tourism – Page 8 – VAGABOND IMAGES

Get ready for the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

Upendra SwamiJuly 29, 20192086 Views6

Its the time of the year when trekking lovers should be ready for the two of the most beautiful treks in mid-Himalayan region- the ever popular Valley of Flowers trek and the newly popularised Kashmir Great Lakes Trek. When the major trekking season in Himalayan region takes a monsoon break in August-September, these are the two most sought after treks. Camps alongside the stream Kashmir Great Lakes trek, read: Thajiwas is the perfect acclimatisation There is still big difference between the two. Valley of Flowers is largely a single day trek, as there is no camping allowed inside the Valley. So, one has to start early morning from Ghangaria, do as much of trek inside the national park as possible (depends on individual fitness and capability) and return back to Ghangaria in t...

IndiaPhotogallery

Nature’s poet and poet’s museum

Upendra SwamiJuly 19, 20192235 Views0

Pant museum at Kausani in Uttarakhand isn’t a touristy place as such. In my three visits to this place in the course of last few years, I have rarely seen any other tourist there. Despite, this place being in the heart of the Kausani town with just a few steps to walk upto the museum from the road head. I wonder, if even more than five percent of the tourists coming to Kausani would remember the name of Sumitranandan Pant, although surely most of us in Hindi heartland of India have read his poems in school text books. Ancestral house converted into museum Main entrance to the Sumitranandan Pant museum Actually, we don’t respect our literary persons. They are the ones who guide our intellectual discourse, many of them have been leading lights for various movements but we tend to...

IndiaPhotogallery

Lord with a might: Ranganathaswamy of Srirangam

Upendra SwamiJuly 9, 20193153 Views0

While going from Tiruchirapalli to Srirangam, the skyline dotted with gopurams is simply unmistakable. It immediately tells you about the enormity of the place we are visiting. Therefore, I now feel it very intriguing that Srirangam was not the among the first names that I heard whenever I read or listened to about prominent temples of South India. Only word closer to it that I heard was the Srirangapatna, the erstwhile capital of Tipu Sultan. I came to know it at a very later stage that both Srirangam as well as the Srirangapatna are famous for Ranganathaswamy temples along with an another temple of the same deity at Sivasamudram. Four storey gopuram at Ranganathswamy temple Hence, having heard of temples of Rameshwaram, Madurai, Chidambaram, Tirupathi, Guruvayoor, Thiruvananthapur...

IndiaPhotogallery

A palace that welcomes monsoon to Lake City

Upendra SwamiJuly 7, 20191412 Views2

Those who have been to Udaipur and would have gone out in the evening for a stroll along any of its lakes, they would have certainly noticed an illuminated castle looking like almost hanging in thin air towards the west of the city. Well, in daylight you can locate it very clearly, unless it is too misty. It’s Sajjan Garh. A view from Karni Mata temple- Doodh Talai, Pichola Lake and Sajjangarh atop the hill in the background. In comparison to other historical structures related to Mewar, Sajjan Garh Palace is comparatively recent one, still it is 135 years old. More interestingly, the construction of this palace took place when India had already become a British colony officially. Palace was built by Maharana Sajjan Singh who was at helm for ten years from 1874 to 1884. Hen...

InternationalNews

Now explore Brussels with the people who live there

Upendra SwamiJune 23, 20191410 Views2

When you’re exploring a city, there's no better way than to visit the places the people who live there like. I have always admired the way the Belgium in general and particularly European Capital region of Brussels has made their tourism more and more accessible, interactive and user friendly. Here comes another first from the beautiful city. From this summer onwards, people who visit the European capital will be able to explore the “real” Brussels. This is because visit.brussels has developed an online, free guide in real time: “now.brussels”, a unique opportunity to discover “the Brussels of the people who live there”. One can now find exactly what it needs at a glance, as it offers a customised, selection conveniently near you, and takes into account your immediate wishes, as ...

IndiaPhotogallery

Kashmir, we know less about: Charar-e-Sharief

Upendra SwamiJune 15, 20193706 Views0

In the previous post on Kashmir, we travelled to Aishmuqam Dargah of Hazrat Zain-ud-Din Wali, who was principal disciple of Sufi saint Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani. Now we are talking about the shrine of the saint himself at Charar-e-Sharief. Well, name Charar-e-Sharief might not be as unknown as the Aismuqam, but its importance might be. Charar-e-Sharief shrine Also read: Kashmir we know less about: Aishmuqam Dargah Recent past Actually, being a journalist, the first time I heard about Charar-e-Sharief was all because of negative reasons, way back in 1995. It was then, when the shrine as well as the town was in siege for 66 days because of a stand-off between army and terrorists lead by Mast Gul. It all ended even badly when the whole town as well as the shrine were put to fl...

InternationalNewsPromotions

Witness one of the biggest pride celebrations in the world at Tel Aviv

Upendra SwamiJune 12, 2019925 Views0

Tel Aviv is a diverse city with multicultural influences and open-minded locals. Every June, in honour of Pride month, people of all genders, religion and colour flood the streets of Tel Aviv in support of love, diversity and freedom to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. With a series of events across the city, Pride is that time of the year when the city takes on a new life with vibrant colours and an intoxicating atmosphere that cannot be ignored. With parties, lectures and art exhibitions, Tel Aviv Pride Week presents an effervescent celebration in a creative and energy-packed environment. The festivities attract hundreds of thousands of participants from both Israel and abroad, with the most-attended and anticipated event being the Tel Aviv Pride Parade on June 14th. Tel Aviv ...

IndiaPhotogallery

Kashmir we know less about : Aishmuqam Dargah

Upendra SwamiJune 3, 201913432 Views7

I visited Aishmuqam Shrine near Anantnag in Kashmir valley for the first time years before the Salman Khan starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan was shot in 2015. This Bollywood superhit film did lot on its part to make people aware of this place. A very beautiful song sung by Adnan Sami was filmed here. The song was inspired from a very old traditional qawwali and it is said that it was for the first time that a film was granted the permission to shoot inside the premises of the shrine. Aishmuqam shrine Mosque and shrine of commonly known as Saint Sheikh Zain-Ud-Din Wali at Aishmuqam is considered to be one of the most famous dargahs of Kashmir. One needs to climb 560 steps before you can enter the shrine which is located about 40 minutes away from Pahalgam. We came from the Pahalgam s...

AdventureIndiaPhotogallery

Nature, myth and history of Syahi Devi Temple

Upendra SwamiMay 26, 20197111 Views7

Last year, when we went to Shitlakhet, we headed for an early morning trek to Syahi Devi temple. But we started a bit late, and then we had a packed schedule in the day ahead. And, with some clear view of Nanda Devi range consuming lot of our time, we dropped the idea of going till the top and returned mid-way. I had then decided that, I won’t let that happen next time. Hence, when I visited Shitlakhet again this year, I kept the very next morning after my arrival for the trek to temple. What a beautiful day it was, calm and clear. Now, in the hindsight when I look back at that decision, how remarkable it turned out to be, as the second morning onwards, the weather went for a toss. Sun rises while on trek to Syahi Devi temple Morning colours on the snow peaks It gets brighter a...

AdventureIndiaPhotogallery

Waterfalls are the best pit stops on way to North Sikkim

Upendra SwamiMay 18, 20192810 Views5

Journey from Gangtok to Yumthang in the North Sikkim is indeed very scenic, but it might not be best of the roads. Road goes along the Teesta river for most of the journey. Because of tough terrain, landslides, road widening and work on various power projects, the road condition, although not very bad, but is mostly not the desirable one. That is the reason, that although distance between Gangtok and Yumthang is just around 140 kilometres, but you can’t measure the travel time through that. It’s certainly a day long journey. Road journeys in Sikkim are always fascinating Journey on such routes can be definitely tiring. But as I said, this route is quite scenic as we pass through valley of Teesta river with overlooking Himalayan ranges. You can occasionally have a view of Pandim an...