Under the fiery Tamil sun, hubby and I trampled on Thanjavur’s dusty streets. To which direction, we were quite unsure, yet we rambled on. Minutes ago, we just hopped off a bus that traveled from Tiruchirappalli. As I looked up and down what appeared like a major road, the lack of foreign tourists and absence…
unesco world heritage sites
Paracas National Reserve, Peru: Images Of A Desolate Beauty
Just beautifully bleak. From where we were standing, the blanket of golden sands seemed endless. The balmy breeze that swept past every so often gave this tropical desert a less unforgiving aura. It was day 211 of our round-the-world trip, and we were on the second half of our Paracas tour. Earlier that day we…
2012 Year-Ender/World-Ender
Ahhh… 2012. You are an ebullient homage to wanderlust. Frankly, I am quite obsessed with your ruffled months. In fact it’s almost midnight and amid that end-of-the-world hullabaloo, here I am fondly sewing a patchwork of idyllic imagery to commemorate your flamboyance and purport. Now this may seem like a pathetic way of exiting the…
Teotihuacán, Mexico: Where Gods Were Born… And Where We Lost Our Pram
I shifted my gaze from one behemoth to the other. From the ground afar, the two colossal pyramids can be seen blending in the nearby mountain range. Humans ascending and descending them looked like ants crawling up and down an anthill, on a work shift in the colony. The peaks were certainly intimidating, nevertheless we…
Scenic World, Blue Mountains, Australia
Day 71 of our round-the-world trip. It was obviously a Thursday. The empty parking lot says so. We swiftly hopped out of our beat up, borrowed car and unbuckled the bub from the infant seat. Closing time was fast approaching. We spent too long at Three Sisters, but that’s because nearby Scenic World wasn’t part…
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka: Lion’s Rock
Third day, and already we were heading to our fourth Sri Lanka World Heritage Site. The country has eight. While I want to be all braggy about that (and the public transport near-death experiences we survived on the way to these sites), I reckon another incident deserves a brighter spotlight. A relationship milestone between me…
Photo Essay: Golden Temple Of Dambulla, Sri Lanka
Bright skies ahead, despite the heavy downpour in the wee hours. I savored the crisp morning breeze as our tuktuk, driven by a local named Wimala, dashed towards the bus terminal. I was afloat with an insane surge of energy, perhaps because I just showered away the last seventy-two transit hours. Yep, my last bath…
Mexico In A Wrap
Breaking News: Mexico overthrew India off its top spot on our fave foreign destinations list. India now places second. What catalyzed such order is the fact that we spent a whole month exploring six states in Mexico, while we only allocated eight days for one state in India. I’d like to think that India will…
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka: Ruins Of An Ancient Capital
Not as grandiose as Angkor Wat. Then again it’s not a temple complex, but an ancient Sinhalese capital. So ancient in fact, that it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the planet. Anuradhapura’s underrated charm does not lure tons of flip-flopping, shindig-seeking gap packers. Instead, it beckons busloads of retirees and a…
Largo Do Senado: And The Family Chaos Continues
He was missing when we all hobbled out of our beds. Despite slumping into a coma late, my father awoke early. He was suffering from a terrible case of diarrhea, acquired days before flying out of the Philippines, yet his meekly obedient feet submitted to the command of the travel bug in him. He wandered…