The Mall Culture is comparatively new in India. When I was in college there were no malls in most of the cities. Today, the big cities boast of one too many. On a 2 km stretch of a road in Gurgaon (quite close to New Delhi) you can count four malls. There is the Metropolitan…
Manali, Himanchal Pradesh: Beautiful but Crowd and Litter Everywhere!
Manali is a picturesque small town in the Kullu Valley, in the Indian state of Himanchal Pradesh. It attracts a lot of Indian and foreign tourists, particularly in the summer months. I visited Manali in June 2005 because it is on the way to Ladakh. When rest of the India is buckling under heat wave,…
Rajaji National Park: An Excellent Weekend Getaway from New Delhi
Rajaji National Park is a wild life reserve in Uttaranchal, India. It falls in the lower Shivalik regions of the Himalayas. It is a peaceful and a quick getaway from the capital of India, New Delhi. We traveled from Delhi to Haridwar in February this year . The name Haridwar will translate roughly as ‘the…
Renuka Lake, Himanchal Pradesh, is a Beauty
Image Credit Fred Hsu Flickr under CCBY I would say that Himanchal Pradesh (HP) is one of the best-kept secrets of India. Parts of it are so beautiful and yet not visited by many. Renuka Lake is situated in HP and is one of such places. Tourism has developed around a natural lake called Renuka…
Shopping in Leh, India
When I visited Leh in June, 2005 the primary reason was to trek. It could not be as I developed a bad stomach after a few days. We suddenly found a lot of time to spend in the city, and it was not in our original plan. So, we ended by shopping in Leh. The…
Goa in December with a Difference
Along with my husband and two nephews, I trekked in Goa, in the month of December through YHAI. The photo is of the Devil’s Canyon and it is from an era when I did not have a digital camera. Goa is a fabulous place but gets too crowded for words in December. But by trekking,…
An Attempt to Trek in the Markha Valley, Ladakh and a Story
When we went to Ladakh this year in June 2005, our aim was to trek from Spitok to Hemis, which is also known as Markha Valley trek. After two days of taking rest in Leh, we started the trek. The first day itself, I developed a violently upset stomach. To tell you the truth, I…
On the Way to Rohtang Pass: Traffic Jam
The first time I passed through the Rohtang pass (a little more than 50 km away from Manali) it was on my way to Leh. We had started at 2 am from Manali and when we reached the Rohtang Pass, an hour or two later, the place was bewitchingly beautiful. As far as the eye…
Save Tibet: A Banner in Leh
I have to confess I do not know much about the situation in Tibet. To me it is a far far away land favored by the climbers and the like! I know things are not right and many people, including his Holiness the Dalai Lama, are living in India in exile. When I went to…
Ladakhi Ladies and a Guest in the Main Market, Leh
I was quite fascinated by this group of ladies selling vegetables in the main market Leh. I wanted to photograph them but my husband kept protesting, lets go and eat first, take it later, they will say no and he went on and on like that. I walked a short distance ahead and then turned…