Insights into the life of a domestic help from Jharkhand – about origins, challenges and hopes […]
Manita Ikka – A young Adivasi woman caught between two worlds
Category: Experiences and Insights
Renovation of the Human Hope Foundation Center in Shimla with donations from regular supporters
The small non-profit organization Human Hope Foundation in Shimla has been supporting around 50 children from families with social and financial disadvantages for six years. children family background The children’s parents are essentially migrant workers who came to Shimla from other states in India in search of a livelihood. They mainly come from the states […]
Travel report four-week trip to India in April 2022
Four weeks – four women At last! After a two-year break, I was finally able to organize a trip to India for my guests again! While I’ve traveled a lot in India myself over the last two years and got to know some areas that I didn’t know before (yes, they still exist), international tourists […]
A trip to India after the Corona Pandemic – what remains, what has changed?
Here in India, too, no one from the travel industry expected that the Corona Pandemic would last a full two years and thus paralyze all international tourism. A trip to India was simply not possible for a whole year and a half, because no tourist visas were issued and all long-term tourist visas were declared […]
Letter from Hikkim to space
On May 3rd, 2021 I reported from the highest post office in the world in Hikkim in the hospital at over 4400 meters. Back then, Gerhard Freund contacted me to write an article about the highest post office for the Bern stamp magazine. For this I helped him with a photo of Hikkim. Mr. Freund […]
Kedernath pilgrimage
The Kedernath Temple is located at 3585 m in the northern Garwahl region of Uttarakhand at the foot of the almost 7000 m high Kedernath peak, which is covered with a dense layer of glaciers. The Kedernath Temple is one of the four main pilgrimage sites of the Chota Chardhams in Uttarakhand and is situated […]
Zanskar- Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas
For a long time the former 28-day Darcha-Lamayuru Trek in the far north of India was one of the most breathtaking trekking tours ever. It led across the remote Buddhist mountainous region of Zanskar in Ladakh on the Tibetan border. The demanding route connected the many small villages and was the only way to get […]
5 reasons why Uttarakhand should definitely be included in a trip to India
The mountainous state of Uttarakhand for me Having lived in Manali for many years and now based in Shimla, I know the mountainous state of Himalchal Pradesh fairly well and have never really been drawn to its southeastern neighbor Uttarakhand. Until recently, I only knew this region in northern India from occasional visits. My first […]
Donations: Distributing warm clothes to 150 Children
Dear all, at the moment I am back home in Germany, corona positive and in quarantine. Definitely not how I imagined to spend my holidays at home! But I am symptom free, together with my family, at a warm and comfortable place and don’t need to worry about going to bed hungry. For all that […]
Annual review 2021 Chalo Travels
It’s Christmas Day. After exactly two years I’m back on German soil. But unfortunately different than planned: I did not contract Corona again in India, but in my German homeland. I am currently in quarantine with my parents at home over Christmas and New Year’s Eve, fortunately with very mild symptoms. This leaves plenty of […]
Indian silk
From the silkworm to the scarf The village of Sualkuchi near Guwahati in Assam is famous for its silk products. Almost every backyard of the houses has a small mini silk factory and over 50 percent of the locals are employed in the silk business. Here, all of the silk, from the cocoon to the […]
Relaxed ashram stay in Rishikesh
Usually, when I visit an ashram, I do so either as part of a yoga training or because I accompany my guests during their trip to an ashram. Both are quite intense. The Navatri Festival This time I went all by myself for 9 days during the Navatri Festival, without any training, but just as […]
Manali vs Shimla
Two famous and beautiful Mountain Places in Himachal Pradesh. One is a smaller tourist place on 2000 m and surrounded by high snow-capped mountains. The other is the state capital situated on 7 hills on approximately 2000 m. But which one is better? I lived for 7 years in Manali and have been living in […]
Review 2009/10 Volunteering in India Report 6
The last report of my voluntary year in Delhi Report Nr 1 Report Nr 2 Report Nr 3 Report Nr 4 Report Nr 5 Hello. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in touch the last time. Well, that had also a not to be despised reason: It was hot. 45° Celsius in the […]
Review 2009/10 Volunteering in India Report 5
Lets travel 11 years back in time Report Nr 1 Report Nr 2 Report Nr 3 Report Nr 4 Finally back in Delhi. I have been on the road for four weeks now. Half of it I spent at my intermediate seminar in Orissa, during the rest of the time I was traveling. Mainly in […]
