Chail, in Himachal Pradesh once served as the summer capital of the state of Patiala. It is situated at an altitude of 2250m above sea level and is higher than Shimla.

Chail is surrounded by forests of chir pine and deodars. The hills overlook the Sutlej valley. Shimla and Kasauli can be seen from here at night.

The Chail Palace, constructed by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh in 1891, is beautiful and elegant. The furnishing and decor have been maintained well through the years and it now serves as the Palace Hotel.

The Palace has lush green spacious lawns. It is easily one of the best places to stay if you are looking to spend a night in Chail.

There is a cricket ground and a polo ground in Chail. At 2444m, it has the highest cricket pitch in the world.

Long winding roads, untouched landscapes, chirping birds and a chilly breeze constantly accompany you as you walk around the town. Needless to say that the town is best explored on foot.

A book, a hammock, a drink in your hand and a camera by your side. This is all you will need to savour the feel of this picturesque town completely.

The next time you are looking for a quiet holiday up in the hills, head to Chail.

Looking out of my balcony on this bright sunny day, I can’t but marvel about this place which has been home to me for the past 3 years. Everything about this place is so very nice except my office (Roti, Kapda aur Makaan ke liye kaam toh karna hi padega na )

Jokes apart, Fukuoka is technically the most populated city in the Kyushu island of Japan. Certainly not as happening and densely populated like Tokyo, Fukuoka is a metropolitan city with lush greenery. It cannot be called as a tourist destination but this place forms a central region from where you can cover most of the places in Kyushu Island and this is what I exactly did. So, I bring to you here in these series of posts my travels around this part of the globe.

Traveling in any part of Fukuoka or Japan is a pleasure. Fukuoka has a well developed and perfectly streamlined transport system. If you know Japanese people, you will understand what I mean by perfection.

Buses arrive on the dot of the minute and leave on the dot. (I used to wait for hours for buses like 5E and PP49 in front of my college to take me home…. now this is like a cakewalk). You can check bus schedules here.

Subway runs through the entire city making traveling a sheer pleasure. So beat the traffic and hop onto the subway (Well I must tell you here that traffic in Fukuoka is 1/10th of Bangalore’s traffic jams). Limited Express and Shikansens zig zag to the rest of the country. Limited Express take a longer time to reach any destination but are cheaper than the Shinkansens. Shinkansen as you all know is the bullet train but then you also need to pay a good price (Everything comes with a price tag) but then please do travel in one just to enjoy the speed of this train.
The main/hub station here is the Hakata Station/Hakata Eki. So, you can just book your ticket and zoom away to the destination. You will also find a lot of maps, guides, places to be visited in the destination et al for your guidance. If you can’t find an English one please do ask at the Information desks. The biggest problem here however is the language. English speaking people are less and Japanese people do try a lot to help you. So, if you trying to converse with them, please don’t rattle off in English, please speak as slow as possible emphasizing each word and using as much of actions as possible. The below links will help you in timing your trips without much hassles. You can check Train schedules, fares, arrival, departures – here.

And if you didn’t know, Fukuoka also houses an International Airport (My odyssey to India ).
So lets now roam about Fukuoka now. Hop on Shilpa’s Express as we discover Fukuoka. A point of note in any Tourist place is please ask for English pamphlets or maps for the place. Mostly the pamphlets will be displayed at the entrance and if there is no English pamphlet, please do ask for the same at the counter. Strict advice to veggies, please carry food around as you might not get much of veg stuff.

My first stop is at Nokonoshima. This is just simply beautiful garden in Nokonoshima Island. You can roam around the place and enjoy the beautiful flowers and scenery. Take a bus to Noko Ferry Port and then the Ferry to Nokonoshima Island. You can then either walk to Nokonoshima Garden or else take the bus to the same (For people with leg problems, the climb is quite steep so please take care). The best time to visit this place is during Sakura/Cherry Blossoms.

Lets next stop at Uminonakamichi. This is popular for the Dolphin Show and the Aquarium. (Psst. Psst…. I really love their dolphin show which is so very sweet and the Aquarium too.. so you have to just tell me that you are going there and I will be the first one to accompany you ). Besides these, you have a theme park, not exactly theme park, rather a large area with rides, cycling path, lot of outdoor activities for kids (its actually for kids but then no harm in letting out the kid in you ). For this you will need to take a bus to TNC, Momochihama and then the Ferry to Uminonakamichi Island.

Momochihama Beach and Fukuoka Tower is something you wouldn’t certainly want to miss out in Fukuoka. Although, this is an artificial beach, this is also the most in demand place in the summer times to escape from the humidity . So you can have a nice swim in the beach and relax and enjoy the cool breeze.

Ohori Koen Park is another must-see place during the cherry blossoms where the entire park is covered by these trees. Its just a totally pretty site. This is 2-km stretch park wherein you can take a walk or just relax enjoying the beautiful scenery around. A large pond in between attracts a lot of birds too . So, take a break and chill pill here.

Coming soon – More shopping and sightseeing.

Stunning views, sunsets, white washed houses, wind mills, loving people, great food.. Santorini is about all these and much more… After a terrific holiday in Santorini it was time for us to head back to Athens again.

Athens again!

Last two days in Hellenic Republic and we were back in Athens. Blame it on our luck or EU, Athens was on strike on one of the days and the upsetting part was Acropolis was closed for visitors. And that meant getting up early the next day for Acropolis visit, YES 8.30 am ?. Sigh!!!

Anyway, that did not affect enthusiastic souls like us and we decided to explore, walking.

First we walked till the Syntagma square where the Greek parliament is situated. We were just in time for the “changing of guards” ceremony that happens every hour. It’s a 10-15 min ceremony where incumbent guards are replaced by the new ones. It’s quite fascinating to watch such an elaborate ceremony which is essentially replacement of guards.

New Acropolis museum is one amongst the major tourist attractions which is quite interestingly built on the excavation site itself and with floors made of glass, entire excavation site can be seen from above. Museum also has souvenir shops but you should avoid buying from there as the prices are pretty steep. Same stuff can be bought from many souvenir shops situated in Plaka at much lesser cost. Plaka is a picturesque old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis. It’s famous for its labyrinth streets and shops stacked with local Greek stuff. Plaka is built on top of the residential areas of the ancient town of Athens. This is a kind of locale where you’ll get to see a lot of shops selling fake university sweatshirts with “unaversity” written on them ?.

From Plaka we headed to Monastiraki square, these are the areas with typical cobbled streets with endless shoe shops and many multi utility stores (Hondos centre and Tally Weijl are the ones where you can get good bargains) apart from the designer standalone ones. After a day long of walking and dinner at nearby pasta bar we headed back straight to the hotel. Sadly, 7:00 AM alarm was set for an 8:30 AM visit to Acropolis :’(.

Last day in Greece started pretty early as we headed to the Parthenon of Acropolis. It was a ten min walk from our hotel. Acropolis is a flat topped rock towering around 500 ft from the ground. There are several temples built namely Parthenon, belonging to Greek goddess Athena. Now, selective restoration work is being carried out to stabilize the partially ruined structure. These temples were ruined and destroyed partially during the Persian invasion.

City looks spectacular from Acropolis, it seems like a cobweb of low lying buildings surrounded by the mountains. Views are just breathtaking. As acropolis is situated near the University of Athens, one can explore that area as well.

After the much awaited visit to Acropolis, we returned to our hotel and after a sumptuous
Breakfast it was time to say good bye to absolutely miraculous Greece. We headed to the airport, Ikea and as we were driving back on the same roads which led us to this beautiful city a week back, somewhere we knew, we haven’t seen it all and we will be back to this country, so ancient yet so modern and so so unique in its own way. We wanted more of cosmopolitan and bustling Athens where centuries old monuments, testament of the great Greek history still stand tall and the gorgeous beaches of the many islands that we know we need to come back to.

It was the month of Feb when we managed to squeeze in an 8 day holiday and after a lot of forethought and delving into lonely planet it was Greece, Cyprus and New Zealand amongst which we had to make a choice. New Zealand was the first one to go off the list, reason being ticket prices , Cyprus when compared to Greece didn’t seem equally exotic so GREECE it was, being aware of the fact that Nov – Mar is the time when the tourist infrastructure goes into hibernation, particularly the islands, but if you are looking for a peaceful atmosphere on your holiday, it wouldn’t hurt if you travel around that time of year.

We chose to visit Athens and Santorini. While in Athens you get to experience the busy city life and shopping certainly needs a mention, Santorini will amaze you with its surreal views and spectacular sunsets.

Day 1 Athens:

We reached Athens where our hotel had arranged a pick up and our driver Costas was quite friendly, during the 45 min drive to the city he voluntarily briefed us about the places to visit and things to do in Athens as well as Santorini. Drive to the city is stunning as entire city is visible from the highways. When booking a hotel in Athens please research about the area where its located. We would advise for hotels in vicinity of parliament or Acropolis. Our hotel was situated quite close to Acropolis, so close that we could be see it from the hotel balcony.

Reason for hotel location being of prime importance in Athens is, you can either walk or travel through metro, so closer you stay to main tourist spots, better it is.

Place that get first mention when we talk about Athens is The Acropolis. Due to current turbulent times and Feb being an off season, visiting hours for Acropolis were odd (8. 30 am – 2.30 pm). The clan I belong to, getting up early to do anything was not even under the consideration set. While we conveniently decided to visit Acropolis on our way back from Santorini, fate had decided something else which you will get to know as you read on.

Athens is heaven for shoe shopping lovers just like me?. So if you have enough Moolah to spend you can visit many designer stores or the store “Attica” where you can get your hands on all possible designer branded shoes to clothes to accessories.

However, if you want to shop the Hellenic way you can visit extremely famous Ermou street and Monastiraki square (high fashion bazaars / streets). Monastiraki is where Athens flea bazaar is situated as well. This is how our first day at Athens ended, walking around the Greek parliament and Ermou street with a quite dinner at one of the many street cafes situated at Ermou street.

Following morning we flew to our final destination, Santorini. During summers, there are a lot of ferries operating from Athens to Santorini which on an average take 8 hours while flight would take 30-45 mins. Santorini is an archipelago of volcanic islands located in southern Aegean Sea. As expected, first glimpse of Santorini landscape was surreal, which looks like piece of land covered with white sheet and so starkly visible in midst of blue waters. Santorini airport is a very small one and opens and closes 1 hour prior and after any flight. Here as well, our hotel had arranged a pick up. There are a lot of staying options in Santorini which you can choose from whichever suits your pocket. Again, when you are visiting in off season you need to enquire about the ones that are operational.

We started driving towards Fira from the airport. Fira is the town area of Santorini, where most of the cafes, tourist shops, banks and restaurants are located. Our hotel was ten min from Fira. Dana villas was where we chose to stay, located entirely on the Santorini Cliffside with incredible views of icy-blue waters and other islands, famous Caldera and Thirassia. While Caldera is famous for its once active volcano, Thirassia is a scarcely inhabited island accessible only through ferries as it does not have an airport. These islands were one entity before the volcanic eruption (as a result of volcano situated in Caldera Island) which resulted in separated smaller islands.

Santorini is famous for its beaches, white landscape, wineries, visit to Caldera, historic museums and sunset at Oia. One of the first places that we visited was Kamari beach situated at southern part of Santorini, as the Island slopes downwards from the cliffs (Fira town) to the surrounding Aegean sea, driving down these slopes with magnificent views of Aegean sea and white washed buildings itself is an experience. There are a lot of local shops as well as global chains like Hertz where you can rent a car, ATS vehicles can also be rented. Renting a car during winters is recommended as the winds are extremely strong and chilly hence driving an ATV vehicle is difficult.

Kamari beach is one of the most sought after places in summers and the landscape looks entirely different as it’s packed with tourists and big and small cafes that mushroom only during summers. In winters bigger cafes like Café Classico (also present in Fira) are operational and you can enjoy your coffee with views of beautiful Aegean Sea. As a matter of fact coffee in Greece is regarded to be the most expensive in Europe. This has mainly to do with the coffee culture in Greece. Greeks can sit even for two hours at a cafe drinking slowly their (first and only) coffee without ordering anything else. ?

Next day we took a ferry to Caldera Island. Caldera with its multicolored cliffs is truly awesome and you can visit the island with small ferries operating from Santorini old port. In summers, ferry operates almost every hour to Caldera however in winters they are considerably reduced, so if you are lucky you might be able to catch the ferry ride. Walk into any of the travel agents offices in Fira and enquire about these trips, visit to caldera island and hot springs are coupled together.

Coming to a very significant part FOOD, first day was quite a struggle looking for places to eat however later we discovered a lot many restaurants serving great food. All you need to do is to keep exploring, chatting with locals who are extremely sweet and ever ready to help. Desserts are served free of cost however you might get charged for the bread that you thought was served complimentary?. There are a couple of pubs as well, some of them open from 9 pm – 3 am. Options are many, have a quiet dinner at any of the eateries or shake a leg or two at discs.

Southern part of Santorini is where most of the wineries and wine museums are present. Wineries are open from July – September, months being the harvesting season, but few museums are open so check on the visiting hours and you can go for self guided tours. Museums also have their souvenir shops where wine bottles are at sale at pretty reasonable price (wine bottles ranging from 8€ – 50 €).

Another interesting place to visit in southern Santorini is the excavation site at Akrotiri, however this site has been closed which is a huge disappointment for archaeology lovers.
Museum of Ancient Thira is situated in Fira town and one can give it a visit.

After visiting the wine museums, Light house situated at the southern most tip of island and red beach we decided to drive all the way to the northern most part of Santorini, Oia, famous for its spectacular sunsets. Oia is a separate town which is 25 min drive from Fira. It’s known as a place where the rich reside, however in winters it seemed like a deserted town. We reached the sunset point and it’s unbelievable how beautiful the white buildings look during the sunset. That view was as surreal as the Sunset.

Stunning views, sunsets, white washed houses, wind mills, loving people, great food.. Santorini is about all these and much more… After a terrific holiday in Santorini it was time for us to head back to Athens again.

I had heard a lot about Varkarla being a great beach and hippie destination but found very little on the web when I searched. Anxious about the primitivism of this growing tourist destination, I set out to make bookings. This confused me even more. There is no place called Varkarla, it is Varkala and no ‘r’. Whereas ‘falling in love with cliffs’ is concerned, that is not something I do everyday. I am a travel bug who mostly travels in search of beaches.

Varkala town is a single train station away from Trivandrum and a small town. But the moment you are out of the little train station, auto rickshaws and taxis stalk to sell you a ride to the North Cliff or South Cliff. Me being me, had no reservation but the internet searches had helped me remember some guest house name and it turned out to be in the South cliff.

South Cliff leads down to the popular Papanasam beach. Varkala, as a place had become famous for the temple and the divine sea which cleanses sins, Papanasam, true to the name. As we sat at a café ordering a late lunch and hung around till evening, devotees from the temple came to the sea. This was mostly families bathing in Indian style, which kind of grosses me out to see men bathing in underwear and women in sarees. By the way, we also saw that every morning the devotees pray on the Papanasam beach and leave behind leaves, flowers and other offering to the sea.

We walked up the cliff, checked into the same guest house I remembered and walked across to the North Cliff. On top of the cliff is a helipad that separates the 2 cliffs and a 5 minute walk through the pathway lined with shops selling Indian printed stoles, cotton clothes, jewelry etc.

The helipad is one lovely place in the whole of Varkala. Vast land over looking a cliff. Running across the helipad gave me a sense of liberation and cleared my mind; especially since it was my break-free from the concrete jungle I live and work at. There were some flyers maneuvering their parachutes to take off from the cliff. Paragliding is a good sport here. I spoke to the trainer who offered me a course in Paragliding for fourteen thousand rupees and 10 days, which I politely turned down killing the temptation inside. Instead accepted to fly with him once for a fee of one thousand five hundred but the winds just were not in the mood for this bargain. No paragliding for the rest of the day.

With Yoga being the most famous thing about Varkala, you can look down the beach from North Cliff to see lots of foreigners practicing Yoga on the beach. Every one seems to have a Yoga mat and they all follow the instructor through the entire session till sunset. All that separated the sea and habitation is a flight of stairs up the cliff. I so loved walking up and down the stairs. It felt like different worlds in different levels and that is when I realized I had started to love cliffs.

I spoke to a few foreign travelers, probably in their sixties, who loved the place. One English gentleman had lived in Kasauli with his coffee shop, where my friend had met him and was now running a coffee shop on the North Cliff in Varkala. This guy was amazing. He loved India, had an Indian wife to get permission for business in India and sang an English country song as he served us coffee. Life is different for senile foreign tourists in Varkala. Apart from the cheap prices, they enjoy the temperature of beach, swimming, Ayurvedic massages, Yoga and good accommodation to last many months on their currency. Well, it doesn’t take me more than a few minutes to fall in love with this lifestyle, how can you blame them?

My “Next best thing” is food. The Nepali run cafes serve mostly continental food with a variety of Indian and Chinese and minimal Kerala food. But if you pick the right cafes to eat, you have the ambiance, view and great food. Some café turn into a perfect lounge in the evening with good music and great cocktails. What more can you ask for on a vacation?

When in New York the first thing you need to do is to buy yourself a Metro card so that you can travel by the local subway which is the nervous system of the city. It links every inch of the five boroughs – Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn that make the city and you can travel to any part of them. I spent most of my time in Manhattan which was supposed to be the origin of the present New York City and you will see that my images reflect that. Besides the metro card, arm yourself with a coffee or a hot chocolate , honey roasted nuts ,a good camera and loads of energy, for you have to walk to see every aspect of the city. The streets, the subway and the shows are as much fodder for your lens as the monuments and the statues..

Entertaining visitors in the Battery Park, in Manhattan. The park which has several memorials and statues is so called as this was where the artillery battery was parked by the colonial rulers – Dutch and British. Facing the New York harbour, the ferries to Statue of Liberty leaves from the remnants of an old fort called Castle Clinton .

There streets of New York reverberate with energy and music that cannot be explained..there is always something that is happenning here..A TV programme and some performers caught my attention


Most tourists visit the site of the World Trade Centre which is now being rebuilt. The Trinity Church and the St Paul’s Chapel which is the oldest surviving church of the area is another landmark there. Today it is a memorial for all those who died in the tragedy .


Times square – The most buzzling square which is a montage of malls, broadway shows, restaurants and the massive neon signs. There are live web cams here and this is the place where the famous New Year ‘s Eve celebrations are held.

And finally the lights of Manhattan