Traveling is good
The beauty of Sonamarg forces the tourists to stop there. It seems that someone has laid green carpets on mountains. Once a great tourist puller and favorite place for shooting of Bollywood films, Sonamarg is perhaps the best health resort in the country. Sonamarg also hosts the International Championships of Rafting on River Sindh.
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Kanchula was a forest dept. Musk Deer breeding centre which is now non-operational. This is a very remote place with no habitation around but there exists a very nice bamboo cottage with two bedrooms and a common dining-drawing area for eco-tourists. [The cost per double-bedroom is Rs 650/-, making the cottage worth Rs 1300/-] This can be booked through the DFO, Kedarnath range, Gopeshwar. Definitely worth it!
On reaching we realize that there is no provision for meals and one has to drive to Chopta about 8 kms further away for food. We drive there and have lunch at a dhaba which is quite good. Situated on the Gopeshwar-Ukhimath road, Chopta is a beautiful little hamlet situated at the highest point on this road (2900 m). This route to Chopta offers a magnificent view of the surrounding mountains and deep wooded valleys. This area gets copious rainfall annually and also sustains very high humidity levels giving a distinct character to its vegetation. The trees are moss laden and support good varieties of moist temperate plant life.
Our plan was to take a government ferry to Havelock and halt there for two days. For our return journey we planned to take the Makruzz back to Port Blair. We had to wake up at 5 in the morning to catch the ferry which leaves at  6:30 am. The harbour at Port Blair is lively even at these early hours as it caters to to the goods coming in from the mainland, as well as from nearby countries like Thailand. The ferry which we were to travel on, was operated by the Shipping Corporation of India. Our reserved seats in the first class compartment akin to the Indian Railways chair car coaches made our travel comfortable. During the journey to Havelock, you are free to go on deck. Travelers can hear the soothing sound of the waves hitting the craft and enjoy the vast expanse of the ocean. The blue sea, and the green emeralds dotting them, complement each other, and add to the experience. After standing on deck for 15 minutes, we decided to get a quick nap. When we woke up, the ferry was docking at the Havelock Jetty. After getting off the ship, we were picked up by a taxi our friends had arranged.  We were dropped at our hotel, a government enterprise called the “Dolphin Hotel”. There are various grades of rooms available and it is important to reserve the rooms early.You may reserve the rooms through online payment on the website. Make sure to get a sea facing cottage. The drawback about Dolphin Hotel was  that though it was set in a nice sea-facing location, it did not have a beach.There are a multitude of options to stay at in at Havelock, which suit all budgets.
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The first glimpse of Badrinath is mesmerising!! It is nestled between the Nar and Narayan ranges. The towering Neelkanth lies just behind the Narayan Parvat on which the Badrinath shrine has been built. In the pristine morning sunlight and the crystal clear visibility of this place, this brilliant megalith has a strange magnetism. I think everyone who visits this place must be a little bit under its spell. [Pic: Neelkanth] The little settlement haphazardly built around the temple is but a random patchwork of colours in a vast magnificent landscape meant to command… dominate… enthral… hypnotise… inspire… all at once!
The lofty snow capped peaks in the backdrop of the gurgling Alaknanda far below … this is the place which has so much spirituality that you can almost reach out and touch it. Nothing is godlier than nature itself!
It really puts things into perspective. One senses how small, insignificant and petty are human egos, wants and conflicts in a scale this extravagant. It is at once uplifting and calming… a place I felt at peace with myself and the world at large. The Himalayas in their splendorous beauty! I’ll let the pictures do the talking…
The next two days are packed with bird watching. The commonest of the birds around command our attention for they are new to us plains dwellers. The ubiquitous Himalayan Bulbul, Blue Whistling Thrush and the Russet Sparrows are everywhere. In fact, we do not see any house sparrows there at all! The Streaked Laughing thrush is trying to catch our attention by peaking at us from just beyond the tree trunk. The Black headed Jay is wandering around as common as the Rock Pigeon in the plains!
Meanwhile, two green birds fly up to a nearby tree. There is a distinct yellow on them and the flight indicates woodpeckers. We hurry and try to get in position for at least a record shot to identify the specie. The Lesser Yellownape it is! Hard on the heels of this pair is another pair, this one of the Brown fronted Woodpecker… birds are raining down on us hard and fast! The Himalayan Woodpeckers are also plentiful. The Grey headed Woodpecker makes an appearance… I am very happy. The bird count for the trip is increasing rapidly.
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Some more local families overtook us and surged forward at a fast pace, almost a routine walk for them. I wanted to keep my own steady pace using the umbrella as walking stick. At the age of 68, one needs to listen to one’s body and not rush to compete with others. We pushed every step, slow and steady and continued climbing. My thigh and calf muscles started aching demanding rest. As we kept climbing my breathing became harder and started roaring into my ears. We trudged on. The mountain breeze, when it came, helped me like a breath of fresh air. A crow hovered upwind in search of a prey perhaps. The climb became grimmer as we continued to angle towards the top. My shirt, which had been soaked with sweat, now felt stiff and uncomfortable. I wiped the perspiration from my forehead that was trickling into my eyes. I glanced at the rock face towards my right and saw the holy Gompa across that looked like toy houses stuck together on the rock face with glue. It became bigger as we climbed further up and reduced the distance with the rock face. We pushed slowly with no sense of hurry. The aroma of the jungle was printed on every whiff of breeze that I savored. The mist rose from the valley below and started blotting out the tumbled slopes of the rocky cliff below the Gompa.
After about an hour and a half we reached a midpoint, rested and sipped water. It would be unwise to rest for too long as once the body gets cold it will be difficult to climb up, better keep the body warm and maintain the rhythm of the climb.
We met our guide who took us to our destination, Galling Resort, about 3 kms away from town along a graveled road. Located on the banks of Paro chu; the property was tastefully constructed and painted in unique mud color ethnic Bhutanese style. The view from the balcony was breathtaking with Paro Chu rumbling right in front across the road, part of Paro beyond and finally the valley rising to meet the misty mountains that made the distant horizon. Anyone with an eye for the nature or a plain nature lover is bound to be enchanted by the natural beauty, landscape that would make not spending couple of days almost impossible. We did just that. The resort was warm, comfortable with a cozy lounge, wood paneled bedroom and comfortable attached bath. Our rooms had the same view as balcony and decided to keep the curtains drawn and windows opened so as to be part of the beautiful view.
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“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” Even if we don’t know much about Garrison Keillor, we all know books…
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It was getting dark so without wasting time, just after a cup of tea, we set off to experiment the capital street with a look-see walk. The street was clean and lined by weeping willow trees that looked very nice. The buildings were Bhutanese style architecture that had four to five storey. We walked through light drizzle along the stone paved sidewalk. Surprisingly a melodious and rhythmic Western music filled the air; the source of the melody was a small open air stand that was extension of the main street. It looked quite unusual to see Bhutanese boys in traditional dress playing and crooning Western Tuned Bhutanese songs. A group of about 100 young men and women, gathered around the band stand were gyrating with the melody and rhythm of the music. All were wearing Bhutanese traditional dress, no jeans, pants and skirts. The dress code is strict; men wear “Gho†a kimono like knee length gown type of dress, tied by a long kamarbandh with long shocks and shoes. Women’s dress is called, “Kiraâ€, an elegant wrapped around skirt like with a check or brocade jacket for the top. Both Tibetan and Bhutanese dress is alike except for few variations. There is also the marked difference in the material used in Bhutan. Whereas Tibetan men and women fancy any type of clothing materials for their “Bakkhuâ€, Bhutanese use only the traditional and colorful Bhutan made check cloth material for their “Gho†and “Kiraâ€.
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In the visitors guide we can find special mention of “ICONIC must see treasures of the ROM†of each level. Thus one can not miss the special display. We took almost 01 hour to complete level 1 itself. As usual we got tired and hungry so we went to Café at ROM.We were sure that we will not get anything vegetarian to eat and may be we have to returned with just eating French fries.
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These are some of the places of Kolkata, which you may like to visit if you travel to the city. There are good and there will be bad things in any city. There are plenty of examples or perception to believe the city is not worth a visit or a second look. Whatever I find attractive, may not be as attractive to you. Everyone has their own rights to judge things differently. However, there are so many places around in any city, not in Kolkata alone, to come and explore.
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Dominique Lapierre calls it ‘The City of Joy’. For us it is ‘The City of Dreams’ or ‘The City of Hopes’. Calcutta or Kolkata…
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