Monday images - Monsoon clouds over Arizona, USA!

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

We returned from a fabulous monsoon drive over the weekend in the western ghats (Look at the cover photo of the blog). More about it later.

How will the monsoon be over arid deserts of Arizona looks like? With vast expanse of open spaces with houses scattered, watching the clouds and thunderstorms during American monsoon in Arizona must be an amazing experience. We haven't been there but we could see the magic of nature in these photographs of A Burrows.

These are the Monday Images for this week. Take a look and get mesmerised at the pictures taken by him. 

Read what Mr Burrows say about himself - I love the outdoors and anything dealing with the outdoors. My favorite outdoor activities are hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, backpacking and canyoneering. I have been actively involved in landscape and wildlife photography since 2007. 

Based in Prescott, USA, this professional pilot has amazing pictures of American landscape.

Check out his link on Flickr here

Thunderstorm Album, An amazing collection of 279 photographs. See it in slideshow mode with a cup of coffee in hand and not disturbed by phone. You will love it. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aburrows/sets/72157627135574411/

Here is his page on Flickr. Enjoy the lovely landscape of Americas!

A Burrows Photostream on Flickr

If you want explore other posts in "Monday Images" series, please click here.

Monday Images - Feel good pictures, you would love to see!

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Monday Images - Rocky wonders of Ramanagaram!

This was an impromptu trip. How lovely it turned out to be!

We finished the charity run and went for a drive to Magadi, then to Bangalore via Ramanagaram. The showers in the last few days in the area had turned landscape green. Farmers were out in the field and tilling their land. The contrast of earth's brown to the green around was striking. Driving on the road to Magadi is always a green feast to the eyes, especially when you go around the curvy roads in the valley of Thippagondanahalli. 

More surprise was in store when we drove towards Ramanagaram from Magadi. A fantastic road through the reserved forests, stunning landscape of hills of Savandurga and surrounding made it a pleasant drive to cherish. 

Check out the pictures of lovely vistas we saw..... (Please click on the picture to see the original size)

The monolith of Savandurga towering into clouds. In the foreground is a lovely lake

The other face of Savandurga

The amazing rock formation in Savanadurga

The stunning landscape around Savandurga

A stunning formation resembling a huge Shivalinga 

As we approached Ramanagara, we saw another stunning vista

It was a pleasant and memorable drive. Easy to do. We urge you to go for it anyday. You will not regret it!

Postscript - Ramanagaram is the same place where Bollywod blockbuster "Sholay" was shot. Ramanagaram was named as Ramgarh in the movie

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

Please check out a related posts on rocky wonders of Ramanagaram here in this blog.

Kootagal Hill - Rocky wonder!

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Monday Images - Iceland Incredible!

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

We meant it. When we said Iceland is incredible.

You know why.

It is so breathtakingly beautiful, it may be your next destination.

It is definitely in our bucket list.

We stumbled upon these pictures by Moyan. We could not take our eyes from his album.

We are sure you don't either.

Here are some starters.

Stunning pictures of the Icelandscape shot beautifully by Moyan Brenn.

Skogafoss waterfall in the morning, the best moment to see it thanks to the sun position which creates rainbows

stormy landscape from the ring road, south area, east of Vik

Okulsarlon glacier lagoon during a cloudy midday of september...Blue icebergs are due to the strong ice compression of the very low layer of ice on top of the glacier which eliminate air bubbles by making a blue appearence like that of sea water

view of landscape from the main ring road of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano mountain complex

You can check out his complete album on "Iceland in Summer" here.

Iceland Summer Time

If you are planning a visit to Iceland, it may be worth reading this post by him here.

6 things to know before visiting Iceland

For other posts in "Monday Images" series, please click here

Monday Images

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Monday Images - Stunning Nubra Valley, Ladakh

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

Our affair with Ladakh continues in this blog!

Four years back when we were in Ladakh, we missed out going to Nubra valley. We plan to compensate for that this year when we go there in August.

Nubra valley and surroundings have stunning landscape. 

A desert within a cold desert! 

Spectacular Sand dunes with a backdrop of snow capped mountains!

Bactrian camels with twin humps. 

A clear sky when night becomes a spectacle!

We will leave you with these mindblowing images of the valley. 

Please click on the pictures to see them in original size. Click on the name of the photographer for more pictures taken by them in Ladakh.

Diskit, Nubra Valley ( Photo Courtesy - Sreenath U B )

Reflections in Nubra ( Photo Courtesy - Rajesh )

A small pond in Nubra at Sun rise ( Photo courtesy - Andrew Beirne )

Sand dunes, Hundar, Nubra valley ( Photo courtesy - Prabhu R Doss )

Potato fields around Turtuk in bloom - Nubra Valley ( Photo Courtesy - Fulvio Spada )

A panoramic view of the Shyok River in the Nubra Valley. ( Photo Courtesy - Praful Tripathy )

Diskit Monastery (Photo Courtesy - Amit Rawat )

After seeing these pictures, we are excited to be in Nubra in August.

What has been your experience in Nubra? Do share it.

To find out our experience in Ladakh, you may click on the Series "Ladakh Diaries" here

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day One

For other posts on Ladakh in this blog, please click here

Ladakh - Mesmerising cold desert in Himalayas!

For other posts in "Monday Images" series, please click here

Monday Images

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Monday Images - Ladakh Trekking Stories by Pierre Martin!

These are not images. These are great stories of trekking in Ladakh. We were astonished with admiration when we looked at them.

We were looking for stories and pictures on trekking in Ladakh in preparation for our own trek in Markha Valley in August this year. When we searched in Picasa we stuck gold mine.

Pierre Martin. The man who has trekked over 600KMs over 46 days in Ladakh! The man who is humble enough to share his experiences with trekking community. Hear in his own words the mindblowing statistics.........

• 43 days walking (13 + 19 + 11), 
• 3 days off 
• 24 17 which passes above 4800m and 10 above 5000m 
• 5300m, the maximum altitude reached in Marang La (41th day) 
• 183 hours of work (58 + 72 + 53), 
• between 600 and 800 km (impossible to recognize in the mountains) 
• 27000m positive and negative vertical drop (7330m/8425m + + 12060m/11725m 7750m/6755m)
• 50 strings of prayer flags placed in the collar ("Ki Ki So so The Gyalo!") 
• 1 pair of shoes bass rod of € 49.90 in Quechua (Arpenaz 500) Photo , 
• 4000 photos 
• and only 3 days of meat ...

If you are planning a trek in Ladakh, please take a look his trekking stories in the link below. Look at a preview of the lovely places he has gone in these pictures below........ (Please click on pictures to view in Original Size)

Good morning in the valley of the Borong Togpo

Lanak

Between Yakru and Zabuk Yogma

Tso Tok

Descent Zangla to Padum

For details on Pierre's treks, pls click the following links. The website is in French. Make sure you translate it and read it.

Grand Tour of Ladakh

Bonus - Pierre has also trekked extensively in Nepal. Check that out as well in his website. Amazing exploits in Himalayas which should not be missed!

If you need any help, please write to him. He is ever willing to help fellow trekkers!

Monday Images. 

Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

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Monday Images - Magnificent Markha Valley Trek, Ladakh

In the post 10 Things to do in Ladakh you haven't done before!, we had mentioned about trekking in Ladakh to explore the interiors of the mountainous region. This is also the best way to interact with local tribes of Ladakh who live in these harsh conditions.

If everything goes well, we will be in Ladakh this August for a trek in the mountains. We will be doing 6 days trek in Markha valley. Why Markha valley? Because it is spectacular.

Take a look at these spellbinding vistas by Thomas Battut who did this trek last year.

After seeing these pictures don't blame us on selecting this trek. Do you? :-)

The complete trek is captured nicely in pictures by Thomas. You can see them here.

Markha Valley Trek - Day 1

Markha Valley Trek - Day 2

Markha Valley Trek - Day 3

Markha Valley Trek - Day 4

Markha Valley Trek - Day 5

Please don't blame us if we made you to pack your backpack to go to Markha valley during this Ladakh season!

If you are a trekking enthusiast like us, you may be tempted to see the following posts in this blog

Triund Trek - A heavenly hike in the Himalayas!

Valley of Flowers 2 - 14 KMs trek to Ghangaria along Alakananda!

Valley of Flowers 3 - Trek from Ghangaria to Valley of Flowers

Valley of Flowers 4 - Trek to Hemkund Sahib

Five lovely Treks in Karnataka!

Dudhsagar Falls - A Monsoon trek on Railway track!

15 Classic trekking Trails in the world!

Postscript - Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

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Monday Images - Spectacular Mountainscapes of Quebrada de Humahuaca & Ladakh!

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

This weekend, we were exploring for some pictures of Leh - Srinagar highway. We had done some fifty KMs of it when we were in Ladakh four years ago. we couldn't do it because of security situation in Srinagar then. Being the season of Ladakh on this blog, we thought it would be apt to showcase some pictures of the highway on this blog.

When we were searching for it in Flickr, we happened to see a lovely picture by Ms Ann Tatti. When we further dived deep and checked out her albums, we were stunned to see outstanding landscape of The Quebrada de Humahuaca.

Then we stuck a goldmine as we explored further. We were to see this amazing album by Mariano Mantel on Route 40 in the Quebrada de Humahuaca and its surrounding mountains. These pictures are taken by him on his Motorcycle trips to these mountains.

The Quebrada de Humahuaca is a narrow mountain valley located in the province of Jujuy in northwest Argentina, 1,649 km (1,025 mi) north of Buenos Aires. It is about 155 km (96 mi) long, oriented north-south, bordered by the Altiplano in the west and north, by the Sub-Andean hills in the east, and by the warm valleys (Valles Templados) in the south. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The landscape resemble that of Ladakh. The arid, broken landscape and pink coloured mountainscape was similar to the one we had seen while driving on Manali - Leh road.

Here are the pictures we had taken on Manali - Leh road..........

Eroded and broken landscape on Manali - Leh road

Pink and colourful mountainscape along Indus river befor Upashi on Manali - Leh road

The following are the pictures taken by Mariano Mantel on his Motorcycle trips........

Heaven above ... Jujuy

Route 52, at 4000 meters high Narrow Ronqui crossing towards the coast of Lipan

Gorge of the Arrows, Formations in the Gorge of the Arrows

The Castles Rock formation near the river gorge Cafayate in Salta Argentina Las Conchas

Painter's collage ........Pink Mountains of Quebrada ( by Ann Tatti)

For magnificent pictures taken by Mariano Martel during his Motorcycle ride in the region, please click here

Argentina - A Ride on Route 40

Please take a look at this lovely Album by Ms Ann Tatti on Quebrada...

Magical Lands of Quebrada de Huamahuaca

You may also look at the following posts on our drive in from Manali to Leh for some outstanding landscapes.......

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day One

Ladakh Diaries 2 - Manali to Leh, Day two

So folks, all of you who have done the trips to Ladakh, plan to pack your bags to Argentina for your next trip!

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Monday Images - Ladakh, ahoy!

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

Ladakh season has started. It is the time to explore its outstanding landscape. Time to explore cold desert and its beautiful vistas.

We were there in 2010 and it was a memorable trip. The drive from Manali to Leh was once in a lifetime experience. The drive to Pangong Tso was spectacular. To top it all was the heady feeling of being on top of the highest motorable road in in the world in Khardung La!

These are some pictures of magnificent vistas of Ladakh we had clicked during our trip.

A panoramic view of a Ladakhi village on the way to Khardung La

The road to Pangong Tso lake has stunning landscape like this

Awesome vistas of Pangong Tso lake 

Road through Barlacha La on Manali - Leh highway

Suraj Tal on Manali - Leh highway

Spectacular sand formations after Sarchu on Manali - Leh highway

In Ladakh, it is the journey to the destination which is beautiful. The drives through the mountains are mesmerising!

If you are planning a trip to Ladakh, you may look at the following posts on Ladakh in "Ladakh Diaries" series in this blog.

Ladakh Diaries 1 - Manali to Leh, Day one.

Ladakh Diaries 2 - Manali to Leh, Day two

Ladakh Diaries 3 - Leh, Sights of a Mountain town!

Ladakh Diaries 4 - On top of the world @ Khardung La!

Ladakh Diaries 5 - Spectacular drive to Pangong Tso, the lake @ 14,000 feet!

Ladakh Diaries 6 - Basgo, Magnetic hill & Gurudwara Pathar Sahib

Ladakh Diaries 7 - Himalayas from the Sky!

We came across this outstanding album on Ladakh by Ray Universe. The pictures in this album are just mindblowing. Take a look. Dont miss it. You will be left with a "Wow" feeling. Click on this link below.

Magnificent Ladakh!

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Monday Images - Postcards from Karnataka, India

Monday Images. Every weekend, we share images taken by us during our travel or those taken by fellow travellers from different parts of the world to places we haven't been to but liked them. Hope you will like them too.

We have travelled to many lovely places in our own state - Karnataka. The state is blessed with some of the spectacular waterfalls, hills and beaches.

This week we will present you with pictures of beautiful vistas we have taken during our journeys in Karnataka.

Beautiful meadows in Sakleshpur, in Monsoon.

An unnamed waterfall near Sringeri

A pristine beach near Koteshwara, Udupi

Bhoothanatha Temple, Badami

If you are interested to explore Karnataka, you may click on labels Badami, Malnad, Waterfalls in Karnataka, Trekking in Karnataka, Driving Holidays from Bangalore etc in this blog.

We happened to see the photo stream of Jagadish MN on Flickr who has captured landscape of Karnataka beautifully. Take a look and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Karnataka - Land of Landscapes!

Ramaneeya Karnataka!

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