My travel column in FirstPost

I know I have been missing in action on this blog for a while now. I have been traveling loads and been so busy writing for a living (isn’t that great?!) that I have not had the time and energy to blog. Promise to rectify that soon.

For now, head to FirstPost and read my travel column – Wanderlust – it appears twice a month, so watch out for it. Also, please please share with me your ideas and suggestions for the column – interesting travel destinations, trends, websites. Thanks much in anticipation!

From my latest Wanderlust column on the beautiful city of Madurai –

Malayadhwaja Pandiya must have been a sad king. Fate had played a cruel trick on him. After years of being childless and spending days and nights in prayer, and pouring countless kilos of pure ghee in the sacrificial fire, he had been blessed with a daughter. Alas! A daughter who was a freak; she was born with three breasts. Just as the royal couple was torn between joy and despair, a voice from the heavens informed them that her abnormality would disappear as soon as she met her consort. The girl Meenakshi — the fish-eyed one — grew up into a beautiful princess who was finally won over by Lord Shiva and married him.

Read on…

Have trumpet, will blow

Turns out I am a travel junkie. Not just that but a ‘top travel junkie on facebook’. So there. idiva has featured me on World Tourism Day (what are people expected to do on this day?) on their website.

These Times of India guys really like my blog. Here is when I got listed as one of the “Ladies Who Blog” (whatever!), again on idiva (you have to believe me when I say I have no friends working there) and here is when they featured the blog in their main newspaper.

Looking back at the ToI piece, I am glad to note that two of the three destinations on the domestic wish-list have been visited – none, sadly on the phoren countries. To remedy that now…

Shades of grey

New look on the blog – how do you like it? I’ve been bored of the old one and kept looking off and on for an interesting template. I liked this one a lot – and it suits my needs perfectly. So, here goes.

I’ve also made some minor changes to the side-bar – have organized the post categories a bit – so far, I’ve kept adding categories as and when I start writing about a new place but I thought it needed more structure. And in the process, felt pained all over again when I think of all the places I want to visit. So much to see, so little time. And money. *deep sigh*

If you are reading this as a feed through your reader, hop over now to see the emperor’s blog’s new clothes. Look forward to your response! (Broad hint: remember, I asked ‘how do you like it’, not ‘how do you find it’).

Also, any suggestions on interesting things to add to the blog / side-bar?

Memories of Ladakh

This is the scene of confluence of the sparkling blue-green Indus with the muddy blue-brown Zanskar near the tiny village of Nimmo, just a hour’s drive from Leh in Ladakh. The two mighty rivers merge at this point, and flow on as the Indus. It is a popular spot for rafting among visitors and falls on the way from Leh to the ancient monasteries of Alchi and Likir, and Lamayuru further ahead. I think it is one of the prettiest spots in Ladkah.

This is one of the images that was recently displayed at a photography exhibition at the Alliance Francaise Bangalore. This is the other:

A day spent by the shores of Pangong Tso (‘tso’ for lake in Ladakhi) is one of the highlights of a trip to Ladakh. The lake changes colours by the minute, hundreds of shades of blue, dictated purely by the whims of the sun at that time. Pangong is a salt water lake situated at an elevation of over 4250 meters (13900 feet). It stretches on for 134 km, at its widest no more than 5 km, and over 2/3rds of it lies in China.

Why ‘Itchy Feet’

So far, I have not felt the need to tell you. I assumed – please tell me, rightly – that if you are a regular reader of a blog called Itchy Feet, then you long for the great outdoors as much as I do. And something happened today that made me want to explain.

Here it is – to the person who arrived here looking for ‘ugly new born turkey pictures’. First of all, why? Of all things bright and beautiful that there are to see, why would you want to search for the u.n.b.t.? But then, who am I to question you? People have been known to search for weirder things – ‘the meaning of life’ instantly springs to mind.

But I digress. The tag ‘Turkey’ in this blog does not, let me repeat- does not, refer to the fat birds that find their sorry way to the kitchens and subsequently, plates of a million well-fed Americans late in the year. It refers to the country whose capital Istanbul straddles Asia and Europe and which is edging speedily into the European Union. A country I fell in love with and dream of going back to, the first chance I get. Which is why I keep writing about it.

So, my suggestion is, stop looking for food / bird porn and find better things to do with your time.

You too, people who come here every.single.day. looking for a solution for your health and hygiene problems. ‘Special meanings to feet itching’? – it is time to get a new pair of socks – and wash them frequently. And try specialist products – I recommend Dr. Scholls’. Ditto for he who comes here because ‘my feet itch after i stand for long periods’. Sit down, man.

As for you, seeking ‘itchy souls of feet’, what can I tell you, the ultimate seeker?

Give me an h, give me an i

Some days, ok, most days, I wonder if anybody reads this blog at all.

Itchy Feet has been up and about for over six years(!) now – in its earlier avtaar, it was a part of my main blog. But I see no signs that real people (as opposed to spam bots and sellers of miracle medicine) are actually reading this…

So here is the thing. If you are a reader of this blog – if you have been lurking quietly on these pages, if you have been reading my infrequent updates through rss feed, if you have been making travel plans based on anything you see here, if you have been leaving rare comments here… In short, if you have been gasping in silent admiration for all these years (heh!), now is the time to step forward and say hi. Drop in a comment or send a cheery wave – I would love to get to know you.

2009 on Itchy Feet

Looking back at the year that was…

I started the year with a three week stint at the ayurvedic hospital in Cochin, seeking yet again a cure for my aching back. We ended that with a relaxed couple of days in Fort Kochi.

Kitsch is king

April saw us taking off to Sikkim, my birthday on the snow near Nathu-La, a desperate search for the Kanchenjunga from Pelling and a bone-crunching trip up North to Gurudongmar Lake and Yumthang Valley. 2009 was the year V and I took our longest holiday together – 2 weeks in Sikkim – it is usually long weekends, or a week with both ends combined, for us.

Weekend market near Pelling

Sunset on Mt.Narsing

We made a couple of trips to the Sindhudurg region in June-July, where I met fellow traveler Lakshmi for the first time. Both times, we stayed at homestays managed by Culture Aangan and drove through the region, soaking in the greens of the Konkan during the rains.

Sunset at Damapur lake

It was the year we moved to Bangalore. Just before the move, in August, we took part in the Great Driving Challenge and went to the semi-finals stage, participating in the four day audition at the Royal Palms Hotel in Mumbai. We had great fun, made new friends and several plans to resume road trips.

On to the auditions

I made several trips to Chennai through September and October to be with my parents, since my father went through a bypass surgery in early October. I managed to squeeze in a day at Melkote with friends and a three day photography workshop at Hampi with the getoffrass guys in early November.

At the Melkote temple

Twilight in Hampi

We ended the year with a week long visit to Sri Lanka (more on that soon) – covering mainly the Buddhist circuit around Anuradhapura and the hills of Nuwaya Eliya.

Tea at Nuwara Eliya

Sunset at Negombo

Overall, the year was a bit subdued in terms of travel – ok, we did take two long holidays, but you know I am a great fan of short and several travel breaks. On the other hand, I got around to writing more regularly on this blog – which I hope to continue this year. I bought myself an SLR camera finally towards the end of the year. And I published several travel pieces in newspapers and magazines that I had not worked with before.

And the plans dreams for 2010? A couple of weeks in Europe definitely. I keep saying this at the beginning of every year – but this year, I hope to see this through. Weekends out of Bangalore (the Bandipur, Kabini circuit, Coonoor and the Nilgiris), Pushkar during the mela (again, how many years has it been now since I started saying this?), more of Rajasthan (again!) if possible or Madhya Pradesh.

Anyone game for a trip together? Give me a holler!

And so I dream on…