November 2009 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper
Here is the November 2009 desktop calendar wallpaper. Download 1024×768 or 1280×800 versions.
November Newsletter
India Travel Blog Newsletter is sent approximately once a month(sometimes after two months), summarizing the previous month’s activity and giving a glimpse of the coming month on the website. Subscribe to the newsletter by keying in your email address in the box on the top of the sidebar. Here is a copy of this month’s newsletter, dispatched today.
Hello!
Here is the November edition of India Travel Blog Newsletter. The newsletter summarizes contents on the blog since the last dispatch.
Calendar
Your desktop calendar for November 2009 is now online. Go here and download 1024×768 or 1280×800 version. The calendar has a picture of a beautiful lake near Kodaikanal.
New stories since last dispatch
Here is a quick summary of all major stories published on India Travel Blog since last newsletter despatch in August
Book Reviews. There are two book reviews posted in the past month.
- Two in a Bush by Gerald Durrell, a travelogue by a naturalist about seeing some strange and exotic fauna in Australi, New Zealnad and Malaya.
- A Journey in Ladakh by Andrew Harvey, a book on author’s quest for spirituality in Ladakh.
Shimla. Read about a visit to Shimla and nearby places-Chail, Mashobra and Kasauli. Also see images from the region spread across multiple posts.
Chikmagalur. Read my post about the wet foggy hills of Chikmagalur during the monsoons.
Travel Photography – photographing the mountains. I made a presentation on photographing the mountains to the jury and winners of Club Mahindra My Trip of a Lifetime contest. The slides of the presentation – a collection of images – are now available online. However, the detailed content/audio of the presentation is not available.
Badami. I posted a series of images on the small town of Badami known for its historical cave temples. Besides the beautiful setting of those caves carved in red sandstone, I posted pictures of its landscape, its Agastya lake, people, kids, houses and daily life in the town. See all those posts here.
Posts from Ladakh. The series of travel guides and stories I have been writing on Ladakh have slowed down, but will continue in December. Below are the last three stories.
- I stayed in a small guesthouse owned by friendly Ladakhis in Leh. Here is a post about the people and ambience of the guesthouse.
- Your guide to Leh
- It is commonly assumed that only way to get from place to place in Ladakh is to hire a cab. Public transport does exist but is not frequent. While it may not be practical to wait for a bus to go everywhere, there are some places which can be easily covered by buses. Here is a guide to using public transport in Ladakh.
In November, we will have some posts on travel photography and a few on Ladakh. Also lookout for some fresh images of winter lanscapes. Happy travelling!
Write ups from Coorg
We are preparing for the upcoming TravelWise tour to Coorg with lot of research and information. While we are at it, here are some stories from Coorg area that Lakshmi and I had written for Deccan Herald.
Lakshmi writes about some intriguing stories of the kings of Coorg in Tuesday issue of DH.
As the Vijayanagar empire crumbled, Veeraraja, who dreamt of establishing his own dynasty was looking to exploit the weakness of local kingdoms… Disguised as a jangama or a priest with healing powers, he established a small group of followers in Haleri. He slowly overthrew the local Nayakas, including the formidable Karenbahu of Bhagamandala and Talacauvery, and went on to become the lord of Kodagu with Haleri as capital.
My story about my repeated treks to Thadiyandamol peak appeared in DH a few weeks ago.
Never before has a place beckoned me to return so many times. My second visit followed just a few months after the first. The third and fourth did not take very long either. I had made six visits at the last count and yet, each time I think of Thadiyandamol Peak, I ponder on making another journey soon.
Finally, here is another story I wrote a few months ago about the trek to Brahmagiri.
Wildlife is plentiful on the grasslands above the forest bungalow. Sambar deer, nilgiri langur and wild gaur are commonly seen along the hills. Elephants can be occasionally sighted grazing on the slopes. Lucky ones may see lion tailed macaques hopping from tree to tree in the shola forests. Tigers are known to exist, but sightings of the big cat are not common.