Blogs from Nainital, Uttarakhand, India, Asia

Having freshly arrived in India from Switzerland we sought refuge from the busy touristy places high up in the Himalayas. When we realized that Nainital can be as busy as any other tourist hotspot during the Easter holiday, we decided to undertake a two-day trek away from the crowds and noise of the city.... read more

22-12-2011 Second day in Nainital, first thing we noticed is it's so much more relaxed here than anywhere else we've been. I don't know if it's our attitude which has changed or not but people have suddenly started to take no for an answer and we find we get less hassle from the salesmen on the street. It's all good. Here's gotta be my favourite place yet, the town's set in a naturally beautiful location around a green lake and surrounded by mountains and more importantly it's actually even cheaper!! The couple who checked in with us happened to be staying right next to us in the hotel. I bumped into the guy outside in the morning and it turned out they live in the States as well... Anyway then we bumped into them again halfway ... read more

the drive from delhi was arduous and it took longer because of the traffic snarl at midnight on the highway. it was eerie caught in between series of trucks in the middle of the night. we drove past corbett and on ur way up to nainital one can look over the forests of corbett. the hair pin bends are steep and nauseous for those who are prone to such things. we reached nainital at about 9 am having driven the entire night from delhi in a scorpio. we rushed to sherwood, all of it as pretty as a picture, the beautiful lake and its whirlwinds and the mountains cradling it. we could see the mist come in in the evening from our hill top hotel overlooking the lake. indeed most of the hotels overlook the lake. ... read more

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to a kind gentlemans house, named Rauhl. Tyagi and I ventured up in Nikhill's car, being a painful 11 hour journey, for a music festival held in the foothills of the mountains in a small town where you can still see the past presence of the British colonisation. The music festival was a mix of everything and extremely laid back, a perfect way to end the first day of our adventure here. The next day we lounged around, went for a short walk, had a BBQ and generally just 'chilled'. This pretty much set the pattern for the following two days as well. I feel completely rejuvenated! I'm coming across opportunities here that I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams would have come along. Instead of hanging ... read more

James, Karita, Kim and I headed for the Himalayas for the weekend. It was 10 hours up and 6 hours back. We had a 4 day weekend because it was Diwali. "Diwali (or Deepavali) is a major Hindu holiday, and a significant festival in Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs across the globe as the "Festival of Lights," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within an individual. Diwali is celebrated on the new moon day (approx fifteenth day) of the month Kartika." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali "Nainital is a town in the indian state of Uttarakhand and headquarters of Nainital district in the Kumaon foothills of the outer Himalayas. Situated at an altitude of 1,938 metres (6,358 feet) above ... read more