Nature

ब्रज यात्रा – बरसाना गोवर्धन मथुरा वृन्दावन

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निधिवन, यमुना घाट और अन्य मंदिरों के दर्शन के बाद हमने अपने होटल से प्रस्थान किया और चल दिए वापस फरीदाबाद की ओर ! इस बार वृन्दावन आने का आनंद ही कुछ ओर रहा ! हम दिल्ली के आस पास के लोग एक ही दिन में वृन्दावन आना जाना कर लेते हैं, पर मैं समझता हूँ की एक दो रात यहाँ रुके तो बात कुछ ओर ही हो !

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Excursion to Bhedaghat

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It was April and temperature had risen to 42 degrees in Bandhavgarh. Traveling to Madhya Pradesh at this time meant burning ourselves in scorching sun. But this was the best time to spot “The Tiger” in the wild. The tiger lover in us overpowered our delicate personalities and we decided to visit Bandhavgarh Wild Life sanctuary to see the Royal cat in his natural habitat.

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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 3

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Since the weather wasn’t too favorable for cycling, we decided to opt for the guided tour. A 6 hour round trip with a visit to the cheese and clog factory plus walk tour in the fishing village of Amsterdam – cant get any better, can it?

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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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Delhi to Nainital by Car

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Till Moradabad I drove on NH 24 and from toll plaza of Moradabad I have taken left turn towards city and then right turn and taken the interior state highway towards Kashipur, Tanda, and Nandpur on NH 121. The highway roads are in good condition (except few kilometers in NH 121). Car speed was so good that quickly we covered 200 kms distance from Delhi in 3 hrs.

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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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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 1

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Soon after we reached Schiphol, we enquired about where we could take the bus to Kuekenhof. We had bought our Kuekenhof tickets online and this being a combo ticket for the transport (to & fro) and the garden entry, we dint have much to bother about!

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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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Ranthambore – My Machaan???

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We broomed the place under the tomb with a make shift Jhadoo and sat down; it gave us fantastic view of partly dried lake with deer grazing in the marsh. Amazingly there was no Machaan, to tell you the truth we forgot that it was a must at all the locations. Hours passed and we documented the deer and small carnivorous animals. At sunset, the wind direction changed and I could smell very strong tiger urine as and when the wind blew. It began to worry me a bit due to my experience in jungles watching and spotting tigers; I knew we were in the tiger territory for sure.

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