Memoirs of my Travels

Pooh-Delhi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:54:00 +0000

in morning the chaurkidaar knocked at 8am to give tea. and along with it he gave us a really scary piece of news.. very coolly with a big smile he said "ji wo badal wapas aa gaye hai.." what!!! clouds settling in again.. means it could start snowing anytime.. abbe ismein hasne ki kya baat hai...

this news like sent a wave of energy through us and we quickly jumped out of the bed. if anyone would have seen us packing and loading our stuff, it would have been like watching an animated film in fast forward. last night some people had come from Ludhiana in a jeep. they were also warming their vehicle, putting hot water on the engine to warm it and the coolant to get it started. thank god we had a better vehicle which started on the first twist of the key. quickly we left pooh by 9. the sun was out but the snow had not started to melt.
the river had also started to freeze from the top..

i was praying that we dont encounter any ascend with snow. with all this ice on the road, i was pretty sure it would be difficult to climb..

but infact it turned out to be the other way round. the tires were getting better grip on the uneven hard ice. we could hear the brittle ice crunching under the tires as we went along. on the way we saw a army soldier walking along the road.. we stopped and offered him a lift. he wanted to go till Rampur and graciously accepted.. similarly we also let a local and a middle aged man come along till Akpa. this was to ensure we had some man power incase the car got stuck somewhere. the old man wudn't be much of an help but we couldn't refuse him when he said he was not well. the locals were saying that the climb after the Akpa bridge might be tricky. so we were better prepared for it now..

initially as i drove i was a bit scared. i was all the time fighting with this feeling that at the next corner we will find a climb that we wont be able to negotiate and get stuck.. also i was praying that we dont encounter any landslides.. after driving for an hour or so, i saw that the clouds were beginning to clear..

this was good news.. also the sun was out and it got warmer.. but the road was not in that good a shape.. throughout the way it was either covered with ice or broken..

the snow covered valley..

although we did find some good stretches where the snow has been cleared but here also we had to drive carefully as there were big pieces ice on the road.. and here also there was a line of ice in the middle which scratched the irritatingly low bumper of our car..

we made good progress.. after spillo mobile networks were available and our phones started working.. i cant describe the feeling at time.. it was as if i had been cut off and now was again connected to my loved ones.. that really made me realize how important cell phones are..

more snow on the road..

now the army movement had also started and we encountered many vehicles.. one place we got stuck in this jam. there only one vehicle could pass and vehicles from both sides had created a deadlock.. but the army vehicles were equipped with 4 wheel drive and had chains on the tires. they easily drove over the ice and crossed...

but when the local vehicles tried following them, they slipped in all ways possible.. this one slipped sharply sideways and nearly banged into my car..

we also had to back our car onto the ice to give more space to these vehicles which lead to further scratches on the bumper..
then we reached Akpa.. the place were trouble was expected and were we found enough of it.. first there was a stretch of road where the snow had been cleared..

at the end of this stretch was a bridge.. just before the bridge was a huge puddle of water whose surface was frozen.. i thought i will build momentum and cross the puddle.. immediately after the puddle was a mall incline to climb the bridge which was absolutely frozen.. if i stopped on it, surely the tires will not find grip to climb further.. was i dint anticipate was that the puddle was deep and at the bottom was mud.. the car went straight into the puddle and got stuck.. no matter how much i accelerated, the tires kept on spinning in the mud and ice below.. then all our passengers and manik got out and pushed.. the car moved forward but the wheel wont climb the incline.. then some locals also came and pushed.. still no use!! finally someone got some piece of wood which was placed under the tire and everyone pushed and the car climbed up.. pheww!!! tired, everyone sat in and we crossed the bridge.. immediately after the bridge was the incline everyone had warned about.. it was under the shadow of trees so dint get much sunlight.. hence the snow here was thick and slippery.. and as expected our car again couldn't climb.. we pushed hard and it moved ahead few meters.. and then again stopped.. we definely did not have the energy to push it all the way.. and there was no dirt on the road sides to cover the snow.. with no option left, we waited.. soon a car full of locals came.. thank god.. but instead of helping us push the car forward, they pushed it to a side and drove off.. kya yaar!!! then after resting some time, we pushed again.. this time i also got down and pushed.. the car moved ahead but not much.. now we had a corner in front of us.. pushing the car up seemed impossible.. then came another car.. this time the locals helped us and we were able to push the car up the corner.. after the corner the ice was bit harder and slipping left and right, the wheels got some grip and were able to climb.. only a single lane of road was drivable.. when an another car came from the other direction, i had to literally climb on the snow to let is pass.. thank god it happened only once.. the car was skidding badly but again again due to ABS, i was able to control it.. after some time the incline ended and came a steep decline.. again the ABS was a life saver..
after some time we were stopped by a landslide.. oh no!!!

this is what i feared.. and normally landslides could take hours or even days to clear depending on their intensity.. but now luck was favoring us. it only about half an hour and we were on our way.. as we were descending it was getting very hot.. also there was less snow on the hills around.. as we reached the cut for Recong Peo

there was more water in the waterfalls now..

it was really relieving to see no sign of snow on the hills around..

the petrol pump at Powari..

now it was manik's turn to drive.. we were really relaxed.. we had cleared the snow and were finally free.. we could drive till ever where we reached that day and then leave next morning and drive home.. now joking and enjoying the drive we crossed the rest of Kinnaur.. i cant say the same about the car though.. the bad stretch near karcham was a torture for it.. and now after being stuck for so many days, we too were more worried about getting out than about the car.. many times it was hit from under and each time my heart skipped a beat..

i was so happy to have mobile network back that i couldn't stop calling people.. after my family and my office, i simply started calling people to wish them a happy new year..

after some time there was no sign on snow even on the highest peaks around.. no one could say it was snowing anywhere in this part of india.. our car, covered in mud with splashes of water, seemed odd..

another waterfall on the way..

finally we reached Rampur, our destination for the day..

at Rampur we stopped for our first meal of the day.. all the emotions had made me forget that i had not had much to each since morning.. when we finished our food, it was around 7pm. now we had to go and look for a place to stay.. as we got back into the car, this insane idea of driving home right then, came to our minds.. it seemed stupid but the thought of reaching home was tempting.. we had not eaten properly, not had bath for a week or even brushed our teeth properly.. also my father was leaving for Hyderabad next morning and i would not be able to meet him for another week.. so as much as we tried to, we couldn't prevent ourselves from succumbing to this idea.. so instead of turning towards the rampur town, we kept on driving on.. soon it was dark..

we had been told that there would be snow around Narkanda and we dint want to take any chances of getting stuck again.. so we were going to take an alternate route which would bypass Narkanda and get us straight to Shimla.. after Shimla there was no snow.. for this we took the cut for Tattpani from Kingal.. now we came on a small and lonely road.. it was totally black all around and we could only see as far as the beam of our headlights.. on one side was the rocky mountain and on the other side was the valley.. there was no one in sight and no traffic on the road.. but atleast the road was in good shape.. it had potholes but nothing which our car couldn't smoothen out.. now and then as passed a village which again were empty.. the roads..

occasionally there were jungles on the sides also.. many times i thought we were lost but there was no one to ask, so we kept on going.. a waterfall we crossed on the way..

many times we saw a fox or two cross the road.. but till i took out the camera, they ran away.. on time i managed to catch this one..

after hours of driving through the empty roads, we finally saw a sign for shimla.. ok, so we were on the right track.. then we came across a fork and took the cut marked for shimla.. the road started climbing up.. we crossed naldera and mashobra.. now there was snow visible on the sides of the road which increased as we climbed higher.. i just hoped we dont get snow on the road as it would be very tricky to negotiate in dark.. good thing was that we dint.. we took some long way and looped around shimla and finally crossed it.. now it was almost 2pm and i was starting to get really sleepy. but i dint want to sleep leaving manik driving alone, incase he too fell asleep while driving.. so i persuaded him to stop at the next hotel we saw.. we could sleep the rest of the night and restart our journey next morning.. we tried several places but couldn't get a decent hotel and in the process i fell asleep in the car itself.. when i woke up we had almost crossed the hills.. after chandigarh, i took the wheel and manik went to sleep.. in the plains, again our luck was good and we dint get any fog or traffic.. we quickly reached murthal where we stopped for a parantha dinner or actually i should say breakfast.. next stop was home.. we finally reached home and it felt so nice.. thus ended a trip which was planned for relaxing but turned out exactly the opposite.. and at the end we had an adventure we could never forget the rest of our lives..

Stuck in Pooh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:54:00 +0000

next morning we got up late.. since we had decided to wait for a confirmation of the road opening, there was no hurry.. the hotel chaukidaar told us that there was no water so the morning necessities had to be carried outside on the road. Shitting in open with ice all around and then wiping your ass with ice is an experience I pray you never have to go through.
even the river was frozen..

our guest house..

then we went to the town to find out about the road conditions. there we had a delicious thupka and momo lunch.. looks tempting, doesn't it!!

People said that the road ahead was open and we even saw many cars leaving. but we did not share their confidence and we decided to wait for a day more. we came back to the room. today there was electricity, so finally after carrying it around for almost 10 days, we used the laptop. after transferring the photos from the camera to the laptop we started watching the latest episode Of top gear. then we went to the Pooh town to get some petrol. There was a marriage procession going on in the town. Chalo at least some people are happy in this ungodly weather. There is no petrol pump in Pooh. only petrol available is that stored by shopkeepers. So the petrol here is sold Rs.10 more than the market value, not much i would say. We bought 10 litres, enough to get us comfortably to the proper petrol pump at Powari which was 58 kms away. We came back and started a movie. In between the movie a person from the guest house staff knocked on our door and said that there was a call for Manik. This was very very surprising for us. we had not been able to contact our parents since we called them from Sumdo 3 days ago. there was no way they could have known we were in Pooh. we quickly rushed to the kitchen. the phone there only had local outgoing and obviously incoming from anywhere. to our absolute surprise, it turned out to be Salil!! he inquired about our well being and told us that our parents were worried and had called him. then he put my parents in conference and i was able to talk to them.. they seemed really worried.. the news channels had been forecasting snow storms and avalanches in Kinnaur and on top of that people all around were calling them and telling them about such reports.. damn the new channels!! there was not even a single cloud in sky and they were going on about how people were stuck in snow.. also so many people calling my parents was making the reports more believable and further increasing their fear.. why dont people first verify a news before spreading it around and troubling others!!! when we got over the initial shock of the call and the joy of talking to our parents, the question again came to our minds.. how the hell did Salil trace us?? i dont know where all he must have called, from who all he had gotten the numbers before he finally got to us in Pooh.. we really couldn't figure out how he could have done that.. and words can not describe how thankful we were to him.. this really proved to me that no matter where you go, people who care for you will find you..

we were in luck because immediately after we finished talking to our parents, the light went and with it the telephone connection. we came back to the room & waited for the dinner to be ready. after some time the light came back and we resumed our movie. at night the roof and the windows again shook under the pressure of the strong winds.. again i prayed that no landslide happens as i went to sleep.. tomorrow will be the next stretch of the trip.. lets hope we get out of this snow...

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Chango-Pooh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:54:00 +0000

Around 11 in morning manik rushed into the room. I was still in bed thinking whether or not to get out of the warm quilt. He said that the election duty guys were leaving and if we wanted to leave with them we had to pack up immediately.. i quickly got out of bed and started packing my stuff.. but when i looked outside i still saw a thick layer of snow on the road.
the melting ice floating in the river..

also even till now we had not seen any vehicle had come from the other side. this meant that we could not be sure that the road was fully operational. So I wanted to wait for a day more. i would have been more confident in going after the army trucks had started moving. But Manik insisted on leaving with the election people and the thought of reaching home seemed appealing to me also, so we quickly packed our things and loaded them into the car. Manik had also bought 2 people to travel with us. this was a good idea as we would have man power in case we needed to push the car. also one of them was a local driver, so he could help us drive in the snow. but by the time we packed everything and came outside, the others cars had left and with them also the 2 people Manik had got. Our hosts suggested we still go on, so we got into the car, bid farewell to our hosts and with me at the wheel started towards Pooh. We drove with a big knot of fear in our stomachs and words of prayer on our lips. The road was still covered in snow and the melting top layer was still making it slippery.
oops.. where did this come from..

we were getting the hang of driving in snow. the trick was to keep driving at constant speed in first gear with no sudden breaking or acceleration. With ABS in the car, we had the confidence that at least our wheels will not get locked on breaking and we will not slide. After covering 8-9kms, at one incline the car got stuck. the wheels kept on spinning in one place and it refused to move ahead. I got down and looked around. I saw this was the same place from where we had returned to Chango 4 days ago. what rotten luck!! we saw a car some distance ahead of us. there were around 7-8 people pushing it up the incline. after the car crossed the incline, the people stopped to catch a breath. we called to them for help but in-spite of us shouting very loudly, they either dint hear or chose not to. manik was in a state on despair and panic. he couldn't decide what to do and was very worried and started walking towards the car to get help. but today i determined to move ahead. i started picking up dirt from the side and putting it on the road in front of the tires. then i moved the car over the trail of dirt and it started climbing. yipee!! but as the wheel crossed the dirt trail and came back on ice, it again got stuck. The climb was about a kilometer long and it was not possible for 2 of us to put dirt on that large a distance. The only option left was to return back to Chango and try after few more days. now another problem was coming into picture. we were running short on petrol and there was no petrol pump for quite a long distance. if we went back to Chango and again tried some other day, we might not have enough petrol to make it to Pooh. getting angry at ourselves for not filling the tank fully at Kaza dint help much.. with no idea we simply sat down there waiting for someone/something to come along and help us. Luck was on our side and soon a truck came. 4 locals got out of it.. they said that putting dirt was the only way to make the car climb.. they also had a shovel. four of them and me after lot of effort covered the climb with dirt. we crapped the ice from over the gravel on the sides of the road and dug out the dirt. then we put this dirt in a sack and spread it on the road. had we come a day or two later, the BRO guys would have already done this for us. manik was not feeling so good so he went to sit in the car. it must have taken more than an hour and at the end i left i so breathless that when i opened my mouth to spreak no words came out, only air. i drove the car over the dirt trail with manik and the truck guys pushing it. once it got the momentum, the car started climbing the inclines much more easily. if i had stopped to let manik sit in the car, i would have lost the momentum and would have gotten stuck again. so i assumed he will following in the truck and kept on going on. I got stuck again twice but the truck was behind me. But both these times, the car just needed a push to move ahead. Lesson learned was always have 4-5 people in the car, so that when needed there are people to push. The climb was over in a few kilometers. After that it was all downhill. the only possible danger was the Malling Nala but there the BRO had laid stones and i was able to cross it. but now another problem popped up. when the BRO JCB's put the dirt on the road, they simply scoop out a chunk of gravel from the hill and spread it on the road. with the mud many times also came big pieces of rock. but the JCB did not care about this as army vehicles are anyways pretty high. so when you drive over this dirt, there are big pieces of rock protruding out. if your car does not have huge clearance like a honda jazz does not, these stones scratched the underbelly of the car very badly. anyways negotiating these stones and in the process denting the car a few times, i reached the helipad near Nako. there i waited for Manik and the truck. after he arrived, we had some breakfast and started again. the road was now mostly down hill except one stretch. but we were confident as with ABS in the car, down hill on snow was not a problem. for the possibly tricky uphill stretch, we still had the truck behind us to help. by now manik was also relaxed and he resumed his duty of taking photos. we realized that both times in all the tension, we had forgotten to take the photo of the place where we had got stuck.
as we started to climb down.. lot less ice on this side of the mountain..

but still a lot on the road

as we went down.. these corners were tricky as the car was not too willing to turn. even on turning the steering wheel, the car continued to go straight..

but then the ABS would start working its magic and the car would take the line i wanted it to take..

the tracks made by other vehicles left a line of ice in the middle.. we soon realized that our car was lower than any car which had passed over these trails and hence was many times constantly scraping against the raised portion of ice. we had seen Altos pass, so our car was even lower than Altos..

going down and down...

we kept on going non stop.. soon we reached the Ka-Zigs..

while negotiating these turns i could slowly feel the resistance in the steering wheel increasing. soon it was taking a lot of effort to take a U turn.. it felt as if something was stopping the tire from turning. we stopped and got out to check.. the wheel arch's were completely filled with ice which was slowly getting harder. hence the wheel could not turn. we picked up some large stones and chipped the ice away..

there was this weird machine standing there which seemed like a road roller but dint have any rollers..

after the end of Ka Zigs the road got clear for few kilometers..

then after crossing the Khab bridge, we again encountered ice..

the sun had set by now and the ice had again gotten hard.. we were able to climb up the ice and without any trouble reach Pooh just as it got dark.. we went to the government guest house straight away.. we again had to beg the caretaker to give us room which were all reserved for election duty.. after waiting for some time he finally allotted a room to us.. there was no water but at-least there was light and warm food.. i saw these icicles hanging from the bathroom window..
the gangsta look...

after dinner when i went to bed, i noticed a new problem. It was very very windy outside. So much so that even after covering myself with 4 layers of blankets, i could still hear the rumbling of the wind. the tin roof of the building was constantly trembling as if it would fly away any minutes. under pressure from the wind, the windows were banging. The wind meant less chances of snow as it would blow away the clouds but such strong wind could cause loose rocks to fall, leading to landslides. here was no confirmation that the way from Pooh towards Rampur had been cleared, so we decided to wait in Pooh for another day. But every time i heard the wind, the fear that we will get stuck because of landslide increased. So much so that i could barely sleep at night..

Total distance traveled: 54kms

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Stuck in Chango: Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:53:00 +0000

next morning when i got up, i slowly took out my head from the sleeping bag, just hoping that it had not started snowing again.. thankfully our luck had not worn out.. it was still bright and sunny and the snow was still melting.. how ever it wasn't melting as fast as i had expected it to.. even now the layer of ice was thick and still not drivable.. melt fast you bloody snow!!! when we went out we saw our hosts were cutting the wood..

it was almost 12 and the breakfast had been cleared. so we made the Maggie which we had bought.. the kitchen..

some piping hot noodles..

or i should say smoking hot..

there were more people around today.. infact we saw the labor digging out dirt from under the snow and putting on the snow.. we also got the news that BRO people had also started working on clearing the road.. this was a good news.. this meant we would be free from this entrapment soon. then came even better news.. although the road ahead was still snowed out, the road on the other side till the village called Sumdo was now open and the big cars were now coming from there. in Sumdo we could find a telephone. so finally we will be able to get through to our parents.. this gave us some relief. the people we were with said we will go there in the evening.. this was a real relief.. it was as if a huge load had been lifted from my head.. now i actually felt like having fun.. and what could be more fun in a snow washed place than building a snowman.. so we went out started making one.. Manik's duty was to collect the raw material and mine was to do the construction.. and so our snow man was ready.. then i added some accessories..

so finally meet mr. chill..

we felt like scientists who had just completed a robot.. if only we could make it clear the road for us..

then we called our hosts also for a group photographs..

after photo session was over me realized that we had made the snowman right behind our car and till it was there, we could not move the car.. what idiots we were!!

so mr. chill was brutally murdered..

as we were building our snowman, people were clearing the snow from the roof.. what made me wonder was that why was the roof in such a place which gets so much snow, flat..

a beautiful shot by manik

this is the ice on the car..
After lunch we went to Sumdo to call home.. the road still had some snow but the cars had now made tire tracks on it on which we were getting some traction. some parts were totally dry also. we drove very very slowly (mostly in second gear). when ever we breaked hard, the car skidded a but before the ABS kicked in. during those few moments, the hearts of people accompanying us were literally in their mouth. as we neared Sumdo we were stopped by the next big potential threat.. landslide!!.. now when the snow was melting, there was increased chance of it causing landslides.. and in our country clearing of landslides is not quick. i immediately prayed to god that there be no landslides once the road opens. there the whole road was totally covered with rocks and the car could not go forward.. since we were just a kilometre away, we decided part the car at a safe distance and walk the rest of the way.. as we were going, a JCB arrived to clear the road.. finally we reached Sumdo and to our delight the phones were working.. we were talking to our parents after 4 days and i cant even describe how relieved they were to hear our voices.. Now were also at peace. Even if we had to stay there for a few more days now, it would not be a problem. i also realized that we had absolutely lost track of time. that was the last day of my vacations and the next day people in office would be expecting me. so i called up my office also. then we started walking back to our car. Sumdo is right on the border of Spiti and Kinnaur districts.. so we can say we actually went to Spiti from Kinnaur to make a phone call.. :)
Kinnaur on one side..

Spiti on the other..

still lot of snow.. if you see carefully you will also see a small blue car in the picture..

the sun had started to set..

we reached Chango and stopped for a chat with some locals.. there were also some people on election duty who were stranded there like us (well not exactly like us because they had proper accommodations with many servants to cook food, cleanup etc).. they said they will be leaving the next day and their's would be a group of 5-6 cars.. for us it would be good to go with such a big group because we would have lot of help if we needed it. Manik told them to also take us along..

then we returned to our "home" as the sun was setting.. what i liked about this pic was the even the last rays of the sun were melting the ice..

some kitchen photography while the dinner was being prepared..

at night again i tried my hand at star trials.. again the problem was that due to the cold, the battery dint last very long..

so hence ended another day in Chango with hope that this would be the last one here.. hopefully tomorrow the road will open and we would be able to go home..

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Stuck in Chango: Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:53:00 +0000

Next morning when I opened my eyes very bright light blinded me.. after my eyes adjusted a bit, I looked towards the source to see what was so bright.. the light was coming from outside the window and what I saw made me jump with happiness.. there were no clouds in the sky and the sun was out!! the bright sunlight from the sun that was reflecting from the snow covered mountains was blinding me.. I ran out to find an equally happy Manik..

My poor car again..

Now there were some signs of life in what had been a desolate place past 2 days.. some birds captured beautifully by Manik..

This pipe had been tapped into some under water reservoir.. so even when all the water was frozen, this continued providing water.. this was our source of fresh water..

children were sliding around in the snow..

My car had been standing in the same place for 2 days now.. so I decided to clean her up and also to start her once so see everything was working fine..

with the snow melting cleaning was easy..

But without goggles it was difficult to stay outside very long. We stayed inside the day now waiting for the snow to melt.. I did my bit by going outside and trying to break snow with my shoes but dint make much difference.. also 3 days since contact from home.. my parents must be really panicing now.. but still no electricity, no phones..

in the evening we went out sight seeing through the village.. the locals told us that there were 2 monasteries in Chango which were just a few kms away.. so we set out to see the nearest one..

could resist the temptation of playing in snow.. angels wings..

More apple orchards..

as the snow was melting the snow covered roads were not becoming very slippery..

as we came near the village, every where children and teenagers were playing in snow.. on the slope they were sliding down on wooden boards or on plastic pieces which they attached under their shoes.

it was quite a long walk, mostly uphill..

more apple trees..

After walking over an hour, we still could not see monastery.. finally when we see saw it, it still looked far far away. i will kill the person who told us it was only 5kms away!!

tired from walking, Manik decided to not go ahead.. instead he took a closer look through his lens..

I walked on and came across this bridge on the river.. crossing this was tricky as the ice on top had melted and ice below had become really slippery..

The ice covered river..

After the river was again a climb with a very small trail going up through the snow.. there were some locals there who warned me that I should be on a look out for falling rocks..
On the way..

After lot of climbing and getting out of breath, I saw this path ahead.. (the line of the trees is the path..)

This dint seem to safe.. the snow was slippery and below it was loose gravel.. I was already finding it difficult to get a foot hold.. so I also turned back.. on reaching back to the place where I had left Manik, I couldn’t find him there.. but there we these kids playing cricket..

I was amazed how these kids were running on ice on which we could bearly stand.. we went ahead into the village.. there on a cross section there was a small monastery..
The inside..

The outside..

in the village..

There was another monastery near the village but it was far away.. from where we stood we could even see the path to it..

in no mood to walk further, we turned around and headed back..
some color in the whiteness..

the river..

we reached back pretty tired and very very cold.. my shoes were dripping wet but due the waterproof socks, the feet were dry.. but still they were getting numb with cold.. so we went straight to the bukhari..

our hosts seemed busy and were not there.. we were too cold to tell.. infact later we noticed they had been absent for a very long time.. but right then we put lot of wood in the fire and warmed ourselves up..

it was the new years eve.. and this was not the way we had ever imagined we would be celebrating it.. but still our hosts played sport and got us some local liqour from the village.. it was called ghanti.. first i was apprehensive in drinking because local liquors can be very strong, very bitter and not easy to handle.. also our new friends poured half a glass full of the drink and then mixed little water.. the liquid was white in color and looked suspicious.. and half glass peg of anything would be a smasher.. i kept on refusing but they insisted, i had to concede.. hesitantly i took a sip.. it was sweetish and tasted like apples.. i took a bigger sip.. it was indeed very nice.. infact is was a very mild drink made from apples and after 2 bottles also we were not high..
our new year party..

waking up till 12 itself was a big deviation from routine for these people and immediately after wishing each other new year and having dinner they went to sleep.. i too went to sleep praying to god to open the roads tomorrow or atleast enable the phone lines.. more angels in my dreams...

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Departure from Kaza: rendezvous with snow...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Next morning was again a cold one.. dint feel like getting out from under the 2 blankets and sleeping bag.. Manik got up early in the morning and went for a walk outside..
the early morning sky..

sky as clear as my camera's lens..

Finally we got up, got ready and left.. first destination was Komic. we took the turn for Komic from the main road. it is a steep uphill climb.. but after driving around 7kms we were stopped by a small sort of land slide.. the road was covered with big stones and as low as our car was, it could not cross over.. what a waste of time (and a costly one too as we would later realize)..
view of the valley from from we turned back..

more frozen water..

then we decided to cross the bridge after Kaza and go to the other side from where we could click a pic of the Kye monastery..
the straight road after crossing the bridge..

yup i could not resist the temptation to floor the accelerator..

after driving a few kms we were stopped by this..

this was some water on the road probably from a drain which had frozen to ice.. people were crossing it in the tire tracks..

we got out a decided to walk till the place from where we could click the Kye monastery..

all the drains were frozen..

lage haath macros bhi kheech lete hain..

after crossing the ice we reached Rangrik village..

a buddha statue on top of a hill..

we also had a zoom lens..

view of the Kye monastery..

some more macros..

Clouds beginning to settle. but we dint notice that.. mother nature was giving us our warning but we dint read the signs..

we turned the car and started back for Kaza stopping again and again to click photos.. the bridge..

view from the bridge..

we got some fuel at the petrol pump in Kaza but only little more than that sufficient to get us to Powari (today was the day of blunders and we had to make very basic ones also..)
some monastery before Kaza..

Plan was to have breakfast in Kaza and also call home. we had not called him after we lost the mobile network after crossing Pooh. as we were entering Kaza, we saw people around us were in great hurry. a bus was standing and people were quickly throwing their luggage in and boarding it. also many taxis and private cars were rushing out. well as i said, we were oblivious to any signs today.. so we went in, found a PCO and called home.. the connection took as much as 10minutes to connect per call.. finally we got through.. i told my parents how disappointed i was on not finding any snow. As we stepped out of the shop we got the surprise of our life.. very fine white colored powder was falling from the sky.. the ground was of sort of white color..

oh my god.. it was snowing.. the first reaction was of thrill.. we tried to click many photos.. we had finally managed to find snow..

then suddenly (and thankfully!!) the sense kicked it.. now all signs were visible and coherently telling us one thing: run!!! beginning of snow here meant possibility of higher roads closing in the route ahead. we forgot the food and the photos and turned the car around and hurried.. the news from the horizon was not very encouraging..

the road was by now covered by a very thin layer of snow.. although the grip was still good, hard acceleration/breaking caused the wheels to skid..

there were patches of white on the mountain tops also..

on one side my heart was wanting the landscape to be absolutely white, on the other side i was wishing that the roads remain open.. we still could not resist the temptation of stopping to click photos..

wildlife crossing..

things were getting worse..

the turn for Pin Valley.. once we even considered going to Pin Valley and staying there at night.. thank god we dint do that..

brown turning to white..

As we got nearer to Tabo, the snow stopped. We thought we had outrun the snow and were out of danger. So we slowed down again and took more frequent breaks. Bad decision..

frozen water fall..

no snow..

following the pigeons..

now relieved that we were clear of the snow we took out the food we had in car and ate something for the first time in the day..

but after few kms the snow came back and this time with full fury..

this time it was here to stay.. the vistas were turning white faster..

at the check post at Sumdo, the road was covered with a proper thick layer of snow..

as we left Spiti and entered Kinnaur..

now it was getting really difficult to drive..

i applied the breaks but the car continued to move in the same line (and right towards the edge of the cliff on the corner!!!).. i felt i was a goner for sure.. even thought of opening the door and jumping out..

then magic happened.. i felt a series of jerks in the break peddle and the car slowed down and turned where i wanted it to turn.. first i felt i had broken something.. then i remembered my car had ABS (so this is how it feels like).. saved!!! thank god...

the white vistas i so wanted to see..

apple trees, all dried up in winter..

crossed some village..

now came the real challenge.. the ascend to Malling.. the descend had been a piece of cake when we had come from Nako.. now we had to climb all the way up..

visibility was at all time low..

the road was now covered with layers of snow.. it must have been snowing here for quite some time now.. fresh snow had melted and now solidified as ice which has now been covered with more snow..

locals had instructed us to put the car in first gear and just keep on climbing.. no sudden variations in speed, no breaking.. sudden acceleration was causing the wheel to spin.. we got stuck 1-2 times.. one of us had to get out and push the car.. the progress was slow and it was already 4pm.. not many hours of sun light (what ever was left in the fog anyways).. after climbing for many kms we came across a few cars coming down. these were MUVs with 4 wheel drives.. one vehicle even had chain on the tires.. they had climbed from the other side but with 4x4 it would have been easy.. told us to drive cautiously.. when we were 4-5kms away from Malling, we encountered a corner which was followed by a straight stretch of road which was climbing up a bit steeply.. we had to slow down on the corner due to which we lost momentum and then on the climb our car just refused to move forward.. having front wheel drive was not helping much either.. the wheels were just spinning in the snow.. we pushed and pushed but no luck.. then came a truck.. the people from the truck also helped us push the car.. the car moved ahead but again got stuck as soon as the people stopped pushing.. damn!! the truck could not wait anymore.. the weather was not any better.. they dug some mud from under the snow and put it on the snow and the truck was able to climb up.. left with no choice we turned around and started for the village we had just left behind.. we were so glum that we dint talk much on the way back.. there was also this tension of how much time we will have to be stuck here..

we reached the small village again.. this was the first time we noticed its name (one which we might not forget our entire lifes..).. Chango..

the village was absolutely desolate.. the fog and snow added to the eeriness..

we finally found a shop were a few people were sitting next to a fire.. they told us that there no hotel or guest house will be open in this season.. there was a guest house of some irrigation department about a kms from there.. it will be open.. they also gave us the phone number of the person who could locate the caretaker for us.. we reached the guest house and as expected it was locked and the caretaker was not there.. it was getting dark and there was no way we could go further in that weather.. also with all the snow around, it was getting very very cold..

i just hoped that we get some accommodation there or we will be in a pretty bad situation.. we called up the caretaker from the house next door.. a stroke of luck.. we got through and he came.. following were the conditions he gave us the guest house on
- no water (all water frozen)
- no toilets (again in them water frozen). do what ever you want in open and wipe with snow
- no electricity (gov cuts the electricity when it snows)
- no food (he will provide us the kitchen but will not cook for us)
- we had to cook our own food. if we wanted we could get maggi from the village
- he will provide us as many blankets as we want
again no choice.. on requesting many times, he agreed to atleast cook some rice for that day, which we gobbled down hungrily.

tired from all the physical effort of pushing the car and mental effort of worrying, with 2 blankets and a sleeping bag to keep me warm, i got into the bed.. we knew we were stuck for long and all the mistakes which we had made kept coming in front of my eyes.. had we reached an hour earlier we would have crossed Malling.. if only we had noticed the clouds or the people rushing off.. if only we had not wasted time in going to Rangrik.. if only we had not slowed down after Tabo.. cursing myself, i drifted into a deep sleep..

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Stuck in Chango: Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:52:00 +0000

i was riding my bike though heavy snow.. the terrain all around was recently white washed.. the cold air which managed to squeeze through the small gaps between my riding jacket collar and the 2 layers of mufflers, sent a chill down my spine.. the snow on the road was getting heavier and but I was determined to go ahead.. slowly I was falling deeper and deeper into the quagmire of white powder.. soon the snow reached till me knees and my bike and I were stuck.. then till me shoulders and I could not move.. I shouted for help but ended up having more snow in my mouth.. and as the snow covered my face, there was a rush of blood to my head and I woke up with a jerk.. weird dream!! specially for a fellow from the plains who lived no where near the snow.. i got up and looked around.. no electrivity.. freezing cold.. snowing heavily outside.. the dream dint seem that weird actually.. anyways I went back to sleep..

I got up late next morning.. Manik was not there.. I went to the hand pump outside, got some water, boiled it and brushed my teeth.. I thought Manik must have gone to the house next door, so I too went there.. he was not there but he had gone with our neighbors to the village to get some milk.. Some pics from his “trek”.. the snow covered climb..

It was pretty slippery to go up these paths..

Locals playing in snow..

God bless our neighbours.. while I was waiting for Manik they served me hot tea and a delicious breakfast of paranthas.. if they had not helped us I would have been having Maggi in breakfast followed by Maggi in lunch and dinner.. Manik and the others soon came back.. behind them some people came running asking for help.. this was the reason why..

Their car was not climbing the incline so they reversed and tried to climb build up momentum and climb.. well the car skid and hence the above result.. we helped push the car out of the naali.. actually they did, I was clicking pics.. 

The dried up apple orchards which were omnipresent in this village..

Our hosts..

Manik..

The river right across the road..

Yours truly..

A cute little dog ran upto us.. the locals told us that this dog lived across the river and had swam across and run to them.. poor owner.. he must be searching the entire village on both sides of the river whenever his dog runs away..

My poor car.. if it had voice, it would abuse me with the dirtiest words possible.. it would be wondering that where have I bought it.. its not meant for this terrain.. this is clear from the fact that there is no Honda dealer/service center in entire Himachal and Uttaranchal mountain region.

Our host’s stock of wood.. man this was a savior.. they had this metal firplace with a long chimney which they called Bukhari.. it kept the room so warm that no matter how freezing cold it was outside, there was no need to wear even a jacket inside..

There was nothing much to do.. no electricity meant no electronic gadgets.. we had our phones, a laptop and a tablet with lots of movies but no battery in all of them.. also no telephones.. this causes another problem.. we had called up our parents more than 24 hours ago and that time we had told them that there is no sigh of snow.. surely they would have seen the news of the snow on tv and not having heard from us for more than a day, they would be really worried.. I was just hoping that they don’t start thinking that I was stranded in snow on some pass or worse, fallen off a cliff and start looking was ways to send someone to find us (which is exactly what they were doing!!).. and there was nothing we could do.. phones were not working.. there were phones in an army base in the next town but with the roads closed we could not go there.. this helplessness was causing a lot of tension and I was unable to enjoy myself.. to pass time we played cards.. temporarily the mind was diverted but then again it came back to helplessness of not being able to let mmy parents know that I was alright..

In the evening the snow stopped.. the sky cleared..

Finally!!! We were elated and ran out..

The locals said that after the snow stops, it will take 2 days for the road to clear.. but hopefully the electricity will come back and I would be able to call home.. we went for a walk till the village..

Pulley across the river..

The only thing color in the whole landscape..

What irony.. dried trees surrounded by frozen water..

but joy and hope were short lived.. soon the clouds came back and with them also the snow..

The long walk in the snow to the village.. it was difficult to get a foot hold and we were slipping everywhere.. also the snow was going into the shoes and melting.. good that I had bought waterproof socks., ever though my toes were numb with cold, they were atleast dry..

Watte pose.. 

We came back with 10 packets of Maggi noodles and soup.. even though our neighbors had shared their food with us, we dint want to add burden on them; specially since there was no way of knowing how many days we would be stuck there..

Ab ye gadha hai ki baraf mein ghum raha hai ki hum gadhe hain ki iski photo kheech rahe hain..

We came back and spent rest of the day waiting for snow to stop. Our hosts had also traveled a lot and we passed time sharing our stories and hearing theirs.. Snow stopped again once but before we could even be happy it started again.. after dinner with our new friends, we went to sleep.. it was now 2 days since we had talked to our parents!!

Total distance traveled: 2kms (on foot)

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Pooh-Nako-Kaza

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:50:00 +0000

Next day was again a late start. This was now becoming a habit and little did we know that later in the trip this would get us into trouble.
nice view from our guest house.. the houses on left are the Pooh village..

army camp as we left Pooh..

the roads here were good..

the Khab bridge where there is the confluence of river Spiti and Satlij.. the one on right is Spiti and one coming from under the bridge is Satluj..

the Kazigs.. a series of sharp loops..

high up in Kinnaur but still no sign of snow..

the cold desert..

a small army convoy..

magic of wide angle.. we were standing right under the tree..

soon we reached Nako.. we parked the car and walked inside the village in search of the Nako lake..

religious inscriptions on rocks.. man what intricate work!!

the prayer wheels.. a common sight in this region..

first glimpse of the Nako lake.. and yes, it was completely frozen!!!

we walked further inside the village, trying to figure out which way leads to the lake.. surprisingly the village seemed pretty empty..

more carvings..

finally we reached the lake.. there where some children playing ice hockey on it..

yup, its frozen and safe enough to walk..

hesitantly i started walking towards the center.. on tv i have seen may times that the lake surface suddenly breaks and people fall inside the chilled water.. so i tested the ice in front of me before taking each step and finally reached the center.. the children wanted me to play ice hockey with them which i politely refused.. surprisingly they were running on the ice with normal foot wear.. many times they slipped also and fell badly but then they must be used to it..

i was more confident on the way back..

then it was Manik's turn.. as he stepped on to the ice it started creaking.. i was so sure that he would either break the ice and fall or slip on it and fall.. i was ready with the camera on burst mode to catch this.. but sadly he dint fall and also went till the center and came back..

dried up trees around the lake..

cute little kid in the village..

the prayer flags..

then we walked back to the car and left Nako.. on the main highway there is a dhaaba and a helipad behind it.. we had some food at the dhaaba and clicked some pics on the helipad..

we moved ahead.. plan was to go till Tabo and return the next day.. now we were seeing lot more ice.. the mountains were still brown but where ever there was water, it was freezing up.. some places where the water crossed the roads, there were patches of ice. the car got stuck on the very first such drain it encountered. the font wheel went inside the drain and got stuck.. even the front bumber banged on the edge of the drain.. after much pushing and putting rocks in the drain we finally got it out.. then came the bigger challenge.. Malling Nala..

thankfully the car dint get stuck and we were able to cross it quickly.. the highest point on the route..

the sand mountains.. i wonder how they are still standing..

the easy descent (baad mein issi ne humari maar li!!)..

abbe isse bread lene ke liye bhi lambe trek ka plan banana padta hoga..

chango.. a small, sort-of insignificant village on the way to Tabo.. (baaki to baad mein pata chalega..)

driving along the Spiti river..

Sumdo check post right after entering Spiti.. mind it, no photography is allowed here..

more sand hills..

that reads "mere dil wich tera ghar hove"..

chandigarh pahunch gaye bhai.. delhi ab door nahi..

the straight roads before Tabo..

Tabo..

Here we started searching for a place to stay.. the hotels seemed closed. only thing people said would be open will be the monastery..

here also there weren't many facilities available.. there was no water and only dorm rooms were available.. since we still had time, we decided to go ahead till Kaza..

there was a guest house few kms after Tabo in a place called Poh.. there also there were no facilities and so we moved ahead..

soon it got dark but Manik dint reduce the speed..

we stopped at the first building which looked like a guest house..

this was the circuit house.. the caretaker provided us a warm room and with a heater.. this turned out to be the comfortable stay in the trip.. we hogged down the food he provided and then again tried to click some star trails..

then when it got too cold to stand out, we returned to the room.. After a hard day's work, finally some comfort.. but there was lot of dissatisfaction.. the aim of the trip was still not fulfilled.. we had set out to find snow and here we had reached Kaza and still no snow.. what luck!! no snow in december in Spiti.. and tomorrow we will be returning.. so with a sad heart i went to sleep..

Total distance traveled: 154kms

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Sarahan-Pooh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:49:00 +0000

Tired from first day's drive, we got up very late. Sarahan has a temple dedicated to Bhimkali which has a large following in this region. So first we went to see this temple. it was a short walk from our guest house. View of the temple from or guest house..

At the temple we had to take out shoes to go in. even though i was wearing socks, within a few metres of walking, the feet felt like blocks of ice. Thank god inside the temple it was carpeted inside. Manik had been here before so stayed outside. Sadly no photos were allowed inside the main temple. but we could take photos outside it.
another temple in the complex..

the main temple entrance..

the main temple.. the one on the left is open everyday.. i think the one on the right is only opened for special ceremonies..

on the top floor of the tower on left..

door knob

then we had a quick breakfast in the market and then came back to the car.. it was very dirty from yesterdays journey and so we decided to clean it.. intention was do so every day but as they say "man proposes, god disposes".. there was a tap on the side of the road from which chilled water was flowing.. infact the water on the ground next to the tap was already frozen.. still dedicated as we are, we cleaned the car.. then after packing our stuff, we set out to see a hawa mahal nearby.. the locals had said its only a few kms away.. and what a waste of time this turned out to be.. after driving many kilometres we still couldn't see any building.. we were driving uphill, so the views were nice..

that while cluster of houses is Sarahan..

our "stretched Jazz limo".. :)

then we asked the locals and came to know we had missed the place.. after again and again asking people, we finally reached it and this turned out to be what we were looking for..

what the hell.. we had wasted almost an hour for this small hut in the middle on nowhere.. So till the time we left sarahan it was already 12:30pm.. on the way we saw more ice.. i small waterfall which was frozen by the cold..

i climbed down for a closer look..

so this showed that the temperature was low enough and where ever there would be water, it would be frozen.. we were looking forward to reaching Nako lake..

after crossing Jeori we entered the Kinnaur district.. view from the gate to Kinnaur..

on the otherside..

the hills were absolutely brown, no sign of snow.. koi nahi, we will see it as we go higher..
we were almost stopping at the same places where we had clicked pics in our trip Spiti 2 years ago.. again the stretched Jazz limo..

the rock cut roads of Kinnaur...

yours truly driving.. the roads were narrower but the traffic was less, so driving was fun..

as we got deeper into Kinnaur, the roads started becoming bad or i should say "normal"..

as we started getting close to the JP Dam, roads turned from bad to worse. till Karcham there was no tarmac, only gravel.. we drove on stopping now and then to click photos..

the gravel roads.. this is probably the best of the lot..

construction work going on everywhere...

the JP dam..

trucks came pretty close to shaving the mountains..

better stay away from this van..

along the river..

Jazz wasn't exactly the best choice for this sort of terrain.. it is very lower (infact lower than an Alto which we would find out soon).. big stones kept on scratching the bumper and the bottom of the car.. again the bad conditions came in my turn to drive.. driving at 20, taking care of every stone and pot hole was no fun.. also every time something hit the car, my heart pained.. Not to mention what the bumps were doing to rest of the body. then we reached Karcham..

After crossing Karcham, we suddenly stopped feeling any bumps.. ahead us was a wide smooth road.. it was like driving on clouds..

and as we had changed driver a few kms before, again Manik was driving on the good road and at 100 kmph.

But good things dont last long. Thats wot make them good. So just in few kms the road became narrow but it was at least in good condition with stretches of dirt after every few kms. we drove on clicking pics here and there..
the petrol pump after Recong Peo..

places ahead..

a lovely waterfall..

at a wider angle..

the dry landscape..

another waterfall..

gravel roads..

and dirt mountains..

again frozen water on the road sides..

i wanted to capture the sun set but since we were in the valley, we had to be satisfied with this..

We reached a very small town called Spillo (or Speelo as it was spelled at some places) just after it got dark. There was a decent looking restaurant there and we had a leisurely dinner.. Then went out to find a place to stay.. There is only one guest house there and it also wasn't in the best condition and had a single shared toilet. Left with no option we had to move ahead to the next town, Pooh. After driving in dark on roads which were alternate again stretches of tarmac and gravel, we reached the town very late. The hotels there were closed but thankfully we found the PWD guest house open. But it was also booked for the ongoing elections. After requesting a lot, the choukidaar said he will see if something could be done. Finally after waiting for a long time he gave us a room. It was a nice and comfortable room with enough space inside to play cricket. After a simple but warm dinner, we tried our hand at abstract photography.. so there were ghosts appearing..

me shrinking..

manik (further!!!) becoming bigger ..

aliens landing from space..

and star trails..

Finally when none of the pics turned out as expectedewe finally decided to goto Sleep.

Total distance traveled: 200kms

Next Page

Delhi-Sarahan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:42:00 +0000

It was a cold cold winter morning.. Getting up at 2am wasn't easy. Quickly i loaded the stuff in the car and after taking my parent's blessings, left for Manik's house. After stuffing the car further, we left at 4 am. Since we had a car we dint try to optimize the things we were carrying. In between 2 people we had more than 6bags, 2 sleeping bags, 2 quilts, a laptop and the obviously 2 camera bags..

As soon as we got out of Delhi mother nature presented us with our first obstacle.. We were greeted by dense fog with visibility not more than few 100 meters. I was driving.. And believe me it was not easy.. Cars and trucks popped out of no where in front of you.. Suddenly you realized that the road had turned and you were driving straight towards the divider.. Road was almost empty.. So speed was almost constant at 60.. Progress was painstakingly slow (although the good things was that the car was giving a very good average) .. Driving was boring.. Nothing interesting was playing on the radio and on top of that Manik covered himself with a shawl and went to sleep..

First stop was after Ambala where we refueled the car. From there on Manik started driving. My bad luck or his good luck, the fog cleared after few kms. Kya yaar.. I had been driving at 60 and Manik gets a clear highway and now fog.. Soon we hit the hills and reached Parwanoo by 9.30. Here we stopped for breakfast ..

in the hills the sky was now clear and it was pretty sunny..

we had a heavy breakfast of paranthas..

Then we started again with me at the wheel and Manik at the camera..

Road was ok till Shimla. Jazz is a very comfortable car so few potholes here and there dint trouble us.

After Shimla till Narkanda the road was pathetic. A few kms after crossing Kufri we saw a lot of people standing on the side of the road and clicking pics. We also stopped to see the "view". from that place you can see the whole valley which was covered with thick forests. people were getting excited seeing that.. i am not particularly found of such crowds and Manik captured that look perfectly..

After Narkanda road lovely.. As the dusk got nearer, it got colder. one place we saw something shining on the slope. we stopped to check it out.. this was our first sighting of the snow..

then we continued on, stoppped at Rampur for the usual photo..

as we went on it soon got dark and cold. but dint matter much in the car and finally we reached Sarahan. there we checked in to a guest house on the bus stop..

Total distance traveled: 551kms

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Garden of 5 Senses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:46:00 +0000

People had told us that Garden of 5 senses hs lot of flowers and is an awesome place for macro photography. so we decided to check it out. The garden is located at Said-ul-Aizab village , close to the Mehrauli heritage area in New Delhi.

To say that the trip was disappointing would be an understatement.. there were few flowers near the entrance and some here and there but mostly the park was filled with couples trying to get intimate behind the cover of the trees and bushes. us walking around with cameras caused discomfort and embarrassment to many..

pics from the walk..

sundial..

phool pattiyan...

aur makhiyan..

aur ullu..

the solar garden..

man crawling out of the shell??

view from top a hill inside the garden..

om....

a dragon fly..

wind chime..

in the lotus garden..

:)

never seen this flower before..

knowledge is supreme..

the bokeh..

trying my hand at abstracts..

these are more conventional..

slr without a macro lens has limited capibility of clicking macros. so i took a point an shoot also. and this is what its super macro mode produced..

Qutab Minar

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:22:00 +0000

Qutub-ud-din Aibak laid the foundation for Qutub Minar in 1199 AD and his successor and son-in-law Shamsu'd-Din- Iitutmish completed the structure by adding three more stories. Standing at 72.5 meters, it is the highest stone tower in India. Its base diameter is 14.3 meters and its top diameter is 2.7 meters. It has 379 steps leading to its top story. The lower three stories are made using red sand stone and the top two with marble and sand stone. read more...

i went to Qutab Minar in the morning as the sun was spreading its rays..

light bursting from the trees..

the majestic tower..

some posers..

the cleaners..

the beautiful architecture..

a closer look..

bench-mark.. :)

the security..

the iron pillar..

the rising sun..

some parrots chasing each other..

others looking..

damaging the national monument. maaro salle ko...

happy singh.. :)

down the memory lane..

another angle..

my favorite...

the minar..

meeting in progress..

another angle..

more inscriptions..

one of the many tombs in the campus..

the failed attempt at remaking the Qutab Minar..

cp flower market

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 08:41:00 +0000

we visited the whole sale flower market in Connaught Place just opposite PVR Rivoli in front of the Coffee Home. Here are few pics from the trip..

no place to stand..

fire..

roses are red..

some people were lost..

phool mala..

chai wallas..

nakli but beautiful..

color and shadows..

pink roses..

carnations..

genda..

india gate

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:35:00 +0000

The India Gate was built in 1931 and designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. This 42 m high stone arch of victory, universally known as India Gate, stands at the eastern end of Rajpath. It was previously officially known as the All India War Memorial. The names of the 90,000 Indian Army soldiers who died in the First World War, Afghan campaign of 1919 and the North-West Frontier operations are inscribed on the walls of this grand structure.In the year 1971, an eternal flame or Amar Jawan Jyoti, was lit under the arch of the India Gate to honor the brave unknown, soldier. The flame is flanked by uniformed soldiers, who stand guard over the flame. more info

the India Gate..

the Amar Jawan Jyoti

fountains in the gardens around india gate..

sunrise at india gate..

india gate at night..

akshardham temple

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:35:00 +0000

Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi epitomises 10,000 years of Indian culture in all its breathtaking grandeur, beauty, wisdom and bliss. It brilliantly showcases the essence of India’s ancient architecture, traditions and timeless spiritual messages. The Akshardham experience is an enlightening journey through India’s glorious art, values and contributions for the progress, happiness and harmony of mankind. For more info visit
http://www.akshardham.com/

delhi zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:41:00 +0000

The National Zoological Park of Delhi or Delhi Zoo as it is popularly known, is located next to Purana Qila (Old Fort), on its southern side. The Delhi Zoo houses over one thousand varieties of animals, reptiles and birds. It also has nearly all varieties of deer found in the country. The white tiger from Rewa, the elephant, which plays a harmonica and the leopard, are some of its highlights apart from the many endangered species of India seen in the park. more info

the main attraction: the king of the jungle.. a white tiger..

posing for the camera.. say cheese..

the Indian as the back and African elephant in the front..

a duck..

a boring day for the leopard...

i see you.. a hippo..

yawning..

lunch time..

a really cute kid enjoying the zoo..

a giraffe..

emu..

leopard..

i dont know the name of this bird.. but is was beautiful..

crocodile sleeping in the sun..

more giraffes..

mighty rhino..

some deers..

if you go to the zoo on a weekend you will find many school trip there..

diwali

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:31:00 +0000

pics from the diwali celebrations this year..

Chakri..

Anaar: looks like light bursting out of the ground..

this one burst mid way..

anaar and chakri..

Rockets: fire in the sky..

colourful anaar..

more rockets..

Back to Edinburgh

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:56:00 +0000

I woke up at 7:20. Got ready and had the tasty Scottish breakfast my hostess had cooked. The plan was simple. Reach Edinburgh before 1 (that’s when Hertz closes on Saturday). If possible see castles on the way. I really wanted to visit the Balmoral Castle which was near Ballater. This is where the Royal family comes to stay every year around august. I is supposed to be very beautiful. But it was going to open at 11 and if I waited till that time, I would have never made it to Edinburgh on time. I also wanted to visit the Glamis Castle but again no time. So i left in the morning..

the twisted roads in the plains.. thankfully it was a clear day..

the snow covered mountains in the distance..

On the way I stopped at the Braemer Castle for a quick photo..

The snow capped peaks in the distance..

they seem to be coming closer..

naa.. thats just wishful thinking...

after the next turn, i realized i was actually driving next to the white hills..

Yes, I could see snow almost around me.

and the road kept on ascending..

finally i reached it..

This was the ski slopes of Glenshee in Braemer. On the way I saw a board for the Scone Palace. although this castle was not on my list, but since it was right on my way I decided to check it out. It was quite majestic from outside..

Some cattle in the fields around..

After this I dashed straight to Edinburgh taking the shortest route possible, refueled the car and returned it to Hertz. Then i took a bus to the station and here i am writing this log….

Total distance in the day: 118mi

Total distance travelled: 912mi

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More Castles and Whiskey...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:54:00 +0000

In the tourist guides, they have marked what they call the Castle trail. On this there are around 20 castles, each 10-20 miles from other. Today I decided to follow this trail, covering as many castles as I could. Some of these were just ruins. First on the list was Balvenie castle which was just down the road from the Glenfiddich distillery. It was closed at that time.

my car..

the barley fields which produce the awesome malt whiskey..

Deviating a little from the Castle Trail, I visited the Strathisla distillery in Keith.

This is the oldest distillery in the Highlands. It is owned by Chivas Brothers who also own brands like Chival Regal, 100 Pipers, Aberlour, Glenlivet and Royal Salute.

The Strathisla single malt is the main ingredient of the Chivas Regal blend or its heart as they call it.

The tour cost 5 pounds, which later I felt was a waste as the content was same as the one in Glenfiddich. If you buy Chivas Regal 12yo from here, they can give you a back label with a personalized message written on it. Next I went to Huntly Castle.

the road to the castle..

the gate of the castle seemed impressive..

the actual castle was this..

Next destination was Duff House in Banff. This town was situated on the sea..

after some searching, getting lost and the finding the way, i reached..

I went inside and looked around. there was also a movie running on the history of the family.. the gift shop..

Next on the tour was the Delgatie Castle..

the guards on the entrance..

there were these fat little ponies grazing in the meadows around..

the autumn colors..

then to the Fyvie Castle. the way to the castle was lined with these red trees..

i knocked many times but got no answer. there was no one around. the castle..

the closed gates..

peeche ka raasta.. but this was also locked..

the flowers almost looked as if made of plastic..

the crest of the family who own this..

the garden again..

there was also a big lake there with ducks and swans..

it starting to get dark now. i quickly reached the next stop, Tolquhon Castle. But this i found was closed from Monday-Friday in winters. Kya yaar!!!

It was almost dark now. the last castle on the itinerary was Crathes Castle. Dint get out, just clicked a few pics..

After a long drive through forests and lonely roads, I reached place called Ballater around 9pm. There I tried to find a place to stay. There were many B&B’s but they all had double rooms and they were charging the same even if one person stayed there. Finally a lady agreed to reduce the rent from 45 pounds to 35pounds. I was trying to get her to reduce this further to 30 but she wont agree. Since this was the best deal I was getting, so I decided to stay here. Later when I was telling her how I had travelled 800miles in 5 days and how much cold it was there as compared to Delhi, she said I could have the room for 30pounds.

Total distance in the day: 161mi

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Scottish Highlands: the Castles and the Whiskey...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:53:00 +0000

Next morning i decided to leave a bit later as i dint want to risk travelling alone through the wilderness around the castle.
Inside the castle

Finally I left by 9:30am and took the route to Nairn. Very near to Culrain is the Glenmorangie distillery in Tain. But I skipped it and went straight towards Nairn.

route was mostly empty and the sky cloudy with slight drizzle..

On way I took a detour to Cawdor Castle. It was a small single lane road with fields and trees on either side. It had many blind turns hence i could not drive very fast..

high trees..

First I missed the turn. Then after going a few miles ahead, had to turn back. Then again I went the wrong way. After the turn from the main road, there was no sign. Then finally I fed the castle name in the GPS and reached it. But all the effort was in vain. I saw this..

The castle was closed due to revonation for the royal wedding. Then I entered Nairn and refueled the car. On the way I saw a church where some marriage for going on.

I sat in the car and had a quick breakfast and then headed towards Brodie Castle. Again i passed through some empty jungle roads..

After reaching the Castle i parked the car and headed towards the castle building..

But seems it was my unlucky day, it too was closed. View from the outside..

Disappointed, i moved on towards Elgin. This was a bigger town. The main problem in bigger towns is parking. But here as I entered I saw a sign “Free parkin for 3hrs then 70pounds”. I wasn’t staying for 3 hours, so quickly parked there. In Elgin, I went to see the ruins of a church. This too was closed. Whats happening today?? But I was able to take pictures from over the wall.

the cemetary..

another angle..

Well, enough monuments. Time to head straight for the whiskey land. The region around the river Spey (called Speyside region), has most of the whiskey distilleries in Scotland. My destination was Dufftown, the malt whiskey capital of the world.
Smaller towns on the way..

There were many distilleries all around. Most of them let you visit inside and take you on a tour and show you the whiskey making process. Then they let you sample some of their single malts. The first destination I fed into my GPS was Macallan distillery. The guidebook said its in Craigellachie, but the GPS showed Aberlour. Obviously GPS cannot be wrong, so I followed the route it showed. As I was taking a right hand corner on a road with huge trees on both sides, the GPS has “Macallan distillery on your right”. Abbe oy!!.. GPS ne dhoka de diya. Unbelievable!!! So i followed the guide book. Again wrong place but here the locals guided me to correct route. I had to take the route for Archiestown to go to Macallan. Then i could see the signs for the distillery. Finally i reached and parked the car..

the fields were the barley from the whiskey is grown..

It was 3:15pm when I reached the distillery reception. But last tour had already left at 3:00pm. So the lady there asked me to come back next morning at 10am. But she did give me my complimentary dram of whiskey. I also fond their gift shop quite good.

Then I called up Glenfiddich which is in Dufftown, a few miles away, to see if they were still open. They said they give tours till 4:30pm. So I quickly drove to Dufftown. On the way I saw the Aberlour and Dewar distilleries.

The distillery is just at the edge of the town.

entering the distillery..

A beautiful girl in a short skirt (in such biting cold!!) gave us a tour. The best part was that it was free whereas all other distilleries charge for it. By the way Glenlivet tour is also free. Also at Glenfiddich they don’t have fixed timings for tours. You can go there anytime before 4:30pm. I let the photos take you through the distillery and the whiskey making process..

mashing process..

The distillation process. Here the Wash is heated and the alcohol is collected..

From the outside..

At the end of tour they gave Glenfiddich 12 years old, 15 and 18 for tasting. When you taste all 3 together, then you come to know why the 18yo is so expensive. Their shop also had Balvenie whiskeys which is their sister distillery. The display there..

When i left the distillery it was starting to get dark..

After the tour i came to Dufftown. There was no youth hostel here so I started looking for a bed and breakfast. I had read about one run by an old lady called Mrs. Welsh. The address was 48 balvenie street. It turned out to be a cosy room and the hostess, Mrs Welsh was a very nice lady. She rents the double room at 17pounds per bed. She gave it to me for 17 pounds, saying i will be using just one bed so I need to pay for it only. the room..

Mrs. Welsh was a very chatty lady who had lots of stories to tell. Sit with her and you will not know how many hours have passed by. After resting some time I went for a walk in the town. The streets were totally empty..

There was nothing much in the town except the shops selling essential things. I went inside the super market. It had the largest collection of single malts i have seen. People were taking quarters of Famous Grouse like people in India have Royal Stag. There was a whole section having cask strength whiskeys. then i walked into a bar and tried some more single malts..

I came back and after some more chatting with Mrs Welsh and her other guests, went to sleep.

Total distance in the day: 121mi

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Isle of Skye-Loch Ness-Inverness: the remote Scotland..

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Next morning I got up very early and left when it was still dark. When I came out of the hostel, there was a layer of ice on the car. Having never faced this situation before, I dint know what to do. Foolishly I tried turning the wipers on. But they were also frozen and made such a harsh noise that I thought that I had scratched the windscreen. Thankfully no damage. Then I turned on the heating and defogging. This worked and the ice melted. The car meter showed the temperature as 1 degree. When I finally left, it was 6.30am. The sun was just beginning to rise..

i could see snow on top of distance mountains..

the mountains all around..

The plan was to go around Isle of Skye and then to Loch Ness. First stop was the mountains after Portree. As I drove, the sun started rising.
Near Portree..

From a wider angle..

But the temperature was not increasing, Sometimes the car meter even showed -1 degress.

8miles after Portree there are a number of weirdly shaped rock pinnacles.

One of the most famous of these is known as the Old Man of Storr. Its the leftmost single peak in the pic above. Here I waited for the sun to rise.

As I drove on I saw a beautiful rainbow.

Next destination was the Kilt Rock, 200ft high cliffs marked in a pattern by the rock strata which looks like a pleated kilt, and with a waterfall tumbling down to the pebbled shore below.

Near the Kilt Rock, there was a beautiful lake..

Next was a town named Staffin. Here i saw a small road going towards thw sea. I followed it to get a glimpse of a beach before it ended in the driveway of a huge house.

After Staffin I took the road to Uig through the Quiraing, a set of mountains formed due to landslip.

The road was a narrow single lane road. It was at a higher elevation, and so it became cooler. Infact there were even some snow flakes on the way. But this was nothing compared to what was coming later in the day. On the way i saw there sheep on the road..

At the top, there is a coffee stall. I got out and took some pictures.

another angle..

But it was too cold to stay out very long. One good thing about touring in the car is AC/Heater. Some water had gone into my shoes but when my toes started feeling cold, I could simply divert the heater to my feet and problem solved. Uig is another place where one can stay and explore the countryside around. There are some good walks, waterfall etc. My next destination was Dunvegan castle which was 30miles away. But on the next turn, the sky flashed warning from the weather gods..

Throughout the day the rain had been following me. Whenever I stopped at a place, the clouds would catch up and it started raining. When I reached Dunvegan Castle, the sign said “closed for repair”. That was really disappointing. The detour to the castle had cost me 60 extra miles and atleast 2 hours. There are some coral beaches 1mi ahead of the castle but as I started going towards them, it started raining. So I turned around started for my next destination Eilean Donan Castle. the rain..

the cold turned the rain to snow at some places..

soon i outran the rain..

and it was sunny again..

Again the road was lovely to drive on, with some high speed twisties.

the view..

I crossed from Isle of Skye to Kyle Of Lochalsh..

The Loch Alsh View point..

Finally i reached the Eilean Donan Castle..

a closer look..

as i spent time in clicking pics, the clouds re-appeared and the sky started turning black..

the dark clouds..

Soon it started raining, so instead of going inside the castle, i decided to move on for Loch Ness.

again the snow on the peak tops..

It rained a lot but finally i was able to outrun it.

The road was mostly through dense forests with huge trees draped in autumn colors on both sides of the road.

On the way I stopped at the ruins of the Urquhart Castle. this seemed to me the mosted over-hyped monument in the country. There was nothing but a few walls standing on the shore of Loch Ness but still it had an entry fee of 7.5 pounds. I just took pics over the wall and moved on.

Plan was to stay at the Loch Ness youth hostel which is right on the banks of the lake. But as the tourist season was over, the hostel was closed.
The famous Loch Ness.. Couldn't find Nessie though.. :(

So I decided to stay at the hostel in Inverness. Inverness, called the capital of the Highlands, is one of the bigger towns of Scotland. From here you can go for cruises on Loch Ness and there are also many activities to do. In the rain there was no point in going for the cruise. Also in the guide to Scotland hostels I saw a hostel called Carbisdale Castle which was in Culrain, 42miles from Inverness. Hostel was in an actual castle which seemed really interesting, so decided to drive to it. It was starting to get dark. A few miles after Inverness, GPS directed me to turn right to highway B9176. After taking the turn I saw that I was on a narrow road where only one vehicle could pass at one time. First I thought I took a wrong turn because the GPS could never be wrong (the next day broke this belief of mine). But then I saw the name of the highway written on a board and was surprised. Later in my journey I realized that the highways starting with “b” are such small roads. The ones marked with “a” and 3 digits have one lane on each side. the ones marked “a” plus 2 digits also have one lane on each side but are much broader. The ones starting with “m” are the high speed motorways with 2-3 lanes. Coming back to the “highway”. As I said this was a narrow road with forests on both sides. Thankfully there was not much traffic, so could drive at a good speed. Then I reached a broader road passing through fields. On the horizon I could see snow covered hills. Seeing snow is always exciting for me. I tried to find a place to stop to click pictures but there wasn’t any space on the road to stop without blocking the traffic. That’s an advantage of touring on a bike. You can stop where ever you want without disturbing the traffic. Also it was getting dark and I dint want to be in such an isolated place after dark. Then I realized that the road was turning towards those hills. Wow and oh-no.. I would be seeing snow.. but I have no experience of driving in snow. Well I have experience of riding a bike on ice but lets say that’s an experience I’d like to forget. Soon there was snow on both sides of the road. My hands where itching to stop and take a pic but I could not afford the delay. Then the forests became denser, the road became narrower. This road seems to lead to nowhere. Should I turn around? If I have to do that later, then I will have to return through this road in dark. Nahi yaar, this is not India; roads are safe here. For last few miles there was jungle on one side and lake on other. Finally I saw a sign indicating the village Culrain. There I saw a sign for the Carbisdale Castle.

Relieved that i was on the right track, I entered the huge stone gates.

But then also I could not see any castle. There was more trees and narrow roads. I was expecting people with guns to jump out any minute from the trees and loot me. Finally I reached the castle. I had made it in time. The sky was just starting to turn black. I was expecting the castle to be empty. Who the hell would come to it here in the middle of nowhere. Honestly I don’t think anyone could even make it there without a GPS. Infact i was expecting to find an empty haunted castle with a senile caretaker and was dreading staying there alone. But to my surprise there were around 15 cars parked there.

I booked a room which was for 19 pounds. Then I also had to book the dinner as there was no other place to eat for miles. They served a nice 3 course meal. It was a beautiful palace with a statue gallery (containing mostly nude ladies) and with paintings on all the walls (also mostly depicting nude ladies).

My room was in the tower on the second floor. Sounded simple. But reaching it wasn’t. The castle was like a maze. On door after another, leading to another. it took good 2 minutes from the ground floor to reach the room on the second floor. But it was exciting staying in a castle. Having the dinner in the royal dining room. Then sitting in the library and deciding the next days itinerary (and chatting for hours with some really cute austrian chics..)
the library..

The receptionist, a French guy with a Scottish accent was also very helpful.

the shot of the castle at night..

it was really quiet and peaceful, being surrounded by dense forests. I would have loved to stay a few more days in this place..

Total distance in the day: 258mi

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Edinburgh-Isle of Skye: the road trip starts...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:45:00 +0000

The first day was going to be a long drive, so i left early at 6am. First stop was going to be Glasgow. I was supposed to meet my cousin Raaghav there who would join me for the journey further. He had also bought me some woolens which i had left in London. The time from Edinburgh to Glasgow was not so much as the time to get out of Edinburgh and the time to enter Glasgow. Around 10 miles before Glasgow there was a huge jam and the cars moved at a speed of 20mph for that much distance. Then inside Glasgow, I made an incorrect turn and had to drive a lot to get back to the correct turn. Then after reaching the place decided, Raaghav told me that I had to come somewhere else. Thank God I had the GPS or that whole day I would have spent finding the way. Raaghav handed me over the woolens but said he could not join me as his work in Glasgow was not over. That was sad.. i was looking forward to his company.. So alone, i left Glasgow and headed towards Fort William. From there the plan was to drive along the Road to the Isles which I had read passed though some beautiful Scottish countryside.
On the way to Fort William i drove across the Trossachs National Park..

the road was lined with high trees..

The road ran along Loch Lomond. this was the first of the famous Scottish Lochs (or lakes) which i would encounter on the way..

There was not much traffic on the roads..

The most irritating part about driving in any country outside India is the traffic rules. People respect lanes, speed limits and pedestrians. One had to be very careful specially when used to driving the way we do in Delhi. On the motorway the speed limit was 70 mph. On other highways it was 60. In any town or city the limit was 30. There were speed cameras everywhere. If anyone gave the indicator, i had to let him come in my lane. Also people drove in lanes even on a roundabout. I found figuring the roundabout etiquette particularly difficult. the people already in the roundabout had the right of the way. so before entering i had to make sure no one ealse was already coming. In Delhi it is almost the opposite.. If i had to take first exit then i had to drive in leftmost lane. Otherwise in the right lane. On the roundabout also, i had to stay in the innermost lane till i wanted to exit, then change lane to the outer one. What the hell.. itna dimaag to maine car seekhte hue bhi nahi lagaya tha..
After sometime the motorway ended and I came to the highway. This meant basically the speed limit reduced and now the road was a single lane on each side. This is how most of the highways in the country are. Soon the hills started.

I drove along some lovely twisties with huge trees along both sides and many times running along lakes.

Specially around Glencoe the roads were a pleasure to drive on. After Glencoe, I passed Fort William. This is a good place to stay and go for walks around the Ben Navis mountain. There are also a lot of activities available to do here.
On the route..

resting my legs..

lovely colors in the sky..

I took the road which went to Carpoch, Glenfinnan and then Arisaig. It was a scenic route. Sometimes it was cloudy, some times it was clear.

there were many big and small lakes on the way..

Made a brief stop at the Glenfinnan monument. Took and quick photo and moved on.

on the way i quickly stopped at a supermarket where i bought some gloves and some sandwiches..

After Arisaig, I took the route marked “Alternate Coastal Route”.

This is also called the Road to the Isles. The next town on the road was Morar and the road till there was a single lane road which ran through fields and jungles and then next to the sea.
The lovely roads..

Horses grazing in the fields..

I saw many white sand beaches. But it was raining and very cold, so not much to do on the beach except clicking a photo.

another beach..

The weather during the whole trip was awkward. It used to start drizzling. Then after some time the sun used to come out. Then it again it started drizzling. So in on day I got both types of skies in my photos: cloudy as well as clear. The road was great fun to drive on. It went up and down and turned right and left. One moment you are climbing up, you can just see the tip of ascend but nothing beyond, then the road suddenly twists left/right and also starts dipping done. To add to the fun there was no traffic at all, so I dint have to worry about people coming from the opposite side.

At the end of the crazy drive I reached Mallaig. From here I was to take a ferry to Armadale in Isle of Skye. I reached at a good time. The ferry was just about to leave. I loaded my car in the boat and took a seat at the snacks counter.

After a quick snack i got back to photography..

as the sun was setting..

It was a half an hour journey and I reached Armadale at 5pm. The final destination for the day, Portree was still around 60miles away. Had it been India, I would have easily reached it before sunset. But here with the speed restrictions and rain and i would not have made it. Sun had almost set..

So I stopped at Broadford and took up a room at the NHAI youth hostel which had a nice location, right next to a lake. After washing up and resting a bit i went out for a stroll. it was so cold that i could not even keep my hand still..

I came back quickly inside and after planning the next days route, hit the sack..

Total distance in the day: 254 mi

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The Edinburgh City

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:39:00 +0000

On reaching Edinburgh I checked in to the youth hostel and rested for some time. Then I started for the Edinburgh Palace. The street from this palace to the Holyrood Palace is called the Royal Mile. On it there are many other places to visit. First I walked along the Princess Street which runs parallel to the Royal Mile. From here you can see the old buildings.

The Scott Monument on Princess Street..

in front of the monument..

It was raining lightly. Entry to the castle was around 13pounds. This included a guided tour of the palace. the entry of the palace..

The guide showed us around. He told us that the palace was so safe that it had never been taken by force. The view from the top was nice.

The guide just gave a description of each part of the castle from outside.

Then you could visit each part at your own pace. Exhibits inside..

There was a hall where the crown jewels of Scotland were kept along with a stone called Stone of Destiny. This was a stone on which all the kings were coronated. It had a nice exhibition leading to it with stories of the Scottish kings.

Some more views in the palace..

the Edinburgh cityscape..

inside a church on the premises..

there was also an exhibition on the history of Scotland..

St. Giles cathedral..

Till the time I left Edinburgh Palace it was 4pm. The place from where I had to rent the car was open till 5,so I quickly ran to it. I took a Ford Fiesta from Hertz. This I got at around 20 pounds per day. I also took a GPS which was additional 14pounds per day. I was thinking whether taking it was a good choice or not as the Hertz person was saying its not required, all roads are well marked. Here Fiesta is not a sedan like in India but a hatchback. My car..

Since there was still time left and I also had a car, I decided to drive down towards Rosslyn Chapel which was 7miles from Edinburgh. This is the same chapel which was shown in movie The Da Vinci code. I had taken a GPS navigator with the car but it took me some time to get used to it. This involved lot of wrong turns and angry horns from the people driving behind me. The Hertz salesman had said that the Chapel is on the way to Penicuik. Till the time I reached Roslin, it was already closed. Damn!! It was getting dark, so I quickly returned to Edinburgh. After reaching the hostel, I printed out the route for the road trip and went to sleep.

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rdbday9

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:53:00 +0000

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rdbday8

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:53:00 +0000

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