Rupin Pass Himalayan Trek

Why do you have to trek? It's dangerous! Why can't you just be a "normal 34 yr old mom"!!!
Why?
Because when the mountains call, one has to go...

Cliché?? yet so very True!!

For me, it's not about boasting, or any summit fever or trying to prove something. It's all about the mountains, and how just being surrounded by them fills me with euphoria. It's like meditation - away from everything worldly, away from even the thoughts of the day to day life, away from everything pretentious. Just so close to nature, so close to pure beauty, that it fills you up with simple yet profound happiness. And when you come back to the "real" world, you come back to the same world you left behind, to the world you belong to, and yet something has changed, and that makes a whole lot of difference.

Arunachal

My love for the mountains took me to Arunachal this time. One of the best thing of travelling to north east is that its not yet commercialized [barring few cities]. And you will find a pristine land, close to nature full of warm people, who still preserve their culture, know their roots and find happiness in simplicity.

I was planning the usual Tezpur to Tawang route. This is the most famous route done in Arunachal, Tawang being the largest monastery in India and second largest in the world. I still intend to return to Arunachal and visit this awe inspiring monastery someday. But for now, I stumbled upon an offbeat and exciting itinerary, just on time.

Hampi - A slice of our history!

Hampi – the former capital of Vijayanagara empire of 1500 AD. It was a very prosperous and huge city in its time and currently is a very important world heritage site situated in Karnataka, India.

Have always been interested in history and have been wanting to go to Hampi since a very long time. But it’s a sunny hot place, so winter months, is when one should go. This Jan, finally a plan to visit Hampi over the long weekend, got finalized in a very impromptu manner with few of my friends. It was 6 of us ( 3 from Bangalore and 3 from Pune Mumbai ) who reached Hospet early Sat morning, via overnight sleeper buses. From Hospet, its barely 15 kms to Hampi. As soon as we entered Hampi, we felt transformed to another era itself. The boulders and rocks strewn across, the ancient ruins scattered here and there, the whole atmosphere took us back in time. This being a long weekend, accommodation was little hard to find and we managed to get rooms on the other side of the Viruppapura Gaddi Tungabhadra river. Very basic but with a good relaxed view.