Travel Scribes
Sneak previews/reviews of books and writings on travel, places and people....

Must-Save-Destinations Before They Die
Sun, Feb 15 2009 10:27 AM
A travel book that motivates visitors to preserve the environment and avoid destroying habitats by overuse.
Title: Disappearing Destinations
Authors: Kimberly Lisagor and Heather Hansen
Publishers: Vintage Books, 2008
The hilarious film Machan from Srilanka, by the Italian director Umberto Pasolini deals with the misadventures of a group of poor slum dwellers of the island nation who cross borders seeking a better life. Though a tourist heaven, the political and economic situation in the country fails to provide for the poor natives. In their desperate wish for a decent life abroad, they get an invitation to a Bavarian Handball tourney.....
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Trekking with Masters
Sun, Feb 15 2009 10:27 AM
Title: Worlds to Explore
Editor: Mark Jenkins
National Geographic, 2007
Mark Jenkins, the celebrated writer of ‘The Hard Way,’ collects the gems of travel writing from the archives of National Geographic magazine. The anthology has 54 travel stories published in the magazine over many decades and most of the writings are from the 19th century. The writers include Theodore Roosevelt and Sir Edmund Hillary. The book provides an interesting read from those good old days when world had more places undiscovered and pristine. Travel priorities and interests were quite different from that of today......
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Love in the Time of (sexual) Diarrhoea!
Mon, Dec 15 2008 07:35 AM
The meaning of erotic carvings in times of sexual diarrhoea... How Sir Mark Tully reads in to the meaning and philosophy of the sensual rock-reliefs of Khajuraho...
When T S Burt, the British military engineer first ‘discovered’ the Khajuraho Temples in 1838, he was shocked to find a jungle of erotic carvings all around place amidst a thick of weeds and shrubs. Though he found them most exquisitely carved, he couldn’t chew the very notion of having sensual stone reliefs in a sacred place.....
“…some of the sculptures here were extremely indecent and offensive” he recorded. He went on to harshly criticise the Indian religious moorings that induced people to “design the most disgraceful representation to desecrate their ecclesiastical erections.”...
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Dave Barry Tips to Travel
Mon, Dec 15 2008 08:05 AM
If you haven’t read Dave Barry yet, it’s not a big thing. But, if you have already read him and still remain the same old traveller, then something is terribly wrong with you. It is a thorough fun to read him. And his hilarious guide- Dave Barry’s Only Travel Guide You’ll Ever Need- is going to chart a new way on how you plan your trips.
It is a journey full of laughter and yes, forgetting. Since many have missed their flight/train as they lost themselves reading his Guide. So watch out guys, keep a reminder and never forget your tickets.
Barry has tips for almost all your travel needs, esp. if you are a traveller from the United States of America, I should add. His lessons on Planning Your Trip To Paradise, Or Possibly Beirut and on How to Act While Going Through Security...
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Quote un quote: Travel and Home coming
Mon, Dec 15 2008 07:35 AM
True travellers don’t care coming back home, they say. But home has something to it that prompt you to travel. And it’s the hope of coming back home that inspires many to take the plunge. You go places and come to roost, back in your cocoon. Here are some interesting quotes that drive home quite a few divergent views on the subject.
“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it”, the philosophical nuances of this oft-quoted statement by George Moore, definitely go many a distance in meaning. Being an eclectic traveller by himself, Moore doesn’t try to demean the purpose of travelling; instead he is perhaps trying to bring home the need for a whole different approach to travel. You come back and find it...
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Quick read: North East India Through the Eyes of a Settler
Mon, Dec 15 2008 07:35 AM
James Perry’s North East India’s Paradox Worth Visiting, a new well-researched eBook guide on travelling in North East India to the western traveller, captures the essence of the unexplored and mysterious North East India through the eyes of an avid adventure traveller.
James Perry, a Canadian who grew up and later settled down here is the founder of Cultural Pursuits, an organisation dedicated to preserve the culture and bio-diversity of North East India. Cultural Pursuits is a regular organiser of adventure tours and expeditions here.
North East India’s Paradox Worth Visiting gives us the inside view of eight states in the region,namely, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim, with a close look at the tribes that live there, their culture, customs, cuisine and festivals...
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