Vishal's Blog

We flew to the Bagdogra airport and quailed beneath the tyranny of a long drive into the Himalayas. The car kept climbing the gravity defying bends as we kept moving towards the Makaibari village in Kurseong district near Darjeeling. Uneasiness flew down my spine due to the chilly mountainous breeze and the long drive made me wonder if the place was worth the effort. When we reached Makaibari, it was quite dark. While getting out of the car, as I looked skywards, to my astonishment I found the heaven was brilliant with stars. Accustomed to live in a noisy city, we found the silence at Makaibari, a bit unnatural. Knowing that the tea estate is also home to Leopards, we wanted to quietly sneak into our room. We walked into one of the houses in the village and into the heart of one ever smiling Mr. Gurang. The villagers at Makaibari offer home stay at a very nominal rate. The visitors not only can live and share meals with their hosts but also can join workers in plucking tea leave...

While we were in Darjeeling preparing for a trek to Sandakphu, it was raining continuously. Rajan, our guide said November is usually cold but not wet. Perhaps, I thought, this was how nature chose to respond to human attempts to dominate her as if serving a reminder of her existence. Suddenly a credible thought crossed my mind. If it is raining in Darjeeling, it may be snowing in Sandakphu. I prayed to the almighty to not to throw any surprises on my first ever trek in high altitude. Pray but be prepared was our mantra and hence armed with all means to meet such surprises, 53 of us stretched our ambitions to a height of about 3636m, decided to take uncertainties head-on and were ready to scale the only corner in North- East India which provides a 180 degree view of four of the five most formidable peaks in the world namely Mt Everest, Kanchen Dzonga, Makalu and Lhotse peaks.         From Dhotrey - Land Rovers were once Clint Eastwood...

A two-night stay in Jodhpur was quite an experience. Our next destination was Udaipur. I thought Udaipur was a quiet town but I was wrong. Udaipur town is huge and well populated. Whichever place we have been to in Rajasthan, traffic followed us. And Udaipur is no better when it comes to traffic. We spent a couple of desperate moments looking for our hotel Thamla Haveli . Finally, I called up the hotel and they sent a boy to look for us. We met at a specific place and were later ushered into the hotel. Since we had opted for a lake facing room, we were asked to go to the top (second) floor which had an amazing view of the beautiful lake Pichola. After checking-in, I stayed put at the window to have a glimpse outside. There were many people boating in the lake. In Udaipur, since many buildings are located close to each other, I could see nearby hotels and its residents resting and eating. Some were sun-bathing with their clothes on.  I heard some bird-calls in the nearby tree. Su...