A World of Colorful Tents and Incredible Sceneries

How would we ever have been able to go to such beautifully inaccessible places without the super invention called tents?

For the past four years, I have been actively hiking in the many different terrains of India. While in the tropics, we rarely used tents. Tents, in the tropics, only seemed to be a hindrance getting in my way of a clear view of the night sky. For the cold, a sleeping bag sufficed and when it rained a tarpaulin did. But it was only in the Himalayas I fell in love with camping and was awed by the sturdiness of these tents. It didn't matter if it was a hailstorm or if it was snowing or if it was heavy rain with heavy winds, these wonderful tents protected us from all. It used to get scary when the howling winds sounded as if they were threatening to uproot the pitched tents or when raindrops/hailstorms hit the surface of the tents with such force that it felt like all hell was breaking lose outside, but they tents hardly gave in. They stood their ground, and we could happily hike from mountain to mountain reaching the most inaccessible places on foot. 

Keeping that in mind, here's my ode to the lovely tents that helped me reach places!

While getting up early in the morning is tough, beautiful sunny days like this are a welcome change from the cold chilly early mornings. On such mornings, I usually get up and quickly survey my surroundings for views like this. Taken on the second day of the trek to reach Stok Kangri Summit in Ladakh. 

On the many occasions where we set up camp by sunset, no points for guessing what's my favorite thing to do. I find a vantage point and enjoy the changing colors in the sky! Taken while returning from a trek in Kashmir. 

While trying to cross the 5000m Kugti Pass that separates the green Chamba from the barren Lahaul Valley, we were ascending quite rapidly. In 3 days we reached from an altitude of 8000ft to 14000ft and the next day would see us crossing the 16000+ft  high pass. In order to acclimatize better and because of the rain in the morning, we took rest in this beautiful glacial valley for a day. As you can see, we were the only occupants around and till date it is only of my most memorable camping experiences  Taken in Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh.

Another benefit of camping is it let's you get you far away from the pollution and light pollution. Saw the milkyway for the first time when I was also camping for the first time, since then I have been always waiting outside the tents in the cold, just to witness the stars and the galaxy! Shot while camping on the way to Stok Kangri Summit, Ladakh.

It was in Kashmir that I encountered so much snow on almost all days. We had to cross this snow ridden pass twice and walk on steep slippery snow slopes of the mountains. Camping with so much snow around was another memorable experience, snow sure makes the surroundings look good. This was taken when we were camping on the second day in Kashmir. 

During my first trek in the Himalayas, after about 3-4 days we were camping at a high altitude of  14500+ ft. The afternoon brought a storm of hails covering everything around us in little snow balls of white. And as always, we were crouched safe inside the tents watching the hail storm and listening to the scary noise of tents and metal plates being hit by the hail. This was taken during my trek to Roopkund in the Gharwal Himalayas. 

Light Painting in the darkness can be a lot of fun. In Kashmir, after darkness fell, we came out with a powerful flashlight and light painted the entire campsite while the milkyway was slowly rising to create this image. With the faint glow from within the tents, photographing night scenes around campsites is one of favorite things to do now-a-days. Taken while trekking in Kashmir.

This is the base camp for Stok Kangri Summit. The number of tents pitched in that small flat land surrounded by high peaks shows a small glimpse of how crowded the Everest Base Camp could be. Tents of all shapes and colors can be seen pitched here along with people of many nationalities attempting 6000+m Stok Kangri Climb. 

Well you'll hardly find images of tents set up in the day light from me. That is because usually in the mornings, we are in a hurry to pack up and start the days's trek. And by afternoon or evening, we are so tired  from the day's trek that all we want to do is to rest more. Only by evening, after some tea and snacks does the energy is regained. Hence all the night shots of camping. :) Image taken near Sonmarg, Kashmir. 

Because there's no such thing as too much of milkyway, so here's one more celebrating the awesomeness of tents, camping, mountains and the milkyway! Image taken in Kashmir. 

Have you ever camped in tents? How has your experience been?

Also I have updated the Advertise and Work with me pages, do have a look and share with those who you think might be interested. :)

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Notes from Nagaland : The beginning of an Adventure

"It was 5PM. It was pitch dark. And I was all alone."

I knew the airport was 17kms far from the city of Dibrugarh, Assam. As I landed I was apprehensive about finding my way to the city, I hadn’t arranged for transport. But luckily I found share autos waiting outside and I promptly got into one. In front of me were green fields and in the far distance were faint traces of mountains and clouds.

We drove alongside the famous tea plantations, they grew on flat plains. It was new to me; I had only ever seen tea plantations growing on mountain slopes of Munnar, Ooty, Coorg and such. It was almost evening and young boys and girls in school uniforms flooded the streets and railway stations. We passed by a surprisingly high number of railway stations between the airport and Dibrugarh. I guess the local trains were quite popular, the road ran parallel to the tracks for most parts.

The tea plantations growing on plains around Diburgarh, Assam

Once we entered the city of Dibrugarh, the green countryside transformed into a dusty town that seemed to be in a strange flux. I stopped in front of the only hotel I knew, Hotel Raj Palace and I got myself a room for 600Rs. I was relieved; I thought fun times lay ahead. The hotel was situated on the banks of Brahmaputra, between the hotel and the river, was a slum. I walked down to the river, through their houses despite strange glances and children screaming me at me “Bhoot” (meaning ghost in hindi). It was strange to see the mighty river flow gently knowing what ravages it had wrought upon whatever came in its way. One thing that didn’t occur to me was the time zone disparity that far in the east. It was barely 4.30PM and it was already getting dark! I had to rush back to my hotel because by 5PM it was pitch dark.

If you are wondering why I chose to fly into Dibrugarh in Assam than Dimapur in Nagaland, you’d find your answer if you look at the map. Dibrugarh is very close to north of Nagaland. And I wanted to visit north Nagaland for that is where the Konyak tribes reside. So the next morning I changed two shared vehicles to reach a shady looking town called Sonari, very close to the Nagaland border. This journey took me through the remote border villages of Assam, where houses were built on stilts and water flooded almost everywhere. The road was always lined with green fields or tea plantations on either side. People kept getting into the mini bus to Sonari, so much so that the bus was tilting to one side. A little girl sat in my lap and the lady in front of me had live birds in hidden in her bag. I knew because they were making noises and moving constantly. Almost all of the people were chewing tobacco.

Very luckily, after confusing quite a few locals around and getting confused, someone directed me to the Nagaland State bus stand in Sonari. It was 1 in the afternoon and the conductor was quite puzzled looking at me with the backpack asking for a ticket to Mon. I asked him for a window seat and he gave me one. The bus to Mon had to be one of the dirtiest buses I have ever been on, but at that point I had no choice and frankly I didn’t think the ride would last long.

This is the busstand at Sonari, Assam and there is only bus per day to Mon, Nagaland.

The bus was almost empty save for few men in few seats, it was worrying. Few women boarded the bus soon and that comforted me a little. After 15kms, we crossed the border at Tizit and I officially entered Nagaland. The bus was relatively empty until then and at the border, it was packed to full. Sonari to Mon, Nagaland is just 54kms on the map, but the roads were so bad and through such mountainous terrain that it would take almost 4 hours to reach Mon. The bus passed by remote villages and I got to see the famous Konyak elders, who were headhunters of the previous days. 

After few stops, a Konyak man with a tattooed face and traditional attire complete with strange skeleton jewelry got into the bus and sat near the driver. I couldn’t take my eyes off him! I wondered how many heads we might have claimed and what stories of terror he might have known. The gentleman sitting next to me wasn’t looking like someone from Nagaland, he talked good Hindi too. Sometime later he tells me, he is a Rajasthani businessman who migrated to Nagaland 16 years ago! I was surprised to see how people migrate to such far away unknown lands for better opportunities. Later in Mon, I observed more than half the shops in the market were run by people from Rajasthan and Bihar! For now, the bus was still traveling at snail pace negotiating the steep slopes and broken roads.

Mon town plunged into darkness, from the roof of my hotel, I could see the milkyway!

It was almost dark by the time bus arrived at Mon. Situated along the mountain slopes, Mon was a town only for namesake. I walked towards Paramount Guesthouse, one of the only two hotels in Mon. I stood in front of a huge seven storied building, of which two floors were of Paramount Guesthouse and the rest were office spaces and empty portions. The building was locked and there was no one around. Luckily my phone caught signal and I called up the lady who owned the guesthouse. She asked me to wait while she’d send someone to open the hotel for me. While I waited, the one thought running in my head was that the whole damn building was empty and that I’d be the only occupant that night! Again! Nope, not even a receptionist at front desk. With this, it would be three times I landed in a place where I was the only tourist around and the only occupant of a hotel. A young girl opened the lock and showed me my room but the light wasn’t switching on. She informs me, recent rains had caused damage to power lines and whole of North Nagaland has been living without electricity for the past two days and also that it is highly unlikely that power would be restored tonight. It was 5PM. It was pitch dark. And I was all alone.

Welcome to Nagaland.

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Riding on the trails of Kodachadri

It probably isn’t going to be an adventure if this thought doesn’t come to your mind.

“Why the hell am I doing this?”

That's me riding on a trail through the grasslands atop Kodachadri. Image courtesy - Rajesh Nayak

Exactly this thought was going through my mind on that beautiful Saturday night. Even before we started assembling the bikes, people gathered around to tell us there’s no way we could cycle 8 kms uphill through the jeep track to reach the mountain top. We told them we’d get there somehow. It was 6.30 in the evening.

After few kilometers of rocky, slippery and uneven trail, the route evened up a bit.

9 of us together must've brought back kilograms of this red mud. Most of the route was covered in this soft red mud which made the trail very slippery.

8 friends and I were assembling our bikes at the base of this 1300m high peak called Kodachadri in the Western Ghats. By the time we had our cycles ready with our helmets and head torches on, it was pitch dark. The trail steadily climbs through thick forest to open into vast grasslands just before we reach the peak. It is a very uneven rocky trail with lots of stones and soft red mud. In the darkness we started pedaling uphill and within minutes almost everyone had their first fall. After few futile attempts of trying to cycle on the trail, five of us resorted to pushing our bikes uphill.

It was pitch dark, a silent night with a starry sky. And there I was, pushing my bike through the forest, along the twisting turns with not a soul in sight apart from me my friends. At times like this, it is only one’s sense of humour that can help. We couldn’t help but laugh at our situation, stranded in the night with nothing but our bikes, some water and a sleeping bag. Few hours later we managed to reach the top where we camped under the open skies. And as luck would have it, dinner was just a water melon.

That's part of the team making their way down the trail. Image courtesy - Rajesh Nayak

While I wasn't really comfortable on these trails, my friends were having the time of their life. Image courtesy - Rajesh Nayak

The real fun started the next morning. After all of the previous night’s trouble, today we would ride downhill. I wasn’t particularly fond of riding downhill on those crazy trails. Even in the city I have never driven any vehicle and when it comes to riding, the only experience I have is the few routes I cycled over the past two years. But this wasn’t going to be an easy ride and I had half a mind to hire a jeep to take me down. And my off-roading skills are so awesome, only a new born baby can do worse than me. This was when the thought crossed my mind again.

“Why in the world am I doing this?”

In the end, the lure of starring in an awesome video got to me and I decided to ride downhill. I would ride few meters only to be thrown off balance very soon. I walked my bike at a whole lot twists and turns but slowly I got the hang of it. After the initial few kilometers, the trail evened out considerably and at some point I was even having fun riding through the forest. But all the while, I could never let go of the fear of crashing and held onto the brakes with all I had. My grip on the brakes was so firm that my arms were hurting bad but I couldn’t let go.

We came across this stream at the end of the trail where we had a lot of fun crossing the stream on our bikes.

I was afraid to try this out in the beginning but it looked like a lot of fun and the photos and videos of the stream crossing looked awesome too. So I had to try it and it wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be. 

After 8kms and 2 hours of riding downhill, I found my answer. I was doing this because variety is the spice of life. Because we should never stop learning and there’s always a first time; because of the joy of learning, overcoming fear and the excitement of doing something new and adding more crazy experiences to my list.

Here is a video of the downhill ride - 

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The Amazing Forests of Andaman in Pictures

Andaman and Nicobar are a spectacular group of tropical islands in the Bay of Bengal. With about 86% of the land area covered by forest, A&N is surprisingly known only for its beaches and marine life. Islands are fascinating places and so is the ecosystem. For thousands of years, the forests here have grown undisturbed until the past hundred years where rampant logging and increased settlements have caused damage. Nevertheless, the forests of Andaman are still pretty amazing and old growth for most parts. Many of the species found here are endemic and I can only assume Nicobar is just as spectacular as well. Here are some photos of my experience wandering in the forests of Andaman. It is safe to say I was wowed and how!

The forests of Andaman are primarily tropical rainforest which constantly reminded me of Western Ghats closer to home. The canopy was just as green as the dense forest floor. The greenery was soothing and at times overwhelming. It was easy to get claustrophobic as you can see here. If we had to shoot Jurassic Park in India, this could be a prime location, the forest looked pre-historic. 

Image taken while trekking towards Saddle Peak, Kalipur, North Andaman.

The forest extends all the way till the beach as you can see here. With zero light pollution, we could see stars clearly as expected with any wild place. The tide was slowly rising and after few minutes, the water was just a meter away from the forest. There are hardly any palm fringed beaches, instead dense forests stretch towards the sea. At many places, the water meets the forest and there isn't a beach to walk along during high tide. Seen here is a Mahua tree among others.

Image  taken at Niel Island, Ritchie's Archipelago.

Sunset brought out the colors of forest alive. I walked few meters away from the beach and I found this path which almost looked paradisaical. Birds were chirping and the eerie silence was occasionally interrupted by a screeching insect. The sun sets very early in the Andaman islands and I ran back to the shore before it turned dark. Later we drove back on a scooty on this path to reach our resort.

Image taken close to sunset point, south of Niel Island, Ritchie's Archipelago.

There are no rivers in Andaman except for one small Kalpong River in North Andaman. There are several streams and crocodile infested creeks running across the islands though. This being a tropical forest, the water isn't refreshing cool like a glacial stream however it tastes refreshingly fresh. On my way to Saddle Peak, this was the only major stream we crossed where I could fill my water bottle. Few more meters ahead, the fresh water stream opens into the ocean.

Image shot in Saddle Peak National Park, North Andaman.

During the 2004 earthquake, the pressure of the water actually tilted some of the islands, letting salt-water flow into the tree roots. That’s why you see eerie-looking stretches of dead forest along some seashores and flooded areas. These trees were dead and really huge along the shoreline. I saw similar dead and uprooted trees across Little Andaman and Long Island.

Image taken at Lallaji Bay, Long Island, Middle Andaman.

Looking at the tall trees everywhere, it is easy to see the reason why there were upto 4 timber factories of the islands of Andaman. Mahua, Gurjan, the termite resistant Padauk and other such trees constitute the 200+ varieties of timber found in these islands. Logging has been banned to protect the ecosystem of Andaman & Nicobar and the timber factories have been closed since. 

Image was taken at Niel Island, Ritchie'e Archipelago, Andman

This is what you see from the coast of Long Island. During high tide, water rises till the forest leaving no beach to walk along and the forest looks so dense that one might not want to enter forcing him/her to walk in the crocodile infested waters. The forests of Niel Island were relatively well cleared owing to its small size and abundant population. Long Island was much bigger with just about 1500 people living and forests here looked dangerously wild and creepy with huge trees and a lot of creepers and shrubs covering every inch of forest floor available.

Image was taken on the way to Lallaji Bay, Long Island, Middle Andaman

Like I said earlier, several streams run through the forest to meet the ocean in the end. Seen here is one such stream surrounded by lush greenery. During low tide, the water is barely ankle deep and easy to cross but by high tide i.e late mornings and late evening, the water level rises to waist deep or chest deep making it difficult to cross. Also increasing the chance encounter with the salt water crocodile thriving in these waters. 

Image taken along the beach of Kalipur, North Andaman.

Little Andaman is a huge island between Andaman and the Nicobar group. Flat leveled, the dense forest was the prime target for severe logging and thousands of people from mainland and other islands have now settled in this island affecting the forest. A large area of the island is under the control of red oil palm plantation. However, the greenery of the island still remains. I saw the biggest creeks in this island, like the one seen in this image. There have been several cases of people getting killed by saltwater crocodiles and every creek has a signboard warning people to stay away.

Image taken close to Butler Bay, Little Andaman.

Creepy looking climbers and branches hang from the many trees on my way to Lamiya Bay. Between the pristine stretches of forests, several settlers have illegally set up small villages and cleared the forest illegally to use the land for cultivation. I am told towards North Andaman, the forests are evergreen and characterized by wood climbers. This must be it.

Image taken at Lamiya Bay, Kalipur, North Andaman.

As we travel towards North Andaman, the mangrove forests increase in density like anything. Traveling by the ferry from Long Island towards Erratta, we passed by several such entire islands of just mangroves, really tall and dense mangroves that could provide protection against waves in case of a tsunami. Later when we arrived at the jetty at Errata, it was surrounded by dense mangroves and a prime crocodile area with sign boards declaring the same everywhere. The total area of mangrove vegetation in Andamans is around 966 Sq.kms.

Image taken from the ferry going towards Errata from Long Island, Middle Andaman.

Seen here is the Padanus fruit. A visit to the Anthropological Museum in Port Blair informs me that this fruit is eaten by tribes of Nicobar. In Niel Island, when I inquired the locals brushed it off saying it is some inedible fruit. 

Image taken on the shore of Niel Island, Ritchie's Archipelago.

Seen here is my guide Indro, standing in front of the very huge trees of the evergreen rainforest. I've barely seen any tree tops once I reached North Andaman. The trees were all very tall, the buttress spread wide. This is still one of the smaller ones that I have photographed. 

Image taken in Saddle Peak National Park, North Andaman

This is the view through the foliage along the road in Little Andaman, at the far end one can the blue greens of the sea. It was in rare cases that I could see through the dense greenery to get an ocean view. Most of the times, it was just trees and such. 

Image taken in Little Andaman.

A Tall Gurjan tree stands in the middle of the fields of an illegal settlement at Lamiya Bay.  The thick  wood  is used to make furniture and is one of the several timber species found on the island. My guide, Indro standing next to the tree can give you a perspective of how huge the trees were. 

Image taken in Lamiya Bay, North Andaman 

Seen here is a Ficus Tree claiming all that is left of this British Building. The forests of Andaman and so alive and so aggressive, nothing can remain forever, the forests will take back all that belongs to it, sooner or later. And here ends my journey with the Forests of Andaman. 

Image taken in Ross Island, Andaman.

So what do you think of Forests of Andaman? 

I personally was mesmerized by the tropical evergreen forests, the mangroves, the huge trees and things green. It was the first time I ever felt I should've been here with a naturalist who could've told me the secrets of these forests. I hope this post can reinforce the thought that Andaman is a wild paradise and not just a beach destination. Also If you find any inaccuracies in what I've written please do inform me. 

In the next post on Andaman I will talk about the indigenous tribes of these islands. 

Related posts:

2 Weeks in Andaman - Photos of Tropical Paradise

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Do I really prefer travelling solo?

“Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller"- Ibn Battuta

That’s the story of my life. When I am traveling, I prefer to be silent, to be quiet and to be calm enough to observe what is happening around me. In fact my travel days are one of those rare days where I let the other person speak and I listen, I listen intently. I am intrigued by new cultures, new destinations and new stories! Of course, once I am back I won’t rest until I have recounted each and every experience to my often reluctant audience. But how did I ever discover I liked all these?

In the very beginning, like everyone else, I used to look for company to travel. There wasn’t a travel plan which didn’t include a whole a lot of begging/convincing a friend(s) to come along. My travel plans revolved around others’ availability and others’ plans. When I met more people who were interested in travel, it didn’t take long before I made friends with them and went on several trips together. The trips were full of laughter, poking fun at each other and a whole lot of talking because all of us were new to each other and we there because of our common love of travel. What these trips were not was enriching. In the sense that while meeting new people was fun I didn’t learn anything about the place that we were visiting because we were so busy with each other. We were confined in this familiar protective bubble with little chance of interaction with the others. Conversations bounced between the closed contexts of our group, there was little that felt alien.

On some unsuspecting trip, clichéd as it may seem, I happened to discover the joy of discovery. I started traveling with few and actively avoided all such trips that included a huge group. After all, all that joking and talking and laughing got in the way of me experiencing the place. When I look back at such trips, neither do I remember the conversations nor do I remember the place. At this point I must be coming off as an increasingly anti-social person. I will be lying if I say I have nothing against such vacations, well, I hate them. Please don’t judge me. But what I do love is to travel in a way where me or my friends are not taking over a place, where I am not intruding. I want to be able to blend in, observe, learn and not seem intimidating.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t take to solo travel for a really long time. My first solo trip was only in 2011 to Sikkim. I have gone alone to join groups where I didn’t know anyone before but never traveled all alone until that point. And I traveled solo because I didn’t find anyone to come along and also because I didn’t want to wait for someone to come along. That was a small 5 day trip in the foothills of Himalayas and that one trip changed my life and how! Since then I have daringly set out travel to the remote islands of Andaman and to stay with the headhunting tribes of Nagaland alone and had some pretty remarkable experiences – both terrifying and breathtaking.

In India, especially, we are not accustomed to the idea of doing things alone. Be it, going to the movies or going shopping or god forbid, eat alone! Here, doing things alone will only attract pitiful glances and sympathetic enquiries. I have been asked several times if I didn’t have a family. If I did, how they allowed me to travel alone was invariably the next question. Always. The good thing about traveling alone in India is that everybody wants to know your story. They come to you, they are curious and let you immerse in their world. I have had some really long and interesting conversations with the locals wherever I traveled alone or with just a friend. The bad thing about traveling alone is that everybody wants to know your story. As a woman traveling alone, I do attract a lot of attention. Sometimes I just want to be left alone but that doesn’t always work in my favor.

Half the times, I am at my wit’s end with all the things going wrong around me, like the snakeskin in my room or landslides or falling sick or the lack of public transport or landing in a remote village where the hotel’s locked down and there’s no power for 2 days. Half the times I am also scared to death. But the confidence that comes from the knowledge that I survived all these and lived to tell the story leaves me in a far better state than I earlier was in. We all know that magic happens outside of our comfort zone. I am now willing to take on challenges and enjoy the freedom that I am given. By trusting myself and being forced to trust strangers, I now know that I can work my way around chaotic situations and that people elsewhere in general are quite nice and friendly. I have taken some stupid decisions too but I’ve learnt my lessons. 

Solo travel opens a whole new world that has been shielded by none other than our own presumptions.  In the process I also do have better and insightful travel experiences. There are loads of posts on the internet advocating solo travel, but I decided to share these thoughts anyway because to hear something from someone you know or relate to can make a bigger difference. I know that once a friend hiked all alone thinking “If Neelima can go solo, I can too” and I know I drew strength from my other friend who hiked alone.

I do not want to paint a rosy picture of solo travel though. It is not going to be easy but is the reward going to be worth the effort? Yes! Words like safety, loneliness etc get thrown around generously whenever solo travel talk comes up, we’ll discuss that in a later post. Solo travel is difficult only to begin with but it is an incredibly enriching experience. I won’t say take a huge leap of faith and take that month long overseas trip just yet, but try. Time is too precious to spend it waiting for something to happen or for someone to come along. Pick up your bag and go. Don’t pin all your hopes on waiting for the perfect time or finding that perfect travel partner to begin your journey. In fact everyone should take a solo trip - to discover courage, confidence, freedom and to grow as a person!

Today it feels amazing to say “Yes, I am going alone!” I can and I will.

What are your thoughts on solo travel in India?

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2012 Women's Day post - My Little Secret (on How to get started with Travel)

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5 Images of the view from High Above

Even after countless flights, till date, I am just as eager to get the window seat. I am even okay with the middle seat but rarely the aisle. I strain my neck, put up with the glare and if there were a window, I'd be hanging out of it like a dog but unfortunately that is not the case! Anyway, most of my flights are to usually to Delhi and then I head towards the mountains by road. But occasionally when flying to places like Diburgarh in Assam or Port Blair in Andaman or Leh in Ladakh, we do get to some amazing views. And a change of perspective surely helps us discover more beauty! So here's five images of my view from the plane. 

Flying to Leh is almost as exciting as driving to Leh, if not completely. Seeing the brown mountains slowly being covered by ice, the excitement in the flight is palpable. Soon you are flying over white mountains and glaciers and if you are lucky you can spot the Tso-Moriri Lake too! Taken on the flight from Delhi - Leh.

The first time I saw clouds, I almost cried. I still love clouds and flying through them is nothing short of a magical ride for me, a bumpy and a scary one at that. This was taken on the flight from Srinagar - Delhi.

Needless to say, flying over oceans isn't as exciting if there's nothing apart from ocean below. But if there is a reef or island below, it is a completely different story. And if you are flying over an island as famous as North Sentinel, that still has uncontacted tribes and there is a rainbow in the sky, what more of a view can you ask for? Taken on the flight from Port Blair - Chennai.

Flying into Leh, seeing this green patch and the hovering clouds was worrying me. Many say that the inclusion of greenery in the high altitude desert has been ruining the natural balance in Ladakh. There has been a very unusual cloud burst, unlikely rainy weather over the past few years. This was taken on the flight from Delhi - Leh.

The mightiest and possibly the scariest river that creates catastrophic flood every year, I eyed the braided Brahmaputra River from a distance while flying out of Dibrugarh in Assam. This was taken on the flight from Dibrugarh - Kolkata. 

Also in my mind, I always talk to the land I am leaving behind and bid goodbye. Do you do that too? :)
So these were some of my most memorable views out of a place. Do you have some views that have been etched in your mind? Did you capture any such views from plane? Do share with me. 

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