12 Dec

तख़्त सचखंड श्री हजुर साहिब गुरुद्वारा नांदेड़/Sachkhand Gurudwara Nanded

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सभी घुमक्कड़ साथियों को  मेरा सप्रेम नमस्कार. एक बार फिर उपस्थित हूँ मैं आपलोगों के सामने अपनी नूतन धर्म यात्रा के अनोखे अनुभवों के साथ. अपनी ज्योतिर्लिंग यात्राओं के क्रम में पिछले वर्ष सम्पन्न की गई श्री महाकालेश्वर ज्योतिर्लिंग की यात्रा के बाद अगली ज्योतिर्लिंग यात्रा के रूप में हमने महाराष्ट्र के मराठवाड़ा क्षेत्र में स्थित दो ज्योतिर्लिंगों औंढा नागनाथ और परली वैद्यनाथ को चुना. इन स्थलों के बारे में जानकारी जुटाने के लिए जब मैं गूगल महाशय की शरण में गया तो उन्होंने बताया की दोनों ज्योतिर्लिंग नांदेड शहर के आसपास हैं. नांदेड का नाम पहले भी कई बार सुना था लेकिन ज्यादा जानकारी नहीं थी, अपनी सर्च के दौरान नांदेड के बारे में बहुत कुछ जानने को मिला, और पता चला की यह शहर सिक्ख धर्म एक…

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Picturesque Manali

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Manali, a picturesque hill station situated at a height of 6308 ft lies at the northern end of Himachal Pradesh and is undoubtedly one of the best Hill stations India has. At a distance of 550 km from the capital city of Delhi, Manali is the most sought out holiday destination for travelers. The snow-clad hill tops and amazing scenic beauty captures every person’s heart and offers an immense yet an extraordinary experience, no matter how many times you visit the place….. For me, it’s my favorite destination to let loose and embrace what life has to offer…along with a calmness that soothes the soul… so last winter’s we set of for a wintry holiday to Manali to celebrate a white Christmas!!
Distance from Delhi: 550 Km

Travel Time: 12-14 hours with 2-3 breaks in between

Best Time to Visit: Anytime, however to view snow…Late Dec-early March

Driving Directions and Map: http://bit.ly/vq3jL9

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सतपुडा नैरो गेज- दिल्ली से नैनपुर वाया छिंदवाडा

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अब शुरू होती है नैरो गेज की सवारी। इस सिलसिले में अगर कोई और होता तो वो सीधा जबलपुर जाता। लेकिन इधर ठहरे टेढी खोपडी वाले, छिंदवाडा जा पहुंचे। छिंदवाडा से नैनपुर तक कई गाडियां चलती हैं, सारी की सारी पैसेंजर। मैं साढे बारह बजे चलने वाली गाडी (58853) में जा धरा। यह गाडी शाम को सात बजे नैनपुर पहुंचा देती है। यह इलाका भारत का सबसे व्यस्त और घना नैरो गेज वाला इलाका है। यहां रेल लाइन की शुरूआत 1905 के आसपास हुई थी। यहां सतपुडा की पहाडियों का बोलबाला है। ये पहाडियां इस मार्ग पर सफर को और भी मजेदार बना देती है। आबादी बहुत कम है। हालांकि ट्रेन में भीड बहुत होती है। गाडी की रफ्तार भी कम ही रहती है। लोगों को तेज यातायात उपलब्ध कराने के लिये इस नैरो गेज को उखाडकर ब्रॉड गेज में बदला जायेगा। जबलपुर-बालाघाट खण्ड पर आमान-परिवर्तन का काम शुरू भी हो चुका है।

छिंदवाडा से नैनपुर तक कुल बीस स्टेशन हैं। इनमें छिंदवाडा के बाद सिवनी सबसे बडा स्टेशन है। सिवनी जिला भी है। बीस स्टेशन और उनकी समुद्र तल से ऊंचाई इस प्रकार हैं:

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Ground Zero

New York: The Big Apple

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The only sound in this serene neighbourhood was the constant whirring of the security choppers patrolling the Hudson. Though there wasn’t much to see in New Jersey, I found its peaceful charm quite endearing. Whether it was driving through Harrison, or checking out the sprawling campuses of New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers Institute at Newark, or bagging great discounts at Newport mall, Jersey Gardens mall, Macy’s, Wal-Mart, BJ’s and Shop Rite, or simply walking along the Pier… New Jersey really appealed to my senses in a way that very few can comprehend.

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Sultanpur National Park: Pathos for a Sitting Duck

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The marshland appeared more like grassland with bushes blocking the way everywhere. There were more grazing cattle inside than birds – I mean the birds which were supposed to be there according to the article. The ambience inside the park was more allusive to the Eliot’s Wasteland than the Wordsworth Tintern Abbey. You must be thinking I am totally nuts…talking like this :-) Well the thing is that I am writing this line on a few miles away from Sultanpur National Park, on revisiting the banks of “not quite” marshlands of the park and 15 months had passed since my last visit to this one time birder’s paradise.

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Raven

Paradise on Earth- Jammu and Kashmir (Part 3)

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We passed the first town enroute – Ganderbal, within an hour. It was after Ganderbal that the real beauty of the drive commenced. After Ganderbal, the snow-capped Himalayas greeted us bang on. Every turn gave us panoramic new scenes, which always seemed to better than the previous one. Complimented by the untouched beauty of the Sindh River, the landscape was picture perfect.

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The River and the City

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The airport is located in Babatpur, a slightly funny name but when you see the airport name displayed in bold letters as Lal Bahadur Shastri aiport, suddenly it gains stature and you feel a connection, a long lost memory jogged. And you remember a story of young Lal bahadur swimming across the Ganga for his studies.

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Sandhan Valley Trek

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The descending is not that simple as it looks. We need to make way from many big rocks. The main problem faced while descending is that we were always in the search of shortest and the easiest path but there is no such path. 14 member of our group went ahead and 4 guys stayed back with 2 girls as they were finding it difficult to descend. The path till the first rappelling point is very time consuming. The first batch completed their rappelling patch and were waiting for us to reach. After around 6 hrs of walk on the rocky path we reached the 1st rappelling patch.  The first rappelling patch is about 45 feet. By 3 PM the last 6 members completed their 1st rappelling patch. We decided to have our lunch as we were walking continuously and were too hungry.

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पिण्डारी ग्लेशियर यात्रा- तीसरा दिन (धाकुडी-खाती-द्वाली)

पिण्डारी ग्लेशियर यात्रा- तीसरा दिन (धाकुडी-खाती-द्वाली)

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ग्यारह बजे हम खाती गांव पहुंच जाते हैं। सुन्दरढूंगा और पिण्डारी दोनों घाटियों में खाती से आगे कोई गांव नहीं है। इसकी यही खासियत इसे एक समृद्ध गांव बनाती है। पिण्डारी, कफनी और सुन्दरढूंगा तीनों यात्रा मार्गों पर खातियों का ही वर्चस्व है। ये लोग कुमाऊं-गढवाल की परम्परा का निर्वाहन करते हुए अपने नाम के साथ गांव का नाम ‘खाती’ भी जोडते हैं। मान लो मैं खाती गांव का रहने वाला हूं तो मेरा नाम होता नीरज खाती। गांव के सभी लोग ग्लेशियर यात्रा से ही जुडे हुए हैं हालांकि आधुनिकीकरण की हवा भी चल रही है। हमारे साथ चल रहे बंगाली घुमक्कड का गाइड देवा और हमारा पॉर्टर प्रताप सिंह भी खाती के ही रहने वाले हैं। आगे रास्ते में हमें जितने भी लोकल आदमी मिलेंगे, सभी खाती निवासी ही होंगे। एक बात और बता दूं कि सुन्दरढूंगा ग्लेशियर जाने का रास्ता यही से अलग होता है। सुन्दरढूंगा जाने के लिये रहने-खाने का सामान ले जाना पडता है जो खाती में आराम से मिल जाता है।

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Auli – Land of peaks, forest and flowers

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It was a clear day with sun rays warming our bodies that have gone numb due to the chill in the air. High snow clad peaks bordered with Golden oak and deodar kissing the deep blue sky above, welcomed us to Auli. A look at the place and all our tiredness of long journey through zig zag roads, landslides and pilgrims traffic is gone.

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Alexandria, the pearl of the Mediterranean

Alexandria, the pearl of the Mediterranean

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Alexandria was home to Egypt’s second wonder of the Ancient World: the famous Lighthouse built by the Ptolemies in the 3rd Century AD. Soaring to a height of 140 metres, its beacon was visible to seamen over 50 km away. It was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world for centuries till a powerful earthquake destroyed it in the 14th century.

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