My Photo Blog: 2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

My trip my Sangla Valley

After Traveling pretty much Non Stop (OK...I stopped at Rampur for dinner and a five hour Nap) for 34 hours I managed to reach Sangla.

Sangla is a scenic hill-town in the Baspa Valley, also referred to as the Sangla valley. The region is part of Kinnaur District in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The valley is surrounded by richly forested slopes and offers delightful views of the high mountains.

The town is beautiful and so are the people who live there.

I was enchanted by the beauty of this town. I loved the wooden cottages and carved doors. The town has a strong Tibetan influence also.

It's a very small town; I checked in to my hotel, took my small bag with me and left to explore. I wanted to check out the Lord Shiva Temple and it was beautiful. I really had limited time in my hand; so i trekked towards the river. I could hear the soothing sound of the running water even in the market, so I knew it really can't be far off.....

After walking through the beautiful village lanes for about 15 minutes, I reached this bridge. The gushing sound of water was so loud and it was also kind of windy. It was enchanting......I stood on the bridge for a few minutes and looked around.....I can't really explain the beauty in words here

That is why I have a short video of that.

I crossed the bridge and took this narrow lane to go towards the river bed.

Finally I was there. I was shouting..screaming...yelling...because no one could hear me..... I felt like I was the only person there in that haven

Once I was there, I knew what I had to do, I had to jump in the water. I took off all my clothes (no exaggeration) and jumped in to the water. The water was cold....chilly......but it felt so nice...

I could barely stay in the water for 4-5 minutes.....I was shivering......I got out of the water. I was able to light a small pit fire there with all the wood lying around. I have never loved fire so much. It was so relaxing to sit there in the valley. There was nobody there, to disturb.....I was singing and drinking Rum.

It was getting dark, so I packed up from there and headed back towards the village. I got back to my hotel, changed my clothes and went to the market to have dinner. The market is very small but it has a few good places to eat. You can find delicious momos there. Every thing is really fresh too. I had my dinner and went back to my hotel.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Taj Mahal : You gotta see to believe

Taj Mahal

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This (video clip) is the First view you get of Taj Mahal, when you walk through the Main Gate...damn its crowded...These are short (low res) clips from my digicam.

Our Guide goes blah blah.....I am in total awe of this view...

This is no special effect.....this is how it turned out ....