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Pangong Tso

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And here they fell, The bravehearts in blue Fighting a battle already lost Their blood smeared across its icy cold shores But today nobody cared For all we knew Was the reel shot at the Pangong Tso         The road to Pangong Tso is rather precarious, yet interspersed with some amazing views on the way like the one above. Everywhere you see in the region of Ladakh, the mountains are bare, smooth, multicoloured and unfortunately, pretty fragile. One heavy shower, and the sand and gravel that the mountains are made of might just come tumbling down. They may remind you of the sand mountains made at the beach, flat, once the waves come and go! And that's a pretty scary feeling.  Zzzzzzz....Naa....the first rule of travelling in Ladakh is never to sleep when climbing up or down a mountain, nor when you are in any of the half a dozen highest passes of the world. That basically consists a majority of your journey. So the thumb rule here is, Wake Up Sleepyhe

National Highway 1

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Jullay!       When in Ladakh, you'll realize one thing very quickly. Your journey is going to be as beautiful or sometimes even more beautiful than your destination. This is one such route. The Leh - Srinagar Highway or NH1. So picturesque is the road, that you will never realise that you have travelled about 217 km till Kargil!      We began our journey at around 8 a.m. Pretty early, considering it was just our second day in Leh. It is advisable that you rest for a minimum of 1-2 days in Leh to acclimatise yourself to the high altitude, cold weather and the less oxygen.  Leh is barren. Well, most of it anyways. In the recent years, a number of trees have been planted in the area to increase it's level of oxygen so that it can accommodate the increasing number of tourists. This is usually your first stop on the highway. The Gurdwara Sri Pathar Sahib. Managed by Army personals, this is a pleasant place to stop by. Do take blessings when you pass by.  T

Goa: Seven Secret Sacred Spots!

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        This blog post is dedicated to my friend Chandrakant Shinde (Chandu) . Chandu, you are the one who inspired me, not once, but twice, to take the off-beat path when it comes to the beautiful state of Goa!        Being a resident of Goa, Chandu would often say during our University days, "Whenever people think of Goa, all they can imagine is beaches, babes, and booze. But my Goa is much more than that! We are blessed with nature's bounty! We have dense forests hosting a huge biodiversity, serene villages, a rich history, temples, churches, winding roads leading to nowhere...come explore that once and you will never feel like going to the rowdier parts of Goa."        And explore, we did! I'm sure the list below is going to be on the top of your bucketlist for your next Goa trip!        So here we go! 1. Nature's Nest, Tambdi Surla A cabin in the woods! That's the exact feel you get when you enter this place. Deep inside the jungles of Bhag