Winter is already half way, and I haven’t done much travelling yet. Was in Goa for a week in November, and have spent most of the remaining time at home with my hands full, working on some photography projects. It’s time to start making travel plans again.
I am hoping to spend some time traversing the Nilgiris and do some photography in the region. My knowledge of these parts is not very good, and am searching for information on the best possible places to visit. Other places that I want to visit are in the west coast, to see Theyyam performances, and may be Kambala – bull race in Dakshina Kannada. There won’t be much time left before the winter is over, but it will be nice to insert Ramehswaram and Chidambaram in the calendar somewhere before mid-march.
To start with, I am going to be in good old Ranganathittu photographing winter migrants for a day next week.
What are your plans?
Lonlely Planet is giving out Travel Blogger Awards this year in ten categories. I saw the news and thought, let’s pitch some Indian blogs, which have all the required qualities but usually don’t get there simply because we would not know of the award program. I walked through my feed reader, picked a bunch of travel blogs and have nominated for the award.
The procedure involves initial round of nominations by public(which will not be disclosed), and then 5 blogs in each category with top nominations will be opened for public voting. Let’s all work to nominate a few Indian Blogs, so we will have some of them in the final list.
I have made many nominations, and of all of them, strongly feel that clay, an excellent compilation of travel information and stories by various authors, managed by Lakshmi and Arun deserves to be there on the top.
Go here and submit your nominations now and spread the word yourself.
Also see: Best Travel Blogs nominations for 2008 weblog awards.
Here is a quick look at this year’s stories on India Travel Blog.
* Walks in India series
KARNATAKA
* Drive to Lepakshi
* Another visit to Hampi
* Badami
* Banashankari Temple
* Pattadakal
* Mahakoota
* Aihole
* Skandagiri
* Birds in Bangalore
Mahakoota
HIMACHAL
* Giri River Camp
* Chail and Kufri
* Shimla
* Manali, Solang Nala and Rohtang Pass
* Driving to Batal, and Chandratal
* Kunzum La, Kaza, Ki Monastery and Kibber Village
* Tabo Monastery and Nako Village
* Kinnaru
* Kalpa Village, Kinnaur
* Touts in Shimla
Chandratal
DELHI, KUMAON AND RAJASTHAN
* Photo Essay on Qutub Minar
* Images: Delhi of yesteryears
* Kumaon Himalayas – Binsar and Nainital
* Jaipur City
* Shekhawati
Binsar
TAMILNADU
* Madurai Meenakshi Temple
* Thanjavur
* Padmanabhapuram Palace
* Kanyakumari
Madurai
BOOK REVIEWS
* The Nanda Devi Affair by Bill Aitken
* A Search in Secret India by Paul Brunton
* A Hermit in the Himalayas by Paul Brunton
* City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
* City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre
* Ladakh – Crossroads of High Asia by Janet Rizvi
* Rain in the Mountains by Ruskin Bond
* Ancient Futures by Helna Norberg-Hodge
* The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
* The Penguin Book of Indian Journeys
* Himalaya by Michael Palin
OTHERS
* Mangal, our driver in Himachal
* Making low cost carriers profitable
* The hurried women of Nako
* The Earth Day Post
* The Cricketing Nation
* So many tourists, just one Taj Mahal
* The Ganga Dream
* Getting Lost
* A Multi-lingual Communication
* The pond at Padmanabhapuram Palace
* A day of travelling with the Indian Railways
* The Marwari Language
* Jaipur with Raju
* A look at Bangalore Airport