Manikaran Sahib, Kullu – A short visit

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As heat in Delhi became unbearable, as we gave up on staying alive in the huge bar-be-que that seemed to follow us wherever one would go, and finally as our frustration psyched us out since we could not find an appropriate, worthy, exciting place for our holiday – along came Kasol. To make the deal more lucrative, it came across that Gurudwara Manikaran Saheb was close-by, hence a visit was warranted.

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Kushinagar – Where Buddha breathed last

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The actual cremation ground is a bit away and I didn’t go there this time. The area has lots of temples built by many countries which practice Buddhism. There are good hotels as well, including Taj and I clearly remember that there were internet kiosks five year back.

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Phnom Penh in Cambodia TO Can Tho in Vietnam by bus

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We called up our hotel in Phnom Penh as well as Can Tho, but no luck. Everyone shared the bus routes but all of them were going to Can Tho, via Saigon. It seemed so lame and dumb to do that. When everything fails, Internet comes as a savior so we started scavenging sites like TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet and what not. To our luck, we found one hard-to-believe post saying that

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Our Dubai Trip – Reaching the land of Skyscrapers

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So lets start from the Radio Taxi, Easycabs, which dropped us in-time. We were flying Emirates (23K odd per person return includes Visa and Insurance) since that meant that you get Visa easily. Also, with a small kid you tend to get a little more protective. There are other flights which would come out a little more economical and it can come down to as low as 15K per person return. Since its a short-haul, I would think that one should actively explore these other options and save some moolah for a good Himalayan-break after you are back from Dubai.

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Best place to stay at Angkor Vat Siem Reap, The Bayon Villa

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No one aspires to be in Siem Reap for the city. Everyone comes here to go and experience the Angkor Vat. The temple complex is a bit away from the main city (under 30 minutes TukTuk ride) but then the reality is that after you done with all the walking and awe-ing on the scale, the craftsmanship, the stories, you look forward to some un-wind time. And for that, the city has a great street, aptly called, ‘Pub Street’. Good news is that the ‘Pub Street, as well as the other city-city places like Siem Reap night market is just a walk-away.

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Delhi to Bhimtal by road, all routes explained

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Avoid early morning drives during full-moon days since Garh Mukhteshwar sees a lot of pilgrims. Karthik Purnima is biggest. There would be three Toll points, most of them decently managed. Pilakhua is a great place for a 30 minute shopping break for towels, bed-sheets, pillow-covers. Just shy of Garh Muketshwar, you can buy all the moodhas (functional ones as well as decorative/toy ones) you always wanted. Bargain hard.

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Ghumakkar Gadgets – Stay Charged via a ‘Power Bank’

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A portable power bank is a charger that can hold a lot of power and then can be used to energise your electronic devices. You can charge them before you leave from your home and then carry it in your bag. The best thing about a power bank is that it works on an interface (Mini USB) which is a standard for almost every device. So you do not need to carry an additional or extra battery-pack of each of your devices. These can be easily shared, are small enough to carry and are great savious, when you are least expecting it.

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Ghumakkar Digest – September 2014

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More than 20 Ghumakkars braved it. Tridev Sir and Silentsoul played the role of Sutradhars and helped us introduce each other. Apart from Sushant who came all the way from Saharanpur, the spirit of whom we salute from the bottom of our hearts, Naresh Sehgal joined us all the way from Ambala. As people started to gather, it was difficult to grasp so much warmth in that little a space. I would let the attendees talk more via ‘Comments’ section of this post. For me, it was an overwhelming experience. We didn’t talk a lot but somehow it feels that the connect and bond has suddenly grown much stronger. The first meet was a beginning and I do hope that it carries on, in smaller or bigger way, in different seasons, in various setups and in various cities and tahsheels and mohallas. It need not be bound by the fact that whether someone is writing on Ghumakkar.com or not, but by the sheer heady spirit of traveling. I would take this opportunity yet again to mention that traveling builds tolerance and tolerance builds peace.

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Ghumakkar Digest – August 2014

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Over the last 7 years of Ghumakkar’s existence, one common and often repeated request was to have some kind of face to face interaction within the community. Many of our community members have met with each other, and have developed long lasting friendships. In fact, at times it is very humbling to know that someone met someone else at Ghumakkar and now both the families not only interact and meet each other but also travel to new places, together. That gives the Ghumakkar crew a feeling of true accomplishment. I, myself, have met many of you and each experience has been a rewarding one. But we never had a so-called ‘Ghumakkar Meet’. What better way to start this monthly digest than to share with all of you that first such organised meeting is finally happening in September 2014 in Delhi. This meet is a brain-child of one of our seasoned trekkers and someone who just moves on with a travel with little to nil planning. Gives me immense pleasure to announce that Vipin Gaur has graciously invited all of us to be together on September 7.

Here are more details, right from the event which Vipin created at Facebook.

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