About Rama Arya

I travel for the love of travelling. I blog for the love of blogging. About Me: ramaarya.com My Personal [Travel and Art] Blog: ramaarya.blog My Work: thecommunique.co.in

the road less travelled: azerbaijan’s unusual villages

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Rama Arya

In just five to six hours, one can traverse across Azerbaijan’s length or breadth, crossing nine of the world’s 11 climatic zones along the way. And whilst at it, you would most likely not pass another soul.

Of Azerbaijan’s population amounting to just over 10 million, almost half of these live and work in the capital city Baku and the surrounding Absheron peninsula. The rest of the country is deserted. A tiny village tucked away in a forest-canopied valley or perched on a mist-wrapped mountain is as busy as it gets, apart from a handful of administrative and historical towns.

Nature is at its most magnificent on these stretches, free of exploitation for commercial gains and plastic waste. It is a setting which has also created some of the world’s most unique villages.

Take for instance Lahij, a thousand-year-old Persian village on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. Unable to find suitable building material, the villagers created an entire settlement of homes and roads with river boulders. Over the centuries they also developed copper handicrafts of exquisite workmanship. It is a craft that is still practiced by its residents and has been listed in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Then there are the villages in Lerik district in the foothills of the Talysh Mountains in south-east Azerbaijan where centenarians are the norm. Home to some of the oldest people that have ever lived on earth, the Talysh people, also of Persian descent, can be seen working on their fields and grinning cheerfully way into their hundredth birthday. At 90, they would be quick to exclaim that they still felt incredibly young!

If Lerik is about villagers renowned for their longevity, Khinalig high up in the Greater Caucasus range is the oldest inhabited village in the world—historians place it at 5,000 years. Its semi-nomadic villagers travelling between pastures have their own language, possess a distinct genetic make-up, and till recently had no contact with the rest of the world. Together with the mountains encircling it, the village and its inhabitants are a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site.

Fascinating, isn’t it? Here are some more insights into these villages and their incredible secrets on the road less travelled, this time in the mountains of Azerbaijan.

Oh, and when on that road, don’t forget to have a qutab and chai from one of the many eateries nestled deep in dark lush forests. 😊 Continue reading →

travel shorts: a tale of two heritage cities—shamakhi and sheki in azerbaijan

Posted on July 29, 2024 by Rama Arya

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This is the tale of two cities in the land of fire, oil, and gas: Shamakhi where Azerbaijan’s rich medieval heritage took birth. And Sheki, which witnessed this same heritage’s closing chapter before the country was enveloped, first into the Russian empire and soon after, into the Soviet Union.

One specific dynasty’s rule had dominated Azerbaijan’s windswept plains and highlands in the Middle Ages. They were the Shirvan Shahs who ruled the Shirvan region, and whose capital Shamakhi was a trading post on the famed Silk Road.

Such was the glory and power of the Shirvan Shahs that their capital Shamakhi flourished for seven hundred years, from the 9th to 15th Centuries. When it did end its role as their capital, it was only because of nature’s unpredictable jostles. Shamakhi was prone to earthquakes. In the 15th Century, after one of the worst earthquakes the city had seen till then, its rulers felt it was wiser to move their capital lock-stock-and-barrel to Baku.

Most of Shamakhi was razed to the ground in this earthquake. Except for Juma Mosque, Caucasus’ second oldest mosque dating to 743. Juma or Friday Mosque has consistently, and lovingly, always been restored over the centuries. Its most recent face-lift was in 2013. Continue reading →

the 5 untold treasures of abu dhabi and sharjah

Posted on July 22, 2024 by Rama Arya

Think of the United Arab Emirates [UAE] and the one city that invariably pops up in our minds is Dubai—the city of steel, glass, and gold. But Dubai is not the only emirate. Notice the plural in the country’s name? There are six others, each with its own ruler, and of these, two are steadily vying with Dubai for a space in global tourism. For a reason: The incredible treasures they both hold which not many know about. They are Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Abu Dhabi is the richest emirate in the grouping and its city by the same name, Abu Dhabi, is the country’s capital. 96 percent of the UAE’s 100 billion barrels of proven oil reserves are within its borders, ranking it at number six worldwide. Abu Dhabi’s ruler is also the President of the UAE. Sharjah, on the other hand, is in a time-warp. It is older, more traditional, and regarded as the UAE’s cultural capital.

It was in 1958 when the UAE first discovered it had oil, and that too loads of it. Four years later, in 1962, Abu Dhabi, then a small fishing village on the edge of a desert, exported its first cargo of crude oil, and the country changed forever.

Supplying 4 percent of the world’s oil requirements with a production of 3.2 million barrels per day, the UAE has spiralled its way through progress at an astonishing speed. However, there is another side to the country that was formed on 2nd December, 1971. Its pre-oil era, swathed in a heritage that is beyond its oil. There is also a whole country that is beyond Dubai.

With ancient desert roots and a vision of unity through globalisation, here are some of UAE’s most spectacular treasures in its two lesser visited cities Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. For often the most beautiful sites are on the road less trodden. ❤ Continue reading →

a self-guided walk through shimla, the british raj’s summer capital

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Rama Arya

1864. The British Crown was now directly in control of the Indian subcontinent. Five years had passed since they had squashed the Indian Mutiny. It had been a tough fight lasting nearly two years and two months, but they’d won in the end.

Summers in their new capital, Calcutta, were, however, brutal. Oh, how they longed for the grey overcast days back home, bathed in gentle drizzle.

Since the 1820s, the earlier British East India Company officers stationed in India had been escaping from the sun-baked plains to a hamlet in the middle hills of the Himalayas during such summers. The hamlet, comprising some 50 houses, was called Shayamala after a local Hindu goddess.

India’s new rulers decided to make this association more permanent. They renamed the hamlet ‘Shimla,’ and set up the British Raj’s ‘Summer Capital’ on its seven hills.

Every year, just before the sweltering heat clamped down on the Gangetic plains, the entire administrative machinery would move here, replete with traders, restaurateurs, and socialites. Once the heat cooled down, and snow started to peck its slopes, they would all move back again south-eastwards.

A mini-Britain was created in Shimla’s hills. Timber-strapped Tudor houses, soaring neo-Gothic churches, grand town halls, and a theatre for concerts and plays. On the Ridge, which offered rather splendid views, a bandstand was thrown in where military bands could play music and the gentry could indulge in leisurely strolls. Not too shabby now, perhaps they whispered to each other in relief.

Though it is now 77 years since the British have left, their summer capital’s remnants still dot Shimla, and more so on its main commercial pedestrian artery—Mall Road.

Here is a self-guided walk on what to watch out for should you ever be in the vicinity, with suggestions for eating and staying dating back to the colonial days. Take your time and savour its charms. After all, Shimla was always for the long haul. ❤

PS. Take the lift up to Mall Road, and on exiting the lift turn left towards Christ Church.

Continue reading →

kullu manali and their 11 loadstones

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Rama Arya

Loadstone: Noun. A person or thing that is the focus of attention or attraction. In aplenty. In other words—Kullu and Manali.

– – –

Two of India’s most popular hill stations’ names are often taken in the same breath. Even though they are separated by some 40-odd kilometres.

Welcome to Kullu Manali. Two towns located on the verdant Kullu valley in India’s Himachal Pradesh with the ice-blue Beas river gurgling past them.

Free of a colonial overprint, or the culture and faith of an invading ruler, these two towns have in the past, as well as today, continue to epitomize Himachal history, traditions, and heritage. In all its unadulterated richness.

Gods are in abundance here, and so are centuries-old beliefs. The lines between mythology and mundane reality are blurred with characters from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana popping up everywhere. Ancient sages, mythical heroes, demons, and the proverbial Noah [in Hinduism’s case Manu] who set forth from his ark to kick-start the lineage of mankind. They are all somehow associated with the Kullu valley which has earned itself the moniker ‘Valley of Gods.’

There’s also tall graceful fir trees, rivers fed by melting glaciers punctuated with hot water springs, and wooden homes which have housed many a generation of pahari [mountain] folks inside their weathered walls.

You will need at least a few days to get acquainted with Kullu and Manali’s sites. Hotels and taxis are easily available. Let me not go into them here. Rather let this post be a roadmap of what makes these two towns attract pilgrims and tourists in their droves, always. ❤ Continue reading →

part 3: the spiti trilogy: lahaul, the mystical side of life and himachal

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Rama Arya

Prayer flags at Kunzum Pass. Because the gods live in the mountains.

Welcome to part 3 of my photo diary trilogy on Kinnaur, Spiti, and Lahaul, high up in the Himalayas in India’s Himachal Pradesh.

If Kinnaur is all about the lush flourishing side of living, and Spiti the very opposite—about its barrenness, then Lahaul is the natural outcome of going through both sides of life. It is of tuning in with one’s inner self. I guess you could simply also describe it as meeting one’s Maker.

Here in Lahaul, Buddhist chants echo from monasteries perched atop peaks. Lakes contain deities and so do mountain passes. There is the sacred everywhere, and it is celebrated with much joy.

I would like to share my journey through Lahaul valley with you here. Maybe its magic captures your heart and soul too. 🙂

Continue reading →

part 2: the spiti trilogy: spiti, the barren side of life and himachal

Posted on June 24, 2024 by Rama Arya

Buddha statue in Langza Village. Because the gods live in the mountains.

Welcome to part 2 of my photo diary trilogy on Kinnaur, Spiti, and Lahaul.

This week’s post is about Spiti, a cold desert biosphere in the rain shadow area of the Himalayas bordering Tibet. India’s monsoons do not reach here. Even if they do manage to squeeze their way past the soaring peaks, all they are able to muster is a drizzle. The summers are always dry. The winters are covered in thick snow and ice.

None of which is conducive to agriculture except if carried out on the banks of the Spiti river. The land is otherwise brown and barren, its moonscapes strewn with sand and boulders. Nestled in this arid bleakness are countless ancient monasteries, bedecked and bejewelled with Tibetan Tantric Buddhist iconography. These pockets of sanctity serve as places of refuge, giving strength and meaning beyond a difficult life.

Come along with me to Spiti.

Continue reading →

part 1: the spiti trilogy: kinnaur, the verdant side of life and himachal

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Rama Arya

Sangla valley—Sangla means ‘Pass of Light’ in Tibetan language. Because the gods live in the mountains.

I have always seen myself as an ocean person. I love the rhythm of crashing waves, the smell of salt in the sea air, the white foam breaking into froth around my feet, and tugging me along as it leaves.

And then I went to the Lahaul and Spiti valleys and everything changed inside of me. I became a mountain soul. Those who have been there will understand what I mean.

The Lahaul and Spiti district in India’s northern state of Himachal Pradesh is one of the most beautiful places I have travelled to. Remote and untouched, its offroad route is accessed through neighbouring Kinnaur district if coming in from the Shimla side. When exiting, it continues to Manali to form a loop. Kinnaur and Lahaul are both verdant and green. Sandwiched between them, Spiti, in stark contrast, is a high mountain barren desert perched on the soaring Himalayan range, wild and windswept.

Starting with today, I will be posting a photo diary trilogy of Kinnaur, Spiti, and Lahaul over the coming three weeks. Care to join me and let your soul fall in love with the mountains too? ❤

Note: Lahaul and Spiti used to be two separate districts and were merged into one in 1960. For the purpose of this trilogy, they are treated separately because of their geographic distinctiveness.

Continue reading →

global travel shot: homeboys in dubai

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Me: “Kahaan se hai aap?” [Where are you from?] I call out to the group of men working at the Dubai Creek. Their blue salwar kameezes had caught my eye and I was photographing them from across the road.
“Dera.”
Me: “Dera Ishmail Khan?”
“Nahin, Dera Ghazi Khan.” [No, Dera Ghazi Khan.]
Me: “Main bhi.” [Me too.]

For a while I am stunned. Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province, Pakistan, is where my ancestors are from. It is a medieval city, founded in 1530 by Ghazi Khan, a Balochi chieftain, and has its own dialect. From the 16th to 18th Centuries, it was part of Mughal empire’s Multan province. When British India was partitioned in 1947 as part of independence, my family came to the other side of the newly created border as refugees. I have never been able to cross the border back, even briefly, because of political differences between the two nations since then.

I had also never met anyone from my hometown outside my immediate family and Delhi’s refugee community—ever. There are not that many of us, namely, Dera Ghazi Khan Hindus. And here was a group from “back home,” laughing and chatting with me across a glistening tarmac road in Dubai. I wondered if they were distant relatives. Those eyes reminded me of my father’s.

For many years now, I have been travelling to Dubai and via Dubai. From a time it had not yet become a city of glass and steel, and life centred around the Deira instead. I have often been asked what do I like so much about the city. My answer is in the group of young men I met today. Dubai for me will always be the place where two arms of a warring family hug each other in camaraderie, away from the glare of politics back home. Here, their pasts and differences have been put to rest. 🙂

the complete travel guide to the treasures of sri lanka’s cultural triangle

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Rama Arya

Welcome to my travel guide on Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle told a bit differently—through short photo-essay chapters on the country’s ancient and medieval history.

Of the six UNESCO-listed cultural world heritage sites in Sri Lanka, five lie within the Cultural Triangle in the heart of the country. It is a region rooted in 2,500 years of history and heritage, both sacred and secular, from timeless Theravada Buddhist sites to splendid Sinhalese royal capitals. All surrounded in lush tropical jungles.

Before I write any further, I would like to briefly explain two terms used in this guide which are part of the warp and woof of the country. Theravada Buddhism and ‘Sinhalese.’ Theravada Buddhism is the oldest school of Buddhism and a direct offshoot of Buddha’s teachings. There are five countries in the world which have Theravada Buddhism as their official religion, and Sri Lanka is one of them. Sinhalese refers to the Indo-Aryan ethnic race native to Sri Lanka.

Whilst this guide covers the five UNESCO-listed sites, it also includes some gems scattered in-between. I hope you find it useful and it helps put the country’s Cultural Triangle as a seamless whole with all the dots connected. ❤

[Title photo: 18th Century Mural at Lankatilaka Vihara, Kandy.]

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