Roads

Single Day Trip Near Bangalore: Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve and Madhugiri Fort

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Well, hope is a wonderful thing and is a must grab tool too, be it come from any source, come on any moment, come from anywhere. There He walked down where we sat down with a fickle mind whether to proceed or not. He looked like an ordinary man, carrying a backpack with a 1 litre bottle, head shining like a aura in sun, spects crowning like a jewel on Him, and a determination to climb any fort in vision. And as expected He rides on a THUNDERBIRD. We asked Him how far is it going up from here, and He replied in simple words, “2 hours of continuous walk up and 1 hour of a smiling walk down”. We just kept listening to His stories, He kept on sharing his experiences, and within few minutes of interaction He was a hero. Trekking alone just to make sure He climbs every fort He knows exist. He motivated us to the brim of our taking and we were all set to see what’s there on the top. We were short on water and with every level up we tasted water pretty slowly. There we saw the mighty walls of the fort, standing tall through times and weather, without APEX ULTIMA :p.

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Tour of Uttarakhand – Chopta Tunganath

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A little ahead we see the first shop on the track which is basically a place to have some tea, Buran juice (rhododendron juice) which is said to be good for the heart and some bottled water, biscuits and the like. Serves as a little place to catch your breath and soak up the picture perfect surroundings. Henceforth, these small shops pop up at regular intervals. We maintain a steady though slow pace and take very short breathers as we climb so as not to break the rhythm of the climb. Roughly half-way up, we take a longish break of 10 mins where we are treated to another lifer! We see a pair of Collared Grosbeak.

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Kuchh din guzaarey humne Gujarat mein – How we reached (Part 1)

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I was still on the highway between Jaipur and Ajmer, 3 Hrs behind my schedule courtesy potholed roads near Mahendragarh and rush in the towns of Haryana where no byepass facility was available. Now I was laughing at Google as well as crying inside. Ajeeb feeling aur oopar se yeh Garmi that about Rs. 600 was spent on chilled bottled water that day…

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Summer Road Trip – Birding in Lansdowne

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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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Trip to Bhutan – Thimpu, Paro and Phuntsoling

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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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Summer Road Trip – National Chambal Sanctuary, Morena

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We take a turn around the gardens which are alive with bird calls. The abundant peafowl with their splendid trailing tails compete with the woodpecker, kingfisher, parakeets and the babblers for our attention. Everything else takes a back seat as the children are uncomfortable in the heat of the day. When the situation does not improve till late evening and after nightfall (the ACs are not working in spite of the gensets!), we have dinner at the FRH (which is very good) and fall back to Morena for the night.

Picking up our guide at Devri, we are at the boat pool on the river by 0530hrs. The much anticipated safari is underway with all of us on the edge of our seats, craning for the first glimpse of wildlife. At that point, the sun has just risen and is casting a golden glow on the ragged ravines on the banks and the tranquil waters of the Chambal. Suddenly, the calm breaks and a gentle giant breaks the surface with an elegant roll… the Gangetic Dolphin! It is a blind creature which does all its hunting and navigation by sonar located in the bump on its head. Cameras are ready but shots are very elusive since the dolphins are very erratic sightings.

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Burha luit tumi Burha luit buwa kiyo?

Summer Vacation: A beautiful river and a few Necklaces – IV

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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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Rain Fury in Chakrata, Uttarakhand in June 2013 (Part I)

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We made ourselves comfortable in the tents, opened our bags to change the clothes but got the shock of our life as all the clothes inside the bag were equally wet like the clothes we were wearing. I decided to continue with my present set of clothes which got dried with my body heat in next two hours. The camp guys brought a battery driven LED light which ware barely emitting any light, some pakoras and masala tea by 7:30 pm in the evening. Our gang enjoyed these snacks and felt a little relieved and energetic, since we have not ate anything after breakfast. The Sun was setting behind the hills quickly and with the absence of electricity and inability to light the fire outside due to rain, darkness was building up inside the camp and outside. The sound of rain smashing against the camp started to scare us. Rajesh the dabangg, got dumb struck, the thing that was enthusing voice in him were the never ending songs of Gurdeep ‘Dil ro raha hai…’ to which Rajesh was getting irritated and saying ‘yaar chup ho ja, tere aise gaano ki wajah se hi itni barish ho rahi hai‘. Rest of us were enjoying this cat fight between the two and were trying to be back in holiday mood. Sanjay and me were quite sure that rain will subside by morning and we will be able to visit Tiger Fall. All were keen to visit Tiger Fall, but there was no voice coming out from dabangg bhai’s mouth. By 9 pm dinner was served, and post-that we slipped inside the quilts after closing the zipper inside tent. Very soon the camp got quite warm inside assuring us that atleast we will manage to have a decent sleep. We keep chit chatting inside our camp and occasionally across the camp of Gurdeep and Arun. The rain kept turning mightier with the darkness of night, and at a point we were not able to hear each other’s voice because of deafening collision sound between rain drops and tent. With prays for God, we slept in a hope of better tomorrow.

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मसूरी की यात्रा मे पानी का विकराल रूप

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हरिद्वार से रूड़की के रास्ते मे पता नहीं कितनी बार हमारा रूट बदला गया, रास्तो का तो पता ही नहीं चल रहा था। लोगो के आगे पीछे चलते हुए और लोगो से पूछते हुए ही हम आगे बढ़ रहे थे। किसी तरह रूड़की पहुचे तो फिर से हमें नए रास्ते पर डाल दिया गया, उस रास्ते पर आगे गए तो फिर से गयी भैस पानी मे। आगे फिर सड़क पर पानी ही पानी दिख रहा था और बहुत सारी गाड़िया किनारे पर खड़ी हुई थी, हमने भी गाड़ी रुकवाई और पैदल ही वहा पहुचे, आगे का नजारा भी डराने वाला था। सड़क का एक हिस्सा टूट चूका था जो की बस की वजह से टूटा था और पूरी सड़क पर पानी था, वाहन ले जाते हुए लोग इसलिए डर रहे थे कि उसके वजन से सड़क धस न जाए। हमारी भी हालत ख़राब क्योकि पीछे भी रास्ता बंद और यहाँ भी कभी भी हो सकता था। उसके बाद १-२ गाड़ी वालो ने आगे निकलने का मन बना ही लिया क्योकि वहा रुकने से कोई फायदा नहीं था, अगर एक बार सड़क टूट जाती तो फिर हम कही भी नहीं जा सकते थे, उन लोगो ने पहले गाड़ी से उतरकर पैदल ही रास्ता पार किया ताकि गाड़ी का वजन कम रहे उसके बाद ड्राईवर ने अकेले गाड़ी धीरे धीरे बाहर निकाल ली, उन्हें देखकर हमने भी ऐसा ही किया और फिर से यात्रा शुरू कर दी। उसके बाद हमें इतनी दिक्कत नहीं हुई और लगभग ५ बजे हम पुरकाजी पार कर चुके थे। फिर हम कुछ खाने के लिए एक ढाबे पर रुके, वहा पर भी काफी लोग थे जो पीछे से आये थे और कुछ को हरिद्वार ही जाना था लेकिन रास्ता बंद होने की वजह से वो वही फस गए थे। एक व्यक्ति से हम मिले जिसकी पत्नी और बच्चे हरिद्वार से आ रहे थे लेकिन रास्ते मे कही फसे हुए थे और वो भी आगे नहीं जा पा रहा था, वो काफी चिंतित था। उस वक़्त हमें लगा कि अगर हम मसूरी से सुबह न निकलते या कही और रूककर और थोडा समय ख़राब कर देते तो शायद हम भी पीछे ही कही फंसे होते।

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