How many of us get third time lucky? This year, I’ve had the great fortune of travelling to Uttarakhand thrice over. And even though I try not to maintain stats, I’ve lost count of the number of times I have gone back to the state, since my first visit 11 years ago. Uttarakhand is one…
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On an unexpectedly warm afternoon in Haridwar, I navigated away from Haridwar Road (also known as NH74) towards a dense forest cover. I noticed how the trees on the hilltops here were shaped differently—clear at the trunks and thinly trimmed at length. This was so stark that I assumed it was another species altogether. Gautam,…
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This wasn’t my first time to Haridwar. I have survived its oppressive and dehydrating sun previously though it got tougher this time. Haridwar was my city connect to and from the Valley of Flowers trek. My stay here was split into two sections: first for a short 24-hours before the trek and the next for…
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Through the crowded, dusty roads of Haridwar, the jeep took me through Shyampur’s dimly lit village towards the yellow lights of Aalia. I had just finished the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib trek. Escaping the exhaustion, I allowed Aalia to flatter me with its luxurious comfort. And in the following days, I realised how addictive…
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On an excruciatingly hot day, I decided to walk around Rishikesh. It was not my first visit to this mystique land but things have changed much since the 2013 floods. My eyes looked for the landmark statue of Lord Shiva, facing Parmarth Niketan and not having located it, I asked a passer-by, who told me it…
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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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