2013 has been a great year with respect to travelling for me. My first semi back packing trip with my daughter and hubby to two lovely countries and my first Himalayan trek. Followed by yet another Himalayan trek and some Sahyadri treks. Its just that I couldn't write about any of these experiences - the ever present "No time" situation. I love to write about my travels cuz its a pleasure to get back to all those memories.

This year it has been a year sans travel so far - parce que j'apprends Française pendant weekend et je n'ai pas temps pour voyager. Anyway I thought I should do the long pending bit of writing about my semi back packing to Turkey and Greece and so I commence that. However I intend to post these entries as back dated entries, so as to keep the dates correct.

Grand Canyon [Nov 08]

I had always been awed by Grand Canyon whenever I had seen it on TV, and so, when I got a chance to go to USA for some work, I was hoping that I will be able to make it to Grand Canyon. Incidentally I had no company to plan this trip, but then I got an invitation by my friend staying in Vegas to come and visit him. What more was needed, I could meet this friend after a long time and could also do some sight seeing around. So I got my flight tickets booked for a long weekend, and also for a one day organized tour to Grand Canyon from Vegas.

Longing since years and Planning since two months...All Set

Well its no secret how much I love to travel and how little I am able to compared to how much I would like to. Lol this post isn't about ranting in this direction. Its just that finally I was able to plan a trip I was hoping to plan since long. I will any day go on a back packing trip than on a luxury trip with fancy hotels. I will always prefer making my own itinerary, doing my own planning and bookings rather than hand that over to any travel tour agencies. That's my way, I love to plan trips - and believe me when you are on a budget its not a walk in the park to plan. So many things to consider, dig out relevant information, what's the best and yet cheapest possible way to travel between places, where to stay, which all places to visit amongst the endless possibilities, budget constraints, time constraints. And now to add to it - "travelling with a 2 year old constraint".  

Shiva Trilogy - Amish

Immortals of Meluha & The secret of the Nagas.

What a lovely simple story.  And such an easy read that I could finish reading both books in less than a month, while keeping an eye on my 9 month old.

What I found interesting is that author has taken various mythological characters and places and come up with an entirely new story about them. Well, not entirely new, cuz it does has some references with the mythology. But still it’s a different version altogether.

The name of the series is based on its protagonist Shiva - who is worshipped today, but was a mortal some 4000 years back who did great deeds. It’s a story about good - evil and how they are the two faces of the same coin. It’s a story about faith, courage and righteousness.

 It is fun to read and the suspense element keeps you hooked. Some of the events do get predictable though and you can see them coming as the narration progresses. Eagerly waiting for the third part to come out – The Oath of the Vayuputras.

From The Holy Mountain - William Dalrymple

Okay I have taken record time to finish this book. And I am not be blamed for that. Actually this is not at all an easy read. Need to concentrate while reading and being a busy mommy that I am, I took 4-5 months to actually finish it. Anyway about the book now.

This travelogue has history, historical monuments, religion and conversations / stories of various people. William Dalrymple has tried to retrace the path travelled by John Moschos long back during Byzantine era and has tried to compare the world then and now. He has visited various religious places and monuments mentioned in the book. He is researching the current situation of Christianity in Levant area [The countries bordering on the eastern Mediterranean Sea from Turkey to Egypt], once a dominant religion in this region seems to be on a descent now, not to mention the dwindling Christian population. So he has talked to various people in this entire journey, trying to understand the problems they faced then and in today’s time.

Little Rann of Kutch

Was just going through some of my old pics and thought of uploading these couple of them from Rann of Kutch. I made this one day short trip more than 1.5 years back and these pics bring back fond memories :)

We had reached Ahmedabad via an overnight train in the morning and after a shower and breakfast started for Dhrangadhra by road. It was noon by the time we reached there and after a short nap headed for the salt dessert. Neither the driver of our jeep was acquainted to the place nor there were any directions marked so it took us a while to find our way. Besides Little Rann of Kutch not being as famous as its counterpart The Great Rann of Kutch, nobody could really understand why we were making a big fuss in a small place like  Dhrangadhra. I still remember the way our driver was asking directions in his strong Tamilian accent : Rann ma jana hai :-)

Full tilt - Dervla Murphy

A sole woman's journey - pedalling across Europe and Asia, taken at the age of 31. The very description made me long to read this book. But considering the enthusiasm I had, the beginning proved quite a dampener. This book was not easily available in Indian markets and I finally got a copy from Flipkart after a long wait. And once I got my hands on it, I could barely wait to begin with it. However few chapters through the book, I was thoroughly disappointed to see that Dervla had finished writing about the first part of the journey from Ireland to Iran in just one chapter. Hardly any details were provided and there was minimum chronology. Random reminiscences formed this first chapter. And to be fair, she didn't really pedal all the way cuz of snow, as was the impression given from the description of the book.

The Dark half – Stephen King

Happened to read this genre of book after a real long time, cuz I guess I needed a break and wanted to read something really light and that which will not require much concentration from me. Incidentally I picked up the right sorts. Dark side is just the kind of book, which you can skim through without really making an effort to read it and yet you will get the entire story.

My Kindle!!

I seem to embrace change real slow. I try to cling onto the good old stuff as long as possible. And that quiet explains why I am foraying into the world of e books now after so many years of its inception. So finally with my off late favorite possession, kindle, I embrace the world of ebooks. However that won’t diminish the charm of old fashioned paper books for me ever, they still hold dear to me J

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams

After having read complete hitchhikers series for the second time and enjoying it all the same, I started looking for some more books by Douglas Adams and came across Dirk Gently. And glad I did, because its one read that should not be missed. Although when I started reading this book, it did not make much of sense. As I persevered with it, it became interesting as it went by, not because it started making sense, but cuz of the authors comical style of writing. And off course towards the end everything made sense cuz everything fell into place.