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Hampi Part 7 - Vitthala Temple
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 15 March 2011
The Vitthala temple is probably the most beautiful structure in Hampi. The gopuram is practically all gone, but inside, its another story altogether!
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Art in Urban Spaces
Blog: Indian Bazaars - 15 March 2011
The Bazaars in India are spaces for everyday but they are also places where vendors express themselves through their creative displays, to attract people and to sell goods. This is a form of art perceived not as a "representation" of the real world but as a "way of seeing".
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Inspirational People: City Banker Turned Philanthropist
Blog: Inside the Travel Lab - 14 March 2011
"Mental salvation," Jean-Marc tells me when I ask why he left his banking job to run a charity full time. He talks about his dismay at the practices in the City in the run up to the crisis. Then he tells me about his son...
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Indian buses, taking the rough with the smooth
Blog: Travel log and tips for budget travel by backpacking, RV (motorhome) and cruising - 14 March 2011
Can you guess which type this is ? - This is the De-Luxe A/C bus
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Photo Essay: The Taj Mahal + 5 Things You Don’t Often Hear About It
Blog: Girl, Unstoppable - 14 March 2011
1. You can see the Taj Mahal from the roof of many nearby hotels. Many of them have conveniently placed (overpriced) restaurants on their rooftops. I got my first glimpse of the Taj Mahal while having lunch on my hotel’s roof. 2. At the main entrance, the Taj Mahal ticket office is not next to [...]
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Hampi Part 6 - Krishna Temple
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 13 March 2011
The Krishna temple at Hampi was built by Krishnadevaraya to commemorate the success of his Orissa campaign. It is believed that he brought back with him, an idol of Bala Krishna – Krishna, the child – which was enshrined in this temple.
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Hampi Part 4 - The Virupaksha Temple
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 12 March 2011
Amongst all the huge boulders and the crumbling ruins of ancient structures at Hampi rises a single tower which seems almost unscathed. This is the gopuram (tower) of the Virupaksha temple.
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INDIA Tiruvannamalai special mountain
Blog: Travel log and tips for budget travel by backpacking, RV (motorhome) and cruising - 12 March 2011
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Hampi Part 3 - A Short History of the Vijayanagara Empire
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 12 March 2011
When we set out on our tour of Hampi, all I wanted to see was the place – I had heard so much about it, and was excited, in spite of knowing the fact that most structures were in ruins. My knowledge of history however was sketchy (never having paid much attention to it in school, of course!) and didn’t do much reading up before I went. That turned out to be a mistake, since I was bombarded by questions from Samhith !
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INDIA Pondicherry tour
Blog: Travel log and tips for budget travel by backpacking, RV (motorhome) and cruising - 11 March 2011
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A 20 Hour Indian Train Experience
Blog: Girl, Unstoppable - 11 March 2011
4:30 pm The panic I felt while stuck in mind-boggling traffic is fading. I’ve made it to the Varanasi Junction station in time for my 4:45 train to Agra. I step inside, and India assaults me with full force. It seems that not a single spot in the train station is unoccupied; people are sitting [...]
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A Long Overdue visit to the Elephanta Caves
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 10 March 2011
The last time I visited the Elephanta Caves was when I was in school. It was such a messy place that I was least interested in visiting again. Then we went on a trip to Ajanta and Ellora, and Samhith read the name ‘Elephanta’ on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. Once he learnt that the Elephanta caves were so near, he wanted to go, and I realized that I couldn’t put it off any longer. Once we decided to make the trip, things sort of just fell into place.
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A Little Travel Memory…An Echo of Clapping Monks
Blog: A Little Adrift - A RTW Travelogue - 9 March 2011
Travel Memories: Animated Debates Between Monks in North India The sound of emphatic clapping was my first greeting as I walked into a Tibetan monastery in McLeod Ganj, India. The monks were prepping for exams with lively debates spread all over the monastery grounds and the open-air courtyard allowed the laughter and debate to roll across the grounds like a playful child, the sounds echoing off the walls of the monastery and into the surrounding hillside. McLeod Ganj is the headquarters for the Tibetan government-in-exile and with the dispensations from India, a large population of ...
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Lavasa Trip Part 6 - Information
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 9 March 2011
For the last one week, ever since I began writing my Lavasa posts, I have been inundated with queries about the place. Now that I am done with all the major posts, and have just a few assorted photos left, I am dedicating this post to give some relevant details about the place. Getting there:
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Lavasa Trip Part 5 - Bamboosa
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 8 March 2011
There are many interesting things to see and do at Lavasa, such as enjoy watersports on the lakeshore, a modern games arcade, adventure sports at Xthrill and a visit to one of India’s best nurseries. However, we were able to do none of these, and instead decided to visit Bamboosa, the bamboo craft factory and shop, which provides employment to local villagers.
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Dr. Strangetummy or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Naan
Blog: The Adventures of D - 8 March 2011
Editor’s Note: The following is guest post written by Katie. If you have read my posts about Bosnia and Croatia, you know Katie. She also traveled the world, more extensively than I did in 2010, and shares her story of eating (or not eating) in India. I love Katie. You will, too. Enjoy! One of [...]
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Lavasa Trip Part 4 - Food memories
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 6 March 2011
Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I am by no means a foodie….. I hate to experiment with food, and prefer to stick with my good old thayir saadam,(curd rice) any day. Usually, when I travel, it is Shankar who tries out different things on the menu and I order what Samhith wants, and then fill my stomach from what I like among the selections. Thrown along with a bunch of foodies at Lavasa – all of them non-vegetarians – was therefore a really interesting experience.
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Lavasa Trip Part 3 -The Nature Trail
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 5 March 2011
The nature trail at Ekaant is one of the big attractions at Lavasa, and is open for all visitors to Lavasa. The trail takes over 2 hours to cover, which is why we planned to start early, so that we could be back in time for breakfast. Unfortunately, due to matters beyond our control, we were delayed and had to give the trail a skip. However, the trail exit was where we rushed to take photographs of the rising sun (see my earlier post), and couldn’t resisit taking a sneak peek into the trail itself.
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Varanasi the Incomprehensible
Blog: Girl, Unstoppable - 4 March 2011
Before I went to India, I knew that I could expect to see an intense religious devotion there; the kind of faith that leads people to make pilgrimages just to plunge themselves in waters that are considered to be sacred. I also knew that I could expect layers of filth. But I hadn’t expected that [...]
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Lavasa Trip Part 2 - Ekaant - Beauty in Solitude
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 4 March 2011
This is a continuation of my earlier post on Lavasa. Please read Part 1 before reading further.
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Hampi Part 2 - Stones do Speak - A Photo feature
Blog: A Wandering Mind - 3 March 2011
This post was originally published on the Club Mahindra Blog. I am re-posting it here on the request of some of my regular readers.
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Life in Colour
Blog: Indian Bazaars - 1 March 2011
A GUEST POST by LAURA MANNERING Most tourists love a market. It’s not just because we’re obsessed with finding the ultimate souvenir of our travels. It is a way of mixing with people, getting buffeted by the trade hustle and joining in the to and fro, the buy and sell. My favourite markets are those where you can really become one of the crowd, an unremarkable addition to the flow of people going about their daily routine.
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Haridwar, India
Blog: .:: MapaRiscado - 23 February 2011
Haridwar é uma cidade santa no norte da India a umas 4 horas de Nova Deli.Em 2006, depois de 4 dias num Raft baixando o rio Alaknanda (e depois o Ganges até Rishikesh), dei por mim nesta cidade á beira rio plantada. A gente do acampamento de Rafting deixou-me aqui ao meio dia e fui á procura de sítio para dormir. "Escolhi" um sítio manhoso , mesmo em frente á enorme estaçao de comboios é que no dia seguinte tinha uma viagem de 14 horas até Orcha e nao queria arriscar a perder a minha ligaçao.
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A Four Day Bengali Wedding: Day 4
Blog: Girl, Unstoppable - 23 February 2011
When the last day comes, you put on your red party dress and get dolled up one last time. You put on your chandelier earrings, your gold bangles, and clip a flower in your hair. You walk into the Oberoi Grand a final time. In addition to the work-required benevolence of the hotel employees, you [...]
