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Showing posts with the label Skywatch Friday

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Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...

Sky Watch Friday - Jaigarh Fort

What a week it has been!!! And this Friday, looking at a weekend which promises to be even more busy, I am reminded of the Friday evening we spent at the Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur. Here is a view from the fort....

Sunset at Somnath

We recently visited the Somnath temple during Samhith's short year-end break. We arrived at Somnath in the evening, and rushed for a glimpse of the deity, and then hurried to get my camera to capture the sight of the sun setting behind the temple...

Skywatch Friday - Sunset over the Mumbai Skyline

Summer is here, and Mumbai is sweltering hot! This is not really the best time to travel, for its hot everywhere, but this does not seem to stop us from travelling!! I just returned from two short trips - a week long trip to Gujarat, where we visited Somnath, Junagadh and Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, and another shorter break to Alibag. There is lots I have to write about, and hopefully I shall get started soon.... Meanwhile, another good news is that I have finally upgraded my camera!!! I am now the proud owner of  Nikon P510!! Those of you who are wondering why I didn't finally switch to a DSLR, the reason is that I decided that Samhith was quite enough to handle for now! I didn't want the additional burden of lenses and stuff that had to be cared for at all times! The P510 seemed to be the perfect compromise, and I set off for Gir with the new camera in hand..... I have been agonising over which images to post first, and have finally decided that these sunset s...

Sky Watch Friday - Random Clicks from Cars and Train

Welcome back, and Wish you all a wonderful New Year!! I am back at last from my trip - the last one of 2011 and also the first one of 2012. I was accompanied throughout by some wonderful weather, the cyclone Thane throwing no hurdles in my path, just a lot of clouds and some rain to enliven our travel! For Skywatch Friday today, here are some random scenes from my trip!

Sunrise and Sunset for Skywatch Friday

Considering that Samhith's school i s extremely miserly about holidays, we had completely forgotten that Guru Nanak Jayanti would bring us a day off. By the time we realised it, it was too late to plan something properly. But some frantic googling and lots of phone calls later, we finally headed out, before sunrise, on our unplanned, last-minute-holiday to Bhimshankar! The trip was special because it had been a long time since we had headed out of town on an impulse, but even more because, Bhimshankar, home to one of the 12 Jyotirlingams (of which I have now seen 10) had been on my radar for a long long time, but it had eluded me for so many years! The Lord seemed to want to make up for all the times my trip had been postponed, because the trip was memorable, not just because of the temple, but because of so many other experiences... You will have to wait to read about them, though, till I manage to sit down long enough to write all of them down.... Meanwhile, here are some phot...

Sunset at Nainital

On my recent visit   to Corbett as part of the Club Mahindra Bloggers Trip , we spent some time at Nainital. After roaming around the streets for a while, we took the ropeway to get a glimpse of the snow covered peaks of the Himalayas. The ropeway idea was just a lark, to spend some extra time at Nainital, but it turned out to be full of surprises - from the beautiful aerial view of the Naini Lake.....

Skywatch Friday - Images from Badami

Badami was the capital of the early Chalukyas, from the 6 th to the 8 th century AD. The city was then known as Vatapi. The name came from the legend of Sage Agasthya who destroyed the demons Vatapi and Ilvala here. As the story goes, Vatapi and Ilvala were demon brothers. Vatapi had a boon from the gods that no matter how many pieces his body was cut into, when called, they would join and he would be whole and alive. Taking advantage of this, the brothers tricked all sages who passed by their region. They would invite them for a feast, an invitation which could not be refused. Then Vatapi would turn into a ram and Ilvala would cut him up and serve him to the guests (in those days, even sages ate meat).

Sky Watch Friday - Skies over Mumbai

The Mumbai Skyline , over-set by monsoon clouds...... Walking along Marine Drive in the pouring rain brings back memories of my college days when I walked the path alone. So many years later, I walked the same path, this time with my husband and son! A memorable experience indeed!!! For more beautiful skies from around the world, go to the Skywatch Page

Sky Watch Friday - Changing Landscapes

The mountains near the Ambaji Temple in Gujarat are well known for their marble mines. In fact, the local name for the mountains and the forest there -   Arasur - comes from the word for marble. No wonder every temple in the area is made of marble! Here is one view of the hills.........

Purple Rumped Sunbirds and Tailor Bird - Sky Watch Friday

The monsoons having officially begun, the trees near our house have been pruned. I wondered if this would mean that lesser birds would visit our place, but was surprised to see that in fact, I saw more of them, thanks to the lack of leaves which helped them camouflage! The best thing was that I managed at last to photograph the purple rumped sunbirds which flutter amidst the flowers all day long.....

Sky Watch Friday - Fateh Sagar Lake, Udaipur

Sunsets are always a wonderful sight, but throw in some water and mountains, and the beauty is immediately multiplied. Here are a series of pics taken at the Fateh Sagar Lake in Udaipur, at different times of the day....

Sky Watch Friday - Qutub Minar

The whole of last year, I complained that I was unable to travel, and thus couldn't think of anything to write. Someone up there seems to have heard my complaint, because this year, the situation has reversed. I am travelling almost every month, sometimes even twice a month, and have tons to write, but no time at all to sit down and pen down my thoughts. Those of you who are wondering where I disappeared to, I was at Delhi, attending a family celebration, meeting relatives aged between 6 months and 97 years! It was a wonderful experience, besides which, it was a wonderful trip also because I managed to get in a bit of sightseeing with all the catching up with my cousins! Here is one of the images from my trip - the Qutub Minar. We visited the place in the afternoon, in the searing heat, and wandered about for an hour, realizing that I remembered practically nothing of the place from my earlier visit, which was sometime when I was at school. One thing was certain, though -...

Sky Watch Friday - Feather in the sky

I took this pic from the train while returning from Aurangabad. Samhith and I always try to imagine what the clouds look like, but this time it was real easy! For more interesting skies from around the world, visit the SkyWatch Page .

Lavasa Trip Part 2 - Ekaant - Beauty in Solitude

This is a continuation of my earlier post on Lavasa. Please read Part 1 before reading further. Waking up early is always a chore, unless one has something to really look forward to. This is especially true when we are on a holiday, but we bloggers were up and about before 5:45 in the morning of our day at Lavasa, eagerly looking forward to the nature trail we were supposed to go on.

Sky Watch Friday - Sunset along the tracks....

I took this pic from the train while we were returning from Aurangabad..... The sight seemed so apt... the sun setting over the horizon and the tracks going on and on.... theres so much to see, so many places to travel... and life is so short! For more skies around the world, go to Sky Watch Friday !

Sky Watch Friday... Sunrise amidst the Mist

' Writer's block' is probably the only excuse I can give for not posting for so long! There is so much I want to write, but somehow, the words elude me... which is why I have decided to begin with posting some pics..... and being Friday, its time for SkyWatch Friday ..... This is how the sun greeted us, on the first day of our vacation. Our train was speeding towards Guntakal Station, and the sun had just risen...... mist and fog were everywhere, and when I opened the window for a better look, I got some strange glances from my fellow passengers, who shook their heads and pulled their blankets tighter around themselves! But even the chill, numbing wind couldn't make me take my eyes off the spectacular sight in front of me... Here are a couple of shots I managed... I liked the first pic more than the second, but neither really capture the feeling we had, of rushing through the mist, trees appearing and disappearing.... endless fields just a  blur against the horiz...

Sky Watch Friday... River

Earth, Water, Mountain, Clouds.... how wonderful it looks...... This was taken from the train, as we were passing over the Krishna river, while returning from Tirupati. I am off again, this time to Hampi - a heritage tour as well as  a wildlife one, for I shall be staying at the Jungle Lodges and Resorts' Sloth Bear Resort. From there I will be heading over to Badami, trying to see as much of Badami, Aihole and Pattadakkal as I can, before heading over to Puttaparthi to bring in the new year...... Till then, have a wonderful time, and keep coming back, for the Tirupati posts aren't over yet!!! For more skies around the world, go to SkyWatch Friday!

Sky Watch Friday... Tirupati city from the hills

A view of Tirupati city from the road down the hills. It no longer looks like a small town but a city, doesn't it? For more skies around the world, go to  Sky Watch Friday .

Sky Watch Friday... Sun and Moon

I was looking through some of my older photos and found this one that I had somehow missed posting...... We were on our way to Morachi Chincholi and all of us were stunned to see this wonderful sight before us.... the sun setting over the hills and the moon rising.... This pic was taken at a point where we could see both of them together...  For more skies around the world, go to Sky Watch Friday

SkyWatch Friday - Sunlight

I took this pic when we were returning from Morachi Chincholi... I think we were somewhere on the expressway.... and I remember wishing for dark clouds and some rain, but all we could see was the sun! For more skies around the world, go to SkyWatch Friday