Blogs from Uttarakhand, India, Asia - page 7

I can't believe Jodi has let me write part 3 of the India blog. It will be really difficult not to swear and get angry over every little difficult situation but I'll give it a go. There has been some epic moments but it has been a spirit breaking challenge to stay in India for a month. We’re now back in New Delhi (not my favorite city in the world) after a whistle-stop tour of North India. We returned to our original hotel, Hotel Perfect, (which should be renamed Hotel Adequate to be accurate) for the final night with the 13 other travels we spent the last 10 days with. We had a lovely curry in a nearby restaurant and some fairwell drinks on the rooftop bar. Jodi and I had to make our excuses fairly ... read more

Nainital is conveniently the most prized possession of Uttarakhand. Located in the Kumaon foothills of the outer Himalayas, at about 6000 FT from sea level, it is one of the most famous hill stations in India. Nainital is a valley with an eye-shaped lake & “Naina” is the highest of all the mountains surrounding the lake, hence the name “Nainital”. Inspite of having visited the town several times, spending most of my school summer vacations & several winter vacations there with my family, Nainital never lost its charm for me … always offering something new! Nainital is at an 8 hour drive from Lucknow (my hometown) & about 7 hour drive from Delhi, making it quite a convenient gateway for travelers from these cities. It’s an easy-to-plan trip, ideal for a weekend. There are ... read more

On Friday 6th November I arrived in Rishikesh on the bus from Dehradun. I’d originally planned to stay for just three nights, but I ended up catching the Rishikesh bug and stayed for seven! I’ve quickly found that every part of India that I visit is a completely different India to the previous; making me realise just how massive India is as a whole! Rishikesh is no exception, when I first walked into the main hive of Rishikesh, right by the Ganga River, I felt very overwhelmed and if I’m honest a little intimidated by this new place. Rishikesh is full of hippies, Hindu temples and is the yoga capital of the world! It’s also very interesting that meat and alcohol are banned from Rishikesh, in an aim to promote a healthier, more spiritual lifestyle. I ... read more

Geo: 30.071, 78.2582The movie… is being shot in India everyday. Okay so between us and the Germans what have we hit or what has hit us. Lets see..3 scooters, one pedestrian with the mirror to the back of the head, two small tipper trucks and one large truck with the mirror and sadly one dog did not make it. The good news is other than scratches on the mirrors no panel damage. Darren summed it up nicely. " There is only so much damage you can do in first gear".It is probably fair to say that we have tried everything from serious abuse to polite education suggestions recommending safer road use but with fairy limited success. The problems is simple.. the roads are just not built for this volume of traffic, the people are not able ... read more

Roopkund Trek is one of the very popular treks among the Greater Himalayan treks in India. After a long search for company and self confidence to do the trek, I finally got to do it this year. Oh boy was it worth it.... We were four from our office (actually 7 who had initially registered with IndiaHikes and by the time the trek date approached we had become 4) and we reached Delhi on 29th May evening. We still had some time for our bus to Kathgodam and thus, went on a shopping trip to Palika Bazar to get some items we had missed. We wanted to buy a torch and after haggling with the prices and seeing the type of fancy torches available, we decided to skip buying them (Don't ever say ok to a ... read more