Orchha: A Medieval Town Frozen in Time
It was on the second day of our stay in Orchha, while standing atop a palatial complex with the whole town spread out in front of us, when it occurred to me that this is a town which is frozen in time. If we could somehow remove the modern settlements, the shops and vehicles, clean the old buildings and redecorate and refurnish the interiors then … Continue reading Orchha: A Medieval Town Frozen in Time
Kaza: An Unfinished Trek
If there is one thing that we as a group of friends do not lack, it is ambition. What else can explain the decision of seven ‘not very fit’ people undertaking a 4-5 hour trek at an altitude of 4,500 m? Foolhardiness perhaps, but I like ambition better. On our final day in Kaza, we had planned a trek from Langza village (4,400 m) to … Continue reading Kaza: An Unfinished Trek
Kaza: Kye and Kibber
After five days of hectic travelling and sightseeing, we decided to go slightly easy on the sixth day of our journey. The two major sightseeing destinations that we had earmarked for the day were Kye monastery and Kibber village. We woke up late and had a slow and leisurely morning with a nice breakfast. Finally, by 1 pm, we all got ready and left for … Continue reading Kaza: Kye and Kibber
Tabo and Dhankar: Two enchanting villages
The fifth day was probably the most eventful day of our trip. We had to travel just about 50 km from Tabo to Kaza on this day, hence, we ended up seeing and doing a lot of stuff starting with exploring the village of Tabo itself. Tabo is mainly famous for two things – a 1,000 year old monastery and a few old caves carved … Continue reading Tabo and Dhankar: Two enchanting villages
Entering the Spiti Valley
The fourth day of our trip was the day when we left the Kinnaur valley behind and finally entered the Spiti Valley. We started the day in Kalpa and ended it in Tabo with a brief halt at Nako. This was the day when we got to witness the landscape for which we had undertaken this trip – stark, rugged, desolate mountains without a shred … Continue reading Entering the Spiti Valley
Chitkul: The Last Village
The last village before the Indo-China border. This is how I got introduced to Chitkul. Now I don’t know why but since the moment we were introduced, Chitkul had got a hold on me. Maybe it was because of the sense of foreboding of going almost till the end of your country or because of the romanticism of a small far flung village by a … Continue reading Chitkul: The Last Village
Sangla: Under the Starry Sky
The second day of our trip was quite a hard one as we had to endure a long drive to Sangla which turned out to be as tiring as we had expected it to be. ROAD TO SANGLA Fresh from spending the morning surrounded by the clean air and the stunning backdrops of Hatu Peak, we left Narkanda at 11:30 am. Soon after, we were … Continue reading Sangla: Under the Starry Sky
Narkanda: A Temple on a Mountaintop
Our trip began on 3rd June 2016 in the union territory of Chandigarh. We arrived from our respective cities and were picked up by our tempo traveller driver from different locations such as airport, railway station, etc. After a joyous reunion, our driver took us to Pal Dhaba in sector-28 where we had a delicious lunch. We bought some essentials for our travels from the … Continue reading Narkanda: A Temple on a Mountaintop
A road trip to Kinnaur and Spiti
More than a century ago a Scottish-American naturalist John Muir observed, “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.” In this time and day this statement rings even truer and if one is fortunate enough to be living in India then it becomes extremely hard to resist the allure of … Continue reading A road trip to Kinnaur and Spiti
MADRID– One Final Stop
After being exhilarated by the Italian capital and being slightly disappointed by the French capital, it was the turn of the Spanish capital – Madrid. Though in all honesty we did not have high hopes from the city as it doesn’t feature in any of the Europe’s must see itineraries and if we didn’t have to catch our return flight from Madrid then we would … Continue reading MADRID– One Final Stop
