Travel – Page 3 – The Border of a Mind

unfolding narrative

December 16, 2020December 14, 2020 by Ajmal

Had an interesting trail in Khorfakkan and in the vicinity of Hajar mountains. Planning to craft a video soon on this endevaour.

..“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
― John Muir
My First Summer in the Sierra

“Did I live? The human world is like a vast musical instrument on which we play our individual parts while simultaneously listening to the compositions of others in an effort to contribute to the whole. We don't choose whether to engage, only how to; we either harmonize or create dissonance. Our words, our deeds, our very presence create and leave impressions in the minds of others just as a writer makes impressions with their words. Who you are is an unfolding narrative. You came from nothing and will return there eventually. Instead of taking ourselves so seriously all the time, we can discover the playful irony of a story that has never been told in quite this way before.― Stephen Batchelor

new storylines

December 2, 2020December 2, 2020 by Ajmal

From an early morning trail. The rising sun is creating the perfect silhouette on the horizon.

Captured from Muweilah in Sharjah during a morning trail

“Part of what makes roads, trails and paths so unique as built structures is that they cannot be perceived as a whole all at once by a sedentary onlooker. They unfold in time as one travels along them, just as a story does as one listens or reads, and a hairpin turn is like a plot twist, a steep ascent a building of suspense to the view at the summit, a fork in the road an introduction of a new storyline, arrival the end of the story. Just as writing allows one to read the words of someone who is absent, so roads make it possible to trace the route of the absent. Roads are a record of those who have gone before and to follow them is to follow people who are no longer there…”
― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust

Secret Mountains

October 15, 2020October 15, 2020 by Ajmal

Out of blue moon, I recollected an old trek to Wadi Al Helo with dear friend MHP a couple of years back and I had some visuals and photographs from that visit. So, I tried to play around with it to have a memorable montage of the visit. We started very early in the morning by around 4 AM and could see the marvelous sunrise and we were able to trek through Wadi Al Helo outskirt rocky mountains in the desert. Wadi Al Helo is located off the E102 Sharjah-Kalba Road, 20km southwest of the coastal town of Kalba in the eastern region of the United Arab Emirates. It’s tiring to climb to the top structures, but that’s worth it when you get a breathtaking 360-degree view of the mountain ranges nestled between the Hajar Mountains. This is a protected area for endangered birds, reptiles, and freshwater fish. There is an old fort at the top of the hill. This area also houses some archaeological sites and has a restored watchtower.

Index of montage films I’ve made if you’d like to explore more 🙂

the poem you want to be.

July 12, 2020July 11, 2020 by Ajmal

“You read and write and sing and experience, thinking that one day these things will build the character you admire to live as. You love and lose and bleed best you can, to the extreme, hoping that one day the world will read you like the poem you want to be.”
― Charlotte Eriksson

alchemy of yearning

May 29, 2020May 24, 2020 by Ajmal

Netta glancing at a beautiful sunrise from Havelock Islands in South India,

Sunrise, beach, clear skies. They’re a perfect alchemy of yearning.

“With a bound, the sun of a molten fiery red cam above the horizon, and immediately thousands of little birds sang out for joy, and a soft chorus of mysterious, glad murmurs came forth from the earth; the low whispering wind left its hiding-place among the clefts and hollows of the hills, and wandered among the rustling herbs and trees, waking the flower-buds to the life of another day.”
― Elizabeth Gaskell,Ruth

blissful sunshine

May 27, 2020May 24, 2020 by Ajmal

A sunrise from mountains on the way to Al’ Ain.

“With a little heartache;
Gone with the time,
Are certain memories,
Intricately designed.
To call & narrate
A story of blissful sunshine.”
― Somya Kedia

Light is one of our favorite themes. Delve in more.
Slipping to the Dusk
Clouds of Fire
Scurry home
Sprouting Skylines
Orange creep on swirling clouds
The flicker of leaves
The golden lamp
Camels on the horizon

wander

May 26, 2020May 26, 2020 by Ajmal

A photograph of the author respiring fresh air in the jungles of *Attapadi*. Photographed by Amjad

“A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land. Mankind has legs so it can wander.”
― Roman Payne, The Wanderess

One of my long time read is the beautiful blog Notes from the Road. It’s written by Erik Gauger and it is an excellent road travel writing blog. I love the aesthetics and the overall way in which content is articulated on this page. Not sure if this would change in the future, but it looks stunning! What I like the most is his philosophy of travel writing at the core. If we read online, pure travel writing is a treasure to find out. My dad was a forest officer and may be due to the opportunities that I had with him to visit some of the most remote hill stations in South India, I am very much enticed by travel narratives when done well. Erik has done a wonderful job in narrating his travels and as he himself writes on his website,

“At Notes from the Road, I try to stay grounded in my original vision for what travel blogging can be: independent, visual, personal. Travel writing has never been about hotels and reviews. It is, and always has been, about ideas, people, and faraway places.”
– Erik Gauger , author of Notes from the Road

Another example of how beautiful things can get when somebody puts his heart and soul into what he does.

Prelude to ‘Kuttikanam’

May 20, 2020May 17, 2020 by Ajmal

I took this photograph from a place called Kuttikanam, a hill station in Idukki district of Kerala, Southern India. That’s my brother having a phone call gazing at that splendid view in front. Right in front of the place we stayed, there was a bridge damaged by heavy torrential rains and landslide, and the only road in the front was damaged. We stayed on the top of a cottage run by a family and there was a homely feel to this place. This place is special because the experience of meeting the family owning this place kindled in me the love for indoor plants and curating them. What I saw in their home was that they put plants in literally anything you could imagine. Damaged cans, throwaway bottles, coconut shells, wall mounts, iron cases, you name it and they’d have a plant inside. After returning from this place and reaching back home, I thought of setting up indoor plants and that’s how we started our moneyplant adventures. I’d be trying to write in detail on this Kuttikanam story. Stay tuned friends : ) Thanks for all the love on the previous writings and feedback. Looking forward to your thoughts. Write to me.