Some 120 km (but five hours by bus) South of Mumbai, down the palm-fringed Konkan Coast, lies the town of Alibaug. Really the collective name for the series of nearby villages, Alibaug serves as a quick-and-easy weekend getaway for Mumbai's upperclasses. Today, vacation bungalows and holiday retreats are tucked into the bylanes running off the single-lane highway stretching down to Goa. But 2000 years ago, the Konkan Coast served as the site of a historical shipwreck, strandi

I had planned to spend four nights in Jaisalmer - two days to explore, a day for Shabbat, and one more day at the famous Jaisalmer Desert Festival. But after an overnight sleeper train from Jodhpur, a quick nap, a visit to Jaisalmer's intricately carved Jain Temple complex, and an hour wandering the sandstone lanes, I realized I had just about seen what there was to see. I found myself an empty rooftop cafe with a view of the setting sun, and waited out the rest of the aftern