Travelogues

Ngorongoro Crater: Africa’s Natural Zoo.

Ngorongoro Crater: Africa's Natural Zoo.

One of the lessons from my African safari was – choose your safari jeep well. If the vehicle breaks down, it can put paid to all your plans and joy can quickly turn to irritation. I was now sharing the rundown Landcruiser with an aggressive Brazilian man, a shouting Italian girl , a cursing American guy and one cranky girlfriend.

And we almost never made it to Ngorongoro. They tried to push -start the jeep on the sloping crater road but to no avail. They shoved us down into the crater alright but the jeep was dead.


Friday Wrestlers of Dubai

Friday Wrestlers of Dubai

But the wrestling has never stopped and it has been going on since the last 40 odd years in this forgotten corner in Dubai. It is the only source of entertainment and release for these migrant laborers from the Indian sub-continent. There are no tourists here and the other well-healed Dubai migrants are surprised that such a gladiatorial event occurs in their swanky city.

But Dubai has a way of concealing as it has a way of making an ostentatious show. The migrant laborers, who built all that is new in Dubai- the skyscrapers, the malls, the chimerical islands off the coast- live their invisible lives here unknown, unsung and often exploited.


Shimla- Kalka Heritage Toy-Train Journey

Shimla- Kalka Heritage Toy-Train Journey

No Shimla resident goes on the toy-train. That’s a journey for the monkey –capped Bengalis and foreign tourists to make. If the locals have to get to Kalka they would rather drive down or would prefer to hop on to any available public transport. The toy- train ride is just too much of a touristy thing to do.

Its also a more leisurely thing to do. A journey which normally takes two and a half hours at medium pace takes more than five hours in the train. But one would expect the slow train journey to be the natural choice of travel for the temperamentally relaxed , laidback and slow moving Shimlaites.


Munich on a Bicycle, Germany

Munich on a Bicycle, Germany

The last time I rode a bicycle, I was in my 10thgrade and still wobbly. So when our guide suggested a cycling tour of Munich, I was sufficiently alarmed. Why don’t we just get onto one of those HOHO buses, I thought. We could sit comfortably in their open- air comfort and sip on the excellent Bavarian beers ( yes its legal to drink in public in Germany).
But Munich prides itself as a cycling city. Cycling in Munich is not only encouraged but most motorists complain cyclists are an overly pampered lot. Cyclists are sometimes called the ‘silent killers’ or ‘Rambo Riders’ our guide informed us , for their propensity sometimes to crash into you from behind.


Hatu Peak: From Canterbury Tales to a Tourist Den.

Hatu Peak: From Canterbury Tales to a Tourist Den.

But the order for the Hatu Road came right from the top. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, a man given to all manner of religious ceremonies and rituals doesn’t miss his annual visit to the Hatu temple. Walking up the steep mountain was out of the question for the CM who is now pushing 79 and revered as Raja by the locals. So hence the smooth, flawless Hatu road.

Hundreds of trees were put to the axe and a road carved out for this stately pilgrimage. The recent devastation at Uttrakhund has shown what such brazen deforestation and construction can do. Hatu Road is one such bad reminder


Kanha: You don’t just come here for the Tiger.

Kanha: You don't just come here for the Tiger.

But you don’t come here only for the tiger. Though the elusive beast is the main attraction and unlike Bandhavgarh, where spotting the striped feline is easy, you may come away not getting a glimpse of him at all. However Kanha is archetypal Jungle Book territory and has a lot going on in its secret folds.


Oman -Past Continuous

Oman -Past Continuous

What separates this desert country from its flashier nouveau riche cousins in the Middle East is the laidback poise that sucks you into its rich culture without fanfare, but on its own terms. Very much clued into millennial aspirations, here is a country on the move. This can largely be attributed to Sultan Qaboos, who has, since 1970, stamped his authority by relentlessly modernising the country, without feeling obliged to jettison its past. The Sultan himself is widely educated— from pune, where he received his primary education, to Sandhurst where he received military training—and he brings this inclusivity to his vision of his country’s future.


Dance of the Demoiselle Crane

Dance of the Demoiselle Crane

In a dusty, nondescript village in west Rajasthan- an Indian state with an extraordinary respect for flora and fauna-villagers have established a tradition of feeding migratory birds who fly here all the way from Mongolia and China. These birds- the Demoiselle Cranes, descend on this village in thousands every morning to feed. The village- Khichan- is now on the world map and known as the Demoiselle Crane village. The villagers revere the birds and call them ‘Khujar’ feeding them tons of bird-feed every year.


Royal Memories in Rampur: The Erstwhile Town of the Nawabs

Royal Memories in Rampur: The Erstwhile Town of the Nawabs

Rampur is a common name, shared by dozens of villages and towns across India, but when I was growing up, there was always only one Rampur for me. It was the place where the Kashi Vishwanath Express train from Delhi halted briefly in the late afternoon. Where long, lazy summers were spent eating tub-loads of mangoes from my grandmother’s orchard. Where kites were chased, and cousins slept in an inner courtyard cooled by water from the tube well.


Road Journey into Tawang- Arunachal Pradesh

Road Journey into Tawang- Arunachal Pradesh

A couple of years ago I made my first trip into the North East. I visit Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya. I thought Arunachal Pradesh deserved special visit. Arunachal is the only Indian state that still boasts of over 80 percent forest cover. Has some of the most spectacular bird species (150 of them) and rare mammals including the red panda and the snow leopard.

So in 2011 after wrapping up a shoot in Guwahati, I hired a taxi for a 5 day excursion into Arunachal. I had limited time and I had to pick a destination in the state. I chose Tawang. A video of a road journey into a paradise of far, far away.


A Manali Taxiwalla’s Monologue.

A Manali Taxiwalla's Monologue.

The wealth of information you can get from your cabbie can beat any fancy guide book hands down. No matter where I travel, I always needle my taxi-driver for info and am rewarded with a lowdown on local gossip, survival tips, inside knowledge on tourist scams and much more.


Jumping Heights: A Leap of Faith at Rishikesh.

Jumping Heights: A Leap of Faith at Rishikesh.

‘’ It’s a life changing experience. You will not feel the same way about yourself after it’’, their voices ring in my ears as I rock softly in the evening train to Rishikesh. No I am not going for a dip at the Ganga and the accompanying mumbo jumbo. Though for over a millennia ‘life-change’ seekers have taken the same journey to flock to the ghats of his ancient holy town.


Merry Christmas from Santa Claus Village, Lapland

Merry Christmas from Santa Claus Village, Lapland

The `Official Santa’ is very much the Santa of my imagination. Long white undulating beard. Rose tinted rotund cheeks. And the all too familiar corpulent frame. He greets us a predictable Namastay when we tell him we are from India. He takes turns greeting us all and asks the girls in our group if they have been good-girls in a manner and tone he would ask any naughty children visiting him. The girls play along with one of them insisting on getting a photograph shot sitting on his lap.


Nainital- India’s Lake District.

Nainital-  India’s Lake District.

Many years ago when I visited Nainital for the first time , it was a relief to see the lake so polluted . If you belong to a hill station like me, you tend to look at another hill-station with a sense of competition. My hometown, Shimla, I happily concluded, is after all the best hill-station in India.

But on a recent visit to Nainital, I was astonished to see the Naini Lake far from the dump it was many years ago. It was all spruced up and crystal clean. There was no longer any debris floating on its surface and the horrid smell had gone. I had to reluctantly admit that Nanital is possibly India’s most beautiful hill station.


A Week in the Arctic

A Week in the Arctic

Whenever I get an invitation to visit a cold place I am generally not too excited. I was born in the foothills of the Himalayas (Himachal Pradesh) therefore snow, mountains, and high altitudes generate feelings of home not wanderlust. But an invitation to visit the Arctic was different. I had never crossed the 66 degree latitude for one and the opportunity to relive your childhood storybook fantasies of reindeers-rides and huskies sledges is too hard to resist.


Flirting With History. The Ruins of Farrukhnagar

Flirting With History. The Ruins of Farrukhnagar

But all this seems distant on the short drive along double-barrelled Basai Road, which makes its way through the villages of Dhankot and Chandu and past Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary, undulating through multi-coloured fields of mustard, wheat and marigolds. The drive is a pleasure; the road is in good condition and lined with fruit sellers peddling seasonal wares right from the orchards. Farmland lines the road, retreating into gentle hillocks that mark the beginning of the Aravalli Hills. Farrukhnagar appears in a traffic jam of lorries, buses and cycles resembling most small Indian towns until one reaches the old quarter with its distinctive Mughal architecture.


Mugged in Africa. Adventures in the African Bush.

Mugged in Africa.  Adventures in the African Bush.

Most of us have a filmy notion of street-muggings. Its almost like a Hollywood film sequence. You are walking down a dark-alley when hooded hoodlums waylay you. They brandish a knife or a gun and say stuff like ‘’Your money or your life’’.
But when I was mugged in Tanzania , two years ago, it took me a while to get my bearings to realize what had happened. It happened so fast.


Jim Corbett National Park- You Don’t come here for the Tigers.

Jim Corbett National Park- You Don't come here for the Tigers.

But it is not just my resort. Joining the chorus are many others. I can hear the distant boom of the music (Sheela Ki Jawani) across the forest valley well after light out. Tourists drink and dance till wee hours of the night. And in the morning they don’t care too much if they miss the safari.


Valley of Sports- Solang Valley, Manali

Valley of Sports- Solang Valley, Manali

I am neither a honeymooner nor here for the snow. I am one of the other sort of tourist in Manali that maybe my taxi driver has not yet taken stock of. The snow game aficionados. And we are all here for the winter adventures offered at the Solang Valley. Winter games is a regular feature at this beautiful valley some 13 kms from Manali town but it has never been so big an affair to keep the tourists industry in Manali happy. But from this year onwards it promises to only grown bigger with a plethora of snow adventures happening all at one place.


White Sands and Hot Spices of the Zanzibar Archipelago

White Sands and Hot Spices of the Zanzibar Archipelago

Most African Safari junkies round off their African bush adventures by dipping their feet in the waters of one of the white-sand beaches of the Zanzibar Archipelago. But I headed straight for Zanzibar even before I saw my first thomson’s gazelle. I had just completed an exhausting shoot in Tanzania and there is nothing like the Islands of the Zanzibar Archipelago to rest your body and soul. It was meant to be a quite holiday but I just could not resist picking up my camera again to photograph the quaint islands, the placid beaches, and its warm people.


Wide Angled in Majuli, Assam

Wide Angled in Majuli, Assam

If you are photographing in Assam for the first time like I was, you would do well not to carry a heavy long-angled zoom. Everything is so vast here that it wont fit your frame unless you carry a wide-angled lens in your camera bag. In Kaziranga National Park the rhinos often breach that invisible man- animal line and come close enough to ram your gypsy turtle. For this reason they send an armed guard with every three gypsies to scare the rhinos with blank shots.


Sunrise in Kanyakumari

Sunrise in Kanyakumari

As a travel photographer I had become accustomed to being the first one to arrive at any landmark at any place I visited. I would have taken the best shots with the early morning sun much before the first tourists began to troop in. But when I stepped out of my hotel in Kanyakumari at six in the morning, I was shocked to find a sea of humanity already there at the beach. Groggy-eyed I tried to look for a vantage position to photograph the rising sun. But every nook and cranny was taken and every tourist was smugly poised with his camera.


Arabian Nights in Bedouin Tents- Wadi Rum

Arabian Nights in Bedouin Tents- Wadi Rum

If you visit Wadi Rum in Jordan, a night’s halt is a must . Not just for the stars that shine so lustrously in the desert sky but for the exotic and authentic Arabian experience it accords. Thankfully there are no hotels in this desert so the only way you can have a lay over here is in bedouin-like camps. From the food to the interiors, the camps compete with each other in giving the best bedouin experience.


Rock-climbing in Wadi Rum- Jordan

Rock-climbing in Wadi Rum- Jordan

Known as `Valley of the Moon’ Wadi Rum in Jordan is not just a nature lover’s moonscape. Its also a great place for sport aficionadas. The sheer cliffs and escarpments of Wadi Rum desert offer enough challenge to the hardiest of climbers. No wonder serious mountaineering and trekkers flock to these huge sandstone mountains all the year around.