Names of some places strike the mind as mirages. Not because they might be difficult to reach physically, but rather due to the fact that hardly anyone from the mortal world has been there. And hence when unplanned wanderers like me happen to inadvertently land in obscure and little known hamlets like Gada Gushaini, it…
Category: Timeless Villages
Discovering timeless villages and going off grid.
Himachal’s Newest Offbeat Secret : Thachi Valley
It must have been 2 years ago, in 2016 when I had first heard (or read) the word Thachi. I’d reached Balichowki on my way to Gushaini and was having paranthas at a small eatery when I saw a bus with Thachi written on it. I asked the dhaba uncle and he said the road…
Winter in Ladakh : The Goodness of Strangers from Hordass to Saspol
Woke up after a relaxed sleep in Garkon. We were staying at Master Sonam’s Homestay and our chief reason of being in the ‘Aryan Valley’ region was for the wine! Our breakfast consisted of shalgam leaves (turnip leaves) and rotis to be washed down with milk tea. It was very tasty and fresh and we…
In Search of Wine in Ladakh -Hitchhiking from Wanla to Garkon in Winter
Slept 12 hours straight on the first night in Wanla. Woke up to a bright and sunny morning at 9 am. Feeling nice and warm, temporarily forgetting it is the end of December and bitterly cold in Ladakh. Little discomfort in the night due to the smoke of the kitchen rising up to the first…
A Second Winter Trip to Ladakh – Reaching Wanla from Leh Airport
On a cold December morning in 2016, it was time for my second winter trip to Ladakh. We boarded an early morning flight from Delhi and arrived at Leh airport at around 9 am. Even though I highly advise taking it easy and acclimatising to the rarified, thin altitude air of Ladakh especially during the…
Slow Travel in Corbett, with V Resorts Kotabagh
The map showed it would take around 6 hours to cover the 300 km distance to reach Kotabagh from Delhi. It was a forgettable drive through dusty and lawless Uttar Pradesh, which made me reiterate in my mind that if Uttarakhand has to really progress – they must have a different road to themselves that…
Anecdotes from the Malabar Coast of Kerala
If memory serves me right, I made 3 trips to Kerala in 2017 and early 2018. Co-incidentally on all the trips, I had the chance to traverse across the historical Malabar Coast. The mind harks back to the unforgettable moments across some pristine beaches, backwaters, magical sunsets, and succulent biryani; among a vast plethora of…
Orange Festival of Adventure & Music in Dambuk, Arunachal Pradesh
Back in 2017, over a glass of delicious home-brewed rice wine in Nagaland a friend had thrown the words ‘Dambuk Orange Festival’ at me. I was intrigued; Dambuk sounded exotic and the fact that it was an adventure and music festival held in the midst of orange orchards felt too good to be true! About…
In Lake Country : Tawang to Bumla & Shungatser Lake
It was a freezing cold morning in Tawang; and we were supposed to go to Bumla. We had a reasonably late night at the Tawang Festival. It was the end of October and night temperatures in Tawang were already hovering in the negative. On top of the cold, the local alcohol that we all had…
Alternative Living in Kasar Devi, Almora
In hindsight, I can say it must have been a fortuitous moment when I revisited Kasar Devi near Almora. It was the long Holi weekend in March 2018 and the trip had began with great difficulty from Delhi. It is a well known fact that migrating workers from across India go back home for celebrating…
Champaner Pavagadh Archaeological Park – In Pictures
On a heritage project for an assignment in and around Vadodara in Gujarat; the UNESCO World Heritage site of Champaner Pavagadh was high priority for me. And it did not disappoint; I spent an entire day savouring the Islamic architecture of the 15th Century town of Champaner and even older temples of Pavagadh. While the…
Samode Village : A Day Trip from Jaipur
It was as unplanned as something could be. Arvind Bhai of (Jaipurthrumylens) had an invite for Dal Baati Choorma at a function in Samode and since we had discussed visiting Samode Village numerous times, I instantly said yes when he asked if I was interested in going! Not that Dal Baati Choorma wasn’t reason enough…