The drive to Luxor was slower than expected, though it did include some amazing history. Our driver from the trip to Abu Simbel had agreed to drive us to Luxor while stopping at most of the historic sites in Aswan on the way. He had also promised to include a meal in my fixed price. Little did I know that he would want to include … Continue reading Day 4: The drive to Luxor!
We woke up early with one unified objective – to eat some good food. There was a list of good places that had been circulating amongst us and there were many options for lunches and dinners, but only two for breakfast. We had only two breakfasts to be had – so we picked up Kanha Sweets to start day 2. Located about a 10-minute drive … Continue reading Amritsar: Food and Atari, on Day 2
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
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 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
The unusual problem of 2020 needed some unorthodox solutions. The solution to the ‘no-travel’ problems seems to be road trips to wildlife sanctuaries. I grew up traveling to these nature hotspots, so this isn’t very crazy for me. However, a year of back-to-back visits does sound a bit much. Though this is 2020, anything is possible. For a while, we flip-flopped between Bharatpur and Sariska … Continue reading Sariska – A short drive to nature
It’s been about 17 years since I have been traveling by myself or with friends and family. Every trip has its mix of good and bad experiences, fortunately, more good than bad. This journey of journeys has been a great teacher. Everyone falls into tourist traps and I have as well. Over the years, I have learned my bit on how to identify them. That … Continue reading Avoiding Tourist Traps
The drive to our hotel in Nusa Dua was surprisingly smooth and raised some hopes for finding less traffic for the remaining half of the trip. The hotel was fabulous and luxurious. The ground floor rooms opened into a lawn with direct access to the beach – that was amazing. The food was more expensive than the smaller places we had been to, but it … Continue reading Bali – serenity of Nusa Dua and some hidden gems
Bali is exactly what happens when a rich cultural heritage meets a lot of tourists. It takes some very deep cultural roots to survive as an island dominated by one religion in a country populated by another. Indonesia is a fast developing country going through all the challenges that come with it – an over-crowded capital, pollution, and overpopulation leading to overutilization of resources. Jakarta … Continue reading Bali – Culture, food, temples and some traffic
I got out of the tiny airport and walked straight to the rental car counter. My car was ready in no time and while it wasn’t fancy, it was spacious and from a brand that I hadn’t heard off. A simple inquiry on the car return process got me an amusing response – the guy calmly said he would meet me on the driveway, “don’t … Continue reading Langkawi – A Small beach town with a twist
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