India Travel Blog

A Rose Ringed Parakeet

Arun — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:55:04 +0000

Looking back at 2009

Arun — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 11:20:50 +0000

With more than 250 posts, 2009 was the most active year on India Travel Blog. Despite that, I am yet to complete writing about places I have visited more than a year ago. I also increased focus on photography and started a series on travel photography, writing articles to help in making better images. The prominent stories of the year were the series on Rajasthan, Ladakh, travel photography and Badami. There were 6 book reviews in all. There were also reports on visit to Kasargod, Chikmagalur, Shimla and a lot of photos.

I do not know yet about where I would travel and what I would write about in 2010. There are many images to post and stories to write from the past trips, which should keep me occupied for next 3-4 months. I am likely to focus more on making better pictures and take baby steps into making small travel video snippets whenever possible. I would love to hear from you about what would you like to see on this page in 2010. Do leave a comment and let me know your suggestions. I also started accepting guest posts in 2009, though in small numbers. I intend to increase it slightly, adding one or two guest posts from willing contributors every month.

I wish you a very fruitful and happy year ahead. May you have a great year ahead and may all your wises come true.

January 2010 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper

Arun — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:41:09 +0000

Here is wishing you all a very very happy new year. May 2010 bring you great joy and lot of travel opportunities.

Below is the calendar for January 2010, an image from Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. Download 1024×768 or 1280×800.

A Brahminy Starling

Arun — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:16:18 +0000

The Chhatris and Spires of Orchha

Arun — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:29:10 +0000

I am now in Kanha, one of the best kept national parks in India that once boasted of more than a hundred tigers. The naturalist here with me says, the numbers are now down to 89. He helpfully adds that the smaller number is not attributed to poaching, but because the tigers are expanding their habitat. There can’t be a better news if that is true. I will be at Kanha for two more days before heading back to Bangalore. Meanwhile, here is another picture from Orchha.

Orchha

Arun — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:13:23 +0000

An old temple as tall as an 8-storeys building, a river flowing at the edge of the forest with tall monuments on its bank, a fort surrounded by the river, a few palaces and a popular old temple. That is quickly summing up Orchha for you without talking about the tales of the Bundel Kings, a feel of discovering a hidden place belonging to an ancient era and the joys of listening to the water flowing over the boulders. Here is a picture from Orchha, where I spent a few days before moving on Khajuraho. It is a small place, but Orchha really deserved a lot more time than I spent there.

Travelling in Madhya Pradesh

Arun — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:49:57 +0000

I am on the way to the heart of India, starting my journey from the small historical town of Orchha. Orchha turned out to be a lot more beautiful than I expected. A river with clear waters, some charming monuments, temples and a lot of birds. The rocky river bed is the kind of place where I would like to sit and while away the whole day. I will try to make a few posts on my journeys while I travel in the next two weeks, passing through Khajuraho, Jabalpur and a few more places. Hopefully, I will be tweeting about my journeys as well. I have never been good with twitter, but I promise I will try! Follow me on indiatravelblog twitter account.

Mainstream media continues plagiarism

Arun — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:47:22 +0000

Travel blogger Mridula has been a victim of plagiarism from mainstream media several times. This time the culprit is Hindustan Times. She is fighting it out and contesting the claims from the editors who say this was an accident. It is a wonder how so many such accidents have been happening these days. Like an accident that NDTV website had with one of my images. Blog aggregators like desipundit and blogbharti are full of incidences of such theft from mainstream media.

I have written to the editor of Brunch Ms. Poonam Saxena now. By evening she replied agreeing that there has been a mistake because copyright issues were not clear and they are willing to issue a correction and talk about compensation. I strongly disagree.

Here is more about the incident it from Mridula.

A Waterfall in Coorg

Arun — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:06:55 +0000

Another perspective of this waterfall.

Purple Sunbird, Female

Arun — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:44:04 +0000

I thought this is a female purple rumped sunbird. Thanks to Uma for correcting it.