Notes from the road, one a week, by Alka Kaushik. Every journey here is one you can join.
· Ranikhet
Ranikhet Yoga Retreat: Six Guests, Many Bells, Little Talk
Four days of yoga, silent walks and snow views at Guldaar Basera, Ranikhet, this October with Alka Kaushik. Only six places.
Have you ever tried to stay quiet in a house where the view keeps interrupting you? The pahad outside my window at Guldaar Basera does that every October, when the monsoon has washed the air and the snows stand so close you want to comment on them, and I have learnt, slowly, to let them talk instead. Six guests is the most this house can hold in silence.
From Asana to Awareness is a 4-day small-group yoga and nature retreat at Guldaar Basera, Ranikhet, in Kumaon, Uttarakhand, for six guests with Alka Kaushik. Ritu Sharma leads the Hatha and Ashtanga sessions, we walk the orchard without a word, go to Jhula Devi, where the bells are beyond counting, and sit for meditation at Majkhali facing the snows, then stay up for the stars and a Kumaoni feast. The retreat runs 1–4 Oct 2026, 4 days from Ranikhet, at ₹29,500 per person.
Travel Adda at Guldaar Basera: Stories Over Pahadi Coffee
A look back at our 5 September afternoon of travel stories and story-writing on the lawn at Guldaar Basera, Ranikhet.
What do you do with thirty years of road stories when your notebooks have run out of shelf? I put out coffee, pulled chairs onto the lawn at Guldaar Basera and asked people to come and argue with me about how a trip turns into a story. Talking turned out to be the easy part.
The Travel Adda was a 3-hour small-group afternoon at Guldaar Basera, Malla Biswa, Ranikhet, in Kumaon, with Alka Kaushik. On 5 Sep 2026, from 1 to 4 PM, we swapped travel tales, worked through how a trip becomes a piece of writing, and kept the circle small enough for everyone to speak, with pahadi coffee and snacks going round the whole time. It cost ₹750 per person, for up to 20 guests. If you want a seat at the next adda, ask me on WhatsApp.
Ranikhet Leopard Trail: My Neighbours Leave Footprints
A 4-day small-group leopard tracking trip in Ranikhet and Binsar, Kumaon, this October with Alka Kaushik. Pugmarks and camera traps.
Who names a homestay after a neighbour she has barely seen? I did, because the guldaar walks the ridge above Ranikhet as if he holds the lease, and most mornings the only proof is a pugmark in the dust and a barking deer that sounds offended. I won't promise you a leopard. I can promise you his signature.
The Leopard Trail is a 4-day small-group wildlife trip to Ranikhet and Binsar in Kumaon, Uttarakhand, for eight guests with Alka Kaushik. We go out at dawn to read pugmarks and scrapes, sit with local trackers for the camera-trap reveal, spend a day in Binsar's oak forest up to the Zero Point view, and end each night with stories by the bukhari fire. The trail runs 10–13 Oct 2026, 4 days from Kathgodam, at ₹26,500 per person.
Muziris, Kerala: The Port Rome Shopped At, Then Lost
A 5-day small-group heritage trip to Muziris and Kochi in December with Alka Kaushik. A mosque, a synagogue, a Roman-era dig.
"God's Own Country" keeps drawing new lines on its tourism map, and the most interesting one runs through a port that silted up and vanished from it. I went looking for Muziris in 2016 and found Roman amphorae in the mud at Pattanam, a mosque and a synagogue a short boat ride apart, and a stretch of Kerala that the houseboat brochures skip. I have wanted to take people back ever since.
Muziris Heritage is a 5-day small-group history trip to Kodungallur and Kochi, Kerala, for ten guests with Alka Kaushik. We visit Cheraman Juma, India's oldest mosque, walk Jewish Street and the Paravur synagogue, stand over the Pattanam dig, and take a country boat to Kottappuram fort. The trip runs 5–9 Dec 2026, 5 days from Kochi, at ₹38,500 per person.
Hampi in January: An Empire's Capital, Now Boulders
A 5-day small-group trip to the Hampi ruins, Karnataka, in January with Alka Kaushik. Matanga Hill sunrise, a coracle, Vittala at dusk.
Can anyone dodge, even for a day, the romance of times gone by? Hampi makes it very hard, because the Vijayanagara capital lies scattered among boulders the size of houses, and every heap of stone seems to have a king, a queen or a quarrel attached. I'll bring the stories. The boulders bring themselves.
Hampi Stories is a 5-day small-group heritage trip to Hampi, Karnataka, for ten guests with Alka Kaushik. We climb Matanga Hill for sunrise, cross the Tungabhadra in a coracle, listen to Vittala's musical pillars at dusk, and spend time in Anegundi village with its banana-fibre craft. The trip runs 6–10 Jan 2027, 5 days from Hosapete, at ₹29,500 per person.
Bangkok After Dark: A Flower Market at 2 AM, Really
A 6-day small-group street food trip to Bangkok, Thailand, in January with Alka Kaushik. Chinatown by night, a cooking class, eight guests.
Why would a woman who goes to bed with the leopards in Ranikhet sign up to be awake in Bangkok at 2 AM? Because that is when the city cooks, sells and haggles at full volume, and the best dinners there come off woks on fire at tables on the pavement. I'll need an afternoon nap. You probably will too.
Bangkok After Dark is a 6-day small-group street food trip to Bangkok, Thailand, for eight guests with Alka Kaushik. We eat our way through Yaowarat Chinatown by night, hunt down a Jay Fai-style crab omelette, walk Pak Khlong Talat flower market at 2 AM, and shop the market before a Thai cooking class. The trip runs 22–27 Jan 2027, 6 days from Bangkok, at ₹72,500 per person, land only.
Varanasi at Dawn: The Oldest City Is Up Before You
A 4-day small-group trip to Varanasi in March with Alka Kaushik. Sunrise boat on the ghats, morning music, kachori-jalebi, weavers.
How early do you have to wake to beat Banaras? Earlier than you think, because by the time the boat pushes off from Assi the bells have started, the bathers are already in the river and somebody is frying kachori in a lane behind you. The city has done this every morning for longer than anyone can date. We are only guests.
Varanasi at Dawn is a 4-day small-group trip to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, for ten guests with Alka Kaushik. We row from Assi to Manikarnika at sunrise, sit in on Subah-e-Banaras at Assi Ghat, eat kachori-jalebi in the lanes, and watch the looms at work in Sarai Mohana. The trip runs 12–15 Mar 2027, 4 days from Varanasi, at ₹27,500 per person.
A 5-day small-group tea trail in Darjeeling and Makaibari, West Bengal, in April with Alka Kaushik. Pluck, cup, stay on a working estate.
How many cups of Darjeeling have you drunk without ever seeing the leaf? I have lost count of mine, which is why I want to stand in the rows in April, when the new leaves come in, and learn how a bush on a slope becomes the chai we argue about at home. I expect to pluck slowly. The estate workers will not.
The Darjeeling Tea Trail is a 5-day small-group trip to Darjeeling and Makaibari, West Bengal, for ten guests with Alka Kaushik. We pluck leaves with estate workers, sit through a cupping session with a tea taster, catch the Tiger Hill sunrise on Kanchenjunga, and stay in a bungalow on a working tea estate. The trail runs 15–19 Apr 2027, 5 days from Bagdogra, at ₹39,500 per person.
Ladakh in July: Two High Passes and a Masked Dance
A 10-day small-group road trip across Ladakh in July with Alka Kaushik. Khardung La, Chang La, Hemis Tsechu, Nubra camels, Pangong.
The mountains call me every now and then, and Ladakh calls loudest, with its bare brown slopes, prayer flags snapping at the top of every pass and a lake that changes colour while you are still looking for your camera. This time we time it with the Hemis masked dances. The camels in Nubra will not care either way.
Ladakh High Passes is a 10-day small-group road trip through Leh, Nubra and Pangong in Ladakh for ten guests with Alka Kaushik. We cross Khardung La and Chang La, watch the Hemis Tsechu cham dances on 13–14 Jul, meet the double-hump camels in the Hunder dunes, and spend a night under the stars at Pangong. The trip runs 8–17 Jul 2027, 10 days from Leh, at ₹68,500 per person.
A 4-day small-group heritage rail trip on the Kalka–Shimla toy train in November with Alka Kaushik. Barog, Viceregal Lodge, Chail.
Why would anyone take the slow train up a hill a car climbs faster? Because the car doesn't stop for breakfast at Barog, doesn't count 102 tunnels and 864 bridges, and never lets you watch the plains drop away one curve at a time. I have always said slow trains show you a country best. This one proves it on every bend.
The Kalka–Shimla Heritage Rail is a 4-day small-group train trip on the UNESCO-listed toy train to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, for ten guests with Alka Kaushik. We ride through the Barog tunnel with a breakfast halt at Barog station, walk the Viceregal Lodge and Mall Road, and drive out to Chail and Kufri under clear November skies. The trip runs 20–23 Nov 2026, 4 days from Chandigarh, at ₹34,500 per person. It is sold out, so ask me on WhatsApp about the next one.
Kailash Mansarovar: 52 Km Around the Holiest Mountain
A look back at our June 2026 Kailash Mansarovar yatra from Kathmandu with Alka Kaushik: the lake, the kora, Dolma La on foot.
Are you dreaming of a journey to the axis of the universe? I dreamt of it for years before I walked to Kailas the first time, and it was a 70-year-old pilgrim from Gujarat, ahead of me on the trail, who got me over the worst of it. Going back meant walking with a group whose knees were my responsibility. My own knees had their opinions too.
Our Kailash Mansarovar yatra was a 14-day small-group pilgrimage from Kathmandu to Mt Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet, with Alka Kaushik. We took the holy dip at Mansarovar, crossed the Tibetan plateau overland, watched the north face at dawn from Dirapuk, and crossed Dolma La, 5,630 m, on foot to complete the 52-km kora. It ran in June 2026 from Kathmandu, at ₹2,55,000 per person, for up to 12 guests. Ask me on WhatsApp about the next departure.
Malihabad Mango Trail: Tea Under a 200-Year-Old Tree
A look back at our June 2026 mango trail in Malihabad and Lucknow with Alka Kaushik: Dussehri at the source, Awadhi food, kulfi.
Indian summers may be brutal, but they bloom with sights like these: orchards heavy with fruit, and old men who can tell one mango from another with their eyes shut. I first followed a mango trail through western UP in 2017 and came home sticky and converted. This June I took a group to where the Dussehri began.
The Mango Trail was a 4-day small-group food trip to Malihabad and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, with Alka Kaushik. We tasted Dussehri under the mother tree, stood beneath Padma Shri Kaleem Ullah's tree that carries 300 varieties, sat down to an Awadhi dastarkhwan in old Lucknow, and finished with mango kulfi and chaat at Aminabad. It ran in June 2026 from Lucknow, at ₹29,500 per person, for up to ten guests. Ask me on WhatsApp about next season's departure.
A 9-day small-group winter trip to Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, in February with Alka Kaushik. Snow leopards at Kibber, frozen rivers.
Who goes to Spiti in February, when it drops to minus 20 and the roads think twice? People who want the snow leopard, which February is best for and which does not care in the least how many layers you are wearing. The homestays keep a stove burning all day. You will learn to love it.
Spiti in Winter is a 9-day small-group snow leopard trip to Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, for eight guests with Alka Kaushik. We scan the slopes at Kibber for snow leopards, spend nights in homestays around the tandoor stove, walk the frozen Spiti river at Key, and drink butter tea in 1,000-year-old Tabo. The trip runs 14–22 Feb 2027, 9 days from Chandigarh, at ₹64,500 per person. It is sold out, so ask me on WhatsApp about the next one.
A look back at our May 2026 Chardham yatra in Garhwal, Uttarakhand, with Alka Kaushik: Kedarnath, Badrinath, Har Ki Pauri, Mana.
The mountains call me every now and then, and when the call can't be ignored any longer I set off for the land of my ancestors. The first time I did Chardham it was with Ma, and she taught me that however adjusting our elders are, their bodies have limits, and that slow travel is kinder to everyone. I planned this yatra at her pace.
Our Chardham Yatra was an 11-day small-group pilgrimage through Garhwal, Uttarakhand, with Alka Kaushik. We watched the Ganga Aarti at Har Ki Pauri, trekked up to the Shiva jyotirlinga at Kedarnath, soaked in the Tapt Kund hot springs at Badrinath, and walked through Mana, India's last village. It ran in May 2026 from Haridwar, at ₹54,500 per person, for up to 12 guests. Ask me on WhatsApp about the next departure.
Europe with Your Parents: Three Cities, No Rushing
A look back at our September 2024 Europe trip for travellers and their parents with Alka Kaushik: Paris, Lucerne and Venice, slowly.
Who decided that Europe has to be seven countries in ten days, with a suitcase packed at dawn and a coach waiting outside? Certainly not anyone's mother. Ma taught me on our Chardham yatra that however adjusting our elders are, their bodies have limits. So I planned Europe the way she would have liked it, with three hotels in two weeks and a rest every afternoon.
Europe with Your Parents was a 14-day small-group trip to Paris, Lucerne and Venice for travellers and their parents, with Alka Kaushik. We stayed at least two nights everywhere, went round the Louvre with wheelchairs booked in advance, took a Seine cruise, crossed Lake Lucerne by steamer, rode the cable car up Mt Titlis, and ended with a vaporetto down the Grand Canal at dusk. It ran 2–15 Sep 2024 from Paris, at ₹2,35,000 per person, land only, for up to 12 guests. Ask me on WhatsApp about the next September departure.
A look back at our October 2025 Czech autumn trip with Alka Kaushik: Prague, the Kutná Hora bone chapel, Český Krumlov and Plzeň.
Can anyone dodge, even for a day, the romance of times gone by? Not in Bohemia in October, when the leaves go gold over Gothic roofs and every town has a church, a castle and a brewery arguing over which is oldest. At Sedlec there is a chapel decorated with human bones. I went in for five minutes and stayed for thirty.
Czech Autumn was an 8-day small-group trip to Prague, Kutná Hora and Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic, with Alka Kaushik. We crossed Charles Bridge before the city was up, stood inside the Sedlec ossuary at Kutná Hora, walked the castle and river bend at Český Krumlov, and went down into the Pilsner Urquell cellars at Plzeň. It ran 8–15 Oct 2025 from Prague, at ₹1,29,000 per person, land only, for up to 14 guests. Ask me on WhatsApp about next October.
Swiss & Austrian Alps: Cowbells Instead of Bollywood
A look back at our July 2025 Swiss and Austrian Alps trip with Alka Kaushik: Rigi, Lauterbrunnen, Innsbruck and Salzburg.
Half of India first saw Switzerland in a film song, a chiffon sari blowing about on a hillside. I wanted to see it on foot, and I wanted to hear the cowbells rather than the playback. The mountains call me every now and then, and this time I let the Alps answer.
Swiss & Austrian Alps was a 10-day small-group summer trip through Lucerne, Interlaken, Innsbruck and Salzburg, with Alka Kaushik. We rode the cogwheel railway up Rigi from Vitznau, walked the valley of Lauterbrunnen's 72 waterfalls, ate lunch at an alpine hut above Innsbruck, and ended in Salzburg's old town at Mozart's house. It ran 7–16 Jul 2025 from Zurich, at ₹2,49,000 per person, land only, for up to 12 guests. Ask me on WhatsApp about next July.
A look back at our April 2025 Spain and Portugal train journey with Alka Kaushik: the Alhambra, flamenco in Triana, fado in Alfama.
Why fly between Seville and Lisbon when a train will let you watch Iberia change its mind about everything, from the bread to how loudly people sing? I love slow trains for exactly this. Spain sings its sorrow while stamping its heels, and a few hundred kilometres west Portugal sings the same sorrow sitting perfectly still. I still can't decide which moved me more.
Spain & Portugal by Train was an 11-day small-group rail journey through Madrid, Seville, Granada, Lisbon and Porto, with Alka Kaushik. We walked into the Alhambra's Nasrid palaces at opening hour, sat through a flamenco night at a tablao in Triana, rode Tram 28 up to Alfama for fado, and ended with a port tasting in a lodge across the Douro. It ran 10–20 Apr 2025 from Madrid, at ₹1,89,000 per person, land only, for up to 12 guests. Ask me on WhatsApp about next April.