From humble beginnings in Imperial India to The Imperial, India – the kathi roll has traveled far and transcended generations, states, and castes. Having ordered one at The Imperial Hotel in Delhi recently, which did strike me as a little preposterous, they are street food after all, I figured I should try one right back…
Haven’t we seen this somewhere before?
There are monuments in India which have been copied in other destinations but did you know that there are also copycat monuments actually in the same destinations as the originals? In my explorations over the last 12 months, I have found two examples of monuments which have been copied and one entire city! They are…
A photo tour of Kolkata
Calcutta has to be one of my favourite cities in India. Of course it is a busy bustling place, all of India’s cities are but there is a gentleness to it. I have always said, it is a city with the heart of a village. The gentle atmosphere and verdant nature reminds me of Kerala,…
Lucknow,The Ugly Duckling Became a Swan
I first visited Lucknow in 1999 and have no fond memories of the place. Any vague flashbacks which do remain are of a dirty, broken city with one dank, dark hotel, scruffy monuments, litter; you get the picture. It was , as far as I remember a depressing city. In its entirety it should have…
Jodhpur is more than Mehrangarh Fort. It’s also about zip wiring, stylish hotels and multiple types of safaris
THINK JODHPUR and quite rightly the image of Mehrangarh Fort pops in to your mind. It is undoubtedly magnificent, in my opinion, the most impressive of all the forts in Rajasthan (on the main circuit) and one monument that I encourage a visit to. It is excellently curated and well maintained, the jewel in…
Dudhwa: One Lodge, Two Nights, Three Parks.
‘Why would we fly? We can drive it.’ ‘Well how long will that take?’ ‘Around 8 hours or so.’ I shrugged and half-heartedly nodded as my Indian (resigned) persona kind of, sort of agreed. In England, if I was to set off and drive from my house, for eight hours in any direction, I am…
GWOC – Something about which I know nothing
On my flight to Manchester last week on Etihad, I read an excellent article by Jamie Lafferty about the Great Wall of China. Excellent not only because it was well written but I also enjoyed the slightly humorous no nonsense style, akin perhaps to my own. It is rarely that I read travel articles, which…
On life in Yorkshire
It would seem that a compulsory part of living back ‘Up north’ is to join a fat club, must be something to do with the traditional diet of pies and fish and chips. Now this has more benefits than just the weight loss though I am proud to say that I have so far lost 3.5 kgs, nothing to do with stress…
Matho Gompa Oracle Festival, Ladakh
“Follow that king!” I cried, with a wry grin, as I jumped into the car and pointed to the jeep in front. The king in question was Raja Jigmed W Namgyal, the 38th generational descendant of the Namgyal Royal Dynasty of Ladakh and the reason I was on this trip. Our destination was Matho Gompa…
MP & UP Tourism Going Head to Head?
In a destination competition between MP and UP for me, without even having to think, the outright winner would be MP. And yet, I am one for giving the underdog a chance. Let’s face it where UP lacks in numbers of monuments, it more than makes up for in fame and fortune. It has THE…