travel

Chandigarh

By

“Try the pancakes, with honey – they are good” She suggests.

I nod and add a masala tea to the order. Her phone rings while she is scanning the menu. “An omelet for me…” she rushes out of the café to talk.

I find a corner table and start scanning my mobile for morning news. The café rings with laughter suddenly and I pull my face to see some young girls giggling their way in. She’s still talking on the phone outside the door, shifting herself from one leg to other.

There’s cassia blooming outside on a tree behind her. Surprised at its own fertility his young flower laden branches are struggling against the bitter January wind. Perhaps, the nature wants to have spring early this year.

My eyes focus back to her slightly troubled face. I wonder…

The tea arrives and while I soak in its aroma, the pancakes too. They are good – these guys at Nik’s – they won’t serve the omelet until she’s here.

She comes back in pulling her warm coat closer; her face is back to her usual blank-happiness state.

“How is it?”

“Ummm… pancakes are good, masala tea is better at CCD!”

Read More
Ahmedabad Trip Part 2

Ahmedabad Trip Part 2

By

Sabarmati Ashram : I think every Indian knows the name of this place :) It is located on Ashram road near Vadaj on the bank of Sabarmati River. Sabarmati Ashram or Satyagraha Ashram had played an instrumental role in the non-violence movement and India’s struggle for independence. Mahatma Gandhi’s famous “Dandi March” started from here in 1930. At present the site functions as a museum and an institution whose aim is to preserve and propagate the legacy of the Mahatma. At the entrance, a map of the area acts a guide for tourists. The site covers a large area and the Ashram premises a museum (Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya) which has five units – office, library, two photo galleries and an auditorium. The museum has eight life-size colour oil paintings and an exhibition on Gandhi’s life “My life is my message” and “Gandhiji in Ahmedabad”. An archive is also set up, which stores  letters written by Gandhiji, manuscripts, photographs etc. The library has large number of books, coins, postal stamps and letters of felicitation received by Gandhiji. The grounds of the Ashram include the Hridaykunj, Gandhiji’s humble living quarters, Vinoba-Mira Kutir, Prarthana Bhoomi, statues of the three wise monkeys etc. The tranquility of the place is impressive and the memorabilia of Gandhiji and Independence Struggle reminds us of what we owe to our forefathers. Timing: 8.30 am to 6.00 pm throughout the year and admission is free.

Read More

A Road Trip to Enchanting Mukteshwar

By

With all the theoretical knowledge collected through blogs, we had few recommended names for our stay. We started having a look on hotels. First and the very pleasing one was MT- Mountain Trail. Ambiance/view here was awesome. After discussing about the tariffs we moved on to other hotels. We were more concerned for a captivating view rather than the tariffs. We went ahead to few more lodges along with PWD Guest house. But, we had already lost our hearts to MT. So we called back the manager and asked him to book 2 rooms for us.

We parked our car near the entrance of Mukteshwar temple and started taking a walk towards the main tourist attraction point “Chauli ki jali”. After putting in few efforts in climbing the rocks we finally reached on the top of the cliff. The cliff gave a splendid panoramic view of snow-white Himalayan ranges. Captured the “Orange- setting Sun”, did some archery. As it was getting late and the temperature started dropping with Sun, instead of going for Rock climbing we opted to just give a pose :)

Read More

Ladakh: Nature’s Eloquent SIlence

By

A trip to Ladakh leaves many a visitors breathless and not just because of its high altitude location. In an ephemeral moment of truce, when the cool breeze lets you rejuvenate your thoughts long lost to the battles of daily routine, a perchance to dream, a sense of being afloat on wings of imagination and suddenly you realize you need to breathe too. It’s just like in songs, ‘a flight of fancy on the windswept fields’ when you are standing alone and your senses reel. The attraction in Ladakh can be fatal especially when emotions are involved. When you are in Ladakh all you wish for is to capture its reality and here in the overwhelming vastness even reality turns out to be abstract.

Read More

Kinnaur-The land of apples (Part 2)

By

After about two and a half hours we reached Reckong Peo,or Peo, as it is popularly known. Peo is situated at an altitude of around 2200 metres above sea level and is at the base of the Kinner Kailash massif. From here, Kalpa was a short 20 minute drive and by lunch time we reached Kalpa. Our plan was to halt at the PWD rest house, which turned out to be a cottage with an excellent view of the mountains. Staying in Kalpa can be compared to living in the lap of nature. Overlooking the Kinner Kailash range, this is one of the most picturesque  hill stations one can ever visit. This quaint town was once the headquarters of Kinnaur district before it was replaced  by Reckong Peo. The collector’s office has now been taken over by the HP Irrigation Department while the old SP office is now a small police outpost. The old building of the District Hospital is visible behind the new building of a recently constructed Primary Health Centre.  From Kalpa, one can spot the famous Shiva Linga, nestled in the middle of the Kinner Kailash massif. It is a 2 day trek from Kalpa for the strong and sturdy.

Read More

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

By

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.

Read More

Hundred in Gangtok – Part 5 (Final)

By

But me and my camera was not having any desire of sleeping as I wanted to capture the beautiful Teesta river in my eyes as well in the camera lens. The views from the bus window were amazing. Early morning, cloudy weather, green high mountains and flowing Teesta; I could not ask more from the Nature. I clicked endless photographs. After some time it started raining which made the surrounding more beautiful. Around 7.30 we stopped in the middle near a small tea shop just near the banks of the Teesta. It was a great experience to have tea on the banks of Teesta while is was raining outside.

Read More

Hundred in Gangtok – Part 4

By

The very first place to visit was Tashi View Point. It was around a distance of 7 km from our hotel. It is an observation point at an altitude of 6000 ft developed be erstwhile king of Sikkim, Tashi Namgyal. On clear days in early morning, this is the best place in Gangtok to view the mighty Mount Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. One final destination still remained to visit and it was Ban Jhakhri Falls. It is a theme park surrounded by lush green forest on the outskirts of Gangtok.

Read More

Hundred in Gangtok – Part 3

By

Vehicles are not allowed on MG Marg like in most Mall Roads in any hill station. A large sign board welcomed us at MG Marg. We were completely stunned after witnessing MG Marg, the feeling was kind of a European city. Gangtok administration has developed and maintained it in very good manner. It has been divided into two lanes, one lane for one side walking. And the divider is not a typical road divider. A large number of beautiful plants with flowers give the feeling of a green belt to the divider. On both sides of divider, benches have been placed so that people can sit and enjoy their time with no hurry. I didn’t have an experience of this kind of setup before.

Read More

Hundred in Gangtok – Part 2

By

Very soon we hit the Sevoke town and surroundings change dramatically. For first time we saw mighty Teesta river as it was flowing on right side of the road. On left side of the road were hills. The view was very beautiful and everybody in the bus was astonished. It was hard to believe the change of surroundings so sudden. As the bus was moving towards Gangtok on scenic NH 31A, we were enjoying the green hills, Teesta river running side by side and also the beautiful rainy weather.

Read More

Hundred in Gangtok – Part 1

By

What could be the meaning of the title of this post Hundred in Gangtok ? This is about visiting Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, in a group of around 100 persons one year back in May 2011. At sharp 2:00 the train started its journey at the right time. The mood inside the coach was like we were in some party. There were different activities happening in different compartments – people were playing cards, watching movies on laptops, senior persons were talking about politics and nation.

Read More