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HM Travels

I’ve wandered across many of Indonesia’s islands — Bali, Java, Lombok, Komodo, and the Gili chain — each with its own rhythm and charm. Java, of course, carries the weight of the nation, a densely packed hub where most of Indonesia’s people live and work. Yet what I longed for was something wilder: Sumatra, that vast, untamed island stretching across the equator, lightly populated and brimming with mystery. I had originally signed up to climb Mount Kerinci, Indonesia’s highes

Roughly about a 120km from Nairobi downtown is the Nakuru county which has the Eburru forest. I decided to do this hike and the tour operator asked to meet at 5:30AM in Nairobi. We left punctually and picked up more people on the way until there were about 20 people on the mini bus. Driving through beautiful, wooded areas that were visible after an hour or so out of Nariobi, we saw views of a couple of rift valleys. The road to our destination was well paved for the first 100

Climbing the half dome in Yosemite National park is a popular hike which I did a few times in 1990s and the early 2000s, after which the park introduced a permitting system, making it harder to go on a spontaneous trip to climb the iconic dome. Three years ago, I had discovered the Cloud’s Rest hike, which is at an even higher elevation than Half Dome and had hiked it with a couple of friends. It was quite a grueling hike, culminating at almost 10,000 feet in height, nearly 2

The Sahyadri mountain range has many forts from the period of Moghuls and Marathas. I learned about a very old fort named Dhodap and decided to go there for a hike. The drive to this area was about just over an hour, the road was in good condition. The four of us started at 5:30am. After waiting for a quick session of tea, we proceeded to the town of Dhodambe. Around 7:15am, we were in the small village, and the morning was very foggy. It was a new area to hike for all of us

I spent a month in Nashik which is in Maharastra state in India. I wanted to be with my ailing father and continue maintaining an active routine with daily exercise while there. Nashik has many holy temples in its vicinity and has Panchvati- the place where king Rama, from the epic Ramayana, spent his time in exile. The river Godavari also has its origin from a nearby place Trimbakeshwar near Nashik. There are Pandava caves and Chambhar caves situated on freestanding mountain

One of the few forts not conquered by the Moguls is the Ramshej fort a few miles away from Nashik. We went to hike there and it is a quick half hour away from the city. The full moon was out and the mountaintop with the fort on it was shrouded in clouds. As we progressed on our walk, the fog cleared revealing the distinctive shape of the mountaintop. There were some stairs at the beginning which made for an easy climb. The steps ended soon enough and the rock face of the mou

Like most of my recent hikes, for the one to Harihargad , I started early morning at 5 AM with a few colleagues. We all traveled in one car, and it was the seven of us. The ritual of drinking tea at all hours of the day is very prevalent in India, so at 5:15 AM, we were at a small restaurant which specializes in tea. There are many such places around the whole state, and the tea supposedly is as good as "Amrut", the mythical elixir, which can bring a dead person back to life.

In the Saatmala hills of Maharashtra, there are a group of seven hills, with a moderately challenging hike ending in a big roundish cutout in the sheer rock face of the hill. The cutout is visible from long distances. Also in these seven hills is a significant pilgrimage site of goddess situated in Saptashrungi . It is nearly an hour and half drive from Nashik city to the start of the hike for Mohandari which starts in very tiny village of Mohandari. Starting at 5:30 AM we we

In Taharabad city, which is in the district of Nashik in Maharashtra, lie the ancient temples carved by monks of the Jain religion. Nashik city is about 140km away from Taharabad and we decided to do a half-day trip including the hike to the two peaks, Mangi and Tungi near Taharabad. This is also a ' Siddha Kshetra' , meaning a gateway to Nirvana in the Jain religious beliefs. Many sculptures of Tirthankaras in Padmasana , the lotus position is seen in this place. Starting

Kalsubai is a peak near Igatpuri which is a smaller city near Mumbai, India. It is a 5,400 feet elevation peak with a trek that is attractive to hikers. About an hour from Igatpuri, the start of the hike is near a village named Bari. The entrance to the hike goes through a small road along the homes of the paddy farming villagers. To come to the point where the hike gate is visible, you have to pass through a small stream of water, which was so overflowing to about hip depth