There, in a meadow, by the river’s side, A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy, All lovely daughters of the flood thereby, With goodly greenish locks, all loose untied ̴ Edmund Spenser Mother Ganga and the wilderness There were no meadows by the side of the majestic Ganges. There was divinity and a heavenly … More Nature, Spirituality & Emancipation: Fascinating Lakshman Jhula
Prologue “The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops….” My trance of the horror was cut short by the doorbell and it was none … More A Night in Castle Naggar
“See the mountains kiss high heaven..and the waves clasp one another..” The melodious quote of Percy Shelley and Hutchinson was haunting my mind as my gaze went towards the narrow gorge of the Parvati river dancing down the now visible spectacular valley. We were en-route for Kasol on a tourist cab hired from Bhuntar bus … More Kasol Calling
Prologue The beast roared furiously for the last time before thudding onto the already shaking iron bridge. I was skeptical and anxious whether I would be able to balance myself. The hanging iron bridge was shaking back and forth, yet the beast was strong enough to balance its speeding velocity and we were on the … More Rise of a Beast Rider
Prologue Norman Maclean had quoted “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it”. Our country has been gifted by several mighty rivers that had shaped the dawn of civilization. The mighty Indus or the Sindhu had a crucial role to the emergence of our subcontinent as one of the most powerful … More Rendezvous with the Mighty Indus
Prologue How will you feel when you stand and behold the vast whiteness of an amazing snow world with towering peaks surrounding you, chilled winds biting the very remains of comfort from your skin? Your breath gets held; you remain mesmerized in the amazing beauty of the Mother Nature!! Snow World..Chang La This is the … More Adieu Chang La
Prologue Ladakh is a land of formidable “La” (Mountain Passes) and heavenly “Tso” (Lakes). In our two day stay we had already raided the mighty Khardung La, seen the mysterious Nubra valley, traversed miles through the dangerous yet breathtaking Shyok basin before stepping into the lake world of Pangong Tso. But we had more adventures … More Roadtrip to Chang La from Pangong
Prologue The aura of the overnight camping at Pangong had a long lasting impression on all of us. Although we had comfortable sleeping bags and heavy blankets at our disposal, but with the lights being put off for the night, severe cold wave surrounded the camp completely. Pangong Tso…Amazing Morningscape… Hassan ji later informed us … More Morning in Camp Pangong
On the way to Durbuk from Shyok The adrenaline rush on the way to Shyok was not over. We had another long two hours ride before we could reach our destination Pangong Lake. We left Shyok town on a downhill ride, the road leading us into a gorge with walls of mountains guarding the narrow … More Roadtrip & Camping in Pangong Tso
Prologue The early morning was bathed with bright sunlight flooding the Nubra Valley. Every tree, bush, fresh blooms and the orchards of Hunder had adored their blissful colours shedding their overnight dullness. The surrounding rugged dark grey mountains look formidable in the brute elegance. A Fish Eye Shot of the Shyok Basin The immortal verses … More Breathtaking Shyok Safari
Prologue The verses of the noted Kashmiri poet & lyricist, Khwaja Habib was floating in my mind….. Ra’na zeba gulab ay, Shab-boy manziposh sonaposh dray, Karipatl ta sombalan kar gray, Madano kati canI jay? The rose has come, graceful and lovely, The tuberose, the balsam, and the Sonaposh have bloomed, The larkspur and the … More An evening in Nubra Valley
Prologue “…..Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River. Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze. Country roads, take me home to the place I belong….” Country Roads…Take Me Home…The Road Trip to Nubra Valley (Hunder Village) John Denver’s magical tunes were like a magical … More The Amazing Road Trip to Nubra Valley
Prologue John Keats had once commented “a thing of beauty is a joy forever.” The beauty of the brown mountains, lofty snowy peaks, blue lakes (“Tso”) and the breathtaking passes (“La”) had created an eternal aura of Mother Nature at her very best in Ladakh. Destination Khardung La Khardung La is one among the mighty mountain … More Raiding the Khardung La
Prologue Last summer while returning from Kalpa we were going through one of the translations from Rabindranath Tagore on the beauty of the mountains…. “In the mountain, stillness surges up to explore its own height in the lake, movement stands still to contemplate its own depth.” The aura of the mountains was so daunting it … More Leh – The Land of Brown Mountains
Prologue It was the wedding night of Ram Kumar Negi and Jyothi. Ram’s green Kinnauri topi was hanging beside the closed wooden dwarang (door) of their humble two storied hut in the village of Rakchham in Kinnaur. Their beautiful wooden hut was today neatly decorated with Bijli lamps. It was also the wedding day of Ram’s … More Polyandry, Alienation, Religion and Land: Many Shades of Kinnaur
Traveling to Kalpa: The Adrenaline Rush Prologue Milton had immortalized the flavor of paradise in his illustrious creations Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. People had quite often compared the valleys of Kashmir as being the true Jannat (Paradise) on Earth. There is no doubt about that! But how many of us are aware that, beyond … More Traveling to Kalpa: The Adrenaline Rush
Prologue Melancholy was grabbing our spirits very fast while we were on our way back from Chitkul, passing the Godly valleys looking so ever mysterious in the growing cloud cover. The sun rays were playing hide and seek with the clouds, the mountain tops were looking darker and shaded than before and there was growing … More A memorable evening at Fort Kamru
Prologue We were excited like anything when Mr. Mukesh Negi our tour guide explained us the details of the Sangla-Chitkul trip at the lawn of the Hotel Kinnaur Kailash Kalpa (Altitude: 2960m i.e. 9710 ft) . We were literally amazed by the depth of his information and knowledge about the place. There was hardly a … More Sangla Unplugged: A Paradise in Kinnaur
Prologue We had been excited like anything from the moment we had read about the Kinnaur village Chitkul last winter. As our trip to Kinnaur shaped out during this year’s summer vacation, we could hardly hide our elation and excitement about this amazing place. Our journey from Kalpa to Chitkul We had already booked a … More Chitkul the last Inhabited Himachali village near Indo-Tibet Border
PROLOGUE Ever since my childhood days, I had been enthralled by the stories of the hideous mysteries of caves. The fear factor started from the stories of Tom Sawyer, Ali Baba and Forty Thieves, Aladdin. The adventure of Tom Sawyer in that mysterious cave scared a hell out of me. I had enjoyed cave exploration to my … More Robber’s Cave Dehradun: Admiring the beauty of Nature
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