Blue Dot Travel Blog

All the documentaries I’d seen on the Galapagos Islands inferred that it’s one of the foremost wildlife experiences on the planet. Friends and family members who had travelled there only reinforced this. It was time to experience these famous islands for myself so, along with my family and some friends, we took at Galapagos cruise, …

I’d heard and read a lot about Cartagena, Colombia’s UNESCO-listed old capital on the Caribbean coast. My travel friends kept telling me I had to travel to Columbia and when I finally got there, I was not disappointed and now understand why Cartagena’s popularity as a destination is on the rapid rise. It certainly offers…

In the north of Poland on the Baltic Sea lies the beautiful city of Gdansk. Take at least a full day - more if you prefer to move at a leisurely pace - this gem of a city which offers as much at night as it does in the day. The lights in the streets…

What an island of surprises Corsica proved to be. It may not have been on your radar as a destination but having visited,  its many delights deserve to be shared. Barely an hour’s ferry ride from the northern tip of Sardinia, the final approach into Bonfacio is breathtaking and immediately, the scenery and vibe is…

One of my favourite Silk Road cities is the town of Bukhara, located a few hours west of Samarkand. Like Samarkand, Bukhara is also home to significant and stunning architectural sites (like the Ark, Po-i-Kalyan and Char Minar), however, while they may not be as grand in size and scale, it is the city as…

 Over 40 million people live in Odisha (pronounced Orisha) - one of India’s 29 states.  Sitting in the northeast on the Bay of Bengal, it is generally regarded as India’s poorest state, but don’t let this tag put you off visiting. It’s a hidden gem, not on westerner’s travel list. However, it should be because it has wonderful cultural sites, fabulous food, very friendly…

Allow at least a week to see the best of what Lithuania has to offer, including the following highlights. Without a doubt, the capital city Vilnius, is a treasure.  The old town was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, back in 1994. It had a strong Jewish influence up until the 20th Century,…

Since I was a small kid, I’d always wanted to visit Panama and see the Panama Canal.  The notion of watching huge cargo ships glide through the nearly 80km of a man-made waterway in between the two Americas and linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans had always fascinated me.  I thought it was perhaps a…

Kolkata has a dark history from the days of it’s formation by the British East India company in the late 1600s to the early Bengal insurrections such as the Black Hole of Calcutta and the India freedom movement of Gandhi.  The very essence of India’s nationhood stems from Kolkata’s intellectual class and their sense of…