Travel Lists

My Essential Travel Guide to Chile – The World’s Most Gorgeous Country

in South America travel on November 29, 2018 December 11, 2018 with 13 Comments

What does this travel guide to Chile contain?

My Bali Travel Guide – Some of the Best Things To Do in Bali and Beyond.

Bali has been a relief from the chaos of the overcrowded and the ever-rushing world. Though I had heard really touristy things about Bali, I love the place.

I have spent most of my twenty days in Ubud, old Bali with a modern twist, a village called Laplapan, which is close to Ubud, and also biking my way to far away floating temples, hidden beaches, and rice fields whose pictures were able to enchant me enough.

Before I came here, I thought Bali would be a tourist jungle packed with hotels, restaurants, tour shops, yoga centers, and bike rental shops, along with some greenery. But Ubud and Bali are places that have all these things and also have artistic temples that the Balinese people visit every day, lush paddy fields in the heart of the city, cute ducks wobbling around in open pastures, deserted turquoise beaches, hidden jungles, a cool river cutting through the middle of Ubud, splashing waterfalls, a colorful underwater world, and all with the backdrop of a gaping volcano.

9 Months and 3 Countries – Golden Highlights of My South-American Adventure

in South America travel on August 11, 2018 December 6, 2018 with 7 Comments

In the nine months that I was backpacking through South America (SA), I visited three countries: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia.

White roses, pink bougainvilleas, golden marigolds, and red hibiscuses bloom throughout the day in my parent’s garden, but then comes night, and the queen of the night takes over. These memories from SA waft through my being as the scent of the queen of the night drifts through my parent’s garden and settles in our wistful dreams.

Hope you enjoy these amazing memories from the time I was traveling in South America.

How to Score a Peru Visa on an Indian Passport – From India and South America

in South America travel visas on July 24, 2018 December 4, 2018 with 2 Comments

I traveled in Peru for a little more than a month, as the immigration officer at the Arica-Tacna (Chile-Peru) border crossing had stamped my passport with a one-time stay of thirty days, though I had a 183 days and one-year-valid Peru visa stamped on my blue passport. To get to stay a few days over a month, I had gone to the immigration office in Cusco to extend my stay.

The immigration officer in Cusco listened to my pre-rehearsed story that elaborated how I was in love with Peru and a month to explore it was too short. He stamped my passport with more days and suggested me to request the border officer next time to allow me to stay the entire duration granted by my visa. I would have told the young immigration in charge at the Tacna border that I intended to stay for the whole period, but I was still new to long-term travel.

Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary – A Day in the Winged Paradise

in India Photo Essays travel on June 20, 2018 September 25, 2018 with 2 Comments

We went on a one day drive to the Ranganathittu bird sanctuary. And I was overwhelmed by its beauty, to say the least.

I penned down my experience in a poem. After all, what is better than nature and poetry?

So here you go.

As we entered the sanctuary, painted storks glided above us in the clouded sky,

and with our heads tilted towards the heavens,

we walked by the side of the muddy Kaveri,

to see flocks and flocks of white and grey birds just perched onto the canopies of the Arjuna and the Acacia on the islets.

The crisp air buzzed with their songs and shrieks,

though I couldn’t identify even one of those notes.

We gazed at the distant foliage to recognize the winged-ones,

but our eyes instead discovered three crocodiles who rested on the rocks with their powerful jaws wide open,

as if they were waiting for a fish to dive into their mouth.

Their stillness made us wonder if they were real or fake,

and then we saw one of them gracefully gliding into the coolness of the water,

alluring us to go behind him.

A One–Day Road Trip From Bangalore to Panchapalli Dam and Bettamugilalam Village – Driving Through Wilderness and Rejoicing in Nature

in India travel on May 22, 2018 September 25, 2018 with 6 Comments

One needs to control his or her mind to do anything in this world. Even the most enlightened of us all, Plato, Seneca, Marcus, Aristotle, Buddha, Socrates, valued this virtue. I do not possess this quality, yet, and hence couldn’t sleep the Saturday night before the Sunday drive. At 4 am, when I disabled the alarm and dragged myself out of bed, I felt as if a hundred pins pierced my eyes.

Determined to hit the road, we packed our country-egg-omelet and Amul-butter-pasted sandwiches, that I had already prepared the night before, in tiffin boxes and then in a backpack, along with bananas, water bottles, and Unibic protein bars. We wanted to hike the world. Soon, we sped on the road in search of a green and sunlight-lit golden Sunday in some distant hills or next to a lake or a dam, may be accompanied by an elephant or two.