#Things to do in Dalhousie

[halidays]

Dalhousie - Best Travel Guide

Dalhousie is a charming hill station in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is situated on five hills, namely Balun, Bakrota, Kathlog, Potreyn, and Moti Tibba, at an average elevation of 1970 meters above sea level. Dalhousie was established by the British in 1854 as a summer retreat for their officials and troops. The town still retains its colonial charm and architecture, along with its…

[muirneach]

a thing thats really funny about googling universities is you look up ‘good [area of study] university programs’ and it just gives you like. the top rated universities in general.

[st-just]

hi I like your blog. I have a question that may be too personal so no hard feelings if you don't answer but could you talk a little bit about more about what you like/don't like about Halifax? im considering Dalhousie for grad school but have never been! and would like to have as much information about where I might spend the next 2 years of my life. thank you!

Oh sure! Though like, it depends on where you're coming from? Everything here is very relative. And also I'm absolutely certain I will forget numemrous vital things, do ask followup questions.

Most important thing is that the housing market is horrifying - the city's population started booming during COVID and the zoning and construction is only really starting to catch up now. Especially within walking distance of Dal getting a place to live at anything approaching affordable is going to be vicious. (This has unsurprisingly coincided with a large uptick in homelessness. Unremarkable to walk by a tent in a corner of some public park now).

Relatedly, the bus system is like - okay I'm not sure it's notably bad for a mid-sized-ish north american city, but it's damn sure not any better. You can get by bussing around on the peninsula, anywhere beyond 20 minute drives turn into 40-60 minute rides.

You will not have a family doctor, figure out the nearest walk-in clinic you can use for anything non-emergency.

The city's economy runs on some combination of students, tourists, sailors and soldiers. There are as many bars as you might expect (had the most per capita in the country for a while, don't know if we still do). Some of them are actually very good!

Relatedly, weed and liquor are both only legally sold by the crown corporation monopoly and a few weird specialty places.

None of them are massive, but there is a very nice amount of parkland and green space scattered throughout the city. The public (botanical) gardens are really beautiful in the spring-summer, and most are well-maintained (they just renovated and expanded the outdoor pool on the city Commons last year, even).

The waterfront has been thoroughly gentrified for the cruise ships over the course of my lifetime, but it's all still open to the public and grabbing one of the armchairs or hammocks to read in during the summer is lovely.

Provincially the government is the most thoroughly domesticated/red tory party in the country (they fairly literally ran to the left of the liberals). Full of corrupt backslapping, constantly getting into pissing matches with the municipal government, will probably govern for the next decade.

For reasons that I assume are downstream of all the students and having the closest thing to a regional theater scene east of Quebec, the whole city is IME very queer-friendly. For reasons I absolutely not understand, pride is in August here.

The public library system is basically the only part of the municipal government I think anyone involved should be unequivocally proud of, but it is great.

I don't really know the crime stats offhand but like, I left my apartment door unlocked probably 7 times in 10 through all of undergrad and it never bit me in the ass?

[tzifron]

As local markets are increasingly influenced by the pressures of a globalized system, building more homes alone is not enough. To protect the right to housing of all Canadians, experts say decision-makers should look beyond market solutions, and expand the supply of co-operative housing.

But in a country where homeownership is king, doing this is a challenge.

“We’ve had constant support and promotion of homeownership as the ideal for decades,” says Ren Thomas, an associate professor of urban planning at Dalhousie University noting that homeownership was presented in the 1930s as a means to stability, community life, and retirement security. “This ideology was created to sell a product, and people still buy into it.”

Why doesn’t Canada build co-ops anymore?

Once the target of generous federal programs, non-equity co-op housing was touted as the “third force in the housing market” in the 1970s. But despite a proven record of long-term sustainability, only 17,000 units have been completed in Canada over the last two decades.

They were part of the postwar boom — between 1964 and 1995, about 10 per cent of all homes built were social housing. Then things started to change.

In the 90s, successive Liberal and Conservative governments built less and less non-market housing, including the Brian Mulroney Conservatives axing its co-operative housing program in its 1992 budget. As a result, the options available to Canadians dwindled, and are now mostly limited to the precariousness of renting or the stability of owning.

Despite this, co-ops have remained popular. Originally envisioned as a more socially diverse alternative to public housing — co-op members are neither homeowners nor tenants, but enjoy the benefits of both.

“Members have a say in how the decisions are made about maintenance and capital repairs, monthly housing charges,” says Courtney Lockhart, a spokesperson for the Canadian Co-op Housing Federation (CHF). “This gives members more control than a tenant would have versus the traditional landlord.”

The collectivist model of co-op housing not only facilitates the provision of perpetually low-cost shelter, it also supports capacity building amongst members, and bolsters social capital. “Co-ops collectively own their housing together, and make decisions democratically,” Lockhart says. “That enables people to take care of each other, rely on each other, and build a sense of community.”

With roughly 91,000 units nationwide, co-op housing currently represents less than one per cent of Canada’s housing stock, and a majority of these units were built between 1973 and 1993.

[schafpudel]

This extremely interesting article is locked behind a paywall, so I've... cracked open the page source for the lovely people of tumblr and re-transcribed the article. Have fun.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deep in the forests of Germany, nestled neatly into the hollowed-out shells of acorns, live a smattering of ants who have stumbled upon a fountain of youth. They are born workers, but do not do much work. Their days are spent lollygagging about the nest, where their siblings shower them with gifts of food. They seem to elude the ravages of old age, retaining a durably adolescent physique, their outer shells soft and their hue distinctively tawny. Their scent, too, seems to shift, wafting out an alluring perfume that endears them to others. While their sisters, who have nearly identical genomes, perish within months of being born, these death-defying insects live on for years and years and years.

They are Temnothorax ants, and their elixirs of life are the tapeworms that teem within their bellies—parasites that paradoxically prolong the life of their host at a strange and terrible cost.

A few such life-lengthening partnerships have been documented between microbes and insects such as wasps, beetles, and mosquitoes. But what these ants experience is more extreme than anything that’s come before, says Susanne Foitzik, an entomologist at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, in Germany, who studies the ants and their tapeworms. Infected Temnothorax ants live at least three times longer than their siblings, and perhaps much more, she and her colleagues report in a study published today in Royal Society Open Science. No one is yet sure when the insects’ longevity tops out, but the answer is probably in excess of a decade, approaching or even matching that of ant queens, who can survive up to 20 years.

“Some other parasites do extend life spans,” Shelley Adamo, a parasite expert at Dalhousie University, in Nova Scotia, who was not involved in the study, told me. “But not like this. Under typical circumstances, Temnothorax ants live as most other ants do. They reside in communities ruled by a single fertile queen attended by a legion of workers whose professional lives take a predictable trajectory. They first tend the queen’s eggs as nurses, then graduate into foraging roles that take them outside the nest. Apart from the whole freaky parasite thing, “they are pretty boring,” Foitzik told me.

Normalcy goes out the door, however, when Temnothorax larvae ingest tapeworm-egg-infested bird feces trucked in by foragers. The parasites hatch and set up permanent residence in the young ants’ abdomens, where they can access a steady stream of nutrients. In return, they offer their host an unconventional renter’s fee: an extra-long life span that Foitzik and her colleagues managed to record in real time.

The researchers spent three years monitoring dozens of Temnothorax colonies in the lab, comparing the fates of workers who’d fallen prey to the parasites and those who remained infection-free. By the end of their experiment, almost every single one of the hundreds of worm-free workers had, unsurprisingly, died. But more than half the parasitized workers were still kicking—about the same proportion as the colonies’ ultra-long-lived queens. “That was amazing to see,” Biplabendu Das, an ant biologist and parasite expert at the University of Central Florida, who wasn’t involved in the study, told me. And despite their old age, the ants’ bodies still bore the hallmarks of youth. They were difficult to distinguish from uninfected nurses, who are usually the most juvenile members of the colony’s working class.

The tapeworm-laden ants didn’t just outlive their siblings, the team found. They were coddled while they did it. They spent their days lounging in their nest, performing none of the tasks expected of workers. They were groomed, fed, and carried by their siblings, often receiving more attention than even the queen—unheard of in a typical ant society—and gave absolutely nothing in return.

The deal the ants have cut with their parasites seems, at first pass, pretty cushy. Foitzik told me that her team couldn’t find any overt downsides to life as an infected ant, a finding that appears to shatter the standard paradigm of parasitism. Even the colonies as a whole remained largely intact. Workers continued to work; queens continued to lay eggs. The threads that held each Temnothorax society together seemed unmussed.

Only when the researchers took a closer look did that tapestry begin to unravel. The uninfected workers in parasitized colonies, they realized, were laboring harder. Strained by the additional burden of their wormed-up nestmates, they seemed to be shunting care away from their queen. They were dying sooner than they might have if the colonies had remained parasite-free. At the community level, the ants were exhibiting signs of stress, and the parasite’s true tax was, at last, starting to show. “The cost is in the division of labor,” Das said. The worms were tapping into not just “individual [ant] physiology, but also social interactions,” Farrah Bashey-Visser, a parasitologist at Indiana University who wasn’t involved in the study, told me.

"Scientists think of social insects not as single bugs, but as interlaced parts of a giant “superorganism,” Manuela Ramalho, an ant biologist at Cornell University, who wasn’t involved in the study, told me. When one individual acts, others around it react; in a colony, no ant can truly act alone. Parasites of these communities automatically extend their reach to multiple animals at once, a rippling mind-control effect that spreads and amplifies the consequences of infection. Although the tapeworms had infected only a fraction of the Temnothorax workers, they were puppeteering the entire society.

That altered existence might play directly into the parasite’s hands. Tapeworms of these species can’t mature into adults and produce eggs until their ant host is consumed by a bird—a fate that insects in full possession of their faculties try to avoid. But ants who spend all their time lazing around the house make for easy prey; hosts who are pampered and long-lived have a high chance of surviving until they’re eaten. The worm’s most ingenious move might play out in some ants’ final moments, as they trade their natural fear of intruders for a dollop of ennui. When Foitzik and her students crack open infected Temnothorax colonies, the parasitized workers do little more than stare expectantly skyward. “Everyone else is just taking the larvae and running,” Foitzik said. “The infected workers are just like, Oh, what’s going on?”

Down to the molecular level, the parasite is pulling the strings. Sara Beros, Foitzik’s former doctoral student and the paper’s first author, told me she has split open Temnothorax abdomens and counted up to 70 tapeworms inside. From there, the worms can unleash a slurry of proteins and chemicals that futz with the ant’s core physiology, likely impacting their host’s hormones, immune system, and genes. What they achieve appears to be a rough pantomime of how ant queens attain their mind-boggling life span, a feat humans still don’t understand. (The tapeworms’ grasp of ant aging is far more advanced than ours.) The parasites are effectively flash-freezing their host into a preserved state—one that will up their own chances of survival, and help guarantee that their species lives on.

The worms’ MO is subtle and ingenious. They are agents not of disaster, but of an insidious social sickness that sets reality only slightly, barely perceptibly, askew. Infected workers get a taste of invincibility and status, swaddling themselves in youth and the benefits it brings. They also form resource sinks that sap the energy of those around them. They become echoes of the microorganisms they harbor. They are, in the end, parasites themselves.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[thomasschabot]

find myself running home to you

thomas chabot x fem!reader

for thomas, big wins don’t always have to be celebrated in flashy ways

word count: 2.5k

warnings: cursing

a/n: first fic in almost five months, what’s good? this is extremely niche content but i simply do not care 😌

⭑⭒⭑

Ottawa offers enveloping anonymity and you love it. 

It’s a city with too much going on governmentally for people to care about hockey all that much, but the loyal handfuls still respect the privacy of those in the organization and leave them alone, save for the rare time a child asks to take a picture with their favourite player. You’re thankful this is where your roots are extending, settling into the suburbs and occasionally winding their way down Dalhousie into the heart of the Market for a night out. No one bothers you, even when you’re out with Thomas, and it’s the thing that will keep you from ever leaving. The future of a professional athlete is unpredictable, you know, but you’ll fight your boyfriend tooth and nail if he ever wants to move somewhere else unless they’re offering him millions of more dollars and the same opportunity to live your lives publicly and without incident.

The fact that no one cares who you are allows you to sit in your favourite spot at the Canadian Tire Centre — a seat in the 300s directly across from the home bench so you can see everything Thomas experiences. He’s not particularly skilled at hiding his emotions, but you adore him because of it. Even when the two of you are arguing you know exactly how he feels, and it often leads to quicker resolutions because neither of you are afraid of communicating. 

As you slide into your seat far away from the friends and family box, where many other significant others and their families are enjoying the game, the person sitting next to you gives a smile. 

“Right choice of jersey there, eh?” the older gentleman laughs, gesturing to his back to show you’re wearing the same jersey. 

It’s a Giroux reverse retro, with all the trimmings that made the 2007 cup run so spectacular even if G wasn’t anywhere near Ottawa, and it’s your most prized possession. Thomas had gifted it to you one random Sunday, and simply shrugged when you asked why. The smallest detail on the back is what makes it so special — a signature is on the bottom of the eight, along with a little smiley face. 

“I like to think so,” you reply, smiling wide at the fact this man either doesn’t know who you are or doesn’t care. “And I think the boys are going to come out guns-a-blazing.”

You know this, of course, because the energy flowing through your home and the homes of other Senators has been electric through the holiday break, but you aren’t going to spill that secret. The man returns your grin tenfold. “I certainly hope so. I didn’t come all the way across the province in a snowstorm to watch them lose.”

⭒⭑⭒

Lose they do not. The Sens play their hearts out, keeping up with the slightly sloppy hockey Boston played. New teammates are becoming more and more like brothers as the seasons plods along, and it’s beginning to show — every single line has undeniable chemistry that’s palpable everywhere in the arena, including the press box. It’s all the beat reporters can write about, and the public can’t get enough of the content, allowing the guys to focus on playing hockey, which is what they do best. 

The game is scoreless through a period and a half, and then the floodgates open. It’s a constant flip-flop of goals being scored, with neither team ever eeking ahead to grab a hold of the lead. Thomas continues to be the playmaker he is, passing when the time is right, connecting on clean hits, and eventually bagging an assist. It’s a relatively quiet third period, with most of the action happening in the neutral zone, but you’re on the edge of your seat as the clock winds down. Regulation ends with a tie, and you bounce your leg up and down rapidly while Thomas gets instructions from the coaching staff on how he should proceed through the first shift of overtime.

“Nervous?”

It’s your seat neighbour, eyes holding a look of fond curiosity. He’s showing no obvious signs of concern of distress, and truly looks like he’s going to enjoy what’s coming. “You look like you might puke.”

A small laugh bubbles from your throat. “I loathe OT,” you explain, “It’s so nerve wracking.”

“If you’re going to hurl, please try not to get it on my shoes. My daughter bought them for me as a Christmas gift with her first pay cheque.”

You don’t get a chance to respond, to assure him you won’t actually be sick despite the clamminess creeping into your skin, because the puck drops and the clock starts counting down. Five minutes is an awfully long time when there’s only three players a side and changes happen less frequently. Thomas is on the ice for nearly two minutes before he’s able to come off — somehow he has the puck more than anyone else, taking the occasional shot but mostly keeping it away from the rapidly tiring Boston forwards. You watch with bated breath, bracing yourself for the overwhelming emotions of elation or despair, depending on which net the puck lands in. To the surprise of almost everyone, Talbot stops every shot that comes his way, and the overtime period yields no results. 

Before your friend for the night can even open his mouth you’re firing words out of your mouth so quickly they almost don’t make sense. “I fucking hate shootouts and they better win or lose before Chabby has to go up.”

It’s common knowledge that Thomas isn’t confident in shootout situations, and though he’s actively working on it, they only happen every-so-often. He can’t seem to muster the swagger of Brady or the pure skill of Tim, and opposing goalies can read him from miles away. You hope he doesn’t have to step up to the plate because you know if he’s the reason the team loses Thomas will hold it on his shoulders for weeks. 

“Looks like it’ll be DeBrincat, Stütlze, and Batherson.” You barely hear what’s being said to you, ears ringing so loud it’s almost unbearable. 

No air leaves your lungs as you watch Alex get ready. It’s only once his puck buries itself in the back of the net do you exhale, and even then it’s shallow — the lead could be nullified in a matter of seconds. Luckily it’s not, and you slowly return to your normal breathing pattern. Tim misses, but so does DeBrusk, and when Batherson narrowly misses victory is so close you can almost taste it. Never in your life have you wanted Patrice Bergeron to fumble so badly, and there’s a prick in your heart for wishing ill on one of Thomas’s friends, but you need the Senators to win. The team needs the confidence boost of beating the team with the best record in the entire league. 

The ten seconds of Bergeron’s attempt pass in slow motion, and when Talbot closes his glove around the puck you’re out of your seat, jumping up and down and screaming at the top of your lungs. You can’t believe the team pulled it off, and you cheers the people around you with an empty water bottle you’ve been holding on to since the second intermission. As your boyfriend skates towards centre ice to celebrate with his teammates he raises his stick in your general direction — not knowing exactly where you are but knowing you’ll know who the gesture was for.

People don’t linger for long, wanting to try and beat the traffic, so you wish the man who kept you company safe travels as he sneaks past and watch the crowd disperse. You stay until the stars of the game take to the ice and chuckle when DeBrincat nearly trips over the bench on his way to the dressing room corridor. With a rapidly depopulating section and a clear pathway to the corridor that takes you down to ice level, you gather your jacket and walk at a leisurely pace. No one will bother you anyways if they do recognize your face from the occasional social media post, and you silently thank the late Bryan Murray for drafting Thomas to a city with such a respect for privacy. 

Once you’re safely in the hallway outside the dressing room a small group of children swarm you. A couple of seasons ago you became the unofficial team sitter, offering your house up when exhausted parents needed a break, and the baby senators adore you. You pick them up and spin them around one at a time before giving a quick hug and suggesting they find their families so they can go home. There’s no sign of Thomas, but you don’t expect there to be, so you busy yourself by firing off a few texts to those who might want an update on your evening. 

Wish you could have come! You send to your grandfather, who was supposed to make the journey up but came down with the flu. 

Your mom gets Waiting to say goodnight to Tom before going home and calling it a night. The stress of all that extra time drained me lol!

Friends get some variation of Were you watching??! Holy shit and a few even get gifs that encapsulate your pride. 

The shadow of your boyfriend appears from the doorway, and the tired smile that rises on his features at the sight of you makes your heart melt. Fresh out of the shower, Thomas smells like home, and you’re glad you decided to wait him out before travelling across the suburb to the house you’ve shared for nearly half a decade. Your arms find his waist and you hold him close, letting him place a kiss on your temple before pulling back to talk to him for the first time in hours. 

“Hell of a game, eh?”

“Yeah,” Thomas smiles, “It was. Where did you sit today?”

“Near the front of 324,” you reply before reaching up to brush a stray hair behind his ear. “I’m beat. All that excitement gave me a few premature greys and zapped all my energy. Just wanted to say goodnight before I left since I can guarantee I’ll be asleep when you get home.”

He laughs, and you know it came from his stomach because it’s loud and strong. “You can’t wait up an extra thirty minutes for me? I just have a short media slot and then I’m out of here.”

Stubbornly you shake your head. “Go out and celebrate with the boys! You all deserve to relish the win and unwind a little. I think I overheard some of the girls say they wanted to make the trip downtown to Earl of Sussex once more before it closes.” 

Thomas shakes his head almost feverishly, as if he’s afraid being casual won’t convey his distaste for being anywhere you aren’t. He places a chaste kiss to your lips before beginning to walk away, knowing Brady is going to give him shit for being late to their interview.

“I’ll see you at home sweetheart.”

⭑⭒⭑

You’re tucked away in the upstairs bathroom brushing your teeth when the door unlocks. It’s scary how fast Thomas got home, exactly thirty-five minutes after you left the arena, and you have no doubt speed limits were ignored. 

“Tommy?” you call down the dimly lit staircase, “Can you bring me a glass of water when you come up?”

There’s no reply, but you hear the lightswitch in the kitchen flip on and the faucet running. Lights periodically turn on and off as he moves around the first floor, placing things in their proper spots and making sure the rooms remain tidy. If there’s one thing your boyfriend is, it’s someone who needs order and cleanliness. Footsteps finally pad up the stairs, muffled by the socks still on his feet, just as you’re pulling back the covers to slip under. It still takes Thomas a minute or two to enter the bedroom because he stops to use the washroom and hangs his suit with the growing collection in the hall closet that needs to go to the dry cleaners. 

Head in a crossword puzzle and the glasses you only wear in the house slipping down the bridge of your nose, you offer a gentle smile when Thomas pulls the pyjama bottoms he’s worn for the past few nights out from under his pillow. Neither of you speak while he settles in beside you, grabbing the crime novel you got him for Christmas from his nightstand and tucking you into his side. Your head rests on his chest, and you hold the pen in your mouth when not filling in spaces so you can keep a chilled hand on his bare stomach because he’s the human embodiment of a furnace and you need to feel your fingers.

The dull hum of the ceiling fan is the only noise in the house beside the pair of you breathing in tandem. Occasionally there’s the sound of a page flipping, but Thomas reads at a slower pace than you and he keeps getting distracted by your grumbling about how the clues don’t make any sense. 

“I think it’s agape,” Thomas offers with a shrug. “Nothing else fits.”

You shake your head a few too many times and end up knocking it on his shoulder. “I’ve tried but it doesn’t fit.” To demonstrate your point you ghost the pen over the blank boxes, not leaving a mark.

A laugh erupts from the body propping you up, and you feel it trickle down your spine. “That would be because you’re spelling it wrong.”

“Fuck.”

“You must be really tired.”

Instead of responding you let out a yawn, and it forces Thomas to follow. Without a word, you both put away your respective nighttime activities and turn off the lamps illuminating the room. Bathed in darkness you’re able to bury into the mountain of pillows you sleep with and close your eyes. The soft thumps of your boyfriend fluffing his pillows lets you know he’ll also be in deep slumber soon enough, and you don’t feel guilty about not extending the cuddle session. Sleep is a solo sport, and while you love Thomas to death you don’t want him constricting your movements in the night because his arms are too tight around you — luckily he agrees, and almost every night ends with a sweet kiss before you turn in your respective directions for the night.

As hell settles in for a night of deep rest, with the option to sleep in given a later call time for the travel to Washington, Thomas mumbles into the darkness, “Goodnight, mon chou.”

The term of endearment makes your stomach flutter for a split second before it rests there, blooming like a garden and warming your insides. 

“Night, Tom. I love you.”

He’s already dozing off, and you doubt he comprehended what you said. You follow shortly after, a smile on your face as the realization sinks in that no matter how much of a high Thomas is running on with his career, he’d rather spend the downtime quietly with you than with anyone else.

⭒⭑⭒

enjoy this fic? give it a reblog :) <3

[twisted-tales-told]

hi! i’m the anon from soph’s page who was asking about universities and i loved hearing your opinion too. i was thinking about brock because the presenters at the tour i went to were very convincing but then i started thinking they were lying when i went to the cafeteria and they were bragging about their amazing food and then i went on tiktok later and saw people posting about how they got food poisoning multiple times there and i was like ok if you are lying about this WHAT ELSE ARE YOU LYING ABOUT?? anyways what university or college do you like the most?

Omg Hi Hello! Yeah Brock is Like That. It truly is made of popsicle sticks & crayons. A strong breeze would blow it over as an institution.

So different school here REALLY do different thing. Engineering & physics I would definitely reccomend Waterloo, my father went there for physics and chemistry and he had a wonderful time.

Ryerson, OCAD, and Sheridans collage of arts are all really good arts schools—Sheridan specifically for animation. You will get so many opportunities there & if you go after them you are way way more likely to get a job after you graduate.

Like Soph said Guelph is know so well for its veterinary program and similarity Trent University is known for its forensic science program. Trent is a. Weird uni. Weird in a good way! But weird. That’s all I can say on that.

Queens Does have a good business program, so does Western— I have a cousin there and she loves it.

Queens also has an art history program and as much as I HATE to admit it, it’s really good. If I could go back in time I would apply there.

Now there are all universities in Ontario. I only considered one outside of Ontario. It was in Halifax called Dalhousie—and I WISH I had applied there. God I wish I’d followed my instincts instead of listening to my parents. It’s a beautiful campus and has a really wonderful language and history programs.

Can I just say? I think it’s so fucking stupid to apply to university right out of high school.

Not to get personal but the choices I would make for my life now are way smarter now that my brain has fully developed. I didnt know what I wanted to do with my life and that’s okay.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed by this decision, just know you can wait, you can dive in head first, you can change your mind and backtrack, hell you can start over (very expensive though don’t recommend). It’s your life, and in case nobody has told you this, that means you go at the speed you want to. Nobody else’s. That autonomy and choice is your right. People might pressure u into making certain choices and they are way out of bounds on that!!

[atlanticcanada]

Sex worker wins in Nova Scotia court but ruling leaves sex industry conflicted

In a legal decision described as the first of its kind in Canada, a Halifax sex worker successfully sued a client for nonpayment of services, but actors in the industry are conflicted about the ruling's impacts.

Former sex worker Brogan Sheehan took Bradley Samuelson to small claims court after he didn't fully pay her fee, which both parties had agreed to beforehand. Samuelson argued that the agreement was invalid because it is illegal to purchase sexual services, but court adjudicator Darrel Pink said the contract could still be enforced and awarded Sheehan $1,800.

Sex work remains criminalized in Canada, but a 2014 law removed criminal penalties for people, like Sheehan, who sell sexual services. Paying for sex, however, remains illegal.

Sheehan's lawyer, Jessica Rose, says she and her client wanted to expose the court to the "economic realities of doing sex work." As well, Rose said they wanted to raise awareness about "what is needed as far as access to the civil justice system to ensure sex workers are treated fairly by their clients."

"This type of issue had never been addressed before in court," Rose said in a recent interview.

Emma Halpern, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, says the decision empowers sex workers to seek legal remedies to enforce their contracts.

The decision also reflects a changing attitude within society and the law toward sex work, Halpern said. The public is beginning to understand the difference between "extremely harmful, predatory things like sex trafficking, and legitimate sex work by an adult who is a worker, pays taxes, has a business."

As a response to the ruling, Halpern and Sheehan said they planned to hold workshops for sex workers to help them understand their legal rights.

But not everyone in the sex industry sees the court's decision as a step forward. Real change will occur once politicians decriminalize sex work, said Sandra Wesley, executive director of Stella, a Montreal-based organization by and for sex workers.

The vast majority of sex workers, she said, won't seek financial recourse via the court system because sex work is still criminalized in Canada. Going to court exposes a sex worker -- and potentially everyone else she is associated with -- to the justice system, Wesley said.

"Even if there's a chance she can win, there's always a risk of workplaces being shut down, police being alerted to the activity, being evicted, deported," she said. "There are many consequences of being criminalized, even if we win in court."

Wesley says the small claims court decision actually goes against the 2014 federal sex work law, called the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. That law emphasizes the importance of discouraging sex work and denouncing and prohibiting the purchase of sexual services "because it creates a demand for prostitution."

Wesley says, "I hope the minister of justice and prime minister read the decision, read the law, and consider it's time to change it."

And while Pink's decision says that both sides in the court case believe it is the first of its kind in Canada, a legal expert questions its importance on jurisprudence because the ruling was rendered in small claims court.

"The usual court hierarchy doesn't apply," said Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus at Dalhousie University's law school. "Another small claims judge wouldn't necessarily have to follow it, nor a higher court."

And while the decision doesn't have a binding precedent, it could still influence other court rulings, he said.

"The message is out there," MacKay said. "Sex work is work, legal work, and deserves to be treated like other legal work, and if people chose not to pay, they can get a remedy in small claims court."

According to documents filed in Nova Scotia's small claims court, Sheehan charged $300 an hour for her services, and spent seven hours with Samuelson on Jan. 26, 2022. But the next morning, when she attempted to take cash out of an ATM with his bank card, the transaction was denied. After several text exchanges, Samuelson eventually paid Sheehan $300, leaving $1,800 outstanding.

Pink's decision, rendered in April, says public policy requires the courts "not to increase or contribute to exploitation of sex work, and thus favours a regime that gives aggrieved sex workers access to the civil courts when they have a civil claim."

MacKay said the broader social impact of the novel decision may be more important than the technical, legal impact.

"One has to kind of admire the sex worker that decided to test the waters, see what small claims court would do, and succeeded," he said. "That's the way things change sometimes."

Sheehan, who advocates for the decriminalization of sex work, said she wanted to pursue the case in court because she was a victim of human trafficking when she was a minor.

"I feel obligated to not leave things the way that they were," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2023.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/mhPY7ES

[rockislandadultreads]

Read-Alike Friday: One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley

One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley

A mystery she can't remember. A friend she can't forget.

I kept your secret Lucy. I've kept it for more than sixty years . . .

It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living alone with her eccentric mother - who conducts seances for the local Ludthorpe community - she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life.

When the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. But Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep . . .

Then Lucy goes missing.

2018. Edie is eighty-four and still living in Ludthorpe. When one day she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen, her family write it off as one of her many mix ups. There's a lot Edie gets confused about these days. A lot she finds difficult to remember. But what she does know is this: she must find out what happened to Lucy, all those years ago . . .

Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective by Katie Siegel

The downside of being a famous child detective is that sooner or later, you have to grow up . . .

As a kid, Charlotte Illes’ uncanny sleuthing abilities made her a minor celebrity. But in high school, she hung up her detective’s hat and stashed away the signature blue landline in her “office”—aka garage—convinced that finding her adult purpose would be as easy as tracking down missing pudding cups or locating stolen diamonds.

Now twenty-five, Charlotte has a nagging fear that she hit her peak in middle school. She’s living with her mom, scrolling through job listings, and her love life consists mostly of first dates. When it comes to knowing what to do next, Charlotte hasn’t got a clue.

And then, her old blue phone rings...

Reluctantly, Charlotte is pulled back into the mystery-solving world she knew—just one more time. But that world is a whole lot more complicated for an adult. As a kid, she was able to crack the case and still get her homework done on time. Now she’s dealing with dead bodies, missing persons, and villains who actually see her as a viable threat. And the detective skills she was once so eager to never use again are the only things that can stop a killer ready to make sure her next retirement is permanent.

This is the first volume of the "Not a Detective Mysteries" series.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13-year-old child during WWII. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiancé jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

The Sweet Remnants of Summer by Alexander McCall Smith

Isabel Dalhousie accepts an invitation to serve on the advisory committee of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, but soon finds herself swept up in an all-too-familiar dilemma. David is the grandson of a Scottish clan chief and is supportive of Scottish nationalism. But his fervent beliefs are threatening family harmony, especially because his sister Catriona's socialist views put her at odds with her brother. When their mother, Laura, a fellow committee member, asks Isabel to intervene, she tries to demur. But always one for courteous resolutions to philosophical disagreements, Isabel can't help but intercede.

In the meantime, Jamie, having criticized Isabel for getting involved in the affairs of others, does precisely that himself. Jamie is helping to select a new cellist for his ensemble, but he suspects that the conductor may be focused on something other than his favored candidate's cello skills.

With so many factors complicating matters, Isabel and Jamie will have to muster all their tact and charm to ensure that comity is reached between all these fractious parties.

This is the 14th volume of the "Isabel Dalhousie" series.

[opheliaschamber]

"For every trial and sorrow that God makes us shoulder, He has a reason." ~Khaled Hosseini.

A year has surpassed, since my anxiety disorder.

But even now, as the sun sways on the clouds at evenings, I can feel the remnants of the disorder. The anxiety penetrating deep within the edges of my belly, and the waves of the new-found atheism.

My disbelief in my God, Madhav.

I went to a couple of people for my anxiety. From the pathologist, to the school teachers, to the school counsellor, to friends, and lastly, to my aunt.

"Do yoga. Go meditate, it's good for anxiety,"

"You worry alot, and you overthink stuff. Why do you want to add more?"

"Itna tension nahi leneka. Be happy."

Imagine you're walking in a tunnel with a herd of people walking like sheeps. You're screaming; full throated cries. Yet, nobody in the tunnel can hear you. Yes, it feels exactly like that.

When the anxiety started, at cold dusks,

I would be on the brink of death.

Thoughts would nuzzle around my mind, like a snake caging its prey with its tail.

My hands would tremble and my breathing would occur with labour.

The fear, the stress, would slowly creep down to the belly of my abdomen and I could do nothing.

I had foreseen a panic attack.

I saw it coming.

Gently, it walked towards me in March.

One flaming hot summer noon,

In a caged toilet, with warm wind gushing through the windows, the attack began.

I remember traces; I was banging on the locked toilet door, with palms turned into fists, and I could not speak.

Words wouldn't fumble out of my mouth and I would helplessly bang on the oak door.

When I was released out of the toilet, the attack raced with a deadly speed.

My cheekbones, my lips, and my mouth went entirely numb. I can remember the tears flowing out of my eyes, and being incapable in providing life to my numb mouth.

"WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE ALL OF THIS? OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO COULD SUFFER, WHY ME? WHY ME?" I didn't realise I was screeching until my mother ran her fingers over the temple of my head, her eyes packed with tears.

I healed at the end of may, and the beginning of June.

After gazing at the monuments in Delhi, to the organized streets in Chandigarh, to the snow-capped mountains in Manali, to the flower gardens in Dalhousie, to the temple in Amritsar and lastly, with the soldiers at Wagha border.

With people, with places, and with memories,

I realised that life is now.

Life is in the present. Life is in the moment that I live, life is now that I'm writing.

Life is this.

My aunt, in east Maharashtra, was a messenger sent by Madhav, which we both believe in.

"You have taken the steering wheel of your life from Madhav. Return it back, divya. Let him drive. Let him take care of the speed and destination. You sit beside him and enjoy the journey. And trust him again. He won't let the brakes fail."

"It doesn't matter how many times you water a mango seed, for it will only ever bear fruits in summers."

"The only two things that you should focus on are; what you want in life and what will you do to achieve it."

She healed me.

At the end of the summer, on the brink of an upcoming monsoon,

In the garden, I met Madhav again.

In my dreams, I dream of peacock feathers and summers.

I dream that I am sitting beside the driver's seat and am gazing at the buildings that I grew up with.

"What happened?" Madhav asked.

I grinned; all teeth.

"Winters are parting," I answered.

"What do you see, Divya?" He asked standing beside me.

"I see the dawn of a rising sun."

"I will never let this sun set." He promised.

Now, as the fear of academic pressure looms over me, as new books, new publications await me,

I smile.

"Let me live now." i mutter.

I can see Madhav's eyes cramming with tears for the first time in days and a smile beaming at the dawn.

Author: Divya A. Korde.

[petticoatsandparasols]

Realizing now that I have Lyme disease, it leaves a lot of questions. Maybe this is what has been causing my fibromyalgia? Maybe that extremely rough psychological stuff I’ve been dealing with lately are related? Learning about Lyme is like a lightbulb going off…

2 years ago I found a bullseye rash, never saw a tick and was treated with doxycycline. Lyme can become chronic in some people and you can have what is called a resurgence which is what I am dealing with now. I don’t believe I got a new fresh tick bite.

Lyme disease can cause so many symptoms that look like other disorders and is not easily detected on blood panels and other testing methods. I was tested over a year ago and since it was negative I assumed that meant I didn’t have the disease. Well now I know that is not true. I have questioned since then if lyme was a possibility… like I can’t even tell you how many times it crossed my mind, but since I’m not a doctor, I just kept pushing it off and saying well my doctor told me I have fibromyalgia… I do but there’s a reason for it!!

The good thing that comes out of this is antibiotics can help me greatly and if things start to flare again, I know what it is and can ask for help!

When I was at the hospital the doctor asked if I wanted to be part of a Lyme disease study they are doing through Dalhousie University and I said YES OF COURSE! So now, like I always do, I will become an advocate for this disease.

My message for everyone is simple:

1. Please be careful and check yourselves for ticks! I know it’s easy to forget especially since they can be the size of a grain of pepper but do everything you can to avoid this disease can I can tell you, it is absolute hell! Nova Scotia is dealing with a really high volume of tick bites and Lyme now and also other bacteria borne illnesses are popping up too. I witnessed at least half a dozen people at the ER in Lunenburg yesterday who were there for them as well! It is truly rampant and I share this as a warning.

2. Never stop fighting and advocating for yourself. I know that also isn’t easy especially with our crumbling healthcare system but if you believe something is wrong, don’t stop asking questions! Don’t stop looking for an answer! Listen to your body and trust yourselves!

[sekritjay]

Doing the pre-nervous breakdown reply system because I want others to opine as well. When did xkit break btw?

@mystery-moose - I am absolutely no expert but I can tell you that I looked seriously for a while at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia! Having lived in that city for about six months I found it thoroughly pleasant, and it’s a few hundred thousand people total so it’s not quite as big a culture shock if you’re going from a more rural or less dense area. Decent food too.

Halifax looks like a very relaxed city but I checked out the Dalhousie website and I don't qualify for any of their course offerings. Like, none of them - perils of doing pol-sci I guess. The closest would be management but I don't have a maths A-level. It's also not clear what their policies are towards mature international students. Thanks for the suggestion though man! There are are other universities in and around Halifax that do offer polsci courses so I'll take a look at those. I'm really curious as to what the programme courses would imply about what you studied though Moose

@tarysande - A few things to keep in mind: Canada’s going through a housing shortage crisis and this has hit university students particularly hard. So, you have to think about housing EARLY. Vancouver and Toronto are unfuckingbelievably expensive. That said, they’re the major centers of media in this country. Canadian university programs are pretty much always four years. Montreal is cool and does have an English university (McGill), but the city is very bilingual.

You might also want to look into schools that offer specific training related to media studies. My husband teaches at BCIT—I know they do quite a lot of media stuff and, as a school, they’re MUCH more job-focused than universities typically are. Douglas College is another one. Pro: this class of school is much more likely to do shorter programs (1-3 year certificates).

Also, if I remember correctly, deadlines for applications are like … now until February, depending on the school, so you’d need to start submitting asap

Vancouver/Toronto I'd be surprised if they weren't expensive but I'll be honest I have the country mouse's terror of moving to a large city so I'd like to avoid that if I can. I do drive though so that might make things easier. Maybe

My first instinct is to find out if my university credits are transferrable and which places in Canada will accept them. That'll dictate what I eventually choose to do but I do know that if I get a study permit it also includes the right to work up to 20 hours a week, mitigating the costs somewhat. There must be employers who will happily take on a guy with 10 years catering management right?

If the worst happens and I have to do a brand new three year course that'll be painful but... well, it would mean that more options would open to me. I might find something I didn't know I would enjoy doing. God, I've not been a student for ten years though and I'm afraid of crashing out again. Even just talking about it here online is kinda nauseating

[novumtimes]

Containers stacking up in Halifax Montreal amid dockworkers strike

Article content By Andrew Rankin Container traffic intended for the East and Gulf Coast ports in the United States is trickling into the Port of Halifax and more is on the way. Since Tuesday, dockworkers at more than 30 ports from Texas to Maine have been on strike, halting the flow of about half of America’s ocean shipping. Paul MacIsaac, Port of Halifax senior vice-president, said a few container ships have already been diverted to Halifax and more are expected soon. Article content That leaves those who run Canada’s largest Atlantic port with two jobs. “Our interest is in keeping the supply chain fluid and ensuring that our regular customers are not impacted,” MacIsaac said. Some cargo landing in Halifax will be shipped by rail to the U.S., mainly to the New York area. Most containers, though, will sit dockside in Halifax until the strike ends, he said. At that point, they will be picked up by container ships and delivered to the U.S. Right now, that’s not a problem. The city’s two terminals are operating at 40 per cent capacity, MacIsaac said. But things could get very tight quickly. “The port works in a fluid manner,” he said. “The boxes come, they are delivered, they sit on the docks usually two or three days, and they’re evacuated by rail and by truck. It won’t take long to utilize that additional capacity.” There’s only so much help Halifax can offer. The Atlantic port can accommodate about 600,000 containers a year, roughly a tenth of the four million containers New York handles annually. “We have the ability to help in the short term, but certainly we can’t do this forever,” MacIsaac said. “We’re hopeful that the situation in the U.S. ports corrects itself sooner rather than later, because what’s really most important to us is we want to make sure our regular services are not impacted in any way and cargo moving continues to do so with the efficiency and reliability we’re known for.” Article content While 45,000 U.S. longshoremen are off the job, Montreal dockworkers are staging a three-day strike of their own. The work stoppage, over wages and automation, closed two of the port’s seven terminals to all vessel, truck and rail traffic. Containers are piling up. As for Canadian consumers, there is no need to worry — yet, said Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab. Grocery stores and big-box outlets have overstocked in preparation of the port shutdowns. But he said things could get ugly after a couple of weeks. “Beyond that, everything is off the table,” he said. Recommended from Editorial Effects of port strikes will ripple widely Halifax port weighs robots vs. dockworkers Large companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. will prioritize the much more lucrative U.S. market, which could lead to shortages in Canada. “Eventually the U.S. port situation could be a problem for Canadians,” Charlebois said. • Email: arankin@postmedia.com Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the business news you need to know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. Share this article in your social network Source link via The Novum Times

[communityinclusion]

ICI’s DeBrittany Humphrey Presents at 2024 Knowledge Translation Canada Conference

This year's Knowledge Translation Canada Conference selected DeBrittany (Mitchell) Humphrey, a Knowledge Translation Manager from the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI), to present on using a learning collaborative model as an integrated knowledge translation approach to help create youth apprenticeship programs in rural communities. The conference, which brings together knowledge translation experts from across Canada and beyond, focuses on the dissemination and implementation of research findings.

Photo of DeBrittany (Mitchell) Humphrey delivering a presentation on rural knowledge translation at the KT Canada Conference.

The Rural Youth Apprenticeship Development project (RYAD) uses the learning collaborative model as an integrated knowledge translation approach, partnering researchers with disability employment service providers across states to create more apprenticeship opportunities for youth with disabilities living in underserved, rural communities in the United States. One RYAD learning collaborative member shared about his experience:

“It’s been very eye-opening to me because I see a lot of the similarities in the struggles we face in rural communities across states. For example, transportation, especially for people with disabilities, is a real barrier and a recurring issue. So how do you address it? How do you know how to work together to find solutions to these problems? That’s one of the things we spent a lot of time brainstorming together in the learning collaborative.”

During the presentation, Humphrey highlighted key knowledge translation lessons learned from the RYAD project, emphasizing the importance of using the learning collaborative approach to move beyond disseminating research findings to fostering dialogue about best practices, barriers, and solutions to implementing apprenticeship programs in rural areas. She commented:

“We look forward to continuing our work on the RYAD project to help build more equitable and inclusive apprenticeship opportunities for youth with disabilities in underserved, rural communities.”

Photo of DeBrittany (Mitchell) Humphrey presenting her poster: “Rural Apprenticeships for Youth with Disabilities: Insights from the Learning Collaborative KT Model”

For more information about RYAD, view the project factsheet and explore the Rural Youth Apprenticeship Toolkit.

Photo of KT Canada Conference selected attendees and expert speakers standing in the courtyard of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. DeBrittany Humphrey is standing in the second row, second from the left.

[skysafar]

Top 16 Best Things To Do In Dalhousie

Things To Do In Dalhousie : Dalhousie is beautifully set among pine-clad valleys and stunning mountains in Himachal Pradesh. This unspoiled hill station exudes colonial elegance and is surrounded by mist-covered peaks. Its close location to the Dhauladhar mountain range ensures a mild climate year-round, drawing countless visitors from the plains.

Read More: https://skysafar.in/top-16-best-things-to-do-in-dalhousie/

[shimlamanalihoneymoonpackage]

Planning a honeymoon trip to Himachal Pradesh? Important things to consider in your honeymoon itinerary

Newly married couples planning for their dream honeymoon trip, embark on a vacation to the cool and cozy hills of Himachal Pradesh. Explore the charming hill-stations of Shimla, Manali, Kullu, Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj blessed with stunning landscape, green valleys, majestic snow covered mountain ranges, enchanting rivers flowing and the thick forests comprising of pine and deodar.

Himachal Pradesh is a charming hill station offering endless romantic activities to engage in and things to do. Honeymoon couples hoping to add some thrill to their vacation can opt for horse riding, trekking, paragliding, zorbing, and skiing (in winter only). For a relaxing and wellness experience they can engage in meditation, yoga and spa retreats. Those honeymooners, who want to seek blessings from the God and Goddesses, should visit the ancient temples. 

Shimla Manali Honeymoon Package offers the best of honeymoon packages from budget-friendly stay options to luxurious resorts. 

Begin your new journey and celebrate your love in the midst of the Himalayan mountain ranges, perfect for romance, adventure, natural beauty, and spiritual and cultural experience as well. To make your honeymoon trip to Himachal Pradesh captivating, here is what you need to consider for your honeymoon itinerary:

Best Romantic Destinations to visit in Himachal Pradesh

1. Shimla

Top on the list for a honeymoon trip to Himachal Pradesh is Shimla, which is the capital of Himachal Pradesh. The town is famous for its old colonial buildings, beautiful landscape, quaint villages, evergreen trees and rich vegetation. Some of the famous places to visit in Shimla include the Mall Road, Jakhoo temple, the Ridge, Scandal Point, Summer Hill, Chail, Kufri, etc.

2. Manali

Another romantic honeymoon destination in Himachal Pradesh is Manali which is blessed with eternal beauty. Some of the important places to visit in Manali include Hadimba Devi Temple, Vashisht Hot Water Springs and Temple, Old Manali, Solang Valley, Rohtang Pass, etc. Opt for the best Manali Tour Packages for a hassle-free honeymoon trip.

3. Dalhousie

Dalhousie is a small colonial town; the town was designed by Lord Dalhousie. The region is famous for its old colonial buildings, tranquil atmosphere and natural beauty. One of the popular spot to visit near Dalhousie is Khajjiar which is referred to as mini Switzerland, as it is blessed with lush green meadows, charming valleys and surrounding snow-clad mountains.

4. Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj

Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj are popular known as the twin towns. It is famous for its natural beauty and is home to Dalai Lama. The town has many beautiful places to visit like the Dalai Lama Temple, monasteries, Bhagsu Nag Waterfalls and temple, Nadi village and view point, Triund, Kangra Valley and Fort, etc.

5. Kasauli

Kasauli is a small hill-stations blessed with enchanting natural beauty and serene and peaceful atmosphere. Some of the places to visit in Kasauli include the Monkey Point, Christ Church, Kasauli Brewery, Gilbert Trail, Gurkha Fort, etc.

Adventure Activities to in Himachal Pradesh

1. Paragliding in Bir-Billing:

Honeymooners who want to add some thrill to their honeymoon trip can opt for paragliding in Bir-Billing. It is one of the famous spot around the world for providing this thrilling activity. 

2. Trekking in Himachal Pradesh 

Those who love to immerse in the natural beauty of the region and want to watch natura up close, they can opt for trekking. In your Shimla Manali Honeymoon Package, if you are an adventure lover include it in your trip. Some of the popular trekking routes include trek to Great Himalayan National Park, Triund Trek, Hampta Pass Trek, etc.

3. Skiing in Solang Valley:

If you have made your honeymoon plans during the winter season, you can opt for skiing in Solang Valley. The slopes and the stunning views of the mountain ranges, offers the perfect fit for skiing in Solang Valley 

4. River Rafting in Kullu:

Daring honeymooners can include River Rafting in Beas River in Kullu, scream-out loud as you navigate through the strong unpredictable rapids, pass through twist and turns of the flowing. This activity must be undertaken only by experienced rafters and if you are a beginner it is advised to choose this activity from experienced rafting tour operators.

5. Camping in Kullu:

Those honeymooners who want to experience staying near the wild in a serene and peaceful location should opt for camping in Kullu. One of the best spot for camping in Kullu is near the riverside of Beas River.

Relaxation and Wellness experience in Himachal Pradesh

Vashisht Hot Water Springs and Temple: If you want to have a natural therapy, visit this spiritual place in Manali, the natural hot springs are believed to provide remedial benefits.

Hot Springs of Gurudwara Manikaran Sahib: The natural hot springs of Manikaran located in the premises of Gurudwara Manikaran Sahib are believed to have therapeutic properties.

Wellness and Spa Resorts: Honeymooners can pamper themselves in spa treatments at some of the luxury resorts in Manali, Shimla, Kullu, and Dharamshala. 

Scenic Drives and Rides in Himachal Pradesh

Toy Train Ride: For making your trip extra romantic, enjoy the Kalka-Shimla Toy train ride. 

Rohtang Pass: If roads are open and passes are available, you can visit Rohtang Pass for enjoying the stunning views of the snow-covered mountains. Manali Tour Packages will surely let you have the best romantic honeymoon experience.

Himachal Pradesh Honeymoon Packages and Planning

Opt for customized honeymoon packages: Honeymooners should opt for customized honeymoon packages, wherein they can include accommodations, places to visit, activities to indulge in, and extra specials like candlelight dinner, based on their preferences.

Know the best time to visit: Based on the activity of your choice select the best time to visit. Honeymooners must know that the best months to visit Himachal Pradesh is during the spring/summer season i.e. from March to June and the autumn season that is from September to November. For snow, visit during the winter season i.e. December to February. Avoid traveling during the monsoon season i.e. from July to August.