Roads

Ranikhet and Kausani : Himalayan Meadows – Part I (The Journey)

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The king with his entourage was passing through jungles of Kumaon, when a saint crossed his path. The vain king was offended and soon the saint was brought before him. The saffron clad saint, annoyed with King’s heckles, plucked a leafy branch from a wayside bush and swiped it across the King’s bare arms – it sent the king writhing and groaning in pain, as if a million needles were inserted in his arm. This is how the hymns of Ranikhet started.

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Bath – The Classic Architectural Marvel

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The bus-ride through southern England showcased the beautiful countryside; it pleases your eyes and soothes your soul with its soft contours of green hills and meadows. No rough edges or jagged ends to jab your field of vision. Occasionally you’ll find a cluster of trees as if to relieve the monotony. Looking out of the window one fails to notice that you didn’t blink for a long time. Bath is an eye soothing place to be in.

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Kolkata to Kumaon – Corbett to Kausani via Ranikhet

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 We reached the city at around 1230 hrs and found a place to park the car and went straight to the market place of the Mall area where maximum numbers of restaurants were there.We had a hearty lunch in a place, overlooking the descent of hill terrain and numerous colorful civilization monumented by the tiny match box like houses. After lunch we went straight to the Ranikhet Golf Course nearby and after that around 55 kms drive to Kausani.

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Kolkata to Kumaon – A stay at Allahabad

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In Hindu tradition Triveni Sangam is the “confluence” of three rivers. Sangama is the Sanskrit word for confluence. The point of confluence is a sacred place for Hindus. A bath here is said to flush away all of one’s sins and free one from the cycle of rebirth.One such Triveni Sangam, in Prayag (Allahabad) has two physical rivers — Ganges and Yamuna — and the invisible Saraswati River. The place has religious importance and the site for historic Kumbh Mela held every 12 years,

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Delhi to Kedarnath, a long and arduous journey

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The continuous rains had made the final climb even tougher. While I waited with the kids, my husband and Ajay bhaiya went in search of a tented accommodation put up by GMVN. I was told that there was a long queue even for this basic accommodation, however Ajaybhaiya managed to get 5 beds for us in tent no C80. The accommodation was very basic and each bed meant a foam mattress and a sleeping bag.

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Pune to Bangalore Road Trip

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There were many Kamat Upachar all the way through, but we chose to stop near tumkur. Immediately after the tumkur toll there was this Kamat. The lunch was excellent . They also serve in the traditional banana leaf. Enjoyed the food, the quality was very nice. We took quite sometime at this restaurant and left by 2 p.m. to Bangalore.

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Bhalkimachan – the royal bear hunting grounds

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The Zamindars and the royal family members of Burdwan used this place as a hunting spot and constructed several Machans for their convenience. Thus Bhalki and Machan combined to give the place its current name Bhalki Machan. The etymology can be broken down into Bhalu ki Machan. Bhalu means bear. Machan means an elevated resting place for the hunters to hunt down wild animals.

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Gurgaon-Lansdowne Weekend Road Trip

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I will finish the story with few words about the Oak Grove Inn. The hotel is running for past one year and after an initial slow take off it remains full on most of week ends now. The normal rooms are small but very clean. I would recommend the family room as it is huge in size but there is only one available. Next time I go there I will ask for the top floor rooms which have a wide balcony (ideal for playing cards or chatting in a group) in front

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Delhi to Lucknow in 5 hours via YEW and Agra Lucknow Expressway

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It was a pleasure driving on this road. I counted 57 vehicles while going towards Lucknow on this expressway which means a lot of people are still unaware of it. I tried to maintain a consistent speed of 120 kmph on this road, but to my surprise I found I was driving at 130-135 kmph. There is very little noise while driving on this road. I encountered total 4 small diversions (diversion means when you have to drive on the wrong side of the expressway).

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Goaing – from Goa to Delhi

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After the mandatory getting-lost-and-going-round-in-circles-before-finding-the-destination that we seem to do in most new cities, we reach our destination after 2 solid hours of wandering the drowning streets of Ghatkopar in a downpour worthy of …. Mumbai! The thing to note is that more time was spent in negotiating the traffic (read: stuck in traffic) than driving!

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Travel reminiscences from the 1970s …

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अब के बिछड़े तो शायद कभी ख़्वाबों में मिलें,
जिस तरह सूखे हुए फूल, क़िताबों में मिले

While recently listening to the above gazal of Ahmad Faraz,by Mehdi Hassan,the line ”jis tarah sukhe hue phuul kitabon mein milen” jogged my memory about the old faded travel photographs of years gone by lying, for decades, in the trunk in the basement.

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