Lebanon – Paradise lost !!

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Once upon a time… there was Lebanon which was called “Paris of Middle East”…and then something happened and the Paris and Pearl of the Middle East.. changed from heaven to hell…. Let us have a look and see what Lebanon has to offer now for Ghumakkars !

It was 2004 and I boarded Air India flight from New Delhi to Dubai for my journey to Lebanon.

The coastal plain of Lebanon is the historic home of a string of coastal trading cities of Semitic culture, which the Greeks termed Phoenicia, whose maritime culture flourished there for more than 5000 years. Ancient ruins in Byblos, Berytus (Beirut), Sidon, Sarepta(Sarafand), and Tyre show a civilized nation, with urban centres and sophisticated arts. Present-day Lebanon was a cosmopolitan centre for many nations and cultures. Its people roamed the Mediterranean seas, skilled in trade and in art, and founded trading colonies. They were also the creators of the oldest known 24-letter alphabet, a shortening of earlier 30-letter alphabets such as Proto-Sinaitic and Ugaritic.

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A Visit to the Mahazat As-Said Wildlife Reserve

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Time to tell you about the mammals that we saw They include the famous Arabian Oryx, the Reem Gazelle and the Idni Gazelle. The Oryx is a long-horned animal that is feared for its ability to kill with its horns. However, within the reserve, it is remarkably docile as it has been trained to expect food and water at appointed times. At the time of writing this, there are more than 650 of these animals in the As-said reserve. According to Mr. Moayyed, the reserve is already full to above its capacity to hold these animals, and it only because of the controlled conditions that the animals are able to survive, thrive and breed over here.

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Glimpses of Santiniketan

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Santiniketan is a name which evokes memories of Rabindranath Tagore and the Nobel Price. Of the Viswa Bharathi University, of art and culture, peace and tranquility. A visit to Kolkatta is incomplete without a visit to Santiniketan. I had an opportunity to visit the place last December and have tried to give some glimpses of the cultural ethos of the place

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Ghumakkar Insights – Maya, Chitrachor, and Plagiarism

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Permit me to narrate an anecdote about a fictitious schoolgirl called Maya. Her class is given an assignment to write an essay titled “My most memorable trip”. She had just returned from a visit to the famous Vaishno Devi shrine and decided to write about it. However, when she started writing, she did not know what to write about other than it was an enjoyable visit and the atmosphere in the temple was very spiritual. Maya decided to use the internet to get more facts about the place. She used bits and pieces from everywhere, stitches together an essay and proudly submits her essay to her teacher.

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Portsmouth & Spinnaker Tower – Day 15

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Today was our 15th and second-last day in England. Our plan for the day was to be at the beach in the morning, then go to see the Spinnaker Tower in Gunwharf Quay in the afternoon, and finally take our Coach back to London (we’re in Portsmouth, remember?)

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नज़ारे भितरकनिका के : मैनग्रोव के जंगल, नौका विहार और पक्षियों की दुनिया !

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पेड़ की हर ऊँची शाख पर पक्षी यूँ बैठे थे मानों बाहरी आंगुतकों से जंगलवासियों को सचेत कर रहे हों। जंगलों के बीच ऐसी यात्रा करने में आपके पास अगर अच्छी जूम लेंस का कैमरा और उससे बेहतर SLR ना हो तो पक्षियों को पहचानने और कैमरे में क़ैद करना मुश्किल होता है क्यूँकि पास जाते वक़्त हलका सा खटका हुआ तो चिड़िया फुर्र।

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DEORIA TAL

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The welcome board put up at the entrance to Sari by the villager’s shows a detailed map of Deoria Tal and the peaks that surround it. The Sari village committee is responsible for the upkeep of the area.

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Ghumakkar Featured Author Interview with Professor Manish Khamesra

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I often cherish the only trip I did with the couple in 2002 (or may be before) to Orchha. Countless evenings of Tea, Rajasthani namkeens, sitting on those cool white marble floors at their place, discussing books, religion, morals, Hindi poetry and numerous stupid things which we do when we are young. Even the local market (the now famous sector 18 of Noida) was not at all busy and one can just sit alongside those rickety fountains and spend the evening, doing nothing. Sometimes we would polish the day off with a movie at Dharamplace or Alka theatre which still looked and acted like being in 60s, frozen in time. Old world charm is what some say. When you meet your old friends you always feel the warmth of assurance, the ether which connects you is just viscous enough to hold you together without restricting any freedom.

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A Swiss road trip..

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“I’m afraid of heights”…I mumbled. He gave me a WTF look.. Are you kidding? He probably wanted to ask. He was not wrong. Here I was going to jump off the cliff in few minutes. how the hell was he going to believe that I was actually scared of heights…it’s not the height. It’s the steep downhill slope.. I can go uphill and probably reach heaven like Juthisthir did.

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Jodhpur->Jaisalmer->Bikaner in 5 days : Part-2

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Jaisalmer was our next destination and on our return journey we planned to cover Bikaner. We decided to start after getting fresh in early morning so that we do not end up wasting time in Jaisalmer. We reached Jaisalmer by around 8:30 AM, luckily found a local guide and took some guidance from him and by 10 we were in the Jaisalmer fort. Took a guide (he was just hovering around there) there and started the fort visit. We booked the tickets for the Swiss camp in the Sam sand dunes from the fort only.

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Temple Trails of Karnataka: Part-3 – Belur and Halebeedu

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After our exertions at Mullayanagari Peak, we returned back to Chikmagalur town by mid-day, had our lunch and reached our hotel. I had hoped to catch some of the action from the Perth Test(hoping to watch Sachin’s 100th hundred live), but the Indian team dashed any such hopes by losing the Test in two and a half days. Disappointed by the result, I took the opportunity to slip into a much needed nap.

Our next destination was Belur temple, 25 kms from Chikmagalur. Belur is a small town located on the banks of Yagachi River in Hassan district. The main attraction of the town is the Chennakesava (literally translates to Handsome Vishnu) temple. It was built by King Vishnuvardana of Hoysala dynasty. The temple is one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture alongside Halebeedu and Somnathpura. Coupled with Halebeedu, this is one of the major tourist destinations of Karnataka.

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