Holiday Hangover

Well…. The France trip happened and it happened in the best version of itself 🙂

Came back earlier this week and just getting back to my routine. I think today is when I feel I finally slept like normal and pooped like normal. That’s a sign of routine, right? And while I am still very much in a daze after diving deep in the French paradise, I am actually not unhappy that my vacation is over and the next one isn’t even visible in the far horizon. Perhaps, I am so content with the experiences of the last 17 days, I am really upbeat to embrace my day-to-day life. There is no wistfulness – the familiarity of the city, the work is something that feels good.

Not the heat though. I swear I am getting baked every time I step out.

Some more details about the trip… we had split it in three parts – 5 days of French Riviera, 5 days of the Alsace wine route and 6 days of Paris. The weather couldn’t have been better! It was cold and cloudy just on our first and last day. Otherwise clear sunshine and blue skies prettily dotted by random wisps of clouds. It screamed vacation weather! We had rented apartments at each place through AirBnB – Nice, Kaysersberg, Strasbourg and Paris. We got really lucky with our choices – warm hosts, beautiful cozy flats situated very conveniently and great company in each other 🙂

I hardly opened my WordPress app – I did see that the April A-Z Challenge is on in full swing! Some people have had some great developments and even books being released 🙂 Over the weekend, I hope to sit down and spend a good few hours to read on what I have missed.

It is GOOD to be back! Hope the travels make for some good and new writing inspiration. Sharing some pictures from the trip – will be writing about the details soon!

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Some Work and A Little Play

This month has probably been my poorest WP performance! Most of the times I manage to be a silent stalker, but this time there were days when I even forgot to open my blog. Things have been rolling from the start of the year – oh so many things on every front 🙂 Personal, Work, Travel, Food!

I have been enjoying every minute of it, even though there are times when I am barely catching my breath and processing things around me.

D was out of the country for a couple of months and is back now – I am finally close to understanding 0.1% part of what being married means. Only a few more years till I get to 2% I think! We managed a flash trip to Dubai which was pretty cool – Burj Khalifa, Desert Safari, Madinath Jumeirah, Ibn e Batuta Mall and a lovely date night by the beach at Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) being the highlights (hope you enjoy the photographs)

We came back only to be hustled off to weekend family getaways and a visit to my hometown – Ahmedabad before it melts off in the sweltering heat. I thought it would be a different experience visiting them with him after the wedding – it wasn’t. I just had to fight hard for my share of pampering with him around to steal my parents’ attention 😀

Work wise, I think I am finally in a place where I am finally confident about exploring my capacity and take on newer things. I hope things go the way they have been rolling 🙂 But before I free fall into my work in the coming year, I am off on a much-anticipated long vacation!

France… Here we come!! 🙂 A little over two weeks in French paradise …. covering parts along Cote d’azur, Alsace and Paris! We will be in Paris for Easter before heading back home. I am looking forward to the blooming spring, cozy homestays, pretty streets and of course, the wine! Add the cheese and chocolates to the bag and I might just discover the true purpose of my life 😀 Red nose and a few more extra pounds around my waist is a small price to pay!

I will try to keep up with posts as and when I get WiFi 🙂 The next two weeks will be a different source of inspiration I hope.

Meanwhile, please give any suggestions, recommendations around tours, restaurants, day trips or sights. We have a very flexible itinerary …. Rolling where our hearts and maps take us 🙂

“Julley” – Hello in Spiti!

It is the start of the journey that stays with you the most, probably because you are aware of every ticking second!

I remember the jitters the night before and how D had to calm me down. With a sprained ankle and a strained shoulder, the physical weakness had almost convinced me that I call it off. But then everything that could go wrong already had – so only good was remaining!

So there I was in Manali in the company of these two awesome people I met on the bus. There was also another girl I had met – all of 19, dropped out of college and now dedicated to teach at a school located in a remote village. I met another girl who was just back from Spiti (her second solo trip) with a story similar to mine. The difference was probably how spirited she had become through her experiences over the last few months. I am hoping I have started a similar transformation!

The ride to Spiti was interesting. We were a heterogeneous group with barely any overlaps if we had to plot ourselves into a venn diagram. So a trekking guide, investment banker turned teacher, architects, marketing professionals and a consultant (that’s me, unfortunately) made for crazy discussions. There was also a Croatian travel writer – the coolest, the oldest and the fittest of us all!

Breakdowns and bladder stops. Lunches and languid walks. Chocolates and changing landscapes. Every turn brought new sights. We had a rainbow following us for a while, flowing on the fields or up and down along the mountain ridges.

We made stops at Kunzum Pass (15000 feet), Losar (perhaps the first village in the valley) and then Hansa (a small village but for the welcoming ceremony of the lamas that we were very lucky to catch). We made it to Kaza (administrative HQ of Spiti) in good time to relax and catch the blazing sunset over sumptuous momos!

Rainbow at Kaza

Prayer Flags at Kunzum

After Rohtang

The first day was acclimatization amid breathtaking views of a landscape that I will never be tired of. I visited Kee Monastery, Kibber and Chicham Gorge. It started the series of so many firsts I was about to have – every time I thought it cannot get better than this, there was magic awaiting round the corner.

The second day, before starting the trek, there was a stop at Langza (famous for its fossils) where I had a session with the local potter. I managed to make a cup with a lot of help and a slightly sore right leg. The trek to Komic spans about 10 kilometers dotted with meadows and fields and the unyielding majestic spread of Spiti. Hikkim falls on the way which is the highest post office in the world where I gleefully posted three cards.

Chicham Gorge

At Kee Monastery

Kibber

Along the route, fresh peas were a constant snack. Every time there was a field, a smiling farmer handed freshly plucked peas – the sweetest I have ever had in my life. Maybe that is why even the locals are so kind and so giving. They spend their whole lives in that unforgiving land, putting long hours just to be able to survive and yet… Not a sour face or a bitter complaint. Always smiling, always sharing! They were happier than most of the people I have met in the city… Content in the simple life and truly immersed in the spirit of community living.

I headed straight to Komic Monastery on reaching. The valley at sunset was breathtaking – golden fingers caressing the green pastures. Rejuvenated with the view, the headache and exhaustion melted away with the sun. I was staying with a local family in Komic. Three noisy children and one mischievous baby did not deter the woman from making me feel at home and fussing over dinner and chai. Oh the chai! I have never had so many cups and varieties of chai as I had in those 10 days – lemon, mint and sea buckthorn were my favorite. That night – spent in the highest motorable village in the world – I slept deeply and peacefully.

It had been a wonderful start! Even better than I had imagined… And my imagination is wild 😀

Langza

Pottery at Langza

From the Land of Lamas

The trip is done. The bags are unpacked. I left something behind though and that was a good chunk of my heart.

Those twelve days managed to grasp a firm hold on my little pacing heart and insisted that just like I got a token of my travels back here, I leave a token of my presence in those mountains.

I was in Spiti – a cold desert mountain valley in the Trans Himalayan region. To put it in the words of Rudyard Kipling, “A world within a world”. The name “Spiti” means “The Middle Land”, i.e. the land between Tibet and India. While I was there, I used to think ofit as Middle Earth – the magical land from the mind of Tolkien. It is arguably one of the sparsely populated parts of the country with some of the villages having a total population of 27 people.

The minute you are in the valley, the altitude ranges from 13000 feet to 16500 feet (provided you are not attempting one of those mountain treks… which then touch even 20000 feet from what I recollect). The days are warm depending on the sun and clouds while the nights are cold depending on the winds and clouds.

It was a journey filled with trekking, volunteering and community living. I was travelling with strangers and interacting with people who I am probably never going to meet again. Yet there was something about the air that made us bond at levels that only travel can bring. Also the fact that we all had to struggle to get the basics like breathing and pooping made us a lot more inhibited. I mean, what role can worldly filters play when you need the human wall in order to pee properly in the wild.

Timing was something that went really went for me while soaking up the culture and traditions of Spiti. It did not work out so well when I stepped out in the night to catch the Milky Way. The floods in Himachal Pradesh ensured almost a consistent cloud cover through the night – it cleared up only a couple of nights. But it was more than enough.

The memories, the internal reflections and external realizations are something I will always cherish. It will probably take a few more posts to cover all the experiences. Right now, I will just leave you with a few photographs. I will catch up on posts and comments over this week 🙂 Thank you so much for all the love and support!!

Balari Top: 16500 feet

Chandrataal Lake: 14100 feet

Kaza Riverbed: 13000 feet

Atop Key Monastery: 14000 feet

Sunset at Komic: 14900 feet

Buddha Statue at Langza: 14500 feet

Roots

My blog turned two today. I think it is almost fitting that this day should come right before one of the most significant journeys I will ever take in my life. I go on a twelve-day solo trip starting Friday – a first for me. I will be going back to the Himalayas after so many long years, getting lost in the great mountains and finding a different part of my roots that introduced me to the love of travel!

To celebrate the two years, I penned a poem to dedicate my first visit to the Konkan – said to be the roots of my family. Truly breathtaking – a virgin beauty.

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They call this land my roots. 

The crimson gold of the soil,

The rich saltiness of the wind,

The dusted blue of the sea,

The blinding yellow of the sunsets.

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They call this a homecoming.

In the lilt of the meandering streams,

In the sweet tang of the cashew fruits,

In the cooling shades of mango trees,

In the solemn nods of ripe jackfruits.

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This is also a freedom from myself.

Flying out of the past, present and future.

Every breath a catharsis for the soul

For the lost sense of identity.

A nomad I was not for those moments.

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With no pretenses or shields or inhibitions,

I found my color in the rainbow…

In the shower of blues and greens and whites and reds,

In the notes and tunes of hitherto strange sounds

In the shrine of my unknown yet welcoming ancestors.

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Thank you everyone for all the support, the patience and the consistent motivation to keep finding myself through the medium of words – A different way to discover my inner self and their roots.