The season’s first photography workshop in Corbett titled the ‘Corbett Expedition – Jan 2010’ organized by Nature Wanderers in association with Kunzum was attended by 19 participants from Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Bangalore. The workshop was conducted at Camp Wild Adventure by seasoned naturalist Kahini Ghosh Mehta. During the 2 day interactive session, the participants were given ample opportunities to try their hands at nature, bird, wildlife and abstract photography. In addition to 2 safaris in Corbett, the participants also did a trek through densely wooded forests to shoot subjects like leaves, trees, landscapes – to name a few.
The second edition of this season’s workshop by Nature Wanderers and Kunzum will be in the month of February / March 2010. The dates would be announced soon. Stay tuned to Kunzum for more details.
Cheers – Nature Wanderers Team (Shivang Mehta, Ankur Srivastava, Shourabh Ghosh, Somya Srivastava)
Tagged as:
Corbett,
photography,
Workshop
Young girls serving tea during the Christmas Carnival in Kohima in Nagaland
These photos were taken in Kohima in Nagaland in December 2009 during the Hornbill Festival. Every evening, the main market would close and the streets given out to those who set up stalls to sell food, gifts and more. These included youngsters out to make pocket money, business, NGOs and some church bodies. All in all, great fun to walk around interacting with the locals.
Click on any image for a bigger view. You can also go to Facebook or Flickr to see the complete set. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Christmas Carnival,
festival,
Hornbill,
Kohima,
Nagaland
Rangantathittu is 15kms north of Mysore and is accessible to scores of bird lovers from Bangalore to make an easy day trip. It was advocated by India’s famous Ornithologist Salim Ali and was established in 1940. Bird lovers can forever be thankful for this lovely sanctuary – hordes of visitors throng this sanctuary to get their fill of birdlife.
Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary is fascinating. Birds supposedly come from as far away as Siberia and Australia during migratory season. Vast colonies of birds make this an ideal destination for one to observe various bird behaviors. Time flies by as one observes these amazing creations in their natural habitat.
Six islets have been created to provide the best possible environment for migratory birds for breeding & feeding. Visitors can rent boats to get close to the islets which houses several colonies of these birds. During our visit last week (mid-Jan), the most common birds sighted were Openbilled Storks, Black Cormorants, River Terns, Painted Storks, Little Egrets, Night Herons, Spot billed Pelicans, Darters. I missed sighting the Stone Plover however. Apparently a lot of other varieties such as Kingfishers, Hornbills, Wagtails and many other species can also be found. Marsh Crocodiles were lazing on the rocks. While I spotted a Golden-Oriole, I could not get a clear shot of the bird. However two River Terns who have gotten quite accustomed to humans getting so close, allowed for some really wonderful shots (one closeup shot below in article). [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Bird Sanctuary,
birding,
Birds,
Karnataka,
Ranganathittu
Is it possible to cover the entire span of the Himalayas from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh as one unbroken journey by road? Yes, it is. And I am setting out to show how it can be done, starting January 29, 2010. And I will drive for approximately 120 days.
Billed to be a trip never done before (certainly not in recorded memory), the journey will stretch from the western border of the Indian Himalayas in Kashmir to the eastern end in Arunachal Pradesh. It will also go through Ladakh, Lahaul Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.
The journey has been made possible with sponsorships from TripAdvisor.in and Yatra.com. Keen to know more about the trip? Click here…
Tagged as:
Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Bhutan,
Himachal Pradesh,
Kashmir,
Ladakh,
Lahaul,
Manipur,
Nagaland,
Nepal,
road trip,
Sikkim,
Spiti,
The Great Himalayan Drive,
uttarakhand
The World War II Cemetery in Kohima, Nagaland
During World War II, the Japanese had overrun Burma and were advancing into India when British forces, ably assisted by Naga troops, finally forced them to retreat at Kohima. The site of one of the war’s bloodiest battles, Garrison Hill in April 1944, now has a War Cemetery with 2,337 graves and memorials to the soldiers who laid down their lives. It is a moving experience just walking there, reading the tombstones.
View the complete set of photos of Facebook or Flickr. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Army,
Battle of Kohima,
Kohima,
Nagaland,
War Cemetery,
World War II
Evening Arati (Prayer) during the Maha Kumbh Mela (Fair) in Haridwar, Uttarakhand located along the holy river Ganges
This set of photos were taken at the Maha Kumbh Mela (fair) at Haridwar, a once-in-12-year event. The 2010 edition started on January 14 to end on April 28. This photo was taken on January 15. Click on any image for a larger view.
It is an occasion for Hindus to come to Haridwar and take a dip / bath in the River Ganges, considered holy by them. And freezing temperatures rarely dissuade them from doing so. View more images on Facebook or Flickr. Click here to see some more images
Tagged as:
festival,
Ganges,
Haridwar,
Himalayas,
Hindu,
Hindusim,
Holy,
Kumbh Mela,
Mahakumbh,
religion,
uttarakhand,
uttaranchal
I am off to the Haridwar Mahakumbh Mela starting January 14. Will be there till January 17. Hope to post some interesting stories and pictures from there. The once in 12 year event will continue till April 28, 2010.
The following is a travel advisory and list if important dates I received from a diplomatic mission in New Delhi. Appending the same should this interest you. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Fair,
Haridwar,
Hindu,
Mahakumbh,
Mela,
religion,
uttarakhand
Topslip is located in the Anaimalai Forest Range bordering Tamilnadu and Kerala. The erstwhile Anaimalai Wildlife Santucary is now known as IGWS – Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. A Forest Preserve, this range houses a variety of wildlife and birdlife. Wild elephant and bison sightings are quite common. Quoting from an article in The Hindu, “The IGWS and National Park harbours over 250 species of birds of 49 families and is enormously rich in other biodiversity. According to the latest reports India is home to nearly 1,300 bird species in the diverse habitats.” The neighboring Parambikulam Sanctuary is to the West of Topslip in Kerala.
[continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Anaimalais,
Elephant,
forest,
Safari,
TopSlip,
wildlife
The New Year 2010 will ring in a with a blue moon. Have you planned something special?
And what is a blue moon? A rare occurrence when you have two full moons in a calendar month. There was a full moon on December 2, 2009 and will come again on December 31. How’s that for a special New Year’s eve? Hope this marks a new year and a new decade full of travels for you.
Of course, there is nothing blue about the moon. It is just a name given. A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year’s Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won’t come again until 2028. So go party under the blue moon. And Kunzum wishes you a 2010 full of travels. 
Tagged as:
Blue Moon,
New Year
An evening view of Mokokchung in Nagaland
Even Tolkien couldn’t have just imagined a place so stunning. His fabled Misty Mountains in Middle Earth, those lofty sentinels of Rivendell, seem inspired by the forever fog-draped mountains of… no not Switzerland, not New Zealand… but Nagaland. Yup, Tolkien was there.
Why Nagaland, you ask? Why not, we say! The mountain peaks are perennially enveloped by magical mists. The people are cheerful and hardworking, always game for festivity. They may be shy but once they befriend you, they make you feel totally at home. Despite its small size, Nagaland is home to an unmatched diversity of local tribal cultures, costumes, dances, foods, dialects, music… And then there’s the spectacular Hornbill Festival. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Himalayas,
Hornbill,
Khonoma,
Kisama,
Kohima,
Misty,
Mokokchung,
Mopungchuket,
mountains,
Nagaland,
Sumi,
Tribes,
War Cemetry
Corbett Expedition, January 23-25, 2010
Nature Wanderers in association with Kunzum are pleased to invite you for its first photography workshop in Corbett National Park. Nestling in the foothills of the Himalayas, home to over 160 Royal Bengal Tigers and over 600 species of birds and a multitude of other life forms, Corbett National Park is a dream photography destination for nature photographers. Come and be a part of the magical experience in Corbett – the land of the roar, the trumpet and the song!
The workshop is a unique opportunity for budding, amateur and want-to-be nature photographers and naturalists to explore the unique wilderness of India’s supreme natural wonders. In addition to photography tips, the workshop is an excellent knowledge building platform as you get to interact with ace naturalists, seasoned locals as they unfold the mysteries of Corbett National Park. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Corbett,
National Park,
photography,
Workshop
Half way between Kullu and Manali, adventurers get an adrenaline rush by jumping from a 2000M cliff to enjoy Paragliding. Those who dare are rewarded with a birds eye view of the most incredible scenery – snow capped mountains, the river Beas in the Kullu valley, the villages of Sarsei and Chakri and the neighboring pine forests. Beginners needn’t worry – tandem jumps with experienced jumpers are available.
[This post was contributed by Vijay Ramanathan - a Technology/Gadget enthusiast and Blogger. You can follow his tweets at http://twitter.com/tekdude & his blog at http://tekdude.wordpress.com/ ]
Tagged as:
Himachal Pradesh,
Himalayas,
Kullu-Manali,
Paragliding
Children weaving cloth in Khonoma Village near Kohima in Nagaland
I spotted these children in the Khonoma Village of Nagaland, located 20 km from the state capital Kohima. They were weaving cloth on the roof of their homes. The residents here belong to the Angami tribe. Scroll down for more images of these children; click on any for a larger view. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
Angami,
Himalayas,
Khonoma,
Kohima,
Nagaland,
North-East,
Tribe
Members of the Sumi Tribe of Nagaland performing at the Hornbill Festival
This image of Sumi tribals was taken at the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland that takes place from December 1-7 every year. The Sumis are one of the 16 recognised tribes of Nagaland.
Tagged as:
Hornbill Festival,
india,
Kisama,
Kohima,
Nagaland,
North-East,
Sumi,
Tribe
GPS or Global Positioning System is a means for finding the accurate position of a person/device through a receiver anywhere on the Earth. GPS provides a Latitude/Longitude for position that can be used in a wide variety of applications from Navigation to getting Yellow Page Information in a neighborhood.
GPS is owned and operated by the US Military and was opened in the 80’s for civilian commercial use and is free of cost to use for anyone who has a GPS receiver. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
GPS,
Navigation
Symmetrical designs, kaleidoscopic in nature, dominate the front face of beautifully preserved Steam Engines at the National Rail Museum located at Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. A great place to learn and view India’s Railway Legacy. Makes a great family outing.
[This post was contributed by Vijay Ramanathan - a Technology/Gadget enthusiast and Blogger. You can follow his tweets at http://twitter.com/tekdude & his blog at http://tekdude.wordpress.com/ ]
Tagged as:
Delhi,
steam engine
I have just returned from the north-eastern state of Nagaland, for long a state affected by political violence and underdevelopment. Even before I left, friends and family expressed concerns over my decision to explore this volatile region. The usual expression was, Why Nagaland? I could not answer this before I left, but now I can.
For starters, safety is currently a non-issue. And hope it stays that way. I spoke to Government officials, Army and Police personnel, locals and other tourists – they all gave a thumbs up. They were not wrong. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
festival,
Himalayas,
Hornbill,
Nagaland,
North-East
The Takthok (Thagtok) Monastery in Ladakh
Why did so many gompas start out as caves? Tak-Thok (also Thag-Thok, literally “rock roof”) gompa has come up around a cave where Padmasambhava, or the Guru Rinpoche, is said to have meditated during his travels to Ladakh in the 8th century.
The cave, called Duphug (or Tu-Phuk) Lhakhang, is a popular pilgrimage. Buddhists visit to be blessed by dubchu, the sacred water that oozes from its ceiling. A constant drip. Even in winter, when the world freezes over. The ceiling is a greasy black with emissions from the butter lamps that burn nonstop. Devotees have stuck offerings of banknotes and coins all over. Gold-plated statues of Padmasambhava’s eight manifestations occupy pride of place. [continue reading…]
Tagged as:
buddhism,
gompa,
Guru Rinpoche,
Ladakh,
monastery,
Nyingma,
Padmasambhava,
TakThok,
Thagthok
The season’s first photography workshop in Corbett titled the ‘Corbett Expedition – Jan 2010’ organized by Nature Wanderers in association with Kunzum was attended by 19 participants from Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Bangalore. The workshop was conducted at Camp Wild Adventure by seasoned naturalist Kahini Ghosh Mehta. During the 2 day interactive session, the participants were given ample opportunities to try their hands at nature, bird, wildlife and abstract photography. In addition to 2 safaris in Corbett, the participants also did a trek through densely wooded forests to shoot subjects like leaves, trees, landscapes – to name a few.
