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Day 6: A lazy day in Thimpu
“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley I woke up around 8 in the morning. Today, we were to start our return journey. I had a wonderful breakfast of Bhumtang cheese sandwich and Chinese tea. After the breakfast, we roamed around the city trying to buy some […]
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Day 5: A trek at 10,000ft to the ‘Tiger’s Nest’, Paro
I woke up to the alarm and it was raining in Thimpu. That wasn’t looking good for the trek that was planned for the day. As I did some running around to get some photocopies, I could feel that I was getting tired faster as compared to my normal fitness levels. I understood that my […]
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Day 4: Into the heart of the thunder dragon, Thimpu
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener It rained very heavily in the night but the sky was quite clear in the morning. I woke up early as we needed to get the permits done. Since the immigration […]
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Day 3: A ‘walk’ out of the country into Bhutan
“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck I woke up near Kishanganj in north Bengal and when I looked outside, sun had already risen though it was just 5:30. But, the bad news was that it was raining! As the train reached […]
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Day 2: Retracing the Kolkata trail of yesteryear
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard I woke up as the train approached Balasore, a city known to me for being a missile test range and to Ravi, it was something related to shares and […]
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Day 1: Along the Coromandel coast
“There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner Yes, it is the start of yet another of those long journey that I do. And this time, am starting off the journey from Chennai. As soon as I came to know that I will have a […]
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Day 21: Return to Bangalore
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain Mark Twain can’t be wrong, I wondered. It was this […]
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Day 20: In the national capital, Delhi
“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy I arrived in Delhi a full day ahead of schedule, early in the morning. Delhi being my final strategic location, I did not […]
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Day 19: Escape to Jammu
After having a beautiful night’s sleep at the houseboat, I got up early in the morning. From my interaction with some Kashmiri students yesterday in the bus, I had come to know that there was a possibility of a shutdown or protest in the city today. So I decided to leave as early as possible. […]
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Day 18: In the paradise on earth, Kashmir
“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu I woke up on the Zojilla pass. The heart on mouth situation was even worse now with narrow roads and deeper gorges. There is space for a sumo/scorpio, but hardly for a bus to move on. Adding to the […]