There is so much to do in Almaty, especially if you love the outdoors and nature. Maybe also if you like to party, but we didn’t explore that side. We had landed on Saturday evening and barely had enough time to grab dinner at a local buffet – one where you pay for what you pick from a pre-cooked display and freshly made doners. Then … Continue reading Days 4,5 – Culture and Nature around Almaty
Even in a simple trip, there are some complexities. I wanted to get done with them earlier and then relax in Almaty. Three of the most recommended destinations were a bit of a drive away and in the same direction. It was strongly recommended that we make it into an overnight trip, and we did. A friend with a local contact got in touch with … Continue reading Day 2,3 – Glamping trip to Kolsai, Kaindy and Charyn
I had planned and even booked trips to Kazakhstan a few times before. Those trips never happened for many different reasons – visa was a pain in the a**, flights got canceled due to Pakistan airspace closure, etc. This time the stars aligned a lot better. The flights are operating normally and new flights are starting on the route. The complicated visa process has been … Continue reading Kazakhstan – A planners delight!
It was getting a little tiring – several long road trips, loads of eating and walking, and even more passive smoking. In addition, some incredible history – stories, paintings, sculptures, and monuments just blow your mind. They take you back a few thousand years and put you in awe of how it all could have been built and then how it all survived. There was … Continue reading Day 9, 10: Saving the best for last – Saqqara and the Museum
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
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