It seemed almost like a century since I have backpacked and typed a new story in this book of tickets. It was that time of the year again, where I complete another revolution around the sun and keep the promise of watching the sunrise from yet another new place. As I write this story, the pandemic hasn’t loosened its grip, and any travel plan would also add a risk of being in an exposed and unknown environment. But I was in a much-needed break and Gokarna seemed rather a safer place to explore. I had been to Gokarna at least a few times earlier, but mostly with intention of temple visits, but this time I wanted to get a closer look at this place people have fallen in love with.

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For many of us when we hear the name Kerala, the pictures that come in front of our eyes are Coconut tree lines, Kathakali, Beach, Boats and of course Fish. Though it is my home state, I must say I haven’t really explored it enough. The last couple of months had been a lot of dwelling in the mountain and it was time to feel some wet sand underneath the feet as I turn a year older.

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While the year for 2019 was giving me more surprises, it had probably reserved the best for the last. From at least two years, I have been hearing from my friend Abhishek about his trekking stories in the Himalayas, and the views I had seen during my Leh trip had made the desire even stronger. When I look at the sequence of events that happened this year, it probably seems like this trek was destined.

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The name Rishikesh brings a unique set of memories in each of us. Some know it as a place of worship, few find it to be a place for the epitome of adventure and for others, it is a place to be lost and find oneself within. It took me two years to make up my mind and time to be here and get the gist of all. And yes! this is furthest and longest I had been on a solo trip.

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Looks like the year for 2019 has a lot in store for me. After my trip to Hampi, the urge to visit Badami had grown stronger. To see this place which inspired the architectural marvels all throughout the south. However, I had not imagined that my wish would be granted so soon. A weekend was all I needed and after a couple of last-moment search for stay and buses, the Badami trip was on. When I mention Badami, it is the trio i.e. Badami, Aihole and Pattadakallu are a must-visit together. They are often referred to as the Cradle of Indian Architecture.

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I am sure most of us would have read about Bahubali(psst! not the movie) in our history textbooks, but the obsession of seeing this mammoth of a statue had pulled me all the way to Shravanabelagola. While the place is just 140 km away from Bangalore, it was a back-breaking distance for me to attempt on my Activa. In the vicinity, there was Melukote another place of historic significance and Basaralu, a not-so-mainstream place which I had come across from a magazine. Since the mode of transport was on the bus for most of the distance, I spent a long time solving my ‘ traveling salesman problem’ to find the optimal route.

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We all have that one destination, that one trip with a group of friends, family or even a solo-trip which takes years to accomplish. While a solo-trip usually gets worked out earlier (most of my trips happened this way), a group takes a longer for everyone to get convinced. Every time we cousins meet for festivals and family gatherings, we would discuss going to Ladakh, do a bit of research and then the topic would silently die down. But the year 2019 had something new in store for us. There was a new enthusiasm which was driving the plan towards reality. Things found a quick conclusion and we were in high spirits to travel to dream destinations of Ladakh in July. [Long post alert 😉 ]

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From all the history lessons that I have taken, the name that has remained in my mind for long is Hampi. The description of its wealth and the vastness had always pulled me towards itself. Every time I see a picture of monuments from Hampi, the dream of visiting the place grew stronger. Strange yet, I always visualized these monuments to be on barren lands and any rain could disrupt my mental image of these with green patches in it. Now that the monsoons were nearing and many places in the south would face the rains, I chose an odd, non-seasonal, extremely hot month of June for a two day trip to Hampi. All suggestions were against going in this time, but I was in no mood to postpone the trip further.

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From the travel experiences that I had in the past, I have always found that tall mountains and gigantic architectures have mesmerized me often. They always show me how small I am in front of them and how even smaller my problems are. One such place I always wanted to visit was Thanjavur. While I have heard a lot about the massive Brihadishwar temple there, the dream was to measure it from my eyes for real. I had planned a short trip for the day I’ll be turning 27 and Thanjavur was the perfect match this time both to seek blessings and to have the fun of travel. There wasn’t much to explore for the entire day at Thanjavur, which made me add Srirangam to the itinerary. The plan was ready almost a month earlier and my usual anxiety kicked-in waiting for the day to arrive.

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This is a third year-end trip that I have taken with my school friends. Since this story is going to be a longer one, keep a cup of coffee/chai and some munchies handy.

Our procrastinating mind always leads us to make the same mistakes again and many of them happen during the travel plans. After multiple con-calls, date changes and flight reschedules, we had arrived on a 7-day itinerary from 27th Dec to 2nd Jan for Bhutan. Travel Triangle helped us to come up with a budgeted 10k package and we were counting the days for our first international trip.

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