ghumakkar.com

I have been offline for quite some time and so much has happened on Ghumakkar! Looks like everyone has been busy travelling. Many interesting blogs and so much to catch up on my reading!

My last trip was back in May, inspired by a couple of Ghumakkar blogs on the Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh. I flew in from Bangalore to Delhi, spent a couple of hours in the capital before proceeding to Shimla. With a night halt at Kalka, I arrived at Shimla the next morning by bus. Apart from the aging and paint-stripped buildings of the colonial period, Shimla was uninteresting. The crowds were everywhere. The garbage was ubiquitous. At a quiet stroll in the evening I was chased by a troupe of monkeys. It was difficult to say if they were chasing me or recognized me as their leader; but I ran.

I left Shimla and proceeded to Narkanda, where I hiked to Hatu’s Peak, a moderate hike that took up most of the morning. It is something special to view the snow-capped peaks on the horizon through a dull mist. It is something magical to see the peaks come and go with the playing mist. It is something of a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see the Himalayas for the first time.

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While I was in Nainital on 29-30/06/09, I spotted an attractive looking little hotel near the rope-way base – Hotel Ankur Plaza. It is at a height of about three floors above mall road. I was attracted by a terrace restaurant at the top and went to the hotel and met the owner/manager – Mr. Rohit Alagh. I had already decided to make another visit during the second weekend of July. During discussion, my intuition was confirmed that this hotel was once a holiday home for my company (which now has Arif Castles on its panel).

Hotel at an elevation
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Many years ago, my wife read about a place called Lahaul-&-Spiti and somehow fancied the idea of going there. When the time came, we actually had no idea on what exactly it was. We knew that its in HP and that its far. After some digging, the fact about being far was validated and with it came another discovery that if everything falls in place, we can drive on a 200 Km odd stretch through Himalayas which only opens for 3 odd months. Wow! SRK’s dialogue in OSO validated Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words around the universal conspiracy behind happening things so well used by Paulo for ‘The Alchemist’. Yeah, yeah, I am getting cryptic again. Re-Read if desired. SRK’s dialogue in OSO validated Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words around the universal conspiracy behind happening things so well used by Paulo for ‘The Alchemist’.

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The moment I heard the name being taken by my brother this time over our trip to Scotland I immediately thought of some sumptuous italian inspired food or themed resort. Jokes apart, Portebello is a coast along Leith, part of Edinburgh, just 30 minutes ride from Easter Road location from where my brother and SIL stay( for the ease of the readers who will get various follow ups from me they are Neil and Amy).

Beach view at dusk