06 Jun

Tynemouth: Sand, Sea, Castle & More

Tynemouth: Sand, Sea, Castle & More

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Just two or three stations before Tynemouth, through the metro window itself, I got the first glance of the sea, the great North sea, blue as sapphire. And when a person, who has spent most of his life in Delhi, which is 1100 km away from the nearest sea, gets a glance of the sea – He has every right to open his eyes wide.

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Dhaari Devi – धारी देवी (उत्तराखण्ड)

Dhaari Devi – धारी देवी (उत्तराखण्ड)

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So one night the head priest was awakened by someone and he saw Mother kali standing near his bed, eyes red with anger.  She asked the priest to stop sacrificing the animals in her name, otherwise she would destroy his family.  The priest woke up next morning in high fever and trembling with fear and announced “No more Balis” in the temple.  The locals were infuriated as nobody believed his dream !  But seeing the adamant priest, who himself was enjoying the bali meat, they decided that the sacrifice will not be done at the temple but at Bhairon Gufa, 1 Km ahead the stream.  So this  Kali temple became the first sacrifice free temple of Devi in Uttranchal.  I leave your own mind to judge the story as per your belief.

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Trip to Harrods

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It being a Sunday, the place was kinda full, but the fullness of it did not take away the splendour, grace, elegance & overall beauty of the place. There were beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, antique looking furniture was scattered everywhere and there were, of course, beautiful mannequins in windows. The décor of the place somewhat varied from section to section. The toys section was done in tones of cheer, with streams of holly adding to the gaiety, while the fragrance section was done up in subtle tones, so that the focus was totally on the brands displayed.

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A trip to Narkanda – Sangla – Chitkul – Kalpa – Jalori Pass

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After crossing the dam towards Sangla, condition of road was not very good and it was narrow too, however it was fun driving through this chilling route along with green Baspa. My wife and son were also lost in this beautiful valley but my 13 yr daughter was alert enough to remind me to blow the horn at every blind turn which I think is advisable while driving on hills. Before reaching Sangla my kids were excited enough to peep the scenic beauty through the sunroof.

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Kali Mathh -काली मठ

Kali Mathh -काली मठ

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Kali Mathh is the only hindu temple, where they dont worship any pindi or any idol or photo.  It is only that hole which Kali caused, which is worshipped here.  All Shaktas at least once in their life, visit this place, specially Bengali Shakta followers. Even if you do not have deep religious appetite, the place is so beautiful, untouched by tourists and civilisation, that it would be a mistake not to have visited there by anybody loving Himalayas.

So in a wintery Feb,2010 I fixed programme with my childhood friends, Pradeep, Awasthi and Vijay to be ready for a surprise visit ! We started from Delhi early morning around 5 am and crossing the usually jammed roads, in the fastest way possible and reached Haridwar around 9.  Taking a quick dip in Ganges, we continued our journey uphill and next stop was at Devprayag.  You all know it is from Devprayag that the name Ganga starts, after Bhagirathi meets with Alaknanda.  We stopped for a while for “Pind-daan” of my father who died 2 months before.

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Some evenings in Paris..

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..we walked through the Latin quarter region stumbling upon artistes making portraits and abstract arts in the middle of the streets..met a charming old lady with her souvenir shop who without even being asked proposed us a group photo..witnessed a wedding with the bride and groom posing for their wedding albums…

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Venice: City of Dreams

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The buzz of the place, sparkling water, numerous boats, quaint buildings – all combined to create an image like nothing we had seen before. Venice is enchanting, romantic and iconic, bustling with life yet crumbling and ghostly. Everywhere we looked, it seemed like we were inside a painting or a film set arranged around picturesque canals.

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London Dungeons & Stuffing Up

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…a half hour walk through the gruesome parts of the history of the city of London. The plague, Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd, The Fire of London etc’s scenes were created by the actors, and of course, the props….

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Touring the Arsenal

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The red and white doors, thru which so many legends of the football world would have passed thru’, was before us. Mr. Wenger, Thierry Henry, Nwanko Kanu, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jens Lehmann, Francesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie, the list is endless.

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Inside the aircraft

Reaching London, Stay at Hornchurch

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I took a video of the landing on my iTouch, & I have got to admit – it was quite awesome. We cleared customs quite quick & decided to eat breakfast before proceeding to Mausi’s place (for the benefit of the newer reader – she is my mom’s Mausi’s and is henceforth referred to as everyone’s Mausi). We reached the lounge, & the first thing my mom did was to run in for a massage. I decided to take a quick shower before breakfast & so I strolled down to the not-so-little cylindrical shower rooms, in no rush whatsoever as I was quite content with life as it was and wanted to savour every moment of being in London. By the time I came out, my mom’s massage was done, & so we had some hash brown, toast, scrambled eggs, sausages & salamis together. Afterwards, I generally lounged around reading all the sports sections in every newspaper, before we left around 9:30 am GMT.

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