Fire, as an element, runs right through the heart of Azerbaijan’s very being. The name itself comes from the Persian words, azer, which means “fire” and baygan, which means “protector’’ and tongues of flame in the form of a shield are prominently displayed at the centre of the national emblem. How did fire come to be so…
The twin beams of the Innova picked out the narrow concrete road as it snaked its way to the top of the hill in this far western corner of Karnataka. As we rounded a final bend, our destination came into view, like a ghostly haunted mansion, with the chill wind dispersed the gathering mountain mist…
In late 2020 when Covid was at its awful height, I bailed out and traded Gurgaon for Goa for six months. It was the single best move I made during the entire two years of the pandemic. I made lots of new friends, I discovered Goa from the inside out as a tourist-resident and I…
Being fortunate enough to be married into a pahadi family for the last 35 years, I get to spend a lot of time in my beloved Himalayas. My in-laws have orchards in Kotgarh, the apple-growing belt spread high above the right bank of the Sutlej, about three hours northeast of Shimla and on the way…
For the last two years, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the travel and hospitality industry. And travel writers like I have been on the thinnest end of the wedge. So, when I got an invite to travel to Thailand in February, it was like a lifebuoy being thrown to a drowning man and I grabbed…
In the lexicon of great Himalayan treks in Nepal, ABC comes before EBC in the alphabetic sense. Not surprisingly though, the iconic Everest Base Camp trek is at the top of everyone’s wish list. This doesn’t mean that the Annapurna Base Camp trek is without attractions and charms. Sure, it is shorter in length (five…
As Indians look at international holidays once again, Thailand beckons with its pristine, accessible shores. We spoke to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) deputy governor for international marketing (Asia and South-Pacific), Tanes Petsuwan, about Thailand’s sustainability initiatives, health safety protocols, and plans for the Metaverse. By Ranjan Pal Thailand has always been a popular tourism destination…
The lone shikara (Kashmiri gondola) carries us silently across the placid surface of Srinagar’s Nigeen Lake to the far shore, where a large number of wooden houseboats are strung out in a line.We stretch out on colorful recliners under a tarpaulin canopy while behind us a boatman deftly steers us forward with steady strokes from…
In the history of colonial India, the British will always be the dominant imperial power that ruled the subcontinent. In contrast, the Portuguese were a middling power, confined to a small part of the country, and with no overreaching political vision but with strong mercantilist and religious ambitions. They came centuries before the British, in…
