Gaurav Purwar

It was the second day of Kasol. We headed to the Kheerganga from our basecamp of Kasol. We took a cab to Barshaini, which is around 16 km from Kasol. Barshaini is an entry point for the Kheerganga trek. We preferred the Kalga trek due to its low steepness. Kalga trek is around 16km long and covered with forest. We took a guide to support take us to Kheerganga. This blog post contains some of the memories and incidents related to this trek. It was 7:00 am, as per expectations MC was the first among us to get up. He announced in Punjabi, “Whoever wants to see the sunrise, get up otherwise I am leaving!”. I remember in the Shimla trip, this guy left us and went alone to see the sunrise. But this time I didn't want to miss, so half-heartedly, I came out of bed. And then we all collected and headed for a suitable place to see the sunrise. We remembered a park near the bridge, but that was closed. Although we tried a few alternatives, nothing worked. After all this, we headed to a br...

Dusk started to cover the Kasol. Stars and the moon were taking their positions. So we decided to return back to our camp from the Jim Morrison Cafe. That day we already spent a lot of time on the streets, so we were familiar with the road and we didn't ask Google aunty to guide us. At night, Kasol was shinning with lights. Although that night, the city was packed with the crowd. While standing there, I was able to feel a different kind of satisfaction. Around me, there were people laughing and hanging with their mates, and the best part everyone was engaged in themselves. A fusion of music with the heavy sound of running water of the Parvati river was breaking the series of silence. Apart from this, a trance music beat was not leaving my head. It was in my head since we left the cafe. I wish, I could gather some courage and asked the cafe staff for the track name, cause I even don't know how to search for music beats on Google. No doubts all cities look amazing at ni...

After 14 hours of travel for Bhuntar, we were losing our patience. It was mainly hunger and desperation to reach our camp. Our focus was on the beauty of Kasol, which was visible from Bhuntar. But the struggle was, “How to get transport to reach Kasol?” __ “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet”: Aristotle We had a tight budget so our first choice was obviously a public bus. Unluckily, during that period there was a huge crowd at Bhuntar bus stand. So we decided to alter the plan. We went to the taxi booth, but no success achieved. Now, we went hopeless and we were not sure how to continue. As usual, MC came with a conclusion out of the topic, “Let's skip all and have some momos!” No doubt we were hungry, and we couldn't deny his proposal. We settled at the Momos shop and we were eating like a monster. We spent an hour eating and resting. As we over, we ran toward the taxi booth as an empty taxi was approaching the booth. Luckily with some patience, we were final...

It's true when we expect the least then only we are able to enjoy the most. Or we can say expectations suck us, and stop us to enjoy the most. I learned this from my previous trip. My trip started with my squad and this time Bhaskar was with us. Cause of him we planned this trip (there is another story regarding the second trip, but let me stick to the post). We collected at R. K. Ashram metro station, from there we were supposed to board our bus. With private buses, I never had a good experience. But this time, it was upside down. Even I need to cross-check the bus number twice to confirm whether I am boarding the correct bus. With heavy traffic jams and a few on-road pickups, after 2 hours of boarding we were able to skip Delhi behind us. We were on the highway. And our bus was running on speed. We, all 5, were settled on the last 5 seats with mutual agreement. Along with this we were trying not to irritate couples sitting ahead of us. The bus was bounded to Manali and...

It was 4:30 am, we locked the doors of our house and headed towards our cab which was waiting outside. We were on the time, and I was excited as in a few hours it would be my first ever flight experience. Around 9:30 am, after the ticket collection and security checkup, I was on my seat of Vistara's flight bounded to Bhubaneshwar. This was going to be a 2 hours flight and our captain shared the brief description of the weather of Bhubaneshwar which was going to be a pleasant one. In the next 30 minutes flight take off and I was having goosebumps. As the flight taking a sharp turn towards the East, I was experiencing myself on a twister ride of Worlds of Wonder. In a few minutes, everything went normal. And from the window, I was able to see the shinning Himalayas range. I wish one day I could climb it. It was 3:00 pm and we were on the way to Konark from Bhubaneshwar. Although, Odisha is still known to be a warm place during March-April. But that day weather was all diffe...

In the aspect of a large population and connectivity, Kanpur owns one of the five central railway stations of India. The Kanpur Central connects major cities in India and yes India's capital too. Based on the increased demand for connectivity to New Delhi, on September 1st, 2002 Nothern Central Railway introduced a non-stop train, Shramshakti Express, between New Delhi and Kanpur. Since then this train is known as a night-rider of this route. However, to be in the busiest Delhi-Howrah route, there are already many other trains connecting Kanpur to New Delhi still, this train owes another level of a bond to every Kanpurist. __ What makes this train unique? Shramshakti express is a non-stop superfast train and preferred by common people, VVIPs, and ministers due to its punctuality, timing, and safety. The train equipped with RPF guards and with zero stoppage, for 410 km, anyone doesn't need to be worried about their luggage. And many times, you might witness yourself rea...

Kalka is not only a terminus of the broad gauge railway of India. However, from there one of the mountain railways of India originate. This railway line is around 96 km long and connects Kalka with Shimla. It passes through diversified scenes and shows marvelous engineering. There is a roadway that connects Shimla with Kalka, but to be the part of my bucket list, I chose this rail route. How is this rail route different from other rail routes?  This mountain rail route is identified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. And do you know, this 96 km rail route has around: 988 bridges 917 curves (with a few which are too sharp) 102 tunnels (I counted it by myself) The whole route is covered with dense forest and rich diversity. In some instances, you might find clouds floating near you, plants waving you off, mountains running by your side and the Sun playing hide & seek with you. On 31st August 2019, I was lucky to witness this heritage rou...

** From running behind the time, to be on time ** It is the evening of August 30th, 2019. The squad is excited as it will be the first trip after we separated. Our bags are packed, all bookings are confirmed and we all are waiting to reunite. We decided to meet at the Old Delhi Metro Station and from there we will walk together to the railway station and there we will be going to board our train. __ August 30th, 2019 11:45 pm Everything was on time, but our train is not. When we boarded our train, it was running late by 3 hours, only God knows how much it will be going to delay. And with this delay, we are sure that we will be going to miss our first Toy Train ride from the Kalka station. We started to look at other possible options and just praying for some miracle. __ August 31st, 2019 01:00 am We don't know where we are on the Google Map, but the good news is we are running late by 2 hours, and our train is covering its delay time. With this, there is a go...

It was morning, we headed from our hotel at Katra   to Patnitop . Since the arrival at Katra, the weather forecast was declaring possibilities of heavy snowfall. So as we begin our journey we were able to feel the weather, it was cloudy at the beginning then slowly it gets dark. We were still on way towards Patnitop, and rain starts to begin. Green-silver hills, music, and hot tea with aloo parathas; a perfect pleasant combination. I was able to see the hill's peak changing color from green to white. It was a clear sign that snowfall started. I was happy cause it will be going to my first ever encounter with snowfall. And a few moments later, I experienced my first ever snowfall. I still remember how these tiny light small-flakes    ❄❄❄  falling over me and then turning into water drops 💧💧💧 ( behind the scene my Mumma was scolding to get inside the shade while my sister supporting me 😛). It was just the start of the story, as we headed near t...

It is true that every year we make several memories. Few of them could be of joy and others could of be of sorrow. But what matters in the end? It is, we lived another year of our life! - Gaurav Purwar So... it is the first day of another (new) year. Like other lazy ass, I haven't made any resolutions. But when I look around the previous year, I noticed a couple of things!  __ What was the best of that year? Well, best about that year was, I made a lot of trips. Included experience with family, friends, and solo. I went to so many interesting places like Jaipur, Varanasi, Pangot, Agra, Orchha, etc. Of course, with fun and adventure, they were quite soothing and memorable. So yeah for this year, another bucket list is ready! __ What did I try new that year? I started blogging. Haha... the list doesn't end here. I tried a couple of things that year, like: I started working on a couple of new technologies and enhancing myself in every possible way I ...