All posts tagged: bloggers

And this is how we bend it!

Published by Anita

After 15 days on the road, the Kerala Blog Express chugged into Cochin and came to a halt. It’s been fun. It’s been tiring. It’s been exciting. Yes, it’s been quite a trip. And instead of writing about more sights or sounds, here’s a fun post. Introducing some of my fellow passengers on board the Kerala Blog Express (KBE) 2014. It’s been fun getting to know them and though it’s impossible to cover everyone, but here’s an attempt to present a few. And with a twist. Yes – I’ve convinced, sweet talked and arm twisted them to do various yoga poses with me. A disclaimer – these might not be “real” yoga poses, but we should at least get brownie points for trying. Daniel is from Brazil and is a very well-known journalist and writes for several high profile publications in his home country. He’s in India for the second time and is excited to be Kerala. From here, he goes onto Ethiopia for an assignment (I’m jealous!), before flying home. And I have a …

And here’s presenting the world richest temple!

Published by Anita

Well, we’re told the jury is yet to come in on that one. But what we’re sure is that it’s a really, really, really rich temple. So in case you thought you were visiting a poor nation, steeped in poverty, with lots of homeless people (possibly also true); the other side of the story is that we also possess not one, but two of the richest temples in the world. Between, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple and the Tirupati temple, we could potentially have enough to feed the entire nation for a few years. The temple is located in Thiruvananthapuram, and it shot into fame when in 2010, the news broke about all the wealth it was holding, deep within it’s vaults. An NDTV 2011 report says: “Last July, the world’s attention turned to the temple when the committee unearthed what one of its members said was gold, diamonds and precious antiques worth up to $40 billion.” 40 billion dollars! Now that is no small sum. And a little ironical coming to think of it. At …

Boarding the Kerala Blog Express in Trivandrum

Published by Anita

So it’s been a rather hectic 4 days – a variety of sights, sounds, monuments, hotels, beaches, backwaters, museums and anything else you can think of – have been clicked, blogged about, tweeted by 26 bloggers, writers and photographers who have converged in Kerala from all over the world. We started our journey in Trivandrum on March 10, spent the next day in Kovalam beach and then travelled to Kollam via Varkala on March 12. On March 13, we were in Kovalam. Four days on the road, and I’m trying to get used to the “fast” pace of the trip in the meanwhile. How to follow the travellers as they continue the journey over the next 10 days: Twitter: #keralablogexpress Instagram: #keralablogexpress Website: Kerala Blog Express It’s been an experience that is a first for me. I don’t think I’ve travelled in such a big group. Usually, it’s solo (evolving as my favourite mode!) or with a smaller group (which when like-minded, makes for pleasurable travel). For example, in a large group, it takes time …

Two weeks in God’s own country!

Published by Anita

A month or so ago, I came across the Kerala Blog Express and on a whim, decided to give it a go. Why not, I thought? I have travelled quite a bit in Kerala, but a chance to go back is always welcome. So, was quite pleasantly surprised, when the results came out and I was chosen to get onboard the Express, which departs on March 10. Two weeks going around Kerala with a bunch of enthusiastic, well travelled bloggers, who will converge in Trivandrum from different parts of the world (including a few from India) and then set out together. Here’s to a different view of Kerala. More experiences, and many more pictures and stories! (This photograph taken in Munnar a few years ago, on another trip).

I dreamt of the Bosphorus

Published by Anita

I remember receiving a postcard once. It was a long time ago. But it lives in my memory. It was from Turkey. A friend on holiday sent it to me. I pinned it up – it was a monument – the Sultan Ahmed Mosque I was to find out later. I would look at it once in a while. I didn’t really give it much attention and vaguely remember thinking to myself that it would be an interesting place to visit. And then shelved it in the back of the travel “wishlist”. And then, a few years later, a friend who was visiting Turkey happened to upload and share pictures of the food, performances and sights from the country and that piqued my curiosity a little more. The food definitely looked delicious, the sights were varied and interesting, the traditions deep-rooted in history. While reading some literature about Turkey, I came across the whirling dervishes. Nary a mention goes of Turkey without a reference to the dervishes – performers in white and black robes who …