travellersoul

Some time back I had read about ancient temples at Kiradu in Rajasthan. Ever since, it was in my list of the "must visit places". During our Jaisalmer-Jodhpur trip, we ensured not to miss Kiradu! We drove down to Barmer via Palanpur, Deesa, Sanchor,... and asked for directions to the 'Kiradu temples' near Barmer. It is a pity that being such an amazing archeological wonder of the country, it is not much heard of. However, it is very much accessible by car. When we reached there, the main gate was closed and looked like it had been closed for a very long time! As per the written timings, it should have been open; however, there was no trace of the ticket window either! We found a small gate, just besides the main gate (not so visible), ... read more

Along with my 5 friends, I visited Lake Oroville in Northern California for a fun day-trip on 6th September. It is little less than 4 hours drive from San Jose. This little known place (to us) is a hidden gem! We rented a speed boat and knee-board.. so much fun to play around in the water! One can even rent house boats here. This place was not over crowded, which gave us lot of space for some speed-boating. ... read more

Apologies for taking soooooo long to publish this blog! I have another 6 pending blogs and I promise to finish them without any delay! On our third day of florida trip, we wanted to spend the whole day at Everglades National Park. Everglades, famous for crocodiles and alligators and other reptiles, is the largest subtropical wilderness in United States. Although, we knew it was the wrong season (wet season) to visit the park, we were determined to encounter some alligators! We started early from our hotel, however, on the way, experienced one of the heaviest rain of our lives. We were on the freeway when it started raining and visibility was down to zero. We had to take an exit and lookout for a shelter. We parked our car and went to Dunkin’ Donuts. Generally people ... read more

(Panorama above is the view of the outer walls of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park) Shreya and I visited South Florida for 4 days during July 4th weekend. Summer is not the right season to visit Southern Florida. It is the wet season with some occurrences of hurricanes. But, the bright side is the benefits of the “off-season”. That is, relatively less rush, cheaper hotels, etc. Key West is the southernmost city of Continental United States. It is 4 hours South West of Miami, accessible by the Overseas Highway (US Route 1). This scenic highway consists of 42 bridges connecting number of islands to the mainland USA. Key West holds a lot of historic significance. This city was a Spanish colony until Great Britain took over Florida in 1763. In 1982, Key West declared its ... read more

(Panoramic picture above is frozen Lake Helen in Lassen Volcanic National Park) Another spontaneous trip - Shasta and vicinity. Shreya and I planned a weekend trip to Northern California while returning home from office on Friday evening. We drove to Sacramento and stayed the night at my cousin’s place and started heading further north to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Lassen Volcanic National Park Some background about this national park - whole of the USA was surprised when a volcano erupted in Northern California in 1914. It was followed by series of explosions for three years. The latest eruption occurred at Mount St. Helens in 1980. Lassen Volcanic National Park is the southern most end of the Cascade Range. We reached Lassen National Park around 12 pm after lunch in a restaurant outside the national park. First ... read more