Jim Yingst of Javaranch brought my attention to this brilliant site - DigitalGlobe. At DigitalGlobe (I guess Jim works for them), they have a huge collection of geo-spatial imagery, and its free!! (well, sort of!)

Using their extremely user friendly interface, I zoomed from globe-view to the image of my local town (Ottapalam) in about 5 clicks, and with recent response times (unusual for image archive web services), it was a pleasure to view the part of the world that I am so fond of, from an all new angle!!

I will share the catalogue ID in a minute.

Looking at a 0% cloud cover shot of Ottapalam/Palakkad/Shoranur region of Kerala, South India, I could clearely see Bharatapuzha (the great river that has seen raise and fall of civilizations along its banks), the 'Anangan' mountain range, Malampuzha reservoir etc, its amazing.

Zooming in another part of the world, looking at East of Ireland, you have half a frame full of 'The city of a thousand pubs', Dublin. The Leafy river, Dublin port, The M50 (motorway), Phoenix Park (and even President's Palace) etc are clearly visible!

Gosh, I would love to be in one of those things that float over the atmosphere, what you call them? That’s right, ‘satellites’!

Thanks to the folks at DigitalGlobe. Cheers!!