Vibsville

Africa – Kenya & Tanzania (July 29 th – August 7 th , 2012) Extraordinarily ‘Wild’ Time: First a big ‘Thank you’ to all those who assisted with itinerary planning – Shruti Mittal, Aiman Merchant, Gaurav Jain, Pooja Hada, Vasudha Mittal, Tushar Chandra, Nandini & Paresh Kapashi amongst others. Without your insights the trip would not have been so terrific! Pre-holiday- Lots of confusion about which places to visit in a week’s time. Main dilemma was whether we see Kenya only or combine 2 countries. Visiting Tanzania entailed 2 flights and a 4-5 hour road journey all packed into 1 day, making it a rather tedious. At the same time, combing a visit to a neighboring country and seeing something different is always tempting. Finally, after lots of deliberation and blog/website browsing we decided on both Kenya and Tanzania. We chose Masai Mara as our main safari destination given the density and variety of animals we could see. Also, 1 st August is when the

Feb  5-7 th , 2013. Kumbh Mela Allahabad. The Maha Maha Kumbh! Don’t know where it arose from – but all of a sudden I had an urge to visit what is known as the ‘world’s biggest spiritual gathering’, the Maha Kumbh that occurs once in every 12 years. I threw out the idea amongst my cousins and one of them said, “Hey, my mom-in-law is going in 2 weeks. She has family that lives in Allahabad and you could easily just stay with them.” I was set. Shaped by popular media and old Bollywood films, my impression of the Kumbh was that of a chaotic, over-populated and under-regulated stampede. Therefore the idea of staying with a local family appealed to me. I booked my flight to Lucknow, met the family at the airport and we embarked on a 5 hour journey to Allahabad by road. This was my first visit to UP, India’s most populous state. I marveled at the Lucknow airport, which was far superior to most airports in comparable cities in India (Jaipur, Calcutta etc.). There is a ‘ne

I intended to write a detailed travel description on Ladakh but feel that the place has to be experienced and not read about. Instead, I’m just going to describe our itinerary and provide basic tips on things not to be missed. Best season: July to mid September (If you enjoy music/culture the Leh festival is celebrated early September) Days needed: One can spend anywhere between a week and a month discovering new places in the region. We spent about 12 days total and were quite content but intend to revisit. Avoid large group tours and try and customize your trip. It is a place you want to discover at your own pace and truly immerse yourself in. Basic geography: J&K state has 3 distinct regions: Ladakh (Buddhist majority), Jammu (Hindu majority) and Kashmir (Muslim majority). This makes for complex politics in the region. Leh is the biggest town in Ladakh region and the only one with a civilian airport. This is a broder area also called a War zone. One will see several army/militar

     ‘We live in a man’s world’ goes the common refrain. Each time I end a late night phone conversation with my best friend when discussing marriage, family or work we conclude that there still exists an implicit gender bias in today’s ‘emerging’ India. Not confined to the rural areas or the impoverished population, the bias is visible across India. From the villages where a son is treasured as an asset, an incremental working hand on the fields, to the glitzy offices in urban India, where women candidates are looked at with skepticism since career is perceived as secondary to family, the prejudice is ubiquitous. Five million girls were subjected to female infanticide between 1986 and 2001 in India. To prevent this, sex determination for pregnant women is illegal across the country. Even in seemingly modern families, women are pressured to produce a son to continue the family legacy. The bias is universal; its manifestations vary significantly.    I hail from a Marwari family and was

Just 3 more days before we board our flight to Chandigarh enroute to Leh! It all started with a Facebook message from Jungleore, a company that plans adventure travels, describing their upcoming tour to Ladhak. I forwarded the email to some close friends, one of whom was as interested and flexible with dates and then we began planning… I spoke to several people about their trips and chatted with many agencies to finally configure our route. Would like to thank Kaustabh at Junglore, Neha at Country wide travels, Shehzaad, Nishreen Aunty, Juzer, Rakesh, Gaurav, Hasnain, Aditya, Devangi, Amanjyot, Aiman, Namrata Kothari, the several agents in Leh and Delhi and the myriad travel blogs and websites that helped us plan our trip. I had no idea so many of my friends had been to Ladhak! From the various itineraries available online we could figure out the key destinations in Ladhak, but were confused about our access to Leh. Should we drive from Manali or Srinagar or fly directly. The ultimate