Vietnam is a land a diversity – the Japanese, French, Chinese, Indian, even Americans have come and gone; the country has absorbed the influence over the centuries and woven it into its social and cultural fabric, yet Vietnam has retained its identity in the Indo Chine region. Though the one influence that is rarely felt…
Winding roads always lead you to an interesting destination. In Vietnam, that means Sapa – a hill country bordering China, where local mountain tribes live in the valleys, tending over rice fields and kids with apple cheeks, shyly peeking from their mother’s slingbacks. Getting there is half the fun. An overnight train journey (we took…
Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site, south of Danang was a trading port, originally for the Chams and later for the Japanese – who built an ornamental bridge, the Chinese, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Indians. Formerly known as Lâm Ấp Phố (Champa City), who traded spice using Hoi An’s strategic location, the town derives its…
Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in southern India, is about 300 kms or about 6-7 hour driving distance from the IT city, Bangalore. Hampi was the capital of the old Vijayanagara kingdom and was probably built in the 15th century on the banks of River Tungabhadra, quenching the thirst of this hot, arid and…
If there is one spiritual experience to be had in your lifetime, make that Yeepeng Lanna. Taking place each year in Chinag Mai in the latter half of the year as per the lunar calendar, the festival sees hundreds of paper lanterns released into the sky signifying the release of worldly desires. Others release their…
As nature intended, the vast grasslands of New Zealand end, giving way to the roaring blue Pacific Ocean.
New Zealand, true to its word, is 100% pure. There is a sense of pristine beauty, absolutely untouched, like it was God’s own country. The night sky is clear with an occasional shooting star to take your breath away or the satellites orbiting the earth at an unhurried pace; the silence only broken by the…
Why are doors no longer designed as beautifully as they were before?
Thai and Burmese influence in Singapore
A starting point of a blog is an inaugural post; a starting point of a travel is trepidation with ominous looking embassies, long visa queues with worried faces secretly sending prayers for a successful approval, grouchy, caffeine-deprived visa officers interrogating the bejesus out of you, armed security men guarding the premises like a fortress, motioning…