I’ve never been known to have a linear conversation and my blog posts aren’t very different either. As promised, I will jump between our travels in South Korea and India, and hopefully soon, some other exciting Asian countries. I understand there’s still some ambiguity about where we live now or why we came back, and…
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By mid-November (2021), we had shipped our boxes and had nearly emptied our apartment. We had a couple of weekends left before we would move out of our rental apartment (in Seoul) to an Airbnb in Mapo. With most of the packing and paperwork sorted, we were now ready to bid farewell to our friends.…
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This post is a continuation of our Seoul farewell series of November, 2021. Every weekend, we’d revisit an iconic monument or a spot that held a special place in our hearts. After visiting Gilsang-sa Temple and the Seoul Wall (Baegaksan Trail), we followed it up by hiking Namsan on the next weekend. We had visited…
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Autumn is one of the best times to visit Korea. Seoul puts on a fantastic display of colour and every street is pretty. And, if you have the time, quiet walks — in nondescript streets — are just the thing to do. For me, autumn was the perfect transition between summer and winter. The mountains…
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No one can prepare you for expat life. It’s hard. It’s exciting. It builds you up — only to tear you down again. Add a raging pandemic to the equation and you’re set for an experience that you’d never forget. My dear friend, Teresa, left Seoul a-year-and-a-half before me. We couldn’t even say our farewells…
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Ever since we’re back in India, we’ve spent the last three years exploring nondescript places and hidden gems of our diverse country. But, ever so often, we try to mix it up with a tourist hot spot and are pleasantly surprised. This trip was one part of our journey to discover the rich cultural legacy…
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Mahableshwar, roughly 1,353 m (4,439 ft) above sea level, is a short drive away from Panchgani. It might be a good idea to keep either hill station as a base and explore the other on a day trip. Mahableshwar gets way more tourists than Panchgani and is tailor-made for domestic tourism. It’s also an easy weekend escape…
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My earliest memories of Panchgani had a foreboding air to them. Back in the day, Panchgani was used as a ruse by distraught parents to get their incorrigible children in line. A mecca for boarding schools, most kids from Bombay were terrified of being packed off to Panchgani. Two kids (who were rather infamous for…
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Hangang River at Banpo Chuseok (or Korean Thanksgiving Festival) is a long holiday period in South Korea. It was always hard for us to get out of Seoul before the crowds picked up. So, we started our own tradition of hiking on Chuseok. However, during the pandemic, we spent most of our public holidays either…
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It’s midnight. All the lights are out. The ones in the office building bang opposite our apartment, in Seoul, are still burning bright. Burning the midnight oil takes a whole new meaning in Asia. My dad would always wonder: what is it that you can achieve in the wee hours of the morning that you…
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