travelogue - Comfortably Numb

Travel: Thotlakonda, Andhra Pradesh

History on a hill Thotlakonda in Andhra Pradesh is today a hazy hark-back to its glorious Buddhist traditions It’s a hot day, a very hot day in fact. The sun glares down mercilessly and I`m glad of the foresight to have carried a hat. There is a strong breeze blowing, though, carrying…

Book review: Where the Indus is Young by Dervla Murphy

I agree that this book was written back when times were less complicated, when people generally minded their own business and didn’t waste time or energy in trolling others. However. Where the Indus is Young is Dervla Murphy`s 1977 account of three months spent in the wilderness of Baltistan, living the rough life, subsisting on apricots…

Travel: Chikmagalur, Karnataka

Theres a lot more in coffee country than just coffee. We discovered it on a trip to Chikmagalur, Karnatakas coffee county. It really is a lovely drive down to Chikamagalur from Bangalore, all 251 kms of it. The two main reasons for that is the national highway being a good road for the most…

Book review: Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains by Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent

This is more a brief take than review of the book. Land of the Dawn-lit Mountains by Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent. Simon and Schuster. And once in a while, along comes a book which informs every bit as much as it entertains. This travelogue is one such. Bolingbroke-Kent hires a Hero motorbike and rides off into Arunachal…

Book review: Walking The Himalayas by Levison Wood

Walking the Himalayas by Levison Wood. Hodder Books/Hachette India. A couple of disclaimers need to be inserted at the start of this review. One, I`m a sucker for any book that has the word `Himalayas` in its title. Two, the rather edifying jacket pic played its part in my picking up this book. That aside,…

Book review: If It`s Monday, It Must Be Madurai by Srinath Perur

If It`s Monday It must Be Madurai, Srinath Perur’s account of conducted tours he has taken hither and thither, is a neat meld of insights and spot-on snarkisms about fellow Indian journey men and women. The humour is kept gentle for the most part though the digs are pointed and strike an immediate chord with…