Asus launched its Zenfone 3 series in August this year, less than three months back. (Read the post: ASUS goes premium) Earlier in June it had launched superpower version of its phones- Zenfone Max (Read Review: A Power Packed Maximiser.) It has quickly realised that it is time to combine the battery of Max with premium features of Zenfone 3. Hence came the idea of Zenfone 3 Max which was launched in India today, 9th November 2016. At the onset, I will like to tell you that Zenfone Max had a 5000mAh battery, while Zenfone 3 Max has a 4100mAh battery. Probably the additional features of Zenfone 3 have not let room for a bigger battery! Well, the new smartphone will be available in two variants, 5.5 inch (ZC553KL) and 5.2 inch (ZC520TL), priced at INR 17,999 and INR 12,999 respectively. P
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I talked about the events and festivals related to the coming full moon day, referred to as Kartik Poornima in hindu calendar in my last post . (Read it here: A full moon and a month full of festivals) But mark it, this full moon will also be a supermoon. It would be a an astronomical event that happened last time 68 years ago and will next happen only after 18 years. 'Science Alert' says that, "If you only see one astronomical event this year, make it the November supermoon, when the Moon will be the closest to Earth it’s been since January 1948." During the event, which will happen on the eve of November 14, the Moon will appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than an average full moon. This is the closest the Moon will get to Earth until 25 November 2034, so you reall
Read MoreFestivities also serve the purpose of breaking the usual cycle of work and give time to rejoice and strengthen bonding with near & dear ones. It gives you time to reflect upon yourself. With so much of hatred and violence spewed upon everywhere around, festivals like this give chance to reflect on our inner self. What I love the best is the moment when all the 'diyas' in the rangoli are lit to spread their glow in the colourful base. This symphony of colour and light is the most satisfying moment of the evening, more satisfying then any cracker... any sweet. Few snapshots from this Diwali. ...
Read MoreReflecting the Himalayas in the Nubra valley of Ladakh. Ladakh is actually lot more than just Leh. The last permissible point in Nubra valley is Turtuk which is more than 200 kms away from Leh. But the highlight of the Nubra valley is Hunder sand dunes near Deskit. People go there for riding the double humped camels. Right close to dunes is the section of Karakoram wildlife sanctuary where you can see scenes like this. Marvellous. Isn’t it! The dunes, the pool, the forest and the Himalayas! The stillness of water can make or break your photo! ...
Read MoreIt has been a long gap from the blog, for almost twenty days owing to a dream trip on my loving bike to some dream destinations of Lahaul & Spiti. Whatever one may say, it is one trip that for most of the travellers will rank quite high above any other in terms of sheer thrill and adventure. And so was it for me. So, basic motive of the trip was to attend the Naropa 2016 but than it was always just a pretext. Biking to Leh was the implicit story. And, first highlight of the journey was indeed the Chandratal Lake. It was a dream fulfilled. Just the image below can tell it why. Isn't it. Located in Himachal Pradesh at an altitude of 4270 metres, this is one of the most popular and visited high altitude lake in India. Its captivating beauty has made Chandratal a popular destinatio...
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Cruises are always fascinating. Its a different world. Indians love cruise and every year a large number of Indian tourists go to different cruise hubs in Asia like Singapore and Dubai exclusively for cruise experience. Indians have often missed a home cruise, despite a few attempts. Now Costa cruise has announced a cruise from Mumbai in the coming season and lets hope it changes things to come. Singapore has been one of the topmost cruise destination in Asia, until Dubai came up with the biggest cruise terminal of all. Star Cruises has been one of the favourite Asian cruise lines for Indians, which had tailor-made itineraries and amenities suited to them. But there are many strong competitors and number of cruise operators. Every year scores of Indian tourists will be flying to Singapore
Read MoreJust 48 kms before Kaza is Tabo. Tabo village houses one of the biggest and rare monasteries in Spiti. It is also considered to be one of the holiest. Tabo is right on the left banks of the Spiti river. It is a big valley down there and so much so that you tend to forget that you are at an altitude of 3280 metres and already deep inside the cold desert of Spiti. Tabo is just before Kaza. So adventure drivers and riders going to Kaza are often in hurry to reach Kaza as it is the final destination in the Spiti. They are also tired of long journey during the day. That prevents them from spending ample time at Tabo. The other problem is that there travel itinerary is so prepared that they mostly move towards Kunjam Pass and Manali on way back or spend a day at Kaza visiting Ki (Kye or K...
Read MoreThere were many revelations for us in Bali - an island of Hindu culture in Islamic Indonesia. And many of them came to us in the Bali Art Centre. I will be talking about the Bali Art Centre in a later post, but this is about something we witnessed there. Pre-wedding photo-shoots are not uncommon world over. Even Bali is famous globally as a wedding and honeymoon destination. But here I am talking about pre-wedding photo-shoots of local Hindu Balinese couples. Its grown into a tradition now and is extremely popular. Its quite unlike hindu traditions in India where to be bride and groom are not supposed to meet openly before the marriage and a planned, open and detailed photo-shoot is out of question. But here, to be couples get the photo-shoot at all type of exotic, traditional, hist...
Read MoreOne of those places which one has to see to believe. In such a fragile ecosystem are preserved some miracles of the nature. Dhankar and its surrounding areas are one of them. On the left bank of the Spiti river at a distance of 32 kms downstream from Kaza, near Shichling at an altitude of 3870 m, nestles the citadel of Dhankar, the erstwhile official capital of Spiti. Needless to say that Spiti valley makes you speechless with its sheer beauty at every step. Dhankar has a fort and a monastery. The citadel is built on a spur which projects into the main valley and ends in a precipice. The location of this fort is strategic as Spiti always had to suffer innumerable aggressions by its neighbours. The location allowed the Spitian to keep vigil on the approaches and to submit ...
Read MoreIts always fascinating to capture a city from the sky while landing or taking off in a flight. More so when the city is new and the images give you a entirely new perspective of the city. Even if not that, it is still fun to have a top view. These images were my 'Hello' to capital Jakarta on my recent first ever visit to the Indonesia. And the results were certainly not disappointing - a warm welcome to a wonderful country - Wonderful Indonesia. Sitting pretty! Clouds on their pockets of the islands!! Lagoons and the beaches! Anticipation of nature's bounty!! A glimpse of the turquoise blue waters! These white spots are the indication of a harbour nearby! Truly enough, we close in to the port city! The sea, the land and the air... all in the nature's single frame! Somebo
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