By Prasanna

That would be what one thinks of the Kumbh Mela from the news reports that one gets before visiting it. But on visiting it, I found a whole new dimension to things: primarily driven by the perspectives on offer, but also because one only gets to experience a slice of the crowd at best and not the full throng.

The Triveni Sangam area, where the Mela is hosted, covers river banks on both sides while including the riverbed on one – the riverbed fills up when the rivers are in spate during the monsoon and given all that, the Mela area is huge at approximately 50 sq km.

Reaching Allahabad outskirts, one faces traffic restrictions because of the Kumbh. It is best to reach the town via alternate routes (usually by asking local people – or with their help, as we did). Part of that is also the Sangam (confluence). There are many ways to visit Allahabad but the road – either from Lucknow or Varanasi – is most convenient, as both have excellent train and air connectivity and are not

Read More »from Holy dip and a few million people

By Shayantani Sarkar

Venice was once the pleasure capital of Europe and it truly deserves to be so. The romantic city is as prismatic as I had imagined and the beauty of Venice is enhanced during the carnival. Witnessing the oldest carnival recorded in history was both trance-inducing and overwhelming at the same time. The confetti-strewn cobbled streets, face paintings at city squares, live baroque music echoing from Patrician houses, and people in carnival masks and costumes remind you that you are in the land of Giacomo Casanova, where each nook and cranny whispers a tale.

People travel from across the globe to participate in this jamboree and the psychedelic masks are accompanied by 16th century outfit, characterized by opulence.

Some say the tradition began as early as the 16th century when a Turkish acrobat walked on a tightrope. The carnival emerged from the daily life of the Venetians. Gorgeous courtesans and gambling houses were common in those days, so were gamblers and money-lenders and games of identity were a part of the Venetian life. Casanova was not the only one who was reprehensible albeit the foremost.  We have heard stories

Read More »from Venice Carnival – In Love with Color

By Shabana H Shaikh

Clichéd as it may sound – with its many ancient, historical, mythical and natural wonders, Turkey is a traveler’s paradise. A befitting moniker, nonetheless, is as one Japanese traveler I met in Istanbul summed it up: “I came here for a week, ended up staying for a month, and returning three times since!”

You’d mostly hear people talk about Istanbul but Turkey is much more than that. My urge to see unusual places took me to central Anatolia. Here, nestled between the cities of Nevsehir, Kayseri and Nigde, is the ancient region of Cappadocia.

Cappadocia, which means land of beautiful horses, is a spectacular gift of the forces of nature. Three million years ago, violent eruptions of two volcanoes covered the surrounding plateau with a layer of mud, ash and lava. Time and natural elements have eroded these volcanic rocks into a sprawling landscape of peculiar-shaped pillars and fairy chimneys. These fairy chimneys look like enormous mushrooms, or humped animals, Read More »from Going Troglodytic in Cappadocia

By Akanksha Joshi

The river Macchu flows silently. But sometimes, she speaks. And when she does, her voice can be heard across time.

I woke up early. The sun had not yet risen. Birds were asleep. Breeze, playful. The moon and stars were dancing on the river's surface. Stretching herself wide; the river lay awake, whispering, throbbing what can only be called a woman's throb. I went close. And heard a story. Of a nameless love, a timeless temple.

~

I am living in Darbargadh Palace these days. M Bhai is my new friend. A cheerful philosopher, a masaledaar story teller, and the most unguarded guard of the palace. His voice has a deep giggle that bypasses the mind-politik, a direct heart-to-heart. Every time I pass the gate, I get a chance to taste one episode from Mansukh Bhai's pitara of stories.

Morbi is a buzzing little industrial town in the Kathiawar peninsula of Gujarat. Famous for its clocks, CFLs, and ceramic tiles. A river called Macchu runs in between the town. On one end of

Read More »from A Nameless Love in Morbi

By Kalpana Sunder

“Welcome to Mawlynnong or God’s own garden,” says a simple metal board. All along the drive I spotted neat rows of brooms made from the locally grown soft grass, laid out in artistic configurations to dry in the winter sun. It seemed a terribly appropriate introduction to a village that is billed the ‘Cleanest Village in Asia!"

Mawlynnong, in the Khasi Hills, is a picture-perfect village in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya, close to the Bangladesh border. In this remote corner of India inundated by heavy rainfall, transport is skeletal, markets far flung and locals measure distances by the time they take to eat a Kwai - the local betel leaf with lime and areca nut! Since 2003, this little village has held the title of the   ‘Cleanest Village in Asia’ with recognition from a travel magazine, Discover India, and later reinforced by National Geographic and the UNESCO.

My driver Bado is Khasi, belonging to a matriarchal tribe where woman power is stellar and Read More »from Mawlynnong – life in tune with nature

By Nishchaya Bahuguna

A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a pack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
Made a home in the wilderness
He built a cabin and a winter store
And he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore
And the other travellers came riding down the track
And they never went further, no, they never went back.

-- Telegraph Road, Dire Straits

Munching Ladakhi bread smeared with apricot jam, I ask Dawa Norbu at the breakfast table: "How many kilometers to Turtuk?"

Life in Turtuk. Photo: Nischaya Bahuguna

"Almost 80," he says with affirmation. This 50-year-old man from Nubra Valley, along with his family, runs the Snow Leopard Hotel with an ever-charming smile. I give him, perhaps not-so-needed advice on advertising his hotel on the Internet. Hunder in Leh, Ladakh, is infectious. Even more is Norbu’s hotel in the midst of this beautiful valley, secluded from the main road and in stark contrast with its counterparts. It carries the USP of being one of

Read More »from In Turtuk, only smiles are sweeter than apricots

By Vishal B Joshi

While on a self-imposed hiatus, I sat sipping coffee near the window of my hotel room overlooking Lake Pichola and had a postcard-perfect view of the famous City Palace. The lake was possessed of a mesmerizing charm and looked stunning in the early morning light. The surrounding temples, ghats and hotels made it look more dramatic.

The Lake Palace in Udaipur

I was in Udaipur  – the city chosen as the best in the world in a poll by Travel + Leisure magazine in 2009, where history, culture, architecture and style intersect in an unparalleled environment, and home to people from the Rajput clan whose favorite pastimes are horse-riding and polo.

We reached Udaipur from Pushkar. While travelling in Rajasthan, you can visualize the beauty of everyday village life. Young and gentle women wearing colorful clothing and living in incredibly small houses still manage a serene smile on their lips – something incredible in itself. It was as if I was transported to a never-seen-before India.

Udaipur town is

Read More »from Sunset colours in vibrant Udaipur

By Indrani Ghose

The splendors of Budapest are many but how many can one visit in 24 hours? I scanned the map and it read something like this: This spot is a must-see; this spot and this spot are definitely not to be missed; this too and that too. And oh, how can you miss this! I knew I had difficult choices to make.

Luckily, since my Budapest Parliament tour was reserved even before I left India, I knew where to start. We were in front of an amazing architectural wonder, the second largest parliament in Europe, and right on time. The gorgeous exteriors were a good indication of the grand interiors. Soon a smart young tour guide led us in. After a lot of understandable security checks we were inside, facing the dramatic, operatic entrance. Wow!

Our guide presented us with lot of statistics and information on the building, most of which were hard to retain. Thankfully, photography was permitted.

I still remember the opulence of the interiors. There are around 700 rooms, of which only

Read More »from Budapest in a day