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14 articles
Three weeks in Mandrem, North Goa. October 11 to November 1, 2026. Hundreds of founders, researchers, engineers, and creators living and building on a stretch of beach that is usually known for yoga retreats and quiet cafés, not hackathons. If you have applied, or you are wondering whether you...
Kinnaur is short on the map and long in real life. A Kinnauri's guide to getting there and around: the NH-5 from Shimla, HRTC buses to Reckong Peo, shared taxis to Kalpa and Chitkul, where the fuel and cash run out, and how to check the road before it strands you.
Kalpa is not a photo stop, it's a base. Three day hikes from your door: the gentle Roghi and Dalhousie Rest House walk, Chakha Meadow where Kinner Kailash fills the frame, and the long, quiet Kashang Valley. A Kinnauri's trail guide.
Skip the harvest guides. Come to a Kalpa orchard for its two best hours: an unhurried Slow Brunch under the trees, and a Sundowner as the Kinner Kailash range turns pink. A Kinnauri's case for doing nothing.
What a winter snow-leopard tracking trip to Kibber, Spiti is really like: honest sighting odds, the cost ladder, the conservation that funds it, the Kinnaur winter route, and how to view the cat without harming it.
From Kalpa to Kotgarh, where to sleep inside an apple orchard or a tea estate in HP, what each region grows when, and what a week of this actually costs in 2026. By a Kinnauri writer based in Kalpa.
Chandratal opens late May to mid-June 2026. Lakeside camping is banned, the lake is a Ramsar wetland. Swiss tents Rs 1,200 to 2,500. The Kaza side via Kunzum beats a Manali day trip on every count except distance from Delhi.
From Kalpa, where I write this, BSNL is the only signal that holds. Twenty-two HP locations mapped against four carriers, named dead zones with distances, the Rs 40 BSNL SIM (yes the cost dropped), Jio 5G in Manali and Dharamshala, the UPI-cash strategy past Reckong Peo, and what to do at Chandratal when your phone shows zero bars. By Ajay Negi, Kinnauri.
At 3,359 m on Mandis highest peak, a shrine with no roof. Every attempt to cover it has failed, including orders by a six-time CM. The HP Government itself records that snow doesnt settle on the idol even when the surrounding sanctuary is under 8 to 10 feet. A Kinnauri researchers honest read of the legend, the CM vs goddess story, the Triple Mystery, the Mandi Triangle circuit to Parashar and Kamrunag, and everything April 2026 travellers need to get up there safely. By Ajay Negi.
A Kinnauri insider's honest read on the HP snow crisis. 99% December 2025 deficit, 97.59 km2 of glacier lost, snow leopards up from 51 to 83 as the cats move higher. The altitude rule that tells you where snow still falls, climate-resilient destinations, the 2.09 crore box apple story, and what the state still does better than anywhere in India. By Ajay Negi.
A Kinnauri riders guide to Spiti on a Royal Enfield. Which bike (411 vs 450 vs XPulse), where to fuel, jerry can math, spare parts, mechanic map, water crossing technique, Gramphu-Batal survival, and a 12-day Shimla-Kinnaur-Spiti-Manali loop that lets your body acclimatise properly. By Ajay Negi.
Eight apple varieties, a month-by-month harvest calendar, six orchard locations, and the farm-to-fork price chain. By a Kinnauri who grew up sorting Royals on his porch.
The definitive Kinnaur Valley guide from a Kinnauri insider. 12 village profiles from Sarahan to Nako, apple season month-by-month, NH-5 road conditions, kath-kuni architecture, wine at 9,000 feet, 5/7/10 day itineraries, and the Kinner Kailash sunrise that justifies the whole trip. By Ajay Negi.
From Tabo's 996 CE monastery to Komic at 4,587 m, here's every Spiti village worth stopping at, and the two most travellers should skip. Written from the Sutlej-Kinnaur side by someone who has been crossing into Spiti the back way since he was a kid.
