ladakh - the land of contrasts.....

Our Ladakh holiday has been a perfect cocktail till now: all the ingredients mixed in perfect proportion and laced together to create a heady experience. Lovely, relaxed people, a landscape that continuously stuns and weather that is perfect complements the cocktail. We have been wondering what we can do to give something back to this beautiful land and its beautiful people.So I thought of penning down my experience so that more and more people can explore this pride of India called LADAKH  obvioulsly keeping in mind that its hue, culture and ambience is not disturbed.
We started for Delhi  on 14th May'2012 and the very next day we were into the Capital city and we were greeted by getting theft in the Delhi Metro station.And we resulted in screaming  in the staion on the security Guards and stopping the mtreo for 3 mintues but all in vain. My husband's wallet was gone and along with it flew off ATM Cards of four banks and a credit card to.. The metro authority of the great city sat doing nothing rather shouting on us for holding the metro for 3 min. Anyway the next moments were too tiring and scary for us ..30 mintues went on deciding what to do next and whom to call to helo us. Anyway God was in our side and we got enable locking the cards.
The next day we were in Delhi International Airport with our heart divided into two folds- one fearing what next is waiting for us in terms of insecurities and the other waiting to explore the least known place called LEH.

well the journey on board was great at we experienced the white washed  himalayan range miles after miles and the sight itslef was enough to visit leh by AIR. One cannot experience it at any cost if traveled on road.After we got down in KUshok Bakula Airport we saw Mussa Bhai waiting outside with my name plate and a sweet ladakhi smile. JULLEY , I said and went forward with him along with my family and rolled on the smooth-polished roads of LEH in a Black coloured Scorpio.For the next few days in leh "HE" will be our companion. Hassan Bhai whom i did contact from Kolkata itself advised me to get into hotel KHyaul which he arranged for us for our stay in leh. Khayul was a beautiful , little guest house runned by MIR family and nestled in between apple and apricot trees. THe hotel was not to great in terms of luxury but the people associated with this hotel like Mr. and Mrs. Mir, Bilal, Wasim, the cooks and the little chutki were all marvellous people and they all made our stay in Leh  filled with happiness and Joy.
MIshtu could not take the jump, i mean from delhi to Leh a direct jump of 11,500 fett and fell sick. Mrs. Mir, the owner of the hotel Khayul took great care of mishtu and she herself drove us to the best Child specialist of Leh . Me and Subhas were extremely touched by their concern . By and By two days passed on and we are yet to explore ladak's beauty ....mishtu got acclimitized and thereby we started our journey of LEH.

All my family members were charged up by the cozy atmosphere of the hotel and witnessing mishtu playing again in full motion. We had our breakfast and slipped into our scorpio and went to Sindhu Ghat, the place enthralled us in terms of its serenity and tranquill atmosphere. CLICKS< CLICKS< CLICKs.....zapped the moments in our Digi cam and rolled on for the next place i.e. Shey Palace, the birds eye view of LEH from Shey is just too good and one will remember it till the end of life.From shey we toured to THIKSHEY

In Ladakh, we never seem to have the time to recover from one excited state before the next one begins! Now too, before we can get over the excitement of our home stay experience, the next day dawns on us and brings its own share of excitement. Today, we are to drive to the beautiful Nubra valley and spend the night there in a fairy tale Guest House. We crossed across the famous KHARDUGLA PASS (18 330 FT , world's highest motorable pass) on the way to Nubra valley Like most other mountain passes in India, Khardong La is jam-packed with revelers and their vehicles. And then there is the slope of snow that everyone clambers on to; and then too, are the chai shops that every one heads to. The difference here is that, at 18380 feet, Khardong La lays a claim (disputed, though) to being the highest motorable road in the world! Now isn’t that something?  And, and… the café (this truly must be a genuine claim) advertises itself as the highest café in the world! It is not the idea of it being the highest in the world that draws us to the café though, but the thought of having hot, steaming tea. We go in and have cups and cups of hot black tea, and  bowls of Maggi noodles; it is as if we have never ever had Maggi before. The outer wall of the café advertises the good effects of black tea and has a story of the origins of Maggi noodles. After the customary pics next to the board that lays the claim to being the highest motorable road, we cross the pass and head towards Nubra..Nubra hosts the only cold sand desert of India where one could enjoy the two humped camel safar and so we did. I , my husband and child and my sister had a hilarious, exciting experience in the two-humped camel safari. I was really, really scared when the strange creature stood on its long legs with a three fold break..GOD saved me . One could not read my face as I was wearing a fake-artifical smile on my face probably for the sake of camera but my heart was leaping inside and my mind was constantly asking help from LOKNATH BABA . Even i thought what will happen if i fell down on the sand , may be my thivk jacket would save me from breaking my bones. Anyway no such thing occured and when the camel sat down folding his legs i just tried to jump off his hump and in the process got disbalanced , one tourist and the camel mentor soon checked me from falling down.
Habib's guest house is another place which I will never forget because of its great rooms, exotic locatioon and above all the behaviour of the owner. He treated us as his own MEHMAN and casted a deep imapact on our heart.

The very next day was assigned for beautiful Pangong Lake where  "PHUNTSUNG WANGDU " got a slap and a kiss from his lady love PRIYA , i eman the 3 idots shooting point. Believe me seeing  PANGONG just one word comes from within "WOW ". It would be useless to constauct sentence or write decorative words to express its beauty as i will dare to do that. I really do not have words to express the beauty of Pangong and the surrounding atmosphere.The seagull and various migratory birds make the place more heavenly.Again in the temporary camps we got ourselves treated with MAGGI, i dont really remember the name of the company who make MAGGI but really they have made something which is very useful in atleast this heights .ha...ha..haa
Constant three days of journey though made us ltittle tedious but no-- we will not waste a minute so the next day we were on roads for Tsomori ri . The black , gracious scorpio scissored the polished roads of leh and after covering 20km. it stopped while we were informed by the driver, that due is some problem in the brake and it would not be advisable to cover a journey of 440k. with this faulty brake. So we had to press brake to our journey for the day and inspite of going to tsomoriri we just walked down on the roads and markets of leh city. Every thing was unimaginably expensive but the locals were good to interact .
That day we gave ourself a treat to rest which was no common factor in a trip to leh.
Hassan bhai came in the f=afternoon and he informed that our Scorpio is now OK and we can avail for the next half of our journey the other day. We had a long adda with Hassan bhai.
Journey to Tsomoriri was very exclusive as we got to see many rare species of himalay wild inhabitants.
Among them were Ibex, Golden Duck, Himalayan Wild Horse and Marmot.Eack glance of each of them make us excited like a child.
Tsomoriri is again BEAUTIFUL, i feel its is more a beauty than Pangogng. Now just imagine ! Its lusterous water has undefined colors hidden in ti. Somewhere it peacock blue, somewhere emerald blue, somewhere turquoise green  . JUSt gorgeous.we had our lunch that Omlette and MAGGI in a camp in Karzok village.

Then headed for Chumathang where he halted for the night and the next day we headed for  Leh again. Chumatang is a place where one can witness numerous hot spring.

In the total journey of ladakh each and every people we got in touch with  was just true humane with an honest outlook towards life. I was amazed by their honesty and hospitality . I will again visit leh not only because it is beautiful place but because of its people who made me feel as if i was in my own home with my loving people around, because LADAKH IS THE PRIDE OF OUR COUNTRY.

Heavenly UTTARAKHAND

PATHE MORA BENDHECHI GHAR, PATH CHALATEI ANANDO,
MODER KACHE KI BA PAHAD, KI BA JANGOL, KI BA SAMUDRA.
GHARER ANGINA CHERE EBAR TAI PAHADER DIKE PARI ,
SET-SUBHRO HIMALAYA AR SABUJ PAHAD-E JHULAN BARI.
SABAI MILE HESHE BOLE AYE CHUTE AYE AMAR KACHE,
FELE REKHE SAB MAN KHARAP, BHALO-NA-LAGA DOORE, ANEK PICHE..

Making a tour plan, conversing with various car providers and hoteliers for a forth coming tour always exhilarates my nerves and energy level. This time I started the process long time back , I fixed the date to be 25th February’2011, knowing that my son has to bunk his classes for the same reason I went ahead without compromising the tour. But I promised to myself that, this is the last time of this type of decision of mine as in his future years this type of act may effect his studies.
Anyway let’s come back to the Tour.

On the fine sunny morning of 25th Feb’2011 we were all charged with energy and zeal for the 12days trip to KUMAYUN , which comprised of Mukteshwar, Almora, Binsar, Kausani,Munsiyair,Chakouri ,PatalBhubaneshwar and Lastly Nainital. This tour to Kumayun was my 3rd time to the place but I felt the same jerk inside me as it was years back during my first visit to these places with my Ma,Baba,Dadu,Didi ,Bhai kaka,ChotoPusa.. Our Train, Upasna left the platform at the right time with all of us giggling, gossiping and chatting with each other. This time there was a new addition in the Tour Member, MITA PISHI(my mothers friend) who too is a enthusiastic traveler.
After some time me and Paromita served the food which we packed from home, it was steamy rice with mutton kosha. Believe me it was a total hit as Subhas, Kuntal da Rita maima, Mita Pishi ,Ma and the two kids along with me and Paromita enjoyed the Lunch utmost.
Well , the next morning we arrived Lucknow Station which is very dirty and unsystematic, the rickshaw wala’s outside the station were scary as it gave me a feel that they are not at all helpful and cooperative but lean more on the fishy side. We waited while Subhas and Kuntal Da managed to hire a Big Auto and along with us it rolled on , on the roads of Nawab City. The very day after refreshing ourselves we went to see BHOOL BHULAIYA, which I think every Lucnkow Goers must see as it was a pleasure to see how hundreds of years ago NAWAB ASIF UD DULLA made this building with the help fellow people to help them not to starve. To provide food to the city dwellers he thought of making this huge magnificent mansion (so that his city people earn money while making the mansion.) It was built from basic Kitchen contents like MASOOR Dal, Sugar Cane Juice , Atta ,etc. I bet still today it stands as a wonder and nobody can get out of it without a guide who knows every nook and corner of BhoolBhulaiya.

The same day we set from the hotel by Rickshaw towards Aeshbagh Station to catch Nainital Expres, and when we reached Aeshbagh Station we found one Luggage(my mothers Suitcase) was missing, spontaneously Subhas ran behind the rickshaw on which me and ma were sitting but ALAS ! he was gone with the Suitcase which had every bit of clothing of my mother. Soon Subhas and Kuntal Da took another Rickshaw and ran towards the main city, infront of the hotel but there was no trace of the Rickshawala and there my mother was sitting helplessly, crying bitterly accompanied by my little son. She was left only with the sari she was wearing and a Shawl , everything else were gone along with some of my dresses too. Anyway I had a hard time to convince my Ma that not to worry, I will buy again whatever was gone but it was really bad time for all of us.

We took entry in the train and it left Aeshbagh Station with a heavy heart !

The next day Mr.Sachin Suyal(Of Brindawan Tours and Travels) was waiting for us in the station with his INNOVA Car and a driver of the same. I got the detail of Mr.Suyal from BHRAMAN Magazine and I was in contact with this person since long time back and he agreed with much pleasure to give me the Innova @1700/- per day for 7 days after scrutinizing the total tour detail(through email). We all were happy to see the car and Mr.Suyal’s cordial behaviour pleased us but the driver was a bit reserve, anyway that doesn’t matter.
It was a beautiful morning, and our glamorous car roared on the road of Haldwani with all of us sitting gracefully and enjoying the sight, surrounded by green hills. Only whenever I looked at my Mom , my heart pinned and I said to myself why this poor lady had to face this unpleasure situation without no fault of hers.

We informed our driver, Shivraj that we will move to Mukteshwar first, though he had also being given our total route plan previously. After reaching Mukteshwar the driver shocked me a bit by saying that he will not travel to one place more than one time, I mean If I have to see a hotel near Chaowli ki jail , I have to take hotels there only irrespective of the high cost. I said him politely that this is not done, You don’t have to run the car unnecessary but you must allow us to select hotel of our choice and budget, he understood and said OK. Anyway , Mukteshwar is a beautiful, tranquil place , nestled among the Greater Pine area of Himalayan Region and from Mukteshwar we saw snow feeded Himalayan Range. It was too cold as there was less habitants and very few hotels , and surrounded by forests all around so the cold here was just unbearable. The hotelier of Aravali Point is a retired Military Person and was thus very neat and disciplined in his work. The hotel too shows his neatness as it is maintained nicely. The lunch on the terrace was delicious with extravagant sights opened to us to rejoice our lunch.
In the evening me, Paromita and Rita maima went for a short walk on the lonely nooks of Mukteshwar as all other members were under the heavy quilt to fight the cold.

The next day we went for ALMORA , we reached Almora at about 10:00 in the morning and after fixing hotel of Drivers choice(as he said he will only allow us to stay in star rated hotels because those have car parking facility).Jo Hookoom ! we resided in SHIKHAR HOTEL(a good 3 star hotel). That very day after fixing the luggages inside the hotel room we all packed ALU PARATHA from a nearby restaurant and BALL MITHAI(special of Almora) and rolled on our Innova towards Binsar. Binsar is good option to view Himalayan range but I must say not exotic, Chakauri and Munsiyari are much better and superior option. Anyway we walked through the forest area of Binsar in hope to see mountain birds or some deer at least but no nobody came infront to entertain us.
From the way back to Almora from Binsar our driver opened up in full form , by then he had planned extend our tour agreement of 7 days with him to 10 days so that he could squeeze a good amount from us. He said It is impossible for him to run the car from Chakuri to Nainital in a single day(170km.) so he insisted us to take a break in Ranikhet which we did not agree. Anyway the next day when we were all set in the car and about to start our journey towards Kausani, once again I briefed him our total route, which I have emailed them previously also. He started screaming at me saying “aapka jo tour hain wo saat din mein nehi 10 din mein complete hota hain”. When I said Ok, fine If it is so then why didn’t you or Mr.Suyal said me before when I spoke to you all about the tour and most importantly I mailed you my total tour plan. He said “ Hum idhar se Gadi nehi le jayenge , aap doosra gadi dekhlo aur humko rupiya bhi nehi chahiye” We were wondering at his rude behaviors, it was beyond my expectation that a driver can go to that extent of audacity. Anyway we all got down from the car and I said everyone present there about the fowl game he played with us and soon I did contact the Hotel Manager of Shikhar and said him the whole story, he arranged to get me another car from Almora with a new driver. When we were all set to start our journey after2-3 hrs of hallagulla, then our previous car driver came again, Shivraj came in the reception and informed that he won’t allow our new car to move from the hotel premises until and unless he is being given his 3400/- (1700/- for 2 days).The hotel manager shouted at him and said if we would have want we could put him inside bars so he advised him not to cross his limit, on the otherhand he(Hotel person) requested us to pay his 3400/- , at first I was rigid not to pay him the money because of the harassment and his rude behaviour but then my husband decided not to go in more deep controversy and paid him his money. He wanted the tour to continue without anymore hindrances. I personally request you all friend not to take anyservice from MR.SACHIN SUYAL OR SHIVRAJ OF BRINDAWAN TOURS, HALDWANI,TALLI. They are great frauds.
Well , we reached Kausani in the evening and as soon as we landed on the soil of Kausani a chilled, moist gush of wind welcomed us. We spoke with Mishra ji(Manager) and manage to get the front sided two cottages and we were the only boarders in the whole Ashram. We were served with hot rice, dal, sabji and alu bhaji at the ashram canteen. In the evening we all gathered in the ashram’s auditorium where after offereing prayer to INDIA, Bapu ji we sang some beautiful patriotic songs. Mishra ji was overwhelmed by our participation, even a cold flow of blood ran across our spine while thinking of us sitting in the same place where once Gandhiji spent some precious days of his life and singing in high pitch for our dear country INDIA.


The next day i.e 2nd March we were to start off our Journey in a land of snow capped mountains, , glaciers, valleys, gushing streams -------- to MUNSIYARI. That day was also Maha Shiv Ratri so stopped in Baijnath and Bageshwar Mandir, both very famous religious place to offer our prayer to SHIV JI. When we reached near Minsiyari via Khalia Top it was all snow around us , our kids gigiggled with happiness, even the elder ones to rejoiced at the sight. We were the only tourist throughout the way and in Khalia Top amidst the great snow capped mountains , under a cloudy sky an d trees half covered with snow we nine people found an image of heaven. Mishtu suddenly shouted “MA baraf porche..” WOW ! God just gave what our soul wanted as at that very moment, there started snow fall, it was very much like Homeopathic globules being showered from above.
We reached Munsiyari at about 5 p.m and it was raining heavily by then, and needless to say it was tremendous cold . Munsiyari is situated in the northern part of the Pithoragarh district. This small town is located at the foot of the main Himalayan peaks that are covered with snow throughout the year. This town has breathtaking views of the Himalayas and the nearby mountains in this area are perfect for trekking. It is a day travel through Roseate dawns and crimson dusks can leave you simply siareing in the snow laden summits for hours. The next day we were though at Munsiyari but not a single peak was visible till evening and I knew very well from my previous research work reg. the tour that in Munsiyari the Sunset is more enthralling than the Sunrise. And when I saw all the peaks namely : Trishul, Nanda Devi, Nanda Ghunti, huge and magnificent Panchchhulli and many other snowy peaks playing among them with the golden yellow colour of the sun. Nothing was there to say but just tears dropped from my eyes to think how blessed we are that after a day of total rain , in the evening miraculously the sky got clear and we witnessed that heavenly sight.I thank another person , that is PAROMITA, my friend who called me as I was comfortable sitting infront of a Fireplave in the otherside of the hotel, gossiping with my other tour members, locals and tour guide. All of us ran in the Lawn of the rest house and happily took innumerable snaps.
The next day we were about to leave Munsiyari and again mother nature was too happy with us as the Sky was deep blue and all the peaks were smiling at us. The rays of the sun reflected on the peaks made us feel that we were in Cloud 9. Tata Munsiyari , hope to meet you again, sometime later!
It was a pleasant sunny morning and deep blue sky and white peaks accompanied us while we moved towards Chakauri , we reached Chakauri by evening as on the way to Chakauri we visited Patal Bhubaneshwar. Patal Bhubaneshwar, is a cave shrine of Lord Shiva. Access to the temple is no less exciting as a narrow dark passage of water through a tunnel leads to the main temple. The main passage also leads to several small caves where water oozing from limestone rocks have created interesting forms. Some of them resemble various gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. In fact this cave temple complex is said to be the abode of thousands of deities and it is believed that these deities were consecrated by Adi Shankaracharya.. Maong seven adults only three of us( Me, Rita Maima and Subhas) went deep doen into the cave, I said the other members to follow us as I have been to the cave previously but they cold not conquer their fear. Anyway it was a great experience for all of us as there no no tourist inside the cave so me rita maima and subhas along with the guide felt somewhat like we have entered into some place out of the world. We resided in KMVN rest house in Chakauri , which is famous for its outstanding location. The rest is really good place to stay with a multi cuisine restaurant in it and the food was also good.
The next morning I got up at 5:30 a.m and fought with myself to come out of the quilt and made a step or two towards the window and OOPPPHH what a sight. Infront of me the Himalayan Range is about to open as it was dark by that time only I could visualize some huge ,giant figures , reflecting white colour standing infront of me and on the left hand side the sky was lighting up slightly with orange sun rays and just beneath it a SEA OF CLOUUD is floating and fron within some mouontains were peeping its head above. It was just like a sea of cloud. I ran out of my room and went into the lawn , I was so happy to see the view that instantly I felt that I should call my other tour members and made them see this. I knocked at their glass window and when they came out I took them to the watch tower , the view from there is splendid. And all were like spellbound , just no words to speak !!

The same day at 7 a.m packing our breakfast we rolled on our Maxx towards Nainital, it was a long journey and I was a bit scared that whtehr my two kids would face any problem but by God’s grace and Mother nature’s blessings they were fine and very cheerful all through. We reached Naiinital at about 2 p.m and that’s quite early.Two days stay in Nainital were nothing much than doing window shopping, loitering in and around Bhutani market and enjoying Boat rides in Naini Lake.


Now we were at the edge of out tour , which inspite of little ups and downs went very well as all the negative part were compensated by GOD and Mother nature. From Nainital we came down to Kathgodam to catch Bagh Exp. And the next morning we were again at Lucknow, the place which I didn’t like at all but our flight was scheduled from there so there was no option. We took Jet flight at 1:10p.m and via Varanasi we reached our sweet home(Kolkata) at about 3: 50 p.m. For a change , a gush of hot, dusty wind welcomed us in airport but that doesn’t matter it was the wind which is known to us, after all everything back home is sweet.

ARUNACHAL: ABODE OF LAKES AND CLOUD…

IT started long time back, I mean the process, started with buying of airtickets and that too keeping in mind the fact to avail the same at its lowest cost…and we succeeded. Then we followed on the process of attaining of inner line permits. We ,this time the group widened, nine adults and three little idiots..the champs of the tour who were only present to aggravate our adrenaline flow. But the truth is, they are the beauty spots on the face of a journey.

Lets start with the journey. It started 17th April , we boarded Indigo flight which departed from Kolkata at about 10:50 hrs. and landed on the wet land of Guwahati the same day at 12:05pm.Eventually we rented two cars, to take us to ASSAM TOURIST LODGE, where I prebooked four rooms . The journey from airport to the tourist lodge was quite pleasing as the weather was cool and the stupendulous green was a good treat for the eyes. After completion of a horrible lunch me , my husband and Tarak da went for booking a good car which would remain with us for nine days of our tour in ARUNACHAL. We directly headed towards Paltan Bazar, the main car market and finalized with one such of our requisites. Tarak da spoke beautifully with the guy and finalised the car at a very reasonable price.
The next day, 18th April, we rolled on for Bhalukpong(241km.) , the border between Assam and Arunachal. We are blessed with a very good driver who made our tour extravagant, he is Pramod Bhaiya. We reached our destination in the evening , needless to say the placement of the tourist lodge and the décor of the rooms made every one roared hilariously “ thank you moumita..” I just smiled back and patted on my back remembering the effort I gave in to book these government tourist lodges for this whole tour. Well we were very lucky to do a little tip-tap with the BIHU team which came into our lodge to show their dance, we too did a hip-hop with them and rewarded them with money , though the happiness we came across is nothing in comparison with the money. A single day spent in Bhalukpong was splendid in every sense, the place was so perfect in all sphere that we fell in love with the place. The river Kameng which is flowing down from snow clapped mountains of Arunachal is named as Jiabhoreli in Bhalukpong and passes along the side of the toursit lodge increasing the beauty of the place.Thanks to Mr.Kolita who helped me a lot to book rooms in Bhalukpong and Dirang.

The next day after having “KHICHURI” , cooked by Paromita we headed for Dirang at about 12pm which was a mistake on our part as we reached Dirang the same day at night and the experience we had on the road was terrific. The road was dangerous and extremely foggy we only had to rely on our life strength and perfection of Pramod Bhaiya. At places the car had to run on a speed of 3-4 Km. per hour. Anyway our nest at Dirang was beautiful and it helped us to shake off the tiring experience of the journey.I always believe journey in mountains should start at early morning so to avail the beauty and reach safely but sometime what we want does not happen. Dirang is a beautiful valley, 5500 ft. above sea level and the sight of the valley from Dirang Tourist Lodge is panoramic. We went for Dirang dzong, Sangti valley, Apple Orchard and the hot spring the following day. IN Sangti we met Mrs. Chakraborty , a tripura based Bengali Lady who took us to her house and gave us a good treat. We felt very blessed once more to come in acquaintance with such a lovely person in such a remote place, where the total number of habitants would be hardly hundred.
ON 20th April we started at about 8am for Tawang. And we were over excited to see SELA PASS on our way to Tawang. It was a mystical journey to a destination far too divine to describe in words. Perhaps it's a paradise on this very earth itself. As we soared high up into the mountains on a three-day-long spree, it was as if our very souls were uplifted to make us feel heavenly and pure. As we reached very near to Sela Pass “ALL IZZ WELL” roared up in Pramod Bhaiya’s music system and our heart leaped up with excitement and joy. Tarak da shouted –“ OI baraf dekha jacche” , to his comment we all hanged on from the window to have glimpse of the same. IN the mean time Kuntal da, Subhas, Tatai , Mistu and me were shaking our body sitting inside the car in the tune of the fantabulous song. Pramod Bhaiya’s Car stopped at Sela and we stepped out of our Chariot and was bit upset as the weather was not very clear and few drops of rain scared us a lot as rain in that high altitude is very risky for the rest of our journey. The weather outside was chilled and freezing wind in that very little time squeezed our skin of hand and lips very strangely. We had some snaps very quickly and threw some snow at one another…the age old game..!!!and headed for Tawang. The weather on road got worse and it was so foggy and misty that vision beyond few yards was impossible. Well Kuntal da and Subhas said we will surely see the sunny SELA on our return journey from Tawang. And sitting up there darling LORD heard us and smiled back! After some time the weather got clear and we saw lofty white waterfalls, gave the impression as if someone had placed a piece of frothy white linen against a backdrop of deep greenish-blue mountains. Thick lush green Pine, Oak and Rhododendron forests abound on both sides of the serpentine road as we moved ahead. We reached Tawang on 20th April in the evening , it was raining and our group was very hungry as we skipped the lunch. So me and Shilpi ran in the Kitchen of the Tourist Lodge and asked the cook and the owner to make some maggi for us (we carried with a whole lot of maggi) but he said us to cook the same. Well- with lots of effort we cooked 10 packs of maggi for all of us(it was a hard task) and served the same hot to our tour members. UFFFF……..loved it in that chilled, wetly weather.
The next day we headed for Tawang War memorial, Tawang Goompha which is very old and Anni Goompha. It is one of the oldest and the largest Buddhist monastery in Asia and can accommodate more than 700 monks. The monastery is spread over an area of 135 sq mts.The following day, at the call of the rooster, Pramod Bhiaya honked his car in front of our Lodge . I was up early after a toss-and-turn night, excited as I contemplated our hilly outing. Pramod Bhaiya smiled through his pleasing face and greeted, "Good morning dada, hurry up we have a long way to go." Indeed long was our journey. Our destination: Sangester Lake and PTSO lake situated high up in the West Kameng district in God's own good old virgin land of Arunachal Pradesh. The way to Sangester Lake had a extravagant panoramic view and we crossed through the top of the snowy mountains to reach the place which is also very , very beautiful. The way to Sangester lake is accompanied with hell lot of BUNKER of Military people making us realise that Arunachal is on the high target of the Chinese and anytime they can call upon a war. Well, we spent a gala time in Sangester The scenic and the ambience of the place made the couple take photos in a very intimate manner(don’t get scared nothing of that sort).

Sangester lake is also known as MADHURI LAKE as Madhuri Dixit and Shahrukh Khan did “Tanhaiii..Tanhaii..” song in the fillm KOYLA in front of this lake . So you see there were no reasons for us to hug our husband as the scenic and the background of the place was totally responsible for our behaviour…..!! Our seniors too enjoyed a lot in this place, specially Rita Miama, she loved the place a lot and had some beautiful pictures there..

The next day we had a long journey , as we have to reach Bomdila which is 180 km , apprx. From Tawang and we all hoped to have a pleasant weather at Sela and God fulfilled our wishes , we had a sunny , wethaer at Sela and the time spent there was really GREAT…,previous to this we experiences snow on the way to Sangester too but having pleasant , clear weather in Sela fulfilled all our hopes and we thanked to GOD for the same. The way side beauty of the snowy peaks is just garishing. We reached Bomdila at a very good time and directly went to the TOURIST LODGE of Bomdila where we had previous booking, like all other places but the person concerned cancelled our booking of the stipulated days without not reason and started quareling with us. We too shouted on him but the result was nill as it was his territrry. I would request me readers to be very careful with booking of tourist lodge in Bomdila as the staffr are just Hooligans.

Anyway we managed to stay in some other Hotel at the cost of Rs.1600/- per room and the rooms does not worth the amount. Bomdilla was not so pleasing for me because of the bad start and the poor power facility, throughout the night we stayed in candle light. Arunachal is yet to compete in tourism sector with Himachal or Kumayun or Garwal because of bad quality of roads at certain places and very poor power(electricity) facility. The stay in Arunachal was thus something out of the world experience for us. But, nature god is very happy with the state and abandons its full beauty on it.
From Bomdila , we headed for Bhalukpong(100km.) on 25th April , early morning , Bhalukpong Tourist lodge was a darling place to stay for all of us. Just after reaching the place, stagged our luggage and went to the kitchen where our ladies , except me, cooked DIMER JHOL, Bhat, ALU BHATE….Uff…it was simply great and read this…Subhas and Kuntal da knifed down some Banana leaves(KALA PATA) from the way side jungle while our journey to bhalukpong and pramod bhaiya too helped them to cut those. It was because the group all of a sudden decided to have lunch on kala pata. This is what I call a tour ! Captivating every moment to cherish in future.
A day stay in Bhalukpong was very fulfilling because of the zeal and potential of the tour members. Till late night we carried on with ADDA ….

As we travelled down from the sloppy hills to the plain of Guwahati my heart cried again to go back to the abode of cloud where on earth we found heaven. Like a flash light all the memories of our stay splashed one by one in my mind and I got absorbed in it. OH! God how kind you are to gift us with such good places so to make us enrich with quality memories.

Uttaranchal-Simply Heaven

I WISH I HAVE WINGS TO FLY , I WISH I HAVE EYES TO CAPTIVATE THE BLUES OF THE SKY AND WHITE OF THE PEAKS , I WISH I MAKE ABODE ON LOFTY MOUNTAINS AND I CAN HIDE MYSELF IN THE NOOK AND CORNER ON THE EARTHLY HEAVEN WHICH IS UTTRANCHAL, SIMPLY HEAVEN.

The mesmerizing beauty of the Himalayan Peaks , the innocence of the locals , the cold breeze of north hypnotizes one in its own way and several like us run in that direction just like a fly run towards a burning flame to discover the beauty inside and gets captivated there. Similarly we, the mountain lovers rush frequently to have lifetime experiences of charming Himalayas.
We began our journey on 4th October ‘ 2009 , we were six adults and two kids , tatai and mistu. They made the trip more joyous and their tenacity and energy level simply deserves a SALUTE.A friend of mine well said after having a glance of the pictures of our trip, a good – coherent group enriches the experiences of a tour and our group was a mixture of vigour and potential of youth, blessings and good wishes of elders which made our days bloom with happiness.

Our first destination was queen of Hills , Mussourie. Where we resided at Prince hotel, we rented a family cottage which actually made the stay much more enjoyable and happy. We spent a splendid time there. Mussourie, a sophisticated hill station of Uttaranchal gives a far sight of Himalayan peaks from the mall arena in a crystal clear sky , this feature of the place adds a feather to its crown. We went to Sukhanda Devi, Dhanaulty, Kempty Falls from Mussourie and in Surkhanda Devi we did a mild trek of 2.5 kms. . Dhanaulty is another place of idyllic charm and calmness and the place makes ones mind at peace. Kempty is a known destination to all and the vibrant falls gave a real jerk and joy inside. The two kids enjoyed the beauty of the falls a lot.
Roaming loosely at in Mussourie mall very often draw visitors attention towards the gorgeous Tandoori Chicken hanged on one after another.. And let me reveal a secret that my dear friend Paromita dies on Tandoori chicken , and thus the sight of ravishing tandoori pieces attracted her towards them , thus we too had a great evening relishing on Chicken Pieces.

Our next destination was Rishikesh, a abode of Gods, we enjoyed the stay and good food of GMVN bunglow. Had galloping and joyful autoride of the town for sight scene. Lachmanjhula was crowded as always but very welcoming. The tit-bits of a tour make a tour more memorable and close to heart. One such fact is Paromita’s effort of making Glucon-D at the middle of the road to quench the thirst of all of us , while everyone of us were tired with the scorching heat of the sun.

From Rishikesh onwards MA- GANGA accompanied us throughout our jorney to Rudraprayag and then Chandrapuri. On the way to Rudraprayag we enjoyed a Country Boat ride on Ganges. It was a life-time experience as it was very unusual and we generally see rafters going around in ganges . It was possible because of the cooperative attitude of the Car- driver who made it possible.

We reached Chandrapuri, which is 25kms. far from Rudraprayag and a small village in the lap of deep, green mountains , ornamented by scintillating Mandakini flowing aside. Mandakini is a river which originates from Kedarnath and the presence of the river and it’s gaudy sound increases the beauty of the place. When we reached the GMVN Bunglow of Chandrapuri it was late evening and the beauty of the place was covered in the darkness but the beautiful placement of the cottages made Kuntal Da dance with joy aftera tedious journey. I should mention here that it was Kuntal da’s happy and joyful nature and Subhas’s good managing capability which made our tour so glamorous.
The following morning i.e 11th October was a day of surprises and joy . our window curtains opened to a shinny , beautiful, sensuous morning.. We saw infront the scintillating, rough, extravagant and sexy mandakiny flowing just beneath the green mountains and just upright to it was the glittering, silvery Himalayan peaks of Chowkhamba, Sumeru, Kedarnath, Bhatrikuntha and enormous unnamed peaks. After experiencing the beauty of the scene for some time we geared up for our next destination that is to Deoria Taal, a lake at the top of the mountain guarded by lusty green forest and Himalayan peaks. When we reached Deoria after a tedious trek the beauty of the place calmed all our mind and body. It was enchanting environment which squeezed out from us all our pain of trek. The most credit of the trek goes to the two kids and my mother , because it was a tough journey for all three of them.

On 12th October we traveled back from Chandrapuri to Haridwar , with heavy heart we bid bye to Chandrapuri. Someday again we will visit you dear.

Late evening we reached Haridwar and had three days relaxing stay there. The stay was more remarkable for the shopping we did there, the evening were well spent hopping on different shops. On 15th October, noon, we came to station to avail UPASNA Exp. , as our tickets were not confirmed so all of us were praying to God for everything good but all our praying went to vain when we saw the train passing by , leaving us at the station with pale faces. No time to think more we managed a car and moved towards Delhi in hope to avail a Flight. On the way, after lots of phone calls and roller coaster ride of adrenaline our return tickets were booked by good Ashim Da from Kolkata in Flight on IC- 401. 15th and 16th October we had a stay in Noida Kalibari, another enchanting place . It is by the Blessing of “Ma” that we got to stay there for two days and had a splendid time. On 17th of October we sat on our destined flight and Zooooooo……, landed at 9.15 am in Kolkata airport.

A JOURNEY BACK TO CHILDHOOD

I want to go back to the time when, “ Getting High” meant “On a Swing”, when “Drinking “ meant “ Juice” , when “ Dad “ was the only “Hero” , When “ Love” was “Mum’s Hug” , when “ Dad’s Shoulder” was the “ Highest Place on Earth”, when your “Worst enemies” were your “ Siblings” , when the only “ Broken” were your” Toys” and when “ Goodbye” only meant “till tomorrow”. I read this note somewhere and it really touched my nerves and inner soul, so much that I took an analytical journey of myself. It is sometime very important for me to just talk to myself , it gives me a better understanding of myself .

When “Getting High “ meant “ On a swing” ----Oh! Happy Days why did you hide “yourself” so to only make us run behind money, status, assets and what not. I do not say these are not important in life , Yes it is but it ceases from us the ability to get happy at little things happening around us. Getting High have no limits , we race against ourselves so to attain a comfortable life . Oops! Did I say COMFORTABLE? Do I really mean it? My Husband gets up at eight O Clock in the morning and after that he could not manage a penny time to sit and relax until he goes for bed late night. This is because he is involved with Service, Bussiness ,Share , etc. ----all these for a comfortable life. “COMFORTABLE ?”

Life itself has set some goals for us and we run to attain the same, the day we achieve the same, some new target get set for us. This is Life for us. I really miss the life when Dad was my only Hero. Though Dad is still my Hero and I am proud to have a Father like Him beside me , who, in every critical stages of life ushered his warmth on me and comforted me in every way. But I miss him when I get jolted down by the hard punches of life – I miss my hero , I miss those hands who used to hold my hand firmly at the time of crisis and supported me. Now at the time of difficulties what I do to compensate his absence is just close my eyes and think what we could have advised me if he would have been with me.

Life is an ongoing process and we are just puppets tied with an invisible string , when Mum’s Hug was the only source of love and warmth for us – that was the time when love was a simple sum of 2 + 2 = 4 and now I find it a complex mathematical equation. But though maths , if worked out correctly have an happy ending i.e. it gets solved out but love have no simple solution. Love contains in itself so many relations, so many expectations and demands and it is next to impossible to meet up all those every time and when you fail------LOVE is at “?” Once rising high for me was mounting up on the shoulder of my father and have a glance of the down ward world. It was a time of triumph and joy and made my heart leap with delight. . Though rising high never meant achieving materialistic comforts but also it is not so simple as then , I never wanted to be an empire builder but in a way always satisfied as a self reliant , honest individual . It makes me happy to think that I am blessed with the ability to make my family members happy, I am satisfied to attain that height where I could take the responsibility of my husband, son and my in-laws. Height for me was never to see my pockets full of money but to maintain my own life in a peaceful manner which revolves around my family members, my education, my travelling mania and maintaining healthy – steady relationships with some very good friends.

I really wonder at the word “ Goodbye” – when goodbye was till tomorrow then also it was so painful. Painful , when I had first crush in my school days , painful when I first fell in love, painful when finally understood what is love and found the same ---everytime “ goodbye” made me impatient and anxious to see the next day sun. But now at my 30s GOODBYE have a broader meaning, now goodbye means my hero will never meet me again other than in dreams , now goodbye means patient waiting of soulful showering of tears within my eyes to see my father for once. Goodbye now is for ever.

CHILDHOOD is a gift of ALMIGHTY to us, full of splendour, benevolence, adventures and curious turns and curves which prepares us day by day to face a new phase of life in future. I cherish those left out moments and say to myself OH! GOD make my wish true, let me once more travel back in time.

A 'BOND'

It Started long back- around 28 years back or so, two unknown personality met with each other in a room full of unknown faces . But somehow they chose each other as good companion and the journey started . Both of us were poles apart in every respect, looks, attitude, behavioural pattern, perception towards life , etc. but still a bond tied us together. We became the BEST FRIENDS. Me and Gopa . The whole class, the school , everybody used to know us by our friendship.
Today when she along with her daughter came to visit my family - I felt so complete and contended as both of us travelled a long journey, sometime together , sometime distant , but always reached each other in times of crisis and today both of us are happy and settled with our own family.We talked a lot and cherished very special moments and laughed at all our silly workouts . While we were busy sharing our part of the PIE mistu and bebo were busy playing with each other. This sight is very pleasing. Because of that very special bond between us which ties these two little child together.
Again, I felt very proud and grateful to Almighty when I came to know from one of my close friend, LOpa , that today also she remembers me whenever she hear the song " aap ki najron ne samjha pyar ke kabil mukjhe"- a very old hindi song. It's because I used to sing this song very frequently in my school days and she treasure the memory so lovingly. So you see, here also that very bond works. This bond of freindship is very precious and I feel very, very happy inside to know that I have people around me who cares to share this relation.

It's very strange , sometime you mix with people for years and still the cohesion does not grow and sometime you meet the person only very few times and you feel the concreteness. Same I felt when few days back I talked to Sanhita, wife of one of my school friend, Satrajit. I met her very few times ,when all of us were in school, though Sanhita was in different school but still both of us share a very special relation which time could not make fade today also.

This bond of friendship is very peace-giving and it makes you feel enriched and wealthy. Yes WEALTHY. In my recent trip to Kalimpomg , We met with the side effects of AYELA and this was propaganed by media . As a result lots of relatives called me to know my whereabouts and I am really thankful to them. But to my utmost surprise , when I was busy enjoying the beauty of the Golf Course in Kalimpong Ranar(once my colleague) called me up to know whether we were safe or not. I was very happy to realise his deep caring attitude towards my family.

This bond, I say, is just like icing on the delicious recipe called life. God has gifted us with this ingredient called friendship to garnish our life. Friendship is such a relation which shower happyness, intimacy and peace in situations where we are left with tears.And we must be thankful to Almighty God for such a beautiful creation.

Kalimpong- Abode of Clouds

After a very tiring journey in night service, so called ROCKET bus we reached Siliguri 6 hrs. late than the scheduled time. Well, thats a welcoming surprise , isn't it?From there we rolled on in a bolero and moved towards Kalimpong , at my utmost surprise I found my Handycam is not functioning and thus geared down my excitement of taking some beautiful movie of the sizzling TISTA.

The first sign of the green, lustful yet calm Mountains around did burst a feel good factor in me. Mountains- Rivers and the cohesive beauty always give me immense pleasure and happiness inside. We reached kalimpong exactly after 3 hrs of starting the journey. And in Kalimpong we are welcomed by an Travel agent , Sanjay Sundar ( a friend of my Husband's Colleage) and the hotel owner better known as Kaku. We reached his hotel , STAR LODGE and all our tiredness extricated out viewing the beauty of Kalimpong from the varandah of our rooms. BEAUTIFUL HOTEL, GOOD DECORATION, WELL MAINTAINED AND EXTRAVAGANT PANORAMIC VIEW OF KALIMPONG FROM THE HOTEL. It was all beyond expectation in a tour like this which was just planned 3 days back of the date of journey.
What mesmerised me the most is the hide and seek of the clouds with the mountains and the sorrounding arena.One can spent endless time watching these clusters of clouds playing with the green vast mountain region.Fortunately I have visited most of the Hill stations in India and some most rural hill villages but never seen such playful couds. Really it seem that someone very mystically and craftfully placed all these clouds in every nook and corner of the mountains. And it gave a tintillating effect when it rushes towards you to give a warm-cold welcome.
We did all the site scenes of Kalimpong and its worth watching , the most beautiful among them , what I felt is the Golf Course. WOW!! green can be so ravishing and sophiticated is well understood while I had the glance of this Golf Course. The beauty totally engrossed all of us and mistu kept on hopping and running throughout. We decided to visit it for 2nd time in this tour as it was not very far from our hotel and we did so later. Delo is also very beautiful and rich in its beauty.

The following day we headed towards Lava , and that very day aeyela occured in Kolkata , the effect of which we faced while we were in lava. On the way to Lava we went to see Lolegaon, famous for the forest zone. I had a different experience of mountains this time, firstly it was raining haevily and thus the sky was gloomy then it was deep forest with huge trees all around, I have never seen such huge, gigantic ferns before, thus it was a move towards dark and darker gradually. The canopy walk in lolegaon was though very risky in rain but we enjoyed the adventure. When we reached Lava it was almost 3 p.m and was raining fiercely , thus the wet- damp weather was not very pleasing . Our stay in Lava was very dull as we do not like the natives, their behaviour and overall the weather depressed us the most. Thus we decided to leave Lava and move for Kalimpong the next day. It was a dangerous day with wind howling , and cold haunting us like anything to make the situation worst it was raining cats and dogs.Anyway we prayed to God and started our journey , but it was interrupted time and again due to the storm outside and many atime my hubby dear and the driver went out of the cab and moved all the tree brances to make the way. It was very scaring .

Anyway we reached Kalimpong safely after a frightful journey of 2 1/2 hrs. and again went back to Kaku's hotel. We missed all these days this good warm hotel and the cooked food , Kaku use to cook himself. Well known atmosphere , good arrangement put all of us in ease again.And the remaining days went fine and peacefull only disturbance was due to heavy storm and rain the electric supply was disrupted as a whole and we thus enjoyed candle light dinner as a result.

Well, thats it..that was my trip to the abode of clouds and it was very refreshing and rejuvenating. Daily life calling readers....so bye for now see you later.