Adventure & Trekking
Confront your fears before they conquer you, they say. I did. What does it take to jump out of an aircraft flying 15000 feet as the ground rushes toward you at the speed of light? How does it feel when your instructor pushes you off a precipitous cliff in the Himalaya, with nothing but a prayer and a parachute? Put your joints and muscles to the ultimate test – trek non-stop for a month through some of the most treacherous terrain to the base of Everest, Annapurna or that stunning Mt. Kailash? Dive into the bowels of the ocean in the Great Barrier Reef to witness the magic of the underwater universe first-hand. Or hurtle through the gorges cleaved by the Ganga in an inflatable raft as she leaps down the Himalayas in Rishikesh. Zip through a line admiring a pristine forest hundreds of meters below. Come, share my adrenaline rush.
A 32-day Trek to Kailash – Manasarovar (1996) - As you slide down the snowy slopes of the 16,750 foot high Lipulekh Pass on the Indo-Tibetan border, you are greeted by a breathtaking view of the Gurla Mandhata glowing in her powdery white crown of snow, a view that stays with you throughout…
Annapurna Base Camp – Following the Fairy Lights (2017) - The mountains seemed to have been lit up with a string of festive fairy lights, all bobbing up and down and snaking their way up the steep slopes in the inky darkness of a moonless night. The effect was magical, as though we were witnessing…
Ballooning in the Great Barrier Reef (2016) - We did ballooning in Atherton Tablelands in Queensland. A hot air balloon has no steering console except some kind of a rudder. So the captain uses what he calls a “spitometer” to assess wind direction and direct the balloon. He spits into the air and…
Dive into the Pacific at Lady Elliott Island (2016) - Lady Elliott Island, a tiny coral cay in the South Pacific is not on the tourist radar, at least not yet. But it will soon be, when word gets around that this is the favourite location of Manta Rays, those gentle giants of the ocean…
Diving in the Great Barrier Reef (2016) - His beady eyes seem to size me up as he weaves circles around us, each circle nudging closer and closer until his body brushes against my hand. He seems friendly enough. I put out my hand gingerly and pat his slippery back. There is a…
Everest Base Camp Trek (2016) - Authentic Italian cappuccino, draft beer, German bakes, Swiss confectionary and a Finnish sauna at 3,300 metres above sea level? No, I am not in the Swiss or Austrian Alps where these can be hoisted up on aerial ropeways or cable cars. I am at a…
Hiking Caminho de Santiago (2023) - Where in the world can you hike through a tunnel of green canopy for miles through charming villages with their antique stone masonry and fecund farms bursting with produce? In Gallicia in Spain. Even for the non-believers, the Caminho is such an enchanting trail that…
Rafting the Ganges (2000) - No artist’s palette could have reproduced the colour scheme as strikingly. On the one side are the emerald mountains – majestic and so steep that they appear to rise almost vertically. On the other, the dazzling white beaches with their fine powdery sand interrupted by…
Skydiving in Iconic Uluru (2016) - As the first rays of the rising sun caress its smooth flanks, Uluru glows red-hot against the surrounding flat scrubland. From this height, it seems every bit as iconic and seductive as the posters make it out to be. But there is no time to…
Trekking Through The Amazon, Dark and Daunting (2013) - It is hush hour in the Amazon jungle, where a tentative twilight before dawn casts ghostly shadows and silhouttes on the vegetation all around. Even the birds have not yet woken up to begin their celebratory cacophony. We are paddling as quietly as possible through…
Trekking to Lo Manthang in Upper Mustang (2017, 2018) - Travelling to Lo Manthang, probably the most isolated kingdom in the world, is not for the weak-kneed, literally! Apart from a good dose of foolhardiness, you need a pair of sturdy legs and even sturdier boots to plough through miles of dirt tracks to reach…
Trekking to the Sacred Caves of Amarnath (1997) - A frequent traveller learns to expect the unexpected in practically every journey. Even so, the Amarnath yatra is not without surprises. If you think the sheer location of the sacred cave, its remoteness and itsrelative inaccessibility would make for a quiet, contemplative trek through panoramic…
Ziplining in the Rainforest, Queensland (2016) - Queenslanders proudly claim that Daintree, 165 million years old, is the oldest surviving rainforest in the world. There is an abundance of mangroves, explained by the proximity of the rainforest to the reef. Whereas in the Amazon and in Borneo, you paddle through the creeks…