I received an early morning call from Nitish (instagram-nitishwaila) when he randomly remarked that he and his friends were headed to Sambhar Lake and I was welcome to join them. It was 31 January and Nitish & Co. were keen on clicking images of the supermoon lunar eclipse from the zero light pollution of Sambhar…
Of Breakfasts and Mountains : Van, Turkey
The bus journey from Trabzon to Van feels like a cross country drive. From the Black Sea Coast town of Trabzon, crossing the province of Agri and cold Kars, the bus makes a stop in chilly Erzurum at around 2 am. I am surprised to encounter frost on the ground, it is very very cold!…
On the Black Sea Coast of Turkey – 2 Days in Trabzon
We have arrived on the Black Sea coast in Trabzon at around 8 am after an 18 hour bus ride from Istanbul. Inspite of that, we feel fresh as the bus ride has been very comfortable to say the least. 2-3 names of hotels and guest houses have been shortlisted to stay in Trabzon. Ask…
All in a Day – Delhi to Istanbul to Trabzon
Our Delhi – Istanbul ticket was originally booked for 21 December on the 1050 am flight on a sale in May. As the day of departure came closer, we made a rough plan for exploring parts of Turkey we hadn’t been to in 2018; and Trabzon (located on the Black sea coast) is the first…
Winter in Ladakh : Revisiting Turtuk from Leh
Yesterday was a crazy day of hitchhiking that included visiting Saspol, Alchi, Likir, Basgo and finally reaching Leh to stay for the night. On the next leg of our journey we want to first head to Turtuk from Leh. Since this is winter time in Ladakh we don’t want to make too many fixed plans…
A Rendezvous with Bharmour, in Winter
We wake up at HPTDC’s Hotel Iravati in Chamba and decide to leave for Bharmour by an early morning bus. It is winter, we have celebrated Christmas the previous evening sipping wine over a bonfire in Chamba. The weather is already cold and promises to be much chillier in Bharmour. The distance from Chamba to…
Exploring Tirthan Valley in Snow – Bathad Village
We make our first stop before reaching Gushaini in Tirthan Valley at a dhaba and have food. It is still raining continuously on the Gushaini-Bathad road and someone tells us at the dhaba that even worse weather has been forecast for the entire week. We are excited, snow is exactly what we have come for!…
A Snowy Sojourn : Shangarh in January
The first snows in the mid-reaches of Kullu Valley were forecast around 15-18 January. I, along-with 3 of my friends had made a flexible plan to explore some villages and enjoy the fresh snow as we did so and Shangarh had turned out to be first on our wish-list of places to see shrouded in…
Memories of a Utopia : Munlom Nature Resort in Dzongu, Sikkim
On my first visit to the tiny erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, back in the early 2010s – I had stumbled upon this word called ‘Dzongu’. It sounded very mysterious and romantic. This first Sikkim trip was with the family and we had a sort-of fixed program for 10 days where we were going around…
The Pristine Village of Sharchi in Tirthan Valley
After spending a peaceful couple of days in a remote paradise close to Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Sainj Valley and attending the Deori village festival, I along with a friend wanted to explore a Sharchi village (Pronounced Sharchi, although the post office denotes it as Sarchi) which had eluded me 2 times on…
Hitchhiking in Winter in Ladakh : Alchi, Likir, Basgo and Leh
It had been a cold and almost sleepless night at the Onpo House in Saspol. Inspite of the many warm blankets provided by the owners, the concrete walls of this annexe had allowed the cold to seep in. I had developed a slight fever overnight and the dim sunlight made matters worse in the morning….
A Day in Misty Kurseong
Initially I was keen on travelling to Kurseong via the DHR (Darjeeling Himalayan Railway) and had even booked a ticket for the journey from Darjeeling to Kurseong on the Red Panda Express that departed from Darjeeling at a reasonable time. The fare for the same was a meagre 50-60 Rupees and made me book the…