The Wanderers Stories

Season’s Greetings from The Wanderers!

Happy New Year!

We take this opportunity to thank each of you for making 2014 a great year for The Wanderers. And we wish you and your loved ones a fantastic 2015! May it be bigger, better and happier for everyone, wherever you are. To add to your happiness quotient, we promise to bring you awesome travel experiences from around the world throughout 2015 As a trailer, here’s a glimpse of what we would like to begin with! A winter trip to Canada, a wild trip to Botswana, a boat trip down the Mekong, a journey to Colombia or a road trip to North East India. We have all this and more for you in 2015. It’s after all the year of the wanderer.

Don’t believe otherwise..

Botswana

Explore the wonders of Botswana in the wilderness hotspots of this diverse country with this luxury camping expedition. You spend your days in the Okavango Delta and take game drives in Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park before finishing the trip with the sight of the cloud of spray from the mighty Victoria Falls. Its a one of a kind trip- exclusive & wild! Check out our latest package on Namibia

Lake Louise and Banff National Park

Enjoy a unique range of recreational activities from world-class ski options, to Dogsled mushing, snowshoe tours, skating along ice-trails and much more. This trip is dedicated to highlight the winter wonderland – Canada, where you get to experience dog sledges, some winter wildlife, visit Lake Louise and Banff National Park and explore Vancouver city.

Colombia

Colombia, located in the southwest of South America, is a tropical country of incredible diversity and charm. It is known to fascinate the world with its ever-changing geography, a history loaded with mystery & adventure and the warmth of its people and rich centuries-old culture. Discover this completely new world. Check out our latest package on Colombia

River Mekong in Laos

Take a trip down the River Mekong in Laos and its world renowned islands. Start the cruise at Pakse, situated at the confluence of Xe Don and Mekong Rivers, before continuing your cruise to Wat Phou – a UNESCO World Heritage site and the remote 4000 Islands!

Discover the beauty of the Sultanate of Oman with this seven days journey. Start your travel in the capital city of Muscat, a vibrant city that has successfully balanced the modern with its traditional culture. Here you will be introduced to Oman’s history, culture and development. Make your way along various tourist hot spots of Oman like Nizwa, Bahia Fort, Wadi Nakher, Jebel Shams and Wahiba Sands before returning to Muscat, where you end your trip. This trip gives a fascinating insight into a destination so close to India. Check out our package for Vietnam

South Africa

Pamper yourself and your loved one while discovering this beautiful country together. This 11 day tour takes you on a magical journey in Rainbow Nation. With the ease of self drive for most part of the journey, you can take your time reaching your destinations. Stop at little-known places. Discover those hidden nooks. Go on game drives. Do activities together. Get awed by the sights and the scenery along the way. Live in luxurious lodges and hotels throughout which have been handpicked specifically for this luxury offbeat tour.

Tanzania

See the best that Tanzania has to offer in luxury. Stay at some of the most luxurious tented accommodations and camps while you go on Safaris and game drives. Start your trip at Ngorongoro, famous for its Crater where humans and wild beasts coexist peacefully. Move on to Serengeti National Park, unequalled for its natural beauty and the greatest concentration of plains game anywhere. Drive down to Lake Manyara National Park, extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. From here you can either return back home or extend your trip and take in the beaches at Zanzibar while staying in the lap of luxury some 45 km away from Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar. Check out our latest package on Tanzania.

Mongolia

Discover Mongolia starting with a 2 day visit to the smaller brother of Baikal, Lake Khuvsgul, the deepest lake in Central Asia. In Ulaanbaatar, you will experience a blend of tradition and modernity in the rapidly developing city. Head east to Maikhan Tolgoi, followed by a trip to Gobi desert and then a walk through the ice gorge at Yolyn,Am,Mongolia’s largest sand dunes.Finally, experience Naadam festival which is the most colourful festival of the Mongols. Check out our latest package to Mongolia.

Kailash Manasarovar

Our Kailash Manasarovar Expedition to Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, which lies in the Southwestern part of Tibet, is an incredible experience. It is an epic pilgrimage to the heavenly abode of Lord Shiva, that is considered the most sacred and revered pilgrimage for Hindus, Jain’s and Buddhists alike. It is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding spiritual journeys known to man. Apart from this group tour, we have other journeys to Mt Kailash including a trip via Lhasa, another one which is an arduous trek, the inner parikrama, the chopper tour, the private journey and more. Do contact us for details, Check out our latest Kailash package

North East India

The North Eastern region of India is one of the least explored regions of India. With its abundant natural wealth, wildlife sanctuaries, high mountains, tribal culture, tea gardens, waterfalls, famous temples, the majestic Brahmaputra valley, angling opportunities, fast flowing rivers, quaint markets and a flourishing textile trade, it’s a wonder that these sister states have been able to keep themselves under wraps for so long! This unveils all of the above during its sojourn through Assam, Meghalaya and the Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh.

Meetings – Incentives – Conferences – Events

Does the reward of a trip to London and Paris or to Australia and Thailand galvanise the sales force into action? We are sure it does if the booming numbers of incentive travelers to places far and wide is any indication. But how about taking this a notch higher and announcing a trip of a lifetime that is truly worth coveting? A voyage to the Antarctic for the top performers! Or a trip to the Arctic Circle or the North Pole or a Trans Siberian Rail journey for the deserving few… Is it time to turn incentives on its head and move away from mundane trips to the truly extraordinary experiences of life? So, next time you are planning a trip for your delegates, do you want to go on planning the ordinary or would you like to give it a Wanderers touch? For more info, please click on the link.

Return as a Wanderer..

Thanks for all your arrangements. The trip was absolutely fantastic and very well organized. Thank you for making this trip happen in a short period of time. I know it was challenging indeed, given the time constraints.It will certainly remain a Dream Trip etched in our minds. I do look forward to organizing a trip too next year with Wanderers ..and hopefully many more trips thereafter. It was really a pleasure working with you!

Cheers,

Om Hemrajani, after his recent trip to Switzerland, Austria and Prague

Israel – Shalom!

Abhik Dutta, The Wanderers

Abhik Dutta traveled to Israel for a recce trip and this is what he had to say about this beautiful country.

“I had always wanted to visit Israel having grown up reading books about the country and its people, how the state was formed, about kibbutz life, their culture of innovation, the politics and religion of the region, the holocaust etc. So, when I got the invite from the Israel Ministry of Tourism to visit the country, I already had one leg in the El-Al flight! Tel-Aviv, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea is a city on steroids! An active city, where people are forever on the go. Cycling, running, skating, sailing, segwaying, dancing. Always moving. No wonder its called the Non-Stop City. Jaffa, is the exact opposite. Quiet, reflective, artsy, historical. To escape the noise.

For more offbeat trips and unique experiences around the world, please visit our website.

We would also like to hear from you! If you have any ideas or requirements to help customize personalized tours, do write to us at askus@thewanderers.co.in or contact us at any of our offices.

There are many valleys in the Himalayan range that just take your breath away because of their sheer beauty and magnificence. Many of these valleys are, however, on trek routes beyond the reach of many who are unable to walk to these heights. And those that are approachable by road are sometimes, more often than not, one of those tourist attractions that inspite of their beauty are pockmarked with tourists walking all over the place during the “season months. At times don’t we really wish we had a vale all to ourselves?

This wish of mine was granted during my first visit to Nubra Valley in Ladakh a few years back. Crossing the great Khardung La (18380ft), the JKSRTC bus meandered on the endless mountain track till suddenly the Shyok river valley opened up beneath us. Nothing had prepared me for the first sight, which I guess, has remained glued to me like the many monasteries that have for decades clung on to those barren and majestic slopes of the Nubra. There below us to the right the glistening river snaked its way through the wide gorge. Slowly as the entire panorama of the valley opened up ahead of us, the sheer setting, beauty and magnitude of the Nubra left me awestruck.

After the lunch halt at Khalsar (10080ft) at the mouth of the valley, we entered a flat stretch of road with the enormous valley unraveling itself like a plot from a Hitchcock novel. We followed the turbulent and muddy Shyok and as it grew wider, so did the valley. We soon came to a bifurcation, the right fork leading to the villages of Sumur, Tegar and Panamic and onwards to the Siachen glacier; the left fork going to the villages of Diskit and Hundar. We took the left fork.

Over the next few days I stayed with local families and explored the valley on my own, my trusted backpack and camera slung across my back, my worries and moods scattered all over beyond the Saser glaciers..beyond Turtuk..beyond the mighty Siachen hidden behind the mountains to the north.

At Diskit, the little children were a revelation. Five tiny ones, they emerged from the forest. Prancing around me they led me to their school, introduced me to their teachers and little friends with permanently flowing noses that would put the Shyok to shame. Later they ran with me to their waterhole, where the clear stream water collected for a while before slipping over the log into the adjoining fields. Here, they stripped naked and jumped into the pool- their innocent laughter reverberating across the valley and right into my soul. Bidding them a fond farewell, I moved on deeper towards the end of the pasture, past farms hidden from sight by tall thorny shrubs. Suddenly the path opened up and an amazing sight unfolded! A rolling meadow with a stream running through it! Horses and cows grazed peacefully. This was no man’s land really. Here nature danced to the tune of chirping birds, trees swayed in the breeze echoing a haunting whisper across the meadow. Rocks whispered magic words that made the stream water gurgle with laughter. I sat and watched the sun setting gradually over the distant peaks, casting long shadows in the valley and removing some from my mind.

The days came and went and I clung on to each moment, each passing hour hoping against hope that the sun would never set and my long carefree walks would never end. I just didn’t want to arrive anywhere. Each day began early and ended well past the time when the villagers would turn off the lights and go off to sleep. Iâ€™d walk out of the room with a blanket wrapped tightly around me and gaze at the stars that shone so brightly, so close and so gently that I wondered why I searched for my God in a temple when he stared at me all the while from aboveAnd so it went. One hour overlapping the next, one mile extending into another. I hiked to the gompa at Hundar perched high above the bridge with a mesmerizing view of the valley beneath. I saw the monastery at Diskit and the impressive Shamstelling gompa at Sumur, rode across the dunes on the double humped bactrian camel that I hired from Abdul Razzak for a paltry Rs.150, got invited (and later drunk) at the delightfully amateurish Tegar village festival, and devoured the not so tasty “skiu” and the unpalatable “khambhir” served by my new found friends. T. Dorje taught me how easy it is to make friends and how a wonderful friendship can last all of one day. Perched precariously on his Bajaj Chetak, I went all over Panamic village and to his small dwelling where we shared his lunch and his many stories of Ladakh. He walked me to the hot springs, to his workshop where he taught the locals carpentry and introduced me to the locals as “mera Bambe ka dost.”

I left Sumur early one morning at 6am. I kept my money on a makeshift table in my room and slipped out of the house quietly so as not to wake up my wonderful hosts. I walked over to the village bus stand across the road. For an hour I sat there on a culvert watching a remote mountain village wake up to the sounds of a new day. I drifted in and out of moments that made up my days in the valley. The distant drone of an automobile jerked me from my reverie and slowly I stood up, dusted my pants and as the jeep rumbled towards me I stuck my thumb out in the direction of Leh.

Snippets for the traveller:

1. Nubra Valley is best visited in July and August. Situated at an altitude of 10,000ft (the road never going above 10500 ft), it is warm and sunny during the day and pleasantly cold at night. The Nubra winter is harsh and almost unbearable for people not used to the plummeting mercury. Although the road through Khardungla is open throughout the year (as Nubra is also the gateway to Siachen glacier and the border post of Turtuk) it is not advisable to venture in there during the other months without proper arrangements.

2. One should spend a min of 3-4 days at the valley staying 2 nits at Diskit or Hundar and 2 nits at Sumur, Tegar or Tirath. Spend the first 2-3 nights at Leh, get acclimatized and only then venture the 7hr drive to Nubra.

3. One can stay in simple and basic lodges run by the local families. For those who to travel in comfort and style, a jeep safari is recommended with stay in deluxe campsites available at Tegar and Tirath which are open in July and August.

4. Inner line permits are required to visit the valley considering its proximity to the border. Permits can be obtained in Leh from the DM office.

5. Must see in Nubra is the “jheel” between Panamic and Tegar. Ask a local for directions. While going to Panamic, you will have to get off the road to the left, drive to a point after which the sand will not allow the vehicle to go any further. Thereafter, start walking in the direction of the grayish black mountain crossing a 1ft deep brook on the way. The “jheel” or the pond has a religious significance. Sitting on the banks one can see many reflections on the water. Some have seen a monastery, some a deity, some their future and most nothing. I believe the art of seeing something in there is to go with tremendous faith.

Tag: Himalyan

5 Tips for Nubra Valley in Ladakh

Snippets for the traveller: