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Experiencing the temple town of Puri, Oddisha

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Then panda took us to Anand Bazar area of temple and went away to collect Mahaprasad for us. It was offered to each of us on pattals i.e banana leaves. A huge variety was there but I think children will not like this as it consists of rice, daal and several other items most of which is not liked by children. At last we were offered Rabri, which was very tasty indeed and satisfied our taste buds.

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River Saraswati (Ghaggar, Haryana) – The Lost Valley of time, culture and civilization

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Now why were we in Haryana of all the places? We need to get some background on Indus Valley culture over here to appreciate our destination. We all know about Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro as principle sites of Indus culture. Now Indus or Harappan culture refers to archeological finds pertaining to time period of 2500-1900 BC having specific similarities. The distinguishing characteristic of this culture is presence of town planning evident in spacious perpendicular roads, sewerage system, fortified townships and large houses with courtyard and brick walls. Findings of seals, weights, beads, gold ornaments indicate flourished trade.

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C2C – Chennai to Canada (from 30ºC to -5ºC)

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We then stood in a custom queue for Visitors. There were two lines one for Permanent Residence and another for Visitors. Custom officer checked our passport and Visa and guided us to another hall. Inside the hall, it was a long queue. When our turn came lady officer asked us to sit at the waiting area inside hall. She has started checking our documents. She took almost an hour to check our documents. We then proceeded to baggage claim area. As soon as we entered in baggage claim area, we saw  number of porters standing with trollies.4 Bags 10$, above 4 bags, each bag 3$.We came in baggage claim area and none of the conveyor was displaying our flight number. We rushed to BA counter, but there was no staff at the counter. We were unable to find any co passengers also at the airport. We were searching bags all over the baggage claim area. Near one belt conveyor we found few bags. When we went there we saw our bags. We quickly started collecting our bags. One from one corner,   second from another corner, third from some other place etc. While collecting we thought definitely the other  2 handbags which we had deposited afterwards   must be missing , but luckily we found those two bags. Now counting started 1, 2,3….One bag is missing. To our surprise the bag which had all Kitchen items specially (Rolling pin and board for Chapati) and groceries was missing. We were then searching  BA staff  so that we can inform about our missing bag. There was no BA staff at the airport. Then we saw a lady coming towards baggage area and she was BA staff. We informed her. She asked us to fill up the form about missing baggage and ensured that they will search the bag and will let us know the status within 24 hrs. We then decided to hire porter as it was not easy for us to carry 10 bags in 2 trollies.

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Udaipur Diaries – The City of Lakes

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We left our home at around 11.20 p.m. and our first stop was “Mardeshwar Temple” , Palikhanda, a place  located adjacent to high way itself. We decided to take blessings of “Lord Shiva” to start the journey. It was around 1.15 pm we left for our next planned stop “Shamlaji Temple”. We were at “Shamlaji” around 2.50 pm. After having darshan in the temple, we took a bit longer break here for some refreshment. I am avoiding writing historical details of this two temples as authentic information is easily available on web and there is no point writing it again. We left shamlaji at around 3.30 curiously waiting to reach our final destination.

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अन्नू भाई चला चकराता – पम्म पम्म पम्म – लाखामंडल

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कभी गाडी से इधर झांक, कभी उधर झांक | देखते के कुछ समझ आ जाए , क्यूंकि आगे तो हम लगातार देखे ही रहें थे आख्ने फाड़ें ,    हा हा हा …वहां गाड़ी की हेड लाइट की रोशनी में जो कुछ एक दो मीटर तक दिख रहा था बस समझो उस समय वही हमारी दुनिया थी बाकी तो कुछ दिख ही नहीं रहा था,थोड़ी देर बाद हमें खुद मालुम नहीं की कब कहाँ दो चार मकानो के बीच से होकर हमारी वो पथरीली सड़क गुजर रही थी (अँधेरा होने के कारण ) तब गाड़ी रोकी … वहीँ एक दो आदमी मिले। एक सज्जन से परिचय होने पर उन्होने बताया के वो रहने वाले तो बड़ोत (UP) के ही हैं।   यहाँ उनकी  पुरानी जमींन है, सो यहाँ भी रहते हैं।  वहीँ एक घर में भी बनी छोटी सी दूकान से दर्जनों  “पारले जी ” की बिस्कुट के पैकेट खरीद अन्नू और प्रवीण बाबू तो बिजी हो गए …..मै  वैसे भी भी बिस्कुट नहीं खाता और गाडी भी चला रहा था।  सो उन साहब से बातचीत कर आगे का हाल चाल और रास्ते का ब्यौरा ले चल पड़ा।

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हम चले अमृतसर की सैर को

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प्रोग्राम  अमृतसर जाने का तय हुआ, आरक्षण  कराया गया.४ नवम्बर की रात का स्वर्णमंदिर एक्सप्रेस (फ्रोंटिएर मेल) का जाने का तय हुआ, वापसी ६ नवम्बर को छत्तीसगढ़ एक्स्प. से थी. रेलवे स्टेशन पर जल्दी पहुँच कर, वंहा पर बैठ कर चाय वाय पीने का आनंद ही कुछ और होता हैं.

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Spiti Valley - Nature's unbelievable wonder

From the caravan diaries Take me here

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Know Bhutan: Trongsa, the city of heritage and the Dzong

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Built in 1644 in its present form, it is the largest Dzong of Bhutan, which can be seen from many points of the town. It was huge, robust, elaborate and respectful looking. A series of inter-connected multi-floored buildings comprising of Lhakhangs (Buddhist temples), alley like long corridors, court rooms, wide stone stairs, paved courtyards completed the Dzong in its entirety.

Winter Drive to Snowy Dhanaulti

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Few days ago, one of a reader asked me that why have I stopped writing on Ghumakkar. I had no particular answer. She told that I should again start writing.

So here I am back again to share few of my short travel tales. Starting with one of the trip which I remember was Dhanaulti which I visited in Feb’14.

Unexplored Uttarakhand – The Misty Mountains Retreat in Jhaltola, near Gangolihat

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It had been a long tiring winter and a recharging vacation had been on the cards for far too long. Sushil – a close friend, suggested a new retreat in Uttarakhand – The Misty Mountains. He had been there with his wife and another couple in his friend circle. The name itself suggested just the kind of place I wanted to go to. Reminded me of the many exotic locales from fantasy books I had read over the years. I was sufficiently intrigued to check out their website at http://themistymountains.in and was soner convinced.

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