It is almost time to say good bye 2011. It has been a good year for me when it comes to travelling – there is not a thing I can complain about. Most importantly, we created Darter Photography, which allowed me the bandwidth and ability to travel wherever I please, whenever I want to. Here is a quick compilation of ten images I made in 2011. They aren’t exactly in any order and or not necessarily my ten favourite images from the year, but ten of the many images I liked, and enjoy photographing.
In January, I travelled on the first Darter Tour to Hampi, which will remain an experience that I will cherish for a long time. Here is an image of the hills of Hampi, photographed during the tour.
Soon after the Hampi trip, I was braving a -250C in Ladakh, walking on the frozen Zanskar River. The landscapes I saw there are something probably not to be seen anywhere else in India.
I was back in Hampi in February again, this time photographing the heritage sites and wildlife and focusing less on the landscapes.
I do not remember travelling anywhere in March. In the month of April, work took me to many parts of Kerala. I dreaded about facing Kerala’s sultry weather in summer, but untimely rains helped keep the days pleasant. Here is an image from Munnar photographed during this trip.
Here is another image from the same trip, at the well known Chinese Fishing Nets of Fort Kochi.
After a lull in travelling during May and June, I headed out to Ladakh in July. It was an eventful trip, but not being on the top of my health prevented me from actively seeking to make many images. Here is one of the few photographs I took, at Tso Moriri Lake.
I was back in the mountains again in August, this time at Lahaul and Spiti. For me, this was the most eventful trip of the year. Here is an image of confluence of Pin and Spiti Rivers, taken from Dhankar Village.
After another break in travelling during the months of September, I headed out, once again to the mountains. To Manali, this time without the camera. In the first week of November, I was back in Kerala for a short trip on work, visiting Trivandrum and Kochi. Here is an image of a handloom house that makes saris and dhotis, near Trivandrum.
In later part of November, I travelled to Rajasthan, which was a very productive trip in terms of photography. We made a long tour on two weeks, through Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur. A few images from this trip, from Khichan and Jaisalmer.
2011, it appears, is a year of plenty of travel. I just came back from a rather adventurous trip to Ladakh. We had our share of visiting the incredibly beautiful landscapes and endless stretch of the blue lakes, but before that it required spending a night trapped at 12,500 feet near Rohtang Pass. Thanks to the bad weather caused by the first rains of the season. I guess that pretty much ended my generally very good luck with weather in the mountains. My longest wait at Rohtang so far was perhaps fifteen minutes, and our driver who is a regular here put his earlier longest wait at thirty minutes. With near 24 hours of wait, unable to even go back since the road behind us was completely clogged, all of us had perhaps set personal records of longest time in a car. The reward was in taking our time to linger in the beautiful landscapes of Pir Panjal, watching one of the most beautiful sunsets and seeing Himalayan Griffons soar in the skies much above the mountains. The penalty was in the tired bodies and eventually tired minds at the end of the long night spend cramped in the car. In the end, it will be an adventure remembered with tales to tell. 
On other updates, yesterday, I presented a photo-slideshow at ‘
India Travel Blog completes six delightful years today. What started as a means to record my travels has now become much more than that and has perhaps defined much of what I am today. Thank you for your wonderful support all these years, and for having been coming here to read my travel stories and see the images.
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