terror group from neighbouring Iraq, there is a huge flow of normal people wanting peace in Syria moving towards Europe. They are trying to get a bit of decent life for themselves and their families. Almost 4,000 are…
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Berlin to Copenhagen: 550 km in 17 days. Solo Cycling & Camping
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So yes this big trip happened. *Pinches myself to wake up* ;D After planning on paper and speaking to select, relevant people to get insights and tips I was off to make this trip happen. I was concerned that there maybe a gap between all my research and what was needed on ground, but it…
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Cycling Berlin-Copenhagen – The Almost forgotten Umbracke Concentration Camp Story #Germany
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This was the most poignant moment in the entire cycle tour. Berlin to Copenhagen. 550 km in 17 days. I was cycling as usual, in one of my initial days. Absorbing the experience, fresh and truly enjoying the solitude. Coasting down a small dirt road through German forest. Green trees on either side and every…
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Why I am Solo Cycling & Camping on my First Europe Trip
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A lot of things to write, about this Europe trip which is already underway. I am lazing around at a campsite this Sunday afternoon. My tent is well shaded by surrounding trees so I can spend time in it without getting baked. :) One of the common questions a lot of people have asked is…
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Woman Solo Travel needs to become Commonplace, not a “Trend” #India
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Solo traveling has now become a trend. While there are some serious solo women sharing their travel experiences, there is also a lot of frivolity. I started solo traveling over 5 years back and now hardly see it as such a big challenge. It is like in the 1980s “working women” were a trend, now…
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Solo Traveller & Need a Schengen Visa? Ditch the Travel agents! #Mumbai
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The last year and half have been a high speed, roller coaster ride in my work area. A lot of learning, growing and results. I even wrote a post about “Not on the Road but always a Traveller” – because I simply haven’t been able to travel much the last year. Finally situations changed and…
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Guide to Matheran – Asia’s only vehicle-free hill station #Mumbai
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For Mumbai-kars Matheran is a household word. At home, the talk of a short getaway from Mumbai usually starts with Lonavala or Matheran. So when my family decides to go to Matheran during a long weekend this Summer, I was quite skeptical. I presumed there would be crowds and I wasn’t sure it would really…
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Srirangapatna – the Fort Town & Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka
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Re-looking at our history is one of the things I love about traveling. So many little nuances of places strike you when you are actually there. Like I may not have imagined the pride of the Hoysala kingdom without going to the Belur & Halebeedu temples. Imagine finding ruins of Kishkindha from Ramayana stories in…
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A Quick Jaunt to Chikmagalur, Coffee Land of Karnataka
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To whomever I mentioned “I went to Chikmagalur”, they all had heard of it before. Could be the Coffee, as Chikamaglur is often known as the Coffee land of Karnataka. My first impressions of this town was – small, quaint and spacious. Broad roads (as per India), small 2-3 story buildings and beyond these buildings I…
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Solo in Uttar Pradesh: Vrindavan – Agra – Varanasi
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You may recall I had earlier written about how the hospitality and caring culture of Himachal Pradesh SHOCKED me. It was my first experience of random strangers going completely out of their way to help and make me – solo on the road – feel at home! I am remembering that experience as I write this…
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Woman Solo Travel & the Indian Family #1
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How did you get your parents to allow you?? – A lot of women and men too, have asked me this question when they realize that I am solo traveling. For a lot of Indian parents, the idea of their daughter traveling solo is bizarre and fraught with danger. Here I share with you my…
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Take a visual tour of the Hawa Mahal, Jaipur, Rajasthan
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Had a great time roaming around in the Hawa Mahal of Jaipur. I spent practically the whole afternoon there (which explains why I have a whole bucketlist of places left to visit) . I took the audio guide. When it is well made I really enjoy the audio guides in India. I listen to it…
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Udupi & the nearby Malpe Beach of Tulu Land, Karnataka
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If you are aware of the South Indian cuisine restaurants present everywhere in India, then Udupi would be synonymous with them, BUT If you have travelled there, then like me… when you hear Udupi, you would think of Krishna temples, Malpe beach and what not. I travelled there a while back and then wrote very…
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13 Photos of Maharashtra Backwaters to Blow your Mind – Parule, Konkan
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This year started with a very memorable travel adventure to the backwaters of Maharashtra, a town called Parule. The dearth of information online about this place had already intrigued me. Finally, I felt, I was on my way to discover some truly unknown and offbeat places. The fact that the place turned out to be so…
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Pongal Photo Blog, India Festivals
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Spent two Pongals in a really traditional setup. This was at Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore. Pongal is the harvest festival. It is celebrated as Makar Sankranti in most other parts of India. Apart from the difference in the name, the way of celebration is also very different.
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Year in Review & Welcome 2015 :)
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Late for this post. I know. Life in maximum city, our Mumbai can be so filled with work, cannot tell you! The good part is that I have been enjoying it for the most part and I have managed some fulfilling travel adventures in the year too. So one of the most memorable travel trips…
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Ponk Stop at Surat [an Indian Foods Photo Series]
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Come Winter, Gujarat bursts with all sorts of delicacies. Papdi, Undhiyu, Soonth Gol, Saalam Pak, Adadiyu and what not. Ponk is one of these delicacies. Written as પોંક in Gujarati, it is pronounced as “soak” but with P “Poak” Different regions of Gujarat have their own Winter specialities. Ponk is a speciality of Surat. It…
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Solo Travel Myths: Nobody to Click your Photos
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(Attempt at humour, beware) One of the funniest reactions from someone when I told them about solo travel, “Why would you travel solo, there would be no one to click your pictures!!” Sorry fellow-who-said-this, but when I met a few travel friends we had a really good laugh over it. But dispelling this myth…..here are…
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Awesome Sunrises
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Mumbai, my hometown, is surrounded by water on three sides. Yet, I have never really seen the sunrise. I am a late sleeper, and the few times I went to see it, there was cloud cover hence nothing much like a ‘sunrise’. The sunset here is awesome though. The Marine Drive parapet – sitting and…
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Manikarnika, The Burning Ghat – Varanasi
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Having become Time itself, I destroy the world here, O Goddess! ~Shiva, Padma Purana 1.33.14 As I said Varanasi has been one of the most intriguing trips I have made. Never have I felt a city so full of going ons. Just inane, often crazy, some brilliant, other bizarre going ons. Just going on. Like…
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A few Photos from Varanasi
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He must be made of stone whose mind does not melt at the sigh of Kashi and its Lord! ~Swami Vivekananda I wrote a lot in the last blog post on Varanasi… mostly my overall shock with the ambiance of the place hehe So opting for a more wordless version this time…. A few photos from…
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Kashi, Varanasi, Banaras – It’s All Crazy!
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She Said: “You have been to Kashi, how was it?” He Said: “It’s just like any other dusty Indian town” I have been officially solo traveling since March 2009. There were other trips I made much earlier where I was predominantly solo exploring….but today, a week after returning from Varanasi I consider this trip a…
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Hadimba & Ghatochkach Temple – Manali, Himachal Pradesh
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Temples in Himachal were a surprise to me as they were not the usual Hindu temples of Shiva or Vishnu – Krishna/Rama or Hanuman I am used to. This where I first saw Shani Dev temples very common place. Dark black idols often women not allowed within the sanctum sanctorum – Shani dev. In Manali…
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Anegundi – A Photologue & the search for Kishkindha
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Continuing from the last post where I wrote about my adventures in Hampi – I took a moped and rode off to a village called Anegundi to check out some Kishkindha ruins from the time of Ramayana! Anegundi was a surprise. I entered this village chowk on a sultry afternoon with just a few people around.…
