Travelogue - Around India

Things have changed

2011-01-28T13:25:00.000+05:30

Things have changed, and they have changed a lot in past couple of years. As usual I have been traveling like crazy, and have done some amazing things. But alas, I am too lazy to write about them. Since I last published, I have

1. Driven an 12 year old Esteem to Leh and back, climbed the highest passes and claimed the toughest terrain on it, faced a life altering situation and survived.

2. Then I did the sector again on my Bullet 350, the highest passes, roughest terrain, toughest conditions, conquered them all, and made some wonderful friends. Khardung la, Tanglang la, Chang la, Zozi La, Rohtang La, Baralacha La, Pangong, Nubra, Hunder, Spagmik, Chusul, Tangste, Agham, Shyok, Pang, Sarchu, Paagal nala, kangla jal... done it all and would do it again.

3. Drove from Delhi to Goa, 36 hours, around 2200 km, via Udaipur and Mumbai.

4. Went to Pushkar Cattle fair.

5. Took a bus to Dharamshala.

6. Dabbled in Photography and now loving it.

Been broke, made a fortune, fell in love, got into a relationship, got out of a relationship, made amazing friends, retained old friends, expanded my horizons, lived my life.

I hope I would not be lazy and would write some details ;)

Road trip to Deeg and Vrindavan

2009-02-10T11:21:00.002+05:30

It was the extended weekend of Republic day and I wanted to head out on a looong drive, however wanted to go with my parents. Unfortunately my mom was not game for it (I was suggesting Orccha OR Bundi), however she agreed to head to Vrindavan.

We started at around 8 am; however the traffic was a revelation. I have never seen such traffic on a highway before. The road that usually take 2.5 to 3 hours, took more than 5 hours. So I was expecting a heavy crowd in the temples and really wanted to avoid them, I decided to head for Deeg instead for the day and next day we can come back to Vrindavan.

I wanted to go through Vrindavan - Mathura - Bharatpur - Deeg, however the first step, i.e. Vrindavan to Mathura was plagued with a monstrous traffic blockade, so I decided to take the alternate route and headed Via Vrindavan - Govardhan - Deeg.

Now one thing is for sure, that I am not recommending this route to anyone, crossing Govardhan was a challenge, was stuck in jam for like couple of hours in front of the main temple and after that the road conditions were horrible. Anyhow, we reached in vicinity of Deeg and came across the old fort, and my dad exclaimed that is this what you brought us here to see and I was speechless for a while. But after driving another couple of minutes, I came across a number of cars parked on the roadside, and that was something out of ordinary for that kind of place. And when looked closely, it was the entry gate for the Jal Mahal or Lake Palace or water palace, whatever way you want to interpret it.

Now I was not expecting wonders there, however still wanted to see it. The entry fee was Rs.5 for Indians and much higher for foreigners. Once we entered the compound, it was a pleasant surprise; it’s a sprawling complex of residential area, with beautiful gardens and buildings. There are couple of main palaces, both named after lord Krishna. You get a free tour of the same, it seems most of the furniture is used by the rulers is still there. Overall it’s a place where you can spend few hours to the maximum.

After that I decided not to go back the same way we came, and headed off to Bharatpur instead. We decided to spend the right in Bharatpur and head for Vrindavan the next day, now fiding a hotel there was challenge, the first one we came across was The Park Palace, looked decent from a distance, looked crippled from closer look and finally shitty from inside: D. Headed off towards the bus station and found Hotel Maggo, Rs.350 per night for a room, semi decent condition, a BIG ZERO in terms of service, but that was our only option at that moment.

Somehow managed to spend the night and started at around 7 am for Vrindavan, the road is in good condition however the fog was real dense and driving at even 30-40 kmph was a big challenge. Finally reached Vrindavan and went to Banke Bihari mandir, which was crowded like anything. I did not go to any other temple, as I have no guts to brave the crowds, however my parents did go to ISKCON temple.

Below are pictures I took at Deeg from my 2 MP mobile camera, so do not expect wonder, what I will give you an idea of the place. In my opinion this place is good to spend a relaxed afternoon, and at around 200km from Delhi good option for a long drive (Day trip).

Lansdowne - Uttranchal

2007-09-20T15:20:00.000+05:30

On Saturday, 28th July, I was sitting idle, watching "Seven years in Tibet" on DVD, at 2:30 pm I got a call from one of my friends, Jatin, who like me was getting bored.

Suddenly we decided to head ourtof Delhi and first name that popped up was Mussorie. But didn't excite us enough. We were looking for something new, some new roads, suddenly I remembered Lansdowne in next 20 minutes our bags were packed and we hit the road in an Alto. I didn't had much idea about the route, however just a vague idea about the names of small towns on the way, I remembered Meerut, Bijnaur and Kortdwar..but was not very sure. But anyhow we were already on road and first point was Meerut. In the meantime I called couple of guys who are from Pauri region and they confirmed the route.

We started at 3 pm, however till time we actually crossed Meerut and clocked 90 Km on the trip meter it was already four hours i.e. 7 pm. And we hadn't stopped anywhere except of petrol. The traffic was too hectic to handle for a highway.

However after we crossed Meerut things smoothened a bit and drive to Bijnaur was a decent one. however after crossing Bijnaur the road to Kotdwara was very good and driving was fun. Its a very good road for relaxed driving.

We reached Kotdwara at 10 PM and from there Lansdowne was another 40 odd Km. I knew that its not a very commercialized place and was not sure of we would get anything to eat at that late hour. So we asked local passerby for a good place to eat and he asked us to head to 'Aangan'.
It was Air-conditioned restaurant, with an average kind of feel to it, however it was beyond my expectations for a small town at that hour. Jatin is fond of spicy food and waiter recommended Kadhai Chicken, so we ordered Half Kadhai Chicken, Kadhai Paneer and Dal Makhani along with Lachha Pranthas. I must say that food was beyond my expectations and actually was really good. The prices were very reasonable and we paid Rs.250 for the entire meal.

Details :

Aangan - Hotel & Restaurant
Badrinath Marg, Opposite GGIC, Kotdwara - 246149
Garhwal, Uttranchal
Ph : (01382) 224881
Mobile : 0-9837356940 & 0-9412081660

So we started again at around 11 PM from Kotdwar, headed for last 40 Km of the journey. Actually the hills start from there. 15 minutes on the road and we saw a pack of wild elephants creating a chaos on the road, not aware of the danger we passed them, however later realized that vehicles had actually stopped on the other side. Even the trucks were not risking the Elephants and then I thought about our small little Alto.

Anyways after another half an hour I got the hunch that we were not on the right track and unfortunately we were not able to find a single living soul for several kilometers to confirm the route. Finally we had to wake someone up from a roadside house and he said that we were indeed on the wrong track and we had missed a turn.

Now that we can see that Lansdowne was 10 Kilometers it should not have take more that 30 minutes. However things changed dramatically soon there was a very thick cover of fog. It was not possible to drive at more that 5-10 Kmph and that too with extreme caution. 4 Km before Lansdowne there was a resort, I don't exactly recall the name but it something like "Pine View Resort". We tried for a room there, but unfortunately none was available.

We reached Lansdowne at around 1 a.m. (Sunday), after reaching Gandhi Chowk realized that this place was truly non commercialized, as we were not able to spot a single hotel. We actually had to stop a passing car and ask from them if there were any hotels there. We were told that there were Fairy Dale Resorts and other was a Government property (Uttranchal Bhawan or something).

For Fairy Dale there is a road on that forks from the Left side and its a steep slope. Now at 1 Am, covered with fog, any road will be bad, but this stretch was as bad as they come. It was hardly 100-200 M but it was a very bad patch.

So at 1:10 Am our car was parked in the Fairy Dale Resorts, that was a relief. Unfortunately even after much knocking on the reception door, no one opened up, and we assumed that it was locked and no one was there to attend.

This situation was really bad, it was almost 2 AM, and we didn't want to climb those dreaded 200 meters in those conditions. So we decided to camp in the car and reclined both the front seats and slept there itself.

I woke up at 5 AM and went to check the reception again, this time it opened in couple of knocks and I was surprised to find that there 3 attendants there. I told them about the problem in the night and they simply said sorry and hanged their head.

Anyhow we took a double room, for that they were asking for Rs.1,400, however we settled for Rs.1000 as anyhow we had to leave for Delhi by evening. Since we had few hours, we simply ordered some breakfast and went to sleep. Woke up at around 2 pm and checked out at 3 pm. However once we started the car, we realised that we had a flat tyre, took the help off the staff and changed the same. Now there was another problem, we didn't want to leave before getting the stepny fixed, however the only puncture wallah in Lansdowne was closed and was supposed to open at 4 pm. We drove to the market, looking for a restaurant to have lunch. There were hardly any choices, there were three of them, Zaika, Mayur and one another I don't recall. We settled in Zaika. They were not serving all the items on the menu, and after much deliberation we settled for Malai Kofta, Paneer Do Pyaja in veg and Kadhai Chicken in non-veg. All with Tawa Chapatis. The food was extremely good, and was freshly prepared. It wasn't very expensive either and we paid around Rs.220 for that sumptuous meal.

It was beyond 4 PM and puncture walla was still not open, we were told that we can get another one 20 KM from lansdowne and it was on the way to Kotdwara, so we decided to risk the 20 KM and eventually got the puncture fixed at Dugatta.

After that it was liesurly drive at 60-80 Kmph and made back to our homes at around midnight. The total petrol costed around Rs.1600.

However the place did impress us for its quietness and lack of activity, we hardly passed any cars on the hills. And lack of hotels and restaurant also suggest that this place doesn't get crowded.

3 days to go

2007-06-12T13:07:00.000+05:30

I have not been a good blogger, as have not been able to post for quite some time now. Will continue the Nepal experience at later stages.

I am flying out of Delhi on Friday that is 15th of June. For past week the temperature in Delhi has become unbearable. It has been above 41 C all this while, it had crossed 44 C couple of days back. So anyplace outside Delhi is a welcome relief.

Even though I am going there to attend a friends wedding, which is scheduled for 19th of June in Siliguri.

You can see a picture of his, posing in a traditional Achkan. Even though this is not his wedding dress but he would be using it for some other ceremonies.

Raj, in an Achkan

Since Siliguri is gateway to two beautiful places in India, I took this opportunity to see whatever I can. I had two choices, either Darjeeling OR Gangtok. But after much advice from various sources, I zeroed in on Gangtok.

This time again Naveen is the one who would be accompanying me. But we have 2 new companions, his wife Pooja and 1 year old boy, Chunnu. You can see both of them in the pic below.

Naveen's Wife Pooja and their child Chunnu

So as per the current plan, we would be landing at Baghdora airport on afternoon of Friday that is 15th June and from there proceed towards Gangtok in shared jeep. It would be late in the evening when we would reach there and hence would prefer to see local markets or simply stay in our rooms.

Next day we plan to hire a local taxi which would take us for 7 Point sightseeing trip around Gangtok. This will almost take entire Saturday. and on Sunday we plan to Visit Nathu-la. I have seen some pictures of it over the internet and find that place to be breathtaking. Monday we have kept as a buffer day, we have to see how the tot reacts to climate and travelling.

Finally on Tuesday we would be attending the wedding in Siliguri and on Wednesday we have our flight back home.

As of now these all are plans, and lets see how successful this trip is. I have seed most weired things happen at the last minute, so I am waiting with my fingers crossed !!

Leaving India ..

2007-05-18T19:59:00.000+05:30

November 3rd, 2006

Okay, all the festivities over, it’s time to say goodbye to Delhi and Hello to Kathmandu. If I remember it correctly our flight with Indian Airlines, was IC-813 and was scheduled for around 1 pm IST. And there was another problem, we are not supposed to carry currency note of 500 (INR) into Nepal, its not that we cannot carry, but it wont be accepted, so taking all the cash in 100’s was a headache. We stocked some bundles in our pockets and rest went securely into luggage.

So lets come to the Legendry Indian Auto Rickshaw, contrary to popular belief that they rip western tourists, they do not spare even their Indian brethren, and when you tell them you want to go to International Airport, then it automatically rings a bell that you are more moneyed than the average man on the street. So after lot of haggling we hired an Auto Rickshaw and reached Airport at around 11 AM.

At the air India counter we were given some immigration forms, which we filled promptly, collected our boarding passes and the rest of the process was like a breeze. We were asked couple of questions at the immigration and there were no major hassles.

So there we were sitting in the waiting terminal of International Airport, surrounded with well heeled Indians and foreigners. In fact I have heard a lot of criticism about the condition of Airports in India, however since I have not seen any airport other than Indian ones and now Nepalese, I somehow still find them quite okay. Maybe that’s because I have nothing to compare them with. So we were sitting there observing the mannerisms of all sorts of passengers, kids, staff, Air Hostesses ;-).

Boarding started quite late from the scheduled time, which made us worry about Mr. Manjit Thapa, as he was supposed to pick us up from the Airport in Kathmandu as 3:15 PM. And once we were on the place, it didn’t take off for another 30 minutes or so, as there was no slot for it on the runway.

Finally we were airborne by 2 pm, and anxiously started to wait for the meals to be served. We were quite glad that the staff didn’t waste much time and started serving as soon as the seatbelt sign went off. I don’t exactly recall what was served, but it was not very filling, however was of decent quality.

I struck a conversation with a fellow passenger was quite a regular visitor to Nepal. He told me that we could have booked Royal Nepal Airlines instead, as they served liquor on board. So next time it would be Royal Nepal Airline for me. He also told us about the distance between Kathmandu and Pokhara, various means of transport. He told me that there was no need of changing the IC (Indian Currency) to NC (Nepalese Currency), as everyone in Nepal would welcome the IC and would give us the change in IC or if they return the balance in NC they will give it according to exchange rate. All across Nepal they followed the standard rate of 1 IC = 1.6 IC. So it means that if I purchase something worth NC 80, and hand over a IC 100 note, so they assume that they have got NC 160 and will return NC 80 back. It might sound confusing but its very simple concept.

Anyways as we were nearing Kathmandu, we were able to get some awesome views of the snow capped Himalayas. It was a thrilling sight. I am uploading some pictures that we took from the plane.

Waiting for Festivities to Start !!

2007-05-16T18:47:00.000+05:30

Late August 2006

So things have started to heat up now. We were somehow biding out time, before we went to Kathmandu. Actually for Naveen, this would have been first opportunity of Air travel. Infact I myself flew for the first time in February of 2006 itself. But till this time I had already made 3 trips ‘by air’, all to Mumbai for business.

Flying for middle class was not as easy as it is today. Before the low cost carriers like Air Deccan, Spice Jet , and others started their operations few years back, flying was almost out of reach for average Indian, barring people who flew on company business or who got travel reimbursements from their employers. A two way Delhi-Mumbai ticket used to cost anything in range of Rs.10, 000 (USD 225), however that figure has come down to Rs.5,000 (USD 115). This has brought Air Travel in reaches of middle class families.

Coming to the buildup to Kathmandu, preparations were on in full swing, we were discussing about the trip with anyone we can get hold of. Collecting a lot of information about currency, prices, casinos, nightlife, bike rental, trip to Pokhara. Infact we were waiting for October to come, as from September end the festival season would have started, triggering a whole lot of festivities. Navratri , Durga Puja, Dussehra, Dhanteras, Bhai Doooj, Ramzan, Id-ul-fitar, Guru Purab, Diwali and many more. You can check this list of Public Holidays in India to realize how much we celebrate ;-).

So more than a dozen festivals thrown in 40 days time, add to that 1 billion people, with a growing economy, and you can imagine the kind of time we have in that period. So we were waiting for second half of September, as next 30-40 days would be filled with excitement after that period within a week we will be headed to Kathmandu.

Nepal - How it started ?

2007-05-15T12:34:00.000+05:30

Second Half of July 2006

For last couple of months Kathmandu was repeatedly coming up in conversations with friends. It was discussed that people from Delhi and other parts on India go there to party and have fun; they go on a Saturday, spend a lot of time in casinos and would return on Sunday. Even though it all sounded very glamorous and I was tempted by all this, however it seemed quite out of reach and I never really thought of going due to various reasons.

However in middle of July 2006, I happened to visit Dalhousie and Khajiyar (Himalayas), for a 3 day break, more on that later. After returning from there I was discussing the experiences and other details with my friend, Naveen. He got very excited and was looking for a escapade for himself as well. Couple of days later he showed me the package tours that were being advertised in newspapers, I do not recall them exactly, but they were like Rs.10,000 – 11,000 (USD 225) per person, including airfare and 3 day 4 night accommodation is 4/5 Star hotels. The package sounded pretty decent, however all of them had validity till September and we planned to go there after Diwali. So we decided to get the tickets done for early November (3^rd – 8^th), which cost us Rs. 6,000 each (USD 140) Delhi – Kathmandu – Delhi on Indian Airlines, now known as Indian.

After that started my research on Internet. That was first time I used internet to gather information about a place that I was visiting (Even though I am hooked to WWW for more that 12 years now). There was lot of information available on the internet, but that was from western tourists and their perspective. On the basis of the same we decided that we will also visit Pokhara, as according to most of the travelers it was a beautiful place.

There were couple of more people who wanted to come with us and got their tickets booked, but after that got them canceled due to individual problems. So started the hotel inquiries, we wanted a decent place to stay, range was never a major constraint, but we wanted to try our options. A special mention to currency difference (INR 1 = NPR 1.6). In the process I stumbled on Annapurna Guest House, Thamel, Kathmandu. There was not much information available on this one on TripAdvisor, VirtualTourist or other websites, however the rates that were mentioned on the site (http://www.annapurnaguesthouse.com) seemed reasonable enough (literally cheap). However since there was not much information available on the internet, I decided to send a mail asking for the best rates and availability. Infact I had sent mails to some other reasonable hotels; however I got a response from Mr. Manjit Thapa, owner of Annapurna Guest House. He sent me all the details, with rates in INR and also offered free pickup from the airport.

In following days, I exchanged a few more mails with Manjit, he gave a good discount to me, and we booked our room in Annapurna Guest House, Thamel. We paid around INR 400 (below USD 10) per day for a double room. I have always believed that service provider who is prompt in answering his mails can be relied upon. And this time I was proven right and how (more on this later).

Over here a special mention to a primary difference I have noticed between Western and Indian traveler. Most of the western travelers (few backpackers might be an exception) give high importance to getting a hotel booked in advance. They try to get the hotels booked along with the tickets, however generally Indians do not get them booked in advance. We prefer to go to the place first, physically see the hotel, negotiate and then decide. I am not sure how right I am in this assessment; maybe your comments can throw some light.

The Lord of the Rings

2007-05-14T09:59:00.000+05:30

The Lord of the Rings (LOTR), the trilogy is listed everywhere among the all-time top 20 movies. However I never had a 'real' chance to watch them. I have watched the 1st and 3rd one, however at that time I was not familiar with American Accent, and ended up with little understanding of the movie, that there was an evil ring and Frodo (Elijah Wood) was supposed to carry it to the evil city and destroy it. And others Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), & Legolas (Orlando Bloom) were the ones who were the good guys and supported him. Other than that I enjoyed the extravagant war sequences and special effects.

However I always thought that there must be something special about these series and that is the reason so many people actually love it, and now that my understanding of foreign accented English has improved, I wanted to see all of them again, but never got a chance. In fact I got all three movies on DVD (Extended Editions), however was not able to watch them.

Yesterday being Sunday, and nothing major to do, I thought "today was the day". So I sat through entire day and watched the entire series again, yes the entire 12 hours of it. And was I glued to it !! even though I found them a tad lengthy (but maybe that is the reason they are "Extended Editions" and were not released in theaters) but I loved them. Specially the story, as it was something very new for me, I am sure that 95 % or above Indians, have never heard about LOTR or J.R.R. Tolkien, and that is the reason we are not familiar with elves, orcs, hobbits and all.

There might be another reason, because our history is full with huge epics and mythologies, two of the most important ones being Ramayana & Mahabharata. So LOTR might be the work that gets closest to Mahabharata in terms of scale and proportions, however latter was written thousands of years back and is still among the lengthiest piece of writings. Other then scale there are other similarities like good versus evil theme, however there is a major difference, and I believe this difference is due to religion and cultures. LOTR is work of west, which is being dominated by Christianity, and Mahabharata is an Indian tale, in fact it would be more appropriate to say that its a Hindu tale. Even though I am not knowledgeable enough to comment on this, but I still feel that Christianity is Black & white religion, either you have good OR evil, however Hinduism is bit different in this regard. We have a lot of Grey. That is why Mahabharata is so different, there is always a conflict in minds of characters, more from the point of Dharma VS Karma. The story of Mahabharata is far more complicated, huge in scale & humane in nature.

But lets not get drawn from LOTR for the time being, I immensely enjoyed the movies, specially the fact that special effects and great artwork, never took over the actors. They were brilliant in there roles. Peter Jackson despite the scale, always had a grip on the story and didn't let it all fall apart, which was a major possibility in a work of such proportions. In fact they excelled in almost all the departments like screenplay, make-up, background score etc.

I really hope that I again get a good Sunday to myself and I can watch the trilogy again ;-) !!

Why Nepal !!

2007-05-11T16:18:00.000+05:30

As I have mentioned in my profile that I have been able to strike a balance between tradition and modernity, however we all know that necessity is the mother of all inventions (ok.. balance in my case). In our contemporary Indian life, its important for us to realize and attain the balance. Even though our society is progressing (not essentially westernizing but to some extent), both socially & economically , however it is not possible to override the values and traditions as well, specially those which are as relevant as they were before OR with the advent of Western culture have become more relevant then ever.

Now the reason I have written the above paragraph is to justify my Visit to Kathmandu. Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal, which has an open border policy with India. Nepalese people can easily come and go from India and the same is with Indians, so we no not need any passport or permit or currency exchange to visit Nepal.

Nepal is a Mountain Kingdom and almost the entire country is based in Himalayas, leaving it landlocked. Manufacturing is not very common in Nepal, maybe due to high transportation costs, lack of local demand OR non-supportive government policies, that is something that has to be thought of by economists.

Now you might be thinking in what direction I am taking you, the reader; I simply wanted to emphasize that since there is not much manufacturing going on, so there main source of income besides agriculture & cottage industry is tourism. And Nepal is particularly famous for its Treks, may that be Annapurna range or Everest. There are hordes of western tourist coming to this place every year, and due to this fact there is a lot more influence of western culture on Nepal.

So In stark contrast to the reason westerners visit Nepal, when people in India want to gamble in casinos, spend nights in discos and enjoy free flowing food & liquor, they head to Nepal.

A brief History

2007-05-10T22:18:00.000+05:30

I intend to start this blog from November 2006, when I visited Kathmandu and Pokhara in Nepal. However since I consider myself travelholic, one who travels for the road, not mentioning a brief about my previous travel exploits would be injustice to this blog, on the other hand I cannot go too much in the past as it would take a lot of time and I might not be able to gather all the facts. I am mentioning some places here, many of them would be of interest to foreign tourists and almost all of them to Indian tourist. Would not be able to write details about each and every place at this stage, however as time will progress I will keep on posting whatever I can recall of, or on request of any of the readers.

(In no specific Order)

1. Udaipur, Rajasthan
2. Jaipur, Rajasthan
3. Mehndipur Balaji, Rajasthan (Hindu Religious Importance Only)
4. Salasar Balaji, Rajasthan (Hindu Religious Importance Only)
5. Khatu Shyam Ji, Rajasthan (Hindu Religious Importance Only)
6. Mt. Abu, Rajasthan
6. Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh
7. Nainital, Uttarakhand
8. Chandigarh, Punjab/Haryana
9. Mata Vaishno Devi, J & K (Hindu Religious Importance Only)
10. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
11. Mumbai, Maharashtra
12. Agra, Uttar Pradesh

I have highlighted some places by using Bold Characters, these are the places that should be there on the Map of a Western tourist to India.