Backpacking Notebook

For those who come from lower parts of India, where the climate is hot and humid, coming across snow is a great delight. We people are through and through with the intense summer which can go up to 50 °C. So every winter people would flock to the colder parts of the country, in Himalayas or nearby her. Off late the interest of people in going for trekking has been on the rise. Having multiple kind of benefits over visiting the touristy towns, such as a certain kind of  challenge to complete the trek, the views on offer, less crowd and to be able to spend time with oneself in the lap of nature. Winter treks tick off most of the wish list. Getting ample of snow or if lucky snowfall and low temperature experience are the treat. Having already done a snow trek (Kedarkantha Peak, March '17), I had a certain idea on what was on offer. Brahmtaal Trek is an easy trek like most of the winter treks on offer, with the peak height at only approx 12,100 ft.  Having al...

Path leading to Nongriat Village A short trip to Meghalaya (May'18) North East has not been explored much, at least not by any chance by the Gujju community, who are avid travelers. And it thus is a mystery in some way, since even though one knows how scenic it is, the tourism hasn't been that much as compared to other mountain states of India.And from my experience here, the states I visited are totally safe, as opposed to the doubt of terrorist, people had about this part of India. Mountains, unexplored, less tourist flow, and plethora of opportunities to new things, brought me to the north eastern part of India. Meghalaya accommodated the 2nd part of trip in NE. I had just finished my Basic Mountaineering Course from Arunachal Pradesh, and needed to relax for few days. The hard days were behind me and it was time to sit back and enjoy.  Meghalaya, one of the seven sister states, is the most visited tourist destination among them. Know ...

Backpacking in Sikkim Gurudongmar Lake Sikkim, the home of Mount. Kanchenjunga. One of the smallest state of India, yet talked plenty about because of its beauty. And the very first organic state in India. The word of mouth about Sikkim has always been great and millions of tourist visit every year. So I was pretty excited and looking forward to the experience to the third and final leg of my trip of North East. One where I was heading towards completely unprepared. Hoping for a solo travelling experience, keeping all window of possibility open except that I had a confirmed stay at Tagalong Backpackers for a couple of night in Gangtok. Fantastic, if that is the word I should say about the place, since it sorted out all my travel related woes. Day 1 (Guwahati-Bagdogra-Gangtok) I had a flight at 2 pm, and since I didn’t have much to do back in Guwahati, took the Airport Bus service from Paltan Bazaar (Around 100 rs) and reached the Airport. Waiting in the lounge, re...

The NIMAS BMC Experience Meerathang Glacier (16500 ft) Every trekker or let’s say any person in love with the majestic Himalaya, has thought of being at the top of Mount Everest. I was of no different breed. Ever since I started to trek a couple of years back, I have yearned to do more that I keep coming back to Himalayas to try and do a more difficult one. Realistically never really thought I’d seriously take up mountaineering at any point. But since doing trekking almost every 3 months in the past two years, I thought of giving it a shot. And so I enrolled myself into National Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (NIMAS), Dirang batch April ’18. NIMAS is the newest of all the mountaineering institute’s in India. Just 5 years old, it has made a name for itself quiet quickly. Notably for the longest trekking route, highest ice wall and the strict training regime. So much so that, anyone who does Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC) from here, hardly comes back her...