That Mountain of Badrinath and Mana Village, Uttarakhand

I still remember, the day begun with excitement. Feeling victorious after the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund trek, Badrinath was my next destination. Not a religious person by definition but I was absolutely ecstatic to experience the one of the four most revered destination by the Hindus from world over. As if all their beliefs manifested…

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People of the Garhwal Mountains, Uttarakhand

Journeys are made by the people we meet and the landscapes we see. People share the stories of the land as they have seen or heard about it and that makes the place more special to me. In my recent trek to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund, I got the chance to meet some people…

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Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib: A Trek with Strangers

In 2008, I first came across the existence of the Valley of Flowers. While I waited to see the images of this flourishing valley on my screen, I wondered when would I be able to visit this heaven-like place. Many people confuse the Valley to look like Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden of Kashmir or Keukenhof…

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How Trekking Redefined My Life

There will be two moments which will remain with me forever- the conflicted confidence while trekking from Langza to Komic in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh and the incredible sunrise at Sandakphu, North Bengal. Somehow, even though the experiences are in two different locations, they seem like a continuance to each other. In Spiti, I was trekking…

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2014 through my travel looking glass

This year has been unpredictable, frightening and very emotional for me. There were times when I didn’t want to open my eyes to a new day and there were nights when I didn’t want the morning lights to interfere. In all honesty, when I look back in time, I did not preempt any of this….

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