How Reaching Out Tea House in Hoi An taught me some forgotten but valuable life lessons
An oasis of tranquillity – that’s how many describe Reaching Out Tea House. They’re not wrong. Unexpectedly, it also turned out to be a trove of lessons about travel and life, something I’m grateful for beyond the traditional Vietnamese hospitality, the fair-trade teas and coffees and the delectable cookies.
I kinda f*cked up my Bali trip. Here’s how you can avoid my mistakes
Who hasn’t made sucky mistakes when travel planning? I’ve definitely made more than my fair share of them. From overpacking and losing my boarding pass in the airport to overestimating my ability to wake up on time with just two hours of sleep under my belt, I’ve learned a lot about what not to do […]
Pondicherry Food Trail: Exploring French, Tamil, and the In-Between Flavours
If there are a few things that Pondicherry is renowned for, it’s its charming French Colony, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the cheap-ish alcohol, and the food. As the title clearly lays down the scope, I’m steering clear of the first two. There’s much to be said just about the food and drink; Pondicherry has a […]
In the era of Insta hotspots, here’s what makes The Goat Village in Uttarakhand so special
‘Yeh sab chamomile hai?‘ (is all this chamomile?) I asked Chandu ji as he paused to show us the difference between the common daisy and the flower that most urbanites, if not all, have in their kitchen cabinets in the form of a sleep-aid tea. ‘Haan ji, chamomile hai. Aapke liye baadme iska chai bana […]
A Practical Travel Guide to India’s Coral Paradise, Lakshadweep
In March 2022, I embarked on a five-day, solo summer journey to paradise, packaged as the smallest union territory of India – Lakshadweep. To be honest, it felt like I died and went to heaven for those five days, if heaven were sunny, sandy and endlessly blue. Not only are the coral islands visually and […]
A Moon and a Mountain – Climbing Mount Batur
It means ‘moon’. Bulan said to me when I asked her for her name, her eyes fixed on the dirt trail before us. In the thick darkness of the night, I could see barely the signs of a forest covering – an indication of the flora to come. A few feet ahead of me now, […]
Tiny Thoughts in a Tiny Tenpy Home
Having no regrets is all that she really wants. One Direction A lyric from one of my go-to boybands isn’t exactly how I thought I’d start this post about my Tenpy experience. For months, I penned drafts and discarded them, thinking some literary semi-masterpiece will be conjured up if I tried hard enough. The more […]
When the tigers of Ranthambore don’t come out to play
It was on a chilly December morning that I woke up in my room in Ranthambore, to the sound of bells clanging. Annoying as it was, I was no stranger to this sound, for I’d woken up to it almost every day. My alarm rang softly at first and then picked up the volume till […]
We raged at the death of an elephant in India. What’s next?
Has cruelty against animals increased? We can’t say for sure. What’s changed is that now, it’s being captured on camera, and unceasingly shared on social media. The latter is definitely not a flipside of technology. It results in documentation of incidents, provides proof to present during the trials of the perpetrators, and gives us an […]
Travel from your couch to 17th century India with the Taj Trilogy
Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined I’d get to proclaim to future generations that I lived through a pandemic (fingers crossed I make it)! Now, I know I’ve raced to the future and maybe skipped a few more ecological (most are human-caused) disasters, but I’d like to believe that we will survive this […]
In the age of dating apps, here’s how Udaipur woos with old school charm
Some love stories are the result of a period of courting, some are born out of a whirlwind romance, while some begin at the swipe of a finger on a screen. Mine is different. I came, I saw, I was smitten – in under two days.
How to Spend A Mellow Weekend At Masinagudi
As someone who works in a full-time role – nine hours a day, five days a week – fitting in week-long travel plans while not impossible, can’t be done frequently. While a bummer, it’s the way of life for a desk jockey, and rest assured you and I aren’t the only ones in this boat. […]
