Up Up & Away !!!

After a long gap the travel bug again had his share of luck and bite me nice and big... result was a trip to Manali. And then we(my wife & myself) booked for an over night volvo from HPTDC. At the end we found it better than any other pvt of HRTC bus service. On arrival at 8:30 a nice hotel Silmog Garden booked via cleartrip was awaiting us.

Once checked in we had a nice poori bhaji in the hotel itself(b'fast was part of pkg) and then went to explore nearby areas. Had a photosession with Yak and rabbit, impersonated as localites and saw temple of Bhim's wife, Hidamba devi.

Next day was the day of adventure sports, reached gulaba, infact the fartest point on the motor road before snow made it immpossible to go further. Played in snow for some time, before some heroics on the snow scooter..

From there begain the actual adventure. While comming back the road was occupied on both sides by the parked tourist vechicles literally leaving not even one lane to drive out. Hats off to all drivers driving their daily without getting frustated.

Reached Solang valley, their after long thinking decided to go for the paragliding from the top of the peak, little was known what was in store for us. Took ticket of a Km long steep ropeway reached the top, the instructur then informed that we had to go little further to reach the point from where paragliding can be done. This 10 min distance was the real adventure, with little support, we were walking on top of the mountain where the snow was as deep as 6" and at other places damp soil only. Had a couple of slides in the snow and that was right out of hindi movies.

Finally after reaching the point, we became birds and were literally on top of the world. That was something which pumped in back all the energy which was taken away by the tiresome journey to the paragliding point.

Next day we went to Jana waterfall, while most people come back from the fall, we explored a little more and discovered a point where we could actally take a bath. The water was coming straight from freshly melted snow. We listened to the advise of sanity and just played a little there. Had real authentic (as said but not true) Himachali food there.

As this is the time of year when you can actully see the apples in making, the orchids were beautiful.
The last day we decided to explore the jungle, and fould a place from where we could actually reach Beas. The river like a teen was young, restless and fast. The splashing sound was relaxing and the scenery beacutiful.

And the final comment of Vandy claiming the trip should have been longer, stamped what I was thinking. It was not tourism but memories in the making.

Nearest hillstation to Delhi

After several months of break from break, we finally headed for mountains once again(24-28 jun 2009). We booked Mussouri express from Delhi to Lansdowne. The train departed at scheduled time and we finally arrived Kotdwar at 6:00 in the morning. Took a cab for 600 bucks Retreat Anand which we had booked due to its location. We paid toll to enter the cantt area and made our halt at the market to have nice paneer and allu paranthas at Hotel Mayur. Another 20 minutes drive on the kuccha village road led us to the resort. The weather was nice and really pleasant.

Resort at first look seemed beautiful. It had a few swings, badminton court and so on. On a second look, realized the resort is not we expected. The much hyped swimming pool was dry and dirty. We checked in our super deluxe room with a kind request of not to use water in excess (later we realized they meant don’t use more than a bucket per day ). The monsoon was delayed and so the weather wasn’t on our side.

The room had a nice LCD TV which showed not more than 6 channels. Bathroom had a big geyser which was controlled more from outside the cottage (The resort used to cut the cable to save electricity and water) The bathtub was a classic example of Indian innovation at its best. The food was "just OK", the veg pulaoo only had cabbage and so called onion salad had only cut unwashed onion slices. The roties were the 'lotus of the pond'. At night we realized we have a few resident spiders with us as well. However, the Resort gave a very nice view of the valley.

After getting fresh, we headed back to the market, we started on foot and that was a mistake. The weather turned warm from cool and that started taking a toll on us. We reached market exhausted and headed straight for some more food. From there we went to Bulla lake. The lake was a landscape with ducks and boats. The price for boating was also minimal Rs.15 for 15 minutes. The water is deep, and so we were asked to wear life jackets. GMVN guest house is very near to this lake.

We got a lift from an elderly uncle back to the market, and also went to Tip-n-Top with them. It was nothing more than a view point but was quite high and so gave a nice vista. We came back to the market hired a cab in Rs 150 to the Resort.
We were too tired to do anything, so we had some tea and relaxed. Next day we spent in our room itself, in evening we enjoyed some swings and found a nice place to have panoramic view of the setting sun.

On the day of departure, we checked out at 12’O clock. And got a cab for the market by 1. we paid him Rs150 and headed once again to hotel Mayur for lunch. Enroute we stopped at Bhim Pakora. We kept our luggage with the manager and went out roaming, the weather was pleasant and air was cool, we reached museum around 2 and got to know that the museum will open at 4.

We decided to roam around and reached birds watching point. It was a nice long purposeless walk (After all that’s what we had in our mind when we decided to head for Lansdowne) Being afternoon we did not found much birds but a family of ducks. We strolled for sometime and went back to the museum. The museum is good, showing the history of Garhwal riffles, the valor and the vigor.

We came back to the market, had some more food and reached back to station in another 1.5hrs. It was 7 pm and it was still 3 hrs in the departure of the train. Those three hours were an ordeal. The station had a power cut and it was dark and hot. The lone shop at the station did not had a cool water bottle. However, his channa dal chat was awesome. The train arrived at 9 and we fell asleep soon after. When we woke up we were almost back to scorching heat of Delhi.

Meeting a gud ol' friend

This one goes for a childhood friend of mine (Suchir) whom by chance I happened to meet again after 8 long years. After school we took different streams he moving into physiotherapy and me into the most common Indian s/w industry.
Long after leaving the school and even loosing the phone contact.... like for all other purposes Google came to rescue. With one after another useful tools, Suchir found me on orkut. So we decided to meet in EDM.
After a few minutes of talk and looking around (men will be men), we thought of getting some shirts.... now the problem to choose which one. He had the noble idea to call upon his lady love to help us decide. After few minutes (few as in girls few) the lady arrives and with lot of trials and juggling around finally got the shirts...
Then we realized we were hungry and can eat the whole world around (a bit exaggeration) so we went to Pacific food court and had a mix and match veg food (heartbreaking for Suchir as he couldn’t get company for chicken neither in me nor Sonia). With a nice kulfi packed in, thanks to Sonia, the food was awesome.
Returning back to EDM spent some quality time talking to each other and knowing more, and remembering gud ol’ school days.
It was truly a wonderful experience... falsifying the popular statement "out of sight is out of mind". And the lady mingling in like no stranger to me.

QTAG

The college days are nice to everyone. And those in which you play more than studying are etched in your mind. The final year of the MCA went about bunking for weeks and playing in the labs. The placements only adding fuel to the fire. The group got so much indulged in the activity that they decided to have a name for it.
Quake Three Arena Group. The madness reached such a level that a car going in front of us with any cloth hanging was equivalent to a rival running away with our camp flag. The mental state was one of madness, as some authors’ state, a state of holiness, for the game.
To this day, the madness continues. Some plans were floated to play in Reliance web world. The failure of the plans didn’t deter us from going ahead and killing innocent bots at our PC. The madness continues….

Somewhere up The hills

The day started before dawn for most of us and for few, night never came. Many people told its raining and exploring mountains won’t be a safe option. Still, group of six fervent joined in for what turned out to be an unforgettable experience.
The hired Tavera, reached as scheduled (given a bit delay for finding the new place) Picking people from different parts of Delhi. We left Delhi for our trip up hills by 4:00 am. The agenda included taking pic of anyone caught napping en route. Well that didn’t deter people from going on long naps. Made a few halts for tea and breakfast.

One of us realized her long lost friend lives in Haldwani. So it was mandatory for us to make a halt there. Spending close to half an hour there, we moved ahead towards Nainital.
Reached Almora around midday. Halting at the 'shri baishnavi devi mandir' for a quick recharge of our batteries and a quick ‘nimbu pani’. Had a dash on the ‘pahaadi hare seb’ and were longing to reach the top. Before reaching the final destination the kid of the group suffered from dizziness. Driver ‘saahab’ had his own problem, “sab tourist log nainital dekh ke hi wapis chale jate hain aap log itna upper kyon jana chahte hain”.
Reached Kausani at perfect evening (4:00 pm). Sun still shining bright, the search for a Hotel started and we landed at a decent looking room. Two rooms were booked and after a brief break for refreshing we started exploring and making plans for the next two days.
We had dinner at a restaurant, where we were enthusiastically served the local dishes (One of the many benefits of having a person, knowing the local language). Interacted with a few localities and got to know what we will be doing the next two days.
We forgot to pick torch from the bag, we realized this while coming back. But, that made ‘jugnus’ all the more visible. Some people were singing songs, and rest using their hands sometime for clapping, then for closing their ears. Reached back to our room at night and decided to sit for sometime on the rooftop before time for our favorite ‘Laughter challenge’. The night was cold but the fun was nice.
We went back to our room and settled all in a single room to laugh some more. The laughter was broken only by the short circuit in the room, filling the room with smoke. So we all moved to another room and using the laptop ‘shamma-e-mehfil roshan hui’ We played Dumb-C for long. And one by one people started dropping out on the bed. Later the next morning the obvious question came ‘main yahan kaise aayee’ with an obvious answer ‘itni mote ko uthane ki himmat to hai nahi kisi main to apne aap hi aayee’.
Finally, most of us slept where we were and the rest went on the roof to enjoy the cold, the hours of darkness, the companionship, the hills, the sight, and the verve.
The next morning with the hope to view the sunrise, only one person got up apart from those who haven’t slept till that time. The weather, with little drizzle and clouds all over, more than compensated for the clouds covering the sunrise view. We decided to switch hotel and two of us went in search for a better place. Morning walk itself was rewarding with the startling scenic beauty in view, which till now was seen only in pictures on internet or in movies.
After a few unsuccessful attempts, we landed at the perfect holiday destination, ‘Blossom Hotel and Resort’. Two cottages were booked and the beautiful surroundings were good enough to make the place a treat. The lawns were nice and big with very beautiful flowers and swings. The cottages themselves were huge and spacious with the services mind-blowing.
Around mid-day we were all fresh and ready to rock. We headed towards the Baijnath temple. In between, the tea gardens were the camping stop. Matrimonial pics were taken for some and the rest made it a point to make them “special” (nice to watch but repulsive for marriage). The travel thru the garden required special skills, still we managed.
Reaching the temple, boys in the group as usual visited the place more like a place to view than worship. With nanda devi in the backdrop the place was picturesque. The Gomti river with shallow water and fishes made a very nice place to relax and feed fishes. Relaxing there we were yearning to trek to a place called Rudranath.
The trek to rudranath was a tiring one with the route through rocks and river kosi, localities enlightened us with the information that leopards are also found there in the surrounding jungle. The route itself was very quaint. Some falling in between others helping them we reached the temple and the view was out of this world. With one of the natural “shivling” there, the place comes out to be a heaven for shiv devotees.
Something interesting happened while returning; the DRDO guard closed the barricade and left for his house before we could make the exit. The driver sahib scared to death, some feared of evil forces and others yet enjoyed the situation. After some talks with the army people we made safe exit from the place and reached the resort quarter to full dead. Still, managed to have an open lawn, candle light dinner.
The next day was a day to retreat. With no one willing to leave the heavens on earth, the practicality prevailed and we left for the journey back home. Stopping en route only for some sweets and food.
The trip will remain etched on our minds forever.