03 Mar

Visting Mirik, West Bengal

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almost fully broken road with a 20/25 degree continuous elevation, occasionally screeching of clutch and tyre enabled me to stop and offload heads. It succeeded for a while but finally around 6/7 kms before Rishi Road junction the vehicle was impossible to move up. The burning rubber smell and the sound of throwing pebble underneath by wheel”s thrust made me stop completely

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To Chakrata, with my family and two dogs

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We , walked uphill and reached a lonely, newly built cottage which was uninhabited at that moment. We sat on the porch of the cottage and watched the color of the sky slowly changing as the sun started descending. The valley down below looked so beautiful. Smoke was coming out of the chimneys of some mud huts. The villagers have lit up the chulhas

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Heavenly Dooars, Assam

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Samsing is a small hill village and tourist spot in the Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district. It is known for its beautiful landscape with green tea gardens, hills and forests, which attract a lot of tourists. It lies 18 km from the Neora Valley National Park.

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Goa calling… Again

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Finally the Gods rescued us and we found a (good) restaurant right on the beach, a perfect ambience and the sea-breeze in our hairs. We ordered quite a number of dishes- mainly chicken as I am unable to ingest the typical seafood like Mr. H or his friends or my friends.

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Landing in Lansdowne

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Bulla Lake or Bhulla Tal is a well maintained serene lake just 1Km from Lansdowne. It is a perfect picnic spot and very popular amongst children as it also offers boating. Boating facilities at Bhulla lake are good with few ducks swimming around as well in the lake water. One can also find a small souvenir shop, an eating joint, herbal plant nursery

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सिक्किम, गंगटोक part-1

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सिक्किम में प्रवेश करते ही हमारे दोनों तरफ ही पांच – छह मंजिलो के मकानों की कतारे नजर आने लगी। ऐसा लग ही नहीं रहा था कि हम हिल स्टेशन पर हैं। सुन्दर साफ – सुथरा क़स्बा था। पहाड़ो के घुमावदार रास्तो से होते हुए लगभग 4.30 बजे हम गंगटोक पहुँच गए।
अब हमें शहर के अन्दर होटल डेन्जोंग जाना था पर पता लगा कि यह बड़ी टैक्सी शहर के अन्दर नहीं जा सकती। वहां पर जाने के लिए छोटी टैक्सी से ही जाना होगा और उसमे भी 4 लोगो से ज्यादा नहीं बैठ सकते। हाँ सुबह आठ बजे से पहले अवश्य यह टैक्सी वहां जा सकती हैं। शहर की परिवहन व्यवस्था इन छोटी टैक्सी पर ही टिकी हुई है। लोग या तो अपने वाहन से चलते है अन्यथा इन टैक्सी पर ही निर्भर रहते हैं। यहाँ पर ऑटो , टेम्पो , ग्रामीण सेवा आदि नहीं चलते हैं। सिर्फ छोटी कार वाली टैक्सी। इन छोटी टैक्सी का किराया भी ज्यादा नहीं है। पंद्रह रूपये सवारी के हिसाब से लोग सफर करते हैं।

हमें लाल बाजार, डेन्जोंग सिनेमा के साथ लगे हुए डेन्जोंग होटल जाना था , टूरिस्ट समझ कर हम लोगो से वहां पर टैक्सी वाले 150/- रूपये प्रति टैक्सी मांगने लगे। मैंने होटल फोन कर जानकारी ले लेना उचित समझा कि यह लोग ज्यादा पैसे तो नहीं मांग रहे हैं। होटल वाले ने बताया कि 90 – 100 रूपये से ज्यादा नहीं लगता है। आप लोग टैक्सी स्टैंड से बाहर आकर टैक्सी कर लो। टैक्सी स्टैंड से बाहर सड़क पर आये तो एक ने 100/- रूपये मांगे तो हमें लगा सही भाडा मांग रहा है उससे 4 लोग होटल रवाना हो गए दुसरे ने 80/- मांगे उसके बाद दो टैक्सी वाले 60/- रूपये में ही चल दिए। मतलब यह कि अगर आप मोल -भाव करना नहीं जानते या स्थानीय लोगो से नहीं पूछेंगे तो आपकी जेब ज्यादा हल्की हो जाएगी।

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Spontaneously lazying at San Antonio, Texas

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stayed at El Tropicana hotel, along the Riverwalk at Lexington Avenuejust across the famous Tobin Centre for Performing Arts, by the Riverwalk. The lobby of the hotel is renovated but the rooms are quite old. The locality of our hotel was not so clamorous and the tranquil

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Amid nature in Camp Corbett, Kaladhungi – Uttrakhand

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very much a bird-watcher’s paradise . Purple sunbirds, orange bee-eaters, humming birds, pintails, wagtails, minivets, flycatchers, jays, bronze green doves, golden orioles, baya weaver birds, hoopoes, woodpeckers, kingfishers, whistling thrushes, drongos, cuckoos and the green coppersmith barbet calling “k-tong ! k-tong ! “ were all out there . A family of transiting langurs were busy shaking trees

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Exploring East Coast – A road trip to Southern states

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I tried to negotiate, suddenly an ambulance came from back, at the same time there was a government vehicle came and took a left turn to our right side road of the T Junction. While I was thinking that I should tail the ambulance, all the villagers ran toward the ambulance to agitate, the government vehicle took left, and in the middle of the chaos, I heard my wife, “Pronil Bhaag yahan se”, and I watched that right is clean and without wasting seconds I took right to tail the government vehicle.

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Weekend getaway to Pangot

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But suddenly the guide told the driver to stop and he started throwing search light in the jungle. I thought that it would be a mountain goat again so I didn’t take any much interest but the guide shouted ‘Tendua” i.e Leopard. I jumped up from my seat

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