India

Video: Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) – the land’s end of India

Kanyakumari is the ‘Land’s End’ of the Indian subcontinent, where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. It is the place to experience simultaneous sunset and moonrise over the ocean.

Kanyakumari has great spiritual significance for Hindus, and is dedicated to the goddess Devi Kanya, an incarnation of Parvati. Pilgrims come here to visit the temple. Kanyakumari is worth a visit 2 days/1 night.

In this video I have filmed Kanyakumari and the temple on my arrival day. Next morning we got up at 5 o’clock to watch the sunrise while the moon was still in the sky. It was very special.

Video: Delhi – a truly multidimensional metropolis

Delhi – with its dusty air and millions of people and cars seems overwhelming to many travellers. It is very confronting and in your face.
But give it a few days…if you can see past the dirt and get used to the noice and huge amount of people around you all the time, there is a good chance that you will actually really like Delhi.

I really like Delhi…it feels to me like walking through a history book when I parade around in the old part of the city which is sprinkled with glittering gems: captivating ancient monuments, magnificent museums, and colonial buildings. And when you go down south you will find everything a modern city has to offer…fancy high-rise buildings, any kind of restaurant you can dream of, fancy cafees and clubs etc. Delhi is a truly multidimensional metropolis.

For those of you who have only scratched the surface and seen people doing the toilet thing along the railway tracks and been confronted with seedy characters in Paharganj…trust me – there is a lot more to Delhi!

The video above shows you a few places in Delhi: the Red Fort, Connaught Place, Janpath market, Delhi metro and Paharganj.

Video: Tourist cruise on the backwaters in Kerala, India

The backwaters is definitely one of the highlights of a visit to Kerala in the south of India. Between the coast of Kerala and the far inland is a vast network of lagoons, lakes, rivers and canals which all goes under the name of “backwaters”.

I took the tourist cruise from Alappuzha to Kollam (400 Rs for 8 hours). The boat departs at 10.30am and arrives at 6.30pm. On the way you will see many beautiful things such as: shallow, palm-fringed lakes with Chinese fishing nets, small settlements where fishermen and their families live and narrow, palm-fringed canals.

It is a really beautiful trip (as you will see from the video below) and I would definitely recommend it.

Video: Varkala beach in Kerala, India

Varkala beach is my favourite beach in India. Having been to Goa before, I prefer the chilled out atmosphere of Varkala. The beach is beautiful (with a strong current), there are many small shops on the cliff (in season) and many reasonably cheap guesthouses.

I spent my days doing yoga in the morning on the empty beach, going for walks during the midday sun or drinking chai in a restaurant while reading my books and going to the beach in the late afternoon and enjoying the beautiful sunset.

In Varkala you find both travellers and families. It’s not a party place, but a place to really relax.

The video below shows you a bit of Varkala. Enjoy

Video: Sri Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, India

Sri Meenakshi Temple in Madurai is the most beautiful temple I have ever seen in my life. I have travelled a lot and I have seen a lot, but this temple was beyond anything i have ever seen before.
The temple is Dravidian architecture and was designed in 1560 by Vishwanatha Nayak and built during the reign of Tirumalai Nayak, but its history goes back 2000 years to the time when Madurai was a Pandyan capital.

The temple complex is 6 hectares and has 12 very decorative gopurams (towers) ranging from 45-50 meter tall. These towers are decorated with rich carvings of celestial and animal figures.

Inside between the statues and finely sculpted columns, you will find a frantic activity of tailors and shops crammed into crevices.

There is a free admission to the temple, but there is a camera fee and a relatively large video camera fee. However, the temple is an unforgettable experience whether you take pictures or not.

The video below shows a few glimpses of the spectacular temple.

Video: Munnar: Centre of the world’s highest tea-growing estates

Munnar (1524m) is famous for its rolling green hills which is the commercial centre of some of the world’s highest tea-growing estates. The crisp mountain air makes it a perfect get-away from the humidity of the coastal kerala.

The town itself is divided into old Munnar and new Munnar. The Lonely Planet describes the town as “noisy and grubby”, but I actually think it’s a fine little town. Well basically any place which is safe is fine for me (after Central and South America).

I stayed in old Munnar which has the cheapest guesthouse options – new Munnar is basically just new hotels (no locals living there).

There are many beautiful walks around Munnar and I also recommend that you visit the DTPC tourist office in new Munnar. They offer fairly cheap tours in the area (much cheaper than the regular travel agencies) – among others the “Sandal Valley Tour” for 300 Rs.

The video below shows the beautiful mountain scenery surrounding Munnar. Enjoy.

Video: Paharganj Delhi Main Bazaar – Heaven or hell?

The Main Bazaar in Paharganj is by some Delhiites considered hell due to it’s reputation for drugs and shady characters. But as my good Indian friend told me “you can find these things everywhere in Delhi – they are just more obvious in the Main Bazaar”.

However, unlike many capital cities, Delhi actually feels pretty safe to me. This might be an illusion of course, but I like Delhi a lot and I also like the Main Bazaar. I have stayed there three times now and feel both comfortable there and quite at home. It is also the cheapest place to stay in Delhi and has lots of cheap restaurants, travel agencies and shops.

This video gives you a small idea about the character of the Main Bazaar – heaven or hell? Judge for yourself.