Date: June 10th, 2026 As I decided to stay in Ratsek Hut to plan couple of day hikes before I leave Ala-Archa National Park for good, I planned to do Uchitel Peak also calledTeacher's peak. As you read along you will understand as why they have named the peak as such. It has been both interesting and unfortunate for me to say the least on this hike. Uchitel Peak stands at 4530m, an elevation gain of 1200m from Ratsek Hut at 3360m over a distance of 2.7km, that means it is ove

Date: 1st 'to 6th June, 2026 Karakol is a small town near the mountains, a famous place where lot of tourists come here to hike for multi day hiking. The houses and the gardens are big so one has to walk a lot to get to different parts of the city. Since the place is dry, it could get lot of windy and dust. On my first day I felt lonely and immediately wanted to go back to Bishkek however, glad that I stayed for the good part. Second day I relaxed more doing research about th

Date: 2nd - 4th June, 2026 The hike to Ala Kol Lake, including the Altyn Arashan pass, takes 2 nights and 3 days starting from Karakol. After researching the top three hikes in Kyrgyzstan, I found this one to be the most recommended, so I decided to try it. I met a fellow hiker at the guesthouse who mentioned the pass was completely covered in snow, and another warned it was dangerous. Initially, this was disappointing, but I chose to proceed with the hike. After resting for

Date: 30th May, 2026 Konorchek canyon is very similar to that of Charyn Canyon of Kazakstan, red soil mountains spread across vast area. Most of the canyon is dry, as such full or sand and small rocks. It takes 2 hours from the Bishkek city centre to get to the canyon. The canyon is on the way to Balkchy or Karakol so one can take any minibus which goes down that way. Initially I searched on chatGPT to know where I should take the bus and it mis-directed me to the old bus sta

Date: May 28th, 2026 After doing some research of top 3 day hikes in Bishkek, Ala-Archa National Park came on the top. There are so many hikes within the national park it was hard to pick but I ended up to do Ak-Sai waterfall which is 4kms from the trail head. And I have done twice the same hike just to stay in the Ratsek Hut. Started early from the stay and took the public bus to the national park. It takes an hour and half from the city to get to the entrance of the nationa

This article describes about my observations of Kazakhstan in general and Almaty in particular, also compare it with Tbilisi. Kazakhstan is a large country as big as India, located in Central Asia , south of Russia. Since Kazak was part of USSR, the history and literature is very much influenced by Soviets. Most of the country is dry area covered with shrubs and desert plants. The horizon expands to large empty lands with hills and small mountains as far as eye can see. Appa

Date: 24 May, 2026 After hiking to Shymbulak the previous day, I was unsure whether to go on another hike before heading to Kyrgyzstan or just relax for the remaining couple of days. However, I met a local Kazakh, Dauliat, on the Shymbulak hike suggested doing waterfall hike . Eventually, I decided to hike to the Butakovsky Gorge waterfall at night and informed Dauliat. Dauliat brought along his friend Richardo from Italy, so the three of us set off at 6 AM and met around 8 A

Date: May 20th, 2026 It's not typical for me to join tour groups due to their strict schedules, which limit my ability to explore an area more thoroughly. However, since traveling around Kazakhstan isn't as straightforward as in Georgia, I decided to try JoinMe tour company based on a recommendation from another tourist, and my experience was quite satisfactory. On the first day, we toured the lakes, and the second day concluded at Charyn Canyon. We woke up around 6 AM, thoug

Date: May 21, 2026 As part of the bus tour, we spent the day at Charyn Canyon. It's about an hour from Saty village, and the ride was comfortable. The tour covers three main sites: Black Canyon, Moon Canyon, and finally Charyn Canyon. We started with Black Canyon, where the rocks are predominantly black. We spent about 15 to 20 minutes admiring the canyon. The weather was pleasant, slightly hot with a cool breeze, as the area is a vast, dry desert. A river runs through the ca

Date: Dec 21st, 2025 Sringeri Sharadamba temple A few friends and I wanted to take a trip before the year concluded, so we decided to visit the Western Ghats. During this trip, we visited the Sringeri Temple. The temple is stunning, featuring intricate details that depict various gods, reincarnations, yoga positions, and more. As part of initiation of 4 temples across India in 4 directions Adi Shankaracharya Sringerin temple as the first temple in the southern part of indi

Date: 23rd to 29th Sept, 2025 Mt Shiv Ling After completing the Deoreotal Chandrashila hike, I decided to take on more challenging...

Date: 14th - 20th Sept, 2025 My earlier hikes in May were postponed due to the conflict between India and Pakistan, so I was planning to...

Date: 4th September, 2025 Sighnaghi is a small town located in the Kakheti region of Georgia, renowned for its wineries. Visitors can...

Here are some of the fascinating individuals I encountered during my travels in Georgia. As always, I have a passion for cooking and...

Date: 29th August, 2025 Initially, I had no intention of visiting Juta because reaching there requires either a minibus or a car, costing...

Date: 28th Aug, 2025 Mt Kazbek Last year, someone noted that the hike to the Glacier is stunning, so I decided to try it this time. The...