The other day I was running late from work to home. I had to run in the rain to catch the bus and as I ran, the raindrops falling on my head reminded of something. I stopped at the bus, waited for the thought to settle down, smiled and got home.I've had some amazing trips in the monsoons, did crazy things, went to awesome places, got drenched to the core and had the time of my life.

Here's remembering five monsoon experiences that I have written about.

"Taking chances everywhere, we moved from place to place and were never disappointed. The misty mountain tops, the wild flowers, the raging streams, the screaming cascades, the greener than the green forest canopy, the damp forest floor and monsoon magic in all its glory was all mine to enjoy. I totally loved the idea of such exclusivity."

Read more about this eventful trip here - The Extremely Eventful Month of July 2011. 

2. Stranded in rain atop a peak, all night long at Kumara Parvatha

"We crossed the waterfalls, to make our lives miserable, it started to rain – heavily! We had two raincoats and a jacket with us. So we were like big deal! Nothing can dampen our spirits and off we go towards the peak which included more slippery rocks at a slant angle. Finally around 4.30 PM we reached the peak.

It was raining and we were soaking wet.

Ecstatic I felt mostly but also there was a doubt lurking somewhere at the back of my mind about our descent the same day. When it rains it pours and so it did! Mist covered everything around and visibility reduced badly."

Read more about being stranded on the peak, in the rain for a whole night here -  Mission Kumara Parvatha!

3. A Legendary monsoon trip to the Legendary place called Goa

"Momentary lapse of judgment is what I call, the thing which happens to you when you travel. You put your trust in complete strangers hoping everything will work out fine. The bikes didn’t even have proper brakes and the route was something that would do for a good action chase sequence. After all, who in their right mind would go drive on the gravel next to the railway tracks? When I say next to railway tracks all we had for the tire to tread is about 30cms of gravel in water. Next to it, the land sloped down. Needless to say the fall will be fatal. There was no road. We were offroading in the rain, sitting behind riders whom we knew nothing about and bikes which seemed like were from another century."

Read more about the "Legendary" trip here - The Legendary Monsoon Pilots of Goa! 

4. Getting drenched in rain and blood around awesome Kodaikanal

"We went hysteric watching such beauty and then it rained. Then it rained more. Then it rained more and more. It was dark and we were drenched to the core and then lightning struck! A loud thunder and a second of light in the dark night and then more lightning while we wandered in the open grounds! We rushed back to the nearby village to take shelter at the village school." 

"It was pouring and as soon we entered the forest, the slimy black creatures got to work with an intensity that left only five out of the sixteen trekkers on the trail within the first 10 minutes. The leeches there were blood thirsty as if they were starving for ages and they attacked us with a rigor that could only be matched by the fiercest warrior! Blood was shed, I tell no lies." 

Read more about the monsoon magic around Kodaikanal here - How to salvage a ruined weekend or Awesome Kodaikanal

5. Seeing the splendor of waterfalls, seeing Chikmagalur in rains 

"You see the thing with waterfalls is you won’t be fully delighted until you get up close and personal with it! Awesome feeling it is, experiencing the full force of the thundering cascades, the feeling of being completely dwarfed by the towering cascades, the feeling of being justly rewarded after hours of walk in the dirt and leech infested trails at the first sight of the white cascades! Waterfalls.. it’s all about waterfalls!"

Read more about my first experience with the awesome waterfalls and monsoon here - Monsoon drive to Jog Falls, Kalhatti and Hebbe Falls

What was your favorite monsoon trip? Tell me in the comments below.