“It is hard to leave a place where you can believe that anything is possible. But that is why one must leave. To see if you were right, to see if y…

Last day in Delhi. Last day in the heat, pollution and noise. But also the last day of my vacation. As always this results in mixed feelings. It's bo…

Four hours of sleep later at 3:45 we jumped out of bed to pack our last stuff. This wasn't only the day of our return to Delhi but also the moment we…

This was one of the better hotels we stayed in during our 25 day trip. It had a nice room with a well working air-conditioning and an actual pub next…

Sikhism, professed by 65 per cent of the population here, is one of the world's newer faiths. It was founded by one Guru Nanak, in the early years of…

Like in Keylong, Kirsten's request to the management to have simple breakfast available at 6:00 AM was to no avail. The dining hall was dark and deso…

This was without a doubt the worst place we stayed in during our trip through Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. Everything is so dreadfully wrong about th…

Public relations are important to the Tibetans, for McLeodganj is more than just temples and the Dalai Lama's residence. It is home to a flourishing …

Country life in Himachal Pradesh. Rich land, poor farmers. It's six o'clock in the morning and the first streaks of light are in the sky as we drive …

An older man with a stick simply stands there with a small pail, whimpering soundlessly. Passing these wraith-like figures are the substantial, muscu…

As far as the hotel itself is concerned, this was probably one of the two best hotels in our 25 day journey through Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. The …

We would be spending two days in Manali and although there were several options for activities in and around this town Judith and I decided (as most …

An excellent place in the main street (Mall) of Manali. They have a very extensive menu with all kinds of Indian, Tibetan and Chinese food, cold beer…

This would be the last day on the bus for a while and because it was Independence Day in India Kirsten had decided to get on our way as soon as possi…

Why do people talk about the 'solidity, the 'still majesty', of mountains? Nothing is more theatrical, more unstable. Each shift of light changes the…

Hotel Dekyid was another disappointing place we stayed at during our trip from Ladakh to Manali. The misery started when our group leader tried to ch…

The road safety campaign extends beyond Leh. As we drive across the desert, following the slim green band of cultivation along the River Indus, we're…

The solidest joy of Leh is seeing its Palace from every angle and in every light; from below, as it stands in the full dazzle of the morning sun; fro…

Slowly, however, I was drawn into the sacred rhythm of the dances, their strange and unfamiliar time. I understood that what was being danced with su…

Every gompa, every temple, every house has its walls surrounded by a wide barrier of branches and twigs arranged and covered with a layer of earth, u…

Owing to some mishap the previous evening I woke up quite ill-tempered at 6:15 AM. After the daily ritual of tea, washing water and breakfast we left…

"Most of these people live simply and unsentimentally, they live with few needs, few prides, few vanities. They are tolerant to their old people, to …

Each gorge I walk through is so full of light that I wonder how the rocks sustain such and intensity of fire.   A Journey in Ladakh - Andrew H…

"(...) on the bare flank of the hill opposite there was a mani stone, the first I had ever seen, a large black stone with OM MANI PADME HUM ('Praise …

The architecture, too, is different from anything I've seen so far: stone walls and rugged houses with flat roofs that seem to have bushy undergrowth…

"This is the strangest music I know. It's hardly music at all. Those long wind things ... the way the drum rattles in the middle of a prayer ... the …

Nature is not generous up here. The air is powder dry and the rocky slopes all round us are bare and deeply gullied. For the first time in a long whi…

We stayed several nights in this hotel in Leh ... or should I say outside Leh? The hotel is located near the Shanti Stupa in Leh, meaning that it's a…

You do not know when you will get to Leh, and after a while you do not even know whether Leh itself exists; the existence of a fertile valley and a t…

Delhi, a town of almost 13 million people...   First priority at the start of the day was to get ourselves some rupees. We made our way throug…

Certainly not the best hotel we've been in during our 25 day trip through India. If a hotel's the only one in town I normally don't mind that much wh…

Seemingly all good journeys start early. I had meant to go to bed early, but because of various small task I wanted to finish before leaving, the exh…

"You must go. It is necessary that you go. Ladakh is the last place where you can see something of what Tibet must have been like."   What did…