Families across the US are making plans for the best-ever camping trips this season. Whether it’s a trip to a new “favorite” place or an old standby, let’s face it, this is what life’s memories are made of. And there’s something special about gathering the brood and taking a walk in nature. Exploring the big [...]
Continue reading about C’mon Campers – Take Your Kids Hiking
The juvenile painted storks along with the adult painted stork having a go at their breakfast in Ranganatittu Bird Sanctuary . I would also request you to join me on Facebook, where I share my travel stories, photographs and some published writing, some of which are not yet on backpacker. Please click the link here to be [...]
Continue reading about India through my eyes – Breakfast at Ranganatittu Sanctuary
More than 1000 years ago, sometime in the middle of 10th century, a dynasty was born in the Malenadu or the hilly regions of modern day Karnataka. They were called the Hoysalas. They were not born kings, but were tribal chiefs who rebelled against the Chalukyas and went on to establish their own kingdom. Their [...]
Breathlessness and Ladakh go hand in hand. If the views do not stun you with their stark harsh beauty, the heights will definitely make you go breathless. It is little wonder then that Ladakh is called the land of the mountain passes . Through out our many journeys around this mountain kingdom, we pass through [...]
Great civilizations and dynasties do not have a fairy tale beginning, for they are all founded on streams of blood . While Indian folklore is rich in heroic legends , a birth of a dynasty is replete with battles fought and won . It is the same with the Vijaynagar empire , except there are [...]
As we start our descent from Nandi Hills, I watch the fog move mysteriously around, hiding trees, flowers , birds , boulders in a sheath of white. The views of the sprawling townships around Bangalore are wrapped in its fold and are lost in the silky fabric. A puff throated babbler flies out of this [...]
Every boulder in Hampi tells a story – the tale of the mighty Vijaynagar dynasty . Thronged by tourists who come here to see the crumbles of this once powerful empire, Hampi has this ageless spirit about it. The river Tungabadra flows through this capital town separating Anegundi and Hampi and has been a silent [...]
Almost every hill station in India – be it Shimla or Darjeeling tell the same story. Lush and plentiful in summer with snow kissed conifers carpeted on their slopes in winters, these towns have been plucked out of nature by the British. The quaint names, a sleepy railway station, an ancient church , a club [...]
The sculpture calls out to me. Carved in stone is a story of a devout cowherd called Chandesa who worships an icon of Shiva on sand and anoints it with milk. His father angrily strikes him and Chandesa retaliates . His staff turns into an axe chopping off his father’s legs, just when Shiva lands [...]
Continue reading about Gangaikondacholapuram – an ancient Chola capital
We were at Kabini yesterday and today, lets soak a bit in the Cauvery at Doddamakkali, which is more than just a fishing camp. This story was published in Jungle tales, a magazine brought out by Jungle Lodges on their 30th anniversary. A shorter version was also published in my column, Inside Story in The [...]
Continue reading about Doddamakkali – A tryst with the River Cauvery
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