Usually people transport their bikes in cardboard boxes, but i felt that having a dedicated bike bag would be better as it is more compact, has more room for accessories and most of all because of the reason that the bag can be stowed away easily at a left luggage counter or in a hotel and can be used for the return trip as well. That last item was the major selling point for me as i didn't want to run around looking for cardboard boxes especially on the return leg of my journeys. The Btwin bike bag being sold in Decathlon looked perfect for my needs so i went ahead and bought it. And here is its review..

Trek.. Trek.. Trek.. I've finally decided what my next trip is going to be all about. Initially i wanted take my cycle along and do a mix of touring and trekking, but the more i researched on the trekking routes the more i realized that i can do most of my trip on foot. 

I plan on starting from the Gharwal region of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand and end up in the Rupshu plateau of Ladakh traversing the Kinnaur and Spiti valleys. All these regions are connected by a series of high altitude passes. With the right timing and a bit of luck i should be able to safely trek across them all with good (not the best) weather conditions behind me.

Wildlife Conservation Society of India has just released their internship/volunteering requirements for 2012. These field workshops will be held at several reserves in Karnataka including Dandeli-Anshi, BRT, Bhadra, Bandipura and Nagarahole. Please check the below post for more details on the requirement and on how to register yourself for one of the programmes.

It was a trip where Murphy's law was in full force. Everything that could go wrong did, and some. I drove around in circles trying to find fuel for my motorbike, got lost in the dark on the shores of the Tsomoriri lake, camped out in the wild, got bike's tires punctured and was rescued by the unlikeliest folks possible.. the Changpa nomads living high up in the mountains around the Tsomoriri lake. Needless to say, this was one of my best trips in Ladakh and i thoroughly enjoyed every minute of i

Read on to hear the story of my Tsomoriri trip..

Ladakh was the reason why i decided to take my bicycle with me to the Himalayas. The lure of cycling in the mountains with its crisp blue skies and snow capped peaks was too enticing to ignore. I had traveled Ladakh by motorcycle back in 2008, but this time i decided that a bicycle would be a better option. Going by cycle meant going slowly.. a 200km trip from, say, Leh to Pangong lake which can be done in a single day on a motor cycle would take 3 to 4 days on a bicycle. Which means stops in the smaller villages, seeing more sunrises & sunsets, more photo opportunities and more interaction with the local people. I had the one thing which i did not have in my other trips, the luxury of time.  

Then i thought that if i was going to be cycling in Ladakh then i might as well cycle TO Ladakh. I knew that i was in no shape to tackle the road but i had a get fit plan. It was brilliant. First spend a month in Rishikesh learning yoga, then spend the next month slowly making my way to Manali on my bicycle by which time i hoped to be fit enough to tackle the Manali-Leh road in early september. 

This was my first ever backpacking trip in India. I had traveled alone in China and Thailand before this but still i was a little nervous about traveling in my home country. Turns out all that nervousness was unwarranted and i ended up having a wonderful time. Here are some stories from that trip.

On my way back to India (after a 6 month stay in Beijing), i decided to have a stopover in Thailand and have a 15 day break. I would've preferred to have stayed longer, but the only visa i could get to Thailand on a short notice was a transit visa and it was limited to 15 days only. Never much of a beach person i went to Thailand with mixed expectations and came out refreshing and raring to be back.

For the Chinese New year holidays i decided to go to HuangShan. I was looking forward for a change of scenery from the usual tibetian mountains that im drawn to. And what better place than HuangShan to get a perfect taste of the Chinese mountain scenery. The Chinese people, and poets alike, never seem to tire of coming up with new ways to praise the HuangShan scenery. And all the photo's i've seen of the place seem to backup their claim. I was a bit circumspect about going there during winter but after a bit of research i found that the winter scenery is supposed to be the best with clear blue skies and the trees and mountains covered by snow. One day before i was due to leave it was snowing in Huangshan... I was excited...

Ever since i was bitten by the travel bug, Ladakh was one place that i always wanted to go. The pictures i've been seeing from friends on Flickr were all stunning and it looked as if it was almost impossible to take a bad picture in Ladakh. So with all these high hopes i finally got a chance to travel to Ladakh for a couple of weeks during October 2008. And it didn't disappoint.

A select collection of pictures from Travels over these past few years. Just everyday moments that appear extraordinary when you travel.

Its funny, i normally hesitate taking pictures of people but when i look back most of my memorable pictures are the ones with people in them. Any favorite subject, landscapes feature very less in this collection. I guess there's a lesson to be learnt here..

The Yuksom - GoeCha La trek in Western Sikkim takes you right under the shadow of the mighty Kanchendzonga, the 3'rd highest mountain in the world. This 7-8 day trek, is one of the more remote and stunning treks in India, taking one through forests of Rhododendron and valleys covered with lichen and moss, offering numerous birding opportunities and encounters with herds of Bharal or Blue mountain sheep and not to mention the stunning vistas of some of the highest mountains in the world.

Every year, during the monsoon months of July and August, the roads and highways of North India will be bathed in saffron by millions of pilgrims undertaking the Kanwar Yatra. This is a story of the Yatra, the Yatris and of me hiking, cycling and walking in their midst.

Traveling along the Manali - Leh highway, one is witness to numerous interesting sights. While most of them are of the stunning, take your breath away variety, there are few quirky man made sights that are equally interesting. The strangest of them all for me was sight of truck drivers squatting underneath their trucks every morning and lighting its fuel tank on fire !!