As summer approaches, and the plains heat up, the season for Himalayan treks begin. Usually most of the well-known treks in the Garhwal, Kumaon, Himachal regions are accessible between the months of May to September. Since May we were ready to hit the trail as soon as any of them become accessible. The information from the Himachal tourism office in Manali confirmed that Rohtang pass, gateway to the Lahaul-Spiti region, would be opened up around May 15. This date usually varies depending on the severity of the last winter. We were advised to plan any trip not before June first week. [View Full Entry]

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If you have been to Shimla in the high season of summer, you will be able to appreciate the title of this blog. It becomes completely impossible to get any reasonably priced accommodation because all the hotels push their prices up, and what you end up getting is quite dismal going by the price-performance ratio. I was aware of all this, but this trip was planned in a rush. My parents came to Delhi, and I wanted to take them to some hill-station which is not too far from Delhi. The journey to Shimla is relatively comfortable. The Shatabdi-Kalka leaves from [View Full Entry]

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The jungle safari jeeps came rushing from the other side, and screamed past us leaving a trail of dust. We were headed away from the spot where the tiger apparently was moving. Our jeep turned its face, and raced on back to the spot. Our guide and driver had been promising us a good tiger sighting since morning, and finally they too sensed the chance of living up to their promise. We were in Bandhavgar National Park in Madhya Pradesh for a 2-night/3-day wildlife vacation. A big group of about 12 people put together by our colleague Koustuv. The organization was [View Full Entry]

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How would the royals spend an introspective evening? I have no experience of it; but lying lazily at the terrace of the Lake Palace Hotel at Alwar overlooking the Silisehr lake and the adjoining rolling hillocks, with a gorgeous ambience created by the cool evening breeze after a hot summer afternoon, and the fading rays of the disappearing sun, I felt like a royal. The evening was stimulating all my senses to the core. We had driven down to Alwar in Rajasthan in the morning. It is just a couple of hours drive from Delhi along the Delhi-Jaipur highway, and then [View Full Entry]

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Most of our trips around Delhi are weekend affairs - leave on a Friday evening and back in office by Monday morning. But this prevents us from venturing far from Delhi. It was time for a longer trip as the winter was drawing towards end. Searches were on among us to find a good place that merits applying for a leave from office. And, then I landed on this website -- http://www.aathitya.com/tourism/fair_festival/ -- that lists the fairs and festivals at different places of India. February was the month for the Desert Fair at Jaisalmer. For Bengalis (people from the eastern state [View Full Entry]

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While planning a weekend getaway from Delhi, especially in winter, Rajasthan is the undisputed choice. The centerpiece of our trip this time was Bharatpur, the famed bird sanctuary at the border of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. But being amateur bird lovers, we knew we would not need more than a day in Bharatpur. We needed some place nearby to visit, and Sariska seemed to be a good choice. Along the way we found out about another place to visit - the biggest center of exorcism in north India, the Balaji temple at Mehendipur. With all our previous experience of planning trips, [View Full Entry]

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This is a diary of a two-day experience of my first ever attempt at full-fledged skiing. Let me first state that I am on the wrong side of the thirties without any prior experience of balancing myself on anything but my own God-gifted legs. For such a person to take a dab at skiing was an experience right out of the comic strips. I was mentally prepared for it, but I believe my self-appointed coach, Peter Buser (dad of my friend Maya) did not have the slightest idea what a challenge he is throwing at himself. Day 1: It was late [View Full Entry]

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One trip sows the seed for the next. A lazy afternoon at a hotel in Sanchi sparked our plan to go to Manimahesh. A travel documentary in TV was covering the temple complex in Bharmour, and the host left us longing for more by telling about the trek to Manimahesh. Thus it began - planning for Manimahesh. It is said that till the Lord calls, Manimahesh remains unreachable - it was a message conveyed through television for the two of us, Nilanjan and myself. Despite our best efforts to include quite a few others for the trip, everyone else dropped out [View Full Entry]

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With our goal of one excursion every month, this time we left for the central part of India. The group size was just two, Nilanjan and me. An overnight train from Delhi to Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, is the best way to start exploring some of the best sites of ancient history of India. Sanchi This is one place that is etched deep in my memory from the high school history texts. It was quite an excitement that we were off to see the famous Sanchi Stupa. Sometimes when I travel to these places, that I had only read [View Full Entry]

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Switzerland, the country pictured so often in Bollywood movies that it has become the stuff of dreams for Indians. This was our destination this summer, away from the Delhi heat. Since my parents and my cousins and sister were accompanying me, at least for part of the seven days, it happened to be one of the trips that took me longest to plan. This was after ages that I was going somewhere with my parents. Last time, as far as I can remember was about eight years back. When you are traveling with friends, there is hardly a need to plan [View Full Entry]

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