Pollution – Rakhee Ghelani

Exploring Bhubaneswar : Khandagiri & Udayagiri

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I’ve been spending some time in Bhubaneshwar lately, and while I’ve been here before, the extra time has allowed me to explore the city in more depth. This week I visited the famed Jain cave temples of Khandagiri and Udayagiri. While these sites are beautiful , what really stood out for me was the appalling…

India Travel Advice Part 2

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Following on from my last post providing India travel advice for women, I thought it would be worthwhile to provide a few more tips that I’ve found handy while travelling across India. These ones are relevant regardless of gender: Eating in India One of the most common questions I am asked about India is about…

Slum Tourism: Dharavi

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Slum tourism drums up all sorts of bad connotations. For this reason I avoided doing the tour of Dharavi, the biggest slum in Mumbai for a long time. Finally, after a little convincing by a friend I decided to see it for myself. I now think everyone, Mumbaikars born and bred and tourists alike should…

Holi Varanasi!

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I am not a big fan of Varanasi as I have mentioned in my post the last time I visited. I didn’t really want to go back but it is one of the holiest and unique cities in India and my dear friend wanted to visit, and I think it does need to be seen…

Is the real India Invisible? – Andhra Pradesh

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As I made my way down the east coast of the country, I decided to stop in a few places in Andhra Pradesh along the way, which gave me quite a “real” Indian experience. First stop was Visakhapatnam, otherwise known as Vizag. This is a beachside city that is touted as the best beach on…

Varanasi: Is there any hope for India?

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Distressed. Helpless. Filthy. Nauseous. This is how I felt in Varanasi, one of the holiest and most revered places in India. Wandering along the ghats, I observed the rituals. A man placed a cup in the Ganges, pulled it out and drank in the holy water. He looked at peace in the belief that this…