Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #102: A Quiet Moment
Photo challenge about a quiet moment features pics from India.
Keep readingIndia
5 Dining Experiences to Write Home About
Santa Rosa, California | Wine Country The weather was perfect and we decided to launch our food, wine, and shopping journey with a tasting dinner at the St. Francis Winery & Vineyards in nearby Santa Rosa. And, OMG, what a wonderful way to begin. We arrived just in the nick of time (they keep to…
Keep reading
2 Hotels in India Where Adventure Meets Luxury
Brijrama Palace|Varanasi The Brijrama Palace is a luxurious heritage hotel on the ghats (high embankments with steps leading into the river) in Varanasi. More than 200 years old, it’s been open since 2016, after 18 years of restoration. It is beautiful and opulently furnished with antiques and 18th-century art. Located on the Darbhanga Ghat, the only way…
Keep reading
Slumdog Millionaire
In a space 1/2 the size of Central Park over one million people live in the Dharavi slum. A few years ago an enterprising group decided to launch Reality Tours & Travel to show people the truth behind the slum and dispel misconceptions. Our young, energetic guide Javed grew up in Dharavi and still lives…
Keep reading
Bombay or Mumbai?
I know today it’s officially Mumbai, but many still call it Bombay – a name given by the Portuguese in 1534. I prefer the exotic promise of the name Bombay, so that’s what I’m going with. In Bombay, I had a bit of a meltdown – came down with a cold (again). So I missed…
Keep reading
Stamp it out
We learned about the centuries-old craft of block print stamping on fabrics. Our first female guide of the trip, Meetu, took us about a half-hour outside of Jaipur to the Chippa village of Bagru. 250 families have been in this business for 400 years. It was particularly interesting to learn how they got the reverse…
Keep reading
Jaipur – not really a pink city
Jaipur looks like the India of my imagination. Opulent, luxurious, and a bit of mystery. We drove more than four hours through farmland and small villages of Rajasthan to arrive at the “Pink City.” It should really be called the Coral City since the buildings in the old city are all a lovely, soft terracotta color.…
Keep reading
“PR” in Jaipur
Can’t escape the media. Our guide from yesterday was very excited when he called this morning. . . . . Ironically, (because I’ve had a career in PR) he was telling us my picture was in today’s local paper. We’ve been in Jaipur for the last few days and were visiting Jantar Mantar, one…
Keep reading
Tiger Trek
Spoiler alert – we did not see a tiger. As disappointing as that was, our visit to Ranthambhore National Park was a wonderful experience. The weather was beautiful, clear, low humidity, blue skies, and cool. The scenery was so much more varied than I imagined. We traveled through dense forest and open fields, around…
Keep reading
Agra and beyond
There is a bit more to Agra than the Taj Mahal and we tried to cover the bases. First, I want to acknowledge the staff at the Oberoi Amarvilas. Making a few adjustments to our itinerary we made our own arrangements with the Oberoi. And WOW, they were amazing. We are still not quite…
Keep reading
Navigating Varanasi
Our guide said it was like we had walked into a movie set and the director screamed “action.” It was a perfect representation, everyone and every vehicle were in motion. For three hours we walked through the streets and alleyways of downtown and northern Varanasi. It was at once surreal and a bit intimidating. Intimidating…
Keep reading
Stepping into another world – Varanasi
Let’s put this part of the world in perspective, look back to the 7th century BC. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built, the Maya culture was thriving, Ezekiel the Hebrew prophet was born, Egypt’s Thebes was captured and sacked, Argos defeated Sparta for the last time, Greeks had their first naval battle, the Zhou…
Keep reading
A Day in Dehli
There might be a haze from smoke in Delhi, but little pollution from vehicle exhaust. They use CNG – natural compressed gas, so no diesel odor. And believe me, we were in traffic a lot. Temps feel pretty much like Miami and the vegetation would be familiar to South Floridians. There are a lot more…
Keep reading
Hazy exploring in Delhi
Visitors to India either seem to love it or hate it. I’m prepared to love it. Our tour company, Audley, suggested we rest when we arrive – maybe even sleep. But we want to stay awake during our first daylight hours in this country and get a little walking in to offset our long travel…
Keep reading
We’re boarding. . .
Overseas travel is never easy – and, unfortunately, today it’s not as lux as it once was. My good friend Sarah and I have headed off to India. I sometimes think if you combined the two of us we’d be one super-traveler. In any case, we seem to do very well as a travel-team. So…
Keep reading
India’s Favorite Snacks
This fall I’m planning to go to India. As part of my pre-trip prep, one of the things I’d like to learn is more about Indian cooking. I’d really like to understand all the spices and various uses . . . it seems like an insurmountable task, but I began to scratch the…
Keep reading
