Life Inspires

Set in the sleepy little village of Dhanachuli in Kumaun, Uttarakhand, Te Aroha , with its yellow roofs, stands out. With tastefully done interiors and beautiful landscaping, the resort is different from any other resort I have visited so far -- and in more ways than one. Let us start with the name "Te Aroha". It means "the mountain of love" or "the loved one". And when you meet the man behind the resort, Sumant Batra , you fully appreciate why he chose this name.  More than business, Te Aroha is his passion. Each corner of the resort echoes this, and you can see how much love he has put into chalking out minutest of the details. The resort is named after the mountain of the same name in New Zealand. Click here to read the complete legend behind the name. Sumant was generous enough to invite some bloggers to Te Aroha for a bloggers meet this month. We stayed there from October 4 to October 6, 2013. During these three days, we got ample opportunity to...

My article about Mcleodganj, along with pictures by VJ Sharma , was recently published in TOI Jammu. Here's what I had written: Mcleodganj, a small town about 10 kilometers from Dharamshala, isn’t anything like your typical hill station. Yes, there are mountains, temples, and even a quintessential waterfall, but one whiff of the air fragrant with the tantalizing aromas of fresh baking, Italian and Tibetan Cooking, and coffee, and a walk through the Buddhist artifacts-laden market are enough to transport you into another world altogether.   The fact that this town is also the residence of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is palpable everywhere, from the narrow congested streets, receding into the heart of the town, to the Tsuglagkhang, Dalai Lama’s temple, towering over the town. In this mesmerizing town, it is easy to chance upon sights and sounds that will make your heart burst with joy. At one corner, beautiful notes of the flute played by a tourist ...

Recently my article about Barot, a small town in Himachal Pradesh, was published in Times of India, Jammu. The pictures in the article were clicked by my friend VJ Sharma . Here is the article: Tucked away in the remote recesses of the Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh, lies the tiny town of Barot. To a large extent untouched by tourism, the town offers a peaceful getaway to travellers, away from the hustle-bustle of daily life. Surrounded by century-old, tall deodars, Barot is a time capsule and visiting Barot is like taking a peek into the bygone era when human beings still knew how to live in peace with their surroundings and with nature. The river Uhl runs through the town twisting its way amongst boulders and polishing pebbles till they glitter like silver and gold, and birds of all colours and sizes sing their various songs while flitting in and out of sight. On the surface, Barot appears to be a sleepy village with women chasing hens and chicks to put them away for the n...

Becoming a traveller isn’t easy. Just like any other hobby or profession, expertise comes with experience and one has to polish the skills over years. Some travellers have a natural talent whereas some work hard towards developing it. Some learn by making mistakes. But those of us who have made these mistakes know that most of the times these mistakes are very expensive. I mean literally. For example, choosing a hotel at an impractical location may result in you spending a lot of money in cab fares. Or shopping without research may result in you paying much more than the item is worth. And when we make such mistakes, we wish that we had known better. All experienced travellers have their own set of tips to make the most of a trip. And at Ghumakkar, we have no dearth of experience when it comes to travelling. Here are some lessons that I have learnt during my career as a traveller. Do some research Find out as much about a place as you can. Go beyond the standard ‘places to visit’ ...

They are rare and they are elusive. In fact, they are so difficult to spot that at times their existence is shrugged off as another unsolved mystery in the same league as the Little Green Men from Mars and the Loch Ness Monster. However, for us at Ghumakkar, they are a reality since we can proudly boast that we have them amongst us. Yes, we are talking about that rising and rapidly multiplying breed of travellers – The Indian Women Backpackers. If you have been reading Ghumakkar regularly, you could not have missed Nisha Jha’s recap of her travels in her story . And those of you who have been around long enough would have immediately thought of our original backpacker, Lakshmi Sharath , whose Ghumakkar ID ‘backpakker’ says it all. Indians are social people and when someone talks about travelling alone, the first question that comes up is “Why? Won’t you get bored?” And if you are a woman, you have to fight through additional layers of approvals and disapprovals. You need to have a cert...

Many of us have read travelogues by Bill Bryson ('Down Under' about Australia is my personal favorite) and William Dalrymple ('The City of Djinns' about Delhi has won a million Indian hearts). No doubt these are extremely well written and very well-researched travelogues. I love Bill Bryson's wit as much as I appreciate William Dalrymple's depth. But this article is not about them. This blog post is about those short travel posts that appear on various blogs adding to a wealth of authentic information available about travel destinations worldwide. I have come to trust these blog posts more than I trust travel agents, 'Places to see' posts on tourism websites, and, I am sorry to say, even the painstakingly compiled travel guides published by reputable travel companies. How many times have you visited a place at a popular tourist destination and been completely disappointed by it? Or you have missed going to a beautiful, 'must visit' place because...

Inspired by Kelsey Malia Chapp's post , I decided to put down the list of places I have to see in my lifetime. I have been talking about these pretty much all the time but probably writing them down will make the dream more substantial. So here goes: 1) New Zealand I know it is beautiful and I know that you not only have to see it but also experience it. So I would like to spend a year of my life there walking, trekking, hiking and just breathing in the New Zealand air. Perhaps soon. Keeping my fingers crossed. :) 2) Iceland Another place I would love to go once. A short vacations (2 weeks) would perhaps do. There are two reasons I want to go to Iceland. The most important one is the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). Watch this video to see the amazing natural phenomenon: and the other reason is this article by Vir Sanghvi. 3) The Grand Canyon, US And when I get there, I want to walk on this skywalk: 4) Alaska, US Need I say more? I looked at the world map...

3 Reasons why I hate them You can't do anything but watch movies, read books, listen to music throughout the day There is no fixed schedule for sleep. Your mobile does not work. 3 Reasons why I  love them You can't do anything but watch movies, read books, listen to music throughout the day There is no fixed schedule for sleep. Your mobile does not work.

On my way to work today, I counted smiles. It is a 20 minute drive from my home to office and as my husband took care of the driving part, I spent my time chatting with him and also counting the number of people that were smiling while travelling. In the entire journey, I counted (hold you breath) two people who seemed to be smiling heartily. One was this young lady (somewhere in her early thirties) who was all wrapped up in a shawl and was presumably walking towards a bus stop alone. She must have remembered some incident that tickled her and made her smile spontaneously. Her whole face was lit up and she was oblivious to all around her, too engrossed in her own pleasant thoughts. The second was the driver of a mini-bus carrying students to some school. He was chatting with the bus conductor who stood right behind the driver and they seemed to be sharing a joke. His smile was good natured and I was able to judge the type of joke that they shared. It was surely not lewd or slapstick. I...