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Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...

Our 'Pet' Snails!

Samhith's fascination for snails is well known to all those who read this blog! This monsoon was no different, though the enthusiasm has worn off a bit for me, and I refused to take pics of every snail we saw! He, of course, continues to look for them, and at last count, we had at least 20 big ones living among the bushes opposite our building, and numerous small ones (babies). The last time he tried to count them, he managed to go till about 80 before the bus arrived and he was forced to stop! That will give you an idea about how prolific the snails are at reproduction!! and also why they are considered pests!!! He has even started thinking of them as his pets, but which he leaves free to roam around, since he doesn't want to put them in a cage!! We have a variety of snails, ranging from huge ones about 10cm long, to tiny ones less than a centimeter in length! Here are some of them!! These are the most common snails we see. The shell alone is about 5 c...

All about Snails

The monsoons are almost over, and since we have spent the last few months searching for and photographing snails, I thought it would be appropriate to write one final, exhaustive post about these creatures which fascinate Samhith. They are indeed fascinating, even though they are the pests here, eating up our garden little by little. They are most visible on the rainy days, and the days after, disappearing once the water dries up, disappearing into holes we have not yet succeeded in discovering. So here’s some of the information we have gathered (from the net of course, where else?). Snails are called ‘Gastropods ’, literally meaning ‘belly footed animal’ ( Gastro means stomach and pod means foot). Garden snails are the only molluscs living on land! The snails’ body is long, moist and slimy, and the shell helps protect it. It withdraws into the shell not only to protect itself from predators, but also to protect itself from dry weather. They are most active in a moist climate, ...

Monsoon in Mumbai - Time for snails and mushrooms....

It has been raining off and on , and when it rains, it pours!!! Here's what we saw as we waited for our bus to arrive.... Some umbrella-like mushrooms dripping with water.... and our first snail of the year !!!

Snails are interesting........

Snails are interesting creatures ... Did you know that they are herbivores? Well, last week, we were waiting for Samhith's school bus when we saw this one eating up a flower. We were curious about how long it would take, and photographed it..... It took less than 5 minutes for the small creature to finish it off! Here are some pics in slideshow form.... Here is another one, on a branch, hanging on, and eating a tiny flower..... It has been pouring here since the last couple of days, and Samhith is looking forward to seeing more snails. They are, after all, interesting, aren't they?????