Travel Blog - Journey, Stories and Experiences

 The day when CP and his wife went to hike to Llama top, I had decided to visit Gartang Gali. A trek used in earlier times to trade between India and Tibet. The highlight of this trek was the end, where golden wooden stairs (around 50) end the Indian side and from where the Tibetan side begins. I started for Gartang Gali at around 11 AM, and CP had already left by then. Ishan's mother said that CP and his wife ate separately in the morning. She was happy to see that, although I did not understand why. Before leaving, I asked Ishan whether I would be able to reach Gartang Gali or not. This was because there are no petrol pumps in Harshil. The last petrol pump one will see is in Uttarkashi, around 60-80 km away. My car showed that it can run 270 km, but these readings are never accurate. I had to calculate the distances beforehand. Additionally, once you are outside Harshil, there are no networks. I had to reach Gartang Gali from Harshil Valley the old-school way, remembering the rou...

 When I arrived at Ishan's house, he already had a booking for 2 days from someone called "CP" starting from the next day. When I asked him to get me a heater, he gave me a hot air fan, which is not that great in temperatures dipping below negative. I saw him using a much bigger heater in his room, and I was confused as to why he did not provide me with that. Later that night, after dinner, we were sitting on the porch looking down at the Harsil valley and Mukhwa village, on which lights were shimmering in perfect sync. "Somebody is putting up a tent there, look!" said Ishan, pointing towards a gap between two mountains. I looked at the place he pointed and could only see a single light there, like a bulb. "How do you know that?" I asked him. "There's nothing there. Somebody has put up the tent, that's why a light is there. I wonder how they will spend the night. It would be so exciting." I saw his eyes shining while he spoke and cont...

Vishnu poured four cups and the owner asked me, " Do you want some? " I asked, " What is it? ". " Oh! this is our favourite alcoholic drink prepared by jaggery in our homes. We can't go so far into the town just to bring a bottle. Our forefathers have derived a way to make it in home. Our mothers and wives prepare it. " Although I would not have accepted the drink, but it sounded exciting and I knew I might never get to taste it again in my life. So I happily agreed. It tasted just like jaggery dissolved in some bitter liquid. I drank very very slowly intentionally so that they can enjoy their last day with whatever they had without involving me. I asked him, " So what are your plans for the future after this? ". " Plans? Huh! This was not even a plan that is happening with us. We are in pain ." Vishnu said, " Brother, this is something we never wanted. This is our living and they are snatching it from us " " They wh...

I climbed to the peak with a dog whose both eyes had different colours. A disease maybe. The scenic beauty of Kheerganga trek is something you cannot miss and would crave for later in your life. It was a hard trek, especially for someone who does not trek regularly. The path was natural, unpaved and quite narrow. At some places, there was no path at all due to the landslide happened just a night before. It was tiresome to climb such a trek for 14 kilometres but I had a companion that I told about in The Untold Story Of A Few Good Men . I reached the top of Kheerganga trek at around 5 in the evening. It was very cold at the peak. Nearly about 12-15 degrees. But thankfully there was a hot spring bath at the top. A hot spring bath is all you need after such a growing latitude. I booked a tent and quickly went for the bath. It was the best. The natural hot water flowing continuously and in the centre of the highest peaks you can see them capped with snow. I spent nearly an hour there...

This blog post is about a few good men I met on the way to the peak of Kheerganga and I will come later on it. Don't presume from the name Kheerganga that I am going to recite you the beauty of the nature that I saw and how white snow embellished the high peak mountains. Well, as I said in my earlier post I would like to share my experience. The natural experience is experienced by everyone. I decided to write this post because of something else to which I will come a little later. This post is about a story which resides in the humble heart of these few men whom I met in Kheerganga. My Kheerganga story perhaps. Kheerganga is a beautiful place which is in the hilly ranges of Himachal Pradesh. I went from my hometown Haridwar to Bhuntar by boarding a normal bus. The driver was old and I thought he might take some extra time to reach the destination i.e. Bhuntar. But no!! I was wrong. The way he drove the bus on the hills is inexpressible. He was driving at a speed on wh...

The Landing I had finally reached Gangtok . It was a hell of a ride but I did. Gangtok was a beautiful place and a really disciplined one. I liked how people were so fond of following rules and maintaining the cleanliness of Gangtok. I remember one example of the same. I saw a guy who was not from Sikkim , eating a packet of chips and was on the other side of the road than where I was. He ate all the chips and threw the packet on the grass which was on the other side of the footpath. So basically you have a road, then a footpath on the edges and on the other edge of the footpath you have little grass. The dustbin was around 10-20 meters back to the direction of that guy. As soon as he threw the packet, the lady who was walking just behind him picked the packet and went back to the dustbin and threw the packet there. She did not even let that guy know about what she has done, not scolding him like what Anushka Sharma did and definitely not uploading it on social media like a publ...

" Can it be fixed? " were my words as I was so doubtful about the final result. He said, " yes, yes, look what I will do, I will take this rope and tie this to this spring and remove the mudguard by hammering it. Although tyres will not be straight as the spring is broken but since there is no mudguard, what will they touch to? And the spring which was hanging, I will tie it. ". This was his solution. I smiled at him and he smiled back, I knew he would do it but I was not sure about the final destination whether it will be Gangtok or some village where this car will finally breakdown. I rushed towards the two boys who were smoking a cigarette under a shed of a house about 10-15 meters away. The visibility was just 5-8 meters by then. I could just see the main road and the people sitting outside their house where I was standing. Another boy who was sitting beside me in the cab also asked the same question to the driver and he gave him the same answer. While I was...

Scorching heat and I with nothing in my hand decided to leave for Gangtok , a place named the cleanest city in India, a place most disciplined, a place whose beauty is incomparable. Confused? Read The Last Part Last night in Hotel Jagat Inn in Siliguri I was encouraged by a friend of mine Vivek Gautam who told me his story when he was stuck at a place and had to steal blankets from a hotel to sleep at night. I still remember the conversation. I was alone physically but there were many people with me while I needed support. Again there were the same friends whom I mentioned in my Part 7 of another series when I was hospitalised. I remember Vibha was as calm as she has always been on the phone. She is always like nothing has happened. I started to believe this was normal. I remember Ruqaiya laughing her heart out at my situation. I decided to go to Gangtok from Bagdogra. I called Chandani's father from the airport and asked for the directions from Bagdogra. He briefed m...