Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India
The centre of India’s 3rd most populous urban area, a likeable city teeming with people & boasting some of India’s best British-era colonial architecture.
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India (2012)
When I decided to return this year to India, I did so with the city of Varanasi in mind. Yes, it’s as manic and overbearing as any Indian city, an unbridled mess that is one, if not the dirtiest city in India (and it has some pretty steep competition). All that said,...
Taj Mahal, Agra, India (2012)
It´s still 750 rupees (€10) to visit the Taj Mahal, just like it was when I was here in 2008 & in 2002 (incidentally that is 37.5 times the 20 rupees Indians have to pay, but who’s calculating). That’s a lot of money in India but given the number of foreigners...
Amritsar, Punjab, India
I’m on the 8-hour train back to Delhi having spent the last two nights in the north-western Indian city of Amritsar, the capital of the Indian state of Punjab. The reason most travellers who venture up here, me included, is to lay eyes on the city’s...
India-Pakistan Border Closing Ceremony
India-Pakistan Border Closing Ceremony Border Bravado. The Monty Python-esque Border Closing Ceremony Between Two Nuclear Armed Neighbours Wagah India-Pakistan border crossing, October 9, 2012 ; The Wagah border crossing between India & Pakistan, the only road...
Delhi, India (2012)
Delhi, also known as the National Capital Territory (NCT) of India, is the metropolitan region that includes the national capital city, New Delhi. With a population of 22 million in 2011, it is one of the world’s most populous metropolitan areas & the...
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Jodhpur, a.k.a. The Blue City, is the last stop on my 3-stop itinerary of the Indian state of Rajasthan, the dusty, crumbling, ancient Land of Kings, home of the Rajputs, strong Hindu warrior caste clans with a passionate belief in the dictates of chivalry who...
Pushkar, Rajasthan, India
Pushkar is the second stop on my 3-stop itinerary of the Indian state of Rajasthan, the dusty, crumbling, ancient Land of Kings & home of the Rajputs, strong Hindu warrior caste clans with a passionate belief in the dictates of chivalry who controlled this part...
Bundi, Rajasthan, India
One wouldn’t need to spend the three weeks I’ve just spent in southern India in order to fully appreciate the differences between it and the northwestern state of Rajasthan, where I arrived yesterday. A few days would suffice. Rajasthan, the Land of Kings,...
Anjuna Beach, Goa, India
For three evenings in a row I was holding out hope, forlorn hope as it turned out, for a good sunset to photograph. I did see what a sunset on Anjuna Beach here in Goa, India, was capable of. That was three days ago, when I first arrived here off the train from...
Panjim, Goa, India
I broke free from Anjuna Beach for a while today & paid a visit to the Goan state capital of Panjim. It was a 4-hour excursion that was a decade & three visits to Goa in the making – ashamedly this is my third visit to Goa stretching back to 2002 & I...
Hospet to Goa, India || Riding The Rails
Riding The Rails - India Sometimes Sweaty. Sometimes Attritional. Always Interesting. Always Colourful. Always 100% India On the Hospet to Goa train, India. September 26, 2012 ; I estimate I’m over half way there. Half way to the beach in Goa that is. It’s 11:00...
Hampi, Karnataka, India
It was some ten years ago now on the beaches of Goa not long into my first visit to India. He was a memorable character so I remember the conversation with him well. I was a India greenhorn. He was anything but – he’d spent most of his vagabonding days in...
Mysore, Karnataka, India
Mysore, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, has a few things going for it but few look beyond its fabulous palace, a dynastic seat of power right up until Indian independence from the British in 1947. And for good reason – it’s pretty special,...