The Good Life With IQ
If you want tips, tricks and insights on travelling, being vegetarian, sustainability and India, and from someone who’s been there and done that, then The Good Life With IQ is a good place to be! The inspiration for this blog was a trip to the Lakshadweep islands in early 2017. We had a really tough time trying to figure out how to plan our trip, and the fact that there wasn’t really much useful information on the net was really frustrating. When we got back, I decided to write a post on how we planned our Lakshadweep trip, so that other travellers could be spared our frustration. But once I got started, it was difficult to stop. And that's how The Good Life With IQ got where it is today.
From Germany to the Seychelles, and from all across India, here are 20 spectacular travel photos we’ve taken during our travels so far.
We first started really travelling in 2007, with a trip to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Since then, we’ve been to quite a few places, seen quite a few things and had quite a few experiences.
The view from O’Land Plantation’s estate house
This is what the tea estate life must have been like
The view into the misty valley from the courtyard of the O’Land Plantation’s estate house, in the Nilgiri hills. Our holiday there was peaceful and relaxing, spent soaking in the sights and sounds of the surrounding tea estate and its resident wildlife.
Read more: A getaway in the clouds: O’Land Plantation in the Nilgiri Hills
The breakwaters on Nieuwpoort beach
Gulls on the breakwater
Seagulls take a break on one of the many breakwaters at the beach-side town of Nieuwpoort in Belgium. Our day trip here was part of a quick visit to my aunt in Brussels, before we began our road trip through Germany.
Read more: A road trip through Germany, and other ways to pass the time (part 2): Brussels and Nieuwpoort
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The hills surrounding the Rhine valley
Few views get better than this
The incredible view of a neighboring village from the hills around Gau-Algesheim in Germany. We took it easy in the Rhine valley for a few days, before heading off on the next leg of our road trip.
Read more: A road trip through Germany, and other ways to pass the time (part 3): The Rhine valley
Sunset in Bavaria
Sunset at Ainring from the Rupertihof parking lot
The sunset over a meadow in the village of Ainring, Bavaria. This little village on the border between Germany and Austria was the base for our visit to Salzburg, a day before we headed off to Munich.
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The old lighthouse on Ross Island
Watch out for the rocks!
The old lighthouse on Ross Island, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. We visited this abandoned penal colony, with it’s overgrown ruins, during our first real beach vacation.
Read more: How we lived the island life for a few days in the Andamans
The impossible Tiger’s Nest monastery
The perfect place to feel spiritual!
The spectacular Taktsang Lhakhang—the ‘Tiger’s Nest’ monastery—near Paro, Bhutan. It was our first real vacation together, and the sight was undeniably one of its highlights. It took us three hours to hike up here, but it was worth it!
Read more: Eight great things to eexperience while visiting Bhutan
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Ladakh’s Martian landscape
Shall we begin?
The seemingly endless Himalayan foothills beckon. This was taken from the Leh-Srinagar highway, during a trip to Ladakh, India—supposedly the highest desert in the world.
Read more: Eight things we learned in Ladakh, the highest desert in the world
Biking on Mandarmani beach
This is how a biker enjoys the beach
A sunset ride on the firm wet sand of Mandarmani beach, about 170 kilometers from Kolkata. We treated ourselves to two days at the beach at the end of our road trip up India’s east coast.
Read more: What you experience on a 7-day, 2000-kilometer motorcycle ride along India’s east coast
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Dolphin-spotting at sunrise off Bird Island
Sunrise on Bird Island
Robbie the conservationist drags a dinghy into the water on Bird Island, the Seychelles. Our three days on this island gave us some of the best memories of our holiday in this little island nation.
Read more: Six amazing discoveries we made in the Seychelles
The tranquil backwaters of Aldona
All rivers lead to the sea
A fisherman’s house (presumably) along the banks of the Mandovi river near Panjim in Goa, India. We decided to take a slightly unconventional holiday in Goa that time, and saw and did things most visitors wouldn’t.
Read more: An off-the-beaten-path Goa holiday
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An endless salt desert of Kutch
Trudging through the salt desert
Walking in the Great Rann of Kutch, the vast salt desert in Gujarat, India. While our trip to the Kutch district was mainly to take a look at its rich handicrafts, we turned it into a holiday to remember.
Read more: The colours of Kutch
Sunrise across the Tungabhadra
South Indian sunrise
The sunrise reflects off rice fields near Hampi, India. During one of our trips to these ancient ruins, we decided to stay on the other side of the river from the village, in a tiny guesthouse next to a lake. This was the view from our door.
Read more: Magical sights of Hampi that you many not even know exist
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Old houses from a bedroom window
A room with a view
This was the view from our attic room at my uncle’s house in Wuppertal, Germany. Cologne , with its famous cathedral, is a half hour’s drive from here, so we just had to visit.
Read more: A road trip through Germany, and other ways to pass the time (part 1): Wuppertal and Cologne
A baroque palace in Munich
The palace and its pond
The Nymphenburg palace and the pond on its vast grounds make a pretty picture in Munich, Germany. Since the dates of our roadtrip through Germany coincided nicely with those of the legendary Oktoberfest here, we couldn’t help but take part in the revelry ourselves.
Read more: Munich and the Oktoberfest: A road trip through Germany and other ways to pass the time (part 6)
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The Teesta river flowing through the mountains
The world at one’s feet
The Teesta river flows through the valley between the states of West Bengal and Sikkim in north-eastern India. One of the things we did during our short visit to Kalimpong was drive down the mountain to the river, admiring the view all the way.
Read more: Six great experiences to have when you’re in Kalimpong
Cable cars in the clouds on the Jenner mountain
Mysterious journeys
A cable car floats through the clouds on the side of the Jenner mountain in Bavaria, Germany. We visited once we were done with Salzburg and Ainring, and when we got to the top, we found that the views were amazing, despite the clouds and the drizzle.
Across blue waters to Bangaram
Onward, towards Bangaram
The shuttle boat transfers us from the ferry to Bangaram island, one of the Lakshadweep Islands off India’s south-west coast. Though expensive, this was one of the most memorable beach vacations we’ve had so far.
Read more: Our incredible holiday in mysterious Lakshadweep
The glorious Himalayas from above
So close, yet so far away
The Himalaya mountain range, as seen from the flight out of Leh. The colossal size of these mountains made them seem almost close enough to touch, constantly confusing us plains-dwellers during our holiday in Ladakh.
Read more: Eight things we learned in Ladakh, the highest desert in the world
Blue houses from Mehrangarh
The blue city
Jodhpur, India and its typical blue-painted houses as seen from the massive Mehrangarh fort in its center. This invincible fortress was one of the many wonderful things we saw during our trip through Rajasthan, India.
Read more: Eight great reasons why you should visit Rajasthan, the ‘land of kings’
Vineyards and churches in Wuerzburg
One of the many churches in the old town
A view of the town and the river Main from the walls of Wuerzburg’s Marienberg fortress. Wuerzburg was our first stop on our journey down Germany’s ‘romantic road’, a route lined with evocative medieval towns and villages in Bavaria.
Read more: A road trip through Germany, and other ways to pass the time (part 4): The ‘romantic road’
Which one do you like best? Leave a comment and let me know.
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