travellersnotebook

Ladakh must have been about the first places I chanced upon, when travel meant something more than just going to a place . I learnt that places are where you counted memories . You met people . You shared the same emotion and some emotions are universal . Relationships are universal and all around the world people are caught by the same fears . It has been years since I went there but the memories of that trip still seem like yesterday . Again like many of my other trips , this one was completely out of the blue and random. On the same day I had two friends asking me to visit one in Nepal and the other in Leh and I just decided to pick Leh . Happened to ask Lisa if she was coming along and she gladly agreed . So we did a Bangalore to Delhi and Delhi to Leh back in 2011 . Our host Anuj gave us the most vague directions to get to the Lamayuru cafe . But thankfully, Anuj was right there outside Lamayuru in his ladakhi attire and if I am not mistaken some sheep skin foot warmers o...

I had always wanted to go to the lit fest and finally thanks to Arti I was able to make it. It was a 2 day packed weekend , but totally worth it . We left Hyderabad at 530 am , which means we literally had to stay up all night and the wee hours of the morning for the sake of the fest. Touchdown in Jaipur was at a whooping day time chill of 12 degrees. At that point we thought it may just been the morning. That may have easily been pretty much the average temperature throughout the day, dropping down to 7 degrees at night. Brrrr. My saving grace was my fleece blanket , which turned out to be my fashion statement . Tip: Carry warm clothes - A thick jacket, socks , stockings , a cap etc.   We had a sole agenda and that was getting to lit fest and exploring the schedule . Arti was well researched and we knew the sessions we were going to attend after being a bit lost in the colours and the crowd . The excitement of it all took over the sleep deprivation. We navigated t...

This was my first exploration into the North East of India and very exciting at that. It was a last minute decision and we scurried with our tickets. First up , we did not book any accommodation for the entire trip. We had a rough itinerary that we had had from people and we decided to just go with the flow. Day 1  We travelled from Hyderabad to Guwahati because the direct flights to Shillong were more expensive. T he only booking I made was guesthouse in Guwahati. It was a homestay . We took the room on the terrace ₹1400 for the night . It was very basic accommodation and some good food . We could also take beers .  A meal costs 150- 200 at an average .The owner Mr.Bora was very accommodating and we had some nice conversations. This is the thing about homrstays . You live just like a local would and you get a good peek into the day to day life .The caretaker is a great young boy who is also extremely friendly with his Gastfreundlichkeit . Mr.Bora suggested that we...

Hidden in the Himalayan mountains is this quiet little haven in the midst of pine forests. As part of the initial plan I was scheduled to travel with a dear friend of mine , We must have scouted around the entire map of Himachal and then realised that most places were either crowded or other too commercial . It was then that I reached out to a local from Himachal and asked for suggestions. Thats how this plan for Tirthan was made. We looked around the internet and somehow had very limited information.  We were told that we had to go through a travel planner and so we did . We ended up booking our stay and transport way in advance .  It was only a few days later that my friend decided to ditch and I was lucky and blessed that another friend decided to book her tickets . And off we went to the unexplored Tirthan valley .After  a 2 hour long flight from Hyderabad to Chandigarh , we waited for our cab that was supposedly organised for this tri...

I'll start with this one and go back to the rest of my trips and photographs. I must have started going to camps when I was all of 12 . I remember the first time I went for a trek to Rajamachi in Lonavala and soon after to Melghat Tiger Reserve and Bhimashankar subsequently. This was with a group of strangers and I began connected with strangers naturally. Some of them are still friends and are still in touch . This is 20 odd years later. In some way that may influenced my love for travel and the means of travel, sometimes or even the places I pick. During those days though people exchanged addresses and landline numbers to keep in touch and bonds survived . There was one photographer in the team and the only pictures he probably took were of wildlife, flora and fauna. Not people!  Animals also probably knew that camp sites were not so infested with people. Fast forward to 2018 and travel is changing . Social media may have changed a lot for us . Places remain discovered and eve...