Traveling is good
The beautiful mountainous landscape of Kashmir valley, numerous shrines of Jammu and the remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture of Ladakh, justify the exclamation of Emperor Jahangir, If there is ever a heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.
The northernmost state of India is home to many beautiful valleys such as the Kashmir Valley, Tawi Valley, Chenab Valley, Poonch Valley, Sindh Valley and Lidder Valley. Srinagar is the summer capital and Jammu the winter capital of the state. The official language is Urdu, while the main spoken languages are Kashmiri in Kashmir Valley, Dogri in Jammu and Ladakhi in Ladakh. Most people speak at least a little Hindi.
One can arrive here by air to Srinagar and Leh or board a train till Jammu or Udhampur. By road entry is via Jammu upto Srinagar and via Manali upto Leh.
Kashmir Valley is a land of beautiful gardens like Shalimar and Nishant gardens, vast lakes like Dal Lake and Manasbal Lake, pristine streams and friendly people. Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Patnitop are hill stations offering enchanting view of Snow Mountains. Raghunath Temple, Bahu Fort, Mubarak Mandi Palace, Peer Baba, Vaishno Devi, Pari Mahal, Hari Parbat Shankaracharya Temple, Amarnath, Bhimgarh Fort and Ramnagar fort are some of the pilgrimage and historical sites.
Leh, the capital of Ladakh is famous for monasteries. Zanskar Trek is a great adventure tourism destination. Nubra Valley, Lake Moriri and Pangong Lake offer truly amazing landscapes high up in the Himalayas.
सड़को पर,पेड़ पौधे,घास फूस सब लुप्त….सिर्फ सफेदी…चहु ओर… आँखे और मन तो क्या ऐसा लगा आत्मा तक तृप्त हो गयी थी। सनासर का मलाल ख़त्म हो चूका था। सब तरह की(रोड ब्लाक आदि) समस्या मंजूर थी क्योकि स्नो फॉल देखने का स्वप्न अब वास्तविकता में बदल चूका था।
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From far, we might resemble a black sinuous snake creeping on the white snows of Mt. Kedarkantha. A few meters from the peak, the sun breaks out of the Gangothri ranges painting the climbers face with morning light. Exhaustion and fear gives way to relief and when you sit down on the slabs of rocks that form the summit there’s even elation. We have done it! We have scaled a peak!
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Then we thought to roam around the hotel, so we asked our taxi driver to take on a small ride around here and there. There was a small market with some J & K government cottages beside that market. Those cottages are for those who don’t want to stay inside the hotel. These cottages have their own kitchen where a family can stay and cook their food on own and can enjoy in the midst of nature.
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This July, I completed a motorcycle ride from Gurgaon to Ladakh, covering Spiti Valley, Leh, Kargil and Srinagar – one of my many trips to this part of the world. Despite having done these rides multiple times earlier, why do I keep riding to these crazy terrains, where unless someone has actually travelled on a motorcycle? They wouldn’t believe what one would experience. What’s the lure of Ladakh still, when everyone and their mothers-in-law are riding/driving/flying there these days? When
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When you yearn to start anything new, you develop a kind of inkling that you are becoming a part of that thing. Similarly, when you plan to traverse the land of Buddha, you start inculcating a sense of being a kind of Buddha in you. Suddenly a different type of serenity and piousness, calm, and sense of discovering yourself develop in you. And this is a kind of mystic change in you which drives you to visit Ladakh, the land of Buddha.
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Harish and I was chatting over tea in office cafeteria and planning to go on a road trip somewhere in India in his car with friends. It started turning in to shape when one of our friend “Vikas” agreed to join us and finalized the destination to Goa “Mohali to Goa”. Next day he called up and cancelled his plan due to some work assignment and we were back to same stage of planning. Harish had a passion to cover Leh Ladakh on his bullet which he bought recently for this purpose only but could not plan the trip so far. Finally both of us agreed to go along on one bike 😊
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We were climbing the steep ascent through the muddy, rocky and narrow route. Those on foot were making their path upwards according to their own convenience. Every step on such steep ascent of initial trek is the first test of one’s mind and faith. To strengthen devotees’ faith the Military Personnel are there and their presences are felt throughout the route.
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We planned it long ago, but somehow, it was not happening. The news, the climate, its like some invisible barrier. Then one day somebody got killed, people were on the streets, the afternoon sun might have seen some colours in the black and white panorama. I am not a political man, nor a magician…I just wanted to see the city, one last time.
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I lived with my maternal uncle in remote farm near Bilaspur in mud huts with no electricity or basic sanitation with ‘minimalist’ facilities. Any…
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They left every thing on me- planning entire route, night halts, bookings,
sight seeing, servicing of the Neerja’s diesel SUV up to the extent searching out 4
dumped sleeping bags from old cupboards for emergency. The final tight itenary
schedule was got finalised after endless mobile talks, smsing and emails, kind
courtesy Maj Gen Nawnit Kumar, SM Commandant, High Altitude Warfare
School(HAWS) ,Gulmarg and Lt Gen Bobby Mathews ,AVSM**, VSM ,the Colonel
of the Regiment (COR).
Man proposes, God disposes – that’s what the famous proverb says. That again proved true for me during my trip to Vaishnodevi and Himachal Pradesh during the end of September 2015. Looking at the calendar, I planned a tour programme covering Vaishnodevi, Chamba, Bharmour, Hadsar and Mani Mahesh
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The journey of Ladakh ended but spirit of Ladakh still lingers on in our minds, such a harsh climate and stark nature, but the human seed survives..
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