Tag Archives: Mountains

Traversing the Mountains!

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One of the most enchanting things in today’s age is the ability to seek unto a divine freedom of the soul!

Many men and women, dream of the clarity that they pursue time after time, especially because they don’t get it in their daily lives. While others, mostly travelers find this aspect of life to be an endless journey. One that is full of clairvoyance, meaning and clarity that others can only imagine.

And what better than the traversing of the mountains, wandering across the horizon to find serenity in nature and introspect, take a peak in your pondering mind. Traveling across the mountains without a clue, without a reason and without connectivity, especially to the rat race that we all take part in on a daily basis. That’s a true reason why I always enjoy hiking, especially in the Himalayas, but even if I’m not in the Himalayas, walking across any mountain range gives me immense pleasure.

One that you can only find when you surrender yourself to the unknown trails, paths, like your destiny that lead you to a mesmerising sunrise, or an enchanting sunset! Traveling across the beauty of organic and natural surroundings without any worldly worries. That’s something that I yearn for, especially when I want to detox, unwind and just completely disappear into the wilderness.

Sometimes I even feel there is a dire need for me to go back into complete dissonance of technology. One that’ll help me attain a nirvana of sorts. I wonder how beautiful every single day would be, with just the nature, a few books, okay maybe a Radio at best to give me company. Imagine the joy of visualising your dreams, settling down and farming on a hilltop, viewing and experiencing the pleasure of sunrise and sunset without having to run for a meeting and or thinking about deadlines!

Someday, that day will arrive soon! Until then, I keep meandering across the world finding the sweet spot, the balance of life between my travels and my work. And it is these mountains that always help me rejuvenate and revive my spirit within, to get back to the grind that will eventually help me get to that ‘Someday’ I’m looking for.

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The Old Kingdom of Kullu

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“A window into the reflection of life, inside my soul lies a deep yearning to climb the peak up above the snow clad mountains of Himalayas! A time will come when I look at that mirror, where I don’t see the reflection at all for I’ll be one with these mountains of glory!”

As we drove past the mountainous reigons of Himachal Pradesh, while most of the mountains, look dry and surrounded by a cold yearning in the beginning of summer, elsewhere in India, it was a pleasant 1-5 degrees centigrades in this quaint little village of Kullu. About 20 odd kms from Manali and the same from Kullu, Naggar, Himachal Pradesh is the quiet little place you would want to visit and if your intention is to just sway away from the crowded places, especially if it’s a long weekend, this is quite the place to be at. It was the capital of Kullu Rajas in 1460! Hence the old kingdom of Kullu, as pointed out by one of my commenters on my previous blog as well. 

Amidst breathtaking forested hills, the Naggar Castle is a magnificent historical edifice. Made of stone and wood, this palace served as the residence of Raja Sidh Singh of Kullu. It was built in AD 1460 in an impressive amalgamation of European and Himalayan architecture. Fireplaces, fitting staircases, and magnificent stone and wood works grace the castle’s interiors.

Here’s some breathtaking pictures from this beautiful place which you can call home, especially if you are in love with the mountains!

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Mountains, they’re always, always calling…

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  • Every time I look around the corner there’s a new horizon,

  • Every time I look at a peak, my eyes widen!

  • The hope the feeling of surrealism that lasts beyond words we can’t express…

  • One that takes you away, Beyond all that entangled stress!

  • Hope, Dreams, Paradise beyond enchantment!

  • A breath a mile, as we climb this ascent!

Journey to the mountains is always a belief! A belief beyond a shadow of an underdog’s achievement towards glory! A hope, a dream and an experience that we take upon ourselves to feel that exhilarating madness that you derive after you climb the peak and reach the top!

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Snowcapped mountains at Har Ki Dun

Just around this time of the year, I have a strong urge to go back to  these magical, mystical divine creation of nature! A feeling that I cannot, and I do not want to resist as much as I want to! While I took to trekking in the Himalayas about 6 years ago and have been continuing to visit these mountains every year, whether I trek or not, it just feels like yesterday!

Every year, for that little glance, a beautiful peek at the sunrise beyond the mountain or the sunset hovering across the snow capped peaks of the Himalayas, gives me that sense of fulfilment. One that I cannot express in mere words! It’s as if there is another universe in itself and I’m tangled in this undying bond, a delirious and encapsulating feeling of boyhood, a desire to keep playing with a toy!

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Live like a nomad by the rocks, or by the river…

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Magnificence Unexplored!

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Keep your head down and keep walking…

Mountains mean a lot to many, and every one has their story or their connection with the Himalayas! I have many and hope to have some more, each and every year, until I finally decide to be with them forever…

Until then, I’ll keep my head high, hopes to fly and soar by every time they call upon me to pay a visit! Hopefully sometime soon again…

Himalayas, India, Travel Blogger, Indian Mountains, Mountaineer, India

To Infinity and Beyond…

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I’ve been a mountain lover for the last 6 years and Himalayas have been a yearly thing for me in those past six years. Being an avid lover of mountains and trekking, having hiked miles and miles across North Western, Eastern Himalayas and a bit of Nepal as well, I think I’ve found a yearning for the Himalayas that I believe isn’t something that’ll ever just fade away…

To me, being close to the mountains is being close to reality. For me, ‘Being discovered’ in my truest sense is when there is utmost clarity in my peak senses of not just my mind, body and soul but an inner conscience that sends me on a deep and exploring journey in a space which gives me clarity towards not just what I am doing, what should I be doing, but who I am and who I really want to be.

To me, being close to the mountains probably helps hone the thinking of a wandering thinker and a pondering writer that I truly want to be, unlike the occasional tourist that I am to the divine beauty that lies across the mountain terrain. The huge peaks, the humongous canvas of an all-encompassing ranges of the Himalayas truly admonish me to forget my comfortable and meaningless life that I’m leading to do something, make something, create something more out of the potentially huge aspiration that always drives me to evolve into someone who’ll not just leave a legacy, but also force myself to drive a passion, a purpose that is beyond just regular needs of life.

I don’t yet, know when and how this escapade will start, but I have a strong feeling that it’ll be very soon. And when that happens, my first thought would be to share that with everyone and forever disappear to the love I seek forever and be closer to not just the mountains of Himalayas but a numbing belief that I have within myself, that occasionally has a voice like in the Star Trek series… only saying… ‘To Infinity and Beyond!’

Standing Tall…

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Dreams Aspirations, Conquests above all

The Mighty Wind, The SnowFall

Your Determination, Your Challenges,

Your Sacrifices, Your Pain, You know it all

Without your existence, Without your great Wall

There’s no resistance to this country at all

Growth to you is not merely a matter of your survival

But a difference to lives of one and all!

While you protect the ones who protect us all,

Without a doubt, you’d never let this Nation Fall!

A great source of inspiration, A great breadth of imagination,

A belief to the many who soar the skies,

A relief to the many who lose hope without knowing why…

Many who climb your peaks, Many who conquer’ your summit

You let them think it’s not difficult at all…

You Were, You Are, You Will be…

“The Great Himalayas

Always Standing Tall, Always Standing Tall!”

Happy Independence Day

Image Credits: Creative Commons, Wikipedia uploaded by user Metanish

A trail to the Valley of Heaven!

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One of the most exciting things for a traveler is always the beginning of a journey. The sheer joy you get when you are headed for a new trail is something which you can’t imagine without actually going through that experience, which I’m sure all of us would have. But it’s a notch above the rest, when that journey is to Himalayas.

Especially when the meandering trails happen to be as lovely as this. Tomorrow is the start of an all new journey after quite a while, since I actually went hiking in the Himalayas. While 6 months ago, the trip to Sikkim gave us the boost we needed to rekindle our love with the Himalayas, Feetonthemap and I made it a point that the next trip to Himalayas was going to be an amazing trek, something like this. And here we are today, with excitement galore, just one day to go and all set to drive into a wandering melancholy and figure out our journey as we go.

We’ll be trekking for at least 6 days, beyond wilderness that I just hope will have some enchanting snow caped mountains and lush green sights like the one above, even as we are at the onset of monsoon.

One of the things this journey is going to be about for me personally, is to seek a gateway towards exploration. To be one with nature in it’s true self. To learn some more from stories that it tells me. Obviously, since there isn’t going to be any connectivity, we’d most certainly enjoy a lot of time closer to nature, and that is only the beginning…

And the only thing I can do right now is hum my favorite song…

“All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go…”

Backpack Srinistuff

Hopefully I’ll share some stories as soon as I’m back. To find out on the go stories follow my Tumbleogue @ srinistuff.tumblr.com

The Sheer Joy of traversing through Himalayas

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Sometimes a distant memory of the past is the lost enchantment that you imagined on the road you traveled upon without having to wonder if you’d ever want to come back to your regular life…

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Sometimes a simple thing such as living in your backpack and wandering away the melancholia of your mundane life is what sets you apart from the beauty of the life lived upon a treading path of glory.

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Sometimes the sheer madness of the breathtaking view on your journey let’s you imagine a world of fantasy that you always tell yourself of the wonderful stories that last longer than eternal sights of nature to make you want to go back to the ‘Kingdom of Narnia’ again and again…

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Sometimes you just meet someone so interesting that it makes you realize  many things about yourself, and you strive harder to look for inspiration that is so close to your life, yet so far, you have to  seek out these journeys to eventually get there…

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Sometimes the best part about your travels is nothing but the amazing cuisine you enjoy, without having to worry about the calories you count or for that matter the taste… They’re just simply awesome and you like it that way…

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Sometimes you look around yourself, and you realize that you have woken up in a land unknown and a place that you are about to fall in love with, knowing that the view is so magnanimous that you’ll just have to try to let go of it after a few days with a heavy heart…

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Sometimes it’s the beauty of nature, the animals, the interesting folks, the enchanting culture and the divine spirituality that surrounds you, nothing can beat the simple joy of traversing through these enchanting Himalayas…

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Strolling across the magical mountains

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Rohtang Pass, Manali, Horses

Horses seen strolling across at Rohtang Pass in Manali

The carelessness of real beauty lies in the imagination of perfection. Such is the breathtaking brilliance of the views you get sometimes in the magical mountains. A minute you’re walking into a fog and the next minute you see a magical snow dwelling peak shining in front of your eyes with the sun giving you a glimpse of his glory. But sometimes, real beauty in the mountains are it’s carefree animals who absolutely have no inkling of what travelers see unto them or the beauty that surrounds them.

It’s the vision of these kinds that makes you walk up to these mountains more often. Sometimes. it’s not just the beautiful peaks, the nature, the landscape or for that matter the weather that you experience. It’s about a beautiful and breathtaking divinity that you visualize within a split second before your shutter could capture that moment. That moment of what you may later on in life realize as an unbound feeling of flawlessness. Something that cannot tether your freedom to express your wilderness, no matter what age you are at. Whenever I travel into the mountains, I always keep an open mind, for I never know what I will literally ‘bump’ into. The bliss of such a feeling is, that it is devoid of any expectations and makes any experience the best experience and sometimes even keeps you wanting more.

And that’s how I felt when I was able to capture this magical moment and delve into my memory of lenses while I had stopped by to have nothing but a bowl full of noodles at the Rohtang Pass! The added element of a surprise capture such as this, just doubled my bowl of happiness!

Mountains are always calling!

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Mountains

The mountains are always calling! Yes, that’s a thing about being an avid lover of the mountains and trying to experience the best of the beauty that a trek offers you.

One of the things that I always keep in mind is to make sure that I take a trip every year to Himalayas to get one thing straight! I Love Mountains! Most importantly Himalayas. Ever since I started trekking to Himalayas about 5 years ago, I’ve enjoyed going there every year, be it a trek, a bike hike, a camp or whatever else is in the offing, there hasn’t been one occasion when my heart told me to go and I haven’t.

One of the reasons why I love hiking, mountaineering and especially in the Himalayas is that it sets your perspective right! Every time I’ve been to the Himalayas, I’ve come back as a different person, more for the better if I must add. A journey across the escapades of snow brings clarity to your mind and soul that no other place can.  Mountaineering or even taking a walk across those serene plateaus or valleys always make you wonder if your life is what you want it to be. And if it isn’t there’s a huge chance that you’ll go back and take charge of what matters most as the clarity you get after each visit makes everything just about right.

Another reason that mountaineering and hiking makes me happy is simply to know that, the feeling of control that we try to surpass each and every day is nothing if you don’t have a specific goal in mind. Hiking those long routes, enduring those steep slopes, climbing those daunting hills make you realize that no goal is impossible to achieve. Your belief in your abilities and more importantly your will increases manifold if you climb one of these steep passes. There was a time when I almost gave up while scaling to 15000 feet at Hemkund Sahib as the climb was utterly steep. But I kept going and when I reached on top, nothing else mattered. The victory and surmounting all odds made the journey joyful! Endurance is a big learning especially on these hikes.

Last, but not least, Mountains always teach you to adapt, adjust and try and make the most of your surroundings. One of the trickiest but important lessons you learn from mountaineering is that no matter what happens, you have always got to ‘LET GO.’ That’s the best trick you’ll ever learn and remember for life as it helps you in all aspects of your journey in life or otherwise. That’s one of the reasons why I don’t ever say no when the Mountains are Calling!

Mountains on my mind!

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Himalayas, India, Adventure, Travel, Indian Mountains, Mountaineers, Trekking

This weekend watched Eight Below! Again! As fabulous as the story and the movie is, I always fall in love with the majestic mountains, snow and beauty that encapsulates these terrains. From the time the Himalayan bug has bit me, I always think of spinning my heels and look for an opportune moment to climb various mountains across the Himalayan terrain. Of course, other than that I would always love to explore mountains across the world. Considering that we’re planning a trip to Japan this year, Mt. Fiji certainly is on my mind for that trip. But yes, Himalayas can’t be ever forgotten, no matter what. Despite the crazy mad schedules I’ll have this year, working on a lot of things besides just writing, I intent to climb a few mountains across the country and the world!

It’s been around 5 years that I’ve been enjoying my escapades into the virility of the beauty of the snow, the magnificence of the young peaks across the country’s finest and most enjoyable views. Mountains and adventure in the mountains is something I cannot miss, come what may! Adventure is something I always seek to find. The pleasure of scaling great heights, the view encapsulating a different world across a different horizon, waking up in the valley of wilderness and listening to the sky whisper so close to your ears every time you’re out there cannot be matched with absolutely anything. Having said that, one of the best things about mountaineering is the absolutely close connection you have with a place that’s not only close to your heart but also very strongly attached to your soul. I feel that if there was a higher purpose to my life, (pun intended)  it has something to do with the madness these mountains offer to the enchanting, aching soul of mine.

No matter what, every time I’m out in these mountains, they speak to me in minuscule whispers, they talk to me about their mysterious existence and they connect with me on a different level in each and every different place that I go to. They have a different language for each and every person they meet and no matter what their message is, it always gets you right in your heart. Touches you deep down in the bottom of your delirious happy place that you probably go back to being that child you were when you knew nothing but joy and sweet happiness. Now that the summer has come, most places in the Himalayas will soon open up and a lot of enthusiastic mountaineers will pack their gear and head out to meet their respective mountains. I don’t know if I will be going to Himalayas anytime soon this year, but I certainly know that destiny will bring me close to the place I call second home. While I wait for that call, I’ll certainly look towards reliving some treasured memories in this terrain through some of my old blogs about Himalayas

P.S: Speaking of the mountains, I’d like to plug in something interesting for adventure lovers. One of my good friends, Debolin Sen is a High Altitude Himalayan Traveler and has been walking and climbing the Himalayas for over 10 years. In fact this year, he was at the Everest Summit too. Just like me, in fact, more than me,  he loves his mountains and is heavily addicted to adventure. He’s doing something to understand the mindsets which drives participation in the adventure industry in India.

He’s running the Adventure Survey ™, possibly India’s first to find out your views and take on Adventure. Would love it if you guys can take this survey by clicking on the link below. Would be of great help to my friend. Thanks guys and stay tuned for more travel travails across the world.

Click here to take the Adventure Survey ™