Badami Caves

Trip: Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole & Bijapur

Tips: Winters are more suited for Karnataka hinterlands. Transportation is a challenge if you do not have own vehicle, so either rent a car or come with your own vehicle.

We drove to Badami on a rented car. Earlier the same day we landed at Hubli airport and rented a Zoomcar. It was very convenient. We settled in a pre-booked hotel and made plans for the next few days. We wanted to cover Badami, Pattadakal and Bijapur in next two days. The first choice was obviously Badami. Our hotel was next to the archeological site although the main entry gate was a walking distance away.

Natraj sculpture in front of Cave 1 @ Badami

Hemkund Sahib

• Hemkund is at a height of 15k ft. Best plan an acclimatisation day at Gangaria and a trip to Valley of Flower before attempting Hemkund.
• Check SpO2 before you start and if it is less than 90, take a Diamox tablet.

We reached Gangaria a day before after a long but enjoyable trek from Govindghat. Gangaria is a small village on the way to Hemkund and acts as a base camp for both Hemkund and Valley of Flower. We were surprised to find there was neither internet nor any kind of signal here. Nobody told us that we are going to be disconnected from the rest of the civilisation for the next 3 days.

En route to Gangaria, base village to Hemkund

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Trip: Ireland & Northern Ireland

Tips: Take guided tour bus from Dublin if you do not want to drive the whole day. Take the option of boat ride from Doolin to see the horcrux cave, the site of a Harry Potter movie.

Cliffs of Moher was windy and thrilling. The thrill was to walk on a narrow path adjacent to the cliffs facing sea hundreds of feets down. The monument of fallen suggested the thrills was not without risk. Still we took the whole round and watched the amazingly carved faces of the cliff from different angles. Being told that the horcrux cave shooting of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was done here made things doubly interesting.

A view of the cliffs