Just About Everything

Pangong Tso Lake Ladakh Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh is a mesmerizing lake. Located at an altitude of 4,350 m, it takes around 5 hours to reach Pangong Tso by road from Leh. I travelled to Ladakh a long time back when was father was posted in Leh, and I remember how beautiful it was! I am sharing some pictures of this beautiful lake from Soma's album. Pangong Tso Lake Ladakh Pangong Tso Lake Ladakh Pangong Tso Lake  Pangong Tso Ladakh Pangong Tso Lake Ladakh Pangong Tso Lake  Stone sculptures along Pangong Tso lake More from Ladakh: Black-necked Cranes of Hanle, Ladakh, India

Jampui hills, Tripura In continuation with my trip report on Tripura....at the end of day one, we set off for Jampui hils from Unakoti . Jampui hills is around 60 km from Unakoti in North Tripura district. Located at an altitude of 3500 ft, it is the highest hill range in Tripura. We  stayed at a Government run tourist lodge in Jampui hills. The pleasant weather combined with the sylvan surroundings made for a delightful experience at Jampui hills. This hill station had some very cute looking houses; most of the population in Jampui hills is made up of the Mizo community. The houses were very nicely lit up and decorated since Christmas was just around the corner.We missed the Orange festival by a month, we came to know that the best time to visit Jampui hills is in November.  At the end of day two, we halted in a small town called Kamalasagar after a 265 km drive westwards. We stayed at a Government run Tourist lodge (Comilla). Kamalasagar is named after an art...

Unakoti, Rock-cut Shiva head Tripura is one of the states in India that I have never visited, i have been wanting to visit Tripura for a long time because of some of the gems it houses. Though not as tourist ready as other states, some of the places that we saw are indeed worth visiting. In our short five day trip, we managed to touch all the districts (we did a total of 930 km by road). The roads are quite well-maintained. If you plan to travel to Tripura, d on't expect elaborate food menus and great  hotels.You will get everything, but without frills. The lodges that we stayed in were basic. My favourite was the Belonia tourist lodge in South Tripura district. On our  first day, we headed straight to North Tripura towards Unakoti from the airport. We rented a car through an agent in Agartala who also booked the Government run lodges in the various places we visited.We arrived at Unakoti at 3.30 pm after covering a distance of 145...

1000 year old Tabo monastery Tabo is another beautiful scenic little town located in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. Tabo is located at an altitude of 3050 metres. From Chandigarh it will take you 8 hours by road (around 490 kms).It is around 45 kms from Kaza. From my cousin Soma who went for a trip to Himachal Pradesh recently, I found that Tabo is indeed quite a special place, not only because of its scenic beauty but also because it houses a Buddhist monastery which is over a 1000 years old. But that is not what lends it the uniqueness, the fact that the monastery is made out of mud is what totally amazed me! I found out from Wikipedia that his Holiness the Dalai Lama considers this monastery in Tabo as one of the holiest monasteries in the world. I am sharing some pictures of the Tabo monastery. These pictures are courtesy my cousin Soma Jha. Tabo monastery Monastery in Tabo made out of mud Buddhist monastery in Tabo ...

Aerial view of Nalanda University I am continuing with the travel posts on my Bihar trip . From Rajgir we set off for Nalanda, unfortunately we did not have much time because we had to reach Darbhanga the same day and it was already 1pm and we still had long distances to cover! This left us with only a couple of hours of daylight in Nalanda, I regret not having more time. Nalanda does require more time, and I missed the museum:( Nalanda is known as one of the greatest universities of the ancient world, it was founded by Kumaragupta around 413-455 AD, and Kingh Harshavardhana of Kannauj (from 606-647 AD).The Pala kings continued to patronage this institution, but Nalanda started declining around 1200 AD when it was invaded by Bakhtiyar Khilji. Entrance to Nalanda Brick walls inside the ancient university Students came from distant places and countries to study in Nalanda. Some of the well- known people who visited Nalanada are, Nagarjuna, Aryaveda, Vas...