Blogs from Uttarakhand, India, Asia - page 2

We took the night bus to Rishikesh from Delhi. It took about 10 hours, so we arrived there early in the morning. We went to a guesthouse and first slept for a few hours. The bus ride wasn't really comfi so we needed a bit more sleep. Once we woke up we went for a walk through the town. We crossed the bridge, sat on the stairs next to the Ganga river. There I called mama because it was her birthday. Meanwhile, behind me a monkey was eating a papaya and in front of me there was a calf begging food to other people on the stairs. It was pretty funny. After I finished calling her, we walked through a street on the other side. We got sugarcane juice, which is really delicious. It's super refreshing ... read more

You can't go all the way to India for work and not have an extra few days to look around. The work up in Uttarakhand was great; the few days looking around Madhya Pradesh was typical of travelling in India with occasional glorious bits (temples, palaces, forts, etc) mixed in with horrendous bits (open defecation, ubiquitous odour of urine, trains that inexplicably stop in the middle of nowhere for 3-hours, a lot of rubbish everywhere, constant spitting, appalling Delhi air quality, food-belly collisions, a lot of hassle, shouting at plus once getting physical with tuk-tuk drivers, etc). Unfortunately, perhaps inevitably, and entirely predictably, this particular blog has ended up being similar in format to my India blog of a few years ago. That one was titled “The Ups and Downs of Travelling in India” and alternated ... read more

Survived the overnight train journey albeit grubby, sticky and hungry. So breakfast in Rishikesh was great after another hour by road. Just a few hours to look around nearby before we wandered down to the Ganges to cross the famous Lakshman Jhula bridge. Made our way through endless little shops, streetfood,cafes, cows and dogs to Parmarth Niketan Ashram for the nightly Ganga Aarti cermenony on the riverbank. The guru Swami Chidananda and various students and followers chant. It was chanting, music, clapping and mixing with Indians who grabbed the lamps like it was life or death! I knew one of the chants so could join in. The next day we went up the mountainside to camp! The idea being that everyone could swim in the Ganges. The campsite was very civilized and the food good. I ... read more

So..I had been planning this trip for a while. I explored some of the least visited areas of Uttarakhand in a unique way. Daily adventurous road trips, homestays with the locals and many more offbeat experiences- this was my idea of a holiday! I started with an overnight bus journey from Delhi to Rishikesh. Reaching Rishikesh early morning at 4am I spent my time at the Triveni ghaat. The ghaat as the name suggests marks the confluence of India's three most holy rivers: the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati. Triveni ghaat gave me a cool and peaceful environment to sit and enjoy. I filled my lungs full with the early morning fresh air as much as I can. With sunrise, I could see several people coming up for their first holy dips and prayers. Next, I took ... read more

How about a hot cup of coffee and maggi high up at 12000Ft., with a view of sun’s first rays falling on the Snow-capped Himalayas, sleeping under the blanket of stars at -10 degrees in a cute camp tent ? Sounds beautiful right. That’s exactly what I experienced in my Himalayan trek to Brahmatal peak About the trek: One of the popular winter treks, the trek has been named after the Brahmatal lake, located in Uttarakhand. Even though the trail doesn’t climb to the highest of altitudes, yet it is known to offer views of some high peaks. A small lake and a few forests act as the bonus offerings in this trek. The magical journey starts on day 1 itself. So here I started my journey to the Himalayas, it was 4th of Jan 2018, ... read more