The Backpack Nomad

16 th March, Thursday – Day 7: Snow at Khaliya Top                A quick breakfast and tea, and we went off for the trek. We started our trek at 10 AM. There was another family with a guide. The guide advised us to eat the petals of a red flower, which had medicinal qualities. We plucked the flowers along the way, eating the petals. It was definitely effective. The trek was tiring, and we reached a resort midway during the climb at 12:30 PM. The resort was called Alpine resort, where we had a cup of tea and placed an order for lunch to be had on our way back. A bit of snow was visible now, as we continued our climb. We finally reached the top at 2 PM. It was covered in snow, and in my excitement, I picked some up, and stepped right into one foot of snow! My hands were numb, and I could hardly operate the camera – frost bite. We started descending as it started to snow. By the time we reached the resort, t...

13 h March, Monday – Day 4: Clicked by our Safari jeep driver                Camera batteries charged, we had our pickup at 6. It was an exciting prospect to spot a tiger in the wild. We spotted a few birds in the beginning, a barking deer and a few other animals. But two hours into the safari, we started to get the feeling that there is not going to be any tiger spotting today. It had been the case for the past 4-5 safaris across the country in the past, but we’d hoped Corbett would be different. Three hours later, we completed the safari, disappointed that we couldn’t see a tiger. Stork-billed kingfisher                We returned to the hotel, and went off to explore the area behind the hotel. There was a river there. It was beautiful, and we stayed there for a while clicking photos. After returning from the river, we ch...

10 th March, Friday – Day 1:                Our flight to Delhi was at 5:45 PM. I left office at 3, met Ashwin and Kiran at the airport by 4, purchased a copy of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and got on the flight. The take-off was delayed by an hour, and by the time we landed at Delhi, it was 9 PM. Lakshmanjhula                I was supposed to book a train to Haridwar from Delhi, but I booked it for the wrong date, and we had to take the bus instead. The cab journey from airport to the bus stop was eventful too. The traffic on the way was blocked for an hour or so, because a VIP had to pass by! It had ‘Welcome to Delhi’ written all over it! The bus was just about to leave when we reached the bus stop. It didn’t though, and we were able to get in. It was a 5-hour journey to Haridwar from Delhi, and the bus was reasonably comfortabl...

The moon Pun intended in the title! We gathered at Kasara railway station at 4.30 PM. The plan was to get to the base village called Bari, rest for the night, and start the climb early next morning. There were nine of us reminding me of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’. We got into a cab, which would seat nine, to reach the village. It took us two hours  to reach Bari, and we started to settle into the place that would be our home till our return the next day. We freshened up and went for a walk around the village. The house opposite to ours had a beautiful graffiti painting, done by someone who had also visited the place for the trek. We went to the village temple, where kids were singing bhajans , and it was a wonderful experience to watch them at it. I wouldn’t know if they understood the words of what they sang, but the joy on their faces, as they danced with the little cymbals ringing was pure emotion! Dinner We left the temple after a while, and returned to ou...