Category Archives: Places

Summer escape

After being cooped up in the city for far too long than I am used to, as the travel restrictions started being eased my confidence in travel picked up. Just as a heatwave started engulfing the entire continent, a friend and I decided to make a break for the mountains.

As our plan to drive towards Denmark fell apart due to travel restrictions, on a streak of inspiration, we changed destinations towards the Chamonix and the French alps via Switzerland. In the same spirit of spontaneity, we ended up making another impromptu detour towards Lake Como in Italy before heading back.

The Bob Ross-esque view of the mountains with happy little trees blew me away after being stuck in the flat country for what seemed to be forever.

The trip also ticked off an item from my bucket list – to see the milky way with the naked eye and shoot it. At first, I had thought it was cloud formation; however, a quick reference proved otherwise. I suppose I have been living in cities for far too long.

As we neared our destination, the views just kept getting better and better. We were forced to make a stop and walk along-side the cold glacial melt and admire the hard work of driving 12 hours straight payoff.

The Chamonix Valley was just as beautiful as I had seen it 5 years ago

Making a detour into Italy was an expensive affair, as crossing Mont-Blanc Tunnel cost us more than twice the toll we paid for entire Switzerland and all its innumerable tunnels.

The change in landscape and the weather was nothing short of dramatic. Looking back towards the mountains we were leaving behind, the views just seemed so Ansel Adam-esque.

The mountains slowly receded to appear no more majestic than cardboard cutouts.

The sky was no longer studded with stars, but the wine and panoramic views were nothing we could complain about.

We got down our perch and moved towards Lake Como in hunt of a beach.

Coffee was in order before we could jump in. One of my regrets was forgetting to get some of that deliciousness back.

I was looking forward for my first ever open water swim.

After debating exploring more places, we decided to save on some time and money and just drive through the night, stopping only for fuel and restroom breaks.

India & Hyderabad

Once upon a time, somewhere towards the end of January, back when you could still get to places at the drop of a hat, I had to do just that, to attend to matters of grief. I was on my way after playing “Plague Inc” game for couple of hours while tuning to news of expanding virus outbreaks. The stock market had showed a small dip. All of that got my nerves tangled a bit as to what might be awaiting.

Airports always evoke a trans-like feeling, and so as usual I had taken to just observing and watching my surroundings in quiet contemplation. Leaving the dreary winter weather behind for an interlude of sunshine and warmth certainly helped too.

No sooner than I landed and reached home, I headed up to our terrace to wander and get some air.

The kite flying festival “Sankranti” had just passed and there were few lying around that brought back nostalgia. I distinctly remember flying kites as a ten year old, from the terrace corner where now stands a broken toilet/commode. Where my dad and cousins were flying kites as the “adults” engaging with kite fights in the area and winning, there now stood a pair of quiet satellite tv dishes.

Nobody has flow kites on our terrace in half a decade. Not only has the celebrative spirit in at home and neighbourhood waned away but also newer & taller structures cropped up to limit access to the skies. Sky used to be the limit and now the sky is limited.

While I don’t affiliate myself with any school of belief, I do however find places of worship fascinating for what it means to those coming there. So I agreed to tag along with my small camera.

Attending to matters of grief in India often involves elaborate rituals, events, people, processions and places. You bring in specialist pandits who read verses that nobody understands or perhaps even cares. I suppose the ritualistic nature of the exit gives people a sense of closure.

For someone who has lived a full and uncomplicated life, the end is something to be cherished in an uncomplicated way and maybe even celebrated, but I seem to be the odd one out.

Streets

The strangeness of seeing this vehicle with, in funeral home, just left me with a feeling of silent contemplation.

The streets were just as busy and polluted as ever if not more, so not much all has changed around.

But after a week or so there, I was already looking forward to being back to Amsterdam which I now realize is home.

Winterparadijs

Christmas is here, which means lots of fun markets and fairs, which translates to expensive food, shitty drinks, random music but good company of friends and excellent opportunity for capturing some photos. That last two bits usually makes braving the cold on a weekend afternoon, quite worthwhile.

Winterparadijs event is one of the largest that happens in Amsterdam and despite me living in this city for almost 7 years, its the first time I ended up there.

Continue reading →

Spottersplaats

It literally just that a spotters place, for spotting airplanes, near the Schiphol Airport. This particular spot is right beside the westernmost 18R/36L runway of the Schiphol Airport, which also happens to be the longest.

Every time my father visits me, we make it a point to go visit and often. Armed with my favorite lens (135mm f2) and the camera (Sony A7iii), I set out to capture some night shots

What sets this place apart is the proximity to the runway, with a little fence and a moat to separate, while being just a stone’s throw away. Such a lax and relaxed existence around airports is quite an unimaginable sight either in India or the US.

I particularly enjoyed watching people watch airplanes and capturing the silhouettes they cast

The sight of the airport infrastructure twinkling in the night on the horizon had a pretty dystopian feel to it.

Glimpses of Iceland

Leave a reply

A conversation about having horses as pets reminded me of the magnificent beasts I saw in Iceland where it is also commonplace. It occurred to me that I never posted pictures of the actual trip, and so here is an abridged recollection of the adventure and pictures.

A few years ago (August 2015) along with some close friends, I headed to Iceland. We rented a 4×4 for a week and mapped ourselves 2000 kilometres of travel, over a terrain ranging from comfortable roads, to hazardous mountain slopes and to paths barely resembling civilisation’s footprint, while I was the sole driver.

We started driving in the northwesterly direction with the hope of circling back from Snæfellsjökull National Park in a day. We passed via Arnarstapi making a stopover at the little harbour town.

Landscapes reflecting perfectly in lakes around was a surreal sight.

So was the golden sun in the backdrop against cotton buds ready for plucking.

The next day marked the beginning our longest leg of the 3 days journey to cover the most ground. We stopped occasionally to marvel at the majestic horses and the magnificent mountain backdrops.

The sight of Eyjafjallajökull was undoubtedly goosebump evoking.

As the roads twisted and turned, we suddenly found ourselves on a different planet which was covered in black sand fields announcing our approach towards Jökulsárlón.

The slow drifts of icebergs in Jökulsárlón’s glacial ice fields were a soothing sight.

As dusk rapidly fell, we scrambled to find accommodation for the night while hunting for the cellular network to make reservations, battling hunger and grumpiness.