Rakhee Ghelani

Category: Travel

  • Nagaland: The last frontier

    Nagaland: The last frontier

    —

    by

    Two boys no older than ten wander the dusty roadside, semi-automatic rifles slung casually across their backs. Hearing the vehicle, they meander off-road into the thick verdant forest that’s lush but eerily silent.  I ask my driver where all the animals are and he responds drily, “These Nagas eat everything.” Characterised by headhunters and a…

  • Things To Do In Istanbul

    Things To Do In Istanbul

    —

    by

    Following my fabulous sailing trip down the Turquoise Coast I managed to squeeze in a day and half in Istanbul. The last time I was in this fabulous city was over 5 years ago, and even though I’d seen most of the major sights I just felt the need to do some of them again. It’s…

  • Getting Beach Ready

    Getting Beach Ready

    —

    by

    Before heading off on my rather last-minute sailing jaunt in Turkey I had to deal with the big issue of how to get myself a bikini body or at the very least beach ready in less than two weeks. Experience has taught me that no matter how many grapefruits I ate I was never going…

  • Sailing The Turquoise Coast in Turkey

    Sailing The Turquoise Coast in Turkey

    —

    by

    It usually doesn’t take much to convince me to travel somewhere, but I don’t think I’ve said yes to an overseas trip quicker than I did a few weeks ago when I was invited to Turkey. Some close friends of mine from Australia are doing a six month trip around the world and they decided…

  • Exploring Bhubaneswar : Khandagiri & Udayagiri

    Exploring Bhubaneswar : Khandagiri & Udayagiri

    —

    by

    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…

  • Nagaland: Sign of the Times

    Nagaland: Sign of the Times

    —

    by

    One of the things I found pleasantly surprising about Nagaland was the openness in which they seemed to at least acknowledge social issues. In a country where a lot of things are left unsaid, the public signs found all over Nagaland addressed some hard hitting topics head on. By far, my favorite sign was this…

  • Discovering New Places To Visit in Bombay: Mazagaon and Khotachiwadi

    Discovering New Places To Visit in Bombay: Mazagaon and Khotachiwadi

    —

    by

    I seem to spend so much of my time these days either at home working or going to the same places to meet friends, that I’d almost forgotten about the joy of discovering new places to visit in Mumbai. So one surprisingly sunny monsoon afternoon a friend and I decided to do just that. We…

  • New York City: My Favourites

    New York City: My Favourites

    —

    by

    New York is considered to be one of the greatest cities on earth, and for good reason. I was fortunate to spend 4 weeks in the Big Apple recently, which gave me plenty of time to explore, visit different neighbourhoods and enjoy some of the best food one earth! Here’s a round-up of the best…

  • Day Trips from Antigua : Pacay & Chichicastenango

    Day Trips from Antigua : Pacay & Chichicastenango

    —

    by

    While I loved spending time wandering the cobblestoned laneways of Antigua, it’s also a good base to do some day trips. I had only limited time, so unfortunately didn’t make it to the popular heights of Lake Atitlan, but I did manage to climb an active volcano and visit the largest market in Guatemala. These…

  • Exploring Antigua Guatemala

    Exploring Antigua Guatemala

    —

    by

    Antigua Guatemala, not to be confused with Antigua and Barbuda (in the West Indies), is a charming colonial town about an hour from the capital, Guatemala City. I’d decided to skip the big city altogether, but caught a little glimpse when I arrived by bus from Flores at about 6am in morning and was glad…

  • Chilling out in Flores, Guatemala

    Chilling out in Flores, Guatemala

    —

    by

    For most tourists, Flores is a launching pad to visit Tikal, the extraordinary Mayan ruins located deep within the jungle. While Tikal was my main reason for visiting Flores, for me it was also a great place to just chill out and really relax. After a rather tiring 32 hour journey, I was happy to…

  • Tikal: The Jewel of the Maya

    Tikal: The Jewel of the Maya

    —

    by

    It’s 4.30am and pitch black. I stumble to find the torch app on my phone, but finally manage to shed some light onto the path ahead of me. Before me is a jungle. The path is muddy and slippery, my slide stopped only by the thick tree roots that snake their way across the ground.…

  • The Backpacking Mojo

    The Backpacking Mojo

    —

    by

    Sometimes when I’m sitting in front a computer for days on end I almost forget that feeling I get when I travel. The freedom, the challenge, the fear, the fascination, the sheer exhilaration. Sometimes I feel it all at the same time. Even when I’ve embarked on my next adventure, backpacking solo through undiscovered terrains,…

  • Exploring Mayan Ruins in Mexico: Ek Balam and Tulum

    Exploring Mayan Ruins in Mexico: Ek Balam and Tulum

    —

    by

    Aside from Chichen Itza there are so many other Mayan ruins in Mexico, unfortunately limited time meant that I had to pick only a couple to see. The two I chose are not necessarily the most impressive, I’m told Palenque and Coba are definitely worth a visit, but they were both a little different. Rather…

  • One of the 7 Wonders of the World : Chichen Itza

    One of the 7 Wonders of the World : Chichen Itza

    —

    by

    Chichen Itza was virtually unheard of on the mainstream tourist trail before 2007, when it was named as one of the 7 wonders of the world based on an online poll. The poll gave it status alongside India’s Taj Mahal, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu in Peru, Petra in Jordan, Italy’s Colosseum and…

  • A Taste of Mexico: Valladolid

    A Taste of Mexico: Valladolid

    —

    by

    My first taste of Mexico was in the small town of Valladolid. There’s nothing special about the town itself, except that it’s a charming Mexican town, but I chose it for it’s strategic position about half an hour away from Chichen Itza, the latest hotspot on the tourist track. I’d been travelling for about 18…

  • Sun, Friends and Wine: Visiting San Francisco

    Sun, Friends and Wine: Visiting San Francisco

    —

    by

    I decided to take a little detour in San Francisco on my way from New York to Mexico. It wasn’t so much as a detour as a completely out of the way stop-over, but I felt it was worth it. I’ve got a client in Silicone Valley, so technically it was a business trip, but…

  • Discovering Italy in New York

    Discovering Italy in New York

    —

    by

    Mario Batali is a New York icon, even though he’s not actually from the Big Apple. He has built an international empire based around his love of classic Italian cuisine. After studying for a while underneath the inimitable Marco Pierre White and The Four Seasons Hotel chain, he chose to leave a promising career to…

  • Exploring Old London Town

    Exploring Old London Town

    —

    by

    Old London town has to be one of my favourite cities in the world. I’ve been there so many times now, it feels like a second (or perhaps now third) home. I’ve always a had a lot of family there, and have a bedroom in one of my cousin’s homes, which always makes it such…

  • Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London

    Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London

    —

    by

    At Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in London’s fancy Knightsbridge, they offer a lunch special that is great value at 3 courses for GBP 38. I’m always a fan of a bargain and have long been fascinated by watching Blumenthal’s molecular gastronomy on Masterchef, so I wanted to see if his food lived up to its…