Born in Kerala, I ought to have an umbilical connection with the Malabar Coast but it is to the Coromandel Coast that I feel a stronger pull. This is the travelogue that resulted from a breathless 11-day journey from Chennai to Rameswaram, between coast and hinterland, more than one thousand kilometres.
The Ritz-Carlton Bangalore debuted in India on October 31, 2013 at the cusp of the downtown business and entertainment precinct and the colonial-era neighbourhood of Richmond Town. It didn’t wait long to make itself at home. Read the review in Outlook Traveller Luxe
First a bump, then a mild churning of the stomach followed by a swimming sensation of buoyancy. The earth fell away and I was sucked into the sky. “No smoking. Absolutely no smoking!” warned the guide, pointing at the propane jets. “If you light up, we will all die.” He squeezed a lever above his head and the nozzles spat yellow-white tongues of flame into the innards of the balloon. Air, heated on the go. Our sustenance and stay on this ride. As we floated up, up, up into the air, without wings, in a hot air balloon, Appenzell spread out beneath us like a patchwork quilt.
Forget Swiss banks. Appenzell is where the Swiss treasure their traditions. And, like Swiss cheese, they age well, writes Bijoy Venugopal in Outlook Traveller, November 2013