When the melancholy of sea flooded the mountains

It was happening again. I was sitting in a cab, looking alternatively at the hills and the valley I was leaving behind while approaching the higher destination. Unexpectedly, the journey was also witnessing the changes that I had only heard about or seen in the news. I was visiting Badrinath soon after the floods devastated…

Hyatt Regency Da Nang Resort and Spa, Vietnam

The stay broke the ice between Hyatt and the Happy Hippie and How! The dominance of ‘H’ is screaming ‘happiness’ here because it was in beautiful beyond words Vietnam. Delay in flights between Cambodia and Vietnam is as common as my craving for coffee, so checking into Hyatt Da Nang was the best part of…

Kochi- Muziris Biennale 2019

What is the purpose of travel? To escape from somewhere or to escape to something? What is the purpose of art? To please the eyes of strangers, to express without explaining or to have a discourse around social and universal matters? There cannot be a single purpose of travel and art, just like there cannot…

Beyond Bali

I landed at the Ngurah Rai International Airport and the Balinese Temple Architecture was just the welcoming sight I needed to embark on my journey in Indonesia. The modern contemporary interiors juxtapose the traditional Balinese exteriors while the paintings depicting the daily lives of Balinese men and tales from a few centuries ago justify the…

8 Days In Thailand

Koh Samui Koh Samui is a melting pot for trotters from around the world, attracting travellers of all kinds for a bunch of things to do. Whether you are a solo-traveller staying for a month, a group of friends travelling for crazy parties, a couple on a romantic getaway or holidaymakers indulging in luxury, Koh…

Maya Bay Sleep Aboard, Thailand

Watch the Sun setting down the horizon, spend the night in the wilderness of woods, spot planktons illuminating in the sea and sleep under the starlit sky. One of the most exotic and adventurous experiences in Thailand, this is Maya Bay Sleep Aboard in a nutshell. I am talking about the magical beach of Leonardo di…

My First Monsoon in God’s Own Country

This was my first summer away from the hills, my sanctum sanctorum, from the scorching heat of Gujarat. I had made two trips to both Garhwal and Kumaon in the previous month, but May and June in Ahmedabad are nothing short of torturous. So I just wanted to go someplace cooler and greener. A blogger…

Dilda White & The Water Mountain

I was furloughed in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand when a friend shared details of a retreat in Kumaon. The idea of another escape to the hills is as alluring during a vacation as it is while struggling with dusty, man-made city life. I said yes without thinking. I briefly knew that the three days…

Why my Danish Birthday was the Happiest!

I used to often wonder what makes the happiest countries in the world… so happy! It can not only be accredited to the GDP, social security or lack of corruption. It has to be more personal than the socio-economic terms we use for an explanation, it has to be an experience. Whether you have travelled…

Top 10 Things to do in Yoga Capital of the World

You just read the header and are wondering where on earth this yoga capital is. If you haven’t googled it already, it is a town named Rishikesh in a northern state of India called Uttarakhand. Lower Himalayan range ‘Shivalik’ laps this quaint state, popular amongst domestic as well as international tourists alike. As if the…