( Priyanka Sharma, a student journalist who wrote this article about me for her college magazine. Thanks Priyanka) The beauty of her mysterious mountains and the tranquility of life in Shimla, had been captured with amazing flair by a zillion cameras over the years but never could the “queen of hills” truly boast of someone [...]

( Originally appeared in the October/November 2011 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“The Last Valley”) ) Long marred by separatist violence, the Kashmir Valley is finally enjoying a relative peace, with tourist numbers higher than they have been for years. But will it be enough to return the beautiful Himalayan vale to the ranks of [...]

Winter, the best of all the seasons. It’s when you pack yourself in layers of clothing. The time when you enjoy different flavors of tea. When you sit near the chimney in a dark wooden room, while flakes of snow, cover your garden and the pine trees around your house with a white sheet. It’s [...]

Holy town of Pushkar, Rajasthan, is a place where Lord Brahma once performed penance, where thousands of Hindu Pilgrims descend to the lake every year to bathe at 52 different Ghats of the Pushkar Lake and where photographers from around the world outnumber the pilgrims each year during the annual camel fair. Some call it [...]

Agar firdaus bar rue zamin ast hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast! (“If there be paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!”) – Emperor Jahangir I remember quoting Emperor Jahangir in my tweet last month when I was in Srinagar. The quote, I first came across in an advertisement of [...]

Adventure Hills invited me to experience their new adventure course, that would teach kids the skills to survive at high altitude areas and Himalayan forests. It included a 4 day trek to choordhar peak (highest peak of the middle Himalayas), caving and other techniques for survival. I’ll explain more in a separate travelogue, till then, [...]