Blogs from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia

This was one of those random treks which just happened thanks to SpiceJet :) One day few of us noticed that SpiceJet was offering pretty good discounts on flight tickets to Delhi. We just booked it during the Republic Day weekend as we would be getting 3 days of holidays together. Apart from Vivek and Aayush (my usual trek partners), Yash decided to join this time. The plan initially was to go to Vaishno Devi when Aayush suggested this trek of 2 days duration. We anyway had Roopkund on our radar for the year and thought this would be a great as a mini Roopkund-ish trek. So it was decided that we shall conquer Prashar and in the process test our trekking skills in a cold climate. We reached Delhi one day early and roamed around ... read more

After 25 years, on second August 2013, I had an unexpected opportunity to visit again this lake side mountain temple of sage Prashar. I had then written a story namely ‘The Grandfather of Gods’ about it in The Tribune’s Himachal that You Do not Know series of articles. Till then it was a mere a neighbourhood travel and pilgrimage spot, away from its present national and Bollywood fame. As an exotic alpine meadow excursion spot and an antiquated spiritual seat of sage Parashar now it is a dream destination for not only the patron population of the surrounding villages of Mandi and Kul... read more

Tensing is 37 and hails from central Tibet, where together with his mother and a group of Tibetan nuns he escaped Chinese persecution in 1984 via a treacherous 14 day journey across the Himalayan plateau and into India. He has had a good education in India, and has lived in the USA and Spain. Now he lives in Rewalsar where his mother also lives the life of a Tibetan nun and his sister runs an excellent Tibetan restaurant serving Thupka, Momos and Chowmien. Rewalsar is just 23 klms from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and is at an altitude of 1,360 m above sea level. It has always been sacred to Tibetan Buddhists but since the Chinese invasion of Tibet, it has become a refuge for many Buddhist monks, with three monasteries now in the town. The ... read more

Hey Everyone, Right now I am up at Sharab Ling Monastery near Bir, India for some Mahamudra teachings from Tai Situ Rinpoche. I am also continuing my study of Tibetan. It is really beautiful up here. It is in the mountains and is nice and cool. Although yesterday was a bit warm. If you can, please email me and let me know how these blog posts are going and if you have any questions I can answer on here. I am looking for things to put on here. I miss everyone very much and look forward to seeing everyone on my return. Until then, stay safe and be kind to all. Kevin (Senge)... read more

Another day, another local bus journey!! This time leaving the sticky heat for slightly cooler climbs - we were heading up again, this time to Jogginder-Naggar (say it with a rolling tongue!), so that we could catch the 7.20am 'toy-train' the following morning. There is only one hotel in Jogginder-Naggar, it is recommended by the tourist board and described as a very comfortable and luxurious, but still quite cheap... Hmm, not quite what we were expecting and we were a little disappointed, but also quite amused to find that the hotel was much like a crumbling school building - huge open hallways with bars on the window and all the room keys hanging on board behind reception - we were the only ones there! The town is fairly non-descript, just the bus and train station at ... read more