A Kumari Contemplates Kathmandu Durbar Square
The tour guide seemed to hope greatly. An older man, he insisted on showing me his credentials as an authorised independent guide with quiet dignity. And he continued giving me his pitch on why...
Category: Travel Stories
Experiencing Singing Bowl Sound Therapy in Nepal
There was a little cafe in front of the meditation place in Pokhara, where I was instructed to go to for my sound therapy session. Umbrella Cafe was a hippy sort of place, with...
The Kashmiri Serendipity: Stories of Female Travellers in Pokhara
I ended up staying with Kashmiris in Pokhara, because I purposely did not book my post-trekking accommodations in advance. That’s basically me trying to be spontaneous and making space for serendipity. I was in...
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 10: 9 Trekking Tips
I woke up sore all over, on the final trekking day. New muscles had begun to ache, across my upper body. Unsurprisingly so, since for the past two days I was basically trekking with...
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 9: The Perks of Slow Trekking
My efforts to try and dampen my knee problems the previous night seemed to do some good. They held me up a little better in the morning. I would need them to hold me...
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 8: Trekking Through the Summer Plateau
The day dawned free from rain, so I went for a walk around the base camp before breakfast. The rising sun shone gently over the alpine plateau of Annapurna, waking its green summer colour....
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 7: To the Base Camp on a Trail of Flowers
It dawned foggy and cold, on the day we aimed to reach Annapurna Base Camp. There was no mercy from Annapurna. It was still drizzling. The monsoon was unrelenting. In no particular good humour,...
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 6: The Shrine of Dovan
We would ascend another 1000m on the sixth day, aiming to spend the night in Deurali at 3230m ASL. Along the way, near Dovan, we would pass by a local temple, said my guide....
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 5: Entering the Sanctuary
Day 5 of the trek roused itself as from the fog of slumber. The sun rose muffled by cloud all over the peaks, and the balconies of the inn were damp with the night’s...
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 4: Glimpses of Machapuchare
Perhaps the goddess took pity on me. But the fingers of fog parted from about the Annapurnas in the morning of the fourth day. For a lingering moment in the cold early morning, she...
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 3: The Rock Stacks by the River
Poon Hill! I suddenly remembered, once my sleepy brain processed the knock on my door. I leapt out of bed and opened it. My guide Devi was on the other side. By this time, she...
Annapurna in the Monsoon Day 2: At the Brink of Fog and Cloud
The morning mist turned into a blanket of fog over breakfast. In the space of a night, the warm humidity of the previous day shifted to thick damp. It was my first hint of...
