All posts tagged: Travel

From the archives: The sisters visit Arunachal!

Published by Anita

Many, many years ago the intrepid Bora sisters took off to Arunachal Pradesh. At that time, it was a big deal to travel without guardians, but we were quite determined to make the trip happen. The parents had given up on us by then, I think. The journey to Tawang is a long and arduous one-day affair. And to add to the woes of women travellers – there are really no rest rooms enroute. But we still made it. By jeep, which is the most common mode of travel. The roads are extremely narrow and there are many places which are just wide enough for one vehicle. It still amazes me as to how people drive on these roads. The vehicle is usually bundled with around 8-9 passengers, to ensure that they make the most out of it. It was a good trip too – we visited the Tawang monastery. We trekked to a nunnery. Saw yaks for the first time. And young monks to be everywhere we went. And I think it was also …

Bicycling Diaries, Part 1: Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Virginia

Published by Anita

So what do you do with miles of railroads from the yesteryears, which are no longer operational? Abandon them? Thankfully, someone had better sense. Today, in the US there are quite a few of these railroads, converted into running and cycling trails. These provide a great place for those who want to indulge in these sporty activities without the hindrance of vehicular traffic. While visiting Virginia, the trail we cycled on is the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (W&OD), now looked after by the Friends of WNOD.  This particular railroad ferried passengers between towns, from 1859 to 1968. With the increase in the number of vehicles and the improved road networks, the demand for passenger trains came down and finally they closed it down. It is a 45 mile asphalt trail for walking, running and other activities (motorized vehicles are not allowed) and there is a parallel 30.5 mile gravel path for horseback riding and hiking. So there are portions where the two trails intersect.  On weekends, these kind of dedicated trails (W&OD is one of them) …

Heralding the rains in the desert

Published by Anita

After experiencing the abundance of the monsoons in Kerala and Goa this year, it was a welcome invite when I got an offer to experience the magic of the monsoons in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. And I know exactly what you might be thinking. Monsoons in the desert? But then stranger things have been known to happen. So filled with anticipation and lots of hope, I hopped onto a plane to Jodhpur, which is the closest connection to Jaisalmer from Bangalore. It was a long journey but the thought of the destination was enough to keep the spirits high. Besides air travel has become quite pleasant these days, thanks to all our swanky airports (well, okay not all of them!). At Mumbai airport, I met with Neelima and then with Anuradha (who I hadn’t met for years) and we killed some time chatting and catching up. After a short wait, it was time to board the flight to Jodhpur. A couple of hours later, we finally touched down in Jodhpur and our welcome party was there outside …

Girls just wanna have fun!

Published by Anita

From exotic foreign locations, to rural Indian ones – there is nothing that is out of bounds for the single Indian woman traveler today. And when I say “single” I don’t mean it in the literal sense. You could be a part of a couple, but wanting to travel on your own (the husband/bitter/better half for example, might not necessarily like going to the same places that you do), or you could be a mother and daughter wanting to do something together. You could just looking to have a good time with other like minded women. Or a traveler who likes the comfort of a larger group. A few years ago, this concept was unheard of. Today, we have quite a few options when it comes to “women only” travel. Recently, I met the enthusiastic and enterprising Malini Gowrishankar, who has started the outfit called “f5 Escapes” targeted at women. Her aim is to basically help women overcome their fears, doubts, hesitation about travelling and try it out. It’s easy to get pulled into things like paying …

Wine and sunshine

Wine and sunshine in California

Published by Anita

The roads stretched out in front of us, winding from one winery to another. There was a winery at every corner as we drove into Sonoma, our first stop on the wine tour. If you’re a wine aficionado visiting the valley area, you’ll probably be recommended a tour of the Californian wine country. It would be unwise to leave without a customary visit around this wine producing region, responsible for producing 90% of all US wine. The day actually began on a gloomy note. Our guide for the day, Vlad, a Russian settled in San Francisco, assured us that it would not be long before the weather cleared and the sun shone down on us. And he was right. As soon as we reached the outskirts of the city across the Golden Gate bridge, the skies cleared and magically the sun was out. We were quite cheerful already. To which Vlad added that we shouldn’t rejoice too early, as we would probably have trouble find our way back by the end of the tour. We …