I am pestered by a feeling of being left out these days. It has been a good six months since I did any serious travelling, and it has been bugging me to no end. Not that I never left home – I did some small journeys – like camping in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and see the ferocity Kaveri that seems mild elsewhere, and soaking in the monsoons at Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and Charmadi. But just that much in six months simply doesn’t match up with my expectations. I was seeing some images of the rainforests of Namdhapa and the Neelakurinjis down south in the morning, which is not helping much. And just to add to the fire, someone invited me today to join her for skiing in Gulmarg.
Being away from the sea, rainforests, hills, snow filled mountains, adventures and many such things is not easy for someone like me. And it hurts to stash away the camera somewhere deep in the cupboard and watch the fungus growing inside its glass tubes. I need to get my ass out of the chair and get moving, and hope to do just that in the next few months. I hope to see the blooming Neelakurinjis in the comings weeks, go on a trek in the Sahyadris, take the annual winter trip to Hampi and then take a week long driving holiday in Kerala. So there is the plan for this winter and right now, it looks like everything is about to fall in place. Does that actually work the way it is planned, we will know in the next few months.
With the North India trip report finally completed after almost six months, I shall take a short ten day break from posting here. I will be back soon to write some travel book suggestions/reviews and another series on my journeys in North-East, including little explored regions of Arunachal Pradesh(Eaglenest National Park, Tawang), Nameri National Park in Assam, Kaziranga, Guwahati, Shillong and Cherrapunjee.
Also, I just happened to notice that India Travel Blog has crossed 100 posts mark recently. It took almost a year and a half to reach this milestone, with approximately one post every 5 days.
Here is the link to all the posts of my month long journey, passing through Auli, Rishikesh, Rajaji National Park, Haridwar, Corbett, Varanasi and Agra.
AULI
1. A back-breaking journey: from Rishikesh to Auli
2. First Day at Auli
3. The days of Skiing
4. Spending time in Auli
5. Trekking and walking around
6. About Auli
Also: Auli Image Gallery – 2006
Also: My first visit to Auli in 2005
1. Auli Image Gallery – 2005
2. Write-up on skiing in Auli
RISHIKESH
1. Arriving at Rishikesh.
2. Walking around Laxman Jhula
3. Ganga Aarthi at Rishikesh
4. Photo Essay: Babas of Rishikesh
5. Rishikesh to Kaudiyala
6. About Rishikesh
7. Rajaji National park
8. Ganga aarti at Haridwar
Also see: Rishikesh Image gallery
CORBETT NATIONAL PARK
1. Arriving at Corbett
2. First day at Corbett: safari day trip to Dhikala
3. Corbett: In the nature – A struggle between fear and love
4. The desperate tourist’s tiger hunt
5. Photo Essay: Landscapes of Corbett
6. My Days in Corbett
7. Encounter with Pachyderms
8. Information about Corbett National Park
9. Moving on from Corbett
Also see: Corbett Image Gallery
VARANASI
1. Travelling to Varanasi from Corbett
2. Arriving at Varanasi
3. Many perceptions of Varanasi
4. First day at the ghats
5. Boat ride on the Ganges
6. An encounter on the ghats
7. Photo Essay: Ganga Aarti
8. Life on the ghats
9. About Varanasi
Also see: Varanasi Image Gallery
AGRA
1. Taj Mahal
2. Touts of Agra
3. End of the Journey