I love rooftops for the incredible photo opportunities they provide! Novotel Vizag has a wonderful rooftop restaurant, Infinity. In addition they have a running track on the top. At sunrise and sunset I would simply go to the rooftop and enjoy the view. I could see the many moods of the Beach Road Vizag and it was such a pleasure.

When I get to see such incredible view I wish to capture a lot of it in a single frame. GoPro comes in handy at such occasions.

The Beach Road looks good from any angle you view it. I so enjoyed watching its various moods during my stay.

The crowd you see was the weekend crowd. The RK Beach is more crowded in the evening. I was happy to stand at the top floor and enjoy the view from a distance.

Looking at the crowd I decided to go to the beach in the morning. The added advantage was the sunrise on the beach.

For a very long time, I was not the morning person. Then my daughter started playing tennis in the morning. Now, I can catch a few sunrises without groaning too much.

Even though the terrace view was superb, the view from my room was beautiful too. I went to Vizag on a short trip. Other than the beach I did not venture out anywhere. But I loved my stay at the Novotel Vizag. I need more vacations like these!

PS. The usual blogging disclosure- my stay at Novotel Vizag was complimentary. I paid for my flights.

Do you remember my post on ‘my relationship with food?’ It is still complicated but it is improving for sure. There were times at Novotel Vizag when I would go in with my old attitude, “let’s get done with it” and then check myself and ask- “what would Phil do?” And I tried to do likewise.

Wondering where should I start? Let me start at the beginning. I went down for lunch to The Square. The breakfast is also served there daily. It is the 24 hour restaurant.

The lunch buffet was lavish. There were many options, but I went with the local ones, rasam, sambar, biryani, curd rice, papad and such! And I liked it a lot. They also have a huge dessert table full of delicious stuff.

Breakfast has a wide variety as well. I would once again stick to idli, dosa, vada and the like. However, for the tea lover in me, the filter coffee at Novotel Vizag was the true find. It was really good.

I met the delicious Biryani again at the Zaffran which serves the regional cuisine. I had soup before and followed it up with some delicious kulfi! All of it was good.

I cannot leave out the melt in your mouth kulfi picture before I move on. Of all the ice creams in the world Kulfi is my absolute favorite and this one was ‘rica‘.

I met the filter coffee again after my lunch while sitting at the bakery Sugarr. For the rest of my stay I was a coffee person, which happened like never before!

My dinners were at the Infinity which is a rooftop restaurant and at the Harbour Vue Bar. Infinity has an amazing view of the city, however I failed to secure a table outside. They are known for their sizzlers.

But I would park myself at the rooftop at every sunrise and sunset and these are the views! Also, if you look near the pool, you can probably see the evening tea service happening by the pool.

The Harbour Vue Bar has a good ambience, nice cocktails and bar food! I had delicious eggs and mushrooms other than the cocktail.

I also loved the door of the bar, it has such beautiful boat decorations. Inside the sea and the boat theme continues.

Here is a picture that will give you an idea of what to expect when you go to the Harbour Vue bar. They also have seating outside.

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And when the mixologist/bartender is in the mood, they set the table on fire too! I had an enjoyable stay at the Novotel Vizag. And I ate a lot of delicious food too. There will be more on the blog about this trip.

PS. The usual blogging disclosure- my stay at Novotel Vizag was complimentary. I paid for my flights.

I recently turned 50, there I said it. For my 40th birthday, I trekked up to the Everest Base Camp, solo. And it feels like yesterday! Where did the decade go? Half of it has been spent on tennis courts after my daughter started playing, be it rain, sunshine or cold! And she is still going strong.

For my birthday I had two choices, take my daughter to her Asian U16 matches in Delhi, or go travel alone. We being a family of travelers, there was no hesitation in anybody’s mind what we would do. My husband took my daughter to her matches and I took a break alone. Hopefully that also answers the question for many people who asked me, “why solo for your birthday?” And believe me a lot of people asked me that. I did the same for my 40th birthday too, but didn’t face as many questions then!

My party started with my school friends as a lot of us are turning 50 this year! Manjaree with whom I started in KG was hosting a party for her 50th birthday which coincided with my 50th birthday!

It was close by at Roseate House at Aero City in Delhi. A bunch of school friends got together and had fun together! It was also convenient to catch my next early morning flight from there.

I continued to Vizag on my birthday, where I was staying at Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach for two nights. I had nothing else planned. The kind folks at Accor hosted me at hotel as a blogger.

So what has changed in these ten years? A lot and nothing. The biggest change is my daughter has started playing out of town tournaments. We went to Jalandhar and next stop would be Hyderabad. So another kind of traveling is about to start, one where we don’t know when to book the return flights or train tickets!

What has not changed at all is my love for travel! I do not see too many vacations happening, but I will surely take a few quality ones!

I still feel slightly dazed at turning 50, I don’t know why. I know this too is just a number. So, here is to looking forward to life in 50s!

It has been almost 10 years! I gifted Everest Base Camp Trek to myself on my 40th birthday. And 10 years have gone by in a flash. I am staring at my 50th birthday, somewhat dazed! We have never been big on birthdays but spending the 40th on the trek was special. I have been reminiscing about it these days.

While I was miserable and tired throughout the trek, but the memories are there for a lifetime. I only remember the good things, the beauty and the thrill. I was working full time when I went to EBC, my commute was long and my fitness low. But I am glad I went.

The good thing about traveling on birthdays is you can clearly remember what you did even after years. I was in South Africa on my birthday in 2013, in Barcelona in 2017 and Koh Samui in 2018. Other ones I have no clue what I did.

I trekked with Above the Himalayas and it was because of them I was able to complete this hike! Deepak was my trekking guide and he is a gem. He understood my pace, fatigue and nature perfectly. He got me going even though I doubted myself every day!

I survived the trek by taking one day at a time. I knew about the climb to Namche. But no one wrote about trek to Tengboche being an equally tough! It totally killed me. But I somehow managed to walk for just one more day, every day!

The best part of the trek are the lodges where we stay. They have washrooms and they save you from freezing in a tent. But best are communal kitchens. Not only they provide sustenance, they were also the source of great conversations. The climbers who attempt the summit and walk back also stay at the same lodges. That makes for great stories.

It was when I reached Lobuje that I started to feel hopeful. It was the first time I thought, to go back without reaching the Everest Base Camp would be a pity. I had come a long way from Lukla.

While I was trekking, I kept thinking why do I pay good money to get tortured? It was that difficult for me. However, after a few days of rest my opinion completely changed. Even today, after visiting 32 countries I consider this to be the trip of my lifetime!

To a traveler like me, it should be obvious that birthdays are meant for traveling. Corona also added a different dimension to life, it taught me not to take anything for granted!

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With the 50th coming up next month, even though it is not as grand as Everest Base Camp, I do plan to travel within the country! And think about life in the 50s!

As walked through the beautiful lobby of The Imperial, so many thoughts were jostling inside my head. To reach the hotel I took a Metro, first in more than two years. I was visiting the hotel to join in the Easter workshop for kids. I am glad I went, we had so much fun.

The Imperial New Delhi in association with Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre Delhi and Sree Art celebrated egg painting and cooking workshop with children from Tara Homes and other school kids. And I became a child with them for the two hours that I was there.

The event was held at the Daniell’s Tavern. I was on time but the kids were already painting the eggs! I too sat at a table with tea and watched others paint. Mine was a table full of adults with childlike enthusiasm. My drawing and painting skills have always been awful so I gave the egg painting a pass. I went around clicking pictures instead. The coordinators from Sree Arts kept encouraging everyone doing the painting and gave them helpful suggestions and ideas.

And then everyone got a surprise. Mr. Boman Irani who was shooting at the hotel, dropped in. He stayed for a while, talked to people, and agreed for a photo every time someone asked!

Then things became even more fun, Chef Prem along with Dr. Mariann Erdo from the Liszt Institute conducted the cooking class where we were making the Hungarian Isler.

Things were made easy for us, the cookies were already there, we dipped them in chocolate, applied jam on the other side and topped them up with nuts and there we were with Islers. This was the most fun for me. And even though I had desert at the high tea, I ate my cookies too!

All the kids got a certificate for their efforts, given away by Mr. Vijay Wanchoo, Senior Executive VP and the GM of the hotel and Dr. Mariann.

I learned a lot about Easter traditions at the event. Other than the common ones like fasting before the feast, egg hunts etc., in Hungary there is a tradition where boys sprinkle water or perfume over girls on Easter Monday. The event at the Imperial ended by breaking the giant chocolate Easter eggs on the table.

I went to an event at the after such a long time, it was lovely to meet Ruchi and Chef Prem again. The event was fun, both for the kids and the adults alike.

The pandemic has given me a new appreciation for all things related to travel and events. Never again I am going to take it for granted.

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I leave you with a reel to enjoy from the Easter Workshop at the Imperial New Delhi.

I recently moderated a virtual session on ‘Beyond Travel’, organized by Department of Management Studies (DMS), IIT Delhi. It was great fun to connect with my fellow panelists and discuss all things travel!

While you can watch a recording of the whole talk below, it is about 2 hours long. That is how much we can talk about travel!

The topics discussed in the video were suggested to us by the students organizing the event. It is what they were interested in and wanted to know more about! To be a moderator of this session was an easy task. Everyone had a lot to contribute, and everyone respected the time limits.

In these days of 15 second clips, I feel intimidated to share a 2 hour long video. As I type I am tempted to leave without sharing anything but then I do know how to go against the the flow!

For me the most fun section was on local fashion! All the panelists talked about their old clothes and how obsessed we are for saving money for travel! My down jacket is now 10 year old and I finally need to replace it! We talked about how we got into travel, culture shock, saving money to travel and a lot more!

I find it difficult to urge you all to go and listen to the 2 hour talk but no harm in trying, right?

I started an Instagram series, during the Covid times called going places. I started documenting all the 32 countries I have been to, through Instagram Reels. You can read the parts I II III IV V and VI from the respective links. Today I present Hungary, Cyprus and Russia.

26. Budapest, Hungary

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Budapest was a beautiful trip. My sister Alka and I traveled together after a long time and we enjoyed every minute of it. Our flight to Budapest was via Rome, which was a bonus. We roamed around Rome too!

27. Cyprus

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I visited Cyprus with Cyprus Tourism Board! It is a beautiful country. The beaches are gorgeous, the historic sites majestic and it was full of flowers in summer. I will actually like to go back one day.

28. Russia

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I visited Krasnoyask and Moscow in Russia. Never in my life did I imagine that I would get an opportunity to visit Siberia! I was invited as a blogger to Siberia and I extended my trip to explore Moscow on my own.

It has been fun doing this series on my blog. The next part will be the conclusion and I hope travel will resume soon! And that I can think of visiting more countries!

PS. The first image in the picture is from Kakopetria in Cyprus

Chhavi and I decided to watch the India Denmark Davis Cup tie at the Delhi Gymkhana Club. All the prominent news stories remarked that the event is free. So, we arrived, only to be promptly stopped at the gate. The event is free, but the entry is through free passes. I clearly didn’t have one. There was another gentleman stuck like us. We talked to the police telling them the event is reported as free everywhere! He denied it first. Then he called a senior who asked us to wait for five minutes. We waited patiently. Three young volunteers approached us and told us that the passes were available free of cost at Delhi Lawn Tennis Association’s (DLTA) Office. But they had passes with them too and gave it to all of us!

At the security we were asked to leave our water bottles but camera, including DSLR, is allowed. After this we had no surprises. We were quickly seated and Ramkumar Ramanathan’s match with Mikael Torpegaard was already in progress. My daughter had exam in the morning, so we knew we would miss some of the match!

It was a pleasure to watch him live, I have only seen his clips on YouTube and his mixed doubles at Wimbledon on streaming. Ramkumar won his match in straight sets!

After Ram had a word with the legendary Vijay Amritraj, the court started getting prepared for the next match between Yuki Bhambri and Christian Sigsgaard. India was already leading 1-0 at this stage.

It was a pleasure to watch the stars of Indian Tennis at the venue. Rohan Bopanna (second from right) was vocal in his support for the team! Sometimes I wish there were more team events in tennis!

Yuki too was in fine form, he won the first set without too many difficulties. There were a few break of serves but our lad cruised through.

It was also fun to see the Indian team cheering their mates. The gentleman in the orange cap is Dr. Yash Pandey, one of the physiotherapist of the Indian team. I can vouch that his whistle can be heard above the crowd at the other end of the stadium.

While the Indian team had the support of the whole stadium, the Denmark team was 5-6 member strong. I wish I knew the name of this young Danish player he also could be heard above the crowd throughout the stadium. His cheering would invite counter cheers and everyone had a good time!

Yuki quickly went up 4-0 in the second set. But what is tennis without a few twists and turns! After 5-2 lead, it suddenly got narrowed down to 5-4. It was Yuki’s serve and he did manage to serve the match out comfortably.

For Chhavi and I this was a great adventure! I have still watched a lot of live sport growing up, particularly badminton but this was a first for Chhavi. She was suitably impressed. It is another matter that she has played a lot of junior matches at the All India Tennis Association (AITA) level.

Getting a chance to see Vijay Amritraj in person was a high for me. I realized that I have watched a lot of tennis on TV but not so much live. I think it is time to change it. On the other hand I have watched so many AITA junior matches because my daughter plays there! I have to say it is tough to watch your child play! And it is super fun to watch professional matches!

We will try to go and watch Day 2 matches too. As I knew I needed passes for tomorrow, I went to the Delhi Gymkhana Club reception and asked the lady there if she had passes. Of course she didn’t and neither did she know where could I get one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A gentleman in India blazer (I recollect this now) overheard the conversation and said he had a few to spare. He gave us two passes for tomorrow. We thanked him there and I wish to thank him again for coming to our rescue. I leave you with a reel of the day 1 of the India Denmark Davis Cup tie at the Delhi Gymkhana Club!

Now that the pandemic seem to be weakening, let me ask this question, did you miss traveling? While I have always been thankful for health I have to admit I missed traveling, I missed it a bit too much. It had become a way of life with me.

While I was home, actually made many reels about missing travel! I feel now is a good time to start sharing them. Some trips are shaping up for March though it is becoming ever difficult to juggle my daughter’s ever growing tennis practice and my travels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I do not collect ticket stubs and the like, but when I found some in a box, it felt like such a treasure! How I used to take traveling for granted!

 

 

 

 

 

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I am a window seat person! I plan for it and I feel forlorn when I don’t get them! Who would have thought the pandemic would take them completely out of question for such a long time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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And while I am reliving those moments, I realize that I need more than one post to share even my good ones. On that note I also need to complete my ‘going places’ series.

This is going to be a complicated post, I have been staring at this screen, while a thousand thoughts come rushing to my head. I almost want to give up and go. Instead I just go away to random webpages to scroll about random things but I keep coming back to this window. Finally I start typing once I acknowledge the complexity of the subject- my relationship with food. and it is complicated

Many people my age are nostalgic about home food, particularly from their childhood. But like Phil of Somebody Feed Phil I would say ‘not my home.’ Growing up in a small town I was really lucky. We lived in a house surrounded by trees and land. So we ate a lot of thigs fresh from out ‘khet,’ even though I never heard ‘Farm to table’ back then! However, I was not a foodie, not even close to it.

After school I went to hostels, first to do my bachelors and masters degree and then to a separate place to do my Ph.D. It is safe to say it was here that I lost it. The food at the first place was bad. The food at the second place was even worse. Eating mess food for about ten years literally killed all my taste buds. These places has potatoes and bread on their menu every day, three times a day or something even worse. For a very long time after graduating I couldn’t stand either of them! My relationship with food was at the rock bottom.

Throughout this period I had one salvation, I love sweets, the Indian mithai kind, but I can eat everything else too that goes by the name of dessert.

Then I started traveling and I should have explored food too. But it didn’t happen. For a long time my brain would not process food! I didn’t cook much myself. Even when I visited places like Suryagarh that take food to the next level, I was lukewarm to it. I was trying but I would just not get excited about food.

Then came 2020 followed by 2021 and now 2022, travel vanished, and the world became a stressful place in every sense of the word. I did manage to travel bit here and there but it was not the same.

So, as I had a lot of time, I started watching food documentaries on Netflix. The first one that caught my attention was Street Food Latin America, followed by street food Asia. I watched the first one in Spanish and it was beautiful. And then I got hooked. I watched Heavenly Bites, Restaurants on the Edge and finally something shifted. Currently I am at the Season 3 of Somebody Feed Phil. Finally my relationship with food started improving.

I am now waiting for the world to get ‘normal’ and I sincerely hope we are inching towards it. This time when I travel I am going to enjoy food. A tiny voice in my head tells me my choices as a vegetarian are limited in many places but I am not going to listen to it.

I think I have made peace with food. My taste buds are reviving, all I need now is to travel again!

As I start typing away, my mind wanders, was ‘Travel or lack of it in time of Covid19’ a better title? But then I go ahead and keep typing. I hardly write anything these days, I hardly travel too!

Growing up in a small town, Gorakhpur, UP in the 1970s and the 80s travel was not on my horizon. My father worked for the Indian Railways but we didn’t travel much. In those days eating out was not common, there was no five star hotel in my town and I hardly knew any friend who ever took a flight! Gorakhpur is an Airforce base so I saw a lot of fighter planes flying overhead and that was all.

Or the stories my father brought back home, he did take a few flights, visited five star hotels and other countries but all for work. My eyes would widen listening to those tales, of the grand lobbies, the interiors of a plane, the expensive food in fancy hotels and lands far away.

Growing up I never dreamed of travel. I never thought I would enter a plane or visit a fancy hotel. But life had other plans and a lot of it happened because of this blog. Though I went abroad first for academic conferences and work but it was blogging that changed my world!

I started blogging in 2005 with zero expectations. And slowly things changed. I started getting invited to places, a fancy restaurant, a five star hotel, and eventually on foreign trips! A trip to South Africa happened in May 2013 and I was like beyond amazed. I had already been to Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia as a blogger before that!

Then there were years when I did 6-7 trips abroad. Flying, staying in fancy places became the norm for me, particularly on all my blogging trips.

I will be honest, when I first started going to those places I was in awe, I also had this feeling that I didn’t belong. After all I was this 70s child, for whom travel was not even a dream! But after some time, I got used to them, in a good way. I also realized that being a decent human being was enough to belong, almost everywhere.

I became so confident that I took my daughter and niece abroad on a vacation for the first time when they were 7 and 9 and it was just the three of us!

So, I had no inkling that Vietnam (blogging trip in 2019) was going to be the last new country till date! If someone would have said it to me then, I would give them a rotten stare and go on clicking those million pictures that I take!

Little did I know that my Sri Lanka trip (January 2020) would be my last international trip for so many years. I visited Sri Lanka first in 2014 so it was not a new destination for me. My previous passport had to be renewed three years before its expiry date because I simply ran out of pages! This woman from Gorakhpur was going places and it was never even on her agenda explicitly! I was dragging my sister Alka out on some vacations too.

The year 2021 was marginally better, I did two domestic trips, one to Sariska and the other to Ladakh. I have low expectations from 2022. Come mid January and my whole family went down with Covid, the Omicron version, which I have to say was not the horror that Delta must have been. We all have recovered and back on our feet for which we are truly thankful.

But whenever travel opens up next, and it feels like a safe bet, I am waiting for it. For I didn’t know when, but travel became the dream of my life!

I started a series during the Covid times called going places where I started documenting all the 32 countries I have been to, through Instagram Reels. Then travel happened, in small doses but still it happened. And I got caught in it. And a lot of stuff in real life too. But here I am, back with the going places part VI.  You can read the parts I II III IV and V from the respective links.

I visited Myanmar, Czech Republic, Oman, Spain and Mauritius next. Myanmar, Spain and Oman were blogging trips. Czech Republic and Mauritius were personal holidays.

21. Myanmar

 

 

 

 

 

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I visited Singapore and Myanmar in 2017 with Accor Hotels. And that was the start of a relationship that continues. I still stay at Accor Hotels whenever I can even on my personal trips. Singapore was the first country I visited so I am not doing a reel on it again, I have done it in part I. Myanmar has a piece of my heart. Inle Lake was amazing, the people generous and the food good.

22. Prague, Czech Republic

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I traveled to Prague with my niece Vasudha and my daughter Chhavi on a personal vacation. I got the visa after a personal interview (my first and only interview ever for a visa) at the embassy for all of us. The visa experience did make me question my choice but we loved Prague.

23. Oman

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Oman was a blogging trip in 2017 with the tourism board! Oman surprised me with its natural beauty! My best dolphin watching experience was in Oman!

24. Spain

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Espana te quiero! I didn’t know a word of Spanish other than Gracias and Hola when I visited the Catalonia Region in 2017! But I have been so impressed with Spain that I started learning a bit of Spanish after my visit. Also because I hope one day I will meet Rafael Nadal and talk to him in Spanish!

25. Mauritius

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Mauritius was special because I went there with my school friends. I along with three of my friends whom I have known since KG boarded the flight together and we had so much fun out there! This trip was one of its kind!

I had so much fun on each of these trips, I hope it shows through my reels!

This was my second stay at the Grand Dragon Ladakh. The first time I stayed there, it was of January 2016. Both the times I have stayed as a blogger, my stay was complimentary. The January 2016 was a group trip whereas in October 2021 I was staying alone and doing my own things!

There are two ways in which I can start the story. In September 2021 I called my friend Meenaskhi and asked for a recommendation for a homestay in Ladakh. She convinced me to stay at the Grand Dragon instead. Not that it needed much convincing. I stayed there before, I knew how good it is.

Then on the third day of my trip I was roaming around the Leh Palace at my leisurely pace. I met a girl who was seriously making content, so we started chatting. After a few minutes we connected on Instagram. After looking at my feed for a few seconds, she asked, “So you are staying at the Grand Dragon?” I was once again reminded to be thankful for the wonderful blogging opportunities I get!

Once I settled in my room, I marveled at the view from my porch, I was going to wake up to it for 5 days. After the tough 2020 that we all had and then the horror of April 2021, this was the sight for my sore eyes! While I was posting on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, many people messaged me and asked about the weather. I stayed in Leh from October 13 to 18. On all days the day temperature was above 12 degrees Celsius. The nights were cold but I would get tucked in my centrally heated room by 9.30 pm so it was never a problem. The last day on October 18 I woke up to 0 degree but all I was doing on that day was catching a flight! I liked the weather during my stay plus I got to see the gorgeous fall colors!

I was eating all my meals at the hotel. I did walk to the market many times, I saw all the cute cafes but in the end I chickened out, due to the crowd. October was busy in Leh. At the hotel the restaurant was spacious, so I felt safer eating there than in the cafes. I start checking out the buffet from the dessert counter and I was worried about eating so much hotel food. To my surprise I did not gain any weight during my stay even though I ate plenty of dessert. I believe the walking around at the high altitude balanced out my sweet intake!

As I was present at every meal over 5 days the staff got used to me! They also knew my whims, and catered to it. I must have been the only person eating all my meals alone but I never felt it too much! I do not remember all the names but I so remember Dolma, Gagan, Tanmay (front desk) and Tara ji. We met at every meal and when they were not too busy they took out time to chat with me.

I am a chai person and I hardly ever swap it for anything except Kahwa. There is something magical about Kahwa at that height and weather. I can drink a lot of it.

My vacations center around the amount of tea I drink and I had a lot of happy cups on this one. After my meals or breakfast inside the restaurant I would walk out to the terrace with chai or Kahwa in hand and bliss all around me.

I made a few rookie mistakes on this trip. Instead of resting completely I went for a walk in the evening on the first day. For the first two days I also did not increase my water intake. So, on the second day of my trip, I was having headache and I barely moved. My porch was my shelter and the views still were stunning. In fact, if I could force myself I would make it mandatory on all my trips to do nothing on one day. But I know it won’t happen unless I need to rest, like on this trip!

Apples were growing in plentiful in the garden of the hotel! For a low altitude person like me it was exotic to see so many of them on the tree!

It was so nice to spend a few days in such beautiful settings. When I arrived, I was so tired both physically and mentally. Many days have gone since I came back, I still feel rejuvenated after this trip.

It is the people who make the stay memorable and here a few of them in one picture. I was late from sightseeing one afternoon and the lunch just got over. They got so many things for me from the kitchen that I could not finish it all. I fondly remember the hot gulab jamun that Dolma got me at the end! I requested them to take off the mask just for this picture! I do hope that travel will remain open now and that the worst is behind us. I feel so blessed to have been on this trip to Ladakh and for my wonderful stay at the Grand Dragon Ladakh.

I recently visited Ladakh for the 5th time. The first time, way back in 2005 my husband and I did a road trip using public transport. After that I have always taken a flight. Since my first flight in 2016 I knew the magnificent views of the Ladakh Range was on the A side window seats while going and on the F side while coming back.

This time when I was booking my flights I saw one with 5.30 am departure from Delhi. I thought I would get to see the sunrise over the mountains, so I took my chance and booked it. And magic happened! I do not regret leaving home at 3.00 am nor do I regret paying 200 rupees to block A 29 seat in advance, so that I could sleep in peace knowing my seat was assured.

I was flying on October 13, after a year and nine months! The check-in was rather slow but I wanted to travel and I was in a mood to forgive everything! The flight took off on time. I was so sleepy to begin with and for 45 minutes or so, we fly over the plains. Then the mountains come in the view! I was holding my breath to see if the peaks would start glowing. I was not disappointed at all!

I was mesmerized by the sunrise. I got lost in the world unfolding outside my window. I would use my DSLR, then use my mobile only to go back to the DSLR, making videos and clicking pictures! I was totally glued to the window and my cameras!

The trouble with the photos is that they never look as good as the actual scene but I am still happy with what I saw and what I captured. I have to remind myself to see a little more through my eyes, I end up seeing a lot through the lens!

After clicking a lot of pictures from the kit lens of my DSLR, I put on the zoom lens! I am happy I was able to think of this. All this while I only knew the guy in front of my seat was also continuously with his camera. And that the people sitting next to me changed seats to someplace where they could also get a view!

I know from my previous experience that the flight time over this scenic stretch of mountains passes way too quickly. Soon enough the runway at Leh came into sight. I have pictures from the Delhi Leh winter flight too from 2016. I hope to catch the sunrise over these majestic mountains once in winter too!

Soon the show was over and it was time for touch down at the Leh Airport. I knew it would be cold outside, I knew the altitude would hit me sometime. But the heart was happy, to be able to fly again, and to fly over such majestic mountains at sunrise!

I feel so blessed that I am able to travel again! The second trip of the year was to Leh, Ladakh. I was yearning to go on a break! The stars aligned and I finalized a trip to Leh. The agenda was to do nothing. I booked my tickets on my own and my stay was complimentary from the Grand Dragon Ladakh! I am really thankful to them for taking such good care of me. This was the second time I was staying at the Grand Dragon!

Even though I had no plans I was hopeful that I would see fall colors in Ladakh! I had no idea what to expect or where to go though. I made the rookie mistake of going for an evening walk on my first day in Leh. I was feeling fresh but by the time I came back, I had headache. On top of that I did not increase my water intake. The next day I woke up with a terrible headache. I was forced to sit and laze around the hotel when I should have been up and running!

The next day I was better and I decided to walk towards the market and the Leh Palace. I was just not sure of myself but in the end, I did climb up to the Leh Palace from the main market! It did me a lot of good. I love to walk, and it was reassuring that I can still handle narrow lanes that go up!

I was really tired and jaded when I arrived in Leh. On top of that I was having a constant headache due to the altitude. But when I got out on the monastery trip and saw such views as above, my headache and all other kind of aches vanished in an instant. The magic of travel was slowly swirling around me.

In the evening, I had a chat with Tanmay from Grand Dragon. He gave me a list of places to choose from and I picked up a monastery tour all within 40 km of Leh. I had been to most of the places but not to Hemis. So, Monastery tour it was and our main stops were Hemis, Thiksey and Shey Palace.

The drive itself got me excited, as we started getting out of Leh, there were fall colors all around me. I have seen fall colors in England, Budapest and Paris but this was the first time I was seeing them in my own country! I wonder why don’t we promote Ladakh as a fall/autumn destination! It was mesmerizing! And I am sure there are other places that will have autumn too!

My monastery trip quickly became about autumn colors. Monasteries are situated above villages, on a height and they became the perfect place to enjoy the colors all around me.

This year the tourism season was a little unusual in Ladakh. Shopkeepers in the Leh City told me they would wind up and go down around October 15th but this year, there was no sign of slowing down. Leh and the nearby areas were still busy when I arrived on October 13. I have not been to Leh in summer for sometime now, but in October the crowd was bearable!

However, the best fall colors I found were around Shey Palace. The palace complex was almost empty, there was a couple, two young medicos from Delhi and me around the whole place. And the view was sheer magic any which way I looked!

There was a water body in front of the palace and it created a special magic all around it. Of all, I found Shey Palace to provide for the best fall scenery. The first image in this post is also from the same spot!

By now my spirits were lifted, I had seen so much beauty in the few hours! I could have stood there all evening but then I decided to get down and head back to my hotel!

Have you witnessed fall/autumn colors in India? Where have you seen them?

I traveled to Sariska in September after a long time. My last trip was to Coimbatore in February 2020. A few travel opportunities did come my way but I was not confident about it so I kept saying no.

I decided to go on a blogging trip to Sariska Manor in September as corona cases in India have significantly gone down, I also hope they remain that way! Sariska Manor is a safari lodge at the Tehla Gate of the Sariska National Park in Rajasthan. It is a beautiful place, away from the bustle.

I had such mixed emotions, traveling after such a long time. I was hanging on to my mask like anything. Our first stop was Mannat Dhaba at the highway. I ordered gobhi paratha and chai. Paratha came with white butter. It was my first stop at a restaurant after you know it by now, February 2020. Suddenly things that I completely took for granted felt almost new!

The road trip from Delhi to Sariska was pleasant as it was raining on the way. We arrived at Sariska Manor by lunch. The green surroundings and the stillness of the place took a lot of my anxiety away! I loved the front porch, it would become a spot of my numerous rounds of tea!

We opted to have lunch and then go to the room. I had a large, well appointed room all to myself. There was a lot of space adjacent to the shower to keep my luggage and use it as a change room. It had a full length mirror too. My room had a nice balcony where I would sit with a cup of tea. I was all set to enjoy my stay!

Sariska Manor serves a variety of cuisine. I ate all my meals at the resort. I loved Chole Bhature and aalo puri at the breakfast! They do serve continental and Chinese as well. The lodge has a bar too.

On the day of our arrival, we had the high tea at a nearby meadow. It was a fabulous experience. I anyway love tea. It tasted even better with cakes and samosa!

We were the only people there, other than a few locals who were out with their goats. The scenery invited us to wander around and I did climb a little higher!

The view was totally worth the short scramble. I spent a lot of time up there but then the lure of another cup of tea got stronger!

The resort has a beautiful pool. When we visited it was not too crowded. They have a lot of amla trees and a pond which is perfect for bird watching. Another advantage of the resort is that it is right by the tehla gate, so the safari starts right after the resort!

However, it is the people of the place that make our stay and thanks to them I had such a memorable stay at Sariska Manor.

I kept wondering with them why was I feeling so tired in spite of the trip being so relaxed! They would remind me that I was traveling after a long time and boy I am glad I managed to!