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

Dublin, Ireland

Ireland was crowded and unkempt compared to Northern Ireland. Dublin was more so with Trinity College right in the middle and a milieu of people from all parts of the world. The native language is Irish but very few people speak it. English dominates which makes Ireland even more attractive for the diaspora.

River view, Dublin