03 Mar

Bull’s Retreat – OUTTA THIS WORLD!

By

Driving through Rishikesh in darkness, we could not see much except the twinkling diyas after Arti on the banks of Ganga. Though it was pitch dark, it was impossible to miss well lit billboard of the Bull’s Retreat ahead of Shivpuri village and we were warmly greeted by courteous Mohinder and staff of Retreat who shifted quickly our baggage to two rooms alloted to us.

Read More

Amkhoi Fossil Park

By

The angiosperm wood fossils which are displayed here were collected during pond digging from Amkhoi village of Illambazar Forest, Birbhum District. These specimens are definite proof of the presence of a vast dry deciduous forest with a few evergreen elements in this area, which prevailed 15 to 20 million years before present (Late Miocene). Wood fossils can also be found in different places of Birbhum, Bardhaman, Bankura and Medinipur Districts of West Bengal as well as in Mayurbhanj District in Orissa.

Read More

Sukharia – the land of the Mitra Mustafis

By

The village of Sukharia is associated with the Mitra Mustafi family whose other settlements were in the villages of Ula Birnagar and Sripur. The Mitra Mustafi family is sometimes called the family of Dewans as most of the family members served in different positions in the revenue departments during the rule of the monarchy.

Read More

Bienvenue à Jaipur: Ville Rose

By

It was Wednesday evening when Sourabh came & asked to go out of Delhi on Weekend. Immediately everybody started looking at him & responded yes in a very strange way. This reaction was not due to the short notice for outing but everybody was surprised that he is not going home on the weekend. Without giving any thought to this idea, everybody said Yes & then asked where you want to go? Ultimately Jaipur was selected & we planned to leave early morning of Saturday.

Read More

Know Bhutan: Trongsa, the city of heritage and the Dzong

By

Built in 1644 in its present form, it is the largest Dzong of Bhutan, which can be seen from many points of the town. It was huge, robust, elaborate and respectful looking. A series of inter-connected multi-floored buildings comprising of Lhakhangs (Buddhist temples), alley like long corridors, court rooms, wide stone stairs, paved courtyards completed the Dzong in its entirety.

Read More

Beautiful Beaches of Harihareshwar & Divegar

By

Harihreshwar and Divegar are two very beautiful beaches in the south of Raigad district. Instead of Alibaug why not visit them next time which is 41/2 – 5 hours drive from Mumbai. For the extended weekend in the month of February we wanted to cover a part of western coast. Between Ganpatipule and Harihreshwar we finalized the latter. Our itinerary included 2 nights in Harihreshwar and one night in Divegar. The way the western coast stretches to the south of Alibaug  is Divegar, Srivardhan, Harihreshwar and little ahead is Velas. People do the first three as triangle but we included Velas instead of Srivardhan which I will clarify in the latter part.

Read More

औरंगाबाद: अतीत के आईने में

By

हम वहां के अत्यंत शांतिपूर्ण माहौल में पहुंचकर तथा औरंगजेब की कब्र के सामने खड़े होकर स्तब्ध तथा आश्चर्यचकित होकर आँखे फाड़ फाड़ कर देख रहे थे और सोच रहे थे……एक समय हिन्दुस्तान पर राज़  करने वाले बादशाह की कब्र…….इतनी साधारण…….इतनी सादगी लिए……….ऊपर छत भी नही……….हमारी इस जिज्ञासा को शांत किया वहीँ पर खड़े एक मौलाना रूपी गाइड ने.

Read More

Offbeat Tourism at Mangdechhu Hydro Electric Project in Bhutan

By

The Mangdechhu hydroelectric project is a 720MW run-of-river power plant (4 units each of 180 MW capacity) being built in Trongsa district of central Bhutan on the Mangdechhu river (which is a tributary of Manas river – which is again a tributary of Brahmaputra river). Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project Authority (MHPA), which is constituted by the Indian Government and the Royal Government of Bhutan, is developing the project. On completion, most of the electricity generated by the underground power house will be used to meet the energy requirement of Bhutan and the surplus electricity will be exported to India

Read More

On The Ramayana Trail in Sri Lanka

By

The high point of our yatra was the visit to Sigiriya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Sigiriya or Simha Giriya ( Lion Rock ) is a gigantic rock formation ( 660 ft high ) on top of which a complex capital city was built by one king Kashyap and which was said to have been later usurped by Ravana. Still later, it was used by Buddhists to promote their religion. The rock and its surroundings presents a unique concentration of urban planning, architecture, gardening, engineering, hydraulic technology and art.

Read More

Chail – Nature’s true walk

By

The resort was in middle of the Jungle area and surrounded by hills from 2 sides. Luckily our rooms are balcony one’s and it opens to the hills. What else anyone want a good resort with a hill facing balcony. We checked in to resort a little early and thanks to the manager who allowed us to check in before half an hour from scheduled time. We all were very tired after 11 hours long journey.

Read More