Riding a bike into God’s own country, Kerala

Wayanad, Kerala

I could not think of anything better than a bike to go around God’s country, Kerala. Why bike of all? was what all the people except Priya asked. It’s quite simple I work, save, travel and repeat. I work in a cubicle and a car feels nothing better than a cubicle with visual screens on all sides. Whereas a bike is a thing which tests me, feels me and gets me to the edge. Its the whole package which includes:

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Hiking in Kashmir in bad winter weather

Betrayed by weather in Lidderwat, Kashmir

Lidderwat in the valley of Kashmir is amazingly colourful and beautiful in the summers but becomes a different terrain in the winters. I am continuing this story from my previous story: Winter whiteout in Lidderwat, Kashmir. When I, RiyazSafeen and others got here after 10 hours of hike in 6-7 ft of snow, we were dehydrated and exhausted. The weather had already got worse from bad and it had started to rain. Continue reading

3 days in Ketambe: where to go, what to do and what to eat

Click to enlarge.

West of Sumatra Island is vastly known for two reasons- palm plantations and orang-utans. If Sumatra and seeing orangutans in the wild is on your wishlist, then I’d say head to Ketambe. It is often a battle between Bukit Lawang and Ketambe for orangutan spotting; the difference is that the former is more organized and orangutans are often tamed/bred there. Ketambe on the other hand is wilder. Continue reading

Raja Ampat for non-divers

Photograph by Abhinash Jena. Click to enlarge.

After days of research for our upcoming trip to Indonesia, I had almost given up. Raja Ampat looked like a diver’s paradise because I couldn’t see much else than pictures of colorful fishes and corals. Raja Ampat is a life-changing experience in more ways than one. Excellent diving spots and beaches aside, it has many small islands that are inhabited by natives living in small villages. Most of them live without modern-day distractions like cell phones and iPods but they are ever so happy and content. Every year thousands of people from all over the world arrived here to see the diversity under the sea; what were non-divers like me, who had only snorkeled twice in much friendlier waters of Thailand before, to do there? It looked rather expensive too. Continue reading