Your photos: Top summer escapes

We invited readers to send in pictures of their favourite but unusual summer getaways -- pristine places that are not on a regular tourist map. Here are some of the pics we received.

P Varun Shankar took a trip to Manali and came back impressed. He strongly recommends Manali to honeymooners and suggests you spend at least a week to enjoy the climate. Here's one of his pictures.

Do you have a photograph of a place -- it could be a quiet fishing hole, a tranquil lake, a stretch of a beach or any location that is not listed in popular tourist guides?

Give us a peek into your pristine escape and if your photographs strike the right chord, we'll publish them!

Simply send in your snaps (original photos only) to travelpicsga@rediffmail.com (subject line: 'My summer getaway'), along with your name, the name of the place, a short description of the photograph, when you visited and what you liked most about the place. We'll feature the best pics right here on rediff.com and in India Abroad.

P Varun Shankar shot another picture at Manali. He writes, "You can go paragliding and river rafting here. This is totally a cool place to visit."

Neha Mistry shares a picture from her Shimla trip. This one, she writes, is of a place called Narkunda in Kufri, the highest point in Shimla.

This panaromic picture is of Shimla before it started snowing is also shot by Neha.

What is Ooty without some tea? Anand Raj visited the Silas Tea Estate and emailed us this photograph.

Vaibhav Sharma writes, "Kalatop is a quaint and beautiful sanctuary near Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh. The forest resthouse there exudes the old world charm of the British era and was built in 1925."

Vaibhav shares another photo of the same place, this one taken one evening when the clouds started descending to earth.

Arpita Saha woke up at five in the morning to watch what she descibes 'the chameleon that was Kanchenjunga'. She writes, "It kept changing colours few minutes.This was the best moment when it turned to a bright hue of orange with the rising sun."

Shivkumar S writes about this breathtaking view, "This photograph was taken from a bridge on a stream in-between two hills. The best thing about this place was that it was so silent and far from the hustle noise of a city. Truly an awesome and relaxing experience and was the perfect stressbuster!"

Rahul Sharma discovered the beauty of Nainital during his journey there in the summer of 2008.

Kiran Shiroor shot this photograph of the Mirik Lake during her trip to Darjeeling and Gangrok. She says, "Mirik is a small hill station in West Bengal on the way from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling. The view is simply spectacular. Walking through the pine trees on either sides is a unique experience."