Category: India

  • Chandigarh in 8 Pictures

    Chandigarh was the stop over for my trip to the Himachal Pradesh, April 2013. It was a good stop over. India’s planned city does come across as planned. The buildings are shorter with a height limit, the roads are really wide, lots of gardens, sectors that are well defined but confusing for outsiders and a…

  • In Mumbai: A Heritage Walk

    Just got invited on a Mumbai heritage walk by Raconteur Tours (disclaimer!), thanks to traveler friend Snigdha. Snigdha and me have been on a number of Mumbai exploration trips in last few months. Both of us felt that despite traveling a lot elsewhere, we were clueless about our own city. So what better way to spend…

  • A Little bit about Kite Flying as a Mumbai Gujarati on Makar Sankranti, India’s Harvest Festival

    Its the start of the harvest season. Summer will soon be arriving and India explodes into a number of festivals all around the same day – January 14th or the Winter Solstice! Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Makar Sankranti in Maharashtra & other states, Uttarayan in Gujarat, Lohri in Punjab, Bhogali Bihu in Assam and so…

  • Bucketlist: Tour the Lighthouses of India

    What do you think of Lighthouses? Do they transport you to some mystical, adventurous & raucous age-old ship voyage with sailors swearing at each other but with a die-hard exploration spirit blooming in their hearts? Ships, wrecks, explorers, discovery of new lands, exotic stuff, tribals, talking parrots or have I just read too many books…

  • Solo Female Traveler Safety in India – #2 General Tips

    So I took the last blog post on women safety to mention how I am paranoid about safety. So you can probably take these tips I have for women (esp solo) travelers with a pinch of salt. Or maybe you are paranoid like me too 😉 Time Okay to be outside time: 8.30am to 8pm…

  • A Brief Guide To Hampi – A Traveller’s Delight

    “After 6 months of travelling, this is the most beautiful place I have visited in India” “It’s one of my most favorite places on Earth” “You have to go to Hampi, its awesome” These are the kind of raves I have been hearing for a while now from travellers for Hampi. I got a chance…

  • Balaram Temple, Malpe

    Malpe is a small beach town near Udupi. Its like a suburb of Udupi, just some 6 km away. Amongst stuff to see in Malpe there is the superb beach, fishing wharf, ship cutters factory and an ancient Balaram temple. Balaram is the brother of Krishna and also a big sage/god or something. The Balaram…

  • Solo Female Traveler Safety in India – #1 My Thoughts on General Women Safety

    The first time I went on a solo trip Mumbai – Goa – Bangalore – Mysore – Coimbatore – Mumbai was 4 years back. I planned everything out – the stay, travel tickets, backup options. Yet there were always unknown factors like the hostel I had booked in Mysore, would it be safe? I had…

  • Sangla Pictures after heavy rainfalls – #Uttarakhand Floods

    A friend of mine has a quaint little restaurant + home stay called Cafe 42 in Sangla. Sangla is near the eastern borders of Himachal Pradesh hence quite close to Uttarakhand. There were no floods but very heavy rainfall for many days, leading to a power blackout for more than 7 days. Many roads have…

  • 3 Tips for McLeodganj

    I will quickly jot type some of these tips I had in mind when I was in McLeodganj. Once I come back to Mumbai I get so caught up with things that I barely write half of what I want to about places I have visited. So here goes, Visit the Bookstores I devour books.…