Off beaten track

Hogenakkal Falls About180 km from Bangalore, the falls are a attractive tourist draw. Though the falls are not spectacular in themselves,  they have spawned an entire tourist industry around.  Of course as we are always wont to believe, the waters are holy, hence a dip in the falls is mandatory to cleanse one of accumulated sin.  Though a sceptic like me prefers sin to disease that the garbage in the water is likely to spread. The waters of the Cauvery, flow through two sets of falls here, a smaller one close to the touristy places and this gorge a little way in. The Upper Falls These falls are closer to Hogenakkal, here there is a complete tourist/religious township. The railing on the right is where religious are to wash off their sins.  Are those sins I see festooned on the railings? The Coracle This is the main form of water transport here.  A frame of split bamboo/cane covered by blue plastic and coated in black tar. Steered by a single oar i...

This is my second visit to the land of my forefathers, I was first posted there in 1990 as a Major of the Indian Army on deputation to the UN.  At that time Iran had just emerged from an eight year war with Iraq and the strict rigours of the revolution were in force. Twenty six years later I visited a very different Iran, beautiful, weary from years of sanctions yet keenly progressive.  This photoblog is not a chronicle of my trip nor is it a travelogue. It is not a compendium of tourist sites and their photos, there millions on the net.  Here I have tried to impart some flavour of what I saw and felt. Leaving 'Bombay' With 'Madras' further south.   The place names haven't changed in the map display.  Many years of sanctions and isolation have left their mark on many aspects  of Iran,  the aircraft, hotels, cars, all require substantial modernisation. Urban sprawl Tehran is a large city, about 16 million people live in 700 sq km. The size of the sprawl...

Last Sunday a friend suggested we go to a tidal lake near Navi Mumbai and watch flamingos. It was a hot morning and 10 am in the sun is not exactly pleasant.  Anyway loaded with water, binoculars and cameras we were by the water at 10 am. To our disappointment there were four flamingos in the lake. quite an anticlimax considering the distance we had driven in the heat.  Anyway, as we were here we took a few desultory photos and were readying to leave....... .....when the young eyes of my friend saw a flock approaching in the distance, as the birds came closer, we identified them as more flamingos, in their hundreds...... ...The birds flew overhead and surveyed the site..... ....and came in to land. At first there were a few ..... ..... then the size of the flocks grew.... ..... then there were even larger flocks flying in...... .....  in their thousands .... ..... All flying in perfect formation, executing a circuit and landing.... ..... all of them executed a perfect cir...

Relatively Untouched Getting away from the madding crowd seems nearly impossible in these crowded times. Most trails and treks are virtual highways with a line of 'trekkers' like marching ants going to and fro.  Thus when I find a spot of seclusion I truly savour it, these are getting more difficult to find.    In my constant efforts to get far from the madding crowd, in mid-March 2016 I did a week's trek to the Great Himalayan Park. The upper reaches of the Tirthan Valley The path to the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) still remain relatively untouched, possibly due to the fact that Manali nearby has a greater draw, also that reaching the Tirthan Valley is still only possible by State run buses or private transport.  Gushaini - where the trek trail starts An overnight bus journey (aah the convenience of a Volvo!) got me from Delhi to Aut, about 60 kilometres short of Manali.  From Aut it is an hour and a half by taxi to Gushaini, the place where the trail ...