“I spent 9 days on a road trip across the Himalayas , going to some of the most remote and least explored regions in India, travelling upto 17,000 feet above sea level and down to -10°C. These areas included Upper Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Kargil and Kashmir.”
Rawalpindi, is the capital city of Rawalpindi Division located in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Rawalpindi is the fourth-largest city proper in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad respectively while the larger Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area is the country’s third largest metropolitan area.
Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, occupies a valley in the country’s western interior. In addition to being the government seat, the city is known for its Buddhist sites. The massive Tashichho Dzong is a fortified monastery and government palace with gold-leaf roofs. The Memorial Chorten, a whitewashed structure with a gold spire, is a revered Buddhist shrine dedicated to Bhutan’s third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh, in southern Asia. Set beside the Buriganga River, it’s at the center of national government, trade and culture. The 17th-century old city was the Mughal capital of Bengal, and many palaces and mosques remain. American architect Louis Khan’s National Parliament House complex typifies the huge, fast-growing modern metropolis.
Diwali is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year, observed by more than a billion people across faiths. Known as the Festival of Lights, it is a 5-day celebration bringing prayer, feasts, fireworks, family gatherings and, for some, a new year.
Derived from the Sanskrit “dipavali”, which means “row of lights,” Diwali is known for the brightly burning clay lamps that celebrants line up outside their homes to cherish the victory of good over evil. With this year’s coronavirus pandemic affecting the celebration, may we be able to derive comfort from the spirit of the holiday—the belief that, eventually, light will triumph over darkness.
A Beautiful Destinations Original Filmed, Directed and Edited by Sam Kolder https://www.instagram.com/samkolder/
Filmed and Edited by: Tom Butler
Varanasi is chaotic, intense, and beautiful. The ancient city is situated on the banks of the River Ganges and is often considered the spiritual home of India. A place where you see and feel the morning and evening rituals, where pilgrimages are made to bathe in the holy waters at sunrise to purify, where many cremations take place along the river’s edge, and where it is believed moksha — an escape from the cycle of reincarnation — can be achieved. It was truly mesmerising to be in the presence of Mother Ganga and experience the weight of Varanasi first hand.
The Ganges (or Ganga is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. The 2,704 km (1,680 mi) river originates from the Gangotri Glacier of western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of India and Bangladesh, eventually emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
Varanasi is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh dating to the 11th century B.C. Regarded as the spiritual capital of India, the city draws Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River’s sacred waters and perform funeral rites. Along the city’s winding streets are some 2,000 temples, including Kashi Vishwanath, the “Golden Temple,” dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.
This film was shot back in February 2020, before the travel restrictions were in place due to the pandemic.
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