Stories, photographs and thoughts from a travelling couple taking walks and mapping their routes, while backpacking around India, and parts of the world.
Travelling around India over the past few years, gave me the opportunity to witness a ton of sunsets. A bunch of sunrises too, but then you know how lazy I could get sometimes, especially when I have to wake up early in the morning. I've wintnessed sunsets at Jammu & Kashmir, Kanyakumari, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa. That basically takes care of North, South, East and West. Okay, maybe I need to witness a sunset at Gujarat, then I would be able to tick off the Extreme West. Bottom line is, I've seen a ton of sunsets, and I've put them all here for your viewing pleasure, in no particular order, with a short snippet of each evening.
Just back from an eight (or ten?) hour journey from Allahabad to Jabalpur. The three of us -- Mukesh, Johnny and I could not take the general compartment of the train anymore, standing non-stop, taking turns to sit on the floor one person at a time. It was the Maha Kumbh Mela we were returning from, after being on the road for many days. We were unable to book tickets nor make reservations. So there we were, squeezed tightly between three or four hundred odd passengers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in a train bogey, discussing crime and culture in the Northern belt of India.
The hours of standing took its toll on us, and we bailed out at Jabalpur. We found a restaurant, put our feet up, ordered a lot of food, drank some tea and landed up booking flight tickets from Nagpur to Hyderabad, while we witnessed this sunset.
I had just moved to Secunderabad. One evening, Rahul, Mukesh and I decided to get out and do what most Hyderabadis would do on weekends. Spend time by the Hussain Sagar. This is one of the first HDR photos I shot, so it might be little over the top. But here we are, witnessing the sunset and some god light.
I drove down to the South and caught up with Vanessa (silhouette in the photo), who decided to show off her territory. We witnessed one of the best sunsets I've seen in Goa and also bumped into a very well behaved dog, who sat quietly in one place and posed for me.
I made a pit stop at the Kala Academy, during one of my myriad trips to Panjim, and made my way to the Mandovi. I was alone this time. Just me and my tripod soaking in the last sunlight, while we listened to the cruise boats blasting off Bollywood hit tracks in the distance.
Off to Hampi we were once again. This time with Tulsi, Johnny, Pallavi and Nikhil. Our agenda was packed, with just one item in it -- do nothing. But we broke that rule and sat by the riverside and watched the sunset.
![Gokarna Sunset [HDR]]( https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7074516525_f64dbc087c_b.jpg)
Bonus! Two photos from the same place and day. Daniel (Peddity) was getting married in a few months, so we decided to have a bachelor party for him. Breakfast started at around 10 in the morning and went on till sunset. 6 bottles of Old Monk were consumed, a huge pile of beer bottles appeared out of nowhere and a lot of swimming and other activities were held. Not really sure what exactly.
Towards the end of day, a not-so-sober Mukesh and Vignesh indulged in some Frisbee.
Another photo from the Maha Kumbh Mela trip. Johnny, Mukesh and I were done with Tadoba. Not having gotten to see a tiger, we were ready to go back to civilization and make our way to Allahabad. We were informed that the only bus that passes through the village was broken and would not show up anytime soon. So we decided to walk.
On the way, a huge group of monkeys blocked our path. We were outnumbered. These were not the kind of monkeys you could just scare off. They faced us, we faced them. So we did what all brave people would do in a situation like this. Stop and click photos of the sunset.
Later, a few guys who were heading back to the town, stopped where we were, since the monkeys had their path blocked and offered us a ride. Good choice, considering we passed by a bear on the road later.
After a lot of chaotic days spent towards and during the last-minute wedding that we had, it was time to relax. Thank to Martin, we were off to some posh place in the South (of Goa), where we relaxed and walked around aimlessly. We were witness to a lovely sunset at the Arossim beach.
Thanks to a venture between the Times of India (Hyderabad) and Andhra Pradesh Tourism, Priya and I got to travel around Kurnool. In between all the VIP treatment that we received wherever we went, we were treated to some spectacular cloudscapes, open spaces and sunsets.
A bunch of us drove down to Agonda to spend a night there. Besides the beautiful sea, the sounds of the crashing waves and conversations, we were witness to the milky way and a meteor shower.
A day after Tahura and Kazi's wedding. We decided to have a shoot at the beach, while the sun made its way into the Arabian sea. We were prepared for a decently good sunset, but that evening had more in store for us. The cover photo of this post is also from the same evening.
This one is from a really long time ago. One of the initial weddings I shot, where the guest count was seven including me. A nice quiet affair, where Anna & Mark exchanged their vows at the beach, and later on proceeded to spend some time watching the sun set.
A bunch of us drove to to Vengurla and spent the day there. Sunset was amazing, although this photo might be a little over the top.
Destination: Valley of Flowers. We were making our way up the Himalayas and stopped in the evening to stretch ourselves and give our bodies some rest. I won't describe anything, as it is the Himalayas we are talking about, and the sunsets here are always a pleasure to watch.
Johnny, Joshua and I got a little ambitious and decided to do a road trip from Hyderabad, all the way to the extreme south, and back. The main goal was to see tigers in the wild. Unfortunately the tiger census was in progress while we moved around, and all wildlife sanctuaries were inaccessible. We did roam around a lot though, all via local buses. Here we see Joshua taking some time out, somewhere at the Tamil Nadu and Kerala border. A few days later, Joshua was out of action for a few months due to typhoid. Thanks to all the unhygienic food he indulged in during the trip.
Second time to the Himalayas. This time it was to Ladakh. We trekked around the place and explored the town the whole day and decided to drop by the Shanti Stupa towards the end to soak in the sunset. The molten glow from the back of the mountains was breathtaking.
Our first trip as Mr and Mrs, Priya and I made our way around Maharashtra and landed up at Bamnoli. A quiet little town situated a few kilometers from the Kaas Plateau. We took a boat ride over the lake there and got to see some god light during sunset.
Independence day. The sun disappeared slowly into the Arabian sea, leaving us a lot of colors across the sky.
Nikhil (seen in the photo), Pallavi and Kumar landed up in Goa. We decided to meet up and I met them at the Anjuna beach. We did not do anything spectacular, but just sat and spoke for a while, while the sun set, leaving us with a some after-glow along the horizon and the moon, to be content with.
We were on our quarterly offsite and the destination was Suryalanka. It was my first encounter with the East coast. I wasn't expecting anything great here, since we would not get to see the sun setting into the sea, but it did not disappoint.
We were heading off to Srinagar. Some of the guys desperately needed to take a leak, so we stopped the vehicle for a while here, somewhere at the outskirts of Srinagar. We all faced the fields and answered nature's call. The view was amazing.
An evening. In Goa. After Christmas.
Priya, Rahul, Madhurima and I ran around Delhi the whole day, made our way to the old city (Purani Dilli) and indulged in some local cuisine and a lot of chai. Dusk was breathtaking. The soft light of the evening sky cast a beautiful aura around the Jama Masjid, with the call of the azaan, the orange glow of the nightlights and the mellow mood of prayer in the Masjid premises added to the beauty of the experience.
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