On way to Kaza in the Spiti Valley, Nako, at an altitude of 3660 m is the highest village in the valley of Hangrang surrounded by barren and dusty landscape. Nako village is just 20 kms from Ka, once the zigs end. It is roughly four kms before Malling (Nullah) towards Kaza. Kaza is around 110 kms from Nako. Nako is almost a customary stop-over for all adventurists (read: bikers, riders, drivers, tourists) going to Kaza. How much time to spend here? This is upto each traveller because there are different time constraints for everybody coming here. Those who are on a mission to complete Shimla-Kaza in a day, might even give this a miss. Others with more time may stop here for couple of hours and that will also depend on there last stop over and time left for them to reach to Kaza. But...
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We have always heard about Belgian glasses, somewhat in tune of- neighbour's envy, owner's pride! But once you are in Belgium, you realise the actual beauty of glasses in Belgium. Specially the stained glass windows of its churches. Most of them are actually piece of art. Few of them have been actually painted by top artists of their times. All of them have historical, architectural value. Actually until medieval times, churches had been the prominent patrons of the art. Many renowned painters did their all well-known works for the church. That's the reason churches in Europe still preserve many those artefacts and hence they are major source of attraction for tourists. Yasmine Hafiz from Huffington Post had once written, "When stepping into a holy place, our eyes seek the light. If we’...
Read MoreThis is the Memmelocke Statue at Botermarkt 17 in Ghent, Belgium. A classical sculpture on the top of a building which was once the entrance to the city prison and also the wardens house. This building is located between the Belfry and the Lakenhelle. In the crypt of the Lakenhelle the city jail was housed for almost 150 years from 1742 to 1902. This sculpture depicts a scene from a Roman legend that tells how a prisoner was condemned to death by starvation and thirst. The man was thrown into a dungeon by the Roman prefect in Ghent. Only his daughter was allowed to visit her. But she was not allowed to take any food or drink to her father. Daughter was an adult. The father remained alive still after six months. Apparently the daughter had just become a mother. In attempt to save her...
Read MoreIndonesia is a land of volcanos. Its has highest number of volcanos in any country in the world. Out of them more than 125 are active volcanos. Indonesia has suffered most due to volcanic eruptions than any other place in the world. But it seems volcanos are part of their lives. That is why active volcanos are also a place for tourist attraction here. This is the Ratu crater of active volcano at Tangkuban Parahu near Bandung in West Java province of Indonesia. This volcano had last eruption in 1983. Tangkuban Parahu is a natural Park located at the altitude of 2084 metres. There are three main craters here- Ratu, Upas and Domas. Ratu is the main crater, visited most and has the most developed infrastructure around. There are a couple of adjacent craters. There also some hot springs ...
Read MoreOn the World Environment Day, one of the most inspiring stories of environment protection. Story of one of those rare incidents in the world, when people sacrificed their lives for the sake of the environment. A story that happened more than hundred years ago before the famed 'Chipko Movement' of Uttarakhand led by legendary Sundarlal Bahuguna. This particular story is from area just bordering India's great Thar Desert in Rajasthan. This story is from close to Jodhpur, from a place made famous by that infamous episode of Bollywood actor Salman Khan and others hunting a black buck and then finding themselves under the wrong side of law. A place where sights like this are common and so pleasing- This is story of Khejadi Kalan, a village 25 kms from Jodhpur on the Sardarsamand road ...
Read MoreIt is said that ornaments worn by women in Uttarakhand have much resemblance to states like Rajasthan. But, as is the practice these days everywhere else, in Uttarakhand too women wear jewellery mostly on functions, marriages and religious occasions & festivals. Traditional jewellery of Uttarakhand are very intricately designed. There are two major parts of these ornaments- a nose ring (this is called 'nath' locally and almost in every part of the north). It is more popular in the Kumaon region. But they are worn in Garhwal region as well. It is at many times attached to the similarly big ear rings. Overall it becomes very heavy but they wear them with relative ease. Another major ornament is a big necklace like jewellery called locally as 'Galoband'. Galobands made of gold will
Read MoreIn an earlier post I had showcased some Sunset silhouettes from the Kuta beach in Bali. But I haven't included the actual sunset photos in the post and saved them for later. Here they come, few of the selected ones. Well, sunsets are never enough. For me, going to a beach destination essentially means to watch the sunset. But then so has for any other destination as well. Sunrises and sunsets always catch your imagination. As I said in the earlier post, sunset at the Kuta beach in Bali was the only second sunset of the whole trip that I was able to capture. First, one being the sunset at Prambanan Temple near Yogyakarta. Although we landed in Bali in the late morning but it was only in the evening when we managed to check in our hotel close to Kuta Beach. Having left with ve
Read MoreDisclaimer: Well, I know it is World Whisky Day! But this post is not to commemorate that, rest assured. It was long due. I am not a teetotaller but not a tippler even. My research about Belgium indeed told me that Belgian chocolates are the best, but I came to know about Beers and Wines of Belgium, only once I landed there. SO, once I was there, that aspect was duly explored. And, it turned out to be very interesting indeed. Well, Belgian is well-known for it Beers world-over. Its said that Belgium has been churning out beer since the crusades. Capital Brussels is proudly included in one of the top beer cities in the world. It is considered also as the capital of Belgian beer culture. There are countryside monasteries that brew monk-made Trappist ales. Cantillon Brewery is said ...
Read MoreKuta is one of the most happening places in Bali. Earliest place to get commercialised in the island for the sake of tourism. This was my second sunset in Indonesia, first one being at Prambanan. This was first one at Bali. It is always very overwhelming to watch sunset at a beach- nature's two most powerful forces merging into each other to give such a soothing effect. Standing alone and still, calmly watching the sun taking another dip in the ocean is so fascinating, as we can see the person in the image below, so soaked in the moment. For me, photography has always been the attempt to capture the moments. So here are few of the silhouette moments at Kuta beach in Bali. Few of these are the couple moments- let's play love... Few other are some lonely feelings, reflecting at
Read MoreIn my earlier post about Jakarta, I had mentioned about the National Museum of Indonesia. The building which houses this museum is called as Gedung Gajah because of an elephant statue in the front courtyard of the building. Hence it is often called as Gajah Museum as well. Gajah (गजः) is elephant in Sanskrit. It is one of the most complete museums I have ever visited with everything about country's history, art, culture, heritage, music, sociology, anthropology, architecture, etc. Museum is located very close to the Merdeka Square, which houses the Monas. This is central part of the city with most of the ministries and even the President's House nearby. The museum collection is said to be among the richest, the most complete and the best of its kind in Indonesia and also perhaps one
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