Chalo lets go!!!

Rocky Ranthambore

2011-07-18T01:47:00.000-07:00

Whenever I used to think of Rajasthan picture that came to my mind was of majestic forts, beautiful palaces, colorful festivals, golden sand dunes and adventurous camel rides. But a visit to Ranthambore changed it. Rolling hills, valleys and plateaus intercepted with forest streams and romantic water holes agog with rare wild life is added to the list.

A group of 8, driving from Delhi to Ranthambore in 2 cars – an Alto and an Esteem

Route we followed: Delhi – Gurgaon – Jaipur – Dausa – Lalsot – Sawai Madhopur - Ranthambore

With a good mix of Silky smooth highway roads and narrow bumpy village roads we covered the distance of around 460 kms in 10 hrs (with breaks). People in their colorful gears busy with daily chores, birds and animals roaming around freely and a maze of road side dhabas offering spicy food – all made our drive worth remembering. We took some of the best shots of the trip on our way.

We decided to stay in a not-so-costly hotel in Sawai Madhopur. Gathered some information about the park and its wildlife from locals and decided to go on an early morning safari the next day.

Safari:

The safari is arranged in huge canters that can accommodate 20 people at a time. One has to be really lucky to get the tickets at one go due to great demand of these topless useless mini trucks that intrude the privacy of animals as much as the picnickers who are least interested in wildlife.

Unlike many other National parks I have visited... Dudhwa, Bandabgarh, Kaziranga to name a few, the park is plagued by ever-increasing popularity of “thoughtless tourism” which leads to more and more influx of insensible picnickers, making the park a noisy cafeteria, and leaving the wild lives more fragile, striving for their privacy.

Exploring Rathambore:

Disappointed with the experience, we decided to explore the place on our own the next day. Drove to Ranthambore fort on our small Alto, halting at few places where we sighted good variety of birds that included woodpeckers, babbler, magpie, bee eaters, varieties of pigeon, peacock and peahens and many more of which I don’t know the names.

The avian population in this “Tiger Reserve” makes it a bird lover’s paradise and a photographer’s dream. One can hear the ‘tok tok’ of a woodpeker peeping out of the thick of the branches, a magpie flying past as you try to capture it in your camera... The ceaseless musical birdcalls enchanted us as we drove further deep.

The Fort:

Climbing the heights of the Ranthambore fort gave us a good chance to view the landscape from above. Rolling hills, valleys and plateaus intercepted with forest streams and romantic water holes provided a memorable impression of a deep green jungle and its rare wildlife.

On our way back we visited small cottage industries and shops on the outskirts of the park that provide employment to the local ladies and offer us a good chance to take back souvenirs as memories of our trip.

Wanna know more about Ranthambore? Click here

Auli - Land of peaks, forest and flowers

2011-06-16T04:37:00.000-07:00

It was a clear day with sun rays warming our bodies that have gone numb due to the chill in the air. High snow clad peaks of Nanda Devi, Chaukhamba, Panch Chuli, Mana and Kamet bordered with Golden oak and deodar kissing the deep blue sky above, welcomed us to Auli.

After basking for a while on a natural green carpet, we started walking around.

High snow clad peaks bordered with Golden oak and deodar kissing the deep blue sky above, welcomed us to Auli

Basking on a natural green carpet

An encounter with locals

Met Kunti devi, Lalita and Kuldeep on the way. Kunti, who lives in a nearby village, was going to deliver milk to families at Government quarters.

Far on the top we could see a potato farm that Kuldeep told us he is coming from.

Locals busy in daily chores

Not-at-all-camera-shy locals were all in for pictures

After spending some time talking to them we headed towards the ski resort of GMVN (Garhwal mandal).

Golden Oak and Pine Forest

The resort looked like a labyrinth of stairs. On climbing to the top we discovered a car chair lift to the point where skiing is done in winters. There was an artificial lake constructed by GMVN to prepare snow for Skiing that Kuldeep had mentioned excitedly and told us not to miss. But for us city dwellers who live in artificiality day in and day out, it was not the attraction. We wanted go up and up and lose ourselves in the serene nature. So we decided to trek to the Golden Oak forest.

We trekked up further to reach the golden oak forest

Encircled by the snow-laden Himalayan peaks is a dense forest of Pine and golden oak, so serene and noiseless that you can hear the sound of rustling leaves under your feet. The unique thing about the forest was the carpet of purple lilies, the Sagebrush Buttercup and white daisies.

A glimpse of Nanda Devi National Park

After spending good two to three hours in the forest we had to return to GMVN as it started raining. Weather had changed its flavor, the sun has been engulfed by dark clouds and the sweet sun shine day had been turned into a harsh chilled breezy day.

The water drops wetting us and cool breeze teasing by blowing even faster after the shower. Never before has rain felt so good.

Wet body, aching limbs and satisfied heart is what we came back with. After doing some photography here and there and teasing friends about the kind of place we are at, we drifted into the world of dreams.

Magical Sunrise

We woke up to a fresh morning and trekked towards a small temple on the top of one of the hills. It was still dark outside and not even a single soul was to be seen. We witnessed the first rays of the sun falling on majestic Himalayas.

Golden rays falling on snow laden mountain peaks

After sunrise at around 6.00am, some activity started. Few more wandering souls came out with their cameras, and some believers were out to offer their prayers and there was a lot of activity around the Indo Tibetan army base.

We came back with serenity of solitary forests, strength of Majestic Himalayas and simplicity of smiling locals.

For more information on the place visit http://www.chaloletsgo.com/index.php/destination-guide/east-india/auli
Picture gallery - http://www.chaloletsgo.com/index.php/behind-the-lens-photography-tips-and-tricks/delhi-and-around/the-garhwal-himalays

Guchhu Pani

2011-05-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

8 kms away from Dehradun, capital city of Uttrakhand, on the Rajpura road lies this breathtakingly beautiful place called Robber's cave. "Guchhu pani" is what they call it locally. It is undoubtedly one of the many hidden treasures of Uttarakhand.

The first thing you will notice on reaching the place is a person renting slippers and also selling "Banta", age old cold drink. After having a refreshing glass of lemon banta, we proceeded. We could not oblige the old man by taking slippers on rent as we were prepared. But in case you are not carrying your slippers or floaters, do not miss the opportunity, do rent it.

Next you will see a gate and a counter on right side where entry tickets are available... each ticket costing INR 5.

Its difficult to imagine from outside what to expect inside. After a few shops selling hot Maggi, momos and tea you will have rocky walls and chilled water welcoming you. Keep walking on the narrow path of pebbles covered with water and huge rocks on the sides.

There must be a temerature difference of around 2-3 degrees from outside.

As you go further inside walls get narrower and air chiller. Keep walking along the water path. Water level increases as you keep going ahead... covering your feet at first and then your knees and suddenly you will find yourself totaly wet... More than knee deep water below and cold water pouring from above.

You are still not out of the shock and suddenly you will find yourself engulfed by big rocks. They seem to be slippery but actually they are not. Probably due to high salt content in water.

Sound of water will keep you mesmerized throughout. You will be surprised to find youself surrounded by waterfalls. There are many hidden falls so don't be satisfied by experiencing just one. Go ahead and explore further. You will find many hidden surprises.

Water will drench your body and the serenity of the place will drench your soul.

The best time to visit the place is early morning before crowd reaches there. Keep a set of clothes for change as you can't escape wetting yourself. So once you have had a refreshing nature bath, change and have a bowl of hot maggi. Can't explain the joy of sitting on wet rocks with sound of water all around. Be there to experience yourself.

Best for a cool weekend trip to escape from heat of Delhi.

Need information on how to reach Guchhu pani? Click here

Himalayan Paradise - Kausani

2010-09-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

One of my fond childhood memories is a visit to a small town with breathtaking view of Himalayan range. The picture of Snow clad Himalayan peaks rising to caress the sky, clouds hovering over the valley below, changing colours of the sky is still fresh in my mind. I was quite excited to visit Kausani after around 25 years. Has the place been able to preserve the beauty I witnessed then, has it changed its colours with changing world... there were many such questions lingering in my mind.
We were a group of five driving an Alto. Cutting through the dense fog enjoying the fulness of nature we drove through Hapur, Joya, Rampur, Haldawani, Kathgodam and Bheemtal

Serene Saat taal:

We had time in hand so we decided to stay at Saat taal over night. Welcoming owner, Cordial staff and perfect location made Maple leaf resort a good option to stay. Quickly the staff got the rooms ready. We were informed that there were heavy rains from past few days. After settling down we decided to go out for evening walk. We were cautioned by Mr Lalit, the owner not to go far off as there may be some wild animals roaming around and its not safe. But we, the explorers, were looking for some adventure. We could easily make out that the woods are full of activity that we could only hear in the dark night. We thoroughly enjoyed our walk through the mysterious woods with night sounds of wolf howling, frogs croaking and crickets chirping

Lovely quiet morning is what we could ask for after a tiring day and an adventurous night. Nothing can be as refreshing as morning walk through the full bloomed nature. Took a walk around, clicked some best pictures of the trip and then resumed our journey to Kausani at around 7AM. Driving through beautiful valleys, water streams and tiny villages, we reached Kausani at around 2PM.

Kausani ...beyond the horizon

We were mesmerized to see the pristine beauty of the place. It hasn't changed at all... A small town untouched by the modernity. Except for a few more hotels here and there (architecture in sinc with the simplicity of the town), the place look almost as it looked some 25 years back.

That time I remember there were just 2 probable places to stay - the Government guest house and the Gandhi Ashram. I wanted to stay at the rest house where we stayed those 25 years back. And we were lucky enough to get the permission to stay there. It being monsoons, we were the only guests and that made our stay even better. Care taker, Cook, Mali, Variety of birds, Insects, Monkeys, a Dog were sharing the place with us.

That evening was spent sipping hot coffee and gazing at the snow bound peaks playing hide and seek with clouds. We started identifying the peaks - Chaukhamba, Nandachunti, Trisol, Nanda Devi, Panchuli ranging from the height of 21 to 25 thousand feet. The sun rays reflecting from clouds were creating a drama of colors in the sky. Slowly the darkness took over and turned the beautiful evening into a quiet night. The valley below looked like God has sprinkled sparkle on a black sheet. Home cooked dinner followed by a session of sharing spooky experiences over a drink in the dark night completed our day.

Baijnath, Tea gardens and more...
We woke up to a fresh lazy morning with a cup of hot tea and mesmerising view of sun rise over Himalayas.

The first half of the day was spent roaming around the town, talking to locals, and exploring the place. There are many old buildings with red and green tin roofs that adds to the beauty of the place. Thabli devi, mother of 6, working as mali in the guest house gets Rs 1500 salary and walks down for 2 hrs to reach her workplace. Life is not easy for her and many others in the area. But people here know how to live with limited means and being content with it.

In the second half we planned a trip to the tea gardens nearby and Baijnath. We were guided by Thabli Devi. She took half day off to roam around with us and get a car ride. Exceited she was to sit in a car for the first time. It was a bright sunny day with soft clouds here and there.

Our first stop was Baijnath, 19kms from Kausani town. This old group of temples consisting of main shrine of Lord Shiv and 17 subsidiary shrines is build in Nagra Style in 12th century AD. The temple holds significance because, according to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva and Parvati were married at the confluence of River Gomati and Garur Ganga. Situated on the left bank of the Gomti River at an elevation of 1126 mts, the temples are constructed in stone. The temple is approached from the riverside by a flight of steps made of stones.

Driving through cheer and deodar trees our next stop was a local government school. It being a Saturday, school was closed. Slogans, a map of Uttarakhand and one of India and national anthem writen on the walls of the school... The place reminded me of my childhood days.

Then was the much talked about tea gardens and the tea factory The tea produced here is rich in flavor and of export quality. Kausani is the only place away from the traditional tea plantation areas in India that produce organic orthodox tea. This high-flavored tea is exported to many countries, including Australia, Germany, Korea and the US. Quite impressed we were. Picked up few packets of tea from an outlet just outside the factory.

Tempted to go... Check this out some useful information here

The Thar Tales

2010-03-12T01:35:00.000-08:00

Going to Desert in March is not a good idea. There would be extreme heat, sand storm and moreover, without a proper hotel booking during the time of Holi festival., a strict ‘no-no’ even from the “not -so-puritans” friends and relatives.

And here we are, coming back from the trip sitting at the sleeper class compartment of Jaisalmeer Express, eyes closed and the heart roaming around the tour about to finish… an amazing adventure completely different from any other adventures we have experienced so far.

The Journey:

Delhi to Jaisalmer-

Unlike most of our journeys in the recent past, when we drove to our destinations, this time we chose to travel by train. Being the only train for Jaisalmer the tourist and travelers had no options but to dare the challenge offered by The Great Indian Railway. It stops at every small station thus offering a reasonable opportunity for the office goers to communicate by an ‘express train’. At the end, a ‘wholesome’ journey… six people sitting on one berth and having nothing but ‘Pakora’ in the entire 17 hrs journey… we reached Jaisalmer.

A look at the beautiful Station and it did not take long to leave the horrible journey behind. Never seen a station like this before… small, clean, planned and every construction around is made of Golden stone… hardly anyone around except for the people who got down from the train. As others went into the waiting room to get fresh, I went around the area and to my delight there was a marvelous view of the full Jaisalmer fort beyond the station premises…one look and yes- it was Sonar Kella, indeed.

Jaisalmer to Khuri-

After a spicy lunch at roadside dhaba near station we reached the local bus stand. It was easy to find the bus that could take us to Khuri, but it was equally puzzling to imagine how one could get into it, especially four of us with all those travel bags. The smiling conductor and a few locals came to our rescue... how can we leave our guests standing and suffering…their simplicity and hospitality won our hearts. And there we were all smiling and chatting with fellow travelers, packed inside the little tin moving at a speed of 20 km /hr. Soon we found ourselves outside the town, bus moving at slightly higher speed through the lonely road surrounded by thar desert. More we moved inside more the green disappeared and all that was left with golden stones and sand dunes. After almost one and half hr as we fought our way out of the bus, we bid adieu to the stone cutter Narhar going to his native village for playing holi with his little brother, the middle aged Amrit from Jaisalmeer, Ramu the teenager studying in class IX in a locals school also a part time tourist guide in Jaisalmer.

Khuri is a small village less than 100 km from Jaisalmer surrounded by desert Thar, with a population of around 2000. Badal Singh the village mukhia was himself there to receive us at Bus stand. A little walk under the scorching sun and we reached ‘Badal House’. The family, two little boys, naughty Dashrath and responsible Narshim, extremely shy daughter, and Mrs. Badal occupied in kitchen all the time, all were happy to welcome us and we immediately felt at home. The little hut made of clay and stone cooled us down along with a cold glass of water that Badal brought for us.

The Thar Desert:
Oneness with nature

A little rest at the amazing hut and off we go again… all ready for an adventure so special and full of unknown anticipation. Badal gave us three of his best men, one being his elder son, along with four camels to take us to the heart of the desert for the rest of the day and night. Riding the tall serious looking guys was never going to be easy and it proved to be little more difficult than we thought at the beginning. But in a few minutes we were in complete tune with the ships of desert.

After about twenty minutes ride through the sand dunes Narshim, one of the Camel riders stopped the Camals and pointed towards the horizon. One incredible scene of Ray’s Pather Panchali always fascinated me… the unadulterated expression of bewilderment and joy and virgin happiness of two young kids - Apu and Durga as they run to see the first moving train of their life beyond the kash forest. Today as Narshim had pointed out towards the setting Sun, all four of us might have felt a Apu and Durga in all our heart for the moment. Mesmerized by the golden ball dipping beyond the horizon of Thar and the changing colour of the sky and the sand dunes within a period of some seconds four of us stood hypnotized.

By the time we reached our ‘spot’ right at the middle of nowhere it was dark and chilly all around… music of silence all over. Some of us lost in nature with camera, some busy with the camel riders as they gathered some dry bushes to lit the campfire and prepare food for the night and some got simply busy in doing nothing. We felt a real proud and precious to be there as, after a unique dinner of dal, bati, and mixed vegetable, we slept on the sand bed. Little fox and deer all around, their eyes glowing in the dark, cold breeze blowing, silence all over, full moon on guard and stars blessing… and you never know when you passed into the world of dream.

“Good Morning” Narshim came smiling with bowl of hot tea. For a moment we forgot where we were. The chirping avians and colour of the dawn on the sand dunes had us spellbound. Sunrise was as splendid as sunset. After another round of exploration and photo session (not to forget delicious parathas) we took off with our camels.

This time it was another way for going back. The journey is an unmistakable reminder of your childhood memory of Tinitin’s journey through the Sahara desert. We again spotted number of black deer on the way running playfully with a safe distance from all of us.

Being part of a very ordinary day of a very ordinary village Khuri in the heart of Thar:

Back in Badal House we spent the entire day roaming around the village with little Dashrah. Untouched by the stroke of so called modernity, the tiny village with its simple people, kids playing on the street (besides giving us some curious looks and some sweet hellos), cattle roaming lazily as if a magic pencil have drawn them all right from a book of Tagore's poetry.

Ladies deep inside their veils and roped by the unique ornaments still managing to do their daily routines and kids playfully busy with their morning chores

It was a privilege to be a part of a very ordinary day of a very ordinary village in the heart of Thar. Excited little kids showing us their school building and classrooms, village women doing their household business shy yet curious under the veils, young girls carrying water pots on their heads, group of men chatting under the small tree, the aged grandma coming out of her hut annoyed with her daughter-in-law and the little granddaughter pursuing her to come back home, and so many of those sweet little things made our day. The rest of the afternoon we spent lazily talking to Badal and our new friends Alex and Rothem from Holland.

Evening was more eventful than we thought. There was a local program of folk songs and dance. Time ran in the little village and as we came back after the little too loud event at around 10 pm the dinner were all ready. None of us wanted the day to end…and that lead us to the roof of Badal House for a long after-dinner chat session, Alex and Rothem joined us and the full moon kept smiling.

Jaisalmer Fort:

The next day was the day of holi also the day of our saying alvida to Khuri. Badal had arranged an efficient Cab driver to help us reach Jaisalmer. Efficient was he indeed and how he drove his little tank all over the temporary road blocks made to stop cars by the locals to fetch some cash in the name of Holi. After a one hr horrendous journey we reach Jaisalmer fort and got down at sonar kella.

The “only living Fort in the world’, Jaisalmer fort was all the more alive with both locals and Tourists playing festival of colors with full vigor.

How we wished we could also be a part of the great celebration. But we had to come back to the Jaisalmer station to catch our train by the evening. The Station Master Mr. Vinod Sharma from UP, missing his family on the day of Holi, was kind enough to allow us to use the retiring room to get fresh and equipped to face the Great Jaisalmer Express all over again.

Best time to visit - Sept to Feb
Essentials to carry - A jacket (nights are really cold), a torch (if you plan to stay out in the desert at night as we did), and some eatables
Cost incurred (trip from Delhi to Khuri and back)- Rs 2000 per person

Want more details - Click here

Chakrata - A Paradise for Nature Lovers

2010-02-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

I was not very excited to go this time untill Agni sent some links describing the place.

98 kms from Dehradun at an elevation of about 7500 ft Chakrata is known for its serene environs, virgin forests and pollution-free atmosphere. The town has a magnificent view of the Greater Himalaya and everything around is delightfully green — deodar, Himalayan oak and rhododendron cover the hills. The only built-up area consists of some of the prettiest colonial army buildings, green- and red-roofed gables complete with rambling roses and wisteria. All this was enough to get me excited.

It was a 3 day trip. Going by Agni's antique Esteem.

The Gang: Agni, Anirban, Manas, Aunty, Uncle (Agni's parents) and me

Agni - On driver's seat, driving the car and the trip

Anirban - A photographer lost in the nature... want to utilize every single minute of the trip. First one to get up every morning and go for bird watching.

Aunty and Uncle - The most energetic and adventurous couple I have ever met. "Aapki energy se

aapki umar ke pata hi nahi chalta". They are in their 60s in guess.

Manas - Sitting next to driver’s seat… cute kid supporting Agni in every possible way. The luckiest one to get the most comfortable seat

and Me - Bubbliest of all. They call me 'The Expense Manager'. Whenever camera is spared, don't leave the chance to click.

Way to Chakrata from Delhi:

Chakrata is about 330 km from delhi. There are two routes one is via panipat and kurukshetra and the second one from Ghaziabad via Loni, Baghpat, Badaut, Shamli and Saharanpur. The route via Saharanpur is less crowded. After Sahanpur the road has dense forests on both sides. Just before Herbertpur there is a left turn which goes to Gurudwara Paonta Sahib which is 10 km away and is in Himachal Pradesh. From Herbertpur another 10 km and you reach Vikasnagar. From there you start driving in the hills. Chakrata is around 60 km from Vikasnagar via Kalsi and Sahiya. The road is narrow but in good condition.

Its important to mention here that there is no petrol pump beyond Vikasnagar. One should have enough petrol in the tank to drive about 150 km in the hill. You may get petrol paying a premium at Chakrata but that will most likely be adulterated.

We started on 22nd evening, halted that night on the way and restarted next morning.

Day 1 (23rd Jan '10) -

In anticipation:

The most I recall about our journey from Saharanpur to Chakata was Janta Hotel. A nice dhaba with a mango orchid at the back. I was more keen on clicking the old ladies basking in the orchid than having my meal.

It was a nice drive with smooth roads and a wonderful view of tall oak and deodar trees.

This time we had booked a Hotel in advance knowing this place has only 2 renowned hotels - Hotel Snow View and Hotel Himalyan Paradise. Based on the reviews from the visitors we chose the later.

After a drive of around 6 kms from the main town we reached "Himalyan Paradise". Beautiful place in the lap of nature with a wonderful view of Greater Himalyas.

A warm welcome by Bittoo ji and staff, we felt quite at home. The place looked nice and cosy. A huge terrace in front of the rooms was ideal for basking in the sun in these chilly winter days.We were told that more than 40 species of birds have been identified here. the most common we saw around were brown dippers and tits.

Rest of the day was spent talking to the locals and planning for next 2 days. Places we decided to visit are Deoban, Tiger falls and Kanasar.

Day 2 (24th Jan '10)

Darun Deoban:

Started for Deoban at 8 in the morning. It is some 15 kms away. Fresh, chilly air caressing our faces and bright sun warming our bodies... we were delighted to experience this chillness and warmth at the same time.

Deoban is around 10000 ft above sea level, we were feeling on top of the world literally.
There is an extensive dense jungle with dispersed villages of the Jaunsari tribe around the area.

With complete silence all around only thing we could hear was chirping of birds. We were lucky enough to get sight of Himalayan Woodpeckers, white collared blackbirds, Brown Dipper and Green Backed tit.
Milky white snow all around... undisturbed and untouched, we were happy to have started early to view this amazing sight.Uncle aunt chose a quiet corner to sit and enjoy the view, Agni and Manas, excited like small kids... were running around on the big patch of snow, and Ani and me, the explorers, decided to go further deep into the hills.

Whoa.... what an amazing place it was... snow all around, the deeper you go more beauty you find. There was a place where we could see the foot steps starting from the top of the hill towards deep down the valley... seemed like bear's foot marks. little further point where there is no sunshine, chilled air numbing your nose, fingers and every thing exposed.

Came back frozen and satisfied.

Day 3 (25th Jan '10)

Towards Tiger falls:

All young folks decided to trek on the 25th morning... early morning. We were all set to visit Tiger falls where we have to walk down 5 kms to have a glimpse of the falls and climb up the same distance. The starting point is some 10-12 kms away from our hotel. Manas decided to give Agni some rest and take the drivers seat now. After crossing some villages and villagers we reached the trek start point.

We were told that there is a small market where we will get something to eat. But to our bad, there was only one shop there - Chauhan Tea stall, that also is about to be closed because the shopkeeper had to go shoping some stuff for the shop. We took 2 packs of biscuits and started off.

While we were talking to the shop owner, Anirban had befriended a group of some 6-7 local kids ready to start their cricket match. The self made bat looked like "thapi" we use to beat clothes while washing them.

Praveen, the eldest of all, was happy to accompany us till the falls. Down down.... down we go... Led by the little energetic kid. They are 8 brothers and sisters. He is the eldest.

The walk was a treacherous one down the hill, and could be lethal if one does not watch his steps and slips. We kept walking on & on, but there was no sign of waterfalls.
Finally after we had walked almost the entire trek, we caught the first glimpse of this miraculous creation of Mother Nature, very nicely hidden from view completely until you reach the exact spot. All the fatigue vanished looking at one of the highest waterfalls in India, originating at a height of about 312 ft.

The view of water falling from such great height was truly breath-taking. We stayed there for almost an hour, while Ani clicked some pics, Manas and Agni got busy discussing the fall... its source, height, depth, etc. I silently enjoyed the gentle water droplets on my face sitting by the side of the fall. Although completely lost in the charms of this place, we soon realized it was time to make a move and start the uphill trek. If the downhill was lethal for the fear of slipping, uphill was a total nightmare, steep 5 kms climb.

We somehow managed to reach the top where an old man was waiting with 4 glasses and a pitcher full of cold water. He was apparently Praveen's Grand father. Praveen had told us that his family would have loved to feed us but only his old grand father is home and he might not be able to cook. His mother had gone to fetch medicine for his younger sister.

Time to say good bye to the young chap and his grandpa in this wonderful land of nature and manly beauty. I was awestruck by the simplicity of people and nature both.

Koti Kanasar

Agni drove us back to the hotel where uncle and aunt were all ready to go. We got some paranthas packed and started for Koti Kanasar, as the locals call it. Some 26 kms from our hotel. Kanasar is on the Chakrata – Tiuni road. The road was good with amazing view of deep valleys on one side and high hills on the other.

Patches of snow on the way made it all the more dramatic and interesting. One very peculiar thing about the place... we saw many locals eating the balls of snow. They were picking it up from the ground and eating it. But they were too shy to let us know the reason and it remained mystery as to why were they relishing those balls of snow

The place was breathtakingly beautiful with tall Deodar trees all around. It is indeed nature's paradise with untouched beauty. Some of the trees here as really old with trunk circumfrence more than 6mtrs.
If you are a nature lover like me, do visit Koti Kanasar. Highly recommended!

Ended the trip with Bonfire. Warming our bodies with fire and discussing the trip over moongfali.Nothing can be better.

Way back was as interesting as the trip. Travelling on the 26th of January. A bright sunny day... School kids going to and then coming from school after flag hoisting, A slow day with not much of activity seen on the roads. Smooth drive back home.

The discussions while coming back were around the destination for our next trip.

Cost of the trip: Rs1800 per person. Thanks to our efficient 'Expense Manager' ;)

Splendid Wildlife Experience - Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

2009-12-11T01:07:00.000-08:00

On the way...

We readily agreed when Chandan, one of the friends invited us to Dudhwa Tiger Reserve Forest. Another friend Agni and his parents also got excited at the idea. 5 of us from Delhi started our advanture trip. We decided to drive down. We took NH 24 and crossed Ghaziabad, Hapur, Muradabad, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Sitapur, Lakhimpur and Palia.

Met Chandan and 2 of his colleagues at Lakhimpur. The group of 8, comprising of members as young as 20 and as old as 60, was all game for adventure.

After Palia, we found ourselves at the entrance of an unusual bridge. This was a bridge which was also shared by trains. Yeah! you read it correctly. You drive over the track and if there is an oncoming train, well you wait and give the way. I didn’t see any other bridge on the side and it seemed like the only way to go to Dudhwa Tiger Reserve over times.

Where we stayed...

The accommodation was arranged at Forest rest house Dudhwa located within the core forest area. Its location, beautiful huts, cosy bedding and warm staff made it a good place to stay.

Day 1 was spent getting to know the place and the people - Spoke with guides; Browsed through the brochures, pictures and other information material available; Met members from Wildlife Trust of India and Roamed around in the nearby forest area.

Successful rehabilitation of Rhinos, Fire line maintenance, Swamp Deers thriving here and Hispid Hares sighted recently are some other interesting pieces of information we gathered.

Flora and fauna at its best...
The tall Saal trees giving shelter to thousands of birds... even the sunlight is shy to fall on virgin land. I was mesmerized by the sight, sound and scent of fresh morning.

We headed towards Sonaripur at 7 in the morning for the Elephant safari with guide Baddal. We reached a bit early. Elephants were getting ready to take us on a ride. 4 - 5 people per elephant and 4 elephants in all.

Up and down... here goes the Elegant Elephant wondering in the midows on narrow paths and at times no path at all.

The most common sight was Spotted Deers playing around in their natural surrounding. Felt like you are in a fantasy land.

"Look there" Baddal whispered. It was a mother Rhino with her son. What a sight it was! First they were facing us, as soon as they noticed us they turned their back towards us thinking even we can not see them.

Spent some more time wondering around experiencing wildlife.

After basking a bit in the Sun and having Lunch we headed again towards the jungle at around 3PM. This time we were on our own vehicle with guide Chandar. It was 3PM and yet inside the dense jungle it was almost dark. Sun light was trickling in through the leaves at some places.

We sighted good variety of Birds including Kingfisher, White breasted Bulbul and many more from "Machaan" while the guide kept telling us stories of the place, one of many was about Dr S D Singh being attacked by Tiger and a road and a watch tower named after his name.

And suddenly he asked us to stop the car...!!!

The King of the jungle Royal Bengal Tiger with it's majestic beauty and unparalleled grace was lying down on the path at about 50 yards in front of us! My body became numb, breathing accelerated and heart started pounding. We kept observing Him quietly from distance. We enjoyed the sight for more than 20 min and then moved little ahead on the track to have a closer look. And then He moved... I could feel that trance of fear in the air. The King got up, moved and started scratching the tree trunks. He was marking His territory I guess. Another 15 min and He crossed the path and moved to the other side. It was the time for us to leave Him alone.

Back in the Rest house when we narrated our experience and shared the videos and pics, people couldn't believe. It is the first time they have heard that someone has actually sighted and observed a Tiger for that long. Lucky we!!!

Every second a drama is unfolded unknown and undisclosed to the other…a little sound of dry leaves and you will be shivered to see a full grown python slipping away to the muddy water... a look beyond will freeze your blood by the sight of a full grown alligator resting motionless on the bank of river!

Way back...
We were told to go via Pilibhit, a small village, to avoid the traffic at Shahjahanpur. Enjoyed the drive back with lots of leg pulling, singing and eating.

And believe it or not we managed all this in just Rs 1500 per person!!!
Yes, I have included everything (Petrol, food, lodging, guide fee and toll tax).

A JUNGLE EXPEDITION

2009-11-23T00:21:00.000-08:00

We started our walk at around 9.30AM on a sunny Sunday morning accompanied by experienced Mr Gupta. Was not sure what to expect. I was told that the forest is full of wide variety of flora and fauna.

Till now there was clear path we were following with woodland around and some people here and there out for morning walk.

Back to history - Bhooli Bhatyari ka Mahal
Our first destination was Bhooli Bhatyari ka mahal. There are lots of stories attached to this place.

It was the biggest hunting lodge built by Firoz Shah Tughluq (1351-88), third Sultan of the Tughluq dynasty. Built in AD 1354, it lies on the ridge opposite to Karol Bagh's Link Road. The mahal is a rectangular enclosure entered by two gateways on its north-eastern corner. The southern and eastern walls are provided with bastions.

A sad story in the lap of nature
Mr Gupta was leading us to some place that he didn't disclose. We reached a place that looked like an unused old building from outside. After going in we discovered its a large open air theatre "Rabindra Rangshala".
Conceived and created by Mr Nehru in early 1960s it has a seating capacity of 8000-10000 spectators. It has the 100 x 68 ft. stage that could be modified in three different dimensions proportionate to the needs of the performance. The make-up rooms, green- rooms, costume rooms, rehearsal rooms and workshop for performances flank the stage on both.

But all this is past. Its deserted now. All we could see now was a care taker Chaturvedi ji, some wild Jackals and lots of pigeons. It is in a deplorable condition. Such a huge construction now in ruins. It has hardly witnessed 1 or 2 events since its inception.

The Ridge invaded

We proceeded further to the main attraction of the day. Here a peacock scans the clouds from its vantage point on a tree while an owl hunts for game amongst the thick, thorny shrubs; The ground is golden and the earth wet. "Delhi Ridge" plays host to many such magical moments.
It's a northern extension of ancient Aravalli Range some 1500 million years old (compared to just 50 million for the Himalaya). The Delhi ridge is said to be the green lungs for the city. Its divided into four parts... The part we visited is the central ridge that stretches from south of Sadar Bazaar to Dhaula Kuan. It extends over 864 hectares. Others include Old Delhi (Northern Ridge), Mehrauli (South central Ridge) and Tughlaqabad (Southern Ridge). The area inhibits an astonishing variety of wildlife, including 120 species of plants, 100 species of birds, 25 species of mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and an innumerable species of arthropods.

We were lucky enough to get glimpse of good variety of birds and butterflies; The reptiles were hibernating; And rest of the species... some mammals, amphibians and arthropods were keenly watching us from somewhere but not giving us the chance to spot them.

At first we could hear faint sounds of the city life but after going further deep, the silence of the place made us forget that we are in the heart of a city. All we could hear was chirping of birds and peacocks screaming at times and that's it. The sight of golden ground covered with shrubs was amazing. Sounds, scent and sight of that place made it magical. Its was that magic only that made us walk more than 15 kilomters at a stretch. Another motivation was Mr Gupta. He is 60+ walking ahead of us, lost in nature. Twice I called him out to stop for a while to rest but he seemed to be so lost that he missed it both the times. So I too decided to get lost in the divine nature.

And back to the city

The sounds of city life made us realize that we are hitting the boundry. We made our exit at a place where some young boys were cutting grass for their cattle. Their curious eyes were asking us what were we doing deep inside there... a place that was perhaps the end of the world for them.
And there we saw crowds, buildings... honking, noises... polybags, stinking garbage... cars, traffic... oops we were back to the city.

P.S. - Would love to get lovely comments from lovely people reading this :)

Okhla Bird Sanctuary

2009-11-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the plan was to go to Okhla bird sanctuary. The time we decided was 5 am in the morning. All but one were game for it. Nabonita, the lazy one in the lot, wanted to start little late, but we had the majority, so started at 5am. Four of us me, Ani, Dipanjan and Nabonita had made this plan a night before while having coffee on the terrace. Alarms were set and batteries for cameras - A Nikon D 60 and a canon (not sure of the model) put on charging. All ready in jeans n tees n sneakers with cameras ready to shot birds, butterflies, insects and/ or whatever interesting we find on the way or on the spot.

Before reaching, we had some apprehensions about the place as never heard much about it, but all gone after reaching. It was a beautiful, peaceful place where only chirping of birds could be heard.

Sad part was the construction for Mayawati's park going on one side of it. I wonder how can we disturb a place like this for something so stupid.

Some facts about the place:

It is just behind the Kalindi Kunj on Delhi side and just across the main road between NOIDA and Mayur Vihar to the south of Noida Toll Bridge.
Over Three hundred species of birds can be spotted here. The spot is good for birding throughout the year, though best season is during September-March for Winter Migratory Birds.

Had a great time. Our heart fully satisfied but tummy empty. So thought of bothering a Journalist friend of Ani on the way, who might have slept at around 2am because of her odd shift timings. She has shifted recently to this flat of hers and we are going for the first time to her with 2 more guests whom she does not know at all.

Anyways, she greeted us with her beautiful smile inspite of us waking her up from sound sleep at around 7am on a Sunday morning. We were served nice breakfast – tea and poha (a different version though from what I knew till now) and it was really really tasty. Dont know if it was the taste or our grumbling tummies ;)

Thanks Pratigya for a warm welcome and a tasty breakfast!

And that's how we started our Sunday. The rest of the day was spent uploading pics on orkut and fb.

Kanatal... naaa... Masrana

2009-04-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Its been 6 months we haven't traveled. OMG!!!

Getting ready...

Getting a Friday off. It has to be a trip somewhere. Just a few phone calls to check on the people interested. So we have Agni, Manas, Anirban and me traveling to Kanatal. Have checked this location on the net and found it interesting. A few pictures of the place and the route map is all that we have. As always our house was the meeting point on Thursday night. I quickly prepared dinner after coming back from the office. And then started packing and waiting for all to come. Everyone reached at around 10pm. We had dinner that was laid down an hour ago. Agni offered to wash utensils... and I happily agreed :).

We slept early, at around 12pm ;), just because we had to start early in the morning. Anirban had all the plans to make us wake the whole night. He had brought 3 movies to watch that night.

The alarm was set for 4AM. And as usual we did not delay at all. We all were up by 4.15am and started off at 5. I love to travel in mornings... fresh air, rising sun... and passing through villages you can see people starting their day... Cleaning their houses and shops, doing prayers, some taking bath at the roadside hand pumps. A good view!

On the way...
I started feeling hungry but there were no shops offering breakfast that early. The only option was to have tea with biscuits that I refused. Wanted to have nice garmagaram dhaba wala breakfast. So we kept going on and on till we found a dhaba offering aaloo pyaj ke paranthe with lot of butter on it :). Over the breakfast we had a round of discussion on whether we really wanna go to Kanatal that no one of us has ever visited or heard about or do we change our destination. And the decision is - let it be - we will go towards Kanatal and stop on the way if we find any interesting place.

The journey was good except for a few traffic jams. Highway in such a bad shape... possible only in UP. Reached Dehradoon at around 2PM. Had nice dhaba lunch, got fresh and started again. Till here Anirban was driving. I donno why guys can never trust ladies driving. I was not allowed to drive even a single stretch :(. Now the driving is taken over by Agni, a trusted one to drive on hilly roads. He only drove us to Renukaji last August in bad weather with lots of land slides on the way.

Wowww...
We took the road towards Dhanaulti as was given in the road map. The view of snow covered peaks was amazing!

After going a little further, we saw a hut on top of one of the hills. And there was a beautiful drive way to that with flowers planted on both sides. We couldn't resist stopping there and checking it out. To our delight it was an inn and we could actually stay there :). Now the question was if we can afford it. Anirban and Agni went to talk to the owners of the place. They came back with the information that it has just been started by a couple who are settled here from some 4 yrs now. And since they have just started and we are their first customers we can get good discount. After some calculations and analysing other options with costs it seemed to be the best option. They were offering to stay there in Rs5000 for 2 nights and 3 days with home cooked meals. Not a bad deal at all...considering it will be shared amongst 4 people. :)

Had a cup of hot tea with the host couple. They had so much to talk about. We had discussion on village people, their resistance to change for good, about jungles being cut, bad civic sense of Indians... laid back attitude of government officials.. How they decided to retire early from their corporate jobs and settle in this remote place, from where they got the idea of starting an Inn... and much more. Never have covered so many topics in such a less time.

Retired early after nice dinner to wake up early in the morning for an exciting day. Got good idea of the places around from the couple. After getting their reviews of the places around, dropped the idea to visit Kanatal or Dhanaulti and planned to visit a nearby village. A nice drive with forests and a river on the way :). Had a peaceful day - woods, water, villagers, cows, local food... different experience altogether.

Next morning we were all game to go for a morning walk to the woods nearby. Complete silence interrupted by chirping of birds, sounds of insects, and hustle of dry leaves at times and of course our foot steps.

The best I liked were the trees full of red flowers.

Then was the time to say good bye to the wonderful place... but with a promise to ourselves of coming here again. Enjoyed the way back. The nice couple told us about an alternate way to Delhi that has nature's beauty, is shorter and has less traffic. It was the way along a water canal. One side it was canal and the other side villages and fields.

We also visited Sahasra dhara on the way back. It is believed that taking bath in this water body rid you of all skin diseases. I had a good unintentional bath there. I was trying to cross through the water leading the whole group...walking confidently on rocks, that I failed to notice were slippery too. Would have hit my head hard on a big rock had I been an inch here and there. I was luckily enough to have enjoyed that dip without hurting myself. And even my mobile survived that dip ;)

An amazing trip it was!!!

My home town

2008-03-25T22:14:00.001-07:00

This time I thought I would not write - Its just a visit to my home town. But yesterday one of the friends asked - "didn't see the update of your Himachal visit on your blog?" Hmm so people do look forward to my write ups... :-) So here's the post on my Himachal visit.

This one is the longest of all our trips till now. We have Friday and Monday attached to the weekend. For those who don't know where my home town is - its Palampur, in Himachal Pradesh. Awesome place, You will get to know that reading through this post. Started at 4pm as decided without any delays. We were 5 of us - Anirban, Agni, Dhanjoy, Kumkum and I. You already know Agni. Let me tell you a bit about Dhanajoy and Kumkum. Dhananjoy a good old friend of Anirban. Helpful in any kind of emergencies, love Anirban like a brother. But he does not socialize much and does not travel frequently as we and Agni do, due to which he has not got flexible and tough as we are...mmm I think I have not made myself quite clear...u'll get to know.. read on.. :)

The journey...
The journey was quite interesting. None of us knew the way. I know its my home town but never drove down myself, so how am I supposed to know the right and left turns. Only thing I knew was the names of the places that come on the way. Till Chandigarh it was ok. We reached Chandigarh at around 10.30pm. Stayed with some distant relatives of mine, at night. And started at 7 in the morning. But don't ask me what happened after that. Since all of them have been teasing me for the fact I didn't know the way, I refused to tell them even the names of the places on the way. Let them find it out on their own. FYI Palampur is not that big a city that people would know the way. So asking the way to palampur directly wouldn't help. You need to know the places on the way. After Una we had to go to "Chintpurni", Ani and gang didn't remember the exact name of the place. So instead of Chintpurni they go and ask an elderly person how do we go to "Chintapuram"... I was a quiet observer... and enjoyed the moment fully...The expressions of the old man... hahaha...that was fun. I couldn't stop laughing. Reached Palampur at around 5pm, without much of my help...right Agni? That U turn was perfect ;)

Holi in Himachal...
The day we reached was Holi. There is the tradition of "Jhanki", tried a lot to get an appropriate English word for it but the exact feeling didn't come, the options I could think of were procession, fiesta, Carnival, Cavalcade and Convoy, thanks to Shuchi for helping. Language experts out there please suggest which is the nearest. So we all decided not to rest but to go out and be the part of celebrations. During the festival, locals come dressed in their best clothes and dance and sing joyously. They carry Gods dressed in finery, which are placed in colorful palanquins. It was fun more so because I was being a part of it after may be 15 years and others never saw it before, so was exciting for them, at least I would like to believe that :). After a tiring day of 9-10hrs of journey and the celebrations finally we got to rest at around 10pm. What a day it was!

Mera Ghar...

Morning...Good morning...we all woke up early to enjoy the quiet atmosphere, chilled air, sound of chirping birds and a beautiful sun rise.

Thats my Palampur :) After a stroll around..in the garden, and the railway track nearby had garma garam home made aaloo paranthas with aam ka aachar and Dahi...yummm. Then had a small meeting to decide where to go. This time I gave strict instruction to papa to take me to some place I have not seen before...tough for him I thought but he came up with so many places, thats why he is my favorite. Love you Papa.

Billing, a gliding site...

So we are going to Billing - Billing is a beautiful little place in Himachal, which is considered to be one of the best gliding sites in the world. Located at an altitude of 8, 500 feet in Kangra valley, Billing is famous for hang-gliding. On the way we visited a monastery as well. Would not write much about the place Pictures speak, will add a few more later :) It was awesome! Simply Divine! While going back it started raining. Wowwww...... :) Also visited my birth place Baijnath on the way back.

Khud...

Next day first half was spent in a "khud" playing in water and after lunch we went to "Jakhni Mata". A small temple at the top of a hill. You can get beautiful view of Palampur and nearby villages from there. On the way back visited some old friends. I was treating all for Dinner as my B'day's approaching.

By the way Agni you should not have broken that "Drift Wood". I mean it ;)

Ohhh....we are going back the next day. Didn't even realize the visit's already over. We would be traveling the whole Monday. No break journey. Agni has accepted to drive the whole day, without breaks literally. This time he himself got the directions from papa, no help required from Shailza. So here we gooooooo................ooops....flat tyre. Just after an hour's journey got a flat tyre. The 3 men, is it?...mmm just one actually, worked hard to get it fixed. Stopped at one other place to have something, which was a samosa each.

Tomorrow is my B'day. Reminded them all to get a surprise cake and gifts for me :) and they did! actually....reached home at 9pm. Had dinner and then party time at 12am....yay its my B'day!

Then Agni starts with full force...Dhananjoy wants him to stop for Lunch...he goes on...Kumkum wants him to stop to get fresh...he goes on...and he goes on and on and on....till its 5 in the evening :) Ani and me as usual quiet observers...flexible can adjust to any situation types. Finally he stops at a place, that apparently Dhanu and Kum kum didn't like.They refuse to take anything...we had burgers. Finally touched Delhi at 7.00pm what Agni anticipated when we started.

Rishikesh and Shivpuri this time!

2008-03-10T02:29:00.000-07:00

It started with a phone call on Friday afternoon from Anirban. "Do we have any important task to be completed this weekend".. ..... "nothing very important, usual household stuff to be done" I answered. "So here's the plan for the weekend - we are leaving for Rishikesh and Shivpuri Friday evening. I want you to come little early so that we can start on time" he added. It was Thomas's farewell on Friday and I did not want to miss that. So no way I could leave early, But I managed to take the first cab, told the driver to make it fast, taking risk but better than angry husband. I managed to reach by 7.15pm.

Anirban with his friends, Agni and Pratigyan, was waiting for me all packed up. We were going by Agni's car, an antique piece. He had been busy getting car serviced the whole morning. I hope we reach back safe and sound. Oh ya we did and that's why I am writing this blog. Agni, please don't underestimate your pyari Maruti.

A quick intro of people we were going with:
Agni - A business man, has a super sense of Humor, down to earth person and fun to be with.
Pratigyan - TOI journalist, who is a good friend and agreed to come for a trip after so long. May be her first and the last trip with us. Not because she does not want to come with us but because she is too busy for a trip.
Just FYI Pritigyan and Agni do not know each other.

We decided to stay at Haridwar the Friday night, so that we can go visit Haridwar early morning. But the main reason behind was - it is easier to get Hotels at night, actually late mid night, in Haridwar than in Rishikesh. Took 2 rooms one for Guys other for Gals.

We girls decided to get up early in the morning and go to the ghat and enjoy Aarti. We put the alarm on for 5.00am and went to sleep at around 1.00AM. Though we could not make it to the aarti but could hear the bells ringing at distance. Everyone got up at around 8.00, had chhole puri and roamed around at the Ghat. I liked it in the morning. After saying welcome hello to Ganga ji we started for Shivpuri at around 11.00am.

Though it was too hot with bright sun above our heads, it could not stop us from enjoying. Had to go down the hill, would we call it a hill, may be, well... a small one, the guys were worried about us girls....and look at them now...we are already down and they are still struggling. Hehehe...Girls are always first u c.

We did bird watching and rafting... It was great fun.

Spent the day there and came back to Rishikesh late evening. Agni helped us find a Hotel. Probably the one he stayed at when he came the last time. It was very nice. Clean, perfect location and very nominal. The only thing we didn't like about it was that it does not have a restaurant and one has to go out to take meals. So after relaxing for a while we went out for Dinner. Aaloo gobhi, Dal fry and garama garam tadoor ki roti. For me it is heaven, but for others ...hahaha...what to say, they all kept complaining about the food. No non veg stuff available.

The night was cool. Sound of flowing water, bells ringing at distance, some recorded chants playing somewhere near by...divine feeling :) Apparently, the ambiance is the reason why we have so many foreigners around. More than locals or Indian tourists we had foreigners here. Dressed in Indian attire and trying to speak Hindi, they seem to be more cultured, Indian cultured, than most of "us". They would take pride saying "Namaste" instead of hello and "Dhanyawaad" in place of Thank you.

Before we could even start craving for tea, Ani went out for early morning walk and came with tea for all of us. So sweet of him :)

Visited Rishikesh the whole morning. Laxman jhoola, Ram jhoola, fed fish.... and started our back journey at around 12.00pm. Had lunch at Haridwar.

After having lunch we all were curious to know how much did this trip cost us. A thing I wanna mention here is the way we maintain the finance on our trips. 1 person takes the charge of spending everywhere and by the end of the trip the total expense would be divided by the no. of people. Ani had taken the responsibility this time. And guess what! Including everything, travel, accommodation and food, it came to Rs. 900 per head. Wow Ani you have managed it so well :)

Journey back was even more enjoyable. took lots of pictures of sun set. And listened to Kishore da :)

Looking forward to more such trips. Hey those of you who are thinking how did we manage that, will have to come with us on the next trip.

Comments/ feedback's welcome...Will create a feedback survey else and send u the link ;)

Bandavgarh

2008-02-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

We decided that this year will be devoted to visiting National parks. We have already visited Sunderban and now its Bandavgarh and next on the list would be Ranthambore, Corbett or Kanha...let's see...

We had only 3 days in hand. Ani could not manage more than that. So we knew the trip is going to be really hectic as it is not only Bandavgarh but also Meso's place we wanted to visit. We started Friday evening. Great excitement, chilly weather, hubby's company....here we go...

Reached Katni early in the morning.

Meso with his friends had come a night before to Katni. He took us to the hotel they were staying at. We got fresh there had tea and started our journey...yes it was a journey, Meso told us that it'll take around 6-7 hrs to reach Bandhavgarh. The way seemed to be ok. I mean the view was good, road were also not that bad and company...well If I am there, company has to be good. ;) The only bad thing about the journey was that we did not eat anything on the way. Starved till we reached Bandhavgarh.
On the way itself we sighted some Deers, a Peacock and Monkeys.

Now we had to look for a decent place to stay. We had not made any reservations in advance as usual :). It seems even Meso knows us, he had arranged for the trip and decided to get lodging on the spot :) We managed to get a decent place called Kumkum Hotel. Not very fancy or luxurious.

For those who plan to go to Bandavgarh and want to stay in luxury, there are quite many options. They have Mahua kothi, that'll cost around Rs50,000 per person inclusive all the luxuries one can look for.

We ordered our food, and got fresh. It was already 4pm by the time we were through with all this. The safari was at 4.30pm. So immediately after having food, can't call it Breakfast not even Lunch, we started for Safari. After completing the formalities at the gate we started. We were accompanied by a driver and a guide.

Calm, quiet, natural, away from all noises of cities.... If you want to be with true nature, visit Bandhavgarh, MP tourism have not paid me any thing to advertise for it, its my experience speaking ;) There were more than 20 jeeps on safari. They said its more crowded than the usual days. All jeeps went their own ways. There are no fixed routes in the evenings, unlike morning safari when routes are assigned to vehicles.

The first animal we saw was Cheetal. Then Sambar, Langur, wild Boar...
But we are in a look out for the King of the Jungle, The Tiger. The driver was following some foot steps.

They informed us that Tiger had been seen in the morning, so the chances to find him now are quite bright. The driver, more of a guide, showed us some marks on the tree trunk. These were the marks of Tiger's paws, that Tigers use to demarcate His boundary. The search for The King went on till around 6 in the evening., when we saw some strange kind of excitement in everyone. First we could not gather what's happening. All the drivers and guides were giving signals to each other. Then the Driver cum guide, actual guide was quite shy to share his knowledge, told us that someone has sighted a tiger and that now all are going to that place....

There were so many people waiting to see The king of the Jungle. We got to know that He was siting behind one of the lots of bamboo trees there. There was only one track and so many jeeps wanted to stop at the place from where that particular tree is visible. It was strange - so many people - Rich, not so rich; Indians, non-Indians; people of all ages...all waiting to have a glimpse of the Royal Bengal Tiger, thats what makes Him a King, I believe :). Finally the King decided to change his position. He got up, crossed the road and went to the other side of the track, and sat behind below some other tree, without paying any attention to so many curious eyes on Him. He was so MAGESTIC.

Great going, we decided to come on the morning safari as well...

Fresh chilling air, nature's aroma, animals in their natural habitat...all this felt like a Fairy land. It was an 'Out of the World' experience. Away from all affectation of city life.
'Perfect Holiday'

We went by the track mentioned and then gathered at one place, where we had tea and pakoras, that felt like heaven in chilly morning, empty stomach, and interacted with other people visiting the place...

We had to start a long journey now to Meso's place, another 8 hrs in Maruti Van, where mausi was waiting for us.

Thanks Meso for your wonderful company and the arrangements you did for us...
It was an amazing trip!!!

Already finalized the plan in March to revisit the place. This time with more time in hand and with larger group :)

Happy 2008 :)

2008-01-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

We decided to go to Agra on the first day of the year 2008. Though that plan of ours didn't materialize we had a great day!

Got a call from an old friend, Hemant. He recently shifted to Delhi with his family - wife, son and mother. We wanted to meet...either he comes to our place or we go to his place. We decided to go to his place, as none of us was in mood to cook ;) Met the family and got blessings from aunt, a good beginning of the year.

Then was visiting Aniban's friends. We went to Abhishek's place. A nice cosy room on the top floor. Its great to bask in the sun in winter days. Another friend of Anirban, Shivaji also came there. Had nice lunch and decided to explore Delhi.

Shivaji suggested a place which none of us had visited before. So here we go... It was near hauz Khas village.

Tomb of Khilji,
Lake

and DeerPark

Perfect place to spend the first day of the new year :) No doubt the place was awesome and the Sardar jokes of Shivaji added to the fun. Never knew we have such a beautiful place in the midst of Delhi...

Sundarbans - Reaching there...

2007-12-19T02:01:00.000-08:00

This time we were 4 of us - 2 couples - Anirban & I and My sis-in-law & her husband. But thats not how they should be introduced...right? So let me reframe it....Anirban & I and Tiu & Chintoo. mmm..I prefer to use the names we call them with. It was 'puja' then and a lots of resistance from our parents. They wanted us to stay back home in the festive time. They were quite reasonable in asking so but we had a short chutti and wanted to do a lot...as usual.. so decided to spend 2 days with them and rest 2 with tigers ;)

So here we go....Anirban had already arranged for everything. We were going from Kolkata in a bus of Bengal tourism, and then would board a launch at Sonakhali....place some 4 hrs away from Bengal, by bus. Thats how I measure distance while traveling. For the first time we had a trip all planned. Lodging, food, sight seeing - everything was being taken care of by Bengal tourism.

We started early morning. My eyes were on the people we would be spending next 2 days with. We had a couple from Germany, a group of 4 ladies from Australia, 2 bengali families, 1 family from Orissa, and last but most important a family from Bihar... Most important because they were most loud and entertaining people in the trip. We were served breakfast soon after we started.

This family from Bihar and the group from Australia were our neighbors in the bus. My most of the time was spent listening to and observing them. It was real fun. They started with basic introductions. You can very well imagine the language problem. But the Man of the family was smart he prodded his kids to start the conversation. could be 2 reasons...he didn't want to take the risk of starting the conversation or kids were better at the language. I must compliment the kids here. They very successfully started the conversation and then all the family members joined in. I also got pretty good idea about the people around me...and that too without actually interacting. After 2 hrs we stoped at a petrol pump where we were told to freshen ourselves...a small dirty loo was there which we all were supposed to use. We Indians are quite used to it but imagine the situation of the foreigners. Anyways all of us were standing in the queue, where I got the chance to interact with one of the youngest in the Australian group. Got to know from her that in the group she has her mother, her aunt, mousi as we would call, and aunt's friend. Then we were served hot road side tea which was good.

Another 2 hrs and we were at Sonakhali from where we were supposed to get a launch. The bus stopped, we all got down. Australian group, I and family from Orissa were amongst the first ones to get down. By now we had got acquainted and had started talking...While we were talking we, my new Australian friend and I, kept walking without even realizing that rest of the group was following us...

So here we were leading the whole team to the launch without knowing ourselves where actually it is. Apparently Anirban and Chintu were calling us not to go further but we didn't hear. Now we all were at the spot where lots of local people are there and 3 launches are waiting for their people. I just took a wild guess and got into one that was nearest, assuming that this is ours. Whats the harm actually nahi hogi to utar jayenge..;)..And as earlier everyone followed the leader, oh which was me. Fortunately, all my guesses were right and we landed at the right launch. Wow we would be spending the next 2 days, 1 night on this. Great!

Jaipur Trip...

2007-12-18T00:15:00.001-08:00

The Journey

There was no big group this time, it was only Anirban and I. We decided to travel at night and save a day. Our bus was from Bikaner house at around 9.00pm. So we came back from our respective offices at the usual time. I was not at Google then, so came back at 6.30pm ;) All the packing had been done a night before to avoid the last minute rush.

We reached Bikaner house on time. It was too cold. We had some hot coffee and waited for the bus eagerly. It was 10.00pm and we were still waiting...It was 10.30pm and we were still waiting. On inquiring at the counter we were told that the bus can be here any moment now. We were happy :). It was 11.00pm we found ourselves still waiting for the bus. But believe me it was not bad at all...
Chilled air, lots of people waiting - some families interacting and some losing their patience, - some reading without any effect of the bus getting late, - some like me sitting and observing people around and being happy about the fact that there is something unusual happening. Anirban was roaming around inquiring at the counter at times, busy talking to friends over the phone at times and talking to me at times..:)

Finally the bus arrived at around midnight. Nothing great about the journey though, as we were all sleeping ;) I woke up early in the morning to enjoy the early morning view and get the feel of the city. We reached at around 6.00 in the morning.

The City

We, as usual, had come with no definite plans. Got down from the bus, took a rickshaw and told 'rickshaw walla' to take us around. There's nothing like riding a rickshaw in the early morning :). After inquiring at 2-3 places, finally got a good place to stay.

At reception while Anirban was busy negotiating, I went through the leaflets and information brochures about the city 'Jaipur'. Wow! found one interesting information. There is 'Elephant festival' today evening in the city :) So we only have today first half to go site seeing. There's Holi tomorrow and office day after. So we went up to the room, freshened up, had breakfast 'aaloo prantha' and meanwhile told the receptionist to arrange for a cab for us in an hours time.

And here starts 'exploring Jaipur city'. The cab driver, a middle aged man with big mustache, was more than happy to be our guide and tell us all the details about the city. The moment we sat in the car he started of... this is a city of glorious past....all the names of the rulers that ruled the city with all their family details. Though we were not very keen on hearing that but still looking at the enthusiasm with which he was narrating, we heard him patiently.

The first place we visited was 'Hawa Mahal'.

It was a nice bright day, with lots of interesting people around.

Then we went to a place where we could buy lots of Rajashani stuff...Jaipuri rajai, dress material, jewellery, decoration pieces...and many more things. Probably drivers have a kind of contract with these people...he was praising the stuff to a suspicious level ;). We didn't buy anything.

Next on the list was 'Amber fort'. On the way our driver cum guide narrated us the full history of the place. Don't want to get into which now :) Could see the fort from distance...it was awesome, couldn't wait to reach there.

The fort is beautifully built, surrounded by a boundary wall 12 km long.

Thereafter, we went to the only Meera Krishna temple in the world. It was quite near to the fort and is not very frequently visited by the tourists. It was very calm and quite there.

That was it for now. We were hungry, so decided to have lunch on our way back and get ready for the elephant festival.

The Festival

We relaxed for a while in the hotel and then started for the Elephant Festival.

It was great. Beautiful ladies in colorful dresses were there to greet us all. A traditional welcome was done with Colors and Aarti. Most of the spectators were foreigners.
The inauguration was done by the tourist minister of the state. And then started a series of interesting things. The agenda items were - Elephants' fashion show, I mean decorated elephant parade :), Elephant Polo, Tug of war, Performances by locals, and much more...

Enjoyed it thoroughly!!!

To our surprise we were the only people in the hotel that night. It was fun ;).

The 'Holi' Day

Now starts our journey back home. Another great experience. We had not booked our return tickets, thinking that we will take a night bus as we came. But..... that day no vehicles on the road....Why didn't it occur to us earlier that we will not find anything on a festival day. Next day was our office so no taking chances. Somehow we managed to find an 'autowala' to take us to the railway station. Roads were all empty, except for a few boys groups roaming around with their painted faces and lots of policemen and police vehicles.

We were lucky enough to get the Shatabadi tickets for the same day afternoon, of course after much hard work. It was Anirban running around to arrange for the tickets. I did my favorite thing...sat and observed people. No, actually, I was taking care of our luggage as well. ;) The train was in the afternoon, so waited on the station for half a day. There was no hustle and bustle of the routine days at the station. It was all very quite. Had lunch at the railway canteen.

Journey back was comfortable. Office the next day better reach on time and rest.

Trip to Nainital - Concluding

2007-12-07T03:53:00.000-08:00

We explored the area that evening and got to know that there are many places we can visit the next 2 days. There are places like bhim taal, naukuchia taal, Sat taal, Kausani, Ranikhet, Almora and so many more. As usual again a discussion started...limited time... so many places to visit? After much discussion, came up with the idea of not visiting many places but to enjoy the near by areas. Had to keep something for next time as well na...hehe.

Also managed to find a good Bengali restaurant. Let me tell you a typical thing about Bengali people....I am Bengali by marriage... Whichever part of the country they are in, they will find 'Bengali food' and they... or shall I say we... love Bengali food.

Next morning after getting fresh and having yummy Aaloo Paranthas, we started for Bhimtaal and Sattaal. Nice roads, Gulzar songs, wonderful view... enjoyed the travel...as always. Bhimtaal was good.
Had hot 'Bhuttas' there.

It started raining the moment we reached Sat taal. Wooowww...thats what we wanted. Now who all want to get wet with me..;)...all...great! Decided to boat in the rain, have u ever tried....its awesome.

Also spoke to people around, and planned to come on a full moon night the next time :).

Lunch time! Had some rajmah chawal...most of people didn't enjoy it though.

Started our journey back. The best part of having your own vehicle is that you can stop wherever you want to.

So while going back to Nainitaal we halted at 4 places....not for food or tea but just to enjoy the view and the weather.

Good that we came in rainy season...one - because its off season so no high rates and lot of people and two - just drive a stretch with good view, nice music and fog around...You would know :)

Reached back at around 6.00pm in the evening. Everyone, except Anirban and I, decided to go back to hotel and rest for a while. And we decided to go and have some Chinese food ... Anirban's favorite! Had nice chicken momos....not me...I am vegetarian...Thats the tragedy of our life, Ani's pukka non veg and I do not eat non veg. :(

Now is the party time! Elaborate meal, some drinks, loud music and masti. Had a blast that night... :)

Early morning...at around 6.00am I heard someone outside. And to my surprise, it was 'maalish wala'.... Anyways didn't get the malish (massage) done but me and Anirban got up to enjoy the view outside.

Everyone, except Avijit, was still sleeping.... Now where is Avijit? You should be able to guess...one thing he really enjoy doing. Yeah...cleaning his car... :)

Decided to go the same day afternoon. Check out was at 10.00am, so decided to have breakfast in the Bengali restaurant I mentioned earlier. We all packed up and started climbing up to the parking with our luggage. Up and up and up......ahhh finally we reached. Had 'Luchi Dum aloo' a typical Bengali breakfast.

Journey back was not as enjoyable, not because we were tired but because we took the different route and got stuck in a traffic jam for around 4 hours.... :( We were expecting to reach at 9.00pm but reached at 2.00am. We really enjoyed the drive on dark sleeping roads with soft music.... Gulzaar is great!!!

Trip to Nainital - Part 2

2007-11-26T23:48:00.000-08:00

After having tea, we started from there at around 8:00 in the morning. That was a lovely morning...we were quite excited and fresh. There were no changes in the seating arrangement...inspite of the fact that some people wanted to ;)

Though we tried to keep both the cars close to each other, we lost the track of the other one...apparently they had taken some other route :). So another round of calling them up....finally they managed to reach us in about 15 min. We managed to convince them that our route is better...hehe

By now we all were hungry. So we stopped at a place we thought is good enough to have decent breakfast. Some of us ordered bread omelette and others butter toast, even chowmin was on the menu.. :) ....Yeah we were quite happy with our choices when we ordered but......I would be the last person to crib about things....but I've recently picked up this habit from someone ...and to my surprise I enjoy it ;) so let me go ahead and complain about the kind of food we had...
It was horrible....even that would be an understatement...:)... All burnt toast, with half cooked omelette, and no butter... Somehow we managed to gulp it to fill our tummies. And the bill! it was even more than what we paid last night for our dinner....Oh didn't tell u about the dinner experience na in the last post? That was wonderful....at a road side dhaba :)

Hey but where is our 'Driver' Avijit? Avijit, please don't mind if you come across this blog ever and read it ;)....you were one the most interesting person in the trip, believe me! He was busy cleaning his car, that is one thing he would not miss, ever. ;)

Here we go.....Now no stopping before the destination..we decided.

The weather that day was really good. I always enjoy journey more than the destination. The music, the road, the surroundings and the companions...everything was just perfect. :)

We stopped at 2 places on the way... though we decided not to... hehe
- First was the cool calm place with lots of greenery around, I think we were somewhere near to the Corbett. At least that is what was told to me.

We preferred walking that stretch rather than driving.

- Second was the place near to Nainital. We were hungry by then so thought of stopping there. It was a nice place with a waterfall and some tea stalls....We had hot tea, omelette, and some pakoras...and clicked lots of pictures.

The other car started before ours. We preferred to stay there for little more time and enjoy the ambiance. Cool breeze, Fog all around, and Light drizzling...it was amazing!!!

Nainital was hardly a few kilometers away now.

We managed to reach at around 3.00pm. :) Wow what a place...awesome!!!

As the trip was not a planned one...we had to look for a place to stay. Two of the "most experienced" people Anirban and Agni, decided to go for the hotel hunt. The newly wed couple decided to roam around the market and shop. Avijit, Baby and I decided to stay back near the car and enjoy the lake side view. And Agni's friend, we call him 'stock market', why I'll tell you later....he was nowhere to be found...;)

For some time we waited outside the car....I mean around an hour, and then decided to sit since it was quite tiring. And u know what, in another 10 minutes we realized that all of us were fast asleep, in the car parked in the middle of the market....always sleeping at the wrong place and the wrong time ;)...The wait was really looong. Our mates came after around 2 hrs with such an excitement as if they have conquered the world. Lets see what have they found...

We got down with our luggage at a place not very far from the market and cars went to the parking. We started walking, climbing the stairs with our luggage, walking, climbing the stairs, walking, climbing the stairs....walking, climbing stairs...oh god where are we going...it was as if we are trekking a hill!
Finally we were there. 4 big rooms with nice spacious balcony and a wonderful view of the lake.

So all the "mehnat" was worth it.

Now is the time to relax or to have some food and chat or to go around or to go boating...i mean all these were the options on our minds. Finally, we decided to take hot bath, have something and then go around the place to explore the options for the next 2 days of stay. :)

I never thought that I would be able to write so much about the trip....Its the third part and we have just managed to reach Nainital. But as I said earlier, journey is always better than the destination!

2007-11-20T22:12:00.001-08:00

Trip to Nainital (Part 1)

I came early from the office that day. We were supposed to leave at around 3pm and were a group of 8 people. Since I was the first one to reach back home from office I started following up with all....and Our house was the meeting point :). Everyone took their own sweet time to finish their work at the office and come. Finally, after many calls to and fro, everyone managed to come by 9.30pm. Not Bad at all ;)

And.. guess what.... we were still to decide where to go...hehehe...The choices were Nainital, Shimla, Palampur....mmmm...thats it....na na we even discussed the option to go to Chandigarh....

After a loong discussion....another hour...we decided to go to Nainital. I was happy as I had never visited Nainital before. :) We picked up 3 cassettes of RD Burman / Gulzar combo. Why I am mentioning this here is because these song were the most important and enjoyable part of the trip. Imagine we listened to the same songs time and again....the whole trip....same 10 songs.. :)

So finally we started. There were 2 cars...Avijit's and Agni's....Now the discussion was who will sit where....Why? Well.....you would have been in the trip to know why.....Very smartly in slipped into Avijit's car with my luggage... :)....and I was very happy for this accomplishment.

We had Avijit, Baby, me and Anirban in one and Agni, Lokendar, Mrs Lokendar, and Agni's friend in the other. Just imagine even after spending 3 days together I don't know their names. Not because I

didn't speak to them but just that we called Lokendar's wife as Bhabhiji and Agni's friend...well... my mistake I forgot.

All of us had got long list of instructions from our parents......They were extra worried because....one - we were traveling in monsoons... two - we were driving ourselves... three - we decided to travel at night to save a day... four - all of us are adventure freeks....five - well... will not bore u with a long list..:)

We were listening to soft music ...the one I mentioned earlier.... and enjoying the drive; and suddenly at around 2pm we woke up...to see that we ALL were sleeping...including the driver ;) Then? then what, we stopped and asked the policeman... don't ask me what was he doing there at this hour..... if there is any decent guest house around to spend a few hours....now does that remind you of Jab we met. ;)

After a search of just half an hour we were able to find one. We decided to spend night....rest of the night actually...there. Oh! but where is the other car. There it was finally... another 15 min. :)

Took 2 rooms....all ladies in one and all men in one...was there any need to mention it...Well..there is....
Those who know me would know that I have very few traits of a typical lady...:) So I had a tough time with 2 ladies...typical ladies :)...They had many questions for me.....Why don't I wear bindi and sindoor, How many ssilk sarees do I have in my wardrobe, where do I shop my grocery from,.....again don't want to bore you with full list....I listened to them and agreed that I should actually follow what they suggested......Well...They had the majority ;).....So the next day I wore kurta, jeans...couldn't wear saree/ suit as I did not bring any.....with a small bindi and kum kum (sindoor)....I was looking good...as always ;)

It is important here to introduce them.....

Mrs Lokendar from Meerut...just married...typical housewife...

Baby, also called Mrs. Avijit from Bengal, married some 10 years back.....learning Rabindra sangeet these days....

And you know me.....

Shailza, orignally from Himachal now settled in Delhi with Anirban. Easygoing, frank, honest and creative.....Want to make world a better place to live in...

I am contributing my bit I guess... :)...

See the difference in the way all 3 are introduced and believe me I have just narrated the way these 3 ladies will introduce themselves...

Not that I do not support being a house wife. I enjoy being an ideal wife, ideal bahu and may be I'll be ideal mom in future....but at the same time, I strongly support the fact that one should have her own identity as well....ME as a person....What say?

EXCUSE ME FOR THE FORMATTING. WAS TRYING DIFFERENT THINGS FOR THE FIRST BLOG ;)
THE NEXT ONES WILL DEFINITELY BE BETTER :)

PART II, coming up soon.....