Roads

सिल्वन लेक और कैनेडा डे

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जुलाई 1 को कैनेडा डे मनाया जाता है और यह सार्वजनिक अवकाश होता है. मैं इस दिन सिल्वन लेक जाने का प्रोग्राम बना लेता हूँ. विशाल भी मेरे साथ था. सिल्वन लेक फोर्ट सस्केच्वन से 200 किमी है. सुबह जल्दी चल कर नाश्ते के लिए टिम होरटन पहुँच जाते हैं. टिम होरटन कैनेडा में बहुत मश्हुर है. यह कैनेडीअन का है, इस लिए अमेरिकन रेस्तराँ से ज्यादा लोकप्रिय है. फोटो में SUV ( गाड़ी ) ड्राइव थरु पर जा रही है. आप जो दो बॉक्स देख् रहें हैं, उसमें माइक और स्पीकर लगा हुआ है. चालक अपना ऑर्डर माइक पर बता देगा, जैसे ही वह खिड़की पर पहुँचेगा, उसका ऑर्डर त्यार होगा. पैसे चुका कर वह गाड़ी ड्राइव करते हुए अपना ब्रेकफास्ट एन्जॉय करेगा. पर मैं आप को काउंटर पर ले कर चलता हूँ.

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Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Ladakh…at Khardung La

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Once I arrived at the Pass, it took me a while to get myself and True photographed next to the signboard which says “Khardung La, 18380ft, Highest Motorable Road in the world” – there were so many tourists around – I could see people from all part of the country and the world!
You see the above colourful signage? It belongs to the café at the Pass, claiming itself to the highest café of the world; where one can have a much-needed cup of green tea along with some snacks.
The walls of this café speak about the story of Maggi! A very interesting read…

Now, you’d be surprised – Airtel works here! After all the troubles I had with the network all through the journey, it was a pleasant surprise! Did you notice the tower in the adjoining image?

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Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Ladakh (Sarchu – Leh)

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After 20kms of very good roads, we hit the under-construction roads. Bad, very bad they were! It was as if I was riding perennially over speed-breakers! The area appeared uninhabitable and has no construction at all, and also no population, save the migrant construction workers. Its was an extremely tiring and tedious ride; we also were forced from time to time to off-road into sand and ride wherever the roads were blocked for construction – BRO is constructing a two-lane road here. I always find riding in sand really painful and painful it was even this time. As we ascended, the road became worse – it is all under construction. Heavy amount of gravel on the road made the ride very tiring and I was in fact forced to stop several times before reaching Taglang La – the second highest motorable pass of the world. This was the worst patch to ride till now.

Despite a mild headache (one shouldn’t wait at high Passes in such case), I rested at the Pass for a good 15minutes. I needed it, badly!

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Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Ladakh (Kaza – Keylong – Sarchu)

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Bara-lacha La was all clad in snow. Luckily the roads were devoid of any snow, making it easy of us riders to sail through. You’d notice that unlike other key milestones, I haven’t posted any image of a plaque reading Bara-lacha La – actually, I could’nt take any – there was a huge jam ahead, as we climbed up the Pass. I saw an oil-tanker overturned and fallen out of the road, taking the signage with it! Thankfully, the truck hadn’t taken the plunge. It seemed to be a very recent accident – the driver of the truck was safely back on road and was assessing the damages done. The Border Roads Organization that manages these roads was very quick to respond; they had already arrived with a crane and were working out a rescue plan.

Advantage Biker! We quickly made our way through the mounting traffic and descended to the famous Bharatpur – our lunch halt of the day. This place is something – all full of colourful dhabas!

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Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Ladakh… (Delhi – Kaza)

Motorcycle Diaries. Road to Ladakh… (Delhi – Kaza)

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As I rode though barren patches, I would not help admire the exquisiteness of the rocks all around – they were as spellbinding as the Grand Canyon, all through the journey on the Indo-China border. No images can describe this splendor!

During last 100kms, as the terrain turned bad to worse, I had consumed all my water. Thirsty and tired, I found water only at Dubling, after riding for over 3.5 hours. As I gulped down water, I couldn’t help observe that the same Kinley packaged water bottle we paid Rs.40/- at the HPTDC hotels (a premium of double the cost!) was being sold by this mom-&-pop shop at the MRP!

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ऐसे पहुंचे हम मुंबई !

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हमें पश्चिम एक्सप्रेस पकड़नी थी जो रात्रि 10 बज कर 45 मिनट के लगभग नई दिल्ली स्टेशन पर अवतरित हुई। प्लेटफार्म पर लगे हुए चार्ट में पुष्टि करके हमने अपनी कोच में जाकर सामान वगैरा शायिका के नीचे ठीक से लगाया, रेलवे की हिदायत का अनुपालन करते हुए चेन से भी बांधा। मित्रों-संबंधियों को हार्दिक धन्यवाद देकर विदा किया, गाड़ी चलने पर वस़्त्रादि बदल कर लेट गये। बाहर अंधकार का साम्राज्य था, मिडिल बर्थ खोली जा चुकी थीं अतः नीचे वाली बर्थ पर सिर्फ लेटा ही जा सकता था, तब भी दोनों बच्चों को वही नीचे की बर्थ चाहिये थीं ताकि खिड़की से बाहर के दृश्य देखते रह सकें। पता नहीं दोनों कितनी देर तक खिड़की से बाहर अंधेरे में आंख गड़ाये बैठे रहे होंगे। अर्द्धरात्रि में चल टिकट परीक्षक ने दर्शन दिये। नींद से उठकर उनको स्थिति स्पष्ट की और एक टिकट के लिये बकाया किराये हेतु रसीद बनाने के लिये कहा। उन्होंने जुर्माने सहित जितनी राशि मांगी, दे दी। हमें नींद आ रही थी अतः फिर सो गये परन्तु इस शोषण को देखकर मन में एक असंतोष बना रहता है और जब भी ऐसा अवसर पुनः आता है, यही मनस्थिति होती है।

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Canberra (Australia) Trip

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Next day was horrible, muggy and cold, suddenly temperature went down below 20C (below 5C at night). So no outdoors and we went to Australian Parliament and to Australia War Memorial which were nice places to visit and are free for public. It is great to see the history of parliament in Australia, how well it was recorded and shown to the public. On the contrary in India, it is so hard to enter the parliament and then how poorly the history is shown, goes on the show what our politicians are. You can see the chronicles of Australian politics, telling one about the constitution in the beginning and how it evolved to include the Aborigines later on. It is fascinating to see that government did apologize to the aborigines. I don’t think in India we have ever apologized to the outcast people of our society.

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Summer Vacation – a wonderful run through NH-2 from the Ghats of Varanasi to Home – Part II

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I went to check whether they washed the car or not, as promised yesterday. The outer body of the car looks like we just finished, sorry ‘Won’ the cross-country rally…several layers of dust all around the body and required a considerable amount of time and efforts to bring it back to its’ original colour. The security guard was of immense help and cleaned the car within next half an hour.

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Getting Leh’d in ten days – Part 1

Getting Leh’d in ten days – Part 1

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Whenever I read about someone’s excursion to Leh, it’s a heroic story all about grit and determination. It’s about a man, his machine and the mountain. It’s about how one faces the vagaries of nature, the treacherous roads and the numbing cold. It’s like an action movie with a heavy metal background score. In stark comparison, my narration will be like a Karan Johar flick. All scenes will be in soft focus, everything will be beautiful, there will be drama and intrigue, all set to a melodious tune.

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Road trip to Naukuchiatal and Mukteshwar

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We  explored the property the first day and was happy to see that apart from a TT table and carrom board, the resort has a gym and two pool tables. My husband and son  played a few games of TT and carrom, while i enjoyed the hammock in the garden with my book.  Then as the sun set, it was mystical seeing the colour of the waters change. The next morning we decided to take a boat ride. Then, following a good breakfast we decided to take a walk around the lake and explore the small hamlet. The walk is around 3.5 km and will take barely an hour at a slow pace. You will meet smiling locals and few tourists, especially if you take this walk before 10am. The tourists generally don’t stay at Naukuchiatal but make a day trip and descend on the sleepy hamlet after 11 and move out by 5.

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Three Ghumakkars

Summer Vacation – a wonderful run through NH-2 towards Ghats of Varanasi – Part I

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We took a rickshaw and then walked for 5 minutes to reach Dasaswamedh Ghat. The Sandhya Aarati took our breathe away. We have never seen such a live performance – they were at their artistic best. Finally around 8 p.m., the journey took its toll and my son couldn’t stand anymore and we decided to return to the hotel, with a promise to come back again and spend a few days to explore the city once again.

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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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