°°° Travel for me is to immerse into nature and deep conversations away from cell phone network °°°

Profession: Pre school teacher

Interest: Paragliding, Scuba Diving, MMA, Yoga, Cycling, Weight Lifting, Trekking and camping, Long distance Motorcycle rides, wildlife with love for birds and animals but scared of reptiles.

Height: 5 ft 2in
Weight: 52 kgs
Ethnicity: Indian/Asian
Hometown: Mumbai

Personal traits: Calm, sincere, honest and humble.

Food preference: Veg, but love to eat well cooked meat and fish at times.

Smoking: No
Drinking: Sometimes (Beer is preferred)

Happily Married: So, we always travel together and love to share our travel diaries with anyone who crosses out path.

A quick WhatsApp video call will help to know me better.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Greetings to beloved hosts and travellers from Ekta and Om Sarmalkar,

We are new to couchsurfing!

Our definition of travel has taken another dimension, we no longer travel to explore, visit places, to take amazing photos and upload on social network BUT we travel to mesmerize in local culture with endless talks and take back experience and to share our experience with our family and friends.

Our small Journey:
We met through a dating app in 2015, dated for 2 years sneaking from home and then got married 1st Feb 2017 with blessings from our parents, how many such online dating relations turn into reality of forever. We have something interesting to share. 

Lets learn more about: 

Ekta Sarmalkar - I am a full time kindergarten Teacher (Teaching in one of the top IB schools in Mumbai) I am fortunate enough to get 180 holidays out of 365 days.  Having fed with a golden spoon, educated with one of the best schools in Bombay and traveled across the world in luxury. Never-ever heard of hostels, home stays and BB’s or knew if they even exist. To brag more, I have visited Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, U.S.A (twice), Canada, United Kingdom, Wales, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Brussels, Holland; spent months in each of them. 

With heavy interest in Indian mythology (Shiva Puran), I feel a strong connection towards Lord Shiva and do not miss a prayer. Post marriage interest include trekking, exploring undisclosed locations, movies, reading books, watching interesting documentaries and reading Quora. Definition of ‘travel’ completely changed as I backpacked, stayed in tents without a shower for a week, traveled in public transports, hitchhiking and eating anything and everything. 

I not only eat but I can cook delicious food as per demand from my husband, and can help hosts in the kitchen (if permissable)

Om Sarmalkar (My husband)
Simplicity is what defines him, born to a poor family, worked at early age to pay for his education, secured a successful job, currently working as Program Manager (Office of Legal) in JP Morgan Chase and Co.

From being a solo traveler and solo rider, who has traveled and rode across India, now have to add a Pillion by default. With interest in Mythology, love reading anything from comics to quantum physics. Jack of all sports from marbles to football. Landscape photography.

Recently turned vegetarian by choice for fitness, ex-cross fit runner and marathoner. Aspiring Data Scientist and AI. Extreme love for animals and birds. 

Gave an interesting surprise to me (Ekta) on our honeymoon by throwing me from cliff with a rope swing followed by hours of kayaking. 

Our Travel Diaries post marriage includes:-

1. Ride to Malvan,Kokan, Maharashtra -:

Ekta's first experience as a pillion with short ride of 400 kms, she said it was all worth all the bruises and the pain when it comes to stealing mangoes from our own farm.

2. Trek to Rupin Pass, Himachal Pradesh - :

Ekta who got excellent experience of trekking adventure with bruises all over the feet on day-1 followed by stay in the tents, no bath for a week, popping in the dry pit *ugh* and then after 5 days reached the top (Rupin pass summit 15,250 ft) like a cranky kid, where as Om had turned into porter to carry her bag. 

3. Pushkar, Rajasthan:- (Camel fair/Mela)

Rajasthan is a colorful state and has a lot of cultural history, but one of the highlights of that state is the Pushkar Mela which happens every year between November and December. The camels and other types of cattle are traded in this fair and the way the trading is done is a sight to watch. It is a must visit for the ones who love colors and cultures and willing to experience vintage traditions.

4. Ride to Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat:- (Bhuj, Rajkot, Ahemdabad)

So having done the ride to Malvan we thought of going a bit extreme we decided to do a ride of 900 kms in one-day.  Yes! you read it right 900 freaking kilometers (stunned ekta). And having an iron butt as a pillion we started at 4 am in the morning just took one halt in Ahemdabad and reached Anjar which 30 Kms before Bhuj at 10 pm. It was one hell of an experience to visit white desert of India.

5. Solo trip to Udaipur (Om goes back home and Ekta explores solo for the very first time!)

After finishing off our ride to run of Kutch, Ekta  took up a solo trip to Udaipur as forced by Om. Ekta who is born with a golden spoon I couldn’t imagine traveling all by herself. But yes she learnt, became independent financially, became stronger mentally and made a Russian friend as well with whom Ekta is still connected.

6. South of India:- (Mysore, Coorg, Kodaikanal, Wayanad, Rameshwarm, Pondicherry & Chennai)

Another adventure and another epic trip we shipped our bike to bangalore and took a flight simultaneously from Mumbai. We started from bangalore and covered up the main pockets of south of India. Om always wanted to ride on the pamban bridge which was the highlight of our trip and of course seeing the sunrise from Dhanushkodi & Ram-sethu.

7. Ride to Koynanagar and Guhagar.

As when I visited for the first time I enjoyed plucking mangoes from the farms so wanted to visit again but we even visited a beach and got ourselves rejuvenated.

8. Kashmir Great Lakes:- 

After doing the rupin pass trek we took up another one as my love for the mountains had grown immensely and Kashmir which is in northern india is gifted with nature in abundance. It was the most romantic treks as for one week we had to camp by the lakes. 

9. Durga puja, Kolkata:-

This will be one of the trip which we can never forget. One festival in India which happens on a massive scale and with a lot of hard work put in by the artisans. The pandals (stalls) were made with different types of materials available (bangles, cane, nuts and bolts, mud, silver and many many more)

Being in our home country, but we were jet lagged as we had to stay awake the entire night and sleep during the day!!

10. Goa, India:-

We wanted to experience the Christmas eve so we took up a week long beach vacation to Goa.

And yes no regrets at all!!

11. Himachal Pradesh (Kasol, Malana and Bir Billing)

A perfect experience of buddhist culture and psychedelic holi party craze in the mountains, travelling through local buses and missing on one of the best paragliding destination due to bad weather. 

11. Kashmir (Aru Valley)

Finest of all the journeys together, trekking with Israelis and understanding and experiencing their culture. 

Journey to continue more experience will be added and shared with each one we come across… Stay tuned….

References:

Ekta Sarmalkar - Instagram - avuubaby

Om Sarmalkar - No social network (Boring Person)

Professional reference (LinkedIn) 
Ekta Sarmalkar - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekta-sarmalkar-17a168196

Om Sarmalkar- https://www.linkedin.com/in/omsarmalkar

Interests

I am extremely disciplined in my daily health and fitness routine along with daily work and explore other interests as and when I get opportunity.

• animals
• wildlife
• birds
• dancing
• cooking
• fitness
• yoga
• running
• working out
• movies
• cycling
• hiking
• teaching
• beaches
• mountains
• nature
• mythology
• football
• local food
• foodie
• mountain climbing
• deep conversations
• cultural exchange
• teacher
• nature walks
• birdwatching
• trying new things
• simplicity
• exploring cultures

Music, Movies, and Books

Books
-Indian Mythology & autobiographies.

Music
- Classical Music
- Ed Sheeran
- Live bands

Movies:
- Marvel
- Thrillers
- Horror
(IMBD follower)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1. Rode Royal enfield for 850kms 18 hours
2. Did first ever hike at altitude of 15,000ft
3. Rock climbing and Jumping through hollow mountain - https://youtu.be/c7uooB5Aa08
4. Solo traveled first time at age of 29.

Teach, Learn, Share

As teacher by profession, willing to learn and share experiences by immersing into local culture of places I explore.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Delicious home cooked Indian meal and my crazy travel stories.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, Philippines