Monday Images - Vistas of Karakoram Highway

We all hate Mondays, don't we? In this series, we thought of pep you up with a nice picture every Monday. A picture we liked during our search on the web. A camera is traveller's constant companion and we all love to take pictures when we travel.  These pictures are taken by others in places either we have been to or not.

Being roadtrippers, a drive on Karakoram highway on the Silk route from Pakistan to China is in our bucket list. Not sure when that will happen but we would love to do this one day. We have heard and read about the splendid views of Karakoram range, Khunjareb pass etc., Ever Since we read Eric newby's classic "A Short Walk in Hindu Kush"and Michael Palin's book "Travels in Himalayas", we always wanted to go on this road.

When we were browsing the pictures of Karakoram highway on the net we saw some lovely vistas from fellow travellers which we thought of sharing with you.

Photo Courtesy - Kelly Brown

Photo Courtesy - Kelly Brown

Photo Courtesy - Watana

Photo Courtesy - Kelly Brown

You can see complete set of pictures by Kelly on Karakoram Highway here.

Kelly travels on Karakoram Highway

These pictures almost look like the ones we had seen on our road trip from manali to Leh in Ladakh. To know more about it please check out the following post on this blog

Ladakh Diaries 2 - Manali to Leh, Day two

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Back of the blog - Paul Theroux on "Why we Travel"

Back of the blog. Here we will share tit-bits and snippets on India/World Travel which may be useful for a traveller. It may be some new information about the place, a new cuisine one can explore, a bit of history, a funny anecdote or a good travel book. Anything connected to Travel. 

Paul Theroux is a favourite travel writer of us. We have read his travel books and love the insights he brings in them. Anyone who is interested in travel should necessarily read his "Tao of Travel".

In this article in New York Times, Paul writes about travelling to countries which are not popular or even considered as "Dangerous" places. It is always a challenge to travel to these places but memorable if one does in spite of challenges. What inspires a man to travel to places knowing fully well that they may not be "tourist friendly"?

As Paul concludes,

"In my own “Tao of Travel,” the fact that a place is out of fashion, forgotten or not yet on the map doesn't make it less interesting, just more itself, and any visit perhaps more of a challenge. But travel maps have always been provisional and penciled in, continually updated. The map of the possible world being redrawn right now — parts of it in tragic and unsettling ways — might soon mean new opportunities for the traveler who dares to try it. Travel, especially of the old laborious kind, has never seemed to me of greater importance, more essential, more enlightening."

Enjoy Paul's article in NY Times here in this link. We liked it. Hope you will too.

Why We Travel - Paul Theroux in NY Times

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Skywatch Friday - Tallest Shiva statues!

Yesterday was Maha Shivaratri. A major festival across India when devotees worship Lord Shiva who is one of Trinity of Gods in Hindu pantheon.

We have been fortunate to see two of the tallest Shiva statues in the world. Both Soaring into the sky. One on the sea front with amazing backdrop of Arabian sea in Murudeshwar in Karnataka, South India. This happens to be the second tallest Shiva statue in the world. 

The other one we saw when we went to Sikkim recently in North East India. We visited Siddeshwar dham in Namchi. Here we saw colossal statue Lord Shiva with a backdrop of Himalayas. (It was foggy when we were there) Possibly the third tallest statue in the world.

You may also be interested to read the following posts in this blog

Bhojpur - Temple with tallest Shiva Ling in the world!

Maheshwar - Shiva's quiet abode on Narmada!

Karavali Vistas - Gokarna, Murudeshwar and Karwar

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Road trip Vignettes - Men in Black!

Road trips are always like this. 

You suddenly notice something interesting and get down. It can be anything. A lovely landscape or a small water fall or life in rural india. We call these as "memorable moments" on the road.

We were driving through Jharkhand on our way home from Sikkim. The plan was to drive through Ranchi and reach Orissa for the night. The day had begun well when we left Bodh Gaya and the weather was perfect. We left foggy roads of Bihar and entered Jharkhand at Hazaribagh. To our luck, the road was not foggy as feared. After a tasty breakfast of Alu Parathas washed by excellent chai at the iconic Nanak Dhaba in Ramgarh, we headed towards Ranchi.  Fantastic landscape with sal forests flanking the road, small water bodies reflecting the rays of the morning sun welcomed us.. Though, winter, the sun was getting scorcher.

Suddenly, we saw men pushing their bicycles with sacks of coal. Men in black. Men covered in coal dust, impoverished. Men bent over the handles of their bikes. Men whose livelihoods depended on the coal they carry and sell. As we continued the journey, we saw many of them doing this rigour along the road. It was tough as the road was full of gradient. They had to really struggle to push their bicycle over the uphill.

We got curious. This was winter. Weather was still bearable. What happens in Summer when the mercury soars in this region? How do these guys manage? We stopped the car and Poorna got down to talk to them and find out where they were taking these loads. To our shock, the man replied that they were carrying the coal all the way to Ranchi which was still 40 KMs away!! Walking, pushing the bicycle all the way for 40 KMs??

We felt bad for them.

P.S. When we were Googling for more details on these men, we happened to see this interesting articles. Click here to read.....

The Untold Coal Story of Coal pullers of Jharkhand

Coal Cycle Wallahs - A documentary by Sophie Gerrard

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Monday Images - Stunningly beautiful Siberia!

We all hate Mondays, don't we?

In this series, we thought of cheering you up with a nice picture every Monday. A picture we liked over the previous week. A camera is traveller's constant companion and we all love to take pictures when we travel. There are some amazing pictures out there and we will share with you a picture we love. Every Monday.

These pictures are taken by others in places either we have been to or we haven't.

Let now fly straight to Siberia, Russia. A remote village in Siberia is captured beautifully by Oleg Moseyanko.

The old adage say "A picture is worth thousand words". Doesnt this picture confirm this?

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Back of the Blog - English Pubs, London at its best!

Back of the blog. Here we will share tit-bits and snippets on India/World Travel which may be useful for a traveller. It may be some new information about the place, a new cuisine one can explore, a bit of history, a funny anecdote or a good travel book. Anything connected to Travel. 

Continuing from London Eye and being weekend, this post has to be on English Pubs......

If at all Bangalore - my home town - has some connection with London - the city i like most - it must the pubs and bars. Both cities celebrate the pub culture and if you are in either of them, you have to visit any of the pubs to revel in the atmosphere there. Thankfully, in recent times, the pub culture in Bangalore is in upswing - with good ales - and in London the Government is taking positive action to save iconic pubs in the city.

Pubs in London is a world in itself. English who generally keep a stiff upper lip - you should experience that when you travel in the London tube or in suburban trains where there is pin drop silence - let their hair down after a pint in the pub. Anything goes here. The favourite topics of course are football, politics and gossip. A typical English office goer will leave his office around five in the evening, buy a copy of Evening Standard in the neighbouring kiosk and head to his favourite pub for a pint before catching a train home. His buddies will join him there or he will join one of the gangs who will be there in the pub. If the day is Friday, the crowd is boisterous and lively than ever.

Why am i talking about pubs in London now? Two days back i read about good news of British government taking positive steps to make sure that good old pubs dont die a premature death at the hands of real estate sharks. This article in New York Times also kindled my memories of spending lovely evenings in the pubs of London during my stay there for a fortnight a decade ago.

Our office was on Fleet street. Bang opposite our office is the revered Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub which traces its history to 16th century. This was our hang out most of the evenings before our British friends caught their train back home. If we got bored of this place, then we headed to another icon - The Tipperary known for its gloomy charm.

Let me leave you with some pictures of the iconic pubs in London. Also some nice articles for you to read with a pint in hand over the weekend.

Better still head to a pub! You will love it.

The Oldest Irish pub in London

The table where Oliver Goldsmith, Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens used to enjoy a beer

Lovely corner in the pub

The Iconic Tipperary pub....

A lovely collage of English pubs. Photo Courtesy Ian Halesey

Saving an endangered species - English pubs

A slide show on English pubs

Going back in time in Old England - Sip by Sip

Pub crawl in London!

For all information on drinking Beer in London, click here

London - City of Beer

What has been your experience of going to a pub in London? Do share it.

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Skywatch Friday - Sky from London Eye!

"London Eye" is one of the must see places in London. It was a decade ago when i (Poorna) went to London on a business trip and raved about the fabulous sights from there. Of course, i love this city. More on it in a dedicated post soon. 

It must be late afternoon on a fairly clear day from London standards when i went to the London eye. Staying on Fleet street near St Paul's meant it was a lovely walk along the Thames to reach the giant wheel. Last time i had ever sat in a giant wheel was as a kid. This was to be experience to cherish for ever. The sights of the city from the sky was just beautiful.  

View of a capsule

Big Ben with Parliament house next to it

Lovely view of Hungerford and Waterloo bridges on Thames

What was your experience like? Which was the city sight you cherish forever?

For more details check out the official link of London Eye here

London Eye

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