Thursday, September 1, 2011

Backpacking to the northeast

March 19th 2011: With train booking till Siliguri, 2 Lonely Planets (the northeast India and Bhutan ones) and a heavy backpack, I finally started off on my backpacking trip to the exotic northeast! 
No concrete plans, no pre-decided schedule!
A budget trip - so no private cabs, only public transport - trains, buses, shared jeeps and hitchhiking, if anyone took me onboard :)

No advance hotel bookings - look around for budget hotels, haggle over the tariff, clean bedding and clean toilets the only must-haves, value for money!


By now you have guessed that I am a man of few words, so the pictures will do the talking in subsequent posts :)
As some wise man has said, "A picture is worth a thousand words". True, n'est pas?

In and around Gangtok

Nathu la

North Sikkim

Gangtok to Pelling

In and around Pelling

Entering Bhutan

Thimphu

Punakha

Paro

Darjeeling

Shillong and Cherapunji

Elephant safari at Kaziranga

Dibru Saikhowa National Park

Jeep safari at Kaziranga

The journey back



11 comments:

  1. Kake tussi tof ho...India ki hope ho :) Enjoyed the snaps....and yes definitely envy/jealous :)

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  2. Rockstar! Great pictures and commentary. Need some more pictures of yourself. Count me in on your next adventure. AJ

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  3. You are totally besharam! Posting such photos when I'm stuck watching gloomy horrible weather!

    PS: Nice photos :)

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  4. Thanks guys! Glad you liked the pics. Will soon be uploading pics for the rest of the trip.
    @AJ: Next adventure is round the corner :) btw where have you been? Long time no see...

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  5. hi.. could you let me know how many days did this trip last for?? and how much did you spend in all? :)

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    1. Hi Neha, this trip was around a month long. On an average I spent 600-700 per day including accommodation, food, sightseeing and travel. However costs will vary significantly depending on the options you choose. For acco I chose hotels with clean rooms not very far from the city center. Food, I usually ate at restaurants serving local food (mid-range). All sightseeing and travel was on public transport/shared jeeps. Good luck

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  6. Hi, friends I m planning to backpack to north east in march-april .can anyone advise me from where should i start from delhi. Am a girl and looking for a female company or a group .

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    1. Good luck! All of northeast that I have seen is very beautiful! Would definitely recommend Sikkim for that season. Would be glad to help if you have any specific questions

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  7. Thanks Hrishikesh,Saw ur reply late. Me and my friend is planning north east in march 2014. we ll do some 2-3 short one week trips. look for guidance.U can please leave ur mail id so that we can reach u.

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    Replies
    1. Apologies. I have been away from the blog for a while now. Hope you had a good trip!

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  8. Hi Hrishikesh! great reading about your trips!
    I'm planning a backpacking trip to the North East and would love to get in touch with you! Please do let me konw how to if it's not a problem.... I'm a student from Mumbai studying herpetology.

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