Masala Dosa on the Mekong

 "They should pay you a very high salary", I told the bus driver. "I get ₹7500 ($100) a month, just like any other city driver", he said. I was travelling by bus from Keylong to Kaza in the Indian Himalayas, bordering Tibet. It is one of the most treacherous roads in the world. Keylong is the main town in Lahaul Valley. Kaza is the main town in Spiti Valley. But it turned out to be no easy task to travel from Lahaul to Spiti, although they were part of the same district. I was in Keylong. I decided to spend a few days there to acclimatise to the altitude. Keylong was at 10,500 feet and I was planning to go to Spiti Valley which was at a much higher altitude. Keylong was a pleasant, little town with the Bhaga River flowing through it. I walked on a path alongside the river and there were apple orchards all along. I walked for about two hours and I reached Kardang Gompa, the oldest Buddhist monastery in Lahaul Valley. The population in Keylong was mainly of Tibetan de...

 "You don't know Français. You don't know Swahili. And you want to go to Burundi?", said the young woman. I was travelling from Kigali in Rwanda to Bujumbura in Burundi. I wanted to reach Lake Tanganyika, of which I had read so much in my Geography class in school.  Rwanda in East Africa was one of the most progressive countries that I have seen in my travels. It was one of the first countries in the world to ban plastic. My bags got checked for plastic when I crossed the border from Uganda. The motorcycle taxi drivers in Kigali, the prosperous capital of Rwanda, wear a neat uniform with a prominently displayed registration number. They wear a helmet and also carry a helmet for the passenger. Rwanda has gone through a horrific past documented in the highly disturbing Genocide Museum. But the country has gone past that period. Recently they have installed solar powered smart dustbins that notify the collector when to empty them. I reached the Nyabugogo bus station in K...

 "Send me a telegram when you reach", said my father. I was planning to travel to another city alone, for the first time in my life. I was 15. My plan was to travel from New Delhi to Chandigarh, stay overnight, and return the next day evening back to home in New Delhi. Though this was to be my first trip alone outside the city, I had been travelling inside Delhi alone for quite some time. At the age of 11, I started travelling from home to the school by public bus, instead of the school bus. My parents could not afford the school bus, it was expensive. From home I used to walk to the bus stop, which used to involve crossing a major road with a lot of traffic. I then used to take either one direct bus or sometimes two buses, with a change of bus to reach the bus stop near my school. From that bus stop to reach the school, I had to cross two major roads. All this I did by myself. At the age of 13, my father bought me an "All Route Bus Pass", which was commonly known a...

 Always cross using a land border, is what I say and try to do. You are certain to have an adventure. I was planning to travel from Patna, capital of Bihar state in India to Pokhara in Nepal.  I landed in Patna airport, picked up my bag and headed out to get a taxi to my hotel. There was not a single taxi to be found. There were no auto-rickshaws either. Most airports in India have a prepaid taxi counter, but there were none in Patna airport. Every single passenger who had come on my flight had a car waiting for them, either a pre arranged taxi or their own car with a driver. Everyone left and pretty soon I was the only person in the airport. I started walking and headed out of the airport. I reached the main road and waited there for some transport. After about ten minutes, I got a cycle rickshaw and he agreed to take me to my hotel. While we were going, we got stopped at one place by a man carrying a stick. The cycle rickshaw driver took out some money and gave it to the man...

 In my blog post "20 Rules for Indian Travellers", the 3rd rule is - Visit the tougher places when you are younger. Here is a list of 10 tough places to visit when you are young. You can always sip wine in Paris when you are old.  While my primary target audience with this post are Indian travellers, they should be useful to others too. 1. Leh and Ladakh, India . Don't fly into Leh. Go by road from Manali to Leh. Break the journey in Keylong, Lahaul to get acclimatised and Keylong is a very pleasant place with some nice Tibetan monasteries. Don't break the journey in Sarchu. It is too high and you could have altitude problems. Fly out of Leh when you finish your trip. Get a window seat, it is a spectacular flight over the Himalayas. 2. Lahaul and Spiti, India . Travel using public transport on this amazing circuit. Contrary to popular opinion, I recommend doing the circuit in a clockwise direction, because then you can visit Keylong, Lahaul too. You also end the trip...