December 2013 at a glance: Celebrating the Holiday Season

 Dear All,

Another month is coming to an end and with it also the year 2013. We will be talking about the year in another post, but this post is about winters -- the perfect season for vacations. This is the season when a variety of holiday destinations open their arms for tourists and travelers and even the mountains don a white blanket and make themselves more enticing to visitors, as if to counter the sudden competition. Beaches and deserts, which are otherwise too hot to explore, suddenly become popular and inviting. This post is not only about summarizing this month, but also about celebrating three popular tourist destinations during winters -- the Himalayas, Rajasthan, and Goa.

While we did publish other posts, the focus this month was on Goa and Churu. Goa, also known as the "Pearl of the Orient" is not only studded with beautiful beaches, it also hides within its several layers a rich history, an interesting cuisine, and a vibrant culture. We explored Goa this year and have tried to cover it across multiple posts through this month. Many more such posts will follow. 



Travelling Camera also got a chance to visit Churu, a neglected little town enroute to Bikaner. The name Churu may not be prominent on tourist map, but each lane of its labyrinthine pathways hides a surprise. The town is studded with grand havelis, many of them dilapidated and crumbling, but a few still standing proud against the test of time. Some that have been brashly ignored by their owners, and others whose employers care enough to get them restored. Travelling Camera had a wonderful time at Churu, and following are the first few photo journeys from the series.

Saturday Morning walk from Noida to Churu, Rajasthan, INDIA

Tour de Churu Streets having grand Havelis with marvelous Fresco Paintings
High Tea at Sethani Ka Johara, Churu, Rajasthan
A unique experience of Desert Bonfire in Churu region of Rajasthan, INDIA


Apart from these we were also privileged to hear from our guests and have shared several of their photo journeys. Following are the guests who have contributed this month and their respective posts. We would like to thank you for placing your faith in us.

An unforgettable holiday experience, at Pataya City and Bangkok, Thailand || A Photo Journey by Bhavna Negi 

Bhavna has shared some of the brilliant Blogs on Photo Journey. Her blogs are very well received and starts trending  from very first hour of publishing. The Unforgettable holidays experience also trended as most viewed blog-post for that day and kept trending for the week or so.

Bhavna shared two Photo Journeys this month and second one was on a Luxury affair at Umaid Bhawan - Umaid Bhawan Palace - A luxurious heritage hotel | by Bhavna Negi 

More Photo Journeys by Bhavna Negi can be checked HERE.

Lose yourself in Festive Spirit of Christmas with brilliant photographs by Deeba Rajpal  

Deeba a well known Food Blogger and a brilliant photographer. She inspires many of us through her baking experiments and great photographs. We are honored to publish some of her photographs nn Photo Journey. More Photographs of Deeba can be checked HERE.

 
Magical Light Show on a Church at Hyde Park, Sydney as a Pre-Christmas Celebration (By Darshan Mehra) 

Darshan Mehra shared this beautiful Photo Journey with us from Hyde Park. It's an interesting Photo Journey wherein light show on a church depicts some stories related to Christmas. Check this one and enjoy ! 



A Trip to Chanoud Village in Rajasthan, India (By Rakesh Ranjan)

Rakesh loves travelling and finding good excuses to travel makes any a Photo Journey more beautiful with great impact. Rakesh has shared few more travel stories in past and has always impressed us with great Travel photographs. In past we have seen some beautiful travel trails by Rakesh Ranjan, through his Travellingcamera. More Photo Journeys by Rakesh Ranjan can be checked HERE.

A nature walk at Asola Wildlife Sanctuary (A photo-blog by Atanu Dey)

For last few weeks Atanu and his wife Monidipa have been sharing some interesting Photo Journeys on some of the least explored places of Delhi. During most of the weekends Atanu & Monidipa move out of their house and explore something which we hardly know. More Photo Journeys by Atanu can be checked HERE.



And to end the month with some small yet interesting bites, here are a few statistics:

Total number of stories in December 2013: 28
Total number of page views till date: More than 17,40,000 (we crossed our target of 17,00,000, now on to the next milestone)
Total number of page views in December 2013: More than 53,000
The following stories kept us on our toes by trending tremendously on their first days:

Blushing Red Cherries in the snow rich region of Himachal Pradesh - Kotgarh (Shimla)






Apart from all this, the Digital Imaging giant Nikon appreciated us as a photo blog, and we also won a travel contest organized by Tata Safari brand. So you can see that this has been a pretty happening month for us.


This is only second such monthly digest. As we publish these over the next year, we will evolve and will hopefully be able to provide richer information through these posts. And you can help us evolve. If you have any suggestions related to the monthly digest or if you would like to share your own photo journeys on this website, write to vj@travellingcamera.com, and we will get back.

Hope to hear from you on this. :)

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