Neemrana

Neemrana, Rajasthan – A Royal getaway

Written by Sreedev

After couple of hectic weeks, I was looking forward for a break. Surprisingly the only mallu team I got here in Delhi called up, asking me about planning a one day trip. As usual we starting googling for a best places around Delhi. After googling 2 3 days we decided to ride to Neemrana, Rajasthan. Neemrana is a place which is located 130 km away from Delhi within Alwar district of Rajasthan. It comes between Delhi –Jaipur highway(NH 8). This place is mainly famous for the fort which was built in 1464 by the descendants of Prithviraj Chauhan III. Neemrana Hotels group had taken over the whole fort and refurbished to a 5 star hotel providing a royal hospitality for the tourists. India’s first zip line is another attraction here which was installed here by Flying fox, a reputed International adventure sports company and its still functioning. There are 5 zip lines over the fort which is one out of four of their longest zip lines around the globe.

We started from Delhi at morning 9. We initially took the wrong route wasting around 1 hour near the IGI Airport. Then the Google maps took us to the right route. We took around 3 breaks in between in which one was at Dhaba for having breakfast. I was expecting a pretty good distance but the ride was short and we reached very quickly. From the main highway a small Aisle through the village lead us to the entrance to the fort. I was so skeptical about the route when I saw the ambiance of the village but vaporising my puzzling thoughts we the boar on the entrance "Neemrana". Innumerate courtyards, Towers and corridors started fascinating us with the architectural marvel of 14^th century. The whole fort has been enhanced by the hotel without disturbing the beauty of ancient architecture. The waiters were very helpful and they provided us with a best hospitality. In Rajasthan, no question arises about the hospitality for visitors, It’s just ROYAL.

:)

Zipping through one of the world’s longest zip line was the highlight of our plan. But this place was waiting for us with a better offer. The majestic feel of sun baked terrains and the astonishing architectural beauty of the fort. The slot for zipping should be booked prior with Flying fox online which we have already booked(Rs 1250 per head). We reached the fort at 12 noon and our slot was at 2 pm.  So we were having 2 hours to roam around the court, explore and make the best out of its scenic view of hillocks. The whole place was so silent and the number of tourist were also very less. Most of the tourist are foreigner’s and delhites. The fort is made in 11 layers on a hillock. There are 2 swimming pools on 2 levels. Foreigners were enjoying their swim when we reached the poolside. Many old age people were meditating under small mahals and foreigners were doing Yoga inside the fort and the place was so peaceful and naturalistic. Balconies were decorated with lots of flowers and it was green all around. Since chairs and table were placed everywhere, the visitors will feel so homely and comfortable. From the top we were able to see unevenly spread grassland till the horizons meeting the skies. The vista was ecstatically blowing up our mind. All these nooks, crannies, vine coloured walls and huge wooden doors kicked us with intense royalty.

Zipping

It was around two and our slot came up for zipping. We reported the office of Flying fox inside the fort. Our guide gave us the instructions and told us to gear up for zipping. The zip line starts from the top of the hillock where the fort is build. There is a mini trekking of about 20 minutes(750 meters) which is a bit tiring. Taking 2 3 breaks in between our guide took us to the top of the hillock. On the top they gave us a 5 minutes crash course about the signals which should be used to communicate with the guide in between zipping. There is a baby zip line on the top were they train us how to do it. After that training we got ready to zip down over the fort. This was my first experience and it was really mind chilling experience. It’s not scary but it’s very interesting and blood pumping. When I was zipping down over the fort I was able  to record the complete beauty of the fort in detail. On the initial zip lines I was enjoying the slide down but after that I was just looking around and fetching up the exotic beauty of fort and the view. Localities of the village were roaming all around the hillock with pan and bidi(rolled Tobacco) in their hand puffing and chewing, even they were recording videos with their phone when we were zipping down. It was around 5 when we finished 5 zip lines and the appetite was hitting us too hard. Food, drinks and rooms are also available in hotel but since our plan was to head back to Delhi on the same day, we took the food on the way back. They was a superb hotel as we entered the highway from Neemrana. They served us with a good bunch of delicious food in a convincing price vanishing our appetite. Then we resumed our ride and reached back Delhi around night at 7.

At night

In my experience Neemrana is a beautiful place for couples than singles. Nobody thinks of such offbeat places for their honeymoon or a break from their mainstream routine. But this place holds lot many stuff to offer for couples visiting this place. After 6 the blue skies, twinkling starts, yellow decorating lights, Slow music, candles, reflecting pools, pint beers and delicious food drags down the whole place to a romantic ambiance cuffing the soul of couples in a heavenly hamlet. Apart from all these, privacy is just another luxury at this place. No one will bother you for any reason. I strongly suggest one night stay in this place for those who are visiting and for couples I strongly recommend.

View from the top

Note: Better avoid visiting this place on summers since it’s in Rajasthan. This place will be so hot and humid at that time. Air conditioners are available but you won’t be able to enjoy the exotic view outside the fort.

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Khirganga

Khirganga - A Heavenly hideout in mystic woods.

Written by sreedev

It was the third day of our trip and we were getting ready for the Khirganga trek packing our rucksacks. Since we were waiting for this trek from last two days, we were filled with wonder and excitement. Khirganga trek is about 14-16 km approx.  crossing two huge mountains from Barshani. It will take around 5-6 hours in foot to reach the top of Khirganga. The trek has steep climbs, waterfalls, rough pathways and many equivalent hurdles. Initially we enquired our host for a guide, but they were charging high rates(4000 for a guide). Our host confirmed that there is only 5% chances to go astray, mostly people reach there very easily. His words strengthened our beliefs and we set out for the trek ourselves. We reached Barshani dam around 7:30 am from where the trek starts. The climate was favourable and the time was perfect to start the climb.

The stairs of Barshani dam lead us down to Parvathy River and we crossed the hanging bridge to reach the foot of the first mountain. From here the steep climb(trek) starts. We were going breathless after completing first 15 minutes of trek, embarrassingly we were forced to take the first halt. Resting there, restraining our breaths in rhythm, I was thinking of my lazy lifestyle I have been following all these years. We resumed through the side paths of the cliff and on the other side we could see exhilarating view mighty and milky Parvathy River flowing down between the two strips of giant mountains. Apple farmers were passing by very easily with big bucket of apples on their back which confirms that it was their daily exercise. I asked one of them about the kilometres left to reach Khirganga, he replied 3-4 km. We were pretty sure that he misunderstood the unit which we asked. We reached main apple plantations and red apples were all around us. Farmers wont allow travellers to pluck apples from their plantation. If they catch anyone plucking, they will charge them with a hefty amount. Since Red bull and Snickers were the only diet we were having.

Plucking apples :-p

We decided to buffer some apples in all the rucksacks we have. We started plucking apples restlessly. As soon as we heard some noise we stopped and continued to walk. We reached the first village, we sat there and relaxed for sometime. One Dada was asking us randomly about Delhi and the political happenings there. We resumed and on the way we met some really cool mountain dogs. They are very burly and extremely friendly to humans. When we walk they follow us and when we take breaks they will wait till we resume.They gave us company interchanging between them till the top. Then we reached next point where there was another mighty waterfall and a bridge which was the entrance to next mountain. We entered the next mountain and surroundings started to change. The whole environs started getting more wilder with dense

forest and tall trees. Steeps where getting more steeper and rocks started becoming slippery. The paths were getting messier and confusing. But travellers had already marked the way to Khirganga in small rocks, these so called sign rocks held us tight on the right path. We were exhausted and the rucksacks were getting too heavier. After 6 hours of trek we reached the entrance of Khirganga where a poster of Lord Shiva welcomed us. We were bang on the target. With almost no energy we all rushed to the top of the valley craving for a dip in sulphur heated water.

Exhausted!!!

A small temple of lord Shiva and a pool attached to it which is made in hot spring. This is the main attraction of Khirganga. Hippies mainly come here to have a bath in this pool with a seventh heaven puff(Malana cream). The water is sulphur heated and villagers believe it has intense medicinal benefits. The pandit always keep an eye on the pool as he wont allow anyone to put waste in it. In huffs and puffs we were climbing the last stretch of steep trek which ends at that hot pool. Pandit ordered us to have a bath outside and then come to pool for keeping the religious purity unshaken. That first dip in pool filled us with a rejuvenating feel wearing off the complete fatigue and tiredness of the whole trek. Huge snow capped mountains were standing heads up in front and back of the pool. 

Tented restaurants

The pandit explained its Kailasa and told us the whole story of the valley which differs from person to person. The top of snow capped mountains where hiding in the clouds. In between the top curves become visible as the clouds become loose. There where no flat grounds, only unevenly spread green lands all around the pool. The chunk of woollen sheep and cows give us vibes of Swiss back drop. Panoramic blue skies, green grass lands, Dense pine trees and giant snow capped mountains trapped us in addictive love which pushed us to stay there for a night.We all were supposed to report next day.

Quick nap beside pool

Life happens only once, so we decided to spend one night in this eccentric place. This decision of staying was way more worthier than the trek. Now I feel we all could have died with regret if we returned the same day.  Khirganga night is the most beautiful night I have ever witnessed. The whole valley will be filled with hauling sound of wind, buzzing sound of insects and the roar of Parvathy River,  its spine-chilling ambiance. The twinkling stars brightened the dark blue sky and white snow caps seemed more bluish in moonlight. The moment was making us more human and life seemed better than ever. Stay was surprisingly cheap as it was 100 per head for a room(dormitory) including food. 

The wooden walls kept us warm and room 

A morning in Khirganga

was well equipped for having a good sleep. There are many tented restaurants in the valley. Each meal in the restaurant with ambient back drops and trance music will cut us loose from all twisted problems in mind. Honey-ginger-lemon-tea is the best drink you can have in that chilled atmosphere. After enjoying the beauty of night, we had the local dinner(Roti,Rice, Papad and Dal) from the place of stay. The place has no network or power which literary makes it a hide out. We were completely detached from the concrete civilisation and materialism. After having a mind filling heavy diet, we all went blackout in sleep.

Next day morning I woke up at 6, came out and felt light. With much stronger breeze and ice cold weather the morning seemed fantastic. We all again set out to have our second bath in pool to immune our body muscles for trekking down. After having a good swim in sulphur heated water, we went to restaurant and savoured a hefty continental breakfast with a honey ginger lemon tea. Then it was time for us to get down. There was slight rain when we started, but after sometime the rain stopped or intensity decreased as the droplets were not reaching us dodging all those leaves of tall trees shading us. Our body and muscles were pretty much used to the unpaved paths and steep climbs. I then realised how pragmatic human bodies are, as our stamina got increased by a great extend. We were trekking down pretty fast. We reached back in Barshani after 4 hours of rushing down with necessary breaks. We relaxed in front of dam for fifteen mnutes feeling the joy of conquering the heights of freedom and peace.

Now I am as addictive to trekking as to bike rides. From my experiences there are two thing which both the sport have in common, the more you do, the more your body and soul get connected to nature. I have decided to trek more often specifically to the Himalayas. Khirganga is a refreshing trek and I strongly recommend it for the beginners. Khirganga is a place where you can visit infinite times and you wont get bored. The absence of the tourism and the unreachability of civilised crowd makes this place a refreshing paradise. Well, Amidst the hustle and bustle of commercialised cities who wont like to take a heavenly hide out in this mystic woods.

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Malana

Malana-Epicenter of wild cannabis and an eccentric tribe

Written by sreedev

Tying up the bunch of cannabis

After reaching Kasol we were planning to trek to Khirganga on the second day but unfortunately we got up too late next day. Then we went to cafe Bhoj to have our breakfast. It took around 2 hours to get what we have ordered by that time it was around 1 O clock which was too late for Khirganga. So we came back to our room and inquired our host for the places near by. He told us about Malana. Malana was not a new strory to me but when he started describing this place it was getting interesting making us curious to know more about the place and that curiosity took us to this village with magical surprises. 

Malana is a strange village which is located 21 km away from Kasol towards the Manikaran side. After one hour of bumping drive through the unpaved and steep roads we reached the entrance of Malana trek. From there anyone can see a spectacular view of the village and the route which takes you to the village crossing the Parvathi river. From the trek entrance there is about 1-1.5 hours of trek to reach the main village of Malana. 


Its an exhausting trek but the broad steps makes it little easier. Along side of this route there are terraced plantations of wild cannabis from which they make the famous Charas(Hash) “Malana cream”. Its the most expensive and purest form of hash in whole Parvathi valley in fact the whole country. It cost around Rs 2500-3000 for 10 gms. Gobsmackingly it is the main business of this village and it isn't illegal either. 

The whole village enjoys a spectacular vista of deodar forest and snow capped mountains as the backdrop. We even noticed thick strings connecting two mountains and a carrier which was hanging on it. The people in the village transfer their goods through this or they use pony's to carry it all the way up. Malanese were also carrying huge boxes on their back filled with wild cannabis which they further process and make Malana cream out of it.

Wild Cannabis leaf

This village is completely isolated form the rest of the world. Malana is said to be one of the first democracies of the world. The people in the village consider themselves as a higher society and the decedents of Aryans. They won’t allow the tourist to touch them. If any outside the village touchs them then one who touches will be fined with a hefty amount and the villagers have their own ways to purify the one who was touched. We were surprised to watch the malanese keeping a distance when they pass us by. 

On the way to malana we saw two people having conversation in a fuzzy language. We stopped there to have a tea and in between we asked them the name of their language, then one replied “Hamein bhasha nahi hai”-“we don’t have a language” then they ignored us and continued their conversation. 

Terrace plantation of wild cannabis

The language they use is called “Kanakshi"(according to Wikipedia), the malanese won’t reveal anything about the village or the people in the tribe to anyone from outside. We are complete aliens for them. Still the place is safe enough for anyone to roam around or trek without disturbing their customs. 

The whole village is surrounded with sublime natural beauty. The roar of river Parvathi echo’s between the mountains and fills the atmosphere with intense ecstasy. While we were driving back through the forest, it was around 6 at night. The view was really exotic giving us hallucinations on the rocks. Some rocks are projected out resembling King kong, Wolf head and more which looks scary. 

We missed to stay one night at this place. Malana is a perfect place to sit, relax, puff and do absolutly nothing. Its surprising that such customs and tribes still exists in our country.Witnessing these strange facts and taboo's makes Malana an unmatchable experience for anyone. 

Smoking up the golden smoke!!!

PS:- If anyone is planning to visit Malana, I would suggest it do it with a one night stay so that you can dig deep into the customs of the place and you can experience the spectacular nightlife of this village. Very less places are there in the main village for the stay  but better get a rental tent form kasol so that you can carry it all the way to Malana and tent their.

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Kasol

Kasol - A trippy town in the lap of Parvathi valley

Written by sreedev

We left manali and started our drive to Kasol around 5. I've heard a lot about Kasol so I was pretty excited to visit that ecstatic town. After driving around 30km we took the turn from Kullu to Manikaran which leads to Kasol. Kasol is around 40 km away from Kullu. The roads started getting narrower and our driver was driving insanely through the uneven narrow roads. The curves were getting more nerve racking. The roar of river Parvathi were rushing in as we entered Kasol. On the left side, we could hear the sound of unrelenting current of River Parvathi which is deep down the mountain and on the right side, the bulged out rocks were shading the vehicle. Holding our breath we were watching the driver having fun with the scary curves. Around 8 we reached our cottage and met the host of that cottage. Comparatively cottages in Kasol are cheaper.  The rooms were allocated for us and we settled in for the day.

Cafe SASI

Malana, Tosh and Chalal are the mainstream places in the valley. All these three places are crowded with strange bunch of people living in very strange ways. Malana is the strangest village. Tosh is a quiet and quint village which is a small replica of Kasol and it is the main epicentre of most of the parties . Chalal is the big brother of tosh and most of the Hippie crowds can be spotted here searching for psychedelic and rave parties. Aggressive parvati river and steep mountains made the whole valley a hub of backpackers and adventure lovers. There are many places to trek and raft in and around the valley. Khirganga, Rasol, chalal and Malana are some of the treks. We visited Malana on the first fay and trekked to Khirganga on the second day.  I will be detailing about Malana and Khirganga experiences in my next upcoming blogs.

Tosh was also in our plan but for obvious reasons we were forced to ditch the visit to Tosh. Israeli tourist's were all around the valley when we were walking through the aisle of main Kasol. Israeli’s after their military training they spend their 3 months holidays in this so called Hasish valley. Around 70% of tourist are from Israel and at winters(Dec) they move to Goa since its a struggle to survive in Kasol in winters. Most of the Israeli's wont go back settling to the scenic beauty and truancy atmosphere of the place thus its now a little Israel in India.  Hebrew hoardings and israeil prayer halls are now a part of their everyday life. Once you enter Kasol, you don’t feel like you are in India. The whole place is overran with reggae bars, Israeli cafe's and internet cafe’s. There are no shops other than hippie dress shops, internet cafes and bong shops. Unfortunately we forgot to take hard cash with us, No card will be accepted in this whole valley and ATM’s are hardly available. Alternatively we can go to internet cafes and they will swipe our card, then the shopkeeper will pay us in cash after deducting his commission(for us it was Rs 50 for Rs1000). There are many israeli cafes in the town which should never be missed when you visit Kasol. Most of the cafe’s are Lord Shiva and Bob Marley themed. Schnitzel, Shakshouka, Falafel and Lafa’s are most served dishes in cafe's. We have tried Cafe SASI, Evergreen and Bhoj. Bhoj was the only place where we got annoyed, it took around 2 hours to get our dishes served and dishes were not that good. Blonde and Marley haired people comprises of the major chunk of the population. There are not much places to see in Kasol but a lot to experience. Even you will get shops where you can make your long hair Marley styled. 

Mighty mountains of Kasol

The main attraction of the place is the cheaply available cannabis of high quality which is cultivated in the valley. "Malana cream” is a pure blend of cannabis which is been hugely produced in Malana and sold around the valley. Once you have entered Kasol, cannabis are no more illegal to deal with(:-p), at least you don’t feel like that. Every corner of the town and valley you will get the smell of the cannabis. The kid sitting next to you will be the joint lord of the aisle, you never know. The price of cannabis starts from Rs 1400 and goes maximum up to 4 lakhs. Because of all these reasons the whole place is crowded with Hippies, trance themed shops, Reggae Bars and rave parties. I have seen this type of scenes in movies but experiencing this was a trepidation for me.

Small cafe on the way to Malana

Its surprising that a whole valley is been changed to a human made heaven. All the transformation has been made without destroying the charm of mountain, old people and their traditions. Even if most of the people are tripped, they are no more dangerous until you are trying to mess up with them. There are a lot of lone travellers and lone women travellers visiting Kasol. People rush in to this place to get detached from the hustle and bustle of the commercialised cities. The arrangement of the whole valley will carry away anyone's soul with ecstatic vibes and hallucinating waft. Kasol is the best ever place which can be suggested to a person who loves intense solitude. Scenic beauty, Peaceful people, outdated technology and the truancy atmosphere of the place settles anyone tight in the lap of mother nature - Parvathi valley.

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Workout

Workout is your only BFF*

(Best friend forever)

Written by sreedev

Who all really think they don’t get enough time to work out daily. I was one amoung you guys two years before. It is really difficult to get up from bed and start working out. There was always that lame reason “out of time” which I always give out to stay lazy. Seriously? Don't we have sufficient time for workout?

When I was staying alone in Delhi, It was my hobby to motivate myself with Rocky series. Since I was alone, I was having lots of time to stimulate my thoughts over anything and everything around me. My level of fitness started to haunt me like anything. At that time I decided to start work out for 30 minutes daily. I push myself to get me out of bed at mornings and motivate myself to do it. I was able to continue for one month, Since then I am doing workout in a daily manner taking off one day a week. Nowadays nothing can stop me from atleast 45 minutes of workout everyday added some good music. When I am done with workout I will be sweaty, torn off and winded but it does a lots to me mentally and physically making me feel strong.

From my experience of doing workout I understood there are surprising ways the workout can help you live better and makes you a better person. Here I am bulleting down how it helped me to live better.

• There are very hard days which we had to come through. Workout pulls you out of any type of depression. Doing a 45 min workout or a 5km walk can really help you come out of any type of depression. 5km walk is one of the best comeback’s for me whenever I am depressed.

  

  A freezing morning at Delhi in between warming up!

• Workout makes you highly confident and it make you think you are cool just because you are doing workout.
• You will never have a unproductive day. Workout will be the most productive thing you can do.
• It will increase your immune and keep you away from disease, I know this is a mainstream point but it actually do.
• If you are more used to alcohol and smoking, workouts will really help you to stop the addiction towards it.
• If you are doing a desk job, there are high chances for getting afftected with back pain and joint pains. Workout will help you to get over it. 

From my experience.

When you begin to work out after a long break.

• Never give over-strained starting. Give body some time to get used to the pressure.
• A good jog is best to start with. 
• There are no perfect slot for workout, you can do it anytime you want.
• Try doing it 3 days alternately in a week. It will help you train and make your body ready for heavy one’s and also it will help you make a habit of maintaining the schedule.
• While doing workout don’t mug up water, try to hydrate it sipping .
• Make sure you sweat out well when you do light workout or jogging.
• Try to make a slot at morning which help you to refresh your mind.
• Try to do maximum cardio workouts like pushup, sit-ups, pull-ups, crunches etc and make sure your whole body is equally worked out.        

Once you are used to beginner Cycle.

• Decide whether you need muscle training or Just need to maintain the fitness. I am a person who work out just for maintaining fitness.
• If you are looking for muscle training, better join a Gym so that you can have all the machines. If you need fitness, just stick to cardio workouts and just make it intense according to your needs.
• I don’t suggest to take artficial protein's, I don’t have anything against it but still it is better to keep your body naturally fit.                                    

Hardly 45 minute is enough to give your body an intense workout and have a good sweat out. If you really think you don’t have time to take 45 min every day, then I feel sorry for those people because you are absolutly missing some o fun part of your life. It’s easy to cover your laziness with lame excuses, it’s not going to help you or your body either. If you can eat, run, walk and exercise you are one of the most luckiest people in the world so try to make the most out of it. You will really love the feeling that you are taking care of your body. From all the positive sides I have experienced, workout is your only Best Friend Forever. Nobody is going to help you like workout do.

"Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body."  Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Nainital

Being lone and lost in Nainital -Lake city

Written by sreedev

A perfect evening at my cottage with my book and coffee

Travelling alone was always one of my bucket list item. I have been reading a lot about solo travelling and I was extremly curious to experience the bliss of it. For some people it's impossible, for some it's complete stupidness but there is an odd crowd who are addicted to this and I was eager to understand what drives them to this addiction. Long weekend was up and all my friends where busy dealing with there busy schedule. I bilieved this was the best time to pull this thing from my bucket list. I started googling to find a good place to start with. And Nainital was popping up all the time.

First sign board to Nainital

I have traveled alone before, but that was official. Pre booked luxury hotels, full fledged back up and support makes that very easy to handle. But this type of a solo travel was for the first time. You are the travel guide, your are the doctor, you are the rider everything depends on you and every thing will be according to your plan. Starting from my home was the most difficult part of this whole journey. I was too scared when I started, but when I geard up and hit the roads I started enjoying every piece of it and I realised that initial fears were too unnecessary. 

Diet to keep my body up for ride

It took around 7 hours to ride along the whole route from Noida till Bhimtal via Moradabad-Rampur-Rudrapur. I reached Bhimtal around 6 pm. On the way I stopped to click some pics of splendid landscapes. Nainital is an amazing place with sublime natural beauty. Being a mallu I always get carried away by lush green leaves and Nainital is a place where I found the same green after moving to north India. The cottage I was staying was on the hill sides of Bhimtal which is around 20km away from Nainital. It was a complete peaceful place and the silence around that lake and hills were literally scaring me. The room was very small accompanied with a bed and a table nothing more or less.No wifi, No TV, No laptops. So my only good friend was my shadow and a mouse who was roaming over the wall all night. I spared my free time with my book and the beautiful greeny hills around my cottage. The view from my window was changing every hour giving me surprising views. I got only one day in Nainital since the 3rd day was planned for the return ride. 

On the way to Nainital from Bhimtal

• A coffee at Nainital
• Horse ride to China peak
• Waterfalls at Sadiatal
• Roam around mall road
• Ride around and see all the lakes
• Visit to candle shops

Surprising view welcoming me at cottage

This was my list of things-to-do in Nainital. Actually Nainital is not that commercialised, so the beauty of place is not been disturbed much by any one. The time I went there was not a perfect time to visit as the rainy season was up. In between the conversation with one of the locals out there, he told me May and June are mostly rushy and if you want to enjoy snow covered Nainital, the best time would be around December or January. The entry to the top of china peak is been banned as of now, but it is possible to trek till the second layer of the peak and only the horses can get you there. If you are going as a family, its better to stay in forest near Mallital which will be a unmatched natural experience. Since my list was so precise I was able cover all the things in the list. When ever I travel to new places I always try to keep my list of “things-to-do" very small to keep my travel leisurely. On the third day I checked out at morning 10 o clock. On the way back my back tyre got burst out and I had to waste a little time over it. I reached home around 4 pm.

At the top of china peak

Apart from my list there are many other things you can give it a try.

• Ropeway over the beautiful Nainital
• Paragliding by sky adventures( If Climate is fine)
• Visit to Sadiatal
• Eco cave gardens
• High altitude Zoo
• Trek at Kumaon hills
• Boating in Nainital

Riding down the china peak with commando(Horse)

I am a beginner in solo travelling, but I did pretty well. Solo travelling is more likely an adventures act. Managing everything on your own and doing things out of your limits. If any problems comes up, you won’t be having any option rather than showing up and solving it. According to me solo travelling needs guts, peace of mind, passion and strong intend to explore the best out of the place you go. Travelling alone help to realise what you are and what you want. It helps you to distinguish between what you love and what you don’t. Everybody should try solo travelling at least once,for even if you don’t end up loving it it will undoubtedly make you a wiser, more confident and stronger person. It may sound daunting, Once you’re doing it you’ll realize you’re capable of much more than you thought. You will reach an unseen point of freedom and happiness.

Extra-ordinary view on the way to Sadiatal

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Vagamon and Gavi

A ride from half-friend to brotherhood

Written by sreedev

That was a lazy evening, I was having a forty-winks in my room(Delhi where I stayed unaided) cuddling with my laptop. I have a the problem of draining my time scrolling fb feeds up and down, I guess nowadays most of the teens does suffer from this. A person was always in my radar, his posts and updates were almost similar to my interests and thoughts. I wonder how social media helps us to understand the people around us. We have chatted many times and he was one of my school mates who was my junior. We hardly know each other. But I always felt that somewhere our thought process were intersecting. I pinged him and we had a chit chat for around 10 min, after that I asked him whether we can go for a ride when I go to kerala. That was a deliberate take from my side with two intentions 1) For giving my RE350 a virgin ride and 2) To know more about him. He was also a ride freak as far as I knew. He replied that he is on for the ride and he added that he was also bored of 9 to 5 routine and he also needed a split from it.

Between my date of travel to kerala we outlined the routes and places to visit in Vagamon. I came to kerala on 2 April 15 and the planned the ride on 4 April 15. Since I reached I didn't recieve any call or chat from him. I have his number which I got through fb but I was so hesitated to call him. I guess that's a outset dillema that everyone experience when they call a person for first time after exchanging the number through virtual world, that first call dillema. I was getting in to doubt whether the ride plan is zapped. I was hanging out with my friends as usual on 3 April 15 night. Time was runnig out as the planned ride was on 4 April 15. I took my gutsto jump over my ego and call him, then everything was cool and smooth. We rode to Vagamon(Place in kerala, India) and came back. 

On the way to Pine forest

I hardly knew him when we started the ride. After talking to him I realised our passions were same. I remember when we were chatting through fb he asked me whether I am Leo like he already know's that. I never expected that question from him and then he said its not our problem, but its because of our stars we posses these same restless thought's running in our little brain! I never say we are same in all the ways. His interests are different from mine. But I am really surprised to see a person with same passions and restlessness as I have. Even when we talk about random subjects at Vagamon, our conversations had same wavelengths without turbulence. 

I am deliberately not mentioning the name of the person here because I would like to spot light the situation.

Break between the ride at Vagamon

Never hesitate to talk to strangers. You will never know whom they will be like until you take your guts to talk to them. Its a rare scenario in the world that you will see people with same interests, thoughts and passions as yours. I won’t say you always fall in great experiences talking to strangers but don’t get demotivated by that. If you are hit with any negative experiences, learn from it and keep interacting with more people. I try to keep myself extrovert even if its difficult. That makes my life easier and helps me learn more. I believe that’s what made this half-friend a brother to me.

"There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven't yet met."

William Butler Yeats

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