Delhi to Nainital by Car

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Till Moradabad I drove on NH 24 and from toll plaza of Moradabad I have taken left turn towards city and then right turn and taken the interior state highway towards Kashipur, Tanda, and Nandpur on NH 121. The highway roads are in good condition (except few kilometers in NH 121). Car speed was so good that quickly we covered 200 kms distance from Delhi in 3 hrs.

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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 2

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The shuttle dropped us at Schiphol Airport and from there we took a train to the Centraal Station (20 mins train journey). “Tours and Tickets” is a famous agency which organizes city tours, canal cruises and other tours around Amsterdam city. We went to one of their counters in the Damrak region (5 mins walk from Centraal) and exchanged our Holland pass coupons for a city tour!

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A much awaited trip for three girlfriends.

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We took a cab from Pathankot to McLeodganj. The cab journey took only 2 hours. The scenery was beautiful and the cab driver told us about the landslide that recently happened in Himachal. As we entered McLeodganj, a typical Himachal traffic jam welcomed us.

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Gokarna – much more than OM beach

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Gokarna is about 453 km from Bangalore and 165 KM from Hubli. We started by train at 7:45 PM and reached Hubli early morning at 3:45 (though arrival time was 4:30 AM – Trains do reach early in India also). Anyway Taxi (booked in advance) came as per the time given to him and we started at 5:00 AM from Hubli and had a breakfast at Kamath on the way and reach Om Beach resort at 8:45 AM. Normal check –in time was 12:00 however staff made the rooms ready by 10:30 and we checked in to relax.

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Ghumakkar Insights – Biking Guide from a Biker

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I have always considered biking to be a natural instinct for me. It is like my reflex action to any elongated duration of professional boredom. Until now, when I was asked to provide my insights on biking, I could never realize that there are a lot many things that I do to ensure that I, and sometimes my group, have a safe and exciting riding experience during our rides. So here my chance to earn some good karma.

We have covered quite a few places in the hilly parts of Uttaranchal & Himachal and have had the privilege of riding to Ladakh twice. We have also covered the entire Spiti Valley circuit along with other long distant places like Harsil, Chopta, Chittorgarh etc.

Having established my reputation as a biker, I am confident that the rest of the prose will get your undivided attention.

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Tranquebar

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Tharangambadi (or Tranquebar) is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, 15 km north of Karaikal, near the mouth of a distributary of the Kaveri River. Tharangambadi is the headquarters of Tharangambadi taluk. Its name means “place of the singing waves”. It was a Danish colony from 1620 to 1845, and in Danish and some other European languages it is known as “Trankebar” or “Tranquebar”.

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Ranikhet – the unexplored paradise

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The hotel that we stayed in was called as Rosemount,a  lovely old heritage property with old world charm,  the splendour reminds you of an era gone by. It is known to be as old as year 1900, elaborate window frames and the large rooms have preserved the pristine glory in its true form even today. The manager told that one could see beautiful Nanda Devi and entire range from rooms and the garden.  Well it  was late evening , we could see nothing and rather slept early.  Ahem Ahem !! Next day in the morning, I opened the windows to majestic Nanda Devi and other snow covered peaks towering over! It was a view to remember.

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Featured Author Interview – In conversation with lyrical and thoughtul Manish Kumar

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Ghumakkar – By now, a lot of Ghumakkars know quite a bit about your love for traveling and undying passion for music. Please tell us something about your personal life. How a regular day unfolds for Manish ?
Manish – Yes, my love for traveling or Ghumakkari is probably quite popular and as you said that my undying passion for music keeps me awake and working for long time. Let me go back and share my story beginning from school.

I did my complete schooling from Patna, a city which has been there for ages. (Read Mahesh’s story on Patna – here ) Then I moved to Ranchi to finish my engineering from BIT, Mesra. That was close to 20 years back. I quickly moved to Faridabad, a suburb of National Capital Delhi, and worked briefly before going back to academics to finish my Masters from Roorkee. I joined SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) in 1997 at Ranchi and been here since then.

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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 1

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Soon after we reached Schiphol, we enquired about where we could take the bus to Kuekenhof. We had bought our Kuekenhof tickets online and this being a combo ticket for the transport (to & fro) and the garden entry, we dint have much to bother about!

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