Musings of a Wandering Mind

The End of a Journey

Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra

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After the visit to Taj, I packed my bags, checked out and took a bus to Delhi. There were plenty of trains from Agra to Delhi that were convenient as well as safe, but there were none with an empty seat at the hour I was leaving. I reached Delhi in the evening at Sarai Kale Khan inter state bus terminus and checked into whatever accommodation was available nearby.

In the evening, I headed to Connaught Place to indulge in the goodness of the city. It is there that I realized that, despite having immensely enjoyed my month long journey, I still missed some things that the big cities offered. Summer was just beginning in North India and I was longing for the good weathers in which I had spent my entire lifetime. And a south Indian restaurant in Connaught Place offered me all that I wanted – the food of home that I missed during the journey – chitranna, dosa, butter milk and much more, which I decided to choose against many other exotic offerings of food. And the air conditioning in the restaurant isolated me from the mild heat of early summer. Suddenly I felt secure to be in the city. I did not have the constant worry of loosing my backpack or my photography gear. I did not have to worry about how much cash I had and where is the next ATM. Money was just a short visit away at the nearby ATM and everyone accepted credit cards anyway. It seemed good to be in a city. It seemed good to be on the way back. But I knew that the city came with its caveats. I knew inside me that city is not where I belonged to, and city is not where I would feel at home.

I flew back to Bangalore next morning. My mind was empty as the plane landed. I neither felt happy to be back, nor did I feel sad that the excitement of travelling was coming to an end, albeit temporarily. But I was content with the way the last one month passed by. And I knew I had another long journey to look only in a few weeks to come. It was my first long journey, and I was glad at the way it turned out.

– The End –

VOLUNTEERING IN UTTARANCHAL

I received this information by email last week. See if you are interested.

—

Greetings. I am writing to introduce you to a noble effort in village ecotourism in rural India. It is called the Rural Organization for Social Elevation (R.O.S.E.)and was founded in 1981 by local residents concerned about the plight of the poor in the Kanda area of Uttaranchal, India. In 1988 it began accepting international volunteers, eco tourists and students. Since then it has accepted over 300 people from all over the world to work and live immersed in village life and the local culture for anywhere from 1 week to six months. It is a unique approach to tourism that supports and uplifts the local community .R.O.S.E. is currently trying to reach out like-minded individuals and organizations in order to form a network to share information and bring awareness to its existence. To find out more about R.O.S.E., the work it does, and the opportunities it provides for tourists please visit http://www.rosekanda.info & www.bageshwar.nic.in/excursions.htm

First Choice Responsible Tourism Award 2005 Best Volunteering programme sponsored by The Imaginative traveler, Winner-Rural Organization For Social Elevation (ROSE) from The World Travel market (WTM) London on 16th November 2005 http://www.presspicture.net/p247t-login.htm

Thank you for your kind attention. Please write if you have an questions or if you have any suggestions on other ways to promote this project.

Sincerely,
Jeevan Lal Verma
Director ROSE

REWARD OF TRAVEL BLOGGING

So far, I thought of this blog as a means of logging the details of places I have visited, so it would be useful to myself if I want to re-visit the place, or for readers to get information of places they would want to visit.

Only today did I discover another pleasant thing about travel blogging. I was scrolling through the archives of the blog for something and suddenly my mind wandered into those beautiful places I had visited. As I read along, I was carried away to the immensely beautiful Dandeli and to Jog Falls which is back to its full glory now. And all along, I had ignored the fact that diaries are written to cherish those good memories!