Our bus rolls into Udaipur Bus Stand at twenty past one a.m. ! Yes, past midnight and we do not have a hotel reservation in Udaipur. At the moment we will not go into why and how of the episode. It is part of the challenge we had taken up for our journey and right now we have just arrived from Ajmer.

I fend off the few Auto fellows who are ready to ply me to wherever I want to go even at that ungodly hour. It is actually scary!
At times like this I loathe my way of travel wishing I had a planned trip to Udaipur. 50 meters out I am at a large junction of a wide road and notice that there are indeed several hotels. Gingerly I make my way towards the nearest one and I am lucky.
The hotel is fine; the sleepy guy at the reception is still courteous and shows me my room. After freshening up, while trying to sleep I make my plan for the next day.

The 3-arched entrance, Tripolia.

Udaipur (more…)

Peaks and Valleys of Delhi
Do you have just love and nothing but love for a city in India? Not me.
I think I have a love hate relationship with every city in India. I like certain things about a city and at the same time I wish I could have reasons not to dislike it.
Delhi is first among them.
Being the capital city it has a few privileges that are visible at first sight but the city also has a down side to it. While you love the variety and richness of its food, you hate the arrogant & careless attitude of people.

Generally there is a scant regard for law and every one know some one in the higher echelons of the society or the corridors of power! Often the smallest of an argument is decided on the basis of who has the more powerful acquaintance.
But there is also a particular charm about the people. From a top position holder in a company to the cleaner of a bus, most commonly spoken language is Hindi. Their Hindi is very different from what is spoken in Mumbai or any other metro.

Let’s talk about the transport.

As much you are in awe of (more…)

You all know I was in Pushkar to attend the International camel fair. Don’t you?
Here is a shot of sky at the camel fair ground at Pushkar. Even the Sun seems to lose its brilliant hue of red color in that desert.

Camels and sky at Pushkar.

You can see more (more…)

Eid, Dargah Sharif and Ajmer An experience to remember.
In Ajmer my first stop is Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti’s Dargah, popularly known as Dargah Sharif and is one of the places to visit in Ajmer. I have read all along right through school to now that the people of all religions hold the Sufi saint in high esteem. Being a day dreamer, I actually look forward to the place with a Sufi song “Khwaja mere Khwaja, dil mein sama ja” playing in the back of my mind !
Qawwali, the famous Sufi singing, is a common sight here.

It being at a walking distance from the station, I walk through small lanes full of shops and reach a place where it joins a larger road and on one end is the huge gate of Dargah.

Main gate of Dargah Sharif.

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You must be wondering where have I disappeared to.
Well, there is always a new set of challenges in travel and I like to set new bars for myself.

Recently I visited Pushkar International camel fair. It was an impulsive decision.
While people booked their hotel rooms and train tickets at least three months in advance to attend this annual event, here I was without a confirmed berth on train and without knowing where I was going to stay.

A decorated camel in Pushkar.

The challenge was to budget travel without any advance reservation and like a local… in those local ‘khatara‘ buses, shared autos. No taxi allowed. And wherever possible, eat street food.

And that is when you realize that the journey is your destination too. The agendaless journey was fun and there were surprises too. I started tweeting from the railway station at Mumbai itself about my journey.

People on my Twitter Timeline were constantly watching my moves and advised, requested and queried accordingly.
I am copying below, few, very few of (more…)

Picture of the moment: Camel in Pushkar
Picture of the moment is a weekly series exhibiting pictures, through which I show you a bit of my world.

Tell me, am I not cute?

This camel was chewing his food continuously and was very fidgety. Its strange body and long neck which could reach me anytime, did not allow me to go very near. Still I managed this shot.
He looked straight in my eyes and said something. Probably a Hello ?

On the other note, if you like this blog, I suggest you to take a journey with me on Facebook by ‘liking’ my Facebook fan page and by checking out my Twitter.

As a backpacker I know, eating out every single meal can get expensive while travelling; therefore many a times we feel like cooking in a hostel kitchen. It is a great way to save money when we are travelling.
So, when Hostelbookers invited me to add my simplest recipe for a hungry backpacker, I was more than happy to share one.

I wanted to make a wholesome meal which can be made very easily within minutes after a tiring day. The number of ingredients and number of steps were restricted to a max. of five. The challenge for me is to use ingredients that are easily available internationally.

Ingredients for a corn flakes meal. (more…)