Though flamingos were my primary interest and they were who actually pulled my all the way to Sambhar, but wintering at Sambhar is not all about flamingos. Flamingos might be very high in count and attraction but there are many other birds coming for winter migration. As I said in my last post, there are more than 70 species of birds coming here every year. So while I was busy admiring flamingos at Sambhar lake, I couldn't have failed to notice and try to click few other migratory birds. Pied avocet (pictured above) was the among the first one to come across and was quite attractive because of its distinctive beak and black & white appearance. Though there were some northern pintail and pochards as well, but I could manage to get close view of only these northern shoveler
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Its fun to be on window seat of a plane, provided you are interested in capturing images. And if images are from a beautiful beach resort like Bali, then you just can’t stop clicking. How different it is to see a place from the top, then being there! A lot perhaps. Lot changes with the change of the angle and perspective. Eye angle is more wide than ever. The view and the perspective, both become more holistic. Hence the idea of beauty also changes! So here starts the fun- Plane looks like walking right into the sea! ... or along it! Is it quite close for comfort or just thrilling!! It looks more normal now- Quite different to see a beach resort from up in the sky! ... but it still looks amazing with all those boats and yachts lined up! The three s...
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
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 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
Read MoreIndonesia is said to be melting point of cultures, something we used to define America as. The similarity doesn’t end here. Just as New York is called as ‘Big Apple’, Indonesian capital Jakarta is termed as ‘Big Durian’. I don’t know whether Americans like apple that much or not, but I can say for sure that Indonesians love their durian or Jack fruit, as we know it. Its a tropical fruit enjoyed perhaps equally in the whole southeast Asia region. So what’s Jakarta all about! Is it just the capital city of country with biggest Muslim population in the world? Contrary to that, Jakarta and for that matter Indonesia as a whole defies every stereotype attached with any Islamic country. It has got all positives one can associate any country with. So, here is my collection of Jakarta’s 13 r...
Read MoreTiger is a solitary animal, it likes to be alone in its territory along with his female partners. Often tigers get injured, many times fatally in territorial fights. Even two brothers will search for different territories once they are adult enough to hunt and feed for themselves and hence eventually their mother will leave them. As I mentioned in my last post (Read: Returning to the tiger in Panna) I was fortunate to watch two cubs on play. Mother was around but we couldn't see her as she was down in a nullah at a cooler place. Cubs don't look like cubs as they were almost more than a year old, but were still with their mother. We and the few other tourist vehicles located this family on a grassland right on the banks of the Ken river. Ken river flows through Panna Tiger reserve. So he
Read MorePanna tiger reserve has a special place personally for me. I have three personal firsts associated with this national park. It was here that I had my very first tiger sighting in the wild. This was also the place where I had my first and only tiger sighting while sitting on an elephant. Lastly, this is the only tiger reserve where I visited twice and had tiger sightings on both the occasions. And this time around, it was fortunate sighting of two cubs (photo above and below). Unluckily though, their mother remained elusive, although she was around. The gap of almost eleven years between these two visits to Panna had been a period of turmoil for this Tiger reserve. The story of Panna Tiger Reserve has not an ordinary one. A story of all hopes lost to an extraordinary resurrection. By
Read MoreOne of the many lakes the lower himalayan region of Nainital is famous for- Naukuchiatal (नौकुचियाताल) is one of the biggest among them and perhaps most serene. The only lake comparable to this in serenity will be the Sattal. Located at an altitude of 1220 metres, this is also the deepest lake in the region. Fed by underground perennial spring, this lake is an all the year round spot to be. Might not suit those bubbly-shubbly north Indian tourists who prefer to have some 'happening' spot, but will certainly be liken by all those who want to spend some quite quality time in the lap of nature. This lake is within a beautiful valley offering tremendous opportunity for angling and bird watching. Off late many adventure activities like paragliding, rowing, paddling or yachting have also ...
Read MoreWho likes to be alone! Whether it is a human being or birds, everybody looks for a sweet, cute, like-minded company!! Isn't it.. As is a line of a popular hindi Bollywood song... एक... एक से भले दो. दो... दो से भले तीन (One... two is more better. Two... Three is still better than two), और मैं जोड़ रहा हूं- तीन... तीन से भले चार! (Three... four is far better than three). So here is one little bird, all alone... Looks around for some company... Anybody there? ...or on this side? Here one comes to join the friend! Now they look for the third one... Hello there! Isn't there anybody else? Oh hi! How are you folks! Nice to see you. I am here too. Let's call our fourth friend... So that completes our quartet. Lets now start the chorus! "In the sweetness of friendship let t
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