Wanderberry Tales

We needed a vacation - a week away from the routine of work life, glares of the city lights and the never ending chores. We googled, researched, spoke to friends and Bingo!!There it was - Cyprus! This is the place we needed to holiday. (Ah well, I know this write up comes pretty late - it's been a year now. Blame it on our laziness or whatever other excuses we could possibly give.) Here it is, Cyprus through our eyes. Out we set to a small yet beautiful country enshrouded in mystery yet filled with a bunch of happy go lucky people. Our holidays began by the seaside-a picture perfect postcard like view!! We were to spend the first part of our vacation by the sea before moving to the Troodos mountains. We landed in the afternoon at Larnaca airport. A long drive from Larnaca to Ayia Napa with a taxi driver who succeeded in scaring us out of our wits -his huge, straight out of the Hollywood villain look with bludgeoning muscles, a clean shaven head, thick white mouche ...

“ If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.” These are the words inscribed in Persian on the black pavilion in the top terrace of Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir by famous Persian poet, Amir Khusrau. I can't agree better. Kashmir it is - the most beautiful place I have seen. When we set out on our Kashmir adventure from our home in bangalore – our first ever adventure together, we had two things on our must-do list -  1. See SNOW 2. Enjoy KASHMIRI cuisines Our first destination was the army camp where we stayed  with a cousin who was serving the armed forces in Srinagar. When we set foot in Srinagar at 12:30 in the afternoon, it seemed a little windy with slight drizzle. We were picked up from the airport by our guide, Farook. On the way, he gave us a glimpse of the next few days to come, and promised us a holiday which we will cherish. We began enjoying the climate, and within a matter of hours the temperature shoveled...