Roads

A trip to Kasauli and Baru Sahib on bike

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Got up at 7.30 AM. Checked the engine oil in our bikes and found that engine oil level in Hunk was very low. Asked the locals about any spare parts shop around and got to know that we can find one in Dharampur. Started our bikes again at 9.30 AM and moved on to see the very famous ‘Monkey Point’. Harmeet’s Hunk was loaded with 3 heavy bags as he had plans to stay at Baru Sahib. We reached Monkey point and got to know that we will have to trek and bags were not allowed. There was no place available where could keep our bags so had to drop the plan for ‘Monkey Point’. After that, we reached ‘Sunset point’. It was really an amazing place with a lot of breathtaking views. It was greenery all around and completely quiet place. Just the sound of birds. Just feel the fresh air and feels like you are in heaven. It was a very nice experience. After spending some time, enjoying the beauty of nature, we went to the market to have lunch. Had Chinese food at a shop but the food we had there was pathetic. I never had such food in my life. We left from there and decided to go to Shimla and then Kufri from there. Left from Kasauli at 3 PM. While on our way back, I started feeling sick and suffered from indigestion and gastric problems due to the food that we had. Reached Solan as Harmeet had to buy engine oil for his Hunk. Got the engine oil from Chambaghat near Solan. I was still not feeling well. Took a tablet of Pantop-D and we then decided to go to Baru Sahib due to health issues. Way to Baru Sahib was the worst one. Baru Sahib is located 70 kms away from Solan.

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Blue sky country

Kinnaur-The land of apples (Part 1)

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On day 3, before starting off for Sangla, we were in a dilemma on whether to make the short trip to Hatu peak or not. As we had to reach Sangla before it was dark, we decided to skip Hatu peak, which is about 8 KMs from Narkanda. Thus, we hit the NH22 directly and road conditions being good, we reached the town of Rampur in about 2 hours. We refuelled the Ertiga here and noted a mileage of 15-16 KM/Litre in hilly road conditions.  After, Rampur, the highway, which was once known to the British as the Hindustan-Tibet road, leads you further on to Jeori before entering the district of Kinnaur at Chaura. After entering Kinnaur, the road, cut into sheer rock, rises steeply above the Satluj River. It follows the Satluj and is one of the most vertiginous roads in the whole country offering a spectacular view of rugged mountains.

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A Day trip to Fatehpur Sikri from Delhi

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There are 4 things to see in Fatehpur Sikri fort complex  Buland Darwaza, Fatehpur Sikri Fort, Tomb of Salim Chishti, and the Panch Mahal.All these places are architectural marvels of that time.The paintings on the main fort structure are exceptional.Many movies like Pardes, mere brother ki dulhan etc were shot here.

The Dargah of salim chisti was the best thing after Buland Darwaza which is the highest in the world The magnificent size of the buland darwaza was eye catching ..there are about 100-150 stairs then the gigantic structure called Buland Darwaza. Akbar later built the fort here and Jahangir did the marble art on Salim Chisti Dargah .In salim chisti dargah one can pray and can tie a knot to make a wish.As Akbar also wished for a child here and his wish got fulfilled.Even today people make wishes here.

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Mystical monsoon visit to Nahan, Paonta Sahib and Dakpatthar – Part II

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There was a stretch of over 5 kms with heavy traffic jam for a brief half an hour well into the middle of our journey just before we reached Roorkee. We had no inkling as to what cause the whole furore. But then 1 hour of slow snail-pace driving and we came to the action point. And almost all of a sudden, we realized we were driving into what seemed like a muddy pond. A lot of on-lookers were standing in higher and safer grounds on both sides of the road. And they were hooked on to the passing vehicles enjoying the drivers’ and passengers’ consternation in the hope of experiencing the cruel enjoyment of seeing a water-logged stranded car with helpless passengers inside. At least 50 odd two-wheelers were seen tugging along their vehicles wading through waist-deep mud and slosh with little children in festive clothes sloshing and pushing the two wheelers from the back, yelling and cheering each other.

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गढ़वाल घुमक्कडी: रुद्रप्रयाग – कार्तिक स्वामी – कर्णप्रयाग

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उपर के नज़ारों ने शरीर को तरो ताज़ा कर दिया था, इसलिए उतरते वक्त ज़्यादा समय नही लगा और उतरते ही पैदल यात्रा आरंभ. कुछ एक किलोमीटर ही चले थे कि दोस्तों को थकान लगने लगी, सोचा चलो जो साधन मिल जाए आगे तक उसी मे चल पड़ेंगे. अब चलते चलते हर एक आगे जाने वाली गाड़ी को हाथ दिखाकर रोकने की कोशिश करते रहे, पर सब बेकार. किस्मत से थोड़ी देर बाद एक ट्रक आता हुआ दिखाई दिया, आधे मन से इसे हाथ दिखाया और ये क्या! ट्रक तो थोड़ा आगे जाकर रुक ही गया था.

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Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Ladakh…Riding Back Home…

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All through the route from Debring to Keylong, the weather was pretty cold. Morey Plains, Pang, Sarchu, Lachulung La, Nakee La and the Gata Loops were all familiar now – there weren’t any surprises in the store en route, barring the fact that weather was dramatically icier this time. I kept craving for a hot cup of tea – such was the chill in the weather. With clouds over our heads, and rain looming, we rode almost non-stop and arrived at Bharatpur, which was our stopover for lunch.

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Trip to Gaya from New Delhi within 14 hrs

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Out of my many Road Trip today I will describe about one of the tour that I had under taken on 4th April, 2012 from Delhi to Bodh Gaya in 14 hours and the total distance is 1063 Kms and I would like to emphasis about the condition of the National Highway 2 which connects Delhi to Calcutta and my journey was upto Barhi a small town in Bihar(on NH-2) and also a border of Jharkhand.

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जिम कॉर्बेट पार्क – गर्जिया देवी का मंदिर और कॉर्बेट जल प्रपात

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गर्जिया देवी का मंदिर रामनगर से रानीखेत जाने वाली सड़क पर रामनगर से 15 किलोमीटर दूर है.यह मंदिर कोसी नदी के किनारे एक पहाड़ी के शीर्ष पर बना हुआ है. यह नैनीताल जिले का एक मुख्य मंदिर है जहाँ हर वर्ष कार्तिक पूर्णिमा पर हजारो श्रदालु माता के दर्शनों के लिए आते है. वसंत पंचमी पर भी यहाँ भक्तों की भीड़ जुटती है. यह मंदिर माता पार्वती को समर्पित है.

मंदिर की दूरी सिर्फ 15 किमी ही थी परन्तु पहाड़ी रास्तों पर इन 15 किमी की दूरी तय करने में अच्छा खासा समय लग जाता है. हमे भी पहुँचते पहुँचते अँधेरा हो गया था. मंदिर के रास्ते में पड़ने वाली दुकाने भी बंद होने लगी थी. हमने एक दुकानदार से पूछा कि क्या मंदिर खुला होगा उसने सकारात्मक उत्तर दिया. मंदिर तक पहुँचने के लिए कोसी नदी पर बने एक पुल पर से गुजरना होता है. शाम हो चुकी थी इसलिए मंदिर का रास्ता भी सुनसान सा ही था. मंदिर एक पहाड़ के शिखर पर स्थित है. जहाँ सीढ़ियों पर चढ़कर जाना होता है. मंदिर काफी उंचाई पर है. मंदिर पहुँच कर प्रसाद चढ़ाया और माता का आशीर्वाद लिया. मंदिर से वापस होटल पहुंचे. जहाँ रात्रि भोजन कर कल की सफारी की कल्पनायों में खो गए.

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हरिद्वार से केदारनाथ

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रुद्रप्रयाग से  9  किलोमीटर आगे  तिलवारा है यहाँ हम लोगो ने चाय पी.  10  मिनट का रेस्ट किया और फिर आगे  के लिए चल दिए. तिलवारा से  19  किलोमीटर आगे  अगस्तमुनि  है .  यहाँ अगस्तमुनि का आश्रम है.यहाँ पहुँचते हुए शाम ढलने लगी थी. हमारे बाईं ओर  मंदाकिनी सड़क के साथ साथ पत्थरो  के बीच अठखेलियाँ  करती हुई बह रही थी. बहुत ही खूबसूरत और मनमोहक द्रशय था. सामने के पहाड़ो की चोटियो  पर सूर्यास्त की किरणे  पड़ने से सुनहरे रंग से चमक रही थी.मन तो कुछ समय यहाँ पर रुक कर प्राक्रतिक  सौंदर्य को  देखने को हो रहा था पर ड्राइवर को अपनी मंज़िल पहुँचने की थी. अगस्तमुनि  से  19  किलोमीटर आगे  कुंड है यहाँ पहुँचते हुए अँधेरा छा  गया था. अब ड्राइवर अँधेरे मे बस चला रहा था. गुप्त काशी  को पार  कर लगभग 8 बजे सोन प्रयाग  से 7 किलोमीटर पहले हम सीतापुर पहुँच गये. यहाँ ड्राइवर ने रात मे रुकने के लिए एक होटेल के सामने बस रोक दी और बोला रात यहीं रुकेंगे ,  आप लोग सामने होटेल मे जाकर अपने लिए कमरा    देख कर तय कर लो. यह होटेल बहुत ही साधारण था कमरो मे एक अजीब सी गंध आ रही थी. मन मे विचार आया ड्राइवर को यहाँ  से कमीशन  मिलता होगा तभी यहाँ रोका है. मैने अपने लड़के से नज़दीक के दूसरे होटेल देखकर आने को कहा और स्वयं दूसरी तरफ जाकर होटेल देखने लगा. मुझे इस होटेल से 100 गज पहले एक नया बना हुआ साफ सुथरा होटेल मिल गया. इस  समय सीजन ना होने के कारण बिल्कुल खाली था. इस  समय तक इतने बड़े होटेल मे हमारा ही परिवार था. हमे 400 रुपये के हिसाब से 2 डबल बेड का एक रूम मिल गया. मैने बस के दूसरे यात्रियों से भी बोला इस बेकार से होटेल मे ना ठहर कर मेरे वाले होटेल मे ठहरे.पर वह सारे उसी होटेल मे ही ठहरे. रात  मे जब हम खाना खाने बाहर निकले  ,  मेरे से  कुछ घोड़े वाले घोड़ा तय करने के लिए कहने लगे. पहले तो मैने यह सोंचा था कि  गौरी कुंड से एक-दो किलोमीटर पैदल चलने के बाद अगर नहीं चला जाएगा तो घोड़े कर लेंगे पर अब जब यह लोग जिस तरह की बाते कर रहे थे उससे लगा कि तय  ही कर लेना चाहिए. आने जाने के लिए 800 रुपये प्रति घोड़ा तय हुआ.

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Our Leh Trip in August 2012

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We all are ready and fit to explore “The Leh” our first destination to Nubra valley. We get up by 7.00 am and start to Nubra Valley by 8.30 am. We drive just 4-5 km. From leh and one of our friend feeling hungry and said please stop the car in front of any hotel to take some food. Any way after 30 minute drive we found one small road side cafe, and their she take some bread and butter etc. Then we start to Nubra, On the way of nubra valley we cross the worlds highest motorable road “Khardungla pass” we stop at khardungla cafe which is “world’s highest cafe” run by indian army. We all take black tea hear. Khardungla is situated 18350 feet from the sea lavel and oxygen is very low their, we all feel the same little bit altitude problem. We stay their 30 minutes, Aditi one of our friend is busy in photography, and roaming around rest of us are just sit beside the car, we met some bikers their, now-a-days many Indians are coming by bike too.

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Wanderings in South Goa.

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You are really spoilt for choice when it comes to restaurants in Goa. Besides the beach shacks, where you can sit on the sands and gaze out at the sea, sipping on a drink, while waiting an hour or two for your meal to arrive, there are many restaurants inland which also serve excellent food at very reasonable rates. There is a fusion of East and West, Portugese and Indian, meat and vegetables, which makes Goan cuisine unique. Coconut is used liberally, along with other Indian spices in the cooking. ‘Fish curry rice’ is the most common food and available virtually in every restaurant. The different types of seafood on offer in Goa includes pomfret, kingfish, ladyfish, mackerel, tuna, shark, crab, prawn, lobster, squid and mussels. Chicken, pork, mutton and beef dishes are also on offer at all the restaurants, cooked in the popular Goan flavours such as vindaloo, balchao, recheado, xhacuti and caldin.
We had already planned that we would include at least one meal out at a shack or restaurant in our daily sight-seeing itinerary. One precaution we always took was to carry our own drinking water if we did not want to order a drink, or pay for a bottle of branded mineral water.

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