I came across this quote and loved it!

“I shed my inhibitions, my fears, I traveled light. I traded my stock options for a lonely planet, my cell phone for a compass. My briefcase for a backpack. I took off. I wandered in the company of tourists, revelers & a guitar as old as me. I learned that people are good. Strangers are fascinating. And that every journey reveals another. I’ve lost track of time. And perhaps my job, my apartment & my fiancé. But I have my compass & I know its pointing me in the right direction.”

I am passionate about travelling. After about 6 years of doing hardly anything (and mostly cribbing and whining about lack of time and money), I decided it was time to start doing the things I loved most - travelling being one of them. Now, I usually set aside a few days every year for travelling to new places and re-discovering old ones.

Living in Mumbai, all I seemed to be doing was travel in the crowded local trains :)

I’d like to see more of India and the world in the years to come.

TRAVEL IDEAS:
Be prepared for your trip with quality luggage. Get all kinds of things for your trip like clothes and shoes with online shopping. Even find nice womens handbags to use as your carry-on for the plane.

Some of my recent travels.

Circa 2007

September 2007: Agumbe in the Rains
Along with Manjula, Venky, Ayan and Lavanya, went in search of the rains. And we weren’t disappointed. It rained, and poured and we thoroughly enjoyed the wet climate. Went walking around the village, trekked to a waterfall, admired an old temple and ate lovely malnad cuisine prepared by kasturi akka. We stayed at the dodda mane, a quaint old bungalow where the serial Malgudi Days was filmed.
Pictures

September 2007: Bike Ride to Hogenhakkal
Most people would probably stay away from Goa during the monsoons. But somehow, I like this season. Maybe, because one of my fondest memories was going with a few friends to Goa in August of 1998.
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August 2007: Goa in the rains!
Most people would probably stay away from Goa during the monsoons. But somehow, I like this season. Maybe, because one of my fondest memories was going with a few friends to Goa in August of 1998.
Words | Pictures

July 2007: A tryst with nature in a small town that shall go unnamed!
It was an outing with the girls and four of us set off to spend some time at this off-the-beaten-track village in Tamil Nadu. It was magical. One of those places you don’t want to tell anyone about because you don’t want it to lose its quaint and quiet charm. And you definitely don’t want to see it teeming with truck loads of loud touristy families with a bunch of badly behaved children.
Words | More Words | Pictures

July 2007: A drive to Sultanpet and Nandi Hills:
With the Bangalore Weekend Shoots gang, this was an open plan and a drive towards Nandi Hills. We happened to come across a potters colony in a small town called Sultanpet and spent many a couple of hours clicking there.
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June 2007: Champakulam Boat Race in Alleppey:
Spent a long weekend at Alleppey and went for the boat race. Was good fun under the hot sun to watch all those people try and out do each other in the water. The spirits were rather high around the river where lots of folks had gathered to watch the event. Unfortunately, I lost all my pictures in a hard disk crash. And the words never happened. With Reena, Venkatesh and Sandeep. You can read Sandeep’s account here. Incidentally, his camera also failed as a result of which none of us got pictures of the race :)

June 2007: Very, very green Valparai:
Located in the Annamalai range in Tamil Nadu, Valparai is a tiny hill station that is home to several tea estates and plantations.We spent a lazy and green weekend in the first week of June enjoying the beauty of the place.
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May 2007: Delightful Coonoor and Wellington:
A trip to the beautiful tea country of Wellington in Tamil Nadu along with my sister, Ree and her amma. A rather long but nice drive. Sampled home made wines, took a ride on the toy train and enjoyed a long lazy lunch at the Taj.
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May 2007: Long weekend @ Nersa:
Nersa is about 500 kms from Bangalore and is on the Goa Karnataka border. In May, combined with a holiday, took a long weekend off and we drove down to this serene and peaceful village and stayed in a house on stilts. Spent time lazing around, catching up on sleep, going swimming, eating and such pleasurable activities. What a lovely, lovely place!
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April 2007: Sangama:
A Sunday drive, couple of weekends ago in May. It was hot, dry and probably not the best time of the year to visit. But inspite of it, we found hordes of visitors at Sangama, playing in whatever little water they could find! On the way back, we dropped in at the Art of Living centre to refresh ourselves and grab a bite.
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April 2007: Bandaje Abbe
A lovely place situated in the Chikmagalur range. Nestled deep within the mountains, we trekked for about half a day to reach the Bandaje Abbe falls where we camped. The next day we walked through 2 forests to reach the Bandaje Abbe village. April 21,22.
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March 2007: North East Chronicles

The Umiam lake or Barapani as it is popularly called is located a few kilometres before you reach Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. We spent a couple of hours by the lakeside, enjoying the peace and quiet and the beautiful sunset. March 17.
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Loreto - Back to School: It’s been many, many years since I passed out from Loreto. And that’s why it was perhaps even more thrilling to re-visit my old school again. My trip to Shillong would have been incomplete without going back the familiar portals of LC again! March 19, 2007.
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Mawlynnong: On March 19, we travelled from Shillong to the lovely picture perfect village of Mawlynnong, Meghalaya. The village prides itself on its cleanliness – the cleanest village in Asia is what it boasts – and it’s not an empty boast we discovered. We stayed in a cute house on stilts that had two machans with a view of the surrounding forest and greenery. It was simply awesome!
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Wild Wild East: Kaziranga: On March 21/22, we visited the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, about a 6 hour drive from Guwahati. The park is home to the endangered one-horned rhino, tigers, deers, elephants etc. It also has a wide variety of birds and butterflies. The sanctuary is a must visit if you’re planning to travel the North East.
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Island in the Sun: Majuli Located in the middle of the mighty Brahmaputra river, the journey to Majuli island is around 2 and a half hours in a noisy ferry. We visited the island on March 22 & 23 and got a good view of life in the satras.
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February 2007: Coffee Valley @ Hosamane:
A bike ride to Hosamane, 23 kms from Sakleshpur. We spent the weekend at the Coffee Valley homestay where the hosts plied us with amazingly yummy food and endless cups of chai and coffee! Perfect place for a chilled out weekend. Feb 10/11, 2007.
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January 2007: Magical Mullayangiri:
Pictures from a trek up to the highest peak in Karnataka. A steep climb from Sarpadhari starting at 6 am in the morning. Dawn breaking and a gorgeous sunrise with light engulfing the entire valley below us and the hills around us. From there, we made our way to the Babubudanagiri Hills and camped at Lake Galikere for the night under the open skies. And many more special memories! With Sandeep, Silvester and Apra. January 14/14, 2007.
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Circa 2006

December 2006: New Year in the Nilgiris:
Spent New Year in the foothills of the Nilgiris. On the 31st trekked up from Masinagudi to Ooty, a stretch of 12 kms through beautiful forest and the most amazing views. A lovely way to bring in the New Year and all that it holds! Welcome 2007!
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December: Christmas in Goa:
Four whole days to explore Goa during the festive season! We stayed in Candolim and visited North Goa - Arambol and Tiracol. Old Goa and Panjim another day. And then took some time to wander around the old areas of Mala (Fountainhas) in Panjim. Dec 23-27, 2006.
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December 2006: Fontainhas, L’ancien quartier de Panjim:
At Fontainhas will get a glimpse of the real Panjim as it existed during the Portugese rule. The people as in most of Goa, are friendly and laid back and at the most will give you a sidewise glance and a smile while you go about your explorations! With brightly painted walls, and old heritage architecture, this little corner of Panjim is a delight to wander around!
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December 2006: Mangalore:
The Kadri Kambala is an annual event held in Mangalore, whose main attraction is the bullock races. We were lucky to have gotten the info that this year’s event would be held right near the centre of the city on December 10. We headed out for the weekend to Mangalore where we explored Bekal Fort on day 1 and then witnessed the Kambala event on Sunday.
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December 2006: Nandi Hills revisited
14 of us set off for Nandi Hills one misty December morning. We stopped via the Bhoga Nandeeshwari temple at the base of the hills for a bit. After that, we climbed up the hills to the top and explored and walked around till around 1 pm in the afternoon. On the way back we dropped in at the Gopalswamy temple inside Devanahalli Fort. Finished with a late lunch @ Sanjay’s Dhaba and we were back by around 5 pm. Saturday, 16 December, 2006.
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October 2006: Chikmaglur:
A taste of the true beauty of the Western Ghats I thought as we drove through some most amazingly scenic routes to reach our destination – a remote homestay hidden inside a coffee plantation overlooking the misty hills. Truly paradise.
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Sept-Oct, 2006: Chilling in Coorg: A road trip with a few buddies from my photography gang turned out to be beautiful and enjoyable with great weather and some lovely scenery on the way!
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August 2006: Road trip to Mahabalipuram:
A road trip along the beautiful Bangalore Chennai highway. We went via the Old Madras Road and cruised back on the new highway via Krishnagiri, which was a pleasure to drive on. In Mahabalipuram, we simply let our hair down, sat by the beach, read, ate and watched the waves!
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July 2006: Nandi Hills:
This beautiful place, about a hour’s drive away, is best experienced early morning, which a few of us did one Saturday.
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July 2006: History comes alive at Srirangapatna:
A one day trip to the town of Srirangapatna, just before you reach Mysore, turned out to be quite an interesting experience!
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May 2006: The Himalayas:
Took off on a trip to the Himalayas with a few friends. They went off trekking, I had to forgo it due to bad health, but I had a nice time breathing in fresh air in Manali and Dharamasala. On the way back, we stopped in Bombay for a shopping expedition!
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Circa 2005

October 2005: Europe & UK: I took off on a solo trip to the UK, Scotland, Spain, France and Switzerland.

In the UK, I met my sister who works and lives there. From there, I travelled to Barcelona, Spain where I met Emma and Romain (who work in a dance company there) and who I had met in India earlier in the year during a skiing trip. I loved Barcelona and wished I could settle there for while!

Then I took a flight to Switzerland to meet Stephanie, a fellow blogger and traveler who’s been to India and visited me here the year before. I spent some time in her lovely home and town of Lausanne.

Next, I took the TGV (what a train!) to France. There I was all alone for 4 days in the cheapest hostel I could find! I roamed around and admired the Louvre, the beautiful Sacré Coeur and was fascinated by the dark allure of the Notre Dame. I used the France tourist buses everyday and saw as much of the city as possible, walking along the Seine, the Montmartre, the Moulin Rouge, the Place de la Concorde and to the Arc de Triomphe. I gaped at the marvelous wonder of the Eiffel Tower as I stood below it and took a tour around so I could look at it from all angles! I loved the Metro and used it at every opportunity. And as luck would have it, on the last day I bumped into 2 familiar faces – photographer Param (who I knew only online!) and his wife Shruti, who were on their way to meet another blogger and photographer (studying in Paris at that time), Mahesh Shantaram.

After the 4 lovely days it was time to come back to London this time where I spent time with my very pregnant friend, S. Roamed around London city, met fellow bloggers Masala Chai and Jag and had a great time walking across the London Bridge and the river Thames.

From there, I met with my sister again and took a train to Scotland (we missed our flight!). We went via the mysterious Lochness but didn’t see the monster :) We travelled on to a remote town called Inverness where we met another Indian girl called Aparna and her hubby working there as a doctor. Scotland was amazing - rolling hills, beautiful scenery and lots of sheep. After almost 3 weeks of travelling, it was (sadly) time to come back home!

Words
A photo essay and a few random posts here

Pictures
London, England | Lausanne, Switzerland | Barcelona, Spain

Glorious Gokarna:
A friend told me that I have to do a moonlight trek in Gokarna. After that, I couldn’t think of anything else for a while! When the opportunity presented itself, eight of us left for this town on the Northern coast of Karnataka (Sept 1/18th weekend). Close to Goa, this stretch of coastline is beautiful, virgin and truly a treat for one’s eyes! And to add to it, we got a near full moon!
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Pondicherry Revisited:
On the Independence Day long weekend (Aug 13-15), about 15 of us loaded our cars with goodies and drove down to Pondi via Chennai. Stopped enroute for breakfast at Murugan Idlis at T Nagar, Chennai. Then some long island iced tea at Fisherman’s Cove near Mahabalipuram and we were on our way! Pondi was humid and muggy, and crowded since it was Aurobindo Day. But we packed in quite a bit, besides running up huge spirit bills!
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River rafting on Seethanadi:
I lost my old faithful Nikon automatic camera I picked up in Australia to the strong currents. Somewhere in the middle of the river when water gushed into our raft, my camera could not survive the onslaught, though it was ensconced in a plastic packet. This time, instead of doing the usual travelogue, I wrote about some of the interesting people I met on the trip!
Words

Enjoy the waters at Honnemardu:
A beautiful water adventure place about 2 hours away from Shimoga, about 19 of us made it to this destination. The most eventful part of it was camping on a deserted island on an extremely rainy night. There’s water everywhere and wonderful views all around.
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A Mangalore wedding:
A Shetty wedding set the stage for the Mangalore trip. A really quaint and pretty town, my sister and I tried not to wilt under the Mangalore sun and did as much sightseeing as we could in the few days we were there.
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The birds of Kokkre Belur:
One of the very few existing pelicanries in the world. Also home to the beautiful painted stork. This small village is situated about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Bangalore.

Skiing at Auli, Uttaranchal:
A ski-trip that saw me visit quite a few places in North India, including Dehradun, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Delhi, Joshimath and Auli.

Circa 2004

Magical Hampi: The magical town in North Karnataka, which takes you back a few centuries. A must visit, if you haven’t already been there.

Dandeli/Goa: A fun trip where we had great fun river rafting and chilling out at Palolem Beach, Goa.

Ranganthittu: A bird sanctuary near Mysore. You can take a boat trip out into the water and see many migratory birds.

Sangama/Muthathi: Confluence of a few rivers. The journey there, along with a few photo buddies, proved to be more interesting than the destinations!

Nandi Hills: Lovely, cold and misty in winter, this vantage point about 60 km from Bangalore, proved to be pretty scenic.

Tayendenamol, Coorg: A trek to the highest peak in Coorg. With a broken ankle. Unforgettable!

Bandipur: A scenic drive to the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary and an encounter with a few wild animals.

Ooty: The quiet and serene hill station proved to be a balm for our frazzled nerves :)

Seetha Nadi/Kudlu Teertha: River rafting down Seetha Nadi and a trek to the Kudlu Teertha waterfall turned out to be quite an adventure. My first encounter with leeches. Ewww!

Kihim: Just before I left for Bangalore, an outing with a few friends to a beach near Mumbai.

Kerala: Along with fellow visiting blogger, Tara, we manage to take in quite a few scenic places in God’s own country!

Hyderabad: The city of nawabs turned out to be as grand as I imagined.

Calcutta: A lovely place for photography. If you’re okay with getting swallowed in the crowds everywhere.

Guwahati: My hometown. Or more specifically the place where my parents now stay calls that I visit it once in a while.

Bangalore: A city I visited off and on and then moved to in April 2004.

Tawang, Arunachal: Abode of the clouds. A piece of heaven. A 12 hour journey from Tezpur makes this a memorable trip along with my sister.

Pondicherry: A trip to Auroville and the discovery that we couldn’t cycle did us no good in this quaint little settlement.

Wish list: Kabini | Wayanad | Ranthambore | Bandhavgarh | Corbett | Sunderbans | Rajasthan | Orissa | Sri Lanka | Italy | Gujarat | Ladakh… and the list continues.