c u on top - satyabrata dam

  At the tender age of ten and dare I say that being a naive child when I conjured up my ultimate dream to climb every mountain and to visit every country in the world (have failed so far on both counts) I had absolutely no idea how on earth would I fulfil either of these. Soon I realized that the former was downright impossible and improbable while the latter was nearly so. So I took every opportunity offered or created when none was forthcoming to do exactly that. To boldly climb mountains that are rarely climbed and to go wherever I could. I firmly belief that if we do pursue our dreams with single minded dedication and focus, where no obstacle seem to be so and where we listen to none except our own beating heart, then life does open incredible doors and bring us on a collision course with incredible people who would open those doors for us. Therefore I knew that if I never veered away from my dreams then no matter what, no matter when, they would surely begin to unravel ...

UN lists 193 countries as official member states. Of these I have been to 191, the two exceptions being Pakistan (where they won’t let me go) and North Korea (where I don’t want to go). Then there is Vatican City and State of Palestine, which are not UN members but have the status of a country nevertheless in the form of non-member observer state. I have been to both. That leaves Kosovo, which has a funny fluid state in terms of a sovereign state. Around 100 countries recognize it as an independent country, but others don’t. Geographically it is still a part of Serbia but has its own international borders that are recognized by most EU states. I have been to Kosovo too, twice, since it is a beautiful place, whether it’s a country or not.   Now as you all know, one of the primary reasons for me to visit any new country is to get to the top of it and in most of the cases I have succeeded in this endeavor. As far as memory serves there might be around two dozen countries whose sum...

  When I consciously started climbing, just around my tenth birthday, I hadn’t really given it a thought that how cool it would be to reach the top of the mountain, far less climbing to the top of every country I would visit in future. The former consolidated in my mind when I reached my first summit atop Mt Kolahoi and witnessed the world from above. It was indescribable and absolutely divine. That climb, my first real summit, definitely sowed within me the seed of a summit - to reach there and to be able to look higher and beyond. In effect summits to me became a place from where I could see how many more summits awaited my arrival.   Through an extraordinary series of events when I first stepped out of India to another country, and on my first visit climbed the highest point of that country (France / Mt Blanc) it gave me another purpose for my travels, not only to discover, explore and befriend diverse people and witness glorious vistas of nature from all sorts of pl...

  Human settlements including cities, towns, villages and even countries have acquired names that are funny, quirky, at times downright offending, weird and even unpronounceable. Why these names were picked up by the city planners or the town council is a subject worthy of contemplation. The most common being that they wanted an uncommon name for their resident locality and with hope that merely an odd name would attract tourists. Alas, most such places are also among the least visited. As I traveled around the world in search of mountains to climb, I did visit many such places with uncommon names.   Here for the sake of this list and my English speaking readers I have only mentioned English sounding names, which has an English meaning (barring one exception that I couldn’t resist with good reason as you would discover). Therefore many weird names in local vernacular language got left out, for example Kala Kutta in India, which in English transliterates to Black Dog. Or...

Lago Torre, Patagonia Argentina This time around while summing up the year 2014 that just whizzed by I am completely determined to avoid intricate statistics lest it leads to three mainstream reactions among my readers (like it usually does) – one of admiration (I like this one, especially when I get those delicious mails from delicious women); one of envy; and one of utter disbelief (many believe all these travels and climbs of mine are pure fiction and products of my over productive imagination). Suffice it to say that I did not travel much in 2014, barely 10 countries in four continents and crossed the Atlantic only four times and kissed the Pacific shores twice. Climbed very moderately and only till around 7000m. Visited only two places that are rarely visited by human. Air miles covered must be in the region of 100,000 if not more but then this is merely an average human being I suppose. Despite all precautions taken, the year ended with a black tipped nose due to ca...

The year of 2013 is nearing its predestined end. Even though we are still a fortnight away, I am offering my regular year end post bit early as from tomorrow I would be in situations from where a post may not be practically feasible; and perhaps where a post or internet would not be a part of my itinerary at all. Yes, you guessed it; I am off into my mountains. Barring a few, who have sighted me recently, perhaps most of you out there who know me only vicariously by now presume that I am no more, not in the physical sense since my last post happened more than three months ago. But I am here once again to disappoint you. I am alive, very much so, and laughing at the paradox of it all. Though I must say if not for the year end post, I would have written another post only in 2014, since till now I had written exactly 13 posts, and that seemed beautiful for the year 2013. But alas, as so much in life is unpredictable, you will now have 14 posts in my blog for the year 2013. And...