1. Take this shortcut if you're driving to Zanskar
Most tourists take the regular route to Zanskar but if you're seeking adventure and a test for your driving skills, try driving through the age-old walking tracks in the Zanskar range. What you'll experience along the way are gurgling streams, clean and cold Himalayan air with single-digit AQI, and no one around for miles. View the snowcapped peaks crowded like courtiers around the solitary, 5,320m high Gumbo Rangan, a mountain that’s considered sacred to the Buddhists of Zanskar. This is literally the middle of nowhere. Read more.
2. In Kudremukh, a homestay in the heart of the forest
Near Karnataka's Kudremukh National Park, a 200-year-old heritage home converted into a homestay is leading an experiment in letting nature take its course. At Mannapaapu Mane, a 200-year-old restored heritage house on the border of Kudremukh National Park, near Karkala in Karnataka, the forest pushes into the property, and makes it the perfect place to take in the sights and sounds of the monsoon. Read more.
3. How to explore Goa like a chef
It may seem like there's nothing new to experience in Goa, but chef Thomas Zacharias takes us on a culinary journey, re-discovering the foods hidden from the average tourist. Through the prism of food, he shows us a side to Goa that most are oblivious to, one which might even be hidden from many locals. Read more.
4. Seek out a yogini in Odisha
Located in Hirapur, near Bhubaneswar, the Chausath Yogini temple has evaded the Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark tourist route. The temple exemplifies the ancient feminist tradition of worship and is a short drive from Bhubaneswar. A perfect example of tantric architecture, this temple is like no other. There was no shikhara in sight, no flags flying off its pinnacle, not even the mandapam and ardhmandapam so characteristic of Kalinga temples. It is roofless because the yoginis are believed to be capable of flight. The low circular wall around the sanctum sanctorum has small niches, each with a black chlorite stone idol of a yogini astride her mount. Read more.
5. Chasing dholes in Pench National Park
Dholes are dogs like no other—intelligent faces, pointed ears , bushy black-edged tails, looking like longer-legged foxes, or, rather, foxy foxes. It's hard to spot these endangered creatures, who hunt in packs and are known better for their whistling and shrieking in the forest. They are apex predators along with tigers and leopards, and spotting a pack can be just as thrilling. Read more.
Also read: 6 great monsoon drives
