Wired Wanderlust: Video Passages to India

Far be it from IT to say anything against doorbells, sleigh bells, or schnitzel with noodles, but our list of favorite things veers more than a little from the one proposed by a certain former novice as a comfort to her sweet-voiced young charges. Though still susceptible to brown paper packages tied up with strings, we currently incline toward the following: videos , blogs , and (thanks to Traveler's recent special section) India. Put those favorite things together, and you know what you get? Our new favoritest thing: vlogs about India.

Ryanne Hodson recently returned from a monthlong visit to the subcontinent, during which she posted a number of videos on her blog. Check out her footage of Mumbai traffic, mehndi, Pune, and a party featuring entertainment by puppets, a snake charmer, a conjurer, and a monkey.

Want more? We did. And were amply satisfied with our discovery of Deirdré Straughan's Indian vlog from a trip with her daughter a year and a half ago. Straughan, who lives in Italy but went to school in India, posted about 20 clips, including an elephant ride to Jaipur's Amber Fort, a demonstration of Rajasthani hand-block printing, a turban-tying lesson, and an exuberant parade that had us tapping our feet and checking Orbitz for fares to BOM.