the Freedom Soul

The Storm

2019-01-27T21:05:51Z

The wind is dancing to the tunes of devastation
The waves are competing to kiss the sky
The raging clouds are devouring the blue sky
Birds are flying back to their nest
The boat is still at the sea
The storm is coming

The sun is slowly retiring to the west
Darkness is rushing into the mid sea
The eyes are still calm and sedate
The frightened heart is still strong
Death is coming to the sea with its troops
Hope and faith anchored to the soul

The waves came crushing into the face
Dreams were sinking along with the boat
The wooden log was still buoyed by the hope
Courage was the only light in that darkness
A shivering soul clinged to the broken boat
Life and death were chasing each other

The storm passed
The calmness ruled again
The Moon appeared that night
Hope led to live and faith led to fight
Survived the sea and withstood the storm
The battle of life is won

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A step into the eternity

2019-01-27T21:12:27Z

The meet that defined a life,
The beauty that drove to the edge,
The eyes that awakened a soul,
The smiles that enkindled the passions,
The voice that aroused the senses,
Love was knocking at the door.

The heart became restless,
Smiles adorned the lips,
Ecstasy gripped the air,
Blushes crowded the chics,
Dreams splattered into the eyes,
Within my arms i found eternal love.

The stance and the stare,
I looked again and again,
The beauty is so vivacious,
To take the eyes off,
A step closer to the heaven,
I surrendered to love.

I dream those eyes,
Serene and soulful,
I long that voice,
Charming and irresistible,
I wait for that glance,
Engrossing and endearing.

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The entrapped soul

2018-06-12T19:25:12Z

The moon is shinning bright
Rays teem through the window
Bringing the warmth of the light
To an entrapped soul in the cage
Looking for love to breathe
Garnering dreams to live

The night came alive
The light is so radiant
The warmth is so intimate
The silence is so familiar
The resonance of unspoken words
Pierced through the subdued heart

Bring me those smiles
Unscreen my eyes
Uncage my heart
Untie my mind
Unzipp my lips
Fly me into her soul

The night moved to the edge
The dark paved the way to light
Dreams took over the shadows
Those smiles kept me awake
A night under the moon
I looked for love and freedom

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The Changthang winter nights in Korzok

2017-11-15T18:39:52Z

The Himalayan winter had already painted the Changthang in the beautiful Arctic white.The temperature reading was way way below zero.It was -28.7 degree and the frightening wind of Changthang was ruling the dusk.The Himalayan hamlet of Korzok on the bank of the Tso Moriri lake was still blushing in glacial beauty.Korzok Village was my first stop in my Changthang trip.The tiny remote Himalayan village is situated at an formidable altitude of ~15000ft overlooking the vast expanse of the trans Himalayan lake of Tso-Moriri and the spectacular mountains all around.The beautiful Tso-Moriri lake is at a stones throw from the village.The winter had tamed the mighty high altitude lake of Tso Moriri (~15000ft) into a frozen carpet of glacial ice.The torquise blue water of the trans Himalayan lake gave in to the bone chilling cold of the winter.The entire landscape resembled the panoramic view of the Arctic,glacial white all around.

In winter life comes to a standstill due to extreme cold in this part of the Himalayas.The temp drops down to the negative forties and the lake freezes to solid ice.The village gets cut off from the rest of the Ladakh due to snow piling on the road and no tourist dares to visit this place in winter.One needs to visit the village to believe the extremity of life in winter.After three years of trying unsuccessfully to visit Changthang in the dead of winter,i became lucky on the fourth time to go to this winter wonderland. I was staying with a shepherds family in the Korzok village on the bank of the frozen Tso Moriri Lake.

The searing cold was sweeping through through the windswept Changthang plateau with full force.As the night falls, the winter unleashed its deadly spell of cold.I was warming up to the woodfire lit stoove (known as Bukhari in Ladakh) in the kitchen.It was snowing heavily outside.The temp reading was -32 degree centigrage and the night was still young.Far from the city life i was spending the night with the shepherds family in one of the most remote part of Changthang in the Himalayas.The snowfall continued throughout the night.Sitting on the kitchen and warming upto the wood fired stoove i asked Mrs Sanam Dolma to tell her life story and her time in the mountains.As the night passed on, weaving the woollen gears and putting a beautiful smile on her wrinkled face she spoke on her broken Hindi and i was glued to her soulful story.

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The wool farmers in the Kashmir Great Lakes Trail

2017-01-11T20:49:10Z

The sun was blazing through the spectacular meadows of the Kashmir valley.The green expanse of the flowery meadows were glittering in the unhindered sun.The hike for the day was over and i was looking forward to an interview with a Kashmir shepherd in the mountains who were camping near the Satsar lakes.

After having my lunch under the open sky i walked towards the shepherds hut.The sheeps were still grazing on the slopes.The afternoon wind had already started blowing by then and the the sun was closing in.After an half an hour of hike i reached the hut to find nobody inside.As i looked around i could see a group of men sitting far away from the hut with sheeps around and some people were shearing wool from the sheeps.I walked up to them and greeted the Salaam Aalikum.An elderly man greeted me Aalikum Salaam with a smile and then the conversation started.

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The Shadow of Climate Change on “Chadar Trek”

2016-04-09T07:20:19Z

The winter in the Himalayas attracts the high adrenaline adventurers around the globe to the cold desert town of Leh for the Chadar Trek. The Zanskar valley in Ladakh turned into a bride decorated in the glacial beauty on the onset of the hypothermic winter. As the winter casts its cold spell, the mercury rushes to the south and the ferocious Zanskar River flowing through remote and wild Zanskar valley turns to a frozen ice sheet (locally called as “Chadar” hence the name Chadar Trek).The hikers/Trekkers around the globe throng to the Zanskar valley to walk on the frozen ice sheet on the Zanskar river to explore the stunning beauty of high altitude river in the picturesque valley. Dubbed as one of the most glamorous and adventurous trek, this unique trek tops the adventurer’s list of things to do in Ladakh in the winter. Remote to the core, wild to the wildest and extreme to the edge, the adventurous Chadar trek is every adventurer’s amzonian dream.

My date with Chadar Trek happened three years back in 2013 after watching the River series on the BBC documentary “Human Planet”. The narration of a winter trek to the school through the mesmerizing beauty of the frozen Zanskar river narrated by the master narrator John Hurt provoked the adventurer in me to book the Chadar trek the next winter. It was an absolute incredible winter trek that year. The Zanskar river was frozen, frigid and beautiful basking in the arctic white of the frozen ice. Fast forward to the 2016, everybody is now talking about the precarious state of the Chadar Trek.

At some places the frozen ice resembles a transparent sheet of glass

The hikers are flocking for the Chadar trek in this winter. Last year the Chadar trek was cancelled by the Leh Administration considering the safety aspects of the hikers due to the landslide on one of the tributary of the Zanskar river. That has led to the surging numbers of the hikers this season. This winter i was back in Leh for my Markha valley trek. We met a lot of hikers in the Leh town who were either preparing for the Chadar trek or were coming back from the Chadar Trek. Everywhere there were discussions on the state of Chadar in the Zanskar river. Some hikers told their stories how they had to climb the peaks on the bank of the river for the trek as the river was not frozen. Some agencies and trek leaders told us that some of their groups had to cut short the trek from 7 days to 3 days due to the incomplete formation of the Chadar.Even one of the trek leader from a reputed hiking agency quipped that the Chadar Trek will be history in a few years.

Unfortunately this year the Chadar has not been formed properly till late January. The locals say the winter is not that much cold this year in Ladakh and some even goes further to say the impact of climate change is being felt in the Ladakh region. The fragile Himalayan ecosystem is changing fast.The El Nino effect of 2015 has made it the warmest year in the recent times the effect of which is reverberated in the Himalayas this winter.The snow coverage of the peaks at the peak of the winter are much less than it used to be in the normal winters and the Zanskar river is showing erratic freezing patterns.

Sometimes the river is half frozen even in the peak of winter

The entire winter economy of the Zanskar region depends on the Chadar Trek.The local Zanskari people are employed as cooks,porters,guides and trek leaders for the trek as they are the only ones who know the terrain better and can withistand and work in such extreme low temperatures.Also in the absence of a motorable road,the frozen river works as a logistical lifeline for the Zanskar region.If the erratic pattern of freezing continues,the day will not be far when we will see a gushing Zanskar river in the peak of the winter.If that happens,it will throw the entire winter economy of Zanskar region into disarray.

The climate change is affecting the freezing pattern of the Zanskar river

The onslaught of the unrestricted access to the frozen river in large groups by the hiking agencies and the use of crampons on the Chadar is destroying the sanity and beauty of Chadar in the frozen river. The river is made to be a money minting machine disregarding its environmental and ecological impacts.The adventurer in me is apprehensive that this beautiful trek is slowly slipping into history.The Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council, the All Ladakh Tour Operators organisation and the local Zanskari people must sit together to find a sustainable and amicable way to preserve this unique trek in the lap of the Himalayas so that we can celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of this trek without endangering its very survival.

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Yurutse:The incredible story of Ringzin Dorjee

2016-04-04T20:44:38Z

There is no electricity,no school,no hospital,no road, no water supply,no mobile network,no market,no community hall and no post office .Name the basic and modern facilities it is not there.The nearest motorable road is 15 km away and you have to walk through the bouldered trails of the valley to reach there.The nearest town is 25 km away from that point.Have you ever imagined how it would feel to live in such a place in the 21st century ?We are scared even to think of it.But the story of Ringzin Dorjee in the village of Yurutse will make you believe that the spirit of life triumphs against every odds in this world.

The road to right goes to the wonderland of Yurutse in the Markha valley

I was back in Leh in the winter for the Markha Valley trek.The winter had cast a deadly spell of chill in the cold desert.On my first day of the trek, after walking 13 kilometers through the valley from Zingchen i reached this village of Yurutse for my homestay for the night.It was a backbreaking trek upto this village but i was amazed to see this beautiful village in such a remote location.

The view of the snowcapped mountains from the window of the homestay

Flanked by the snow capped mountains and situated on the bank of a stream,the remote and beautiful village of Yurutse is a wonderland in the Himalayan hinterland.There is absolutely nothing in this village except one and only one home and a cluster of Buddhist stupas.You may be wondering how come there is only one home village but it is a fact.This village fits into what the text book definition of remote stands for.The terrain is wild,remote,uninhibited and lonely.The sweltering summer comes here with the scorching heat but it comes with a boon.In the summer the snow starts melting and the streams starts flowing and water becomes the lifeline for man and farming in this high altitude village.But when the winter comes, it brings with it the nerve-wrecking cold freezing almost everything.Life comes to a standstill in the winter and life is extreme here.

Ever smiling, Ringzin Dorjee told his story of life in Yurutse

But there lives a man Ringzin Dorjee,happy and hardworking,brave and kind,simple and graceful.He has a family of five,two sons Sonam and Rigzin,his wife and his mother.His sons are studying in a private school in Leh.His wife works at home.Ringzin works alternately as a farmer in his fields in the summer and as a guide for the high altitude treks in the Markha valley.They are a happy family living in one of the most remort part of Ladakh.It was 5 am when i reached this village and the bone chilling cold of the winter led me straight to the Bukhari (the local fire pit inside a room).Ringzin along with his two sons came to the room with a cup of hot Kawah (a famous Kashmiri beverage) and some biscuits for me and a bundle of dry wood cuttings for the fire pit.After drinking the hot kawah i slept for two hours.

The homestay is a heaven deep in the mountains.

When i woke up it was dark outside and the room was lit with a solar lamp.I took a cup of tea from the thermoflask nearby.I generally dont drink tea but in the winter to keep myself warm and keep myself hydrated in the high altitude i was taking Kawah,tea and hot water frequently.I was so curious to know the life of Ringzin Dorjee in such a place in the middle of nowhere.Sipping the hot tea in the wood fired warmth in the winter i asked Ringzin didnt he feel so lonely to live alone in such a remote place far from the habitated civilization.How does he maintain his social life where he is having no neighbour? Whom does he turn to in case of an emergency?Do his relatives comes to that place to meet him?What does he do for a living?Why he is not relocating to Leh ?I continued asking him all the questions I had.He paused for a moment and started his story.

From Left to Right : Rigzin (the elder son),Sonam (the younger son) and their proud father Ringzin Dorjee

Ever graceful he was,looking into my eyes he told me in his unpolished command of hindi,”the air is fresh here,the water is pure here,the vegetables are organic here,i have a field here,i am not educated,i work alternatively as a farmer in my field and a guide for the treks,i manage my family and my childrens education within my earnings ,i am happy here,this is where i born,this is my land and this is where i will live”.I was dumbstruck listening to him.I didnt uttered a single word for some moment.He was living in such a remote place on earth in such extreme conditions without all the basic amenities of a civic life but he was brimming with happiness.

As we spoke more on that cold night, my respect for Ringzin Dorjee grew by leaps and bounds.He triumped all the odds thrown at him to live a happy life.Over the dinner our conversation continuted.His wife is from the Markha village,which is another remote village in the valley.They are married for last sixteen years.His elder son now studies in 10th standard and his younder son studies in 7th standard.Both are studying in the Lamdon public school in Leh and they were at home as the schools in Leh are closed from december to march due to extreme cold.I asked him how he affords the fees of a private school.He told me he earns enough during the summer.Hikers throng to the Markha valley during summer and Ringzin uses his home as a homestay for the hikers for Rs 800 per night.Over and above that many hiker offered him tip for his hospitality.In the summer too he does farming and sells his produce in the Leh market.He works hard to make both ends meet.

The frozen farmlands of Ringzin Dorjee

He goes to Leh twice in a week to get the supply by treking the trecherous trail of 13km throgh the valley upto Zingchen and from there he goes to Leh in a vehicle.While coming back from Zingchen he brings the supply on the back of mules.

Its an incredible story of Ringzin Dorjee in the village of Yurutse. Inspite of all the odds he lives his life with so much joy and happiness.I always love to meet the mountain people to listen to their stories and their resolve to live life in such remote and extreme conditions.I am fortunate to meet Ringzin Dorjee and know about his inspiring life.His life in Yurutse is an incredible story of triump of human spirit over all the odds.

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The Winter Odyssey to Markha Valley

2016-04-22T21:01:50Z

“The winter is brutal and unforgiving here.It will not spare you from its nerve-wrecking cold on the valley.It will get into your nerves making you shiver to the bone with its freezing air.You will be lost in the frightening silence of the mystical maze of the Markha valley.There will be no respite from the cold and you will not find even a living soul far into the distance your eyes could see.Only the echoes of your voice will follow you and the breatheless silence will be your companion.Mobile networks will not be there and the homestays are miles and miles apart.There will be no fall back option in case of a big if”.The wildlife officer in his early fifties sitting in a heated room in the Badami Bagh office told us when we approached him for wildlife permissions to enter into the Hemis high altitude national park for our Markha Valley trek. We politely told him that we visited Ladakh earlier in the winter as he looked straight into our eyes so scornfully.

The brutal winter tamed the flowing stream into an frozen sheet of ice

It was mid January and Leh was freezing under the spell of a falling Mercury.The bustling main bazaar of the hill town was sporting a deserted look.After getting the wildlife permission we headed into the bazaar to buy all the stuffs for our trek.As we were not taking any guide or mule with us for our trek,we were buying only the essential items to reduce the weights on our backpack.We packed our backpacks and got the map of the trail and we were ready for our Markha trek next day.

A map always comes handy in the wilderness

The Markha valley trek is one of the most beautiful and picturesque trek in Ladakh.The snow clad mountains,the colourful monastries,the high altitude villages on the way,the gushing streams,the serene stupas and the haunting mountain passes enroute make it one of the most sought after treks in Ladakh.The valley is inside the Hemis high altitude national park and hence one needs wild life permission for entering into the national park.In summer the scenic valley attracts a lot of adventurers for hiking due to its moderate climate and less snow coverage in the valley.But in winter the temps drops to the negative twenties and the snow piles up in the mountain passes making it difficult to trek in the bone-chilling cold.So only the seasoned and hard core adventures venture into the wild winter in the Markha valley.

The bridge has a story to tell the hikers

It was a sunny day but the cold wind had made the winter morning a freezing pane.The winter mornings are so difficult to get out of bed especially in such freezing winter.But we had to wake up early to trek during the sunny times else it would be difficult to trek in such shivering cold once sun is down.I along with my friend Aditya were crammed into a Maruti Omni with our super sized rucksacks for our journey to Zingchen (the starting point of our trek).The one hour drive from the city of Leh to Zingchen passes through the beautiful spituk village.The striking landscape along the Indus river under the blue sky enroute to the Zingchen village is a visual delight.Within an hour we reached the starting point.After bidding the cab driver good bye we put on all of our winter gears and strapped the rucksack on our shoulders and got ready for the trek.

The winding trail through the valley

There was not a single soul in sight not even a bird was chirping.The brown mountains looked magnificent on the bright sunshine.The cold spell of the winter had robbed the landscape of its green pastures and cursed the gushing streams to freeze in that brutal cold.The naked leafless trees were standing as mute spectators waiting to be clothed on the touch of the spring.The landscape was so barren and the winter was so brutal yet it was so beautiful being out there amidst such oceanic silence and the monumental beauty deep in the mountains.Aditya is a Software Engineer working in a reputed MNC in Bangalore and is an adventure enthusiast.He loves hiking in the himalayas.We met in the slopes of Stok Kangri two years back and ever since we are good friends.Not a single human was seen in our trail till then.We were walking on the Hemis High Altitude National park which is the home to the endangered snow leopards.After half an hour we passed through a camping site where snow leopard spotting teams were camping.

Negotiating the frozen stream near Rumbak

As we hiked the distance in the winding trail, we gained altitude and the altitude started picking our heads.The sun started playing hide and seek with the meandering trails.With each step the breathing got faster and with the sun playing hide and seek the cold got intense.The trek was slowly turning to a challenging one.We were venturing deep into the mountain in that lonely trails with only the echo of our voices to follow us.We were discussing the topics in the trail ranging from global politics to the effects of climate change on Himalayas to our next trek to Gokyo Ri in Nepal to the hot chics we spotted in Leh.It was mid day then and the we are finally into the noon sun coming out of the maze in the valley.After two hour of walking through the bouldered trails and crossing the streams we took rest at a sun spot to refill our energy with energy bars.

A selfie in the mountain

After a brief rest we walked again.After One hour we reached the Rumbak point.There is a wooden map fixed on the wall of a tea house to help the hikers to know the trail.From there the trail on the left goes towards Rumbak and the trail to Yurutse goes straight for some distance and then right.It was still 5/6 km till our homestay for the day.We rest a little again at the Rumbak point and enjoyed the stunning view of the magnificent mountains all around.It was late noon and we started walking again and this time we had to walk on the frozen stream for quite a distance upto the right turn for Yurutse.The sun was slowly getting ready for the dusk and we were approaching the valley towards Yurutse.The cold started rushing into the valley with full force and i was feeling so tired by then.The weight of the rucksack on my back had already slowed down my steps and Aditya was 50 steps ahead of me.I was walking at my own pace on the battering cold and with the back breaking backpack.

There were pugmarks and footsteps on the trail.We were hiking in the king’s territory

I was like limping and literally crawling for each step.The rucksack on my back was weighing on me heavily with the increase in altitude.The sun was down in the entire valley from the Rumbak towards Yurutse.The mercury was slipping fast and the wind was catching slowly.The body was tired by then and it became so difficult to walk in such cold.I checked my watch to see the temp and it was -19 degree centigrade.We had just taken a turn towards Yurutse village which is 3/4 km uphill.Aditya was walking on the frozen stream and i was walking on the trail on the ridge.I was gasping for breath with each step and wanted a respite from the cold.The fingers in the hands and the toes became numb as the clock moved towards early evening.There was no fall back option and the only option was move to the next homestay.The homestays on the back were far behind and there were nothing and absolutely nothing to take shelter on that radius.We had tents and sleeping bags with us but Aditya advised not to camp outside in such cold as the temp was to slip further down in the night.Each step i walked i wanted to see that glance of the homestay whcih was not even in the sight.

Aditya taking rest after a long walk

We walked on and on turning right and left and climbing and descending on the trail.The moon started apearing in the sky.That was the day before the fullmoon night.I was not able to feel my right hand fingers.It was totally numb in the cold.The wind was sweeping through the valley wide and open.After walking almost two hours we saw a clay coloured lonely home on the bank of the frozen stream in the middle of nowhere standing tall among the mountain peaks all around.I was tired to the hilt by then and was stopping every five steps.It was 5 pm and walking up another 500 meters in utter tiredness i unstrapped my rucksack and put it down on the middle of the trail and walked to the homestay.The homestay owner had fired the Bukhari (the fire pit) in the guest room.I removed my gloves and warmed my hands in the fire.It took more than 20 minutes for my right hand fingers to come to normalcy.Sipping a cup of hot Kawa i have gone to bed wrapping two layers of blanket over me looking over the snowcald mountains from the window in that lonely homestay deep in the Markha valley.It was a tough day yet a beautiful and adventurous trek on the Markha valley.

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Exploring the street art in Melbourne

2016-02-17T20:17:18Z

There is art every where in the world.We need to remove the curtains from our eyes to unblind us to see the art in every thing.The beautiful city of Melbourne boasts some of the most spectacular street art corridors in the heart of the city and is one of the best street art capitals in the world.I have heard and read a lot about street art in Melbourne.During my trip to this beautiful city,i wanted to visit the streets that carried artistic splendour on the walls.

To explore the city and to explore the local wonders my beautiful friend suggested me to go for a Melbourne free walking tour.In Melbourne Free walking tour they take you through all the iconic landmarks within the city that includes a walk through the street art corridors.

Love in the art corridor

The street art in Melbourne city started in the late seventies and became huge popular gradually and today Melbourne is one the great cities for the street arts in the world.Very few cities in the world let the artists to express their artistic freedom in the streets as city of Melbourne does.The Street Art in Melbourne has became one of the identity of this cosmopolitan city.

Come and explore the art within me

I joined with the Melbourne Free Walking Tour guide along with a group of 17 people from different countries in the world.We started the walk from the state library to variois iconic landmarks.I was new to the city of Melbourne and during the walking tour i lost track of my walking group and accidentally found the street art corridors in the Bourke street while roaming around to get my way back to the Flinders street.That was the first time i saw street art in the city of Melbourne.I was hooked to the artistic expression on the walls.They are multi coloured,multi textured,emotive,obscure and artistic.As i moved on from street to street i explored the beauty of the street art.

The artist is giving life to his art

The street art in the lanes and alleys in Melbourne attracts a lot of tourist.Even some agencies are now offering organised street art tours in the city.I was fortunate to see some of the artists making the art on the walls.It was a new experience for me.From the Bourke street i came to the Flinders lane to find some of the beautiful depiction of art on the lane.The lane was full of tourists.Some of them are curously clicking photographs and some of them are curiously watching the artists drawing and painting their art on the walls.

The art beholds the door

With prior permission of the building owners,the street arts are legal in Melbourne and the city has a code for it.The city celebrates the street art as a part of its cosmopolitan vibrant urban culture.Lost from the walking tour group and left to roam alone i explored the street art in the city of Melbourne and i loved every bit of it.

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The Melbourne Free Walking Tour

2016-02-17T20:21:23Z

My Great Ocean Road drive was over and it was time to explore the city of Melbourne.I wanted to see the city’s iconic landmarks,the bustling streets, the famous local markets,the art centers and also wanted to know the city’s history,culture and heritage.As we explored various options for the city tour,my friend suggested me to go for the Melbourne Free Walking Tour.The walking tour is operated by a local company “i m Free”.It organizes daily walking tours through the city for the tourists.The tours are of three hours and covers almost all the places of importance in the city of Melbourne and the the walking tour is free,yes absolutely FREE..I thought it would be real fun to walk through the city like a Melbournian with a Melbournian to explore the city.I scanned through the webpages of the Melbourne Free Walking Tour and came to know that no prior registrations are required for the walking tour.The only thing one has to do is to meet the I m Free guides present in front of the Victoria state library at the designated time.

The State Library of Victoria,Melbourne

Next morning i boarded the metro from the Williams Landing to Flinders sreet station and within forty minutes i reached at Flinders.Then i walked a little to the state library of victoria to find the i m Free guides in green shirts standing in front of the statue of Sir Redmond Barry.I introduced myself to the guides and surprised to know that one of the guides had visited India.Then we talked about the places the guide visited in India.It was 9.45 am then and there was only one other traveler waiting for the tour.The State Library of Victoria in Melbourne is the largest library in the state of Victoria.Many people were waiting outside in the queue as the Library opening time was 10am.As the library opened at 10 am ,the people rushed into the library.The travelers joined one by one and we were total 27 travelers from different parts of the world joined the tour that day.We were divided into two groups to be led by two guides.

At 10.45am we started the Walking tour.The guide was a young university student in the second year of his Bachelors in History and International relations and working for i m free.He gave us a brief history of Victoria and and the city of Melbourne and its riches and cultures and how the city has made its way to the most livable city in the world.We started our walk to the Old Melbourne Gaol and the guide was talking about the city pointing to various directions and answering questions from the travelers.It was spring in Melbourne but that day it was cold (Weather in Melbourne is erratic) and the wind was blowing slowly.I was feeling a bit cold but was excited to see Melbourne walking with the group.We visited the Gaol and then headed toward the 8-8-8 tower which is the symbol of eight hour movement by Victorians to break down the day into eight hours of work,eight hours of play and eight hours of rest.I really liked the eight hour movement history.

The Royal Exhibition Building

Then we moved on to the Royal Exhibition building.It is a 19th century world heritage building built for the the Melbourne International exhibitions.Known for its magnificent design and architectural grandeur,this building is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the most visited places by the tourists in the city.We could only see the beautiful building from the outside as some exhibitions were going on inside.The Carlton garden in front of the Royal Exhibition Ground is a beautiful garden with sprawling lush green lawns and the cluster of trees.This is where i spotted a marsupial for the first time in my life, a baby possum.The walking path inside the garden through the greenery was an absolute walking delight.

Melbourne is a pedestrians friendly city.To cross the roads you have to press the buzzer to and once the buzzer rings the vehicular traffic will make way for the pedestrians.I find it very safe practice of crossing busy roads.From the Carlton gardens we moved to the Victorian parliament building in the Spring street and then to the Bourke street which is famous for its shopping mall.The advantage of a guided walking tour is one can see the city from close quarters and at the same time get the knowledge of the city from the local guides and know about the city’s best eateries,coffee bars and other places of interest.

The bustling Bourke Street

From the Bourke street we walked to the China town.They say its a small Chinese world out there in Melbourne with the largest Chinese population in Australia.The China town was dotted with restaurants,outlets and shops of Chinese ethnicity.The guide boasted it being the largest Chinese settlement in the southern hemisphere though i had no idea what other places other than China the Chinese are settled in.After China town i lost my group on the way and found myself on the street art corridor.

Left alone i explored the city’s beautiful street art lanes.It was a beautiful experience walking through the street art lanes and watching artists giving life to their arts on the walls and tourists looking bemusedly to the beautiful arts on the wall.Then i accidentally found the walking tour group on the way at Flinders and re joined them.We walked next to the Federation square which is known as Melbourne’s cultural melting point.One can find every day some other programmes in that open spaces of the square.We roamed around the open spaces of the Federation square as the guide went on explaining the importance of the place in the city.

With the tour guide Justin at the end of the walking tour

Then we moved onto the princess bridge on the Yarra river from where the entire cityscape on both the banks of the scenic river was visible.The guide pointed to the Eureka towers, the tallest building of the Melbourne city.He further went on to explain the redline on the Eureka tower which signifies the bloods spilled by the miners who revolted against the oppression of their colonial masters in the Eureka stockade rebellion.Then the walking tour came to an end on the terrace of a building looking over the beautiful Yarra river.We thanked the guide for the beautiful city tour.The walking tour is free but they survive on the tips from the travelers.Everybody offered tip to the guide what they think he deserved.

It was a great experience walking on the streets/lanes of Melbourne with the i m free tour to explore this beautiful city.It was informative, full of fun and the guide of the tour was genial and engaging answering all of our questions.Being a backpacker tight in budget i gave AUD 10 as tip to the guide and posed with him for a photograph for my memory of the trip.If you are in Melbourne and want to explore the city i would strongly recommend to you to take the Melbourne Free Walking Tour.

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