it was like planning a voyage through space and time he says the daniells travelled through india for nine years and produced a series of aquatints remarkable drawings of landscapes and monuments with the help of an artistic device known as the camera obscura martinelli took almost two years to find the correct sites and precise locations of each of the daniells views the trip was an eyeopener says the photographer during my journey i often thought of how courageous the two artists were to visit and record sites that even today are almost unknown within india overlooked in most tourist guide books the contemporary reality i discovered was not always that easymany ardent travellers however feel that modernday conveniences have taken the charm out of retracing epic journeys i do not think that the journeys of famous explorers of the past can be truthfully recreated says author and explorer akhil bakshi when columbus captain cook robert peary or roald amundsen set out on their adventures they were venturing literally into the unknown nowadays we are armed with detailed maps guide books gps satphones weather forecasts laptopsnot to mention the cartons of mineral waterthat may be true but its hardly a deterrent for the diehard travel buff even though the world may have been pretty much discovered its always a pleasure to have ones own experiences on famous routes in fact each time it can create a sense of awe and be a different experience says mandip singh soin of ibex expeditions that has organized trips following the footsteps of mountaineerexplorers like edmund hillary bill tilman and eric shipton as well as the everpopular marco polowhat finally counts for those who make such journeys are a lifetime of cherished memories sometimes lending themselves to evocative books ahluwalia who recently released his book on his silk route expedition recalls how each day of the twomonth long voyage revealed a new aspect of life i found out why the silk route is called the lifeline of the orientfor martinelli retracing the path of the two daniells was a process of jubilation and euphoria every time i found the exact point at which the daniells stopped to locate their perspectives in fact he says a trifle dramatically sometimes i imagined the two artists standing beside me and watching me doing strange things with a curious little box thats a tantalizing thought who knows which other explorers of the past are watching over as modernday travellers take to the routes made famousby thematulsethitimesgroupcom