Back in 2017, over a glass of delicious home-brewed rice wine in Nagaland a friend had thrown the words ‘Dambuk Orange Festival’ at me. I was intrigued; Dambuk sounded exotic and the fact that it was an adventure and music festival held in the midst of orange orchards felt too good to be true! About…
Category: Travel Guide
In Lake Country : Tawang to Bumla & Shungatser Lake
It was a freezing cold morning in Tawang; and we were supposed to go to Bumla. We had a reasonably late night at the Tawang Festival. It was the end of October and night temperatures in Tawang were already hovering in the negative. On top of the cold, the local alcohol that we all had…
Offbeat Museums with Cultural Treasures across India
When I am travelling to an offbeat ; I always make it a point to check out if there’s a state museum around. Usually state museums are located in capital cities and they make the best places for an introduction to a state’s culture for travellers like me. Over the course of my journeys across…
Favourite Cafés & Restaurants in Delhi
Over the years, Delhi has been a transit stop on many of my journeys across India and elsewhere. I’ve had the opportunity of sampling all kinds of cuisine in Delhi ranging from street food in Old Delhi to the boutique cafés of hep Gurgaon. Yes, you sure want to eat good food when you come…
Tribes of Nagaland – Hornbill Festival
As briefly mentioned in the earlier photo story; the Hornbill Festival near Kohima in Nagaland is a great place to have a glimpse of the different tribes of Nagaland in their traditional attire. Names of the various tribes of Nagaland are : Ao, Angami, Chakhesang, Chang, Kachari, Khiamniungan, Lotha, Konyak, Kuki, Phom, Rengma, Sangtam, Sumi, Pochury,…
Champaner Pavagadh UNESCO World Heritage Site : A Memoir
I was lounging around in the lush green lawn in front of Laxmi Vilas Palace, feeling a bit down since DSLR photography of the exteriors was not allowed. I had an instant thought of going Live on both Facebook and Instagram. It was a memorable Live video where I didn’t have to bother about the…
Champaner Pavagadh Archaeological Park – In Pictures
On a heritage project for an assignment in and around Vadodara in Gujarat; the UNESCO World Heritage site of Champaner Pavagadh was high priority for me. And it did not disappoint; I spent an entire day savouring the Islamic architecture of the 15th Century town of Champaner and even older temples of Pavagadh. While the…
Vadodara : A Travel Guide For Must Visit Attractions
My assignment covering heritage in Gujarat came unannounced. I had the choice of either a car with a driver and guide (and lesser pay) or exploring in my own style (and higher pay!). Of course, I chose the latter. I arrived at Ahmedabad airport with a slight delay and immediately decided to head to Baroda…
Pang Lhabsol Festival in Gangtok, Sikkim
The rapturous crowd had just been silenced. The warrior looked fierce and scary in the red mask ringed by five human skulls; he twisted and twirled as he danced. My hair stood on end in anticipation; there was pin drop silence even amid the chaos around. I instantly knew I was witnessing something special while…
Samode Village : A Day Trip from Jaipur
It was as unplanned as something could be. Arvind Bhai of (Jaipurthrumylens) had an invite for Dal Baati Choorma at a function in Samode and since we had discussed visiting Samode Village numerous times, I instantly said yes when he asked if I was interested in going! Not that Dal Baati Choorma wasn’t reason enough…
Sariska & Alwar : Unsung Historical Delights
It was a cold January morning and I was on an assignment to unearth the seen and not so seen attractions around Sariska and Alwar. By the end of the trip, I couldn’t help but wonder how come this region retains its offbeat charm despite being so close to Delhi?! And I couldn’t help but…
Backpacking in Wayanad : Top Offbeat Experiences
After detailed explorations of the mountains in North India, I’d set my sights on slow travelling in South India. It was by pure chance that I started off with visiting the most popular state tourism-wise that side, Kerala. I’d arrived in Kochi and the need for some cold weather had automatically led me to the…