Category: Inspiration

Categories
Inspiration

Books that will bring out the traveler in you

Travelling is way more than what it seems from a distance. From an average person’s point of view, it may look like an utter waste of money while asking a wanderer, he will tell you how traveling is more than a hobby, it’s a way of life. It’s subjective really. But one thing is for sure, every 4 in 5 people travel either to pass the time or to connect with some people from a different culture and a different land. There are many books that got written on the importance of traveling in one’s life. And in case you are looking to become one of those wanderers, here are our recommendations.

The Alchemist– If you are into even a little bit of reading, there is no chance that you have never heard of The Alchemist. Written by Paulo Coelho, this book follows the story of a shepherd boy who travels the world in search of a treasure. The novel will arouse the inner traveler in you for sure.

alchemist

Love With a chance of Drowning– Torre Deroche, one of the most famous travel bloggers of our times, has authored the book. It’s basically a book based on love stories but the wanderlust quotient is quite high with this one. This is one of the best travel books ever.

On the Road– Jack Kerouac authored this great novel in the year 1957 and since then, it is known as a classic. The lead character in the story is a wanderer and his state of mind is extremely identifiable as he just wants to travel the world in search of himself.

Unlikely destinations- The book was written by the founders of the best travel portals lonely planet. They have researched greatly and this happens to be one of the very few books that will invoke the inner traveler in you.

The Beach- Apart from The Alchemist, this one is the most popular travel junkies favorite novel of all times. Alex Garland weaved a great story around the search for the paradise. This one is a sure shot winner.

Vagabonding- Authored by Rolf Potts, this one is strictly for those who are unaware of the long-term travels. This one will make you crave for a trip into the unknown.

In a sunburned country- One of the most prominent names in the travel writing, Bill Bryson has written this masterpiece. The book is about a journey through Australian lands.

Seven Ages of Paris- This book takes inspiration from the history of Paris and takes you on a journey through the middle-aged Paris to the 20th century modern Paris.

Cruising Altitude– Heather Poole has written the book and chronicles the life and adventures of a flight attendant. This is all about wanderlust and will take you places as you move through the pages.

Paris was ours- Another book on the most beautiful city on the planet, Paris Was Ours happens to be written by Penelope Rowlands and tells the story of 32 writers from all across the world who travels to the city.

All the travel buffs must read the above-mentioned books once in a lifetime. These books can evoke certain emotions in you that you never knew existed and there are chances that you will start to see traveling in a whole new light.

Categories
Inspiration wildlife

Photographic Field Guide to the Wildlife of Central India – Must Have Book

Are you a wildlife enthusiast and wanted to explore the biodiversity of Central India? Then here is a Photographic Field Guide for you.

About the Book

Photographic Field Guide for Central India is a comprehensive take on mammals, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles and amphibians of the Central India. The taxonomic revisions and recent species splits have all been taken into account and addressed in the leaves of the book.The book is 15 by 22 cm with 300 pages. Its comprehensiveness, size, quality of images, descriptions, and state of the art quality of paper and print are some of the biggest advantages of owning a copy of this field guide.  The book acts as a perfect first-hand reference in the field with enough data for the most important task of all – identification. All the scientific data and additional characters are given in most of the Indian specialized guides may not be something that a tourist, naturalist or even the researcher is looking for in the field. One can always refer to them in libraries or in the lodges and can avoid the additional load in the field.

About the Authors

David Raju and Surya Ramachandran, the authors have over fourteen years of wildlife guiding experience in Central India. Coming from south India, what brought them to central India is their love of chasing and tracking wild cats in and out. Nevertheless, their love for lesser known fauna still continues that includes butterflies, dragonflies, snakes, and frogs. They have been fortunate to have the mentorship of Sarath Champati, Hashim Tyabji and a few others. Both of them have traveled the central India throughout and share special equation with this wildlife. Be it Satpura, or Pachmarhi, both of them have hands-on experience to explore the biodiversities.

How to Order

Book is available at Instamojo at a minimal price of INR 1000. To stay connected with authors, you may like their facebook page.

Categories
Inspiration

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets: A museum of its kind

About the museum
With an aim to deal with the current scenario’s most crucial issue of hygiene and sanitation, The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets was founded by Bindeshwar Pathak, a renowned social reformer of modern India. The one of its kind museum laid its foundation in the year 1992 and is run by the Sulabh International. The first initiative to public sanitation and hygiene was taken by the introduction of pay-to-use public toilets in a small village in Patna, Bihar.

The chief aim of the Sulabh International mission is to promote sanitation and hygiene habits and provide public toilet facilities throughout the nation. The museum has been listed under the category of “10 museums around the world that are anything but mundane” by Time magazine. It is the world’s only toilet museum and is probably why to hold so much importance in modern times.

Location and How to reach
The museum is located in the suburbs of New Delhi. The best mode to reach the museum is by metro. The nearest metro station to the museum is Dwarka Sec-9 from where you can take an auto/cab to reach.
What is inside?
The museum is not a very big one with a lot of storeys and many rooms, it is a small place with just one long room that displays all the exhibits. From Ancient to Medieval to Modern, it has exhibits from almost 50 countries. On the walls of the museum, you will find short poems, jokes, and cartoons related to toilet humor displayed on the boards.

Here you will find and learn about the different stages of the development of toilet system, of last five thousand years from the third millennium B.C. to the 20th century. These include brick commodes of the Harappan Civilization, modern toilets which have the electrically controlled flush system, toy-commode from China, and the model of the world’s biggest toilet complex at Shirdi in Maharashtra.The most amusing display of all is a replica of a full-size throne from the court of the French King, Louis XIII, which has a hidden commode underneath it. It is believed that the King used it to relieve himself while he uses to sit on the court.
Some interesting displays

Some of the interesting displays of the museum is a flush pot devised by Sir John Harrington, a courtier of Queen Elizabeth I in 1596. Apart from that, you will find here a gem-studded bided of Queen Victoria, highly decorated commodes from Austria and table-top toilets from England. Some of the toilets of this period are such disguised that it hard to believe for anyone. One of them is a french toilet that looks like a stack of books, and an English one which resembles a treasure chest.

A lot of visitors from all across the world come to study about the interesting facts and learn about sanitation safety and hygiene methods. So when are you visiting next to gain some educational facts?

Categories
Inspiration

The Nomadic Residential School in Puga, abode for nomadic children

The name Nomadic comes from a tribe based with Tibetan origins. The tribe has been ignored by the government for a very long time due to its reach with urban facilities but yet, they have found their way to get educated. A residential school was established in the year 2007 by the government of Himachal Pradesh and has been in talk for quite some time now.

The early days of Tribal School

The Nomadic residential school is located in a remote village called Puga. The school has been initiated with an intention of facilitating formal education to children who come from Kharnakpa and Changpa tribe. Both the tribes got Tibetan origins and lead a normal life with basic facilities. The tribes were not a great believer of formal education initially because of its imbalance, but life changed when the rules of poaching and hunting became strict and getting urbanized was the only option for survival. They simultaneously started understanding the value of formal education, which provides multiple ways of survival than depending on the traditional way of life.

Until a permanent school was established, the teachers used to travel with the tribe to conduct classes. The staff moved and set up camps in different locations to ensure enhanced schooling facilities for the nomads. As the days passed, the Nomadic residential school managed to have a decent infrastructure for villagers. Currently, the school provides food, clothes, boarding for free of cost for students who are between four and sixteen old. The Nomadic School provides boarding facilities, food and classes for students and most importantly in a warm and safe environment.

The school is an abode for 160 nomadic children who are ever-smiling and incredibly charming. As you pass them by in the school corridors, they will never fail to greet you and their gestures can almost melt your heart. The etiquettes can be credited to the excellent and dedicated staff who has not just helped in imparting them rudimentary education but also continue to lend a helping hand.

Education to both foreign and Indian tribes

The Changthang tribes are located on the border of India and Tibet. These tribes have a combination of 2 countries’ culture. They are located at a high altitude of 4500 meters bordering Tibet on one side and India on the other side. Officially, Changthang belongs to India and makes its living by raising yaks and goats. There has not been much formal education given to them for a long time and the tribes follow barter system still. The Nomadic residential school in Puga is trying to change the system by providing basic necessities with education.

Moving towards urbanization

Currently, The Nomadic school is a can be considered as a safe shelter for more than 100 children combining. Most of the children are from Kharnakpa Tribe and Champa tribe. Most of the children have seen their parents surviving in a traditional method by using natural resources for all kinds of activities. Children in the school get to see a combination of technology and the usage of natural resources, most of the children are adapting pretty quickly than the teacher’s expectation because of their experience on the field.

School still survives with its terrific weather conditions

It has been difficult for staff to manage the school under such weather conditions, the school has been effectively functionally because of the dedication from the staffs. The school does not conduct classes like any other educational institution in the country, it has its own way of teaching the academics and quantity of classes for every individual.

A span 5 to 6 months will not be suitable for traveling in and around Changthang due its heavy snow falls. The Nomadic school does take these things into consideration and does not conduct classes depending on the situation.

Categories
Adventure Himalayas Inspiration National Parks North India Treks

Hemkund Sahib, The Highest Sikh Pilgrimage in Uttarakhand

Located amidst the pristine valleys of the beautiful Indian state of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, the Hemkund Sahib area, also known as Gurudwara Shri Hemkunt Sahib, is one of the prime locations for the tourists to visit. The gurudwara is dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who happens to known as one of the ten Sikh Gurus. It is the highest and the greatest Gurudwara of the Sikh community, located right on the shores of the prestigious lake.

The weather changes quite rapidly at the place and almost every season is great to have a trip to the place. The highlights of the place are its waterfalls, deep forests, the crystal clear and an amazing view of the Himalayas. Any time a year is perfect to have a visit to the place but the season from June to October is generally considered the perfect one to do so.

How to reach?

The nearest railway station is the Rishikesh railway station which is situated 273 km before Govindghat on NH8. Taxis and buses can be availed from Rishikesh to Govindghat. Jolly Grand Airport happens to be the nearest airport to Hemkund Sahib but the roads are only connected up to Govindghat from where you will have to begin the trek.

Govindghat is the starting point of the trek to Hemkund Sahib and it well connected by motorable roads. The trek from Govindghat to Ghangharia is a steep one and covers 13 km. The remaining 6 km route is the steepest and can be the toughest one to travel.

After having a visit to the beautiful lake and the Gurudwara, you may feel the need to explore some places nearby.

Places to see

Ghangaria- On the long trek to Shri Hemkund Sahib, Ghangaria is the last stop where the traces of civilization exist. Located at an altitude of about 3000 meters above the sea level, Ghangaria is a beautiful place for sightseeing and for taking a few hours rest before you continue the journey to Hemkund Sahib. The trek up to this point is the toughest one. The region remains open from May to October and closed afterward due to the heavy snowfall that keeps occurring in here.

Valley of Flowers- Valley of flowers is a beautiful paradise situated at a 4 kms trek from Ghangaria. Also a reputed world heritage site, the valley of flowers is a must visit place on your way and purely a botanist’s delight. The entire valley is a valley of rare flowers and generally a rug of colors – green, yellow, red, blue etc. The entry ticket to the valley is 150 INR per person (for Indians) and 600 INR per person (for foreigners) and valid for 3 days entry. Whereas still cameras and movie/video cameras are free to carry, charges apply for professional video camera charges, that is 500 INR for Indians and 1500 INR for foreign nationals. The opening time of the valley is 6 am.

Please note that one should not litter anywhere in the valley and it is advisable to

carry some food from Ghangaria as you won’t get anything to eat up there.

Food served

A simple meal, comprising of Khichdi(rice dish) and tea is served here to all the pilgrimage, as a part of the langar. In case if you do not want to opt for this it is highly advisable to carry your own food and eatables as you will not find any restaurants there.

No visitor is allowed to stay overnight at gurudwara except the caretakers of the place, hence one needs to come back to Ghangaria for a night stay.

Places to stay at Ghangaria

A few options for a good and comfortable stay are Hotel Deepak Lodge, Valley of Flowers Holiday Home, Hotel Kuber Annex, Sarovar Portico Badrinath and Hotel Narayan Palace.

Hemkund other than a beautiful valley full of amazing landscapes and breathtaking visuals also happens to be a sacred place for the Sikhs, especially from northern India. The virgin beauty of the place is indeed reminiscent of the beautiful country we are living in.

Exit mobile version