I cannot seem to have enough of the mountains.
Perhaps because until my recent trip to Uttarakhand in November, it had been a while since I'd surrounded myself in their company!
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Nope, it's not a painting. That is the view of Bandarpoonch from Jhandi (after you've crossed Nag Tibba) | Uttarakhand |
The experience of being elevated above sea level - right at the very time when DeMonetization hit India, Trump became President-elect of the United States of America and the Toblerone triangle change upset its fans especially in the United Kingdom (at least according to
BBC.com) - was clearly godsend for me. I couldn't be any more grateful that I had managed to scavenge around for enough notes of 100s in cash to get me to the Himalayas.
So a month later, here I am back home vicariously living through my own photographs...
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Isn't this just stunning? Now imagine witnessing it for real |
These ranges folding into the never-ending background
Sometimes revealing snow clad peaks
What a visual treat for someone who hails from the coast!
If you haven't, do give
my trek to Nag Tibba and Jhandi a read...
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When the sun set and moon rise are so properly coordinated. If this isn't magic, I wonder what is! |
Sunsets.
Sunsets speak to us. I've often wondered why though...
And for seven straight evenings, I stood in rapt attention watching this miracle repeat itself!
Because at
The Goat Village, watching the Sun disappear behind the peaks was not without witnessing the Moon rise at approximately the same time.
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Sun at night (left). Moon at daylight (right). |
And for the love of celestial bodies, I never seemed to have enough of either the Sun against the night sky or the Moon in the morning. I haven't been able to witness this phenomenon this marvellously any place else until I was in Garhwal!
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Lo and behold, it is the Supermoon! |
This beauty.
This celestial torch of the night sky - the Moon in her Supermoon avataar - left my jaw hanging and rest of me freezing as I struggled to overcome the chill air of the mountains while trying to get a couple of decent/good-enough photographs of the Moon this close to the Earth - the closest it has been since 1948 and won't be again until 2035!
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For the love of monochrome <3 |
The many monochromatic moods of and at The Goat Village (above) and those in colour (below). I'd spend hours barely moving centimetres, gazing into nothingness with nobody to poke, prod or intrude into that sacred space. Moments like those made me want to kick my heels in the air for being far away from the maddening crowd!
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The dining area at The Goat Village |
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Eating healthy and how! Surely, my body was more than impressed with me for those 7 days |
That's locally grown and sourced palak/spinach with roti/flat bread made from ragi/finger millet for breakfast during one of my mornings at The Goat Village
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Shinrin yoku, anyone? |
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms...”
― Henry David Thoreau
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Fair-weathered friends |
I am no birder. And have been remotely interested in the avian populace of any region I've travelled to in the past - until I was in
Hampi in January 2016. It was as if something switched on inside my head. That and the move away from mobile phone photography has made wanting to peer and stare at these iridescent winged beings one of my to-do activities.
Of course, I'll look up Google to identify them once I return back to civilisation. Which is how I can tell you that from left to the right, the birds you are seeing are the White-eared Bulbul , Himalayan Griffon (a trio actually would fly over around 3 in the afternoon everyday), the Black-headed Jay and the Russet Sparrow.
I could also be wrong - so I'd appreciate if anyone could help me with the identification!
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And then some more friends |
This was me making some new friends. Let me know if you are able to spot the one who's in the centre!
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Temple at Nag Tibba |
The temple at Nag Tibba is also known as the point where you decide whether or not you want to continue onwards to Jhandi for another 2 kilometres. Arduous as it is, the view from the top absolutely compensates.
Afterthought::
Spiti - which happened over two years ago - had created a similar effect on me. The only difference is that Spiti was not a solo trip!
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