In the rich and varied history of the Indian subcontinent stretching back millennia, few of the empires, kingdoms, and ruling classes that populated its pages ventured overseas. Perhaps it was because of the vast size of the subcontinent, which offered immense opportunities domestically for exploration, conquest, and commerce, without the need to venture very far.…
Being fortunate enough to have gone to Princeton University whose mascot is the tiger, I am proud of being a Tiger alumnus, but I’ve never seen the animal in the wild. A timely invitation to visit Bagh Villas, a luxury jungle camp on the edge of Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, gave me a…
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…
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…
Standing with my back to my favourite shack Sam’s Paradise, I gaze out at the enormous immensity of the blue-green Arabian Sea before me. I have learnt how to swim far out into the sea but the sheer unknowingness of it always fills me with a flutter of trepidation. On the mornings that I need…
The Speyside Malt Whisky Trail Distillery tours rank very high on the list of Scottish tourist attractions, attracting a total of two million visitors last year. Significant investments by major players in building and upgrading their visitor centres in Scotland have had a big role in driving spending by visitors up by 154 per cent…
What is Scotch whisky? You just can’t think of Scotland without thinking of Scotch whisky. Whisky is Scotland’s beloved national drink and its single biggest export, amounting to a record £4.70bn in 2018, up 7.8 per cent over the previous year. While Europe and the United States remain the biggest markets, with over 50 per…
Dedicated to the memory of the friend who brought us together, Akshay Kumar. I first met the inimitable Huw Kingston when I was invited to attend the 14th Adventure Tour Operator Association of India (ATOAI) annual convention in the Araku Valley in February 2019 where he was delivering the keynote presentation. Now it is impossible…
