Allegories of my life

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Tungnath & Chandrashila (June 2018)

October 29, 2020

I have a new travel partner (my husband) who is a travel enthusiast just like me. We decided to start off our first trek together with Chandrashila (13000 ft above sea level) in our home state, Uttarakhand. Devprayag, where Alaknanda, Saraswati and Bhagirathi rivers meet and take the name Ganga. We drove from Haridwar quite late without knowing the actual distance to Chopta which is the base for the peak as google map showed two places named Chopta, one being closer than the other(original one) We reached Chopta (the wrong one) and realised the original place is still 70 kms away. That was the time we took a stop at Rudraprayag to understand the directions and asked the locals to help us find our destination. After much understanding, left for Rudraprayag, we crossed Agustmuni market which was still affected by the floods that came in 2013. It took us through the heart-rending episode that occurred in Uttarakhand that year and shook both of us. We stopped by Ukhimath to have tea as

Vineyards of Nashik

February 14, 2018

There are a total of 106 vineyards in the entire India out of which 43 vineyards are in the enchanting city of Nashik. The city is 165 Kms away from Mumbai and can be reached in around 3.30 hours by road. The practice and study of vineyard product is called viticulture, Nashik has a belt of grape production which contributes to more than half of the total grape export from the country for that reason it is known as the “Grape Capital of India” This was our third visit to Nashik and to my amazement I came across some amazing wineries. After all the understanding Soma Vineyards are the best in terms of view (lake), food and comfortable seating. It has got a huge attractive property with swimming pool and has restaurant serving food from 12 noon onwards and for wine the place is open 24*7. It has a tasting tour and rooms for staying as well. Sula Vineyards, the most popular place for wine tasting, staying and experiencing the grape production hence it is a world class winery with

Leh-Ladakh via Jammu and Kashmir

August 29, 2016

The Trip of a lifetime: The actual planning of this trip started few days prior to the trip, with lots of discussions over how to go and then after a trail of suggestions and debate we zeroed in on going forward. 6 th Evening: We left at around 11:00 PM from Delhi, first stop being Murthal for dinner. We had to drive through the night so we ate home cooked Egg-curry, ordered tea(to be awake) and hot steamed momos (which seemed to be our staple food during the trip). Songs, tea and the excitement of the trip were keeping us awake yet a few caught up on some sleep while others chose to be awake to support the fellow travelers. Soon the dark night was replaced by the first glow of the sun and we were somewhere near Ludhiana admiring the “pinds” of Punjab. We happened to have crossed Jalandhar and soon we were in Pathankot, the border of J&K, all that we could see was Indian Army all around since Jammu has the maximum Army divisions in its area this didn’t seem to be

Andaman Islands

January 21, 2016

In between the progression of the flights from Mumbai to Andaman Islands I was catching on some sleep, just then I woke up to the bird’s eye view of the islands surrounded by water, well it wasn’t anything extraordinary but was beautiful because of the turquoise blue water of Andaman Islands and in no time I was pretty excited to stumble upon the adventure I was going to catch up for the next few days. My first spot was Corbyns Cove beach, a non fancy beach with a bit of water sports activity backed up by the coconut trees. I didn’t realize it was just 5 PM when I advanced towards the Cellular Jail to watch the light and sound show but not before the perfect sunset in the calm beach. 180 degree Panoramic view of the Corbyns Cove Beach during sunset. A little I had known about the Jail but after the show I was in complete emotional breakdown of the history behind the formation of jail in the past and how the freedom fighters were brutally tortured during the re

Do you remember the walk to your school?

November 18, 2014

Do you remember the walk to your school? Not breaking the pact was the golden rule In the hills, we are born The freshness of air, so warm Waiting for the sun god to come Under the mellow rays, to sit down Not wanting for evenings to arrive The cold was quite severe to strive Those little jaunts to our favorite Mussoorie A place of tranquility and warmth, it’s a glory I demand for those days to return back The Eagles and their famous sound track Do you remember the walk to your school? Not breaking the pact was the golden rule -Manika

Trek to Triund!

October 13, 2014

The journey: We started off on the 1 st October night from Delhi to Dharamshala without knowing the consequences of going by a private Volvo. The bus timing was 8:30 PM but we got the first blow of the trip in the very beginning by leave-taking 1 hour late from Delhi. All thanks to the extensive weekend the route showed the worst side of it. Our first holdup! Meanwhile we got engaged in chit-chatting and realized it was already midnight. At 1 AM the bus stopped up at a local dhabha for dinner and we had dal makhani and Chapati. We took a nap and woke up to a massive jam at the toll gate followed by countless vehicles behind us. It was 5 AM already, after waiting for almost for one and a half hour we stepped down the bus in order to find out where the driver was. We walked for about 5-10 minutes and observed a queue full of drivers, in amidst the line up stood our driver all worn out. We came back to the bus to notify the uninformed aggravated public and after about two and a h