Exploring my country ... exploring myself (Travel India)

Rajasthan - Land of kings, camels, desert and folk music

2011-08-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Day1: Desert calling

Our flight was about to leave Kolkata … still it was hard to believe that we are really going there! “Yesssss we are going to Rajasthan” – the place we always wanted to visit. We hardly had a sleep last night … last minute packing and excitement. With no specific plan in our mind we are going. We had our flight at 7:30 AM and we had reached airport almost 2 hours before. The flight was not delayed. After the take-off Kolkata started to look smaller and smaller from the window and at last disappeared behind the cloud and only then I felt Rajasthan is not far away!

Hawa Mahal

A short flight of an hour and 40 minutes and we were there in Jaipur. At the same point of time the city amazed me and disappointed me. I was amazed to see the Jaipur city from sky and from ground - a totally planned modern city. I was disappointed ‘coz I had a different picture in my mind.

The old Jaipur city – “The pink city behind the wall” is almost 14 KMs away from the airport. The airport is smaller than I expected. We had hired an auto from outside the airport for 150 bucks. The auto rickshaw driver took us to some hotels. Almost all auto drivers do that to earn some extra bucks as commission. But I had a plan to stay in a heritage hotel. So we went to Diggi palace. Though the normal room rent was beyond our budget, but we had the advantage of travelling during off season. At last it was a good bargain and at last I must say it was a good choice too.

I expected Jaipur to be hotter than Kolkata, but the temperature and weather is quite similar, at least it seemed to be so, at the time we had visited. When we left Kolkata we were annoyed as it had been raining for almost two weeks. When we had arrived at Jaipur we are surprised to see the clouds followed us there too. The rain was not continuous and we had enough time to watch Jaipur closely.

We were not in a mood to relax, and we wanted to explore Rajasthan as much as possible. So soon after checking in and having a bath we left Diggi Palace for a walk. I had map of the city with me, which I got from the hotel reception. With the help of that map and local people we started to explore Jaipur depending on our legs. Nahargarh* fort was visible from the road. The first fort we saw in Rajasthan. We decided to visit it by walking. Asking a few people and with the help of our map we have reached the fort.

We had the best panoramic view of the pink city from this place. We spent a couple of hours there before coming back. During our way back we visited the famous “Hawa Mahal” and “Albert Hall Museum”. It was a hectic walk, almost around 20 Kms. When we came back to our room we decided not to stretch it anymore.

Nahrgarh Fort

The arrangement that night was really good. It was a full moon and a special day for Hindus – “Rakhi Purnima”. Hotel management had arranged a cultural program on that occasion, folk music, folk dance and puppet show. A beautiful girl was dancing with rajasthani folk music. She was so damn beautiful that my total concentration was on her. I must admit I have a crush on her. Between the music we were talking, about the folk music, about the lifestyle. It was a long night and I really felt badly when the program ended. I also had a good time with the singers. Folk music is one of my interests and Rajasthan is famous for the folk musician. Sufi, Ghumar, Kawali, Kalbelia - we had too much of the folk flavours that night. We went to bed around 1:30 A.M.

Day2: Moving around Jaipur

It was late when we left our bed next morning. We hurried to finish our breakfast, had a shower and checked out from the hotel. We directly went to the bus stand in search of a bus to Jaisalmer to find out there is only one bus and that departs from Jaipur at 11:59 PM. That was good for us as we decided to spend the day exploring other parts of Jaipur. We took an auto again for hire and for 500 bucks we had a city tour.

Jantar Mantar

We started with Jantar-Mantar. The next was city palace, but it was so crowded that we decided not to enter the palace. From there we went straight to Amer Fort. Amer is obviously the biggest and most beautiful fort of Jaipur, expanding around 5 KMs over Aravalli Mountains. The artwork is stunning, architecture is wonder. We didn’t have a clue how hours passed away within the fort. On our way while returning back from the fort, we went to another famous place of Jaipur, Jalmahal – “Lake Palace”.
We went back to the bus stand after the tour. We we really hungry at that time and we decided to try something typically Rajasthani. So for the first time we had “Dal-Bati-Churma”. Then it was a was a long waiting. We decided to go back to the walled city to pass time.

Jal Mahal

Returning back to the city, we went to a football ground near the “Albert Hall Museum”. It was around 9 PM, a gentle breeze was blowing. I put my backpack down over the ground, put off my shoes and light a cigarette to enjoy that moment. Suddenly I couldn’t believe my ears! “Someone is talking in Bengali” … and I was so surprised to see almost all the people present there are talking in Bengali! At home feelings for us!

We left that place around 10 and went back to the bus stand. Again some wait and we were inside a Volvo bus. The condition of the bus was not really good. But we were so tired that the condition couldn’t disturb our sleep that night.

Day3: A night in the desert, Safari inside desert national park

It was almost dawn when I opened my eyes. The terrain was different and I started to feel the desert. I was still in bus we had reached Jodhpur. The bus journey was a bit boring. Though you can enjoy beautiful Rajasthan from a window seat but it takes too long to reach Jaisalmer from Jodhpur, almost 12 hours.

Our uneventful journey ended at Jisalmer around 12:15 P.M. and it was a kind of relief for me. Avoiding the annoying auto rickshaw drivers we left the bus stand. Due to heavy raining in last few days it was difficult to get a car there. After trying several times we got a vehicle in reasonable rate and we left for Khuri village.

A road among deserts, many wind mills, not many people during the journey – seems like a western movie. It took us almost a hour to reach Khuri, 44 KMs away from Jaisalmer. But we really have enjoyed that journey.

In Khuri we had a booking in “Badal’s house”. Badal Sing is a very nice person and In Khuri “Badal’s House” is one of the best options to stay. He charges 300 Rs per day including the food. That is quite good. We had a bath and had our lunch with "Bazre ki roti".

Varanasi - A city older than time

2011-07-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Varanasi/Kasi Photos

I can't help quoting Mark Twain(Following the Equator) here - "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together". Ofcourse there is something special about this city!

Varanasi or Benaras is one of the oldest living cities on earth. The ancient name of Varanasi was Kasi. According to the "Vamana Puran", the Varuna and Assi river originated from the body of the primordial person at the begining of time itself. The tract of land lying between these two rivers got the name Varanasi, one of the holiest pilgrimages.

Day1: Why Varanasi - Well, you need to find it yourself!

It raised a few eyebrows when I told my friends that I am going to Varanasi ... "Why Varanasi?"

... I didn't answer. But I knew for what I am going to Varanasi. Varanasi got colors of life ... colors of my country ... India.

We had our reservation in Mumbai mail - the train departed from Howrah in time. In its route the train touches my hometown. Sweet Home!! I know this route so well!!! We were travelling along a well known path.

I never had problem sleeping in trains ... neither this time. Actually I feel comfortable with the mild rocking journey.

Day2 : Varanasi - See with your mind, not with your eyes

Mughalsarai, at 8:20 am - surprisingly the train was not delayed. Just outside the station the auto rickshaw drivers almost started third world war just to get us as passengers! Never thought we are that important.

We decided for an auto rickshaw at last, and for Rs 200 it took us to the gate of Kasi Hindu University. We had some food there and passed the BHU gate to have a look at the Campus. Very soon we felt that we are too tired for walk and the burning sun is too much to tolerate. So we returned back to the gate within 10 mins and took another auto to the Dasaswamedh Ghat **, arguably the most famous of the ghats of Varanasi.

I can’t say I was really impressed with Varanasi at that point of time, was just trying to match with the pictures in my mind. It was not love at first sight.

After leaving the auto soon we found ourselves in the banks of river Ganges – The Holy River. We didn’t have any booking as usual. I instinctively followed a gali - narrow lane, to find a shelter. We didn’t have to search much, and we were more than happy to see what we are getting. Two young lads are managing that Hotel – Rinku and Gaurav. We had a good time with them. The name of the area was pretty interesting, “Bangali Tola”, so it was a bit “at home” feelings for us.

We didn’t want to waste much time, so after having a bath we left for the two most famous temples of Varanasi, Kasi Biswanath Temple ## and Annapurna Temple #1. In most of the temples photography is prohibited. We had our lunch inside Annapurna Temple. It was a free lunch :P!

In the evening Rinku had arranged a boat ride for us. First we went half an hour against the tide to “Harishchandra Ghat” and then we came back to “Dasaswamedh Ghat” to watch the famous Ganga Aarti from the river.

With the passing time I started to feel it. Yes you need to feel Varanasi – the people there, the Galis the Ghats and above all the culture originating from there. I had heard so many stories about the fraudulent people of Varanasi. But surprisingly none came to my sight in the whole trip. I felt the exact opposite way about the Varanasi people. They are living with their cultures and beliefs. Until and unless you hurt their sentiment, they are good.

In Varanasi, finish your dinner before 10 PM or it will be difficult to find a good restaurant or hotel. Although there is an old saying “Banaras mein koi bhukha nhi sota” – “Nobody sleeps with empty stomach in Varanasi”, but it is up to you that you believe it or not.

Our first night in Varanasi was amazing. Ganga Arrti, colourful people from all over the world, Old Havelis, narrow lanes, temples everywhere and finally a sound sleep – everything was perfect.

Day3: Sarnath – the beginning of Buddhism

In my daily life no one can blame me as an early riser, but during my tours I don’t miss sun rises or sunsets. I missed it this time! It was already 7:30 AM when I wake up. Others were still sleeping and I left with my camera. The daily life of Ghats was in full fledge. I was sitting there on stairs, just watching, with the camera packed inside the bag. No click! The life continues to flow in the Ghats of Varanasi with me there as a silent spectator.

Rinku also arranged our trip to Sarnath**. On our way we saw a few more temples – I don’t even remember all except the Durga Mandir and Original Bajrangbali Mandir. Leaving Varanasi first we had moved to Ramnagar fort ##. Just beside the river Ganges Ramnagar fort is quite picturous. We spent good time there.

From there we went towards Sarnath. I had a problem there. My contact lens got displaced and I lost it inside my eyes. The irritation stayed until I had removed it at the night.

We had our lunch after returning back to Varanasi. It was late. Rinku stayed there with us during the full trip.We had a bad news after our lunch. A friend called and told that Kalka mail had gone through an accident an co-incidentaly we had our return ticket booked in Kalka Mail for the next day. Several people died in that incident. We were not sure that the train is going to run for the next day or not.

Throwing all these thoughts out of mind I went to the see the Arrti again in the evening. As I missed out earlier so I wanted to have a few real good shots of that event this time. At the end I was not disappointed.

Day4: Seems varanasi don't want us to leave

I remember the day we came to Varanasi, never thought we are going to enjoy Varanasi so much. It was an amazing experience to walk in the narrow lanes of Kashi, to enjoy the breeze sitting idly on the stairs of ghat, to watch the dancing sunlight over the waves, to watch the flow of life, which may have been flowing the same way, as it used to flow some 5000 years back. It is place where the line between myths and reality become thinner. Where mind tends to believe the existence of a power that drives this universe, drives us all. A never felt before spiritualism starts running inside the mind. Only Varanasi can make someone feel like that.

The best place to enjoy sunrise in Kasi is from river Ganga on boat. I was in time to catch the first rays but a cloudy sky was threatening to ruin our plan. With confusion in mind we started our boat("nao") journey and after playing with our mind for a while the Sun came out of the clouds.
We were preparing our mind for the return ...

Tadong - The unexplored paradise near Rinchenpong - Kaluk (West Sikkim)

2011-06-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Tadong is a small place 2 KMs away from Kaluk bazar and 3 KMs away from Rinchenpong. It is not known as a tourist place. No hotel or resort available to stay there and only option is Tamu Home Stay. Mt Kanchendzonga is visible from every part of Tadong and there is no particular view point for that. To enjoy the place have gentle walk along the hidden pathways and pak-dandis amidst lush green slopes. There are so many things to explore.

Day 1: Feeling like nomads ... it feels good

There is something inside my head and it always bugs me in a while to go out in search of SOMETHING - that something I can't explain in words. This time I was in search of a lesser known place, and I found Rinchenpong-Kaluk-Barmiok while googling and a nice partner, Sayan, in my office (this one without googling). It was one bright sunny Friday and we left for Siliguri. We did the booking earlier. So the journey was comfortable but uneventful.

Traveling by train always gives you the option to interact with different people and that is why train journey is never that boring. We spent some time talking with co-passengers then had a sound sleep.

Day 2: Tadong - A Surprise near Rinchengpong

The train was late …we were really hungry by the time we had reached NJP. But at that time it was much important to find a transport to Jorethang than to fill our empty stomach. So ignoring our growling belly we left for Siliguri.

We had got a shared Taxi, two of us and two other families. The journey started along the same old paths around 10:30 am. We were on the front seat beside the driver and I believe that is the best place to enjoy the journey.

We had reached Jorethang around 12:45 PM, there we came to know one of the two families, is also going to Rinchpong. We decided to go together. We took lunch break in Jorethang, before we left for Rinchenpong.The family – Avikda, his wife and two children - Riju and Titli joined us for lunch.

Soon after we had completed our lunch we left for Rinchenpong. We had booked the car before our lunch and the driver was waiting. Our journey was good and without any trouble. We had enjoyed a lot with talkative Titli and game playing Riju.
When we reached Rinchenpong, both of us decided not to stay there 'coz the place seemed to be crowded. So in the same car we went to Kaluk bazar. Avikda had a booking there in some resort and we said goodbye to them in Kaluk and went in search of a place that is a bit isolated - and we found TADONG.

It was raining in that part of world, but not heavily. We were talking with the local people to find a place that matches our criteria. A wine shop owner told us about Tadong at that time. He told us there is no resort or hotel in Tadong but we can stay there in TAMU HOME STAY. We decided to go there and check our luck.

It was almost 2KMs away from Kaluk Bazar, not a long distance and we wanted to sense the new place, so we started walking. At that time it stared raining very hard. Again we had a local companion to show our way and he helped us to find Tamu Home Stay.
When we saw that place I told myself - "yep, this is the place and we are going to stay here". It was not really cold or warm - the weather was soothing and the best part was a big balcony from where you can get the panoramic view of West Sikkim and on a sunny day the snow covered peaks of Himalayas are visible from there.
We went for a walk just after checking in and went to Kaluk again to visit our newly made friends - Avikda and his family. We spent about an hour with them and came back to Tadong.

The dinner was ready for us - chapatis, chicken and the local wine thumba or chang. I really have enjoyed Thumba. We went to bed early just 'coz we didn't want to miss the sunrise and early morning Kanchendzonga.

Day 3: Walking along the mountain trails of Tadong

Sayan wakes me up in the morning. It was a bit cloudy and Kanchendzonga was hidden behind the clouds.
It was so amazing to sip the morning tea, looking at the picturous Tadong from the balcony and thanks to Tamu Home Stay for providing us such warm hospitality. Tamu Home Stay is own by Raju Gurung, His wife looks after the business as Raju remains busy with his job. Their two daughter, Pranita and Sahikala helps them to manage the business and amazingly without hampering their studies.

We had a plan ... to not plan anything in this trip. Avikda & family joined us in the morning. We had many options but we decided to explore the locality following the mountain trails. Pranita and Sashikala was there as our tour guide. We started our journey by knowing their kitchen garden.The main crop they grow is "makai" or "bazra". Sashikala bring us some pitch and we were munching those whenever we were feeling hungry during the walk.

First they took us to a view point over the nearby hill and from there to the "Singabahini Mahakali Temple". I particularly like this temple because of the ambiance. An old "pujari" was there. He stays there in the temple to do the "puja" everyday.Here in Sikkim you will find people of every religion are staying together happily. You will find a mandir beside a gumpha and a gumpha beside a church.

Our next target was a nearby gumpha that was visible from there. After visiting that we returned back to Tadong. It was an wonderful afternoon. We had our lunch together. Then it started raining. We were sitting there in the balcony ... gossiping ... waiting for the rain to stop ... and when it stopped there was a gracefull rainbow just infront of us as if we could touch it from the balcony!

We went back to Kaluk bazaar. Avikda told us about a monastery - "Resum Gumpha". We were not aware of that. We decided to visit it. We left the family in Kaluk and started walking towards Rinchenpong.In the midway we got a car ... The driver was an young lad. After reaching Rinchenpong his friend joined us. When we told them that we are going to visit Resum ... they were surprised.

"Ap log char nhi paoge ... 300 siriya hai udhar, andhera ho jayega" - you will not be able to reach there, there are 300 stairs and it will get dark soon.

Actually the guy was wrong ... there are over 1000 stairs you need to climb to reach "Resum Gumpha".

Anyway, they had agreed to drop us near an old forest Bungalow for 100 bucks, from where the trail starts. We left the car there and spent some time in the garden of that bungalow. Then our journey to "Resum Gumpha" began. When we had reached the gumpha, both of us were breathing heavily. But we made it before the sunset. The place looks so old ... it seemed that nobody visited that place recently. There was an old stupa (they call it "Mane") and I was taking a few shots there. From there when we had reached the main gumpha, only a few steps ahead, it was already dark. There, suddenly Sayan screamed. Following him, what I saw was amazing! Now we know why the Buddhist monks selected this place for their living. The beautiful Himalayas was clearly visible from there.We were not feeling like leaving that place ... addicted ... mesmerised ...

But we had to, at last. It was already dark, and much so inside the forest. The deemed light of our mobile is all we had to see and descend down the slippery steps. When I left Resum, I felt something is entering my shoes - I knew that feeling,I knew what it is but I completely ignored that due to the lack of light. After coming back to Rinchenpong I had to remove those 7 leeches from my feet. Both of my feats were covered with blood. Sayan was lucky enough, not to get any of those creatures. It was kind of an adventure indeed.

It was around 7:30 PM and we were unable to get any car back to Tadong so we started walking. In between we stopped by a shop to clean my legs and get some band-aid.The shop owner was a nice young lad and he managed us a car to Tadong. There everybody was waiting for us.We had our lunch - a few sips of chang and went to sleep, the cosy-comfy bed was inviting us.

Day 4: Back to planes with sweet memories

Was pretty tired due to the walking we did last day. But somehow my eyes open around 4:30 am and I must say I was lucky. The sky was clear and the finest artist of this universe was creating magic on her canvas. I saw Kanchendzonga many times before - but everytime it brings new surprises for me. I was so eager to share it I almost forced Sayan to wake up, and I bet he is not angry for this. It was like a gift from mother nature.

In to the wild - my trip to Jainti (a.k.a Jayanti), Buxa Duar

2011-04-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Day 1: I had a dream of wilderness ... Dooars

The last month was not good for me. I had chicken pox, was bedridden for a few days and at that time I was frequently dreaming about wilderness. So once I am fit and fine again, I decided to visit our very own Dooars - Jainti / Jayanti forest.
I decided it on Wednesday ... so no question of railway reservation and I had to opt for bus. It seems there is a relationship between my tour plan and rain. As soon as I left for my journey it started raining heavily. I took a private bus from Esplanade bus terminus. It was a long journey. Though I had a friend accompanying me, we didn't have much options but to sleep and pass the time.

Day 2: Jainti(a.k.a Jayanti) Forest - The dream is real now, I can feel the wilderness

We had reached Siliguri bus terminus around 9:30 am. It was difficult to walk after such a long bus journey, so decided to go to our next destination by train. We took a train for Alipurduar, it was almost a 3 and half hours journey. Luckily the train stopped at "Raja Bhat Khawa" and we left the train as "Jainti" was very near from there.
We got a bad news on arrival. The forest officials told that due to Supreme court order the Buxa jungle safari has been stopped. But still we had the option to stay beside the forest and feel the beauty of Dooars. So after getting the permit we took an "auto rickshaw" and left for Jainti forest. The auto rickshaw was the only option at that point of time for us.

The road was between the dense forest of Buxa Reserve. We were chatting with our auto drivers to gather information about the place. We crossed a river in between - "Bala river" they call it. It was totally dry and no sign of water. I took a few snaps of that place. Jainti is about 17 kms away from Raja Bhat Khawa. We reached Jainti in the afternoon. We didn't have any booking so our first job was to find a shelter.

It didn't took long to find one. The lodge was good and clean, and it is just beside the jainti forest dormitory. There is no network coverage in this place ... so we were disconnected from the outer world. We left our drivers, had tea and went to the Jainti river bank. There was not much water in the river, so we were walking on the river bed, taking photos and listening the birds whistling and other sounds that forest produces. Night comes quickly in the forest areas. So around 6:30 pm there was none but us enjoying the river. We went back to our lodge with a bottle of whisky. There was a power cut for an hour or so. It was a beautiful experience to enjoy the darkness of a dense forest with a few shots of whiskey in candle light. We were walking along the memory lane ... it was so beautiful. We had our dinner early as we had some plan for the next morning.

Day 3: Trek to Buxa Fort

I left bed early in the morning, it was around 5:30 am and went to the river bank. We had a plan to visit the Mahakal Temple. It is a 6 kms trek route from Jainti. We mate a local guy in the river bank. I asked him about the route to mahakal. He told us just to walk along the river bed. So our journey started ... I thought it will not take long to reach Mahakal as it is only 6 KMs away.

There was a dog following us. It was nice to have a local companion. Walking down the road we came to a point where the road devided into two. We took the right turn. The way was beautiful. (Contd)

Day 4: Trek to Mahakal Cave

It was the last day and we didn't want to miss the Mahkal cave trek. I knew it is going to be hectic but it worth that effort.

After leaving bed early in the morning I was just roaming inside the village. I always feel, to know a place you need to know the people living there. Enjoying scenic beauties, architectural wonders are parts of traveling but knowing different people and their cultures, being a part of their life is the real thing. I remember so many people from this trip. The tea stall owner near the old banyan tree – whom we took to the Buxa fort with us – and believe me it was his first visit to that place! Our sumo driver – who was happily sharing his love story with us and he invited us to his marriage ceremony next month! Our guide to the Mahakal cave, Monoj Mahato, a person to get information about the forest. There are many other people and all of them were so good. I believe this is the effect of the forest where they are living.

From the previous day’s experience we decided to take a guide this time. Our lodge owner asked Manoj to guide us. This is his part time job. He works as a labor to build road in that area. We left lodge after breakfast. Manoj asked me to take a torch and I had to buy one (better to carry one in this type of trips). There was no stiff climbing until we got to the gate of Mahakal and thereafter the hiking began. It is not a tough one and I believe anyone can manage to reach the top.

The beauty of the place is breathtaking. A beautiful waterfall, a mountain river flowing between gigantic rocks, a hanging rope bridge – all contributing to the beauty of that place.

Inside the cave it was really dark. The torch helped us a lot. There was a naturally built "SIVALINGA" inside the cave. After the visit we spent long time beside the river. I also had a bath in the river and it was really refreshing. It was a very hot day! We had return to the lodge around 2:30 and did the pack up in a hurry.Au Revoir Jainti, but this is not the last time for sure. Soon I will be back there, I am in love with Dooars.

Treak to Maenam, Ravangla, South Sikkim

2011-01-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

About this blog:
Situated in South Sikkim, at an altitude of 7400 ft. Nice and peaceful place far away from pollution and crowd.

Places to view in Ravangla:
1. Trek to Maenam
2. Ralang old and new monastery
3. Borong hot spring
4. Buddha park in Ravangla
5. Reyong Sunrise point in Ravangla
6. Samdruptse
7. Temi Tea Garden
8. Tendong Hill
9. Char Dham (Replica of original char dham)

Journey started 18th December, 2010:

At last , after long break, again I am out ...

I was in a hurry to leave office. My bus was on 7:30 PM. We were six, myself, two of my friends and three family members of one of them. I was first to reach the bus stand. Bus was late as usual.I slept in the bus throughout our journey. It was not an event full journey.I just wake up around 7:30 to see we are in Siliguri.

Day 1: On our way to Ravangla

My plan was to go to Ravangla by shared taxi. But my friends decided to go by a reserved car as they had their family with them. They talked with some travel agent regarding that. The condition was, if we do hotel booking through travel agents, then only they will provide us transport. We did the hotel booking from them, but the transport never arrived. That was actually a trick of them. So after a little fight we took our advance booking money back. But in that process we lost at least 3 hours.

At last we found a cab for ourselves. The driver charged us 2600 for the trip. We halted once in "36 miles" to have our lunch. The river "Teesta" is very near from there. So we went to the bank and had a walk there. In the meantime our driver get drunk-ed and when we started again he was driving very roughly. We almost had a collision with two bike riders. The bikers stopped our car and they were so furious that they almost beat our driver. We lost some more time there.

Hotel in Ravangla - Hotel Chinthang

When we were in Singtam, some police officials stopped our car and asked for the permit (WB drivers need permit to drive in Sikkim) from our driver. AGAIN ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR US, our driver didn't have the necessary permit, neither had he the driving license!! He got fined there. We started again, and after some time we came to know that our driver doesn't know the exact way to Ravangla. It was already around 6 PM, he tried to convince us to go by another vehicle. By at that time we were pretty much annoyed. We started shouting at him, and forced him to drive again. He was driving furiously, but our only concern at that point was to reach Ravangla ASAP. Around 7:15 our journey ended in Ravangla. But some more surprises were waiting for us. The next day Buddhist guru "Dalai Lama" was coming to Ravangla, and all the hotels were packed and in the remaining hotel the rent was sky high. We had chosen "Hotel Chinthang" after trying a few and it was a good decision. We were really tired. So we had our dinner and went to the hotel after booking a car for the next day tour.

Day 2: Feeling the beauty of Rabong - Ravangla: Spent the day roaming around

Early morning ... and we were ready for site seeing, but our driver didn't arrive at time. We went out in search of him. We found him at last but by the time we had reach the sunrise point it was a bit late. But couldn't blame the driver for that, it was a cold morning :). The weather was perfect, no cloud, and we were able to see the distant snow cladded peaks of Himalaya and of course the beautiful "Kanchendzonga".

We came back to our hotel from there to have breakfast. It was a super busy day in Ravangla. Buddhist saint "Dalai Lama" was visiting the place for inauguration of local "Buddha park". The people were almost crazy to see him. From our hotel we also had a chance to have a glimpse of the saint and we waved at him. It was a nice experience, a bonus in the trip.

We went out for site seeing around 10 AM. It was a bit late but we couldn't help it as due to the visit of Dalai Lama the securities blocked the roads. After leaving Ravangla we went to the "Temi Tea Garden". Did some photo shoot there. I had some trouble with my camera. The mount point of the lens was broken (i am yet to fix it :-( ...) . It was challenging for me to adjust my camera and I was extra cautious to make sure that I don't break the lens itself.

From there we moved towards Namchi, to visit Char Dham. Actually it is an replica of the famous "Char Dham" of India. These four Dhams are as 1) Sri Badrinath at North, 2) Sri Dwarka at West, 3) Sri Jaganathpuri at East and 4) Sri Rameshwaram at South of India. The purpose is to give the flavour of the original places (actually located in different parts of India) in a single visit. I didn't really enjoy that place. Because I believe when it is about arts, ancient India was 1000 times ahead of current India. This is just an imitaion and travelling to this place is a waste of time in my opinion. but my friends were interested to go so I accompanied them.

We had our lunch in Namchi while returning. Namchi is the capital of the South Sikkim. A very clean city really. After lunch we went to Samdruptse - which means wish fulfilling hill in Bhutia. There is a beautiful stature of Guru Padmasambhaba a.k.a Guru Rimpoche.

The sun was already setting down when we left Samdruptse. Our next target was Ralang Monasteries - the old and the new one. Our driver was a bit worried and soon we came to know why!

The road condition was adverse. Seemed there was a land slide in recent past and BRO yet to fix it. Our SUV was moving slowly towards the destination. First to the Old ralang monastery and next to the newer one. While returning I decided to get out of the vehicle just about 4 KMs away from Ravangla. It is always a pleasure for me to walk along the hilly roads. I had a chance to took a few pictures of that place from top.

At night there was a little crisis for food as too many people were in Ravangla to see Dalai lama and the supply was not enough. Somehow we had managed to have our dinner in a resaurant. Before we call it a day another bad news was waiting - our driver told it will not be possible to get the permit of Maenam treak as in weekend the office will remain close.

Day 3: Trek to Maenam Hill - Ravangla

When the day started I had no plan in my mind. Sonam (our driver) told me that the forest office will be closed as it is a Sunday and it will not be possible for us to get permit to enter Maenam. I hated those words. That was the main purpose of my tour, to see the snow cladded peaks from the top of Maenam. It was around 9:30 AM, and I was unable to decide what to do. At last I made up my mind to give it a try. I took a cab and went to the forest office. There I saw Mimah.

Mimah told he is the official guide for Mainam, and he is working in the local forest depertment. He arranged for the permission and we took him as our guide. I had to return back to our hotel before we can start climbing. I hurried to the hotel, informed everyone and bring them back to the forest office gate where Mimah was waiting for us, and our journey to Maenam started.

None of the others from our team had any previous hiking experience except me. But they were very excited about that. The trek route is not very stiff but the distance is almost 24 KMs up and down. There are 4 resting points on the way. When we have reached the 2nd point half of our team was not willing to move anymore. So they decided to go back from there and three of us continued our journey to the peak. It was around 3:30 pm when we reached the peak. Normally the trek shouldn't take more than 3 hours but my friends were too tired and it took us around 5 hours. Over the mountain there is a small old gumpha.We light some incense sticks there and created a stone memento. It was too cloudy and the greater Himalaya was not visible from there.

We had to hurry back downwards as we wanted to get out of the forest before dark. We made it within 2 hours. We had nothing to do that evening. There was a power cut and everybody was so tired.

Day 4: Time to say adieu to Ravangla

When you are in this part of India, get prepare for a very common phenomenon – "STRIKE"!! It may happen any time without any prior notice. I have noticed that people here also enjoys it like a holiday. There is no real industry in this part of world and the routine life doesn't really get affected due to the strike. The only problem is that – if you are in plain you will not be able to go up and vise versa.
Our plan was to leave Ravangla early in the morning, but due to the trek yesterday my friends couldn't wake up early for both of them it was the first trek. So I decided to ramble around the place. It was a clear day and Mt Kanchendzonga was clearly visible. After a while I halted for a tea break in a roadside tea stall. A sweet little girl was serving tea there, her uncle run the shop. We had some discussion about the place, the visit of Dalai Lama to Ravangla. There I came to know about the strike. He told me that today no transport will be available to reach the plain – Siliguri.

At that time I had reached hotel everyonce elase was awake and they also came to know about the strike. Everybody was a bit worried as it was our last day of our vacation. We tried hard to arrange a vehicle and for that we searched almost every part of the village. Around 1:30 PM we got one for Damthang. There are two possible ways to reach Siliguri from Ravangla, Damthang or Namchi. From there transports are available. Ravangla, being a small place not much options available there. We packed in a hurry and left hotel.

I am going to get back there again. So many things remain unexplored there, I am yet to spend a night on top of Maenam, Missed the Tendong Hill trek due to lack of time and I am yet to see the famous red panda!

Lava, Lolay gaon, rishop/rishyap

2011-01-04T10:27:00.000-08:00

About the trip:

Lava, Lolay gaon(lolegaon) and Rishop, are three small villages of Himalaya in West Bengal, India known for their natural beauty.

Lava is situated at a height of 2350 meters. It is around 101 KMs from Siliguri via Kalimpong.

Rishop is almost at the same altitude as Lava. It is around 5 KMs from Lava by trek route and 12 KMs by car.

Lolay Gaon is situated at 1850 meters, located 59 KMs from Kalimpong and 25 Kms from Lava

Day 1: Leaving kolkata and it is raining!

At last my backpack is ready, or I think so. Because in past so many times I missed things after starting my journey. It is quite a task for me. It is raining heavily still now. But who cares. Once I decided to go then I need to go.

Will not be able to update during the trip mainly due to connectivity issue and I hate carrying laptop everywhere. Though it is so nice to think that no one will be able to disturb over phone with some foolish promotional plans :).

Tomorrow morning I have a date with Himalaya and a thought of that is making me crazy. Just hoping for no landslide.

Day 2: No spoiler rain, and it started well (Lava)

Our bus was 4 hours late. 4 hours! and yes we went to Siliguri by bus. It is not a wise decision though. We had to go by bus because we didn't have enough time for reservation. But it is far better to travel by train(budget) or to fly. Anyway that wasted half of our day. we reserved a car after reaching Siliguri and left for Lava. The weather changes dramatically in this part of world.

When we started it was a sunny day and during halfway it started raining, though not heavy rainfall. It took 4 hours to reach Lava, mainly because we halted many times during the trip just to feel the beauty of the place and to fill our lungs with some fresh air, which is so rare in city life!

In this region, the night comes so quickly. So just after checking in I went out for a survey (this is my first trip to Lava). The Lava village is not big. The main business is tourism and some timber related works. There is a beautiful monastery in Lava

On our way to Lava. The visiting time ends at 5:30PM, and I stepped in just around that time. So I was in a hurry. I got a local guide there, a boy of around 10 years. He show me the monastery and told me about their rituals.

During all my trips I found that the best way to know a place is to interact with local people. People in Lava, they are just too good. I interacted with as many people as I could, They speak mainly Nepali and broken Hindi or English( In that way increasing my Nepali vocabulary :P ). Many of the people doing business there, are not local. They came from different parts of India. Almost all the shopkeepers are from Bihar. It is a fact, "There is a bit of Bihar in every part of India" :)).

My friends joined me after some time and we started wander inside Lava. We were walking through the clouds! It was difficult to see something even just a few feet away. The temperature was around 7/8 degree Celsius and we went from a place where the temp remains around 40 degree around summer! So I was enjoying the weather. But what I didn't enjoy are the leeches of Lava. I was aware of the fact that we are going to meet a few leeches as leeches are very common in this type of places. So when I felt there is something inside my shoes I was sure that it is nothing but leech

I found 4 leeches, 3 from right and 1 from left shoes. It was not really difficult to get rid of those creatures and leeches are not really harmful!

I forgot to recharge my camera batteries before the trip so I couldn't take much shots in day one. That is the only thing I regret.

It was around 10:30 and the whole Lava village was sleeping except three of us. We decided to go back to our hotel room for dinner and some rest.

Day 3: Trek route to Rishop (Rishyap)

One of the most difficult thing in life is to leave the warmth of bed in cold morning! But early morning is the best time to feel the tranquility and serenity of Lava. I bought a new set of batteries for my camera and went out on a road between clouds. Everybody in the monastery was also awake. I took a few shots of the monastery and the monks living there. I had a good conversation with a few monks. They were curious about photography. I roam around the place almost for three hours, taking photos , talking with people, sometime taking tea breaks.

Around 10:30 AM we said goodbye to Lava and went out for the trek to Rishop. The condition was overcast and as soon as we started it started raining, no heavy rainfall till then though.The road was around 5 KMs, and over 3 KMs of that through forest of "Neora Valley National Park" following "pagdandi"

That experience was amazing. The forest was calm and serene as usual. And I love walking in the forest and I love walking in the rain too! During midway it started raining heavily. No shelter inside the forest and I didn't have any protection. But I enjoyed it really. Our journey continues for one and half hour. It took that long because we were enjoying it inside the forest and wanted to spend time inside.

We didn't have any plan to stay in Rishop as due to overcast condition it was not possible to see "Kanchendzonga" or other snow clad peaks of Himalaya. So after reaching Rishop we keep walking and did a survey of the place as well as the forest near Rishop. When we stopped for Lunch we got drenched in rain to our skin. The good thing was that I didn't get any leech in the Forest of Rishop ;).

Lolay gaon is almost 25 KMs from Rishop. So we hired a car from the car syndicate in Rishop. It was around 4 when we left Rishop. The road to Lolay Gaon was not that good in condition, so it took longer than usual. That was not a problem for us though, we were not in any hurry and were enjoying the roadside views. We reached Lolay Gaon around evening. Our driver took us to a beautiful resort - "Resort Tree-Fern". All the arrangements were so good there and it was very clean

We didn't waste much time in room though. Just after getting refreshed we went out again for a walk in neighborhood. There was a very good family just beside our resort. We spent a lot of time talking with the members. It was a nice experience. There is nothing to see during night time in Lolay Gaon. So after roaming around for a while we returned to our room, had our dinner

Day 4: Adieu, Time to say goodbye to Lolaygaon

The first thing came to my mind after I wake up is "We have to leave today ... ", damn!

I had a wonderful sleep the previous night. The resort was really good. We took some time to get ready. I was sensing the neighborhood, so calm! There was a dog near the resort. After we arrived at Lolay gaon it never left us and went went with us wherever we went! We canceled our plan to go to sunrise point, Jhandidara (3Kms), as it was really cloudy. In this trip I was not able to see the sun even for a few minutes.

So we went to the Heritage forest to spend some time with nature. There we got unwanted company of thousand leeches, but the atmosphere was so beautiful we completely ignored those creatures. After spending good time there we came back to the main market place of Lolay Gaon. There is an Orchid park, but not many varieties of orchids left there. After a photo session there we went for our lunch. We checked out immediately after reaching our resort .....

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Sikkim - Switzerland of East

2010-04-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Sikkim trip was an eye opener for me in many ways. Before this trip I almost forgot traveling. So this was a re-start for me that again woke up the traveler within me. I am going to share all, the good and bad sides we faced during this trip. As I am not a great writer, this is basically a documentation of our trip. Our trip was a bit hectic, as we tried covering as many places as possible in a limited time. In my opinion if you are in a mood to relax, have at least have 7 days in hand. Because traveling in hilly region really takes time.

We started our journey from kolkata. our roadmap was Kolkata->NJP->Gangtok(Sikkim)->Lachung->Katao and Yamthung->Gangtok(Rumtek)->NJP->KOLKATA.

The journey began with fun. We didn't have any reservation and the General compartment of the "SLD-NJP EXP" was over populated. The reason we enjoyed the journey most is for being "without reservation". After an hour in compartment we didn't have any unknowns but friends there sharing jokes and fags(oops), slipping on each others shoulders. Luckily we get a seat. Half of the people was not that lucky so they made the floor their bed during night time or passed time playing cards. A typical "Indian railway compartment". We hardly slept that night. May be for an hour or two.

It was around 8:00 AM, and we were in NJP! The first encounter with trouble. A general misconception: People in hilly region are very honest and trustworthy. May be they were. But the days are gone. Now they really mean business. So beware. We meet our first agent in station. We had a deal with him that he is going to take us to Gangtok. We followed him to his vehicle and he took us to a travel agent! "World Tourism". And after that we never saw him.
So now we are in the office of travel agent, dealing for vehicle and to find they are more interested about our lodging. They show us some photos of a few hotels and we agreed for a package tour. DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE. Better you decide your own trip. I always feel "It is better to be a traveler than a tourist". The travel agent assured us to provide a vehicle and a man from there took us to "Siliguri Bus Terminal". He made a deal with a driver for us. The driver was visibly unhappy with the deal. Again we had an unknown companion with us, as the vehicle was a "SUV" (I don't remember the brand) and it carries 10 people at least (or extra fare) and we were nine. In between our journey we halted for our lunch in a hotel, and the hotel was just above the beautiful "Tista" river. A few of our friends went to see the river closely and to take some snaps. They were about 20 mins late after our lunch, and the driver told that he is not going to take us, untill we pay extra money as we wasted his time. After some arguments we had to give him 400 rupees extra to continue our journey.

We reached Gangtok in the evening and was surprised to see our hotel rooms. Not even close to the photos we saw in the travel agent's office. But as we paid in advance so we decided to stay there. We stayed very near to "MG Market". That is a beautiful market place to roam around but things are really expensive there. And if you are from a big city with big malls, really nothing you have there for you. So in my opinion, FIND A HOTEL A BIT AWAY FROM THERE. It will be lot more cheaper in many ways. The liquor is very cheap there though and you will find liquor shops everywhere. That evening we spent time roaming in MG Market and nothing more we had to do.

Next day started very early for us. We were about to leave Gangtok to Lachung. We left very early and to find our "package tour" driver is late. Actually very late and we left Gangtok around 11:30. Between we spent some time in "Tashi view point". Road to Lachung was good. We halted to see the "seven sister falls" and had our lunch in a beautiful small village "Namok". I really liked that place and the food was good too. We had rain between or journey. Our car (A mahindra MAX) was not in good condition. The wipers were not working and it was difficult to see anything even within a few feet at night as the clouds were covering our road. But at last we were very thankful for the rain, as for that we get the first "snow fall" of our life that night.