17th April, 2010
Newsletter of this exclusive India travel website with dynamic information on seasonal destinations, new resorts, great value holiday packages, exciting itineraries, romantic honeymoon ideas, adventure offerings, corporate offsite packages and news on upcoming events and new sections on the website - http://www.caravantraveltalk.com .

Pabbar River meandering through the picturesque valley

Mountain Club is a nice, quaint, small property built in cottage style. The service is somewhat laid-back so in a way it sets the flavor of the vacation - that there is no rush in life! Doesn’t an out-of-town vacation relax you and don’t you actually seem to have all the time in the world? I finally got to put body and lens of my new Canon Digital SLR together and Ranjana managed to take her new 8x40 binocs out of the box. (doing things out-of-the-box are not so simple in your work environs!).  

We trekked from Bhimtal to Sattal and traced all the seven lakes of Sattal. The next day’s morning hike to “Cliff-Hanger” across Freddy’s Cottage was enjoyable and the lake views from the top were great. We also had a rejuvenating yoga and meditation session in the small meadow there amongst the pine trees! 
The tranquil mornings and serene evenings really put us in slow motion.
It was a great break! 

Later this year, in July-August, Ranjana and I are planning to do a long overdue road trip to Leh Ladakh. I guess the route we will take will be Delhi – Nalagarh – Manali – Keylong - Tso Moriri - Leh Ladakh (Pangong, Khardungla, Nubra) – Alchi – Kargil – Drass – Sonmarg – Srinagar – Fly back from Srinagar. Feeling ambitious, I would like to throw in rafting on the Indus, trekking in the Padum or Stok region and perhaps a couple of days of “spiritual search” in the Mahabodhi caves! We will be leading a group of like-minded travelers - all are welcome to join - dates, duration and itinerary are open to suggestions and discussion. We can also have a fixed itinerary upto Leh, after which those who want can have the flexibility of flying back Leh-Delhi instead of carrying on till Srinagar. People can also join in at Manali for the onward trip to Leh.

To get a hang of this check our Leh Ladakh website at:
http://ladakhvoyages.com/leh-ladakh-overland-jeep-safaris.htm .
Write to me if you are interested. 

Last month I had promised to bring you details on the Pabbar Valley Trail; the offbeat Himachal excursion we had undertaken in October. Well, here goes… Try exploring it this summer before teeming tourists take it over in a year or two.

Always travel safely. Cheers and Peace.

Achal.
Write to me at achalbb@gmail.com .

“Nothing changes except the perspective of the observer.”