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Napoli Beats
There are two kinds of people. L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Naples, is perhaps the only exception.We waited outside it for 94 minutes!For one, we reached at the worst time- 1 PM, when the serpentine queues were the longest in the day- but I hadn’t seen a single place yet which was even slightly tempting. More…
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Of Ancient Caves and Bat-sh*t Crawl
The day started like all our travel days- deciding on the itinerary for the day. This can be tricky, (because the man and I tend to be vocal about disagreeing to agree) but this time around, the twain met easily.We both like history and historical footprints, and because ancient cave sites offer both, spanning hundreds…
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His Story- Cruising Alaska
I love cruises ever since I watched the Titanic. Weird. I should’ve been scared, right? I grew up working my way up from being the junior- most assistant to a man who serviced boats, to repairing small boats, to a meeting with the owner of a small fleet who loved my work… and the rest…
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Her Story- Cruising Alaska
There seem to be more bars on the ship than I can count. I sit here at the one by the pools. The poolside with the hot- baths. One large, one small. I face the touchy-feely couple in the small one: skin wrinkled with the heat of the water, faces an excited red with the…
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Cruising Alaska- Of Hunger-pangs, Icy Blue Seas and Pools That Steam You Up.
https://nomadiqueinkeds.wordpress.com/2018/06/01/cruising-alaska-through-other-eyes/
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Cruising Alaska- Of Hunger-pangs, Icy Blue Seas and Pools That Steam You Up.
How do you pack for Alaska when the weatherman predicts 50% chance of rain everyday that you will be there! This is what I do: Keep the heavies- Rain/ wind/ snow shield. Keep the really heavy insulated boots- Rain/ snow. Keep the thermals- To eliminate at least two layers of clothes. Keep those three dresses…
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Of Historic Homes, Red Pianos and Pyramids in Iowa
Gracious, warm, super-smart and very generous. My hostess is all that and more. Her home mirrors the same. I’ve seen pictures of D’s 1800’s home, but they don’t do it justice. From the outside it looks like many of the other houses in the ‘Historic District’ of this small town in the Midwest, but only…
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Dilli
Everything changes. Including plans. We were to do the ‘travel coordinator- planned’ tour of Old Delhi which looked like this: *Old Delhi Rickshaw Tour – Customized Glide through Old Delhi’s historically and culturally intriguing albeit labyrinthine lanes on our rickshaw tours. Hop on board our custom made rickshaws and ride into hustling, bustling bazaars chock-…
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City of Angels, With Snoggers Thrown In
Twelve minutes into the train from an absolutely empty station and we were there. Lichfield was there before we could say Brexit. Ten days of incessant arguments and discussions of which I was a mere interested by-stander have just come to an end. Cameron made a dignified exit speech this morning that left many of…
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Of Colonial Hangover, Tea gardens and other Nilgiri Joys
It is the summer of 1896. While the Indian plains are reeling under an expected heatwave, Mrs Wells’ guest house in Upper Coonoor is cool, shadowed by the branches of the Silver Oak trees that an English officer had planted all over Coonoor, fifty years ago. The newly added Teak doors and French windows look…
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Of Thate Idlis, Bengaluru Cops and A Contemptuous Cat
Brahmins’ Thate Idlis is the perfect culmination to a morning spent in walking the beautiful neighborhood we are holidaying in- lush green foliage, flowering trees, canopies alive with birds, really interesting architecture, creative road signs, famous inhabitants and pretty grassy parks- almost empty except for a group of men in lungis doing the Sheesh Asana.…
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I’d Dye For You…
We walked endlessly into the tiny market lanes from the Clock Tower. The locals call it Ghanta Garh. Unfortunately, the clock is a modern type, nothing about it suggests history. There’s a frenzied air about this market. The narrow lane has clusters for various ware- bangles, jewellery, tobacco, dupattas, dyers, fabric, utensils, beaders, farsan, spices……
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Chandelao Garh
Chandelao Garh is a well kept secret, a world away from the tourist circuit. It isn’t hard to see why His and Her Highness of Norway come to relax here, and why the overseas guests return year after year. Asha our hostess, the current thakur’s sister, has suggested we reach by 8 AM. Just forty…
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Yellow
Everything is yellow. Jaisalmer yellow. Every building, ornate, simple, big, small, ostentatiously carved or not, they all have that mellow setting-sun-on- corn- fields color. Jaisalmer yellow stone. Even the dust haze has that hue. Interestingly, many local homes have a marking of marriages of a family member painted outside their homes. The cost of everything…
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Chivalry Is Not Dead
There’s no garam chai available on this train. The bestie mentions this aloud and the young officer sharing our cabin of four makes a call. “Garam chai at the next station. Yes. Two cups.” A shared background steeped in life spent in the forces is such an immediate adhesive. It is a bonding hard to…
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The Night Train To Jaisalmer
I’ve seen a bit of Rajasthan. Loosely translated that would be the luxury- tours way, not the best way to do it. This time it’s different: It starts with an interesting work assignment. The bestie and I are traveling together. We’ve dumped planes for trains. The places we’re traveling to are both on, and off…
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Hemis, Norbu And The Wind Mountains
The next forty-eight hours took our breath away. Literally. But that comes a day later. Norbu, our local cab driver is car proud and tries his best to make us comfortable- rugs, small eats, medicines, water, music . . . He talks about the changes in Leh post the Kargil war- “More army means more…
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Spituk, Emerald Greens and Things That Go Bump In The Night
The old mahogany bed is toasty warm. The tulsi chai with honey is almost a tranquilizer.The book is about Ghalib and his times. It’s the perfect start to the end of an exciting day. Only, the wind won’t stop howling through the eerie moon-shadowed mountains crevices on all sides. And then it starts- I can…