View of mountain range from Himachal Tourism hotel

To the beautiful Kinnaur district in Himachal

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The scenes were becoming increasingly breathtaking and that made me even more eager to reach Chitkul. And boy, is it something! The amazing view of the mountains, waterfalls and the river going along. Twice we came to a point where there was no road, and I had to drive my new Indica vista, 1300 cc engine, through water. What an amazing experience! Beautiful valley, river flowing, and an absolutely divine view of the mountains. The view is imprinted in my mind’s eye forever. That’s how mesmerising it was.

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गोबिंद घाट – श्रीनगर -ऋषिकेश : (भाग 7)

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गुरुद्वारा काफ़ी विशाल है और हेमकुन्ड आने-जाने वाले यात्रियों के लिये एक महत्त्वपूर्ण विश्राम स्थल है। गुरुद्वारे में बहुत से हेमकुन्ड यात्री थे, कुछ लोग दर्शन को जा रहे थे और कुछ लोग दर्शन करने के बाद वापिस लौट रहे थे। हमने भी वहाँ लंगर छका (खाया) और फिर चाय पी। लगभग तीन बज चुके थे और हम ऋषिकेश की ओर निकल दिये। रास्ते में एक बार रुद्रप्रयाग में चाय के लिये गाड़ी रुक्वाई और फिर से यात्रा जारी रखी।

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braham Kanwal1

घाघंरिया – हेमकुंड साहिब – गोबिंद घाट (भाग 6)

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हेमकुंड संस्कृत (“बर्फ़”) हेम और कुंड (“कटोरा”) से व्युत्पन्न नाम है । हेमकुंट साहिब गुरुद्वारा एक छोटे से स्टार के आकार का है तथा सिखों के अंतिम गुरू, गुरु गोबिंद सिंह जी, को समर्पित है। श्री हेमकुंट साहिब गुरूद्वारा के पास ही एक सरोवर है। इस पवित्र जगह को अमृतसरोवर (अमृत का तालाब) कहा जाता है। यह सरोवर लगभग 400 गज लंबा और 200 गज चौड़ा है। यह चारों तरफ़ से हिमालय की सात चोटियों से घिरा हुआ है। इन चोटियों का रंग वायुमंडलीय स्थितियों के अनुसार अपने आप बदल जाता है। कुछ समय वे बर्फ़ सी सफेद,कुछ समय सुनहरे रंग की, कभी लाल रंग की और कभी-कभी भूरे नीले रंग की दिखती हैं।

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The Great Himachal Circuit – Part 3 : Kalpa to Tabo

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Time to get up early in the morning to get a view of the awesome Himalayas from the balcony. It was so cloudy all around at 6AM, that hardly anything was visible. With a cup of tea, we started waiting for the fog and cloud to clear up. After that it was cloud moving around with occasional clearances of the mountains. Believe me, its one of the most awesome views as the clouds play around with the kailash range. And with the sun occasionally coming out in between the clouds with clear lights, another lovely worth seeing site.

While we were able to see the Kinnaur kailash easily, we were not able to spot the shiv ling. The hotel staff said, because of the fog we might not be able to view it. It was hidden behind the clouds. But then suddenly, one of the hotel staff said, its visible now. As we saw, the 69 ft height shiv ling was clear visible from that distance not more than 1 inch. But a very beautiful view.

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लेह – थिकसे(Thiksey) – रुम्त्से(Rumtse) – भाग 7

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यहाँ से अब हम अगले पड़ाव की ओर निकल पड़े। रास्ते मे अब परेशानी कम हो रही थी क्यूँकि जिस रास्ते से आए थे उसी से वापस जा रहे थे। अब जगह जानी पहचानी सी लग रही थी। अच्छी धुप निकली हुई थी शाम होने मे अभी टाइम था। रास्ते का निर्माण कार्य चल रहा था। रास्ते मे बहुत से चरवाहे अपनी भेड़ो को हाक रहे थे। ये सब भेड़ वही थी जिनसे पश्मीना शाल बनती है। इनके बाल एक दम मुलायम, हलके और लम्बे थे। यहाँ के लोग जान बूझ कर इस नस्ल को पालते होंगे ताकि आमदनी अच्छी हो। और ये भी हो सकता है की लद्दाख मे सिर्फ ये ही नस्ल जिंदा रह पाती हो। ये सिर्फ मेरा अंदाजा है असलियत मुझे नहीं मालूम।

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Char Dham Yatra – Gangotri

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Water started to flow down the hill crossing road (damaging it) from multiple points. The turns were muddier and appeared slippery. All of a sudden a silenced atmosphere appeared in the car, everybody was quite including our music player. I could able to sense their tension but said nothing or not even reacted, just concentrated on road. By 6 pm, we started to look for a good place to spend night, as it was too much for the day. We stopped in small village, Dharali, some 18 km before Gangotri and so did the rain. There were around max 20-25 houses, all lodges, I guess and couple of restaurants. After taking 15-20 minutes rest, we came out for sightseeing, as the river Bhagirathi and mountains behind her were marvelous. After roaming for an hour we came back to the village and had our dinner. At the start of the trip only we have decided that we will have dinner no later than 8 pm and will sleep (try to) by 9 or 9:30 max. This will give us enough sleep before getting up again early next morning. I made it very clear that by any means we should be on road by 6 am, keeping IST in mind.

Stats:
From Haridwar to Dharali – 265 km; time taken – 12 hrs; breaks – 3 (15+30+60 mins)
Road condition – Excellent/ Good (occasionally bad patches 2-3 km each)
Tip:
1. There were two roads from Chamba for uttarkashi, I believe I took the long one, but in google maps the another one, which is also the NH seems around 20 km less.
2. Do not rely on mapmyindia GPS device in these parts, they are not properly updated. And the coordinates will always confuse the device as you will be rotating up/down the hills.

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लेह – पैंगोंग – लेह…………… भाग6

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धुप ना होने की वजह से यहाँ पर ज़बरदस्त ठंड लग रही थी। मुझे छोड़ कर सब नीचे उतर गए। मेरी तो पहले से ही लगी पड़ी थी और गरम सीट को छोड़ कर बाहर ठंड मे जाने का मेरा कोई विचार नहीं था। तभी हरी ने कहा की चाय बनवा ली है और यहीं पर कुछ खा भी लेते हैं। मैंने मन मे सोचा यहाँ तो पत्थर ही मिलेंगे खाने को। मरा हुआ मन लेकर मैं हरी के साथ चल दिया। अरे वाह क्या बात है यहाँ तो मुफ्त का एक डिसपेंसरी थी, “चांग ला” बाबा का मंदिर और एक रेस्त्रौंत था। गाड़ी से बाहर निकल कर अच्छा लगा और हरी के साथ मैं रेस्त्रौंत मे घुस गया। यहाँ एक बोर्ड पर लिखा था “1st Highest Cafeteria in the world”.

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The Great Himachal Circuit – Part 2 : Shimla to Sangla via Sarahan

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A very important thing about Himachal, is that people are very cooperative and they are very happy with what they are and have. I am writing this because I tour as well as I interact with people over various places, trying to find the differences in the cultures, way of living etc. This is what travelling is all about. I found Himachal people in the remote of the areas to be very well educated (better than what we are in cities) and well behaved. They are clean by heart and they educate their child to be as clean as them.

Soon it was getting dark and we entered the temple which normally opens up after 7PM. Not everywhere inside the temple are cameras and accessories allowed, but there are lockers where they can be kept. So we put our accessories in the lockers and entered the temple. The Bhimakali Temple at Sarahan is quite big and unique in its own way and own beauty. It looks more like a monastery rather than a temple.

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Ghumakkar Featured Author Interview – With warm and colourful Venkat

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Ghum: So I guess we are on to something. Last month, we had a gentlemen whose wife is a teacher and this month again it repeats. You would now need to tell me more about Shanthi and her teaching and so on.
Venkat: My wife, Shanthi, is also from Tiruppur. She too is a graduate in Commerce. She has two elder sisters and one younger brother, all of whom are married and settled not too far from Tiruppur. In the period before marriage, after completing her under-graduation, she had gone to a kindergarten school nearby her home as a temporary teacher. She was so good at it that the school retained her services permanently. And after marriage, she continues teaching Kindergarten kids in the same school. She has such a natural flair for teaching and she is adored by both the students and their parents. Infact she is more familiar in the neighbourhood than myself. Apart from her teaching skills, Shanthi is a wonderful cook too (her non veg dishes are really tasty).

Ghum: I have left a one big section for the food but lets begin it now. Your profile says that you are a foodie ? Tell us more.
Venkat: Me and my wife both are very fond of Non-Vegetarian food, especially the South Indian Chettinad variety. May be it is because right from our childhoold, there has never been shortage of mutton and chicken items in our households. Every function is incomplete without an exhaustive spread of Non vegetarian items. That is the reason we are avid foodies, who go the extra mile for to satiate our taste buds! But while on travel, we like to explore local cuisines wherever possible. With regards to tips to fellow travellers, I think having “dil chahe” dishes in “dil chahe” quantities(of course health permitting) is an integral part of the joy we derive from travelling.

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The Great Himachal Circuit Part 1: Reaching Shimla

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In the evening, we started for a small walk up towards the Mall. On the way, The Grand hotel and the Kali Bari are located. So visited all and then finally reached the Mall. We spent around 3 hours in the Mall and Lakkar Bazaar right below the Mall. Took beautiful photographs and had our dinner in a cool restaurant. The Shimla Mall road is a real beauty in the evening, there is no doubt in it.

We got back to our hotel in the same route walking around 9 in the evening. Quickly I called up the cab we booked for the rest of the tour and everything was as per plan. The cab driver was on target for the next day and informed us about the time he would be in.
After this went in for a nice sleep. We had to cover a long and adventurous journey ahead.

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अन्नू भाई चला चकराता …पम्म…पम्म…पम्म (भाग- 2 ) रहस्यमई मोइला गुफा

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ये सब देखकर हम तो मानो जैसे स्कूल से छुटे, छोटे छोटे बच्चो की तरह दोड़ते भागते , गिरते पड़ते जब उस मंदिर नुमा ढांचे तक पहुचे तो एक बार को तो उसे देखकर हम तीनो सिहर से उठे। वो एक लकड़ी का बना मंदिर ही था पर उसमे न कोई मूर्ति न घंटा , हाँ उसमें इधर उधर  किसी जानवर के पुराने हो चुके  सिंग , कुछ बर्तन से टंगे हुए थे और एक लड़की का ही बना पुतला दरवाजे से बाहर जो की कोई  द्वारपाल सा लग रहा था। मन ही मन उस माहोल और जगह को प्रणाम कर अपने साथ लाये मिनरल वाटर की  बोतल से उन्हें जल अर्पण किया और परिकर्मा कर बड़े इत्मिनान से वहां बैठ दूर दूर तक फैली वादियों और शान्ति का मजा लेने  लगे। थोड़ी देर बाद सोचा  के चलो ताल में नहाते है फिर कुछ खा पीकर गुफाओ को ढूंढ़ेगे।

पानी का ताल जो की थोडा और आगे था जल्दी ही दिखाई दे गया लेकिन वहां पहुँच कर नहाने का सारा प्रोग्राम चोपट हो गया। कारण उसमे पानी तो बहुत था परन्तु एक दम मटियाला। सो सिर्फ उसके साथ फोटो खीच कर ही मन को  समझा लिया। अब बारी  गुफा ढूंढने की तो लेकिन वहां चारो और दूर दूर तक कोई गुफा तो नहीं अपितु मकेक बंदरो के झुण्ड घूम रहे थे। जो की हम पर इतनी कृपा कर  देते थे की हम जिस दिशा में जाते वो वहां से दूर भाग जाते थे। हम तीनो काफी देर अलग अलग होकर  ढूंढते  रहे पर हमें तो कोई गुफा नहीं दिखी सिर्फ शुरू में आते हुए एक छोटा सा गड्ढा नुमा दिखाई दिया  था।

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