Footprints on the World

17/09/2020

Remember the first time you wanted to travel solo, especially the girls out here? And you may never have done it coz of various reasons. Well, here's my experience. I hope it inspires some of you.
Spiti was my first solo trip. Getting to that place took me three full days, that remote it is. I remember how skeptical I was about going to such a place where mobile network was hardly available, bathing water was a luxury, chicken dishes were a rarity and electricity was more lost than found.
However, people's smiles were in abundance, their love and warmth helped me brace the chilled breeze, the kids innocence reminded me of all the good things that still exist in the world.
Meeting so many travelers, listening to their stories - their lives, challenges, travel stories - I learnt so much more than what books, media and internet taught me. And ya, I also learnt how to cook 😀, thanks to an amazing chef I met there. Then of course there was people - someone who peaked my interest in photography with his amazing work; another whose love for and connect with mountains made us be friends instantaneously; and another who presented a complete different picture of his country from what I had perceived it to be.
I remember this Canadian couple who talked so much about how life was in Canada and how much they love India that they have been coming back every year for 2 decades now. And then the Italian I met one evening with whom I had an amazing conversation discussing our love for Florence.
Mountain stories are never complete without dogs, the lovely dogs who sat by me when I was feeling low, showed me the way when I was lost and showered their love unconditionally.
I went to Spiti with a lot of baggage and dead weight, I came back brimming with positivity, life, happiness, completely rejuvenated. This place changed me in ways I never expected. The place has magic, it has healing power.

01/08/2020

Hello all, I have been loving my last 1.5 months in insta. It's been amazing to see everyone support me so much. That also got me thinking of how else can I value add through my account.

Starting tomorrow, I will start a story series, putting together what I have seen, read or researched for my trip. Below are the themes -

Mindful Monday - to help you be a little more inspired
Tasty Tuesday - as I bring culinary delights from across the world
Wandering Wednesday - lesser known places which are heavenly
Thankful Thursday - an opportunity for me to thank people who Inspired me or showered love on me
Filmy Friday - movie time!! So what if theatres are closed, here is some filmy gyaan
Saturday Story - How can I not talk books and interesting stories
Smart Sunday - quiz time!! Get those smart grey cells to work

I worked on the content for quite some time now and have enough material with me to ensure the story is not discontinued.

Hope you like the stories. Do drop in a note below to let me know what you think.

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25/07/2020

Nusa Penida - Part 2 of 2 - My reflections

Before I get to that, I have acrophobia. So that smile wasn't as easy as it looks. It took quite a lot of self motivation before I could sit at the edge and dangle my legs 😉

Pls read the caption in the earlier pic to get an idea of the situation in which we traveled

Two things stood out during this trip -

1. This is most important.

If I was blown away by the pictures of Nuda Penida before the trip, then it was nothing compared to the traveler friendliness of Indonesians. When we contacted our cruise agency in Bali to ask if we could get a refund due to cancellation of our ferry from Bali to Gili, they gave us an option to reschedule the trip or book something else. We opted for the Nusa Penida trip which was much cheaper and we thought we would have to forgo the rest of the money. But, hey, that was not the case. They instantly refunded the rest of the money.
The hotel we booked in Gili, one of the top ones, initially wasn't responding to us. They later explained about the devastation and that they had no electricity or network for a week. We were in Bali by then, we hadn't cancel the trip, and we saw the situation. We were ok to forgo the hotel money hoping it will help them, but again, hey it's Indonesia. They refunded the complete money to us once the situation stabilized which took about a month.

2. There were only 2 Indians apart from us and 100s of foreigners. Maybe it's time for us to stop going with the agency curtailed itinerary and do our own research to actually see the amazing sights a place can offer.
A lot of my friends were inspired by my pics and visited Nusa Penida. It felt amazing that I could inspire others.

And now you know why Bali is my favourite destination, not because it has views like this, but because it has amazing people who try to help you even when they are facing adversaries.

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24/07/2020

Waking up in the lap of nature

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21/07/2020

Nusa Penida - Part 1 of 2

I make new friends on my trips. Bali trip was with one such friend. One afternoon, 2 years after I met her in the mountains, I got a call - " Let's go to Bali". Next thing I know, our flights are booked, hotels blocked, even cruises are paid for. Few days before our travel, Bali got hit by one of the worst earthquakes. A lot of islands had to be closed down, Gili being one of them. The island was completely destroyed.

I, being an travel freak, had read up every possible article about Bali on Tripadvisor Tripoto and some of my favourite bloggers like . It was on that I found an article on Nusa Penida and I was blown away like never before. This was also a location I never saw on anyone's itinerary before.

So when Gili was closed and we had spare days in hand, my plan B came to our rescue. After a few email exchanges, our booking was changed to Nusa Penida and that's how we landed here, to this view.

To be continued..

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19/07/2020

I decided to do the Sandakphu trek at a time when the chills wouldn't be there, we would have some sun and I could click rhododendrons to my hearts content. For those of you who have been to the mountains, you know weather is hardly ever as we expect. What I got on this trip was almost near zero temperature, rains, strong winds enough to push you back a few steps and clouds. Yes, clouds. Throughout the trip, I was walking in the clouds. I could sometimes feel the water on my face and mistook it for drizzle, only to realise the clouds were settling in all over me. The early morning sunlight tried it's best to pe*****te through the clouds, but with hardly any success. All we had was a yellow glow around us and the hope that as we reach the top, we would be able to see The Sleeping Buddha range.

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15/07/2020