Hills

Paradise Regained: Day 1 & 2

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Some of us decided to pursue air route while some others took a more adventurous route of going by train and road to reach Srinagar. While waiting to board the flight at Delhi for Srinagar we heard “choice” words being used against Air India. Looked like some others had tasted the same medicine I had! I found out that they were also taking the tour through Sachin and were part of our larger group. I joined the group to vent out my feelings against AI. Ahh… felt good … Now I was ready for the “Paradise on Earth”.

As the plane made its descent in Srinagar, green carpeted land embraced by the beautiful Himalayas greeted us. As the plane made its final descent little cottages and the dotted cattle idly grazing on nature’s carpet came to focus. The snow on the hills was literally the icing! If my camera had “emotion feature” built-in it could have probably done justice to the scenery. I was yanked back to reality by the “ooohs” and the “ahhs”, excited voices of the children and the swaying of the necks of the passengers from one side of the plane to the other.

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दो धाम की यात्रा – यमुनोत्री और गंगोत्री

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तीसरे दिन हम लोग सुबह 6 बजे सोकर उठ गए अब हमारा अगला लक्ष्य यमुनोत्री पहुँचने का था . बरकोट से जानकी चट्टी की दूरी 41 किलोमीटर है. हमारा कार्य क्रम कुछ इस प्रकार का था की हम लोगों यमुनोत्री दर्शन कर शाम तक पुन बरकोट लौट आये. ताकि अगले दिन हम यहाँ से सीधे गंगोत्री के लिए प्रस्थान कर सके. इन बातो को ध्यान में रखते हुए हमने सुबह सात बजे ही बरकोट से रवानगी कर डाली. बरकोट से निकलते ही रास्ता बहुत ही ख़राब है क्योंकि यहाँ भी सड़क के चौडीकरण का काम चल रहा है. बरकोट से 15 किमी दूर गंगोनी नामक स्थान पर हमने सुबह का नाश्ता कर अपनी यात्रा जारी रखी. बरकोट से जानकी चट्टी का रास्ता बहुत अच्छा नहीं. एक तो रास्ता ख़राब दुसरे चढाई इसलिए समय भी ज्यादा लग रहा था. चारधाम यात्रा के चलते ट्रेफिक भी ज्यादा था. सयाना चट्टी पहुँचने से पहले हमें जाम में भी फँसना पड़ा. लगभग 1 घंटा जाम में हम लोग खड़े रहे. उत्तराखंड पुलिस यहाँ पर भी जाम क्लीअर करने में मुस्तैदी से लगी हुई थी. सयाना चट्टी पार करने के बाद राणा चट्टी नामक जगह आती यहाँ पर भी जाम लगा हुआ था. यहाँ से जैसे तैसे आगे बढे की हनुमान चट्टी में फिर जाम से रूबरू होना पड़ा.   सारे जामों से जूझते हुए लगभग दो बजे के आस पास हम जानकी चट्टी पहुँच गए. जानकी चट्टी यमुनोत्री मंदिर जाने के लिए बसे कैंप है. यहाँ तक बसें, कारें आती है. बरकोट से यमुनोत्री के रास्ते में निम्नलिखित स्थान पड़ते है.

गंगनाणी (15 किमी), कुथूर (3 किमी), पाल गाड (9 किमी), सयानी चट्टी (5 किमी), राणाचट्टी (3 किमी), हुनमानचट्ट (3 किमी), बनास (2 किमी), फूलचट्टी (3 किमी पैदल चढ़ाई), जानकी चट्टी (5 किमी पैदल चढ़ाई), यमुनोत्री

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Nainital

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Twilight is dancing on the lake water. All the myriad reflections of life are alive. The sun is receding behind the mountains.  There are no more clouds in the sky. I wish for a starry night. Soon the last boatmen will oar his way back; his mind will be occupied by his earnings of the day. How much is sufficient, how much is luxury? In the end, we’ll all be Capitol Cinema – alone, old, dead.

My favorite bench near the band house is unoccupied. I scurry my way to it. The gurudwara, the oaks and the local salesmen stand tall. They have lived lives here, they are living lives here…

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Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Badrinath…

Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Badrinath…

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Some details on Joshimath. It is a popular hill station and a famous center for pilgrimage at a height of 1,890 meters above sea level in Chamoli district of Garhwal division in Uttarakhand. It is the base for trekking to the famous Valley of Flowers. It is connected with a 4km cable car up to Auli, a hill-station famous for ice skiing sports, making it the longest and highest trolley of Asia. Joshimath is the also the home of the oldest tree of India, Kalpavriksha, which stands here from the time of Adi Guru Shri Shankaracharya, who established this town as one of the four maths or monasteries, in the 8th century.

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A much awaited trip for three girlfriends.

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We took a cab from Pathankot to McLeodganj. The cab journey took only 2 hours. The scenery was beautiful and the cab driver told us about the landslide that recently happened in Himachal. As we entered McLeodganj, a typical Himachal traffic jam welcomed us.

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Ranikhet – the unexplored paradise

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The hotel that we stayed in was called as Rosemount,a  lovely old heritage property with old world charm,  the splendour reminds you of an era gone by. It is known to be as old as year 1900, elaborate window frames and the large rooms have preserved the pristine glory in its true form even today. The manager told that one could see beautiful Nanda Devi and entire range from rooms and the garden.  Well it  was late evening , we could see nothing and rather slept early.  Ahem Ahem !! Next day in the morning, I opened the windows to majestic Nanda Devi and other snow covered peaks towering over! It was a view to remember.

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Mukteshwar Revisited

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Once we settled down, freshened up, we met the other guests, quite a few from Gurgaon, went around the property and watched the view points. Later, in the evening I went down for a walk and to see the area towards Krishna, and Sun set spots. Guess what? I came across a loosely locked gate, just after Krishna, with a notice “Private-No Entry”. Curious, an Indian after all, I sneaked in. There were no security, no dogs, no one out there. I walked up the private road with my camera.

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The Berry lores of Kumaon

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Soon after leaving Patal Bhuvaneshwar, we were on a scenic road lined up with shrubs laden with a rich harvest of juicy berries, the golden Hisalu (Rubus Ellipticus), the purple Kilmoda and the red Kafals (Myrica Esculenta). Even the desire to reach Jageshwar well in time could not stop us from taking a break here and there and accepting nature’s bounty of delicious offerings.

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Himalyan Voyage in Kaleidoscopic Kumaon

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One of my fond childhood memories is a visit to a small town with breathtaking view of Himalayan range. The picture of Snow clad Himalayan peaks rising to caress the sky, clouds hovering over the valley below, changing colours of the sky is still fresh in my mind. I was quite excited to visit Kausani after around 25 years. Has the place been able to preserve the beauty I witnessed then, has it changed its colours with changing world… there were many such questions lingering in my mind.
We were a group of five driving an Alto. Cutting through the dense fog enjoying the fullness of nature we drove through Hapur, Joya, Rampur, Haldawani, Kathgodam and Bheemtal.

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Rain…Rain…Rain…

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We found out that the rafting at Rishikesh was closed at this time due to heavy rains in Uttarakhand. “Heavy Rains” that triggered an idea. Why not enjoy the rain itself and live our childhood again. Why not a bike trip to Rishikesh?

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हरिद्वार एक दिन एक रात

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दिल्ली से हरिद्वार एक दिन और एक रात , एक एक्सप्रेस प्रोग्राम था घूमने का। जिसमे हर की पौड़ी ,मनसा देवी और चंडी देवी के दर्शन सम्भव हो पाये ।

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