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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
One word in advance The following content of the article does not present the health system in India in the best light. In fact, I have already been advised not to publish the perhaps deterrent article. After all, I offer tours in India and shouldn’t put off my potential guests. Because as a tourist in […]
Click the Link for listening to the Podcast Episode Now India has really been hit! While the Covid-19 pandemic seemed to have India more or less under control until March 2021 and the population suffered more due to the restrictions of the lockdown, the extent of the Corona crisis is hard to grasp at the […]
Exactly one year ago I said goodbye to the participants of the last Multi-Active Rajasthan trip. It was the last I accompanied for Chalo! Travels before the Corona epidemic. After that we only had one backpacker trip at the end of March, which our tour guide Dikshika handled fabulously, despite all the restricions. Then the […]
Dear supporters, here is the third donation report about the Chalo! Travels-Hope fundraiser in support of disadvantaged people in India during the Corona crisis. First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in the report. […]
Our bike tour “The Manali-Leh Highway – one of the highest pass roads in the world” is one of our most popular tours and is a true classic! Within nine days we manage the 577 km and five passes – three of them are over 5000 meters high. The tour is of course designed in […]
With this article, I would like to keep you informed about the situation in India during the Corona Epidemic and keep you updated about our fundraiser project. […]
Call for emergency aid for people in India during the Corona crisis Dear family, dear friends, dear Chalo Travels guests and donors. Thank you. I am overwhelmed, a bit emotional and can still not quite comprehend, that within the last nine days, we have received 6817 € (55000 rs) donations for the poor daily labor […]
My guests Sabine and Daniel not only booked the Kerala-Active-Trip in January with me, but also had a very special request. They wanted to visit an aid project in India, which also supports their Indian godchild Geethika. […]
Pretty much exactly 4 years ago I spent a night in Sri Lanka: I flew from Bangalore to Colombo, went through emigration, slept for a few hours at the airport and flew back to Cochin in Kerala the next morning. The so-called visa run was necessary. With my former tourist visa I was not allowed […]
Anyone who knows me, knows that I came to India through volunteering work. Through the one-year working with the Indian NGO ABHAS in a slum region in India, I am still deeply connected to the aspect of social community work in India and volunteering runs like a thread through my life here in India. So […]
During the seven-day yoga trek in the Hamta Valley near Manali in the Indian Himalayas, I had to stop every now and then to look into the mountain landscape, take a deep breath and realize what I was doing here! I was on a seven-day trekking tour. In India. In the Himalayas. In the best […]
In my life here in the Indian part of the Himalayas, singing bowls are ubiquitous. Not only does a large part of the Tibetan refugee community live in the Indian mountain states of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, but a large part of the population is themselves Buddhist and singing bowls are part of everyday life. […]
January-February In the last two months, a lot has happened with us at work at the NGO ABHAS. At the beginning of January we had quite big problems, because it got really cold in Delhi and the little ones didn’t really have anything to put on. While I have already felt cold in a sweater, […]
Once again, it’s time for a little review. This report covers the months of December/January, almost exactly 9 years ago. The described trip with my family is by the way the model for my two-week “journey through the heart of India” in Madya Pradeh and is therefore very close to my heart. So, it’s […]
A wonderful report by Elke, who travelled India with the help of Chalo!Travels. She stayed in a Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh and did a Yoga Trek in the Himalayas. This beautiful writing deserves a place on the Chalo! Travels Blog. Dirty, noisy. I cannot stand the sight of this extreme poverty. These are some of […]
The second report about my time as a volunteer in Delhi and our first trip through the desert state of Rajasthan. Nine years have past and when I read this report myself, I immediately feel transported back to that time. I’m a bit proud of what we were able to achieve for the children in […]
My life in India began with a year of volunteering in Delhi. I had participated in the program “Weltwärts” and was supported by the German state for a whole year to work with an Indian organization in a slum in Delhi. Even today I often get questions about my volunteering and my first year on […]
About Arunachal A mountain bike stage race is something special in itself. If it takes place in India, such an event will be quite special. But a seven-day mountain bike race through the far-flung northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh probably tops everything! […]
October Calendar Sheet No. 10 School education has also been compulsory for Indian children for several years. Prime Minister Modi has been working hard in recent years to ensure that children from rural areas in particular, as well as girls, have a chance for education and finish their 10th grade degree. In order to support […]
Namaste lovely Chalo! Travels friends, I’ve been in India for five weeks now and I can report a lot. I have experienced many things and have gone through ups and downs. In India, holidays are until July and this is particularly noticeable on the roads in the mountains. The beautiful landscape with the relatively cool […]
I had survived my Transalp adventure well. After a few nice (and hot) days with the family, it was time for me for a new “mountain bike experience” in Germany. The North German participants of the Transalp all raved about the highest German low mountain range, the Harz. Since the Harz is also only about […]
For Chalo! Travels it is not only a great opportunity, but above all an honour to work with such an experienced sports tour operator as Frosch Reisen. Since February 2018 we sat together to develop the perfect experience trip for Rajasthan. The result is a multi-active trip with many bike tours and hikes, wildlife safaris, […]
This beautiful Chalo! Travels Newsletter was written this month by Gracy, our new intern, and I thought I’d post it on our blog right away. Have fun reading, Sarah A cheerful hello to the round of India enthusiasts, my name is Gacy, I come from lively Berlin and now live in India for half a […]
In Germany we call small shops which provide alldaily needs ” Aunt Emma shops”. These days they hardly exist anymore next to all these big super markets. But in India you still have them! If you do your daily shopping in India, you go to the so-called “Bazaar”, the Indian market. There are vegetable stalls, […]
My first mountain bike race outside India and then it’s the Bike Transalp! Madness. I still can’t believe that my long-cherished wish will now come true in July 2018 thanks to a raffle on Facebook! Here I actually won a team entry througha lottery of Stageraces.com. […]
– My personal mountain bike training camp and retreat. In India, things can happen that actually normally not just happen. And so it happens, that I have been a guest at an SSB base near the Nepalese border for a week now. […]
I have been living in India for seven years and have been doing mountain biking as a regular hobby, challenging sport and out of deep passion. While a lot has developed in the Indian cycling Industry in the past and there is now a growing mountain bike community, it is unfortunately still the case that […]
No, we are not expecting a baby, but Gracy from Germany. Gracy – fun-loving, travel-loving and interested in culture – will live, travel and work with us in India/Manali for six months from 15 May. Gracy travelled India with Chalo! Travels already and brings a lot of experience in the travel business through her work […]
I myself came to India through a year of volunteering with a non-profit organisation in Delhi. Freshly graduated from high school as a 19-year-old, this year was an incisive experience and a very instructive but also enriching time for me. India is a beautiful country with wonderful people. But despite the emerging country’s increasing progress, […]
When I just came out the bank, I saw a car standing a few 100 meters away on the side of the road. The trunk was wide open and filled with all sorts of food items. From the side of the car hung a sheet written in Hindi. Curiously, I approached the car a little […]
A report about my three-week stay at Arambol beach Among the 50 beaches in Goa there is the right one for each of us : there are the beaches for package tourists in Baga and Calangute with large luxurious hotels. Then there are relatively natural fishermen beaches like Benaulim without big parties but with water […]
“A guest post by Lisa, who started her trip to India with a trek in the Himalayas with Chalo! Travels. Lisa did a yoga teacher training at Shri Jasnath Ashram, a small ashram in Rajasthan where Chalo-Travels offers yoga and Ayurveda retreats and Sarah teaches as a yoga teacher. In addition, Sarah met Lisa again […]
Oooooohhhhmmmmmm, that was a week! On Monday we went directly with “empty stomach” for meditation at 5:20 am and then to the yoga class. For breakfast we had the infamous Kichidi with an extra banana for one last time. This brings the intestinal cleansing cum fasting cure from last weekend to an end. The following […]
A “hell race”, this time on its feet Readers who are not interested in my personal background, but want to read directly via the Skyrun, can simply skip the colorfully colored texts :). I’ve probably made a bit of a go this time… Me and running Anyone who knows me knows that I ran quite […]
Climbing fun for everyone!! Whether beginner or advanced: In Manali every climbing enthusiast finds his or her rock, whether for just one day or during a climbing course lasting several days!!! Here are some impressions of our climbing trip in Alleo yesterday, with perfect weather! In Manali we also offer 3 days Rock Climbing Courses. […]
This morning I broke my mirror! An Indian-hand-made mirror, that I’ve been with for a few years. Now the glass is broken and I not only can no longer see myself, but now I have seven years of bad luck, right? Maybe I have to put some effort now and find some four-leaf clover or […]
