I flew into Leh, the capital of Ladakh in the last week of November when winter’s chill had set in. The Indus river snaked its way across the sleepy town, and the Zanskar range created a jagged horizon against picture perfect skies.After a couple of days’ acclimatization to Leh’s altitude of 13,500 ft above mean sea level, we set off…
We drove through Hubli in Karnataka, a dusty, decrepit town with faded shop signs and half-forgotten civic works – the ruins of the industrial age. Hubli’s bleak residential complexes gave way to some spectacular geology and we found ourselves in a ravine fringed by red sandstone crags. We had reached our destination, Badami, known for its ruins of the Chalukya…
We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine… – Eduardo Galeano Imagine, then the immortality of tasting over 15 different wines in less than 24 hours? But I’m getting ahead of myself, before the immortality, lay a 5-hour journey across a highway under construction. I was heading, not towards the famed vineyards of California…
There’s so much to see, do and experience across cities in India – yet, some cities with a well-known landmark or more, are often visited for just a day or two. Is it still possible to squeeze in all the interesting sights and sounds of a city? At Travel Scope, we think so…and we’re starting a new feature on how…
The origins of the city of Agra can be traced back to the days of the Mahabharata, the epic poem of Great India when it was called Agrevana, meaning ‘the edge of the forest’. Agra served as a capital for the Mughal Empire during the 16th and 17th centuries and flourished as a centre of art, drawing inspiration from Persian,…
There are books that inspire travel, and travels that inspire books. This blog will be both – some books that inspired travel across India, and some adventures that inspired novels, which perhaps in turn will inspire you to chart your own journeys across India. Keeping with this month’s theme, these books also touch upon the rivers of India, as a…
For the past 11 years, Travel Scope in partnership with Mindful Journeys – USA have facilitated a most unusual experience – a Jungian encounter with the soul of India’s heartland. Part journeys across India, part explorations of one’s soul, the study tours have been about exploring the archetypal soul of India defined by its mythology and history, as viewed through…
Across India, January is increasingly being associated with literature festivals. Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and the state of Gujarat, all celebrate indigenous and international literature – each with their inimical selection of authors and other personalities gracing the stage. In Jaipur, the literature festival started off as a small effort and today, is being touted as ‘the world’s largest free literature…
There is a lot to be said about a country, as diverse in its faiths as India, and as tolerant in its attitudes towards each. Today’s political factions and media warmongering may create tensions between India’s many religions; sow the seeds of dissension in the populace, yet the architecture of our cities tells a very different narrative. While taking a…