How in the hell do I manage to get so many leaves?

It’s no magic, really!

It is surprising how no one will raise an eyebrow when someone says they took two months off from work because of marriage. And if I say I took a month off from work to travel, the first reaction is something akin to utter disbelief. That concept apparently doesn’t exist here! For the past three years I have heard this question time and again, every single time I meet a new person and every single time I meet an old friend. It gets as irritating as it is funny. Travel is perceived as a time pass and not as the life changing experience that it actually is. This makes someone who travels look like an idiot wasting his life having fun instead of doing something important like watching TV or wandering in the mall. They keep telling me, “I don’t have as much time as you do! “. In my head I retort back saying “I don’t have as much tolerance as you do for the mundane!”

If these are the non-believers there are few others who assume things. Assumptions that I get paid to travel or that I get additional leaves or that I am in the travel industry or my personal favorite, that I don’t work at all, and I am on a perpetual vacation(How I wish it were true!).

Quite recently a friend told me, he took a long break of a year or so to sort out few things, during that time he did travel a lot and came back to start afresh with a new job. He cleared all the technical rounds and then came the dreaded HR round, where someone tries to figure you out based on few questions, and how do they really do that anyway? But the point is, he didn’t say he was traveling during the break, he told sob stories of family problems and he landed the plush job! He says they don’t understand. I agree, they don’t understand, after all how is it possible to assume all these things about me when it is really quite simple. 

So how in the hell do I really manage to get all those leaves then? Let’s do some simple math here.

Number if weekends in a year   – 52*2 (Saturdays and Sundays)

Number of public Holidays       – 12

Number of Leaves at work       – 25

Total                                        – 141 days!

There, is the mystery solved?

What this means is, in a given year, most of us are on leave for almost 40% of the time. We can travel for almost three months in a year. If you apply for a leave of 5 days, you are actually getting 9 days including the weekends. This means in a year you can go for 5 major trips of 10 days each. So you can go to Ladakh, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Andamans and one trip home, all in one year! And if there’s a festival or a public holiday around the corner, include that as well and you will get even more! See, it comes down to planning in the end. How well we plan in advance decides how many vacations we get. Now you know what’s the first thing I do at the beginning of the New Year and in case you don’t, I check the list of holidays, weekends etc and already decide when to go. Where to go is decided on go!

Being in Bangalore certainly has its advantages. Most places around here are just a weekend away. The treks in Western Ghats are doable in two days. Friday night we start and Monday morning we are back in office. No leaves to apply here, it is a weekend right?

Saving up the leaves and encashing them when I resign is not an option for me. I use up all my leaves and more if required but certainly wouldn’t let them be unused. My hometown is also just a weekend away, so there isn’t a need to apply leaves to go home either. All the leaves are used only for trips, not because I felt lazy in the morning to go to office or didn’t feel like working. If those were my excuses for taking a leave, then I wouldn’t have been writing on this blog today. I wouldn’t have traveled as much as I did.

You take all these leaves as well, you go home, get married or do something else that ranks high on your priority list. My priority list pretty much consists only of travel and that’s what I use the leaves for. There isn’t really much difference between what you and I do. You take leaves, I take leaves, we all take leaves, just for different reasons so don’t judge me next time when I tell you I am just back from a vacation.

You know when they say if you really want to do something you’ll find a way and if you don’t want to, you’ll find an excuse. That is true! I find my way to travel somehow. What about you?

More rants and related posts:

Top Five Annoying things to say to a Photographer
Travel and the not so pink and rosy side of it!
Food for Thought - Travel and Conscience!

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The One..Hundredth..Post!!!!

One Hundredth Post!

One of those shots that I never imagined I'd take. Taken during the Final Face-Off at Canon - Better Photography Photographer of the Year 2011 Competetion

Wow, it would take me sometime before the feeling sinks in. It would take me some more time to digest the fact that I have been blogging for three years now. I have been meaning to do this post for at least three months now and yet something or the other, worth mentioning has been popping up leading to me delaying the post just so that I could include it.

Let me start by thanking you, incredible readers, for reading my experiences, liking my rants and not to mention the extremely positive response to my photography. I have to tell you, without the initial support here I wouldn't have been the photographer that I am today. Over the innumerable messages and comments I received telling me I have inspired someone to travel more, is often times the reason for the smile on my face. 

But the actual reason there could be even a blog here and a 100 posts is our incredible country with its incredible diversity! Like I said, several times before, I never knew India had such abundant natural scenery. My dream destination was always Switzerland or some place in Europe, until I traveled within our country that is. Since that life changing trip to Ladakh, I haven't been able to get enough of Himalayas or Western Ghats or more such phenomenal scenery of our country. I have shared only 25% of what I have seen and I have seen not more than 10% of what our country has to offer! There is so much more that has to be seen and it will be seen, in the years to come. 

There was a time when 1000 hits seemed to a cause for celebration, today the pageviews border close to a lakh and a half, a reason to celebrate indeed. There has been a gradual increase in the search hits as the blog reached a page rank of 4. And also almost 65% of the traffic is new visitors while the remaining 35% do feel the blog is worthy enough to be revisited again.

So what's been happening?

Well, there are a lot of things to smile about. Few months earlier I was invited by Club Mahindra for their blogger's meet, and that's some recognition as a travel blogger. Few days before that I got an invite from Getty to be a contributing photographer through the Getty-Flickr Contract. Not that I am terribly happy with their pricing, what I am really psyched about is the fact that Getty thinks my photos are good enough to be sold, there must be some truth to it! 

Later that year, my 100 Strangers Project (which has been rather dormant much to my dislike) was featured in Deccan Herald with a small photo of mine. I'll admit it, it was always a dream, to be featured in the newspaper! ;)  Meanwhile Indiahikes approached me if I could guestblog on their site on photography. While I do not consider myself a master, I do have a thing or two to share. You can go through one of my published posts here.

Article in Deccan Herald on the 100 Strangers Project

Then came the biggest surprise when a professor of mine invited me to speak about my travels at my alma mater, IIT Madras. Going back and seeing my professors show such interest in what I do was really amazing. I think a few more people now know how amazing the scenery is after that talk, well I'd say mission accomplished!

Then came the biggest surprise of all, I was declared the theme winner for Canon-Better Photography Photographer of the Year 2011 Awards. The category I won was Landscapes : Play of Light. With this came an opportunity to travel to Mumbai and force myself to shoot something drastically different. Being the hesitant person that I am when it comes to shooting portraits and people, I had to photograph "Spirit of Mumbai" in three days. While I narrowly missed the "Photographer of the Year 2011" title, what I learned was that I could probably tell a story next time I travel instead of plain landscapes. The thought doesn't seem so daunting now that I did the same for three days, a step closer to being the Travel Photographer that I imagine to be. The experience has been spectacular and it demands an entire post and I shall oblige.

The Award Winning Shot from Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.

So what next?

As I read through my old posts and the new ones, the sense of wonder seems to be lost now. I used to carefully choose words imagining myself to be a poet and write nonsense which ultimately managed to evoke the emotion but today it all seems plain text with no emotion that I write. Although the photos now seem to be technically correct, the charm is lost. 

I seem to be riding on the laurels of being at extraordinary places at the right time, but soon the world will run out of extraordinary places and I, eventually will have to find my artistic vision to stand out. I am at a point where I feel the creativity, if there was any, is stagnant, the quality of the creations is not changing, for better or for worse. In the coming months I sure do intend to find my vision, my style or the lack of it and go back to those ignorant captures.

And I still haven't made up mind if I want to be a photographer or a travel writer or something else in between. It sure seems like an exciting time but it is also a time where I need to focus, focus on one thing that I want to achieve. So while try to focus, I will try to wander less and be present more. But this wouldn't stop me from writing more often, since I now seem to have all the time in the world till I decide.

Amidst all this, a realization dawned by observing the masters, one doesn't master an art because he is talented. He masters it because he practiced, he stayed at it with perseverance. There are many days when I feel this isn't going anywhere, but the end of the year showed some promise. With much practice I might just reach where I intend to be. This 100th post is a major milestone for me because I never expected to get here when I started but miraculously, one post at a time, today I'm here.

Sometimes I digress for no reason, and if you have managed to come till this line, you are one of my prized readers. Thank you, once again! :)
And while you are here, Congratulate me, won't you?

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2011 was the Year of Crazy Times.. as always

So we all had a great year, did lots of travel, took lots of photos and met lots of people. I’ve had a similar year but it’s no fun reading about all the good stuff. So here’s my sarcastic take on what I did in 2011.

They said watch, because it is special. So turns out that was the last sunset of the decade and the next day’s sunrise would be the first sunrise of the next decade and all that jazz.  That was how New Year’s Eve was spent, freezing in the deserts of the Rajasthan. Then I thought I had enough of sand, let’s get an overdose of salt. So where did I go, to the salt flats of Rann of Kutch. Salt on my face, salt on my camera, salt beneath my feet, salt in the air – mission accomplished!  Somewhere along I pretended to be a detective too, talk of wishful thinking!

Pristine Dunes around Desert National Park

That was January, and since I am so good at keeping my promises I swore to myself that I will not make that next trip until I sell some photos or articles from the Rajasthan trip. I almost kept my promise till February end but who am I to break the tradition of breaking promises. I had some weird idea of fun, to float in ruins of a church, to camp in the car by the roadside on a highway, to touch three states and three National Parks over a period of few hours - all of this in just under 36hours. That was February.

The road through Nagarhole National Park

Come March, I was again under another illusion that the summer heat will keep me home. I was dreaming of blogging regularly, processing hundreds of GBs of photos and then god laughed at my plans. Since three hobbies weren’t enough and since they weren’t taking up all of my time, I had to add another to the list – cycling. Despite all that travel and photography I was under the illusion I still have money left and I went ahead and bought mountain bike as well. You read about that killer ride, remember? This was the month where the moon would be closer to earth and by some logic I figured I’d shorten the distance a little more by climbing some hill top, but only after riding in the dark, being chased by countless dogs, disturbing entire villages in the process and grilling kebabs at ungodly hours of 4AM.

Cycling down from Nandi Hills in the dark after the Super Moon Rise!

What kind of a biker are you if you never really crashed, so it was time, to fall from the bike. I forgot what these things called brakes do ever so conveniently on just the place you might really need them, on a steep curving downhill ride. You know what happened again, don’t you? ;)

Cycling along the KamRaj Sagar Dam in Ooty, before the fall

And because Ooty was graced with my presence and Munnar was feeling bad or so I assumed, I went cycling to Munnar as well. Munnar treated me well. It asked me to go to Thekkady on cycle for a joy ride, and then rolling terrain happened. Nobody had really tested my patience for a long time, so it was time to take the test, 110kms of ups and downs on a cycle. Turns out I barely passed. Also turns out you don’t go to lakes on foot. Apparently you have to cycle through fields. That was April. The only thing missing in all this grinding was a bloodbath, so we went and fed the leeches to their heart’s content on a trek that didn’t happen to be.

Misty Kukkal, in the surroundings of Kodaikanal

The crazy ride from Munnar to Thekkady started on a pleasant note, like this

By May, I somehow manipulated all that I saw to be signs from the Universe telling me to cycle in the Himalayas. As a preparation for that we celebrated a mass tire puncture ceremony on the Hesarghatta Lake bed, a whopping 6 out 7 cycles punctured. Spending the day fixing punctures is so much fun, no really! Oh meanwhile I also thought what would be more fun than a summer trip to the hottest place, so spent a week in Tamilnadu.

What was left of Hesarghatta Lake, in the far left corner was where we had the tire puncture ceremony

Sunlight streaming through Madurai Meenakshi Temple, during Summer

I was rather sane in June, did a small trip to Hampi where we spent more time eating and drinking than sightseeing. Oh wait, did I say sane? He he! 

Craziness was at its heights in July. Once in Spiti, first I thought let’s cycle, then I thought not! Then I thought let’s drink, then I thought let’s fall sick. Then I thought let’s walk then I thought screw everything and came back running home. Then I thought why I came back so thought let me go somewhere else. Then I thought let’s go somewhere where there are bad roads, mountains, rains and landslides and no tourists! So much for the want of adventure!

Magical Land of Spiti

Fantastic landscape around Gurudongmar Lake, Sikkim

August and September were quiet.

Missing the flight once wasn’t enough. I had to do something else too. Check in and Board a flight 10 minutes before departure, true story! No seriously, totally filmy ishtyle running in the airport and all that! But before almost missing flight, first I had to see the pink flowers and only pink flowers, only to not find flowers after a straight 16 hour journey. And because I didn’t get to see pink flowers I went to see the waterfalls in October.

Four waterfalls in two days, Unchalli Falls gushing to glory

Morning in the forest of Corbett

Walking on mountains was getting too boring it seems which is why we did a dash along the west coast. Walked 41 kms on the beach and on the rocks! Later that week, I got chased by wild buffalo and as if that wasn’t enough, the next day was the day of hiding from the lone wild elephant. That was November.

Light Painting along the beach, where we camped for the night, Gokarna to Honnavar Beach Trek

The ranges as seen from Ballarayana Durga Fort, on a trek to Bandajje Arbi Waterfalls

After such rocking time, the last trip had to bring in a greater surprise. As I wandered along Varanasi and Orchha, I was asked to shut up twice, no kidding! I know how much I can talk and I know how irritating it is when I hear someone yaps non-stop. I guess the last lesson I learnt from the year was to put these two together and stop yapping so much. ;) And December's gone just like that.

The famous ghats of Varanasi

That was 2011! After all these crazy times, what beats me is I actually found company to do all these things. The world is full of crazily awesome people and here’s to a crazy year and hoping for more fun times in 2012. 

Related Posts:


2010 in Pictures - The year that Rocked! :)
12 images and A Dozen Vignettes : From my Past Trips

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Tso Moriri To Pangong via Chushul, Through The Road Less Taken!

All roads lead to Pangong!

Well with Ladakh, once is not enough, twice is not enough, an entire lifetime is not enough. Ladakh is the stuff dreams are made of. Road trips can never be the same again, after a tryst with this gorgeous piece of land set in high heavens!

Most of us who have been fortunate enough to travel to Ladakh would've visited the dream like yet totally real Pangong Lake. We would've crossed the almost always snow clad mighty Chang La and would've relished that hot cup of tea and the warm welcome from the Indian Army atop. We would've gradually descended into the Changthang only to have our heart skip a beat at the first sight of an electric blue strip and would've said a silent prayer hoping Pagal Nallah wouldn't turn crazy by the end of the day.

Those were the days of yore it appears. Pangong today is a different story altogether. After dear Aamir Khan showed the world what a heavenly lake could mean, the repercussions were kind of disappointing to say the least. Hordes of tourists, a million tents/rooms and a gazillion vehicles all along the 7km stretch from Lukung to Spangmik is what awaits today at the tranquil location. The first time, save for a few visiting vehicles along the shore, there wasn't a single piece of evidence suggesting human presence in the area. No tents, no resorts, no roads, just the awesome lake and the mountains. Today I see some sort of sheds by the shore too. Why don't we build a bridge on top and then maybe an underwater resort too!

Whining apart, Pangong still remains a work of art, beautiful and wonderful by all means. I just need to find new ground and new perspective, which is why I took the road less traveled to rediscover the magic of the azure waters.

As of today there are two approaches to Pangong, one from Lukung, which is one end of the lake. The other one is through the other end, via Chushul leading to Khaktse, Merak, Man and finally to Lukung. This route skirts dangerously close to international border making the journey all the more exciting. This way we'd also be able to see the entire 40kms of Pangong that lies with India. 

Here are the details of the route in detail.

Route - Tso Moriri - Mahe - Nyoma - Loma - Tsaga - Rezang La - Chushul - Khaktse (Pangong Start)  - Merak - Man - Spangmik - Lukung (Pangong End)

How to reach - Retrace the route from Tso Moriri to Mahe bridge. At this checkpost after crossing the bridge, take right. Left goes to Karu and then Leh. Right goes towards Pangong. Proceed on this route till you cross Noma and reach Loma, where you find another checkpost and a bridge. If you cross the bridge, you'd go towards Hanle. Keep left, you'll reach Chushul.

How many days - The journey can be comfortably finished in a day. Be sure to have an early start at Tso Moriri so that you can enjoy the route without hurry. 

Things to note - Although the route if now officially opened for domestic tourists, it still doesn't have a lot of takers except for some crazy travelers. Chances are you might not see any vehicle the entire stretch. If you are lucky you'd cross an army vehicle or two. Be prepared for any emergency. Carry extra fuel and food as well. Chushul will be the only major settlement you'd come across over the entire day till you reach Pangong.

Inner Line Permit - ILP is available at the DC office in Leh. Either you can get it yourself or your travel agent can arrange it for you. Only your names will be required. Be sure to include all these names in the ILP to avoid any problems - Mahe, Nyoma, Tsaga, Rezang La, Chushul, Merak and Man. Since this route goes along the Indo-Sino border, Border Police can reject permission anytime. 

Who can go - As of today only domestic visitors can get the ILP for this route. If you are planning this route, make sure all are Indian Nationals and carry valid ID. Foreigners are not permitted on this route.

Condition of the route - Although this is the shortest way to reach Pangong from Tso - Moriri, it will take a long time due to the road conditions. There is well laid tarmac until Loma but after that the road condition slowly deteriorates and becomes almost invisible by the end of it. As the tarmac disappears, you can see tracks ahead and follow them. There are stacks of stones all along the route to let you know the direction. Follow them as well. An hour or two after you cross Chushul, you will be treated to the first glimpses of the mighty Pangong Lake, tracks might disappear around here but you be sure to take a left here at this junction.  You would see a road going to right but don't be tempted to follow that, that will lead you to China!

Now I'll let the photos speak!

The fact that this route is so less taken already makes it feel like some exotic land. The colors of the mountains and the salt marches only add to the scene! Towards Nyoma.

The mountains turn purple around here and the colors are unbelievable, have to be seen to be believed!

As the purple disappears, the sands appear. In the distance you can see High Altitude Desert! As you enter the army area, barricades along the road, you find stallions here and there and a dead carcass by the road side to remind you of the awesome remoteness you are traversing though.

"This is a notified firing range Do not enter into it as it can endanger your life" the board says! Some thrill it is, to be in place such as this!

The desert hasn't left us yet, but neither has faint remnants of greenery. Green grass along the foothills of mammoth sand mountains and a lone Kiang wanders along.

The rivers keeps us company all the way until Loma, where we finally part ways. But until then what a charm it will be. The lonely road, mountains all around and the meandering of one gorgeous River alongside.

After Loma, the Kiangs can be found every now and then along with other wild animals. Keep your eyes wide open and I promise you will spot something spectacular.

The road has long disappeared and these tracks are all that remains of a previous quest by some other traveler. Follow the tracks all along and they will lead you to your destination. By now greenery is gone, wildlife is gone, the road is gone and all that is there is this barren magnificent vastness. 

Somewhere before reaching Rezang La Memorial I see this pile of horns by the side and it absolutely freaks me out! The winds blow at a high speed swooshing past my ears and there is not a soul around, not even any signs of civilization. My heart beats  fast as I get out of the SUV and walk alone towards the pile expecting anything to jump at me. I take this photo and scurry back to the jeep as if something chased me. Heart beat returns to normal and we drive away!

In the vastness, there lies a speck of color in the desert. As you come closer you will see it is a memorial in honor of the Rezang La War Heroes. A sad story of valor and gallantry you will find out as you read the boards there. Do stop over and take a look. 

And we finally arrive at Chushul, you'd be surprised to find it to be a rather big village. Just around the village you will be able to see the Chushul Salt Marshes where the endangered Black Necked Cranes migrate to, every year. You will also be able to see Spangur Gap. 

And the first view of the destination. The blue strip of the amazing Lake now will keep you company for the next 40kms showing you all kind of shades of blues! Like I said, don't take the right, it will lead you to China!

The landscape is out of this world as you reach the shore, the mountains welcome you, gentle waves invite you the extravaganza and the clouds don't want to be left out, they will create some drama too! Sit on the white sand and enjoy the serenity!

There, in a single photo so many shades of blue! What happens over the next two three hours, I can't explain in words. The route is just a track going by the lake side as she decides to change her color according to her changing moods! Many a times you'd feel like you would just drop into the lake but the mud holds its ground and let's you pass. Long after this first view you will reach Khaktse village, don't panic if you don't see anybody for a long time. After Khakste, you will cross Merak where you will find a checkpost, then Man, Spangmik and 
you have arrived! 

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A Scary Day and a Haunted Night at Pelling, Sikkim

We all have fears, many reasonable and so many unreasonable. We all want to face our fears too but it is easier said than done. Never in my life had I to face three of my biggest fears in a span of 24 hours. At the end of it, I am still scared of those. Old habits die hard is all I can say!

For all the traveling that I do, it’d be easier to travel solo. It is terribly impossible to put together a team at the whims of a dreamy wanderer. But the only reason I never dared to go solo was because of these fears. 

• Spending nights in dingy hotels in strange places freaks me out totally.
• Seeing a dog a kilometer away would have me in a paranoid frenzy(this applies to any moving creature that I can come across, as harmless s it could be)
• Walking all alone in a thick forest where even light barely manages to get in gives me the chills.

It can come as a surprise to you that these are my fears considering all the crazy adventures I had so far and yet the truth remains that I never had to actually face these situations on my own. But the universe decided it was time for me to face my fears when I was in Sikkim this July. I felt the quest was incomplete at the end of a week spent in North and South Sikkim which is why I decided to explore West Sikkim as well. But the catch was I had to do it alone. 

I was just as much anxious as I was excited about the journey ahead. While everything else about traveling solo had me excited, the fact that I might exactly be in one of these situations was worrying me. But with great passion comes great courage. ;) 

The first two days spent in RavangLa were brilliant. I enjoyed freaking people out when they learned I came all alone during off season. There wasn’t another traveler in the town and most of the hotels were closed down while a few stayed open because the owners had little else to do. I stayed at a hotel run by an old man who assured me there was nothing to be scared of and his assurance worked well also because the top floor was actually a family residence. I was dreading the night but I managed just fine and was still alive the next day morning. Phew, I was glad to have survived the first day and night as a solo traveler. 

Two days later I was on my way to Pelling and I was expecting something similar there as well. But the fact that Pelling was much more famous than RavangLa meant there were lot more hotels and lodgings in this place. Pelling is situated at a height of 2150m in West Sikkim and offers a splendid view of Mt. Kanchenjunga. It also forms a base for many who proceed towards Yuksom for treks further up. It was so popular with the tourists that the village wasn’t any quaint settlement but the exact opposite. The entire mountain side was Pelling – Lower Pelling, Middle Pelling and Upper Pelling! 

Knowing I would be traveling to Pelling the next day, the elderly gentleman at RavangLa offered to arrange accommodation with his friend in Pelling and I obliged. As it turns out it was a good hotel located in Upper Pelling high up the mountain right next to the forest. I took a morning taxi from Ravangla to Geyzing village and from there took another shared taxi to reach Pelling by afternoon. The entire village had worn a deserted look with the roads empty and the tall hotels closed. There weren't any tourists as well, except for four foreigners I came across.

First, The Dog Scare!

I still had the whole afternoon to myself, so I thought let’s walk to the nearby places, meaning Pemayangste Monastery and Rabdentse ruins, both 4 and 5 kms respectively from Pelling. It was a lovely afternoon to walk around and so I set out to Pemayangste first. The subtropical forests of Sikkim are very dense with thick undergrowth as well. In monsoons, you can only imagine the plushness of the foliage. This forest also supports a variety of fauna.  The road to the monastery goes along such forest and I had to deal with inch sized some sort flying beetles or some insects but I carefully managed to reach the monastery. Had a good time exploring and talking to the monks there. My first excursion as a solo traveler went well I thought, with a good feeling I was walking down the road when my heart skipped a beat! I saw a dog sitting in the middle of the road. Good thing was it was a friendly dog. The sad thing was it was a friendly dog. As soon as I came near it, it started wagging its tail and was all over me. I couldn’t shout and couldn’t move either. I tried talking to the dog, asking it to sit down and calm down.  Before you think I am a freak, you should know I never liked pets and have never had any animals around me. With great difficulty I managed to calm the dog and walked away. It felt like forever and my heart was pounding for few minutes after that. Can’t imagine the situation if the dog would’ve chased me, heart attack? ;)

Pemayangtse Monastery is one of the oldest monasteries of the State. It was originally established by Lhatsun Chempo, one of the revered Lamas to have performed the consecration ceremony of the first Chogyal (Monarch) of Sikkim. This ancient monastery belonging to the Nyingma Sect has been considered as one of the premier monasteries in the State.

Second, The Freaky Forest Scare!

Okay, so that was the dog scare, I thought I felt half more brave than earlier and ventured into the broken entrance that led to Rabdentse ruins. The visitors block at the entrance was deserted and there was broken glass everywhere, the furniture broken and the building abandoned. There was just vehicle standing at the entrance and no one knows I came here in case something happens. The ruins are at a distance of a kilometer or so from the gate and there is paved trail leading to it. The ruins are supposedly spread all across inside the dense foliage and on top of the hill are the ruins maintained by the Govt. As I started walking along the forest trail, I was kind of dreading the eerie feeling that was creeping into my mind. For someone who has spent so much time in forests, you must be wondering why I was so scared. Well all the times I was in forest, I was never alone. Always in a group! Being alone in a forest is really scary, I tell you. Sound of forest is like the creepy background score of a movie if you are all alone. There was absolutely no one along the trail and the forest was really dense with very little light entering, not to mention the looming dark clouds which were about to burst any moment. After the scary walk, there was light all of a sudden. I had reached the ruins and it was in a clearing on the hill top. As much I was relieved I was still dreading the fact that there could be an unfriendly dog around or maybe thieves. Luckily there was the caretaker family cleaning the lawn. While returning I took another hiking trail through forest which was a bit open, I reached the road head and breathed a sigh of relief. Barely escaped another heart attack!

Rabdentse was the second capital of the erstwhile Kingdom after Yuksom and till the year 1814 A.D., the King of Sikkim ruled from this place. Today, the ruins lie hidden from the main road at a walking distance from the Pemayangtse Monastery.

Finally, The Horror Scare!

I thought I was done with the scares for the day but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The biggest and worst scare was yet to happen. Like I said earlier, I was put up in a hotel in the far corner. The hotel was a huge five storey building and I was on second floor and the only occupant of the hotel apart from few hotel staff put up in the basement. The hotels next to this were closed and there was no other tourist staying in Upper Pelling. Safe to say, there were not more than half a dozen travelers in Pelling. By evening it was raining heavily and by nightfall, it was still pouring outside. Initially I had planned on keeping the television and lights on the whole night while I tried catching a wink. Unfortunately by midnight, there was a short power cut and after that the cable network conked. There was this eerie silence of the night with the rain still lashing outside, the insects screeching and the occasional creaking of wood. I was freaked out beyond measures, remembering scenes from all horror movies I had seen and imagination played a major part! I was painfully aware of the deafening silence inside the room. The phones were out of order and even if I screamed the voice wouldn’t reach the basement. I was up all night playing the same four songs on my mobile and was so so so glad to see the first rays enter the room. This has to be the scariest night ever! Next night, it was still raining, the phone was still not working, I was still alone but the tv was working. Got past somehow and live to tell the story! ;)

And this was the view from my Hotel room. Staying in Upper Pelling, the views were superb till the light lasted. Then after dark, the horror story begins! ;)

Too many scares for a day, don't you think? I was traveling solo in Sikkim for a week during offseason and this was the freakiest day of all! At the end of it, having faced my fears, I think I still am scared of all these things. :)
Have you had any such scary experiences during your travel? 

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Six reasons why Off Season is the new Season!

Well, having a smooth trip where everything goes according to the plan can be nice and all that but the human psyche sure does enjoy a misadventure or two! I mean, what are you gonna tell back home? I had the most amazing perfect trip ever and that's it? For me, (mis)adventures define travel. I take the road less taken, do the crazy, if I come out with flying colors I do have a great story to tell and if I fail, I still have a great story to tell!

While there are many ways to get yourself into trouble like giving into masochism and entering the forests in the absolute wrong time just for the pleasure of it, which I am sure most of my trekker friends in Western Ghats understand. I wasn't a traveler earlier. I was a trekker which meant I had little to do with the over crowded over sold tourist destinations and the noisy tourists. I was happy wandering in the valleys and mountains with little or no human presence apart from us trekkers. Then I started to travel and reality hit me hard. Even though India holds an abundance of natural scenery, the all pervasive tourist crowd and bad planning only makes it hard for me to enjoy the scenic beauty. In a bid to avoid this, I started traveling slightly ahead of season of just after season. It worked, well to an extent it did. Although, lately I have been traveling off season to places and I have to tell you, it is an awesome experience! I'll tell you why.

1. You get to see what few have seen before.

I went to Chhattisgarh in summer when everyone said it was a bad idea. I went to Sikkim in monsoons when everyone said it was a bad idea again. But both the visits have been extremely fruitful. I got to shoot the fishermen on Indravati River with the falls in the backdrop which I still consider to be my best shot. During the peak season, the waterfalls are in full flow and flooded totally. In Sikkim, I saw much more than that. The monsoon beauty of the place and its wonders were indescribable. There were wild flowers and green grass all around Gurudongmar for one. I haven't seen any such photos of the place so far and I think I might be one of those few travelers to have seen that. Last year in Goa, we discovered the so-called monsoon pilots of Colem who will take you on a ride of your lifetime to Dudhsagar falls.

This would interest you more if you are looking for experiences rather than ticking boxes on your to-see places list. I know Sikkim is famous for grand views of Kanchendzonga, Goa for its beaches and Chhattisgarh isn't on the tourist circuit at all. But who set in stone so and so are the only things to do and places to see and the best time to go? I personally don't understand the concept of Off Season. Well to me if the locals are able to survive, so can you. You'll see something different than the usual. If you market that, off season will also become the best season. Just put up with few discomforts and you are good to go. Explore!

2. Accommodation comes for dirt cheap prices.

This possibly can be the best thing about traveling in Off Season. The accommodation comes so cheap, a backpacker can live in luxury during this time. All the hotels and resorts slash their prices to almost peanuts compared to the peak season charges and if you are good at bargaining , you have an added advantage.Off season is the best time to try out hotels normally I wouldn't prefer or can afford. We stayed in luxury in Goa and accommodation in the usually sky high charging places of Sikkim was dirt cheap, so was in Chhattisgarh and Ladakh too.

3. Business out of their minds, the locals are much more laid back!

This is definitely an advantage to the travelers who are looking to connect with the community and learn about the locals in the places they visit. When I was in Sikkim, during peak monsoons, with no tourist traffic, all the vehicles were used as public transport for locals. Without the crazy demand for vehicles to go for the sightseeing tours, the drivers were taking a break. One such driver, whom I had hired to take me to few waterfalls was Sonam. He had no rush to go back, and he patiently waited while I took out my tripod and shot long exposures. I asked him many questions of his village life and he asked me so many of our city life. In the end, we concurred the grass is always greener on the side. With all this interaction I came to know of one thing, that the boys give dowry to get a bride here in Sikkim.

5. Have a few adventures here and there!

Well, let's face it, it is called off-season for a reason! The heat is too much, or the cold or the rain. With excess, there is almost always going to be some problem. And then, considering the traveler that you are, you will somehow manage to get across the problem. Then it surfaces, the pride that you have managed to survive another (mis)adventure. Like, when I went to Mannavanur Lake in offseason, it was raining like hell, we had no shelter or tents, only a tarpaulin sheet to save our lives. But the sheet wouldn't hold against the lashing rain, so one of the villagers suggested we take shelter in the school for the night and get lost early next morning. We were drenched to the core, had the lake all to ourselves, had lovely conversations with an old couple who were serving hot dosas in the night! Well, you know things like this don't happen when there are a horde of tourists all around. It is rare that you get these kind of experiences when you pay for it, because you can't really be sure if people are being nice to you because it is their business to be nice or are they genuinely being nice.

6. Well people, there are no people around!

This has to be the biggest advantage for me! I know not many feel this compulsive need to be alone in places, but I, for one, hate the crowd. I know it makes me sound like a unsocial being, but it is the truth. I can't stand the ubiquitous crowd, the screaming children, the screeching vehicles, the loud conversations and many more such things that come with a crowd at a serene place. The reason travel is so special to me is because it makes me feel special. Being in places where few have been to, seeing things few have seen. When a million others are seeing what you are seeing, it isn't special anymore. But when I travel offseason, I get to have the entire place to myself. There are no people getting in way of my camera either (very selfish, I know!). It is just absolutely wonderful to see nature with no distractions, just plain nature.

Not just these, but another reason why traveling in offseason is good for the traveler who intends to gather experiences rather than few postcard pictures is the fact that you get to see the problems faced by the locals and the ways they get around it. Like for instance, how do the people of Pin Valley manage to stay disconnected to the world for six months when it snows or how the people of Sikkim manage the incessant rains on the mountains and the really really bad roads. When we understand their problems, we do have a better respect for them.

What do you think? Is it worth it, traveling in off season? Share your views and off season travel stories!

P.S - Point 4 is missing! I didn't realize it until a reader pointed it out. You didn't realize it too, did you? ;) Well, why don't one of you give me another reason, we'll add it! :))

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