I had always wanted to go trekking in the Himalayas. This materialised when we booked our trekking slots for Sarkundi Pass . We had to report to the Base Camp near Manali in Himachal Pradesh on April 29th. We had booked our trekking through YHAI ( Youth Hostels Association of India) which organises treks at state and national levels. This was our first with YHAI. Come April last week, we started gearing up for the trek. We packed all the essentials into two backpacks. We flew into Delhi and from Delhi took a bus to Manali. Himachal Pradesh is a blessed land with abundant natural beauty. The beuatiful Himalayas adorn its beauty.That morning, I woke up in the bus to find myself surrounded by the Himalayas and I couldn't contain my happiness. This was my first ... read more

Yet again, our choice was Discover Dorset tours to explore Bath. Their walking tours are good and their tours start from Bournemouth. Bath is famous for its Roman Baths – the hot water spring baths. We were picked up by the Discover Dorset tour mini bus at the Bournemouth station. There were already other tourists in the bus from different countries. We then headed off towards Bath. Arriving in Bath, we walked straight towards The Royal Crescent. It gets its name because of its shape. A perfect crescent with windows on its walls – a great symmetrical architecture, I must say! I wondered what those windows and doors on its wall were. Our Discover Dorset walking tour guide, Jim, told the history of the crescent. It is a row of 30 terraced houses ! After standing ... read more

Oxford – The name that is associated with renowned colleges , university and intellectuals. One cannot help but visualise students hurrying up to the university and intellectuals debating and busy innovating. Well, along with all this, Oxford is also rich in history with its age old buildings standing there with a pride of having witnessed the history. From Bournemouth, Discover Dorset Tours offers day trips to nearby places of historical significance. My husband and I along with a friend, bought 3 tickets to Oxford tour through Discover Dorset tours. On a Saturday morning, we were picked up by a mini bus from the Bournemouth bus station. Oxford is around 94 miles from Bournemouth which takes about 2 hours. We started at 9 am and reached Oxford at around 11 am. On the tour, we had people ... read more

My work allowed me to stay in Nottingham for a year. Nottingham – the place of Robin Hood, whose stories we are all familiar with. It a relaxed city unlike other bigger cities in the UK. Not much of a hustle-bustle but quite calm. There are many places to visit in and around Nottingham. Wollaton Hall, Nottingham Castle , Matlock Bath, Attenborough , Old Market square amongst host of other tourist attractions. My favourites are the Old Market Square and Attenborough. Old Market square because, it was the heart of the city. Shopping, pubbing, indulging in food from across the world – you could do it all here. And Attenborough because of the memorable bicycle ride to this place from Nottingham. My friends and I planned to cycle to this place on a weekend. I had ... read more

The trip to Lake district was no less than an adventure. My friends and I planned for a weekend getaway to Lake District. We started a little late from Nottingham on a Saturday morning. While on the highway, the Tomtom ( GPS navigation system) started giving trouble. We thought we were on the wrong route, but somehow kept navigating towards Lake District. Sometime around noon, the car broke down in the middle of the road and wouldn’t start. Amongst us, those who knew about cars, looked into everything that could have possibly gone wrong. Since they couldn’t figure out much, one of us called the car rental customer care and reported the problem. I do not remember what exactly they said, but help did not arrive. We were stranded there unaware of what to do next. ... read more