Weekend Trip to Jog Falls
Jog falls is a very popular waterfall in Karnataka. Situated in the Western Ghats, the river Sharavathi plunges from a height of 830 feet here. This falls is also known as Gerosoppa Falls or Joga Falls and is at its best in the monsoon season. If you live in Bangalore, you can visit Jog and...
Monsoon in Meghalaya
Meghalaya, as every Indian has hopefully learnt in school, receives heavy rainfall in Monsoon. Cherapunjee was once the the wettest place on earth but the current champion, Mawsynram, is also in Meghalaya. Our visit to this tiny state in the North East of India coincided with some very wet days. Such heavy rainfall was unusual...
The Blues and Greens of South Goa
Pretty much everyone on this earth knows that Goa is the place to visit to have a good time. For those who are a little more familiar with the geography of the place, North Goa is where the parties happen, while South Goa is quieter. I grew up in a coastal city, but I've been...
The Waterfalls in the Bastar Region of Chhattisgarh
When someone asked me why I picked Chhattisgarh as a destination for my September vacation, I drew a blank. Yes, I was intrigued by the majestic Chitrakote waterfall that I saw in pictures, but was it exciting enough to embark on a thousand kilometer journey from Bangalore? With very little information in blogs about the...
8 Days in Iceland – An Island Shaped by Fire and Ice
I traveled to Iceland in October 2019, after several years of planning. You can't help but love those beautiful photos of Iceland doing the rounds on social media. The Northern Lights, dramatic landscapes, sublime ice caves, geysers and humungous waterfalls, all appealed to the photographer in me. I traveled around this windswept island in a...
Leaving the Crowds Behind – Kodanad, Tamil Nadu
“Take a bus to Mettupalayam. After you get off, catch another bus to Kotagiri. There is one every half an hour and it is a 45 minute journey. At Kotagiri, wait for a local bus to Kodanad. Ask someone about the timings.” When Bhavan gave me these instructions on how to reach "Alpas Camps and Resorts" in...
Allured by Armenia – A week in Yerevan
Visiting Armenia was never on my bucket list. This tiny landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordering Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia is not a popular tourist destination. Once a part of USSR, Armenia became a multi-party, democratic nation, in 1991. Even though the primary purpose of my travel to Armenia was business, I got a chance...
Monsoon Road Trip in Malenadau, Karnataka
There are several ways to enjoy the rains. With the recent pandemic induced work from home situation, a lot of us have been hearing and watching raindrops from the comforts of our home. But you know what’s a better way to enjoy the monsoon? It is by hitting the road, and watching nature wear the...
Dholavira in Kutch – Untouched Mysteries
I visited the island of Khadir Bet in Gujarat in September 2022. The ancient ruins of the Harappan Civilization is situated in Dholavira, a village to the west of the island. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins at Dholavira were excavated between 1990 to 2005. Khadir Bet is connected to the mainland...
Milky Way Photography Trip in Singalila National Park
In October 2022, I visited Singalila National Park in West Bengal, India, as part of a photography group. The itinerary was planned exclusively for four nights of Milky Way photography. Singalila National Park is a place of immense natural beauty. However there is a very short window to shoot the Milky Way, in that region....
Stargazing and Milky Way Photography in Zanskar
Standing beneath a blanket of twinkling stars, camera pointed at the luminous core of the Milky Way, waiting eagerly for the camera shutter to close - this is an obsession which goes beyond a hobby called photography. In the age of AI photography, you can generate the end result of the capture digitally. But there...
Ladakh in August: A Monsoon Astrophotography Adventure
August typically marks the height of the monsoon season in India, making it difficult to find destinations with clear skies. However, I was fortunate to embark on a spontaneous trip to Ladakh in early August. Over the course of five days in the high-altitude terrain, I managed to capture the Milky Way on three separate...
A Quiet Farm Retreat in the Himalayas – The Goat Village
By the December of 2016, I was a minor veteran of Himalayan treks. Having been on six, I had my share of living the tent life. For my next Himalayan trip, I wanted to experience the mountains in a more relaxed way. I wanted to wake up early and wait patiently for the sun to...
A Tour of Remote Spiti Valley
I visited Spiti Valley in late July 2014. Going solely by photos on social media, Spiti isn’t as popular as neighboring Ladakh. I was surprised to learn when reading up before that trip that Spiti is in Himachal Pradesh. I always imagined this Himalayan state to be nestled in lush green forest, with fair skinned...
A Weekend Trip to Hampi, Karnataka
Update 1: In September 2016, I updated this article with photos from more recent trips and a few from older trips. The text remains the same as that of the original article which was written in 2014. Hampi is touted as a popular tourist destination by the government of Karnataka. Being a world heritage center, Hampi is well know not...
Backpacking in Bhutan
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message color="info" message_box_style="solid-icon"]I originally wrote this in Feb, 2006. You can download a PDF (with images) of this writeup (1.8mb): bhutan2k6.pdf.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Bhutan is nestled in the Himalayas between India and Tibet. With a reputed tour operator and a little money, you can travel through the picturesque terrains of this small kingdom in a cozy 4X4,...
Exploring Culture in Gujarat
In late 2008 I visited Gujarat with a sketchy plan of touring the State along with my friend Uday. He was then studying there at the National Institute of Design (NID). Having completed his course, he was working on the post-production of his diploma film. I had flight tickets to Ahmedabad from Chennai where I...
Gokarna Travel Blog and Pictures (Karnataka)
In Nov 2015, I also wrote an article about Gokarna for Jungle Lodges. Click here to read it. Gokarna is a temple town in North Karnataka. There are several small secluded beaches in and around Gokarna, which makes it a nice getaway from the city. Visitors come to Gokarna for both pilgrimage, and recreation. If...
Snow Trek to Har-Ki-Dun And Pictures
Trek Itinerary 20th April – Dehradun – Purola 21st April – Purola – Taluka 22nd April – Taluka – Osla 23rd April – Osla – Har-Ki-Dun 24th April – Har-Ki-Dun – Osla 25th April – Osla – Mori 26th April – Mori - Purola – Mussoorie 27th April – Mussoorie – Dehradun - Delhi Har-Ki-Dun
Jungle Safari in Satpura Tiger Reserve and Stay at Forsyth Lodge
Satpura Tiger Reserve is one of the best places in India to experience a jungle safari. This article narrates my experience of staying at Forsyth Lodge and seeing the wild animals of the national park.
Tracing History in The Rocks of Badami
This post was voted one of the must read posts of 2016 by Asian Tours and Holidays! The idea of visiting Badami crossed my mind many times. However, I had never traveled past Hampi until the August of 2015. A few friends and I hatched a plan to visit Badami for which we picked the weekend...
Silent Valley National Park (Kerala)
When I was around 18, I read James Redfield’s ‘Celestine Prophecy’ and was quite blown away by the concept of synchronicity. A lot of things in my life have happened due to meaningful coincidences and the Silent Valley trip is one of them. During the first or second week of joining my new workplace (just...
Trekking to Valley of Flowers (Uttarakhand)
Valley of Flowers is a mystical region in the Himalayas, that has been quoted in various texts old and new. I remember reading about it in Swami Rama's book, "Living With the Himalayan Masters" a long time ago, before I did any kind of photography. The interwebs tell me that this place even gets a...
Winter Trek to Deoriatal and Tunganath (Uttaranchal)
[vc_row][vc_column][mk_blockquote font_family="ABeeZee" font_type="google"]This is a guest post on the winter trek to Deoriatal and Tunganath. Three of us, including the author of this post, were a team from Bangalore who trekked with IndiaHikes to Deoriatal in December of 2016.[/mk_blockquote][vc_column_text] “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or...