CulturallyOurs’s second annual India travel retreat to the Himalayas was a huge success! What a fantastic time spent exploring Rishikesh, the Himalayas as well as the rural villages and countryside with our amazing group as they spent time getting to know India, her people and her culture.Rishikesh stole our hearts as we spent time walking the streets, hearing the sounds of the Holy Ganga as she flowed right outside our hotel balcony and also explored her markets and alleyways. Rishikesh is called the yoga capital of the world and as we participated in a few Hatta yoga sessions, it is clear to see why. Everyone in Rishikesh is either a yogi, a yoga student or a yoga teacher. There is just something in the air – perhaps the vibrations or the energy from countless yogis. Walking the Laxman jhula and participating in the Ganga aarti was an experience unlike any other. Of course, no visit to Rishikesh would be complete without a trip to the legendary Beatles cafe – a cafe dedicated to the Beatles and their visit to Rishikesh in the 1960s. The food was incredible and the views legendary! We soon left the hustle and bustle of Rishikesh and made our way up north towards the mountains. Narrow mountain roads, roadside cafes and animals on the streets was quite the treat and that first glimpse of the snow capped Himalayas just takes your breadth away. You really feel humbled in the presence of such majestic vistas and are in awe of the grandeur of Mother Nature at her finest. The weather was just perfect – warm winter air during the day and cool crisp nights made it perfect to light a fire and watch the stars explode against the backdrop of the mountains.There is just some special about the food in the mountains. Perhaps it is the mountain air, the dramatic backdrops or the fresh produce picked right from the neighborhood farms but each meal, be it along the roadside ‘dhabas‘ or the homestays, was delicious beyond anything you could imagine. One of the unique things about this travel retreat to the Indian Himalayas was the overnight hike and camp in an alpine meadow at 8000ft above sea level. The whole experience was quite an adventure. We stayed in the meadow and the village locals all stopped by for a visit – buffalos, sheep, shepherds and locals who hiked up the mountain to gather twigs for cattle. There is nothing quite like cooking on a camp fire and watching the stars sparkle up above. Another highlights of our travel retreat to the Himalayas was the annual local mela or fair that we stumbled upon. The benefit of traveling with us on our small group trips is the ability to be flexible enough to change schedules when we chance upon things like local markets and melas/fairs. The people we met, the local artists we shopped from and the food we ate all made the experience one for the books! We wrapped our 9 day trip with a stay at a national park known for its incredible wildlife and fauna. While we missed the elephants, the stay in a rustic old forest guest house more than made up for it. To get there, we literally had to drive on a river. We saw monkeys, beautiful spotted dear and plenty of peacocks.It has always been our dream to take people to India, the country where Karthika Gupta, the founder of CulturallyOurs, is from, to show them a side of India beyond the typical tourist lens. India is a large country with a lot of diversity in terms of places, activities, people, lifestyles and cuisine. While experiencing all that India has to offer is not quite possible at one go, our trips are designed to really explore as much as possible in one particular area. In 2018, we look a small group of women entrepreneurs on a creative retreat to Jaipur and rural parts of Rajasthan to explore not just the touristy side of a big city but also the less-known and less-traversed.

This year our trip revolved around explore the outdoor spaces in India along with some of the ancient cities and culture that can only be found in places like Rishikesh and remote villages in the mountains.

As always, the aim of all our CulturallyOurs retreat is to showcase a place with a new lens – give the inside story and help travelers experience local culture though a local lens – from a cultural standpoint as well as explore the lessor known areas.We have lots of exciting things in store for our future retreats.

2020 retreats are almost ready to be announced. If you are interested in joining us along our India adventures, sign up to be notified when dates are announced.

CulturallyOurs Travel Retreat To Rishikesh And Indian Himalayas

Thank you to Meeta Rao for some of the behind the scenes photos from our India retreat.

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