travellersoul

I grew up in the era when once a year we got to watch “The Great Himalayan Rally” on Doordarshan. As a kid, I was extremely fascinated but never imagined myself being part of something like that! Two decades later, a friend came up with an idea to participate in a car rally in Himalaya, which was dismissed at an early stage by various stake holders. Two years later, in 2011, having watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Himalayan Rally was again part of our frequent discussions. However, for some reason or other nothing was materialized for another two years. However, during this time period, we did some homework and learnt more about this rally, which burst a number of misconceptions. Rally and race are quite different. Specifically, the one we were looking at: Raid de Himalaya ... read more

(This post is an overview of my Sri Lanka trip. There will be location specific posts of our whole expedition - hopefully soon!.) Last year was very hectic for both of us and excluding a couple of short trips we pretty much didn't travel at all! Fortunately this May, both of us could take some time off together. We initially considered a number of places but zeroed down to Sri Lanka due to plethora of activities - archaeological sights, beach, scuba, hiking, rafting, wild-life safaris, shopping - all in one single vacation! We are absolutely glad that we did so :-). Initially, we considered using public transport to get around the island and make it a semi-backpacking trip. However, when we tried to fit everything we wanted to do in SL in 11 days, we realized ... read more

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