Côte d’ivoire et Sénégal

I travelled to West Africa last winter. Except for some French-riddled mishaps where my luggage was left behind in Lomé and I found myself stranded in the Abidjan airport with nothing except my hand bag and a set of gestures to make up for my lack of French skills, I loved every bit of it.

I found both countries to be so much like my own, yet so different. The days passed in a blur of dusty red roads, colourful dresses, jumping children, happy villages, markets laden with pineapples, bursting at the seams with bananas, plantains, cassava, baobab, cocoa, coffee, palm oil plantations.

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Fish with bunny teeth.

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On the island of Gorée.

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Strip weaving in Ivory Coast

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My beautiful host

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Tea vendor in Abidjan.

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The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro.

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Rubber plantations

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Lake Retba, the pink lake.

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Fishing boats in Saly.

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Industrial salt being packaged on the shores of Lake Retba.

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Dried bissap flowers make the best juice.

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The village elders and I.

 

Moon full of stars and astral cars

I went on a short (4 day) trip with my friends to the hills in 2012. We went to Shimla and set up base there. The city was lively and crowded. Then we went around to lesser known places around Shimla.It was quite some time ago and I regret not keeping a travel diary. I recall that one of the places was Naldehra where there is a golf course made in the 1900s. I recall reading that Lord Dalhousie loved the place so much that he names his daughter Naldehra. I might be wrong though.

Here are the photographs. This was the time when I had started experimenting (and learning) with colour curves on photoshop.

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Here’s me sitting in a little wooded enclave, and then trying on my new Himachali topi.

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Gallery

Sri Lanka

I went on a trip to Sri Lanka in 2012. This beautiful island took my breath away. I spent  glorious sunny days and balmy afternoons exploring as much as I could.

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A small shrine with offerings

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Baby turtles

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Tamil Bride

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Tea gardens

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I met some elephants