The famous shared van ride of Israel happened again, on the drive from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. The ride wasn’t too bad though it wasn’t the most efficient way to travel. This time the van got full pretty soon but I ended up being one of the last drops. The trip took a lot longer than expected but I did finally get to the Crowne … Continue reading Tel Aviv – A vibrant city and the pride parade
It had been decided that Key and Dhankar were the two monasteries we would visit on this beautiful Sunday. There was a small twist in the tale – the owner of the hotel had put in our heads the name of a third monastery – Lalung. He said it was more off the beaten path and had a fascinating 900-year-old collection of gold plated Buddha … Continue reading Spiti – Monasteries and Landslides: Part 2
No planning is the best planning – so said no one. But at times it works out well! We met on a Sunday for lunch and spoke about the possibility of a road trip to the hard to access Spiti valley. We weren’t sure how long a trip it would be, who all will go, and where we will stay. We only knew that there … Continue reading Spiti – Far from the madding crowds: Part 1
The drive from Agra to Jaipur is quite a smooth one, except that it lacks too many places to eat. Some resorts are a little off the highway, but nothing that would be quick. I stopped at an open-air place that seemed clean. Most of the menu items weren’t available, but the stuff they had was quite good. The drive also passes by Bharatpur Bird … Continue reading Golden Triangle – A new side of Jaipur
I have been to both Agra and Jaipur and seen most of their star attraction, a few several times. I visited both the Taj Mahal and the Amer fort only last year but then this year offered some unique opportunities. It was easier to do road trips and most of these attractions would have fewer tourists due to a mix of Covid fear and government … Continue reading Golden Triangle – Luxury and the Taj
The city has so subtly crept into the Indian lexicon that we barely noticed. One of the most famous Indian restaurant known for its succulent kebabs was named after it – aptly because some of the kebabs and shashlik in Bukhara was sublime. Plums also derive their Hindi name from this city -“Alu Bukhara”. While “Alu” is a potato in Hindi, it is a Plum … Continue reading Bukhara – Small, colourful and full of character
The Afrosiyab from Tashkent departed in the evening and rolled into Samarkand around 9 pm, right on schedule. The ride itself was quite comfortable and the modern Spanish train touched a cool 200 kmph. Once out of the train station, it took some deft negotiation with the cab drivers before we got going. The ride into Samarkand can be quite deceptive as at night it … Continue reading Samarkand – Astounding architecture and history
If compared to any Central Asian or even European capital, what Tashkent misses by the absence of a true commercial city center, it more than makes up with thousands of fountains. Every large park worth its name would have a display of dancing fountains with hundreds, if not thousands, of streams of water sending across a happy message. The city is amazingly green with wide … Continue reading Tashkent – Fountains, New Churches and Train Stations
The modern Indian (especially North Indian) culture has more roots in the seldom discussed country of Uzbekistan than most would believe. While the Guptas and Tomaras have been rulers of North India for a long time, the area was plundered by Taimur in the 15th century. This completely reset the culture and even some of the history as we read it. Post that, the Mughals … Continue reading Uzbekistan – Planning to see the history of our culture
Most conventional wisdom talks about not clicking into the Sun except for sunrises and sunsets. Even then it’s a hard choice to focus on the Sun and get just a lot of chromatic aberration or get all those colors in the sky. There is no one right answer, but what I have learned along the way is to be more deliberate about what you choose. … Continue reading Photography: Sunrise, sunset and everything in between
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