Exploring Indian Wilderness

Biking Trip to Mhad and Khopoli

2011-11-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

Adios!!!

Here I am one more time with travelogue of my one day biking trip to Mahad Ganpati (my choice) and Shri Chaitanya Gagangiri Maharaj Ashram (Atul’s choice) with Atul.

Till the morning of our trip i.e. 15th September 2011, we weren’t sure as whether we would be travelling by car or on bike. But on contemplating a lot we decided to take a bike, the reason being the weather. The weather was really enjoyable and lovely. Although it was a tiring trip, all the pain was worth it.

We started off from Dombivali, took Manpada road to Kalyan Shilphata road. From there we headed towards Panvel via Kalyan Shilphata road and then Panvel Phata. From there we headed towards the Mumbai-Pune Express way. From there we took a slip road onto old Mumbai-Pune Express way towards khopoli, took Panvel Bypass road to join NH4. We took an exit on the right to Varad Vinayak Temple. It took us about 2 hours or so to reach the temple.

The temple is situated in the Khalapur taluka of Raigadh district and enshrines ‘Varad Vinayak’ (the one who fulfills all the desires and grants all the wishes). Mahadcha Varadvinayak is considered to be one of the most revered places of worship and is one of the Ashtavinayak temples of Maharashtra. The temple looks like an ordinary house, so don’t get confused when you reach there and don’t see a authentic templeJ. All the corners of the temple have pairs of elephants and its sections covered in gold. The idol is a ‘Swayambhu’ and faces east with its trunk pointing left. The consorts Riddhi and Siddhi can be seen on either side of the idol. The most distinctive thing about the temple is a lamp that has been burning constantly since 1892 AD (so says the legend).

The swayambhu idol was found in 1690 AD by Shri Dhondu Paudkar in a lake. The idol was kept in a nearby goddess temple for some time. In 1725 AD Varadvinayak temple was built by Peshwa Ramji Mahadev Biwalkar and he gifted the temple to the village.

More or less all the worship places have one or the other legend associated with it. This temple is not spared as well. As per the legend, a rishi by name Vachaknavi was visited by a ruler by name Rukmangada, and during the visit the rishipatni Mukundaa expressed her attraction to the king. The king turned her down leaving her seething in anger. In the meanwhile, Indra, the king of the Devas came down to the earth in the disguise of Rukmangada and accepted her romantic moves. An illegitimate son Grutshmadha was born out of their union. The son, learning of the story of his birth was grief stricken, and prayed to Ganesha in Bhadrakavana for purification of his soul of the sins of everyone concerned. His prayers were granted by Varadavinayak of Bhadrakavana (now Mahad).Hence the name Varadvinayak.

From Varad vinayak we went to visit Shri Chaitanya Gagangiri Maharaj Ashram, Khopoli. One has to head towards Khopoli highway and then on to NH4. You will come across Khopoli bus stand on you left, after going some distance take a left and you will see the Ashram on your right side. It took us about half an hour to an hour to reach there.

The Ashram is quite peaceful and is situated between the lush green mountains on all the sides. The environment is spectacular with Patalganga river leaping and frolicking by its side. The ashram halls are open so one can enjoy the openness of the ashram. In the main hall, Gagangiri baba seats on a flower bedecked swing with an imposing altar with sculptures of faunal life.

Gagangiri Maharaj had severed his hands and legs when he undertook penance in water. Here his limbs were injured extensively due to attacks by fish; as a result he was unable to walk. He used to be carried on the shoulders of his disciples wherever he wished to go. His teachings are been followed not only by Indians, but also from people across the globe.

Though I am not a big fan of visiting ashrams, but what I liked about being there was that it offered me the quietness which mumbaikars require after being in a city which does not sleep. We spent some time here and then headed for lonavala for lunch

As soon as we left from ashram, the weather became amazingly pleasant. Felt really good once we took Khandala Ghat road. After about 45 minutes we reached Kamat Hotel where we halted for lunch. While returning back we decided to go off the road and explore the interior roads to Mumbai.

On our return journey, it started raining heavily… all the roads were covered with fog so we had to halt for sometime… The weather was really beautiful and enjoyable… We chose to go off-track discovering the rural beauty. We then were on the same road back towards Mahad. Without deviating towards Mahad, we continued towards Kalyan shill road. Approximately, after 7 km from Mahad junction is a right turn towards Matheran and Neral via Karjat. This road is unlike urban cemented roads. However, it connects you to the farms, mountain ranges, scenic silence and rural life. It is real beauty to see farm houses. Now this does not mean the “farm house” that we know. The farmer actually stays close to the farm and completes farming tasks. We crossed small villages / hubs like Dolavli, Kelavli, Palasdhari and then Karjat. Each station is separated by 5 – 7 km rural routes / roads.

The road then leads us to Karjat junction from where the Karjat station is at a distance of few yards. We continued going straight towards Neral and then badlapur and then ambernath and then to Kalyan Shilphata road, reaching dombivali wrecked ;)

We were extremely tried by the time we reached home but as I said earlier, it was all worth it. Would go on a long biking trip if given a choice……

Karnataka - Architectural Wonders

2011-06-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

My first ever trip alone!!!

Astounded??? Well, that's the common reaction of all the people I have come across in this trip. Was never so excited and nervous at the same time... Support from my family and my loved ones made this trip success.

This time I went to Karnataka. I don’t know if everyone would agree, but this state changes your entire perspective on the spiritual and architectural front. The state has it all, right from the city lights to wildlife to the hill-stations. The major aspect of the state for which Karnataka is famous for is its wildlife and architectural wonders.

I started my journey to Bengaluru on 21st May ’11. The Bengaluru airport is really far from the city. One has to take City Bus Shuttle to reach the city. I intended to keep the city as my base to roam to other places. I was put up at my sister’s place for next couple of days. The next day my sister and jiju took me to MTR for breakfast. It's a very interesting place for food if you wish to experience the authentic south Indian food.

MTR (Mavalli Tiffin Room) restaurant, founded in 1924, is located on Lalbaug road. This is the place where the word authenticity is not written anywhere but can be experienced everywhere. If you don’t mind waiting in a queue, this is the place to be for south Indian food. Khara Bhaat (Upma) and Kesari Bhaat (Sheera) is delicious. The food here usually overflow with ghee, but the taste amuses you… Well must say, that you get more than what you have paid for.

After heavy breakfast, we went to Lalbaug Botanical Park which is just almost opposite to MTR. Never seen garden, so well maintained and so beautiful. The Park, commissioned in 1760, is a lush green paradise with an area of 240 acres in the heart of the city. The garden has over 1000 species of flora some of which are rare species brought from Persia, Afghan & France. Huge old trees

with their canopy of green foliage interspersed with flaming red flowers of gulmohar can be seen everywhere. The park is also home to various avian species like black kite, brahminy kite, kingfisher, herons, cormorant, etc. A binocular is must, if you are a bird watching enthusiast. The park truly is awesome where you can sit by the lakeside and reconnect with the nature.

On 23rd May ’11, I visited Shravanbelagoda, Belur and Halebid. I had booked a seat in the tour bus by KSTDC. It’s a one day tour costing Rs. 935/- wherein the bus picks you up at 6:30 am and drops you at around 10pm.

Our first stop was Shravanbelagoda, which is about 157 kms from Bengaluru. Shravanbelagoda is well-known for its religious and spiritual sanctity. It’s a Jain pilgrimage destination, wedged between two hills – Vindhyagiri and Chandragiri. Shravanbelagoda is famous for its colossal statue of Gommateshwara, also referred to as Lord Bahubali. The statue is located on Vindhyagiri and one has to climb bare-footed about 600 -700 steps to see the splendor of the statue up-close. The steps are steep at few places and it gets hard to climb. You forget how tired you are once you see the imposing 17 meter high statue, carved out of monolithic stone. The statue is beautifully carved with absolutely accurate body proportion. Eyes exude the serenity and calmness. His face shows calm expression with a little hint of smile. Just looking at the lord, takes you miles away from worries. There is an anthill in the background which signifies his incessant penance. From this anthill emerge creepers which twine artistically and beautifully around his legs and his arms. The Digambar (Nude) form of Bahubali represents the complete victory over the earthly desires and needs which distracts you from attaining the divinity. On the either side of the lord stand two majestic chauri bearers in the service of the lord. One of them is Yakshi and other is Yaksha. The bearers are richly ornamented which is absolute contrast to the nude form of Bahubali. Mahamasthakabhishek is performed once in every 12 years, and the next will be held in 2018…. I would want to be a part of it. So fingers crossed!!!!

Our next stop was at Belur. Belur is about an hour and an half drive from Shravanbelagoda. The temple was built in 1116 AD by Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana to commemorate his victory over the Cholas. The presiding deity of the Belur temple is Lord Channakeshava. The temple is architecturally rich with carvings of intricate design and decorations. Every inch of the temple is filled

seductively with the human figures, gods and demigods and animals. Each and every sculpture of the Madanika, carved skillfully and beautifully on the brackets of the columns, are unique creations. Their curvaceous body, their jewelry, their poses, each and every part of the sculpture including the eyelashes just takes your breath away. There is this Darpansundari, sculpture of a lady holding mirror and completing her shringar. The other figure that comes to my mind is that of a lady squeezing out

water from her hair after bath. Other being that of a lady being harassed by a mischievous monkey. Would love to tell you more about each and every sculpture, but cannot as the travelogue would be too big to read. The temple is star shaped with a pair of Hoysala symbols in the form of a man attacking a tiger. The elaborated arches on the entrances show a mythical creature known as Makara. This motif can be seen in all the temples belonging to Hoysala Dynasty. The makar a is a result of combination of attributes of seven animals (eyes – monkey, wide mouth – crocodile, tail – peacock, limbs – lion, trunk – elephant, ears – cow and body - pig). The temple is full of pillars and each pillar is unique. There is a pillar in the courtyard of the temple complex which stands without any support. One can even see the gap between the pillar and the platform on which it stands on one side. I was able to spend just an hour at this magnificent place which I felt absolutely inadequate. You require atleast a day to appreciate the splendor of these beautiful temple, which is the evidence of our rich heritage.

Later we headed for Halebid. It is situated about 17 kms from Belur. This magnificent piece of work is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is the largest of the Hoysala temples. The Construction of this temple started in 1121 and got completed by 1207. One visible hallmark of temples built during the Hoysala regime was their star shaped structure and also the dome less top. The temple is divided into two identical temples, one on the northern side is Shantaleshwara (after Shantala Devi, beloved wife of Vishnuvardhana) and the southern one is the Hoysaleshwara temple.

Thousands of intricately carved sculptures depicting scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Prahalad, etc adorn the walls. As one goes around the shrine, some of the finest sculptures can be seen – Krishna Leela, Battle between Arjun & Karna, Lord Shiva as Natraja, the Dashavtars, Ravana lifting Kailash Parvat, Abhimanyu chakravyuha, etc. The temples are preceded with a huge statue of Nandi adorned with beautiful ornaments. The interiors of the shrine are equally impressive with ornately carved pillars and exquisite bracket figures of madanikas. I was able to see the reflection of the artist’s mindset in the carvings and the whole experience of being in this temples and witnessing this rich heritage is so overwhelming.

My next destination was Hampi. I started for Hampi on 24th May ’11. Trains and buses are

both available but I preferred the overnight train. The train stops at Hospet from where you can either take a bus or auto (max 120 `) to reach Hampi. Hampi is around 14 kms from Hospet.

Hampi was the 14th century magnificent capital of Vijayanagara Empire, one of the greatest empires of the world. It is protected by the Tungabhadra River on the north and by rocky granite ridges on the three sides. Covering an area of about 26 kms, the ruins are situated in the midst of a rugged landscape.

If you are energetic and have an entire day or two you can walk. Or you can hire an auto at Rs. 300 and take a 4-hour tour. I didn’t feel like taking an auto, instead I decided to walk and get the feel of the ruins. For this I had to hire a guide at Rs. 600 (fixed rate by the Hampi tourism). It’s safer to have a guide incase you travelling alone because the monuments are quite far from each other and you have to walk through jungle and huge boulders. More or less I visited all the places from the guide book, but mentioned below the monuments which appealed to me:

1. Vittala Temple

To reach here you have to follow the Tungabhadra River keeping it on your left side. It’s quite a walk, around 2-3 kms from the hampi market. The temple, built in 15th century, is the most extravagant architectural piece of Vijayanagar art. On entering you will see a Stone Chariot. Normally in Vishnu temples you will see garuda stamba, instead a stone chariot was built facing the temple’s sanctum. The chariot is carved with mythical battle scenes. Just behind the chariot is the Maha Mantapa, which stands

on an ornate platform carved with floral motifs and horses. The main highlight of this hall are the musical pillars which emits sounds of instruments. Though it’s not allowed to tap these pillars because of the unmindful curiosity of visitors. The inner sanctum, also known as Garbha-mandir, is devoid of idols. For the pradakshina, one had to access the unlit underground passage. Northeastern hall is known as Musician’s Hall and is carved with sculptures of musicians, drummers and dancers. The ceiling are beautifully carved with patterns of lotus like designs. The northwestern hall is the Lakshmi temple. Whereas the hall on the southwest is the Common Hall and on the southeast is the Kalyan Mantapa. This hall is beautiful with ornated platform in the middle and stories of dashavtar, ramayan, prahalad, etc adorns the pillars of the hall.

2. King’s Balance – A huge stone frame where kings weighed themselves with gems & diam

onds which were then distributed among poor.

3. Achyutraya Temple

Dedicated to Lord Tiruvengalanatha, a form of Vishnu, is off the track and hidden nature of the temple makes it less crowded. The open hall just ahead has some of the finest carved pillars in Hampi. Carvings on the pillars revels themes like Krishna leela. A beautiful yet modern temple as compared to the Vittala temple.

4. Hazara rama temple

15th century temple for the royals, is known for its sculpted friezes depicting Ramayana.

5. Pushkarani

The Pushkarni is a stepped tank in a symmetrical formation, with water being supplied from a stone aqueduct.

6. Ugranarasimha

22 feet huge statue with the serpent’s hood above it. Earlier known as Lakshmi Narasimha because of lakshmi sitting on his lap. But thanks to the invaders, lakshmi has been destroyed and hence came to be known as Ugranarasimha.

7. Badavi Lingam – Monolith linga is 12 feet tall.

8. Sasivekalu Ganesha – 4 armed ganesha is monolith idol which is 12 feet tall

9. Kadlekalu Ganesha – 18 feet tall monolithic idol

10. Virupaksha Temple

7th century temple is the principal temple and one of the oldest functioning temples in India. East facing Gopura leads you the first courtyard of the temple complex. The tower with a pair of cow horn like projections on top is the most prominent landmark in Hampi. The mural panel on the central portion of the main temple hall is one of the few remains of this form of Vijayanagara art. The inner sanctum contains the idol of lord Virupaksha in the form of a Linga. Personally I wasn’t really attracted to this t

emple.

Important thing to remember while travelling in Hampi: Carry sunglass , cap, sunscreen and lots and lots of water because the stones and rocks tend to absorb and radiate the sun’s heat.

Hampi has been the highlight of my trip and has left a deep and powerful impact on my mind. Its difficult to put it in words about how splendor is this work of human. You have to see it to believe it.

My next destination was Coorg, Madikeri to be precise. I stayed in Coorg from 30th May till 1st June '11. I had taken an overnight bus to Madikeri bus depot. You can make out that you have entered the district when you start seeing dainty bungalows peeking through the hillocks and plantations. The Coorgis have opened up their homes for the tourists where one can get the feel of the place. I stayed at Madikeri in a similar homestay on the top of a hillock. Mentioned below are the places I visited:

1. Talacauvery

Situated 4,500 fta bove sea level and situated 48 kms from Madikeri, it is from where Cauvery springs forth, only to disappear underground before surfacing again near Bhagamandala. Cloudy skies and mist welcomed me as I made to the temple. Next to the temple is the Brahamagiri hill which you can climb to view the panaromic view of the region. I couldn’t see a thing but a white blanket formed as a result of mist and clouds

2. Bhagamandala

Derives its importance from the temple near the Triveni Sangam of Cauvery, Kannani and Sujhoti, a mythical and mystical river. It is situated 40 kms from Madikeri.

3. Abbi Falls

An exotic waterfall, about 8 kms from madikeri, is located amidst green and dense forest where it’s easy to lose the track of your time. The falls, cascading down from 70 feet height, is not impressive but the untamed surrounding is what makes the place desirable to visit.

4. Namdroling Monastery (Golden Temple)

Situated, about 35kms from Madikeri, in the Bylakuppe district,

the four monasteries are gorgeous, colorful and breath-taking. The most prominent and attractive of all is the Namdroling Monastery. There is a huge bell at the entrance. I was quite taken-back (in a good way) by the enormous nature of the idols. The immense size of the idols, the huge hall and beautiful paintings is absolutely overwhelming. I was in the awe when I saw the golden beauty of the three statues, with Mongolian eyes and long ears. I was lucky enough to hear the chants. The beautiful sound of the Tibetan trumpet, the cymbal and the gong, the chanting and the Tibetan monks with their quiet unassuming presence gave me a unique feeling of peace.

5. Nisargadham

Situated 32 kms from Madikeri is a 65 acres of bamboo jungle, with a picturesque hanging bridge, Deer park (small fenced area with chital and sambar). It’s a nice picnic spot for nature lovers who doesn't mind the eerie sounds of bamboos. It is a unique little place in the contentious waters of the river Cauvery.

I have tried to explain Coorg in words, but the fact is that no words can do justice to describe the essence of the place. As I had stated before you have to see it & experience it to believe it...

This brings me to the end of my travelogue…. I hope that I can write more travelogue about my future trips soon… Till then adios!!!!

Haji Malang - Malanggadh

2011-03-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hello there!!!

Am back with my travelogue about trek to Haji Malang and to Malanggadh.

Me and my brothers (Sanket and Vijay) decided that we should explore places in and around Mumbai. We started with Haji Malang which was suggested by Vijay and after looking up about it on Google; we decided to go there on 30^th January 2011.

We decided to start our climb as early as possible to avoid the heat (strongly advisably)… We boarded train for Kalyan at around 5:40 am from Vidyavihar. We reached Kalyan station around 6:30 am, had a cup of hot tea and caught a rickshaw to base village of Malanggadh. It’s a 13km (30 min) ride till the base. We were freezing ‘coz it was really cold in the morning and none of us had any warm clothing with us……

Around 7:15 or so we reached the base of the gadh, had breakfast and then started our hike to Haji Malang Dargah. The entire climb is lined with small shops and houses. There is a myriad of color on both the sides owning to the chaddars to be offered at Dargah. The steps at some places are old (dated back to the time of the fort) and some are new. Due to the steps, the climb to the top is exhausting and one requires frequent breaks. The only thing which might irritate are the beggars who keeps on pestering and its best to ignore them….. We did see monkeys also on our way and it was fun to take their snaps… Some of them were too cute with their babies hanging on their bellies…

After about an hour of climbing we reached the ‘Peheli Salami’ or the Dargah of Haji Bakhtar Baba. The view while climbing is spectacular. This leg of the climb is most exhausting and energy draining. We decided to have a tea and biscuits before starting off again. I was really surprised to see the idol of Ganesha on our way to Peheli Salami. I was equally surprised to see ‘Nav Durga Devi’ temple on our way to 2nd Dargah. Another 15 – 20 min of climbing, we reached ‘Doosri Salami’ or the 2nd Dargah of Haji Sultan Shah. At the summit is the main or Badi Dargah of Baba Haji Malang.

After having visited the dargahs we decided to venture ahead for a trek to Malangadh. To find the way to the Malanggadh, we had to retrace our steps a little back to a paanwala from where a small path leads to the fort. We made over way through rugged rocks, loose soil to reach the base of the fort from where the steps begin to take us to the main bastion of the fort. Before heading up there, we took a path to the right which leads to another durgah. Here we rested for a while and went back to the steps. The view was really spectacular. Vijay and I climbed the half way and Sanket went till the bastion. The steps were extremely steep and Sanket did find it difficult to climb down till the base of the fort.

I took us around 4 ½ hours with frequent breaks to reach the fort bastion. We climbed down to the base of the mountain in about 2 hours. We decided to take lunch at Kalyan Station before heading home…..

I must say that though the climb was tiring, it was good experience and I would suggest people who haven't been there yet to visit the place….

Here’s me signing off for now……..

Ratnagiri & Malvan

2011-01-16T22:19:00.000-08:00

This was my first study tour Post College and job…. I was very excited when I came to know that the course which I am doing has study tours where we will get firsthand experience on things…. Our 3 day tour was in Ratnagiri and Malvan.I boarded a bus on 20th Dec ’10 for Ratnagiri…. Ratnagiri is a port city surrounded by Sahayadri Mountains in the east. The road trip was exciting, bus travelling on serpentine roads of the ghat… It was just beautiful….

I reached Ratnagiri on 21st Dec early morning (6:30 or so). Our booking was done at Hotel Swaroop on the Bunder road. The Hotel is 10 min away from the bus stop and the hotel tariff is reasonably cheap (double occupancy – Rs 700/- per room per day).

Post breakfast we had to go to Mumbai University Sub centre with our Course Director Deepak Apte for his lecture there. After which we started for Undi Beach, to study rocky shore assessment and habitat profiling.

A rocky shore is the area where rocks predominate. This intertidal zone consists of rocky ledges with pools of salt water which are biologically rich. One can observe a wide range of species and biological processes. The habitat profiling is done by transect method. A particular area is divided into no of quadrants and then each quadrant is studies for the organisms present… then the extrapolation is done for the number of species on that entire shore front.

We observed a variety of species present in that area and also we got an amazing experience snorkeling in rock pools. All in all this session was truly learning experience for me.

The next day we started for Malvan via Ambolgadh. Ambolgadh plateau which is a study site is almost 2 hours from Ratnagiri. The Jaitapur nuclear power plant project has been proposed which will affect the ecology in 100km area all across. This study site might also get disturbed so BNHS is proposing options that might reduce the thermal discharge and minimize the effects of it. We were explained in details about this project.

After this session we started for Malvan where we were to stay till 23rd. We had booked a homestay at Chivla beach. Post lunch we went on to the beach to study the species present in the area and the ecology of it.

On the last of our study tour we went to Sindhudurg fort. We went there again to study about the marine conservation projects and all. This was the last session of our study tour post which everyone departed for their respective places…

I stayed back for one more day to roam about a little. To start with let me first give you a little detail about the homestay, Chivla beach and the fort post which I will pen down about the other places I visited.

Homestay: The place where we stayed was Vasanti Bed & Breakfast which is on Chivla beach and near to Nath Pai Sevangan. The owner was Mr. Ramchandra Patil who is a retired air force veteran and his wife Vasanti Patil. The homestay is MTDC approved and the charges are Rs 500 - 550/- per room per day.

Chivla Beach: This beautiful arc shaped beach with clean sand and clear water offers total serenity and calmness. The best thing about this beach is that it’s not crowded and is ideal for homestay. Just loved the beach….

Sindhudurg Fort: It stands tall and impregnable on a rocky island barely a km from Malvan. The fort is approached by a boat through a navigable channel between 2 smaller islands of Dhontara and Padmagadh. Sindhudurg was built in 1664-67 AD by Shivaji Maharaj. The construction was done under the supervision of Hiroji Indulkar, an able architect. One of the best preserved forts of the Marathas, the 48 acre Sindhudurg fort has a four kms long zigzag line of 9 metres high and 3 metres wide rampart with 42 bastions. On the parapet, close to the entrance, beneath two small domes are the imprints of Shivaji’s palm and foot in dry lime. Also, in the fort there is the Shivaji temple 'Shri Shivarajeshwar temple’ the only one of its kind in the country where the image of Shivaji is without a beard.

The other places which I saw post our study tour was the Devbaug beach, Jai Ganesh Temple and rock garden.

Devbaug beach: A confluence of Karli river flowing into Arabian Sea can be observed from this beach. The beach is situated around 14 kms from Malvan. The beach offers an enchanting sight of hundreds of seagulls flying in a harmonized manner. The beach offers a picturesque view of the sunset. Because of its remote location, very few tourists venture here and as a result the beach is clean and the serene aspect of it has been maintained.

Jai Ganesh Mandir: The Ganesh idol is of pure gold. This main idol in the sanctum sanctorum is in the traditional pose with Riddhi- Siddhi (consorts of Lord) on both sides. The hall has eight idols of Ganesh carved in the ceiling. One gets a very comfortable feeling of Lord Ganesh looking generously from all the eight directions at his disciple. The interior of the temple is very rich and has used soothing colors.

On 24th Dec, I left from Malvan by bus and reached home on 25th around 5 am. I must say, that this trip I enjoyed thoroughly and I got to learn a lot from Mr. Apte. I would definitely love to go back to Malvan and experience the tranquility which the place offers again.

Trip to Kachner

2010-12-10T02:21:00.000-08:00

This time my trip was very different from the ones I usually go for….. This was my first ever trip with my in-laws… So, it was very special and memorable…

It was a 3 day trip to Kachner (12th – 14th Nov 2010).

We started our trip on 12th Nov around 6pm or so. We had a caravan of 3 cars and 13 people (Aai, Papa, Raju kaka, Meena Kaku, Shyam kaka, Shama kaku, Amit dada, Revati vahini, Anuja, Rigved, Rutuja, Sia and me). That night it was decided that would halt at Pune for the night. We stayed at Anuja’s mama’s place in Wagholi.

The next day that is on 13th we started for Kachner (around 40 kms) around 10 am. The car journey was real fun…. We reached Aurangabad around 4 pm and had our lunch at Aahar (poli bhaji kendra). The food was really yummy…. We reached Kachner around 7 – 8 pm. The road to Kachner was beautiful. Though it was dark by the time we reached Kachner, but I could sense that the surrounding was beautiful….. We stayed at the dharamshala. After freshening up, we chit chatted for sometime, played cards and had lots of fum harassing Rigved.

The next morning we were to go to the temple for abhishek but we couldn’t manage to go coz of heavy rains and thundering. Instead we went late for the darshan. Ok, let me tell you about the importance of this place.

Kachner is a village sacred to the Jains. The temple here is dedicated to Parshwanath Bhagwan and the presiding idol is believed to have been excavated from the vicinity. The idol of Chintamani Parshwanath is very attractive, miraculous, and said to have powers to fulfill the desires of pilgrims and make them free from problems.

There is a story of how the idol was found. Long time back one old lady observed that a cow poured out her milk daily at one particular spot only. She kept on noticing this for sometime and one day she decided to tie the cow at her home. In the evening the cow broke the rope and went to that spot to pour out her milk. When told about this event, the villagers decided to search that place and on digging they found a hatch with a door under the ground. On entering the hatch, they found the idol of Parshvanath with seven serpent hoods. This idol was installed in the temple which was constructed at the very same place.
Few years later, it was seen that the idol was broken from the neck region and the head was fallen on the ground. The villagers saw it as a bad omen and decided bring new idol of Lord Mahavir to nullify the unfortunate incident and also decided to immerse the ‘Khandit’ idol into a pond. The idol of Mahavir was brought to the temple. On the day of immersion, a person named Lachiram Kasliwal saw a dream wherein Lord Parshvanath asks the villagers not to immerse the idol in pond but instead to be immersed in the pit dug in a room and filled with ghee upto the brim. The villagers obliged and immersed the idol in the ghee for seven days and prayed.

After 7 days, the idol was recovered from the pit and miraculously the head had been joined with the body. However, one can see the mark of severance on the neck of the idolThis incident freed the villagers of all their worries regarding the inauspicious incident.

Further, the idol gained the trust of the devotees as the one that listened to their pleas and ended their worries. Thus, this idol of Parshvanath was attributed the prefix Chintamani, the remover of worries.

Thats the story of Lord Parshvanath. I don’t know how well I could narrate the story but I tried my best. Must say the temple is beautiful and the idols there are magnificent. Aai, Raju kaka and Meena kaku explained me about the rituals one performs there and about the temple and also about Jainism. We started our journey back around 1ish. Reached back home late at night.

I must confess that the trip was very good and gave me a chance to know more about my inlaws. I am seeing forward to have many such trips. Missed Atul a lot during the entire trip. Wish he could be there too.

Peb Fort

2010-09-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hey people!!!! Time for new travelogue……

Me and my friends had been to Peb fort (didn’t reach there though) for one day trek….

Peb Fort, also known as ‘Vikat Gadh’, is situated at Neral, just besides Matheran….. It is assumed that the fort derived its name from the temple of “Goddess Pebi” which is situated at the base of the fort… It is one of the forts built by Shivaji Maharaj.... Only the ruins of the fort remains now…..

This was one place which I had heard from my trek friends and read about it in blogs and wanted to go there….. Finally thanks to my friends I went there….. We 8 friends (Me, Charmi, Paulomi, Jai, Richa, Ashu,Aijaz & Lotu) decided to go to the fort on 8th August 2010, though the actual planners were Ashu and Jai and rest of us just jumped on the chance…. We boarded 8:15 am Khopoli train and got down at Neral station…. The adventure started in train itself….. The train was swarming with people thanks to ‘Gatari’ and one of my friends lost his mobile in the crowd…. Wow what a start!!!

Once at Neral station, we had breakfast and then we started towards the fort…. One has to take a road on the right, outside the station to go towards the fort… You pass through the plains, the small banglows and the poultry farm which have nestled nicely flanked by these mountains…. Till the base, it is a straight pebbled and kaccha road where you just enjoy the ambience…. We were expecting rains and we were highly disappointed…. After walking for a while we reached a small village… From this place we were kinda lost coz we didn’t know the trail here onwards…. So we took help of one local boy who agreed to take us ahead…. The trail was partially veiled beneath the overgrown shrubs and trees…

After treading for a while we reached this small waterfall where we rested for a while…. I always enjoy water, so for me to sit there and enjoy the view was more than I could ask for…. After taking rest, we started the trek with enthusiastic approach….. The trail was simply gorgeous as you have to pass through this jungle where apart for occasional talks; all you can hear is sound of breeze wiggling its way out through the trees…. You are just surrounded with lush green trees and
serenity…. We reached this much awaited ‘Plateau’ where we were to reach and decide if we wanted to go ahead as one of our friends was in no condition to climb further…. This plateau is snuggled between the mountains and as far as you can see is just jungle…. It’s a nice picnic spot where you can just relax and enjoy the natural ambience……

Once there, we decided that we should go ahead and we started….Luck was probably not on our side coz we lost our way and we couldn’t go any further…. So we came back and decided to have a picnic at the plateau…. There we met one group who tried twice to find way to the fort but didn’t succeed….. What luck!!!!

But our destiny had other ideas in mind…. We met this local boy there who agreed to take us to some distance and show us the way…. We knew that we won’t reach the fort, but we wanted to at least conquer one peak out of the three peaks to reach the fort…. So we started again…. Must say, we couldn’t have done it, if not for the local boy…. The trails are covered entirely by shrubs and it would have been impossible for us to find our way through the jungle….. Am glad that we decide to go ahead, as the actual trek started here onwards…. There are huge boulders which you need to climb and all you have for support are the trees around… The trail and the rocks were slippery coz of the moss…. Walking slowly and keeping your foot properly on rocky surface with deep gorge looking down in your face was most exciting and adventurous…. You can’t afford to lose your footing here….. It was taxing to climb the last few meters but after reaching the top, it’s all worth it….. Once at the top you forget how tired you are…. All you can think of is how beautiful is the surrounding and how much at peace you feel after reaching here…

Here, we decided to take rest before our descent towards the plateau where our 2 friends were waiting…. I felt blessed coz it started drizzling, and it became windy, the clouds rolled in from the valley …. This place offered serenity and solitude which is much needed if you staying in Mumbai……

The descent was not as difficult as we had thought….. Though the rocks were slippery, we managed to descent without any injuries… During our descent, we were accompanied by group of guys. At few places we did require their help to reach the base…. Well, it would be wrong to say that the descent was without plateau and we reached the place where we couldn’t see any trail…. It was so much exciting….. 2 of my friends and 3 of the guys from other group spread out to see if they can find the trail…. They did manage to reach the plateau and they started to guide us through telling us where to go…. We had to rely upon the direction from where their voice came…. Following their instructions we reached one place where a guy had come to show us the way…. Finally we reached the plateau….. YIPPEEE!!!! Well one thing is for
sure, I want to go back there to complete the trek and reach the fort…..

From there we began our descent towards the foothills….. Again we ended up on the wrong trial but fortunately it went towards the foothills only…. Instead of getting down from we began our ascent,we reached the other side of the mountain…. It was pleasure treading the untrodden path…There we relaxed at the rivulet and played like
small kids in it getting drenched in the water…..

After coming home I was still soaked in the experience of the trek and the tranquility I experienced there…..

A picturesque hill station - Matheran

2010-09-02T04:22:00.000-07:00

A picturesque hill station in the midst of beauty of nature…….

Matheran has been one of my most beloved destination since ages…. I remember when I was small I used to go with my family and cousins for weekends… After going to college I started going there with my friends….

Matheran literally means “Forest on top”. Located on the western ghats, Matheran is one of the few places where vehicals are not allowed making this hillstation different from others… A visit to this place takes you back in the age where there were no vehicals… well this is my point of view….

This time I had been to Matheran with my fiancé Atul on 24th of July… Matheran is his favorite destination as well… Since monsoon had already started we decided to enjoy this place in rains…. We decided that we will hire a cab to go till Dasturi Naka… The journey upto the Naka itself is a delightful experience… The clean crisp air greets you as the road goes uphill in serpentine manner. The splendor of Matheran lies in the countryside.

By the time we reached Matheran, it had started raining heavily… It was simply beautiful… From Dasturi Naka we decided to walk to Matheran soaking in the wild ravishing landscape. As soon as we crossed the entry point, we had this funny experience with monkey… When Atul was about to keep his wallet in his pocket, this little fella came from nowhere and snatched his wallet from Atul’s hands… It happened so quickly that we couldn’t do anything… Luckily the monkey lost his interest in the wallet and through it back at us…. But truly speaking it was fun watching Atul trying to persuade the monkey to return his wallet …… We followed the tracks as it provides the panoramic view of the reddish mountain range.

We didn’t had anything particular idea as what all points to visit… So after reaching Matheran we just decided to roam like “Vela” people….. We started going towards “Charlotte Lake”..… The trees bending over the roads with their branches entwined with each other forms the canopy throughout. The entwined tress, the steep cliffs, meandering stream, hushed waterfall, red soil, and velvet moss provides you with ample of tranquility ….

The Lake itself is so beautiful that you just want to lay back and get soaked in the calm and peaceful ambience that envelops the lake….. Here we had “chai” sitting on the “katta” of one of the “taparis”….

While deciding where to go, I realized that I have never been on one of the roads, so we started going in that direction…. The road was going through a thick dark forest…. By this time the rain was pouring very heavily and the thick mist rolled in from nowhere…. Well, I don’t know whether it was a mist or bunch of clouds which funneled up through the valley and were passing through Matheran…. Whatever may be the scenario, it was beautiful and I was awe struck….. The visibility was suddenly reduced to few feet…. It was like I was in some fairy land…… It was just WOW!!!!!!!

After roaming in this fairy land, we started feeling hungry… So we were on our way back to Bazaar to have our lunch…. Well, after walking a considerable distance, we realized that we were kinda lost…. So at one point we asked this old granny to guide us to bazaar. Thanks to her, we ended up at “Belvedere point”…. This was the cherry on top of the cake, kinda situation. It was really beautiful…. We couldn’t see the mountain ranges… All we could see a thick white carpet of clouds and all we could enjoy was the serenity and solitude this place offered…..Apart from our conversation or the gust of wind in the treetops or the music of the rains, there are no noise….. I cant describe how beautiful experience was this standing at this point in words….. One has to experience it personally……

After lunch we started our journey back home…. Though none of us wished to come back…. We came back home with a beautiful experience and lot of appreciation towards nature……

Heaven on earth

2009-10-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hello..............

Finally got time to sit and update my blog.... In here am trying to pen down my experiences of the trek which I went for in May 2009. This post is about my trek to SARPASS- aptly called as the Heaven on Earth ... Lets begin the journey :)

My journey started on 30th April ’09 at 4:40 pm from Mumbai Central…Unlike other trains, Rajdhani started right on time. Very soon I got acquainted with my fellow passengers – 2 south Indian families of which one family had a small kid and one marathi family with a kid. All were going for vacation so we started talking about the places to visit and all….. Both the kids Shruti and Surabhi were very friendly and soon all three of us started playing games…..When it was time to sleep both the girls came on my upper berth to play until there parents called them to sleep….. Atleast my start was great…. :)

Next day i.e. on 1st May '09, I reached New Delhi station at 10:00 am. My grandfather came to recieve me and he then dropped me to YHAI - Youth hostel, Chanakyapuri, Delhi. There i met Banglore group of which i knew 3 guys as they were with me for the Dalhousie Winter trek. After breakfast we went to Pallika Bazaar as some of the people wanted to do some last minute shopping. After having collected our bags from the youth hostel, we went to New Delhi station to board 5 pm Kalka Shatabdi train to Kalka. Delhi – Kalka journey is about 303 kms and about four an a half hr. We reached Kalka at around 9:30 pm where we stayed at Hotel Amber overnight. The hotel was about 5 min walking distance from the station and the rent was very nominal.

On 2nd May ’09, we boarded Shivalik Deluxe Express Toy train at 6:30 am to reach Simla. It was very cute red colored fairy tale like train….. I loved the train and the train journey…..Train started its journey uphill in a serpentine manner around the mountains and passed 103 tunnels…. am not kidding we counted the tunnels!!! A peaceful journey with music, pen & paper to write down the experience, camera to capture the moments and a hot cup of coffee….. a perfect way to enjoy the journey. I somehow kept on humming this particular song ‘Hum Kis Galli Jaa Rahe Hai’ by Atif Aslam…am not sure whether u all have heard this song or not but it was very apt for the journey... The peaceful scenario was interrupted by a small cute little baby Bat causing complete chaos and screaming in the compartment. The poor thing could not find its way out coz of the daylight. Finally it did manage to find its way out. And the best part was the petite white and blue stations just like fairy tale stations….station surrounded with trees and small flower shrubs. How cute was that!!!!!
We reached Simla station around 11:30 and then we went to Mall road. Nothing special about the place and truly speaking I didn’t like it. After lunch we started towards Mandi where we were to halt for the night. We stayed at hotel Paras.

From Mandi, we left for Kasol on 3rd May ’09. On our way we passed through 2 km long tunnel which was kinda fun. Just before reaching the Kasol base camp we had lunch at Sanjha Chullah…. A beautiful Chinese cum Simla construction with bridges and lawns. It was beautiful place to eat and relax. The place is 20 min away from the Kasol base camp. We reached base camp around 5pm and I was happy to see my college friend Kushal there. Base camp is at 6,500 ft. We could see Pin Parvati range from the base camp. The camp is situated along the turbulent river, Parvati and is surrounded by is surrounded by mountains of tall pine trees.The camp had a huge ground in the centre, on right was the guys tent and on left was the girls tent. The green roof one can see is the bathroom and the tent is for eating and orientation. After checking in the camp we left for a little walk in the Kasol village. Kasol is a small village and is Israeli dominated area. After returning back to the camp, we had dinner and then a small camp fire where members of different batches performed songs or skits or anything they felt like. We were the 6th batch. At 9:30 we were in our tent which was shared by 10 other girls. At 10pm the lights were out. It was a bit uncomfortable sleeping on uneven ground but I made it. Hehehehe :D

On 4th May ’09, I woke up at 4:30am and got ready for the hot cup of tea by 5am. The thing u might be willing to die for is TEA. At around 6am we were taken to a small ground nearby for our morning exercise. After half an hour we returned back to our tents, bid goodbye to the previous batch i.e. 4th batch, cleaned our tents and finally had our breakfast. Afterwards we went for acclimatization walk. After coming back to the camp and after lunch we were made to sit for orientation. We were explained the do’s and don’ts to be followed during the trek. After that we went to hot water springs situated around 10 minutes away from the base camp.

On the 5th, after morning exercise, we were supposed to go for rock climbing and rappelling. But coz of rains that couldn’t happen so we went for walk to ‘Lalgaon’. We had to cross a hanging bridge which was in poor condition. Some planks were missing, the railings were not proper. I was not really comfortable crossing it, and the worst was that one of our batch member ran across the bridge when I was on it. That time I got really scared. After a while we came across a small school and the kids were having there recess. We clicked their pics, some of them were bold and some were really shy. We had great fun frolicking with them. After coming back we packed our bags for the trek and deposited rest of the stuff in YHAI store room.

On 6th finally we were off for our trek. After getting our pack lunch we were asked to gather for final instructions. Then we were off for Unch Dhar by bus. Since it was a local bus we got up on the roof top and enjoyed it very much. Whenever a tree branch used to come near us we would all get down to save our head from getting hurt. The journey to Unch-dhar lasted for 45 minutes or so. Unch-Dhar is 10kms away from the base camp. From Unch Dhar we started our trek to the first camp – GUNA PANI, which is 5 kms from here via Shila village. Trek was a bit difficult but much more tiring after the lunch point which was at Dhati Seri village. We reached Guna pani at around 2:30 pm. Guna pani camp is situated at 8000 ft and is in a grassy field surrounded by snow-claded mountains. After getting settled in our tents we played Dumb-charades and sang some songs and then returned back to our tents after dinner.

On 7th May ’09, we started for FUAL PANI which is at 9,500 ft and 5kms from Guna pani. From what we heard from the locals fual means shepherd and pani means water. The camp is placed on the slope and our tents were in the slope too. So sleeping proved to be a big problem…..Here we couldn’t have the camp fire but nothing better than getting into your sleeping bags. So we went off to sleep after playing cards and singing some songs.

The next day we headed towards our 3rd camp – ZIRMI THATCH. Thatch is a meadow. For me this trek was a bit difficult than the previous 2 days. Zirmi is 6 kms from Fual Pani and is at 11,000 ft. After few hrs I just kept on thinking when we will reach the camp. But I must say all the tiredness was worth experiencing after reaching the camp. Wow what a site!!! From the camp u can see snow-covered mountains on all the sides and we could also site SARPASS-the place which we were supposed to cross on 10th May ’09. It was quite cold so we couldn’t stay out for long. So we retired to our tents early.

On 9th May we were off to next camp – TILA LOTNI situated at a height of 12,500 ft. It’s 6 kms from the previous camp. During this stretch I could get the feeling of snow trekking. Though the first few kms were on grassy land but once you start walking on the snow you forget your tiredness and I really got overwhelmed by it. Everywhere you turn and see………its just snow. Here I remember one incidence where one of the guys slipped and was hanging with his stick firmly in the snow. No one could help him but one of the guys went and helped him up the slope. Seeing this, my confidence level went way down……..luckily I had friends who helped me gain my confidence. Tila lotni is the highest camp amongst all the camps and you can enjoy magnificent and spectacular view. I won’t be wrong if I say that it was heaven on earth. You can see colors playing in the sky around these mountains. Every time you can see different hues in the sky.
As soon as we reached the camp, it started snowing…….my first snow fall……..and I loved it. It was just drizzling andt I was out the whole time till the camp leader asked us to get inside our tents. We were to get up at 4:00 am the next day so we went off to sleep early.

On D day i.e. on the day we were to cross the Sarpass………there came a twist. We were all ready at 5:30 for the trek when it started snowing heavily. So it was decided that we will wait till 7 am before moving ahead. Our tents were covered with snow and so did the surrounding area. Flaps of the tents could not be kept open since the snow started entering our tents. Finally me and few of the batch mates decided to get out and enjoy the snow. We had a small snow fight as well but couldn’t stay out for long as our shoes started getting wet. Finally at 9 am it was told to us that we were to return back to the base camp. We were all pretty disappointed as we could see Sarpass in fronts of us but couldn’t go there……. I was really upset about it. But the snowfall increased and turned into a snow storm and hence the decision of returning back.
We started going downhill but believe me it was very difficult…….especially for me since I was the first one in line. So it was my job to make footholds for others who followed. The guide kept on disappearing and kept asking me to go ahead. But where was I supposed to go…….I couldn’t see the way but he kept on telling me to go ahead. But it was kinda adventurous since you don’t know how deep the snow is. I used to poke the stick in the snow and it was not deep…….but when u keep our foot there it used to go right in till the knee or thigh. That scared me a bit but the guide showed me the proper way to walk on the snow. There was one time where the visibility was zero coz of storm so we stopped walking till the visibility returned. After walking for an hour the guys decided to slide on the snow. I was very skeptical about doing it but my friends didn’t give me any option and pushed me down…….I went down with great speed and who all were already down helped me to stop. But after doing it once I didn’t leave a chance to slide on the snow. I took about 6 slides one of which was pretty big. All the way we encountered snow fall. The place where we saw grass while coming up, now disappeared below the snow. We couldn’t recollect whether we had been here on our way up to tila lotni…..but it was the same way.
Till Zirmi camp, the way was the same but after that we took other route which was a short cut to the base camp…..way more difficult than the actual route. What made it more difficult was hails and rain which made the road extremely slippery. We were not able to stop to take a breath since we were on constant move. I kept on slipping so I started counting how many times did I fall……but eventually I fell too many times to count :D. My blue jeans turned brown because of mud. In the last leg I started slipping just because of exhaustion.
It took us 9 hours to reach the road from where we were to go by open tempos to the base camp. In 9 hours we climbed down 6000 ft with no food and very little water…..wet and muddy clothes….soggy socks and shoes…..and blisters on my soles. I never thought I could do this but extreme conditions push you to your limits.
At base camp we were welcomed with open arms since it was the most difficult trek which we did while coming down. After collecting our bags we went to hotel Sandhya which was nearby. I finally had a hot water bath but I had fever that night and was shivering quite a lot. But finally I managed to fall asleep.

On 11th we went to base camp to collect our certificates. After that we returned back to our hotel where we stayed for the night. On 12th we took a bus to Bhuntar and from there we got onto Dharamshala bus where we had decided to stay for 2 days. Me, kushal, Vineeth and Allen had decided to go there.

On 13th at 4am we reached Mcleodganj, also known as upper dharamshala. Around 6 am we were able to find rooms in an hotel ‘Morning Sun’…..decent hotel with a lovely view. After having bath I decided to find the place where priyu mama used to stay 14 yrs back. But I couldn’t find it so I came back to see that others were ready to roam about. First we had to have lunch since we were hungry so we had steamed momos and thukpa. After that we went to Monastry and then to Dal lake. On the next day we went St John church and the guys shopped a bit. In the evening we boarded bus to Delhi. Won’t describe all this in details because this is nothing in front of wat I experienced during the trek……

Couldn’t write in more detailed manner so I hope you enjoy whatever I have tried to write…………

Cheerio……………………..

Good Bye to 2008

2008-12-31T06:43:00.000-08:00

Another year ended. Another year to begin. Or shall I say, a new dawn with lots of hope and peace. Will that happen? No one knows what is stored in for the New Year. Who knew that India will see terror attacks. Who knew that Mumbai will be shocked by terror attacks. Not only Mumbai but many metro cities also experienced these terrors. Who knew that India will win a gold medal in Olympics. Who knew that Obama would get elected as US President.

Nothing is predictable. But because of this should we loose hope? Should we not try to fight our personal problems as well as nation’s problems? Of course we should. Every new thing brings hope along with it. Every year we hope that something good is stored for us. Hope is everything. If we hope for something, we work towards it to get the desired results.

If we look back at year 2008, we can say that the year was good as well as bad. Everything depends on your outlook. It depends whether you see glass half empty or half filled. I am not saying that we should overlook the terror attacks and forget about the innocent lives which were lost. Absolutely not. But we should also remember about the railway announcer whose presence of mind saved lives of hundreds of people. We should be grateful to the policemen who didn’t budge even after knowing that their superiors were killed, to elite commandos who fought fiercely with the terrorists. We should thank them but what we do is wonder why were they late, why did it take so much time to kill terrorists and evacuate the hostages. But does anyone even realize that they entered the vicinity without knowing anything about the layout of the place. No, no one thinks in that direction. People want to blame someone or the other. Am I right? That is something that one needs to think upon. Why is there so much hatred everywhere? What do we get from it? Well, for many it’s the outlet of their frustration or they feel that by doing so they are doing something for the nation. But really are we? Guys think over. How long will we remember these attacks? Search for the answer within you.

In all these lets not forget about Abinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijendra Singh who made us all proud at international level. Another achievement was the launch of Chandrayan by ISRO for recording the images of moon. That’s the step towards proving your country as developed country. We also signed the nuclear deal.

Ain’t these things important? Shouldn’t we remember these things as well.

Well this is what I had to pen down. I don’t expect you all to agree with what I have penned down. But atleast you will ask yourselves about it. You will have to give it a thought. And please be honest to yourself.

Lets hope that the new dawn will give us some hope and sense of pride.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Dalhousie - Mini Switzerland

2008-11-28T06:01:00.000-08:00

Hey People!!!

My travelogue about my first trek with YHAI – DALHOUSIE WINTER TREK

I had been to Dalhousie from 20th – 25th Dec ‘07 with Youth Hostel Association of India (YHAI). Before leaving I was really cynical about going for trek all alone as I didn’t know anyone there. But I should agree to the fact that I was completely wrong to think so, as I had amazing time with new people. I had enrolled my name in 2nd batch which consisted of 43 of which we were only 3 girls (what luck ;P). Being the only 3 girls in the batch we were looked after by everyone. Now let me talk about my experience in details.

I started my journey on 18th Dec. My train departed from Pune at around 5:20 pm. So I had to travel from Mumbai to Pu is located on the western edge of the Dhauladhar mountain range of the Himalayas. It is surrounded by the beautiful scenery of snow-capped peaks. Dalhousie is situated at 6000-9000 feet above sea level. Like-wise YHAI base camp is situated in midst the snow-capped mountains and the city. A beautifully constructed hostel gives excellent view of Dhauladhar ranges. After checking in the hostel I went to roam around as no one from batch had reported till that time. The entire roads were covered by snow so I was finding it difficult to walk. I walked till Gandhi Chowk & returned back to hostel as it started getting dark at around 5-5:30 pm. When I reached back I found out that two more girls have reported along with other batch members. It was then we were told that our batch had just 3 girls. We went off to sleep by 10:00pm as were supposed to get up early morning.

On second day i.e. on 21st Dec, we were woken up at 5:00am. It was really cold that early morning but this was one of the rules we were informed about earlier. After tea we went for jogging till Subhash Chowk and there we did some stretching exercise. After coming back to base camp we had our breakfast and gathered in the ground to bid farewell to the first batch that proceeded for the trek. After they left we went for acclimatization walk till a place known as ne by Bus. The train journey was uneventful, actually too boring. I reached Chakki Bank on 20th Dec at around 9:45am from where I went to Pathankot by auto. Both Pathankot & Chakki Bank lie in Punjab. From Pathankot I took a bus for Dalhousie. The bus journey is for about 3 ½ hrs. After Banikhet bus-stop the journey was exciting as I could see snow everywhere. Banikhet is 7kms short of Dalhousie where the road bifurcates for Chamba & Dalhousie. This was the first time I saw snow. I was so excited thinking about what laid ahead. It was amazing feeling. I reached Dalhousie at 3:30pm.

DalhousiePanchpula which is around 3-4kms from base camp. Panchpula stream is the main source of water supply to Dalhousie. There is an elegant monument erected at Panchpula where several streams meet at one point. This monument a samadhi was built in memory of great revolutionary Sardar Ajit Singh who breathed his last in Panchpula. We had great time at Panchpula as we had snow fights amongst ourselves. I had a great time there as we started knowing members of our batch during the fights. After reaching back to hostel we had our lunch & were asked to pack only the required items in sack provided by YHAI for higher trek. We deposited our extra luggage at the hostel after which we had an orientation talk by our camp leaders. We were explained the do’s & don’ts to be followed during the trek. After dinner we had a small camp fire where we sang regional songs, some did mimics & some cracked jokes.

The next day i.e. on 22nd as usual we woke up at 5am had our tea & breakfast and did our final packing. At about 8am our batch along with 3rd batch gathered in the ground where we were bid farewell for the higher trek to Kalatop. Kalatop is 10 kms from the base camp & is situated at an altitude of 8000 feet. The trek till Barapatthar was more or less even with no snow. But beyond that we encountered snow everywhere. It was such a serene experience to be standing in-midst snow on every side. From here we had slight difficulty walking on snow but I was helped a lot by my group. Those who had hunter shoes had better grip so they leaded the group and I had to place my legs in the footholds created by them. It was such a fun to walk in the snow. The spot really commands a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. One can see the hills, snow-capped mountains, the valleys, the greenery and the ruggedness standing from the place. The place has been declared a wild life sanctuary by the government as the forest comprising of the deodar trees and various bushes provides a safe habitat for wild animals. Our camp site at Kalatop was beautifully placed right at the top with breathtaking view everywhere. There were 3 cottages of which one was canteen, one was our girls’ room and the other was boys’ room. But all the three cottages were quite apart from each other with snow-laded roads. We were off to bed quite early as we had to proceed to Khajjiar the very next day.

On 23rd we were off to Khajjiar. Trek is about 11kms from Kalatop. Pre-lunch trek was quite smooth as in we didn’t face any difficulty to trek. During lunch we had halted at a very beautiful place overlooking a small wooden bridge. We were entertained by the locals with there folk (pahadi) songs. The post-lunch trek was the most difficult part of our three day trek. The climb was highly steep, no proper footholds, loose rocks and soil. There were branches which had grown in such a way that we had to climb it and cross or crawl from under. It was a painful but most exciting part of the trek. But we had been instructed by the guides leading us not to sit as we could face difficulty after rest. So to relax a bit we were asked to stand for a minute or so before resuming our trek again. The trek downhill was as difficult as the climb uphill. But the trek was fun as we had to trek through the forest to reach Khajjiar. A small pictorial saucer-shaped plateau surrounded by dense pine and deodar forests, Khajjiar is designated as “Mini Switzerland”. It is situated at an altitude of 6,500 ft. above sea level. Set against the backdrop of dense pines, deodars and lush green meadow, Khajjiar is elegantly nestled down in the foothills of the grand Dhauladhar ranges of the Western Himalayas. Khajjiar has an islet with a small lake surrounding it.

On 24th Dec we headed for Chamba early morning. The trek was about 8kms from Khajjiar. This stretch of trek was not as exciting as the previous ones because of the route which was mainly road. Due to this we were actually quite bored and more tired. A single suspension bridge is the only access to the Chamba town. Below the bridge flows the river Ravi. It was fun to walk across the bridge as it used to swing. For me this was the only exciting think of the trek. The Chamba valley lies enclosed between two principal spur ranges of the Great Himalaya, the Dhauladhar and the Pangi-Pir Panjal. Chamba has often been referred to as the Florence of the Himalaya, for like that Italian city, it abounds in street and curbside art treasures as well as a host of magnificent temples & idols. The Chamba city hosts the famous Laxminarayan group of temples. After reaching our camp at Khajjiar we rested for sometime before heading towards the city. For the first time in last 3 days we broke one rule (to go off to bed by 10pm) by staying awake till midnight to wish each other Merry Christmas. We were entertained by Kaustubh. Must say he is a very good mimicry artist. We had a great fun watching him mimic everyone from the group.

On 25th Dec, our last day of trek, we headed back towards Dalhousie base camp by bus. After reaching the base camp, we were presented our certificates by secretary of YHAI-Dalhousie. Before checking out we decided to celebrate Christmas and B’day of two of our batch members by bringing two cakes. The Christmas cake was cut by the youngest member of our batch. We had hired a bus as we 22 of us were to go to Pathankot together. From there 4 Mumbai people headed towards Amritsar and remaining of us headed for Delhi.

This was the by-far the best trip till now. I thoroughly enjoyed my trek and it was great meeting so many new people. I definitely found some good friends too.

So this was all about my experience of my first snow filled trek. Hope u all enjoyed reading it.

Gujarat

2008-11-28T04:40:00.000-08:00

My travelogue about my visit to Gujarat. Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Though not being in college anymore, I joined them for this trip. Luckily got to go with them. We started the excursion on 27^th Oct ’07 and came back on 5th Nov 2007. We departed from Mumbai (bandra terminus) on 27th Oct in the evening by Saurashtra express.

We reached Rajkot station at around 8am the other day i.e. on 28th. Our first halt was at Junagadh so had to take a bus ride from Rajkot to junagadh. We stayed there in dharamshala. The place was quite neat and serene. After lunch we went for local sight-seeing. A typical village, situated at the foot of Girnar hills. We visited Darbar Hall Museum (where there is a display of the interesting collection of weapons, thrones, silver articles, costumes, paintings, tapestries, and palanquins used by Nawab of Junagadh), Science Museum, Sakkarbaug Zoo (the oldest zoo of Gujarat & 3rd oldest in India. The rare Gir lions are bred here), and the Dattatray Temple. One has to climb 10,000 steps to reach the temple. Somehow we 15 students managed to climb 1000 steps in about half an hour. The temple is situated in a jungle so occasionally one can hear the calls of wild animals. A beautiful experience though a bit tiring. The very next day we left for Gir.

Early morning on 29th Oct we left Junagadh for Gir National Park. We were to stay there for 2 days & 2 nights. We stayed in a farm house which was far beautiful than we can have imagined. Located in a jungle, it was next to a river full of crocodiles and alligators and one can sight beautiful birds sitting in a machan built next to the farm house. First we went to Gir Interpretation Centre where information about the national park, animals and birds found there is been given.

Gir is the only home for pure Asiatic Lions. The area is divided into National Park which measures about 258 km² and Sanctuary which measures about 1153 km².The area was declared as protected 1900's by the then Nawab of Junagadh. This was done due to decline in number of lion which went as low as 15, because of game hunting.The park and the sanctuary remain open all year but the best visiting season would be late november and early-March.

Gir is the largest dry deciduous forest in western India, Teak being the main flora. The fauna consists of Asiatic lions, leopards, hyenas, marsh crocodile, chitals, being few of the fauna found here. The avian fauna includes Vultures, Crested Serpent Eagle, Great Horned Owl, Bush Quail, etc. Gir also has lion breeding programme which carries out studies of the behaviour of the Asiatic lions and also practices artificial insemination.

From there we went for an evening Safari & spotted 1 lion & 2 lioness sitting and other 2 lioness crossing our vehicle. It was such an experience to sight this magnificent animal in the wild.

After safari we went to a Crocodile Breeding Centre. The centre supports around 20 fully adult crocs along with their eggs and young ones. Luckily because of Hussein sir, the forest officer of Gir, I could hold a baby croc in my hands. It was such a cute baby though quite powerful. I was lucky to get such a chance.

The most fun part of the day or should I say the night was a tribal dance by Siddhi tribe. The people of this tribe are South Africans brought by the Nawab of Gujarat as slaves. The dance is based on nature and animals. After sometime even we joined them in their dance.

The next day i.e. on 30th Oct we went to Diu Fort. It is a beautiful fort once used as prison by britishers. On the very top one can see 4 canons. From there we went for CMFT (centre of marine fishery technology) visit. After a small seminar at the institute we headed for Somnath temple. It is one of the 12 Jyotirlings. The Somnath Temple is known as 'the Shrine Eternal', as although the temple has been destroyed 6 times it has been rebuilt every single time. The present temple is the 7th temple reconstructed on the original site. The present temple, Kailash Mahameru Prasada, is built in the built in the Chalukya style of temple architecture and reflects the skill of the Sompuras, Gujarat's master masons. We reached there on time for maha aarti at 7 pm. Such a divine place. We returned back to our farmhouse in gir that night.

The very next day i.e. on 31st in the morning we headed for Jamnagar via Okha, Porbandar& Diu. Okha is a fish landing centre where we had to go for a visit. But unfortunately we couldn’t observe any fish catch as the fishing boats had not yet arrived from the catch. Then we headed for Porbandar beach. The beach is an eye-treat gently rocked by the winds and the wave from the Arabian sea. The beach was not that clean but one can observe variety of organisms, algae and shells. We did collect lots of specimen for college purpose. After collection we headed towards Jamnagar where we were to stay till 4th Nov.

The next day i.e. on 1st Nov was a relaxed day as we did shopping and local sight-seeing at Jamnagar. In the evening we went to Baal Hanuman Temple, Lakhota Palace and Smashan, both of which are recorded in Limca Book of Awards. The story behind the temple is that a saint was looking for a place to built a temple for Rama and finally he found this spot which was a bushy area used for urinal purposes. He started to recite prayers from that time and is still going on from generations to generations without being stopped i.e. Akhanda Jap. It is now being going on for 19,979 days nonstop hence is being recorded in Limca Book of Awards. Whereas the Smashan bhoomi is the one of a kind due to inscription of complete Ramayan in the form of pictures. It was not scary but one could feel calmness in the air.

On 2nd we headed for Pirotan Island, the one of a kind Marine National Park in

India

. It is situated almost 22km, off the coast near Jamnagar. It is a 3 square km area of Island, and is covered with Mangroves. The Pirotan Island has beautiful scenarios, and magnificent view of sunrise and sunset. On our way to the island we saw a family of dolphins swimming parallel to our boat. It was one of a kind experience. They were least bothered by our presence. Our boats were anchored away from the shoreline so we had to jump in the water and walk towards the beach. It was fun walking in the water. The entire island have various marine lives like crabs (Neptune, Hermit crabs, Ghost crabs, etc), jelly fishes, sea snakes, sea slugs, sea anemone and nests variety of birds (Cranes, little and larger egrets, grey heron, etc). After a walk on the island and observing marine lives we headed for our boats. As it was a low tide we had to walk down on the sea bed towards our boat and had to wait for two hours for the water to come towards the shoreline. Till that time we had a little walk on the sea bed and sat their till the onset of high tide. We could actually see water slowly coming towards us. After 1 ½ hours we climbed the boats and waited our boat to drift in the water. We reached the mainland at around 8 in the night. The boat ride in the evening was soothing and calming. This trip to island is something I will cherish for a long time.

On 3rd we went to visit Jamnagar Fishery Institute where we saw Prawn & Lobster Culture and then went for Shore visit behind the institute itself. There again we observed various marine lives. From there we headed towards Dwarka. It is rated as one of the 7 most ancient cities in the country. The legendary city of Dwarka dwelling place of Krishna. It is believed that, due to damage and destruction by the sea, Dvaraka has submerged 6 times and modern Dwarka is the 7th city to be built in the area. It is on the mouth of the Gomti River into Gulf of Kutch. The Dwarka temple has 5 storey tower which was built by Sambha, who is the grandson of Lord Krishna. The temple was made of limestone and sand. There is a flag hoisted in the temple tower everyday which waves in air beautifully welcoming the pilgrims. There are two gateways namely Swarga Dwar where pilgrims enter and Moksha Dwar where pilgrims exit. From the temple one can view the Sangamam of River Gomati flowing towards the sea. While returning back to our hotel in jamnagar we had a dance party in the bus itself. It was crazy because everyone danced in such a cramped place including our professors. It was such a fun.

On 4th since we had to leave for mumbai in the afternoon, the morning time was spent in packing and in clicking group snaps. We boarded the train at 1:35 in the afternoon and reached mumbai on 5th at 5 am. The night was spent chit-chatting, playing cards, singing songs and all such stuffs.

Overall my trip was fun, thrilling, exciting and above all a learning experience. I got to see various marine forms I knew but didn’t see. Overall it was a wonderful experience.

So that’s about my trip to Gujarat. Hope you enjoy reading my travelogue. See ya.

Mahabaleshwar

2008-11-28T04:06:00.000-08:00

My travelogue about my visit to Mahabaleshwar. Hope you all enjoy reading it. A 3 day trip proved to be more enjoyable than we expected. Let us recount the memories of the trip.

We started our trip on 1st Dec 2006 by bus. We M.Sc students were allotted last 2 rows and ahead of us were Sy boys. We had lots of fun with them. They were quite enthusiastic playing and singing with us. By afternoon we reached Pratapgadh. Our bus stopped at foot of Pratapgadh where we first visited a small emporium and then we headed towards the fort. The walk till the fort was real fun.

Pratapgadh is 195km away from Mumbai & 25kms away from Mahabaleshwar. The majestic fort was built in 1656 by Moropant Trimak Pingle under the command of the Maratha ruler Shivaji. It was here that the mighty general of Bijapur, Afzal Khan was killed by Shivaji. One can visit the tomb of Afzal Khan at the foot of the fort. There is a temple of Goddess Bhavani. There is a statue of Shivaji Maharaj inside the fort called Bale killa. The fort has a great view.

From here we headed towards Mahabaleshwar. We reached quite late at night. We stayed in a hotel Mount Castle which lies at the starting of ghat heading towards Wai. It was a beautiful hotel.

Let me give u a short history of Mahabaleshwar as told by our tour guide. Mahabaleshwar is at height of 4500 feet above sea level. Mahabaleshwar is one of the most spectacular and the largest of Maharashtra's hill-stations. Maharaja Pratapsinha of Satara (1818 to 1839) engineered a scheme to develop Mahabaleshwar as health resort.

Sir John Malcolm, the first governor to visit Mahabaleshwar in 1828, established Mahabaleshwar in 1829. Sir Charles Malet, the first resident in Pune durbar of the Peshwas in 1791 happens to be the first European to step on this plateau. In the 19th century, as soon as the sanitarium was founded, an open jail detention center was established. Convicts from China & Malaysia were stationed here. Mahabaleshwar was the summer capital of the Governor of the old Bombay Presidency. The Britishers built various mansions, Cottages and bungalows around the town, lending it a charismatic, sophistication.

The next day i.e. on 2nd we started our sightseeing by Wilson point. It is also called as sunrise point. It is the highest pt of about 4710 ft above sea level. It is a vast plateau. From there we went to Helen’s point. River Solshi starts from this point with a small fall near her origin. Poetic blue valley will be in front of you. An amazing sight to see. In the afternoon we went to visit Apiculture centre. After a small demonstration of how the process of extracting honey is being done, we visited Lodwick point, Elphinstone point, Arthur’s seat, Tiger’s spring, the Window, Kates point & Echo point (all the 7 points together are known as 7 sisters).

Almost 1,240 meters above the sea level, Lodwick Point has a great view. There is a monument in memory of the general, erected by his son. Walking ahead towards the Arthur’s seat lays Elphinstone point. The point overlooks two valleys, Koyna on the left & Savitri on the right. It is named after a former Governor of Mumbai. Between Lodwick Point and Elphinstone Point lies the Dhobi waterfall. Lying at 1,348 mts above sea-level is the queen of all points, the Arthur's Seat. It is mesmerizing to see the barren deep valley Savitri on the left & shallow green valley on the right. It is more interesting to know that Arthur's seat is the only place showing geographical division of Kokan & Deccan, two territories of Mahabaleshwar, so clear & so near. To reach Tiger’s spring we have to go by steps for about a km. The spring is supposed to be the source of the river Savtri. Immediately below the seat is a small ledge known as Window point. One has to go deep by steps to reach the window point. From this point one can observe the glorious valleys. Between Window point & Echo point lays the Kates Point. It offers breathtaking view of Krishna valley & deep waters of the Dhom dam. From southern side it looks like an elephants head. The last point in this series is the Echo point. We had great fun at this point calling our names and did all idiotic stuffs.

Late evening we visited Mapro. We visited the factory where we could observe the process and effort put into it to make delicious fruit jams, crushes & syrups. We had ice-cream there which was too yummy. Mapro has a very beautiful garden of colorful and amazing flowers.

After coming back to our hotel few of us along with Nayak sir & Vikrant sir walked down to the market to have soup. There while having soup unknowingly Vikrant sir told me about some surprise party which was planned at mid-night. Everyone present there was angry b’coz the surprise party was meant for me. After reaching hotel at around 11:30pm I went to my room and went off to sleep as if I never knew about the plan. 10min prior midnight I was woken up by Sy guys and they took me to the lawn where we sat talking. At midnight I called home after which everyone took me to the party room where we had a blast. I was thoroughly moved by the gesture and also missed my family and friends. I had a great time.

On 3rd we started off for a Venna lake. The place wasn’t happening at all. Actually few of us got pretty bored. Others went of for boating and all but we chose to sit in the dhaba next to the lake. After sometimes we wandered around to explore the place. Later in the evening we went to Panchgini market where I gave an ice-cream treat to M.Sc and Sy boys. I must say I really missed friends.

On 4th we headed to Wai, my native place. This was the first time I had being to my native place. It is 88 Kms. from Pune. Wai is situated at the banks of Krishna river. It is famous for temples. We visited the Sericulture institute of Wai where we were shown the process of extracting silk from the silkworms. Next we visited the famous Dholya Ganapati temple. It is considered as the important temple of Maharashtra. The idol of Lord Ganesh is very big. The temple is situated on the beautiful ghats of river Krishna. After spending time at the temple we headed back to Mumbai.

Goa - Beyond the Beaches

2008-11-26T23:19:00.001-08:00

Goa, known as the land of beaches, is not only limited to the beaches but is also the bliss for the nature lovers. It is cozily nestled between the deep waves of Arabian sea and rising hump of western ghats. Goa provides a natural habitat to a range of birds and animals in midst of rich vegetation, well preserved as wildlife sanctuaries. So let’s start the journey to the mystical world of Goa.

The college excursion was from 24th Oct to 1st Nov '06. The next day i.e. 25th Oct we reached Mollem station from where we headed towards Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary where we were to stay for the rest of the days. We were put up in Dudhsagar wildlife Resort, a lovely place in midst of nature. It was a great place to stay. Before I proceed further let me brief you about this sanctuary.

Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary along with Mollem National Park is a 240 km² protected area located 57km east of Panji . Earlier it was game park and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1969. The core zone of 107 km² came to be known as The Mollem National Park in 1978. It is a Semi Evergreen and Moist Deciduous forest. It is a shelter for animals like Barking deer, Leopard, Flying Squirrel, Gaur, Chital, etc. But most important are the Malabar Gaint Squirrel and Slender Loris which are classified as endangered species. Avian species include Golden oriole, Greater indian hornbill, Malabar grey hornbill, Malabar pied hornbill, Paradise flycatcher, Racket-tailed drongo, Ruby-throated yellow bulbul (the Goa state bird), Shrikes, etc. It also hosts butterflies (Blue Mormon, Common Mormon, Common Wanderer, Crimson Rose, Plain Tiger) and reptiles (king cobra, cat snake, indian rock python, malabar pit viper, rat snake, russell's viper, Indian cobra and common krait).

After breakfast we headed to Dudhsagar Falls. It is a 10 km trek from mollem along the river to the base of this splendid milky white cascade of water. It falls down 306 mts in two segments. A bridge of South Central Railway passes right through the waterfalls and makes a fantastic scene. It is a major part of the Goa ecosystem. After returning to our rooms we had our lunch and then we were taken for an Evening Trail to Mollem National Park. Mollem NP and Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary jointly cover an area of 240 sq kms. The forest ranges from moist deciduous to evergreen and provides ample cover to wildlife. Though we couldn’t see anything other than insects, spiders and birds it was a nice experience.

After the trail we headed for Nature Interpretation Centre. It is a store house of information on nature, environment and wildlife. The centre has pugmarks of different animals like tiger, leopard, hyena, wild dog, jackal & sloth bear. It also had exhibits of antlers, limb bones of gaur, the mandible of an elephant & crocodile skin.

After dinner we went for Night Trail. It was breathtaking experience walking in the wild not knowing the dangers in the path. It was amazing feeling to hear the sounds of the wild. During the trail we saw different insects and a tree frog. Though we couldn’t see even few animals but the trail was fantastic.

The next day i.e. 26th Oct we started our day with the visit to Dona Paula. It is situated 7kms from Panjim. This is the place where Zuari and Mandovi meet the Arabian sea, with a fine view of the Marmagoa Harbour . According to what we heard from the locals, the Viceroy's daughter Dona Paula de Menezes after facing objections from her family about her love affair with a poor fisherman jumped of the cliff. There is a statue of the lovers on the cliff hence the place is also known as the Lovers Paradise. Some locals even believe that she emerges from the moonlitwaves wearing only a pearl necklace.

From here we went for a visit to National Institute of Oceanography(NIO). It was set up in the 1960s. The NIO investigates not only marine biology, but also integrates almost all the major branches of coastal and marine oceanography. The major attraction of the institute is its Marine Biology Museum and Taxonomy Reference Center.

After having done our lunch at NIO we headed to Goa Science Centre. It was opened to the public from 19th December, 2001. Main features of the Science Centre are its interactive exhibition galleries; Science Park specially designed programs and activities.

In the evening we went for an River Cruise. It was fun as the cruise had dance performances by the locals on the traditional Goan & Portuguese songs and also by the people on the cruise. It was great fun. After heading to the resort and after dinner we played tug of war & dog and bone. It was fun playing the whole night.

On 27th Oct we started our journey by visiting a church, The Chapel of Three Kings. A secluded chapel in midst of nowhere, is surrounded by dense vegetation. Though we couldn’t see the chapel from inside as it was closed, we enjoyed the vicinity. According to the locals the chapel shouldn’t be visited after 5pm as the spirits can be seen inside the chapel. Many told us that they have seen the spirits at the window of the chapel and even if u want to visit to should not look back while leaving as there are chances of the person losing his mental balance. If you ignore these rumors you can enjoy the pure serenity of the place.

From the chapel we headed for the Naval Aviation Centre. It was set up in Vasco around the year 1998. It is one of its kinds in India and is a major tourist attraction in Goa. The place has a museum that showcases the rich history and the development of the Indian naval aircrafts, different aircrafts that are used, weapons, arms, etc.

The next stop was at National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research(NCAOR). It was established as an autonomous R & D Institution of the Department of Ocean Development (DOD) on the 25th May 1998. The jewel in the NCAOR’s scientific crown is the upkeep of the year round Indian station in Antarctica, ‘Maitri’. Maitri was established in 1989 and allows Indian scientists to conduct critical studies across all areas of polar research. The best part of this visit apart from an presentation of the ongoing projects was the visit to the lab which has the Antarctic ice kept in it. Just 3 of us and our 2 professors were allowed to get in this restricted area. First we had to go through decontamination chamber and after wearing apt shoes were first taken to a lab (10 C) where the instruments for research are kept, then to another lab (20 C) where some work was on and finally in to the store room which was at 40 C for 5 min where the ice slabs brought in from Antarctic were kept. I must say that it was a chilling & experience.

Then we headed for Fishery Survey of India(FSI). Here we saw some fish specimens and the making of the nets.

The last stop was at Sada Beach. A very secluded beach where very few tourist turn up. It was great to see sunset sitting on the beach and hearing beautiful sound of waves and chirping of birds. A must see beach.

On 28th Oct we started our day by visiting Basalt Rock Temple of Mahadev.

It is the most ancient temple in the whole of Goa, located at a place called Tambi Surla which is approximately 12 kms from the border crossing post of Mollem. The temple was built in Jain style in the 12th century. The temple faces east so that the rays of the rising sun fall on the deity at the crack of dawn. There is a headless Nandi in the centre of the mandap, surrounded by four matching columns. There is a linga mounted on a plinth inside the inner sanctum and local legend has it that a huge King Cobra is in permanent residence in the dimly lit interior, though we couldn’t see one. There are 4 rocks in the vicinity which are the symbols of 4 elephants guarding all the 4 directions.

After visit to temple, we went for a small trek near the temple, where the river Surla flows. One can reach this river via a flight of stone steps. It was a beautiful & quiet trek where we saw various stunning butterflies (pansies, cruiser, crimson rose fly, black mormon,etc), scorpion, tree frog, whip spider, etc. We even managed to see skink - a reptile which has resemblance with the snake but is actually a lizard. It is a semi-poisonous creature, whose poisan is fatal to animals but not to humans. It was really an awesome animal. We had a great fun walking through the river and watching natural exhibition of these exquisite animals.

After this, we headed for Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary. It covers an area of 7.98 sq kms. Though we couldn’t visit the sanctuary, we managed to visit the Mini Zoo & Formal Gardens. There are numerous endangered species which provides the visitors to see them. The animals one can see are elephants, sambhar, crocodiles, snakes (pit vipers, wine snake, cobra, king cobra, rock python, etc), gaur, sloth bears, leopard, etc. Then we visited Nature Education Centre and lastly went for a walk in the garden. The garden had spacious lawns, variety of flowers and in between there was a idol of the deity Gajalakshmi belonging to the period of between 6th & 8th century.

On 29th we headed for Ajobachi Rai-The Sacred Groves. The groves are an important part of Goa's natural heritage. A sacred grove is the patch of untouched forest area where traditional worship of local deities or forest spirits, as well as of plants and animals, has been carried out in since ancient times. Strong taboos prohibit the cutting of trees and plants or harming of any form of life within this protected area. The fear of punishment by the spirits residing in the groves has kept the forest in a near-natural state. Sacred groves have numerous medicinal plants & the waters of the springs have medicinal properties. Ajobachi Rai, the largest of them all is situated in the village of Keri, in Sattari Taluka. These sacred groves are considered to be sacred area and one should follow rules like removing footwear and not disturbing any life forms when visiting the groves.

After spending some quality time hiking up on the groves we headed for Paykecha Sada. It is a beautiful waterfall in midst of bondla ws. It is the life line of the sanctuary and cascades down beautifully. We rested here for an hour or so before heading back to our resort. Here we observed a very classic Malabar Pit Viper and experienced most stunning sunset.

The next day (30th Oct) we visited Basilica of Bom Jesus. Bom Jesus is the name used for the infant Jesus. The church is located in Old Goa, about 10 km from the city of Panjim. It contains the body of St. Francis Xavier; a member of the Society of Jesus. After his death during sea voyage in 1552, his remains were brought to Goa, in accordance with his wishes. The church is beautifully constructed with amazing interiors and calm vicinity.

After this we headed for Dr.Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. It is one of the smallest bird sanctuaries having an area of merely 1.8 sq kms. Though small, the sanctuary homes around 400 species of birds, both local and migratory. It is located on island of Chorao near Mandovi River. One has to take ferry from Ribandar ferry dock to reach the sanctuary. Because the island of Chorao is full of mangrove swamps, the region produces exceptional cover and vegetation for many different breeds of local coastal bird as well as the perfect resting ground for migrating birds from all around the world. Besides a rich diversity of exotic birds, one may catch a glimpse of wild animals like crocodiles, foxes, and jackals. The sanctuary is open throughout the year, though it is better to avoid it during the monsoons and summers when it can get really hot and humid.

Our last day i.e. 31st Oct we were to visit Mangeshi, Mahalsa & Shantadurga temple. Of all three I visited only Mahalsa temple as it was not commercialized. The temple is dedicated to goddess Mahalsa, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The reason for my visiting this temple was a six-storied 'deepstambha' in the courtyard. This splendid pillar is 40 feet in height and has 21 rings of a hundred fifty small lamps.

After going back to the resort and after having our lunch we shot a small film on the students. The film is great to watch with comments and crazy remarks. We headed to mollem station to cah our train.

An Amazing trip came to an end with happy note.

Rajasthan - Magical Landset amidst the desolate desert beauty

2008-11-17T04:49:00.000-08:00

Rajasthan – Magical landset amidst the desolate desert beauty – was a beautiful experience. Though it was my second trip there, it was a complete different experience. The trip, or shall I say excursion, started on 27th Dec ‘05 and ended on 4th Jan ‘06. So let us start the journey to the land of deserts………

Our excursion started on 27th Dec from Mumbai and we reached Sawai Madhopur on the next day i.e. on 28th Dec. After reaching there we were put up in a hotel named Pink Palace. After lunch we went for an afternoon safari at Ranthambore National Park and later on to an Interpretation Centre.

Ranthambore National Park is situated 11kms away from the Sawai Madhopur Railway station. Our hotel was around 3-4kms away from the park. Let me tell you about this national park briefly.

The park was established as the game sanctuary in 1955. Later on in the year 1957 it was established as a wildlife sanctuary and in 1981 as a national park. It was included in Project Tiger in 1973. The National Park covers an area of 392 km² of which 275 km² is the core area. The best season to visit the park is between November to March. There are many water bodies located all over the park, which provide perfect relief during the extremely hot summer months for the forest inhabitants. The park is famous for tigers.

Our guide's name was Fateh Singh Rathore who has worked with Nat Geo & Discovery. We were gald & lucky to have him as our guide. On our first trip we spotted langurs, marsh crocodiles basking in the sun, male sambar sitting lazily in a water puddle, several female sambar sitting in the shade of the trees, chittals and babbler bird along with several other birds too. Though we couldn’t spot a tiger the safari was fruitful as we could experience the voice and the music of nature. After safari we went to an interpretation zone where we saw pictures of the tigers, the map of the park, history of the park and the flora & fauna found in the park.

After coming back we had our dinner and we were asked questions related to the park. It was quite a fun as we also had several discussions on the wild.

The next day i.e. on 29th we were off again for the safari. During this safari we saw peacocks, treepie, babbler, and other common animals. Our Guide was different from the previous guide but we were damn lucky as he was a leopard spotter who took us with him in the core zone. We were ecstatic. After the safari we went to visit Ranthambore Fort which lies inside in the National park.

The park gets its name from the Ranthambore fort that stands in the middle of the park. The fort was founded in the 8th century. The fort was a vital stronghold for the control of central India, with the result that many wars were fought for its possession. Due to its location and structure, it was one of the most difficult forts to conquer. The most successful ruler of this fort was Rao Hammir in the 11th century. Later the Mughals conquered the fort and then gifted it to the Maharaja of Jaipur in 19th century. The height of the hill is 700 feet. The fort is huge, with the circumference of its walls approximately 7 kms. It is open to the public from morning to evening. There is no road leading to the top of the hill to the fort but there are only stairs leading from the bottom of the hill. Inside Ranthambore fort there are three Hindu temples dedicated to Ganesh,Shiva and Ramlalaji constructed in 12th and 13th centuries from red Karauli stone. There are many ruins of bygone eras scattered all over the jungle, which give it a unique, wonderful and mixed flavour of nature, history and wildlife.

The next day i.e. on 30th we left for Bharatpur early morning. After reaching there we took some rest and after dinner we were entertained by the puppet show. It was such a fun to watch puppet show after so many years. We really enjoyed the show. We didn’t do much on the day as were tired traveling. So went off to sleep early.

On 31st we went to Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, also known as Keoladeo Ghana National Park. Keoladeo.

The name derives from an ancient Hindu temple, devoted to Lord Shiva, which stands at the centre of the park. 'Ghana' means dense, referring to the thick forest, which used to cover the area. The area was declared a national park in 1982, and was accepted as a World Heritage Site in December 1985. It covers an area of 29 sq kms. Along with the nesting native water- birds & migratory water birds and waterside birds, this sanctuary also provides shelter to animals like Sambar, Chital, Nilgai and Boar. Bharatpur Wildlife Sanctuary is open throughout the year; still the ideal visiting months are from August-November for resident breeding birds and October- February for migrant birds. One can walk down the trail, or can travel on cycles & cycle rickshaws. We were lucky enough to spot quite a few birds. Some of them were spotted owl, white fronted kingfisher, darter or snake bird, shobler duck, moorhen, colonies of painted storks, Chinese coot along with turtles and Indian rock python. It was a great experience watching these beautiful birds in their natural surrounding.

Later that night we celebrated the New Year by organizing a small dance party. We had a blast but i did miss my friends a lot.

On 1st Jan, the very first day of the New Year we were lucky to visit the exquisite architecture of Fatehpur Sikri & the monument of love and beauty, Taj Mahal.

The name Fatehpur Sikri came after Mughal Emperor Babur defeated Rana Sanga in a battle at a place called Sikri. Mughal Emperor Akbar wanted to make Fatehpur Sikri his head quarters as a result he built this imposing fort. But due to shortage of water he had to ultimately move his headquarters to Agra Fort. Fatehpur Sikri is regarded as Emperor Akbar's ultimate architectural legacy. Indeed, its numerous palaces, halls, and masjids satisfy his creative and artistic impulses, typical of Mughals. The buildings of Fatehpur Sikri show a perfect blend of Hindu, Jain and Islamic architectural craftsmanship. The building material predominantly used is red sandstone. The tomb “Salim Chisti Ka Mazar" was built in 1571 by Akbar in honour of Saint Salim Chishti who blessed the Emperor with a male child, Salim (jahangir), who became the heir to his throne. Earlier it was built with red sand stone but later converted into beautiful marble tomb. Some of the important buildings in the vicinity are Diwan-e-Aam (hall of public audience) where the ruler meets the general public, Diwan-e-Khas (hall of private audience) which is famous for its central pillar with 36 voluted brackets supporting a circular platform for Akbar, Jodhabai's palace which shows Gujarati influence and is built around a courtyard, Panch Mahal which is a five-storied impressive structure whose bottom floor has 176 intricately carved columns, Tansen’s seat which is in the middle of Anup Talao & Buland Darwaza (gate of magnificence) a stunning piece of architecture is one of the gateways to the Jama masjid.

Later after this visit we went to see Taj Mahal which was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is considered as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. The focus of Taj Mahal is the white marble tomb, which stands on a square plinth consisting of a symmetrical building with an arch-shaped doorway, topped by a large dome. The main dome is crowned by a spire. The spire provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. It is topped by a moon, Islamic symbol, whose horns point heavenward. Because of its placement on the main spire, the horns of moon and spire point combine to create a trident shape, the trishul. A beautiful gift from a loving husband to his wife is a sight to remember.

On 2nd early morning we left for Jaipur, popularly known as Pink City. After ealy lunch we went to visit Amber palace which is 11kms from Jaipur.

It is a classic fusion of Mughal and Hindu architecture, built in red sandstone and white marble. The fort is entered through the 'Dil-e-Aaram' Garden, laid out in the traditional Mughal style. An impressive flight of stairs leads to the Diwan-E-Am. The 'Jai Mandir' (hall of victory) has a sparkling ceiling with mirror pieces on stucco and elegant inlaid panels. The Diwan- E- Khas is covered with jail screens and the most exquisite is the Seesh Mahal (hall of Mirrors) known for its craftsmanship in mirrors. Thousands of mirror pieces adorn the walls and the ceiling that, any streak of light makes them sparkle and illuminates the entire room. A very magnificent palace is worth watching.

Later in the evening we went to visit Birla Temple. A beautiful, calm temple showing Jain architectural craftmanship. Since we visited the temple in the night, it looked beautiful in the lights. Anyways we had a great time visiting both the places though we were deadly tired.

On 3rd we had a relaxed day since we visited only Hawa Mahal and did some shopping near the palace.

Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds) was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. It is 5 storied constructed of red & pink sandstone. Side facing streets has 953 small windows hence the name. The women’s chambers allowed the royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen.

A good architectural monument, but is not being maintained properly. I thought that the shops just below the palace steal the charm. Frankly speaking I didn’t enjoy the visit. But that’s my opinion.

After the visit we shopped till dusk. Some of us finished our shopping early and then we wandered off to eat the typical rajasthani dishes. It was real fun.

4th Jan, our last day in Rajasthan was spent packing our bags till evening and then we boarded the train wherein we were awake the entire night.

As everything comes to an end, our trip also came to an end.

Raigadh

2008-11-15T22:34:00.000-08:00

After MP, this was my second excursion in the same year. This time was 3 day trip to Raigadh district. We started our trip or shall I say field trip on 8th Jan ’05 & returned back on 10th Jan ’05. Let me describe my trip in details.

On 8th Jan, early morning at around 7:30am we started our journey by bus. We reached Shrivardhan by 2:00noon where we were put up at Mr. Gandre’s place, a beautiful little bungalow.

Shrivardhan is a small city located around 200kms from Mumbai. It takes roughly six hours to reach by road. Beautiful beaches, plenty of temples & a great historical background partially describe this petite city. The history of Shrivardhan is related to the Peshwas, who ruled Maharashtra for nearly 105 yrs. Peshwai started in 1713 in Shrivardhan. The 3rd Peshwa Balaji Bajirao had built a house here in 1750 which is at present under the control of Municipal Corporation.

After resting and having our lunch we visited a temple which was built in 1979. Thereafter we went for a visit to Shrivardhan Fish Landing. We observed various fishes like silver pomfret, indian mackerel, crabs, rawas, surmai, along with various crafts like dugout canoe & semi-mechanized boat. After about an hour & a half we headed towards beach. It was a beautiful beach where we spent about 2 hrs playing and enjoying the serenity that surrounded us.

The next day we headed to Murud, a village in Raigadh district which is about 45kms from Alibaug. The fortress Murud-Janjira is famous for being the only fort along India's western coast that remained undefeated despite Maratha, Dutch and English East India Company attacks. 300 yrs old fort is built in the sea 2kms inside of the village. There are inall 19 buruj in the fort. Every buruj has huge guns on it of which three big guns ‘kalal bangadi’, ‘chavari’ & ‘landa kasam’ are well known. Fort was built by Burhan Khan, a minister of Nizamshah. Ever after repeated effort to capture the fort by Marathas like Shivaji Maharaj, Sambhaji & Peshwas, the fort remained impregnable.

After spending time exploring the fort we headed towards Devagar to visit the famous Golden Ganesha Temple whereafter we went to Devagar beach.

On the 10th Jan that is the last day of our trip we headed for Harihareshwar, one of the finest places in Konkan. It is only 25 Kms for Shrivardhan. Harihareshwar is known as Kashi of Southern India. The hill on the seashore at Harihareshwar is also known as 'Harihar' or 'Pushpadri'. The town of Harihareshwar is not only known for its tranquil and picturesque beach but also for the of Harihareshwar. The temple is old & might be constructed in Shivaji's period. But it was re-constructed by First Bajirao Peshawa in 1723. The temple consists of idols of Brahma - Vishnu - Mahesh and Devi Parvati. The other temples in the premises are of Shri Kalbhairav and Shri Yogeshwari. According to the one legend, during a confrontation with Bali the demon, Vishnu took 3 steps, one of which landed in Harihareshwar. Another legend tells of Saint Agasthi, who discovered four swayambhu lingams in Harihareshwar and found the peace he longed for.

Truly, Harihareshwar is a place of temples and beautiful seashore. The atmosphere here is very auspicious and creates pleasure. The seashore, beach, the dark woods near the sea and the temple are worth to visit.

From here we headed back to Mumbai, but not before a short visit to a Samrajya fish-farm (5kms from Harihareshwar) owned by Mr. Sharad Patil. We reached Mumbai at late evening.

All in all it was a fun trip and it was great to explore such exquisite beaches I would have ever known.

Madhya Pradesh

2008-11-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

This was my first experience of any kind of excursion. It was a nine day trip to Madhya Pradesh. Well I had been to all the places before with family but this trip proved to be a lot different from my earlier trip to the same places. How, I will explain it to you in details.

In this excursion we were to visit Panchmarhi - the queen of Satpura ranges, Jabalpur - the marble rock beauty & Kanha National Park - the heaven for wildlife lovers from 22nd – 30th Oct 2004. Let’s go through the excursion in details.

On 22nd Oct we boarded the Howra Mail via Allahabad from C.S.T at around 9:45pm. The next day i.e. on 23rd we reached Pipariya station (47kms from Panchmarhi) at around 11:40am. From there we headed towards Panchmarhi by jypsys. Panchmarhi is MP’s only hill-station situated at an altitude of 1067kms. It is a place where nature has found wonderful expressions in numerous captivating ways. It is said that the whole of Panchmarhi was once submerged under water but slowly it emerged out with beautiful crevices.

We were put up at Holiday Homes which was a dream come true place to stay as it was surrounded by lush green trees. After lunch at Misty Meadows we went for some sight-seeing.

We started with the most sacred cave, the Jatashankar cave. Jatashankar cave temple is 2kms away from the main bus stop. Situated under loose massive boulders & surrounded by luxuriant hills & forests, this temple is the miracle of nature worth-seeing. The Jambu Dweep stream has its source from this hillock. According to the legend, Lord Shiva reached the place by tunnel from Tilak Sindur to save himself from the demon-king, Bhasmasur. Natural Shivalingam in the shade of huge Naga, formed by a rock by nature, is a site to be seen. According to some natives, Gupt-ganga appeared here.

Next we went to Panchmarhi Lake. This lake is artificially made by stopping a natural water-stream by constructing a small dam. Like other places of Pachmarhi it is surrounded by lush green trees and has a panoramic view. This is a nice place for enjoying evenings with boating.

In the late evening we visited Rajendra Prasad Udyan, after which we returned back to our cottages.

On 24th Oct we started our day by visiting an emporium for buying souvenir. Later we headed for Roman Catholic Church. The church was built in 1892 by the British. The Catholic Church is a blend of French and Irish architecture. Its Belgium stained-glass windows add rare attraction and beauty to the building. The Church has a cemetery attached to it and graves date from 1859, World War I and II.

Next in line was the Pandav Caves. It is said that Panchmarhi got its name from these caves, one of the dwelling place of Pandavas during their exile. The caves have been carved out of a low hillock. The cleanest, most airy of the caves is known as ‘Draupadi Kuti’ the darkest one is known as ‘Bhim Kuti’. Though archaeologist have later claimed that these caves must have been constructed by Buddhist monks during the Gupta period, in the 9th or 10th century A.D., but the popular belief, that the Pandavas had lived here, still continues, having hardly suffered any damage.

The next place was the Bison Lodge & Museum. The discoverer of Panchmarhi, Capt. Forsyth built this lodge in 1862 as his residence which is now a museum. Bison Lodge & Museum displays an interesting range of pictures, models, maps, graphs and samples of the flora and fauna of this ecologically rich region- the Satpura Hills. It also has an open-air theatre that shows films documentaries and presentations on wildlife.

From here we moved onto Reechgadh. It is a wonderful natural amphitheatre in the rock and can be approached through a cave-like entrance on the south-side. As the name suggests, it is the dwelling place of the bears. Occasionally one can see or at least hear the bear. But we couldn’t.

Next in line was the Bee’s falls. It is about 3kms from Panchmarhi and is a source of drinking water for Panchmarhi. Falling from a height of 150 feet, these falls provide an ultimate sanctuary to the body & mind. The droplets from this tranquil fall giving milky appearance lives one awestruck. The nearby place has scenic beauty and in trees squirrels play on the branches and various kinds of birds provide soothing music.

The last destination before heading towards cottage was Dhoopgarh. Dhoopgarh is the highest peak of Satpura ranges at the altitude of 4,429 ft. above mean sea level. The way is steep and the jeeps and other vehicles plying here are to follow a tortuous route. MPTDC jeeps go up to the peak on package tours for a view of the sunset. The highest peak is known as 'Elephant' or 'Hathi Shikhar'. This is a place from where one can watch beautiful views, depthness of nature, greenery of dense forests & serpent-shaped jungle paths. From the top of Dhoopgarh, one can observe sunrise & sunset. One can have unbelievable moods of nature, all scenic beauty & cool breeze with aroma in its purest form. Two hours stay at evening, will definitely show so many shades of nature, which are beyond description in words and can only be felt.

The next day i.e. on 25th we boarded a train from Pipariya for Jabalpur. Jabalpur lies north of river Narmada in a rocky basin surrounded by low hills. In 1781, the city of Jabalpur was selected as the Maratha Headquarters. At present it is the military headquarters.

After reaching Jabalpur we checked in Hotel Surya. After lunch we headed to Shaheed Smarak, built in the memory of jawans who laid down their lives defending our country. The architectural design of the smarak was visualized by Brig. S.S.Ahluwalia (President of cantonment board, Jabalpur) & J.S.Mahi (Cantonment Executive Officer). From there on our way to some garden we saw C-60 Canon which was used in war against Pakistan.

After coming back to our hotel Surya we packed our bags for the 2 day stay at Kanha National Park .

On 26th we started by 7am for Kanha by bus. It is around 160kms from Jabalpur, takes around 3 hrs by bus. The bus stops at Kisli gate. We stayed there in dorms. After lunch we decided to explore the permitted areas. We spotted some a herd of Chital and a small family of langur.

That day we didn’t have much to do so few of us decided to play carom till dinner time. After dinner we gathered in the open in front of our canteen and played. It was really thrilling to sit in the jungle where darkness surrounded us. The only light was of moon & the only sound other than ours was animal calls. Before going off to sleep our guide gave us some information about the national park. Let me brief you with some of the information.

The park is located in Mandla district of MP. The central valley was declared as Sanctuary in 1935. That time Kanha area was divided into two sanctuaries, Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 km² each. Later in 1955 it gor the status of being declared as a National Park & in 1973 it was declared as Tiger Reserve under the act of Project Tiger. Today the total area of the park is 1945 sq.kms of which 1005 sq.kms is the buffer zone & the remaining 940 sq.kms is the core zone. The terrain consists of sal and bamboo forests, plateaus, meadows and meandering streams. Shravantal is the main water body in the central meadows. The park remains closed from July to September. The visiting hrs is from sunrise till 11am & 4:30pm till sunset.

There is a large tiger population in the park. One can also find leopards, the sloth bear and Indian wild dog. Very rarely seen are the Indian wolves which live in the far east of the park. It comes out after dark which is not a visiting hour. The most abundant prey species for the large predators is the chital. The second largest population of deer is that of Sambar which constitutes an important prey base of the tiger. Other commonly observed mammals include the common grey langur, wild boar, gaur, barasingha. The chousingha and the nilgai (blue bull), though rare, can also be found in Kanha. Other larger mammal species of the park are rhesus macaque, golden jackal, bengal fox, smooth-coated otter, honey badger, small indian civet, indian gray mongoose, ruddy mongoose, striped hyena, jungle cat, leopard cat, indian spotted chevrotain, indian pangolin, indian porcupine & indian hare The Indian jungle fowl, which is the ancestor of domestic hens, is common.

Next day i.e. 27th, early morning we went for safari. Our guide’s name was Mr. Ashok Kumar Bairagi. We could spot chital, peacocks, langur, barasingha, wild dog, banded krait & various birds. We visited Kanha Museum where we could see paw marks of various animals, antlers of deers, skeletons of animals etc.

Post - lunch we went to see the tigress's den & then to Aranyak Emporium. In the night we were shown a small documentary about tigers of Kanha & Ranthambore. We really enjoyed our day.

On 28th we returned back to Jabalpur. We roamed about a bit before going off for shopping at Chudi bazaar. After dinner at Panchvati hotel we returned to our hotel we played truth n dare, antakshari and had a small dance party. It proved to be a fun n frolic night.

On our last day i.e. on 29th, before breakfast we finished packing our bags as we were to leave the very same day for Mumbai. After breakfast we headed towards Marble Rocks at Bhedaghat & Dhuandhar falls. Soaring in glitzy splendor, the Marble Rocks at Bhedaghat rises to a hundred feet on either side of the Narmada. The Narmada, making its way through the Marble Rocks narrows down and then plunges in a waterfall known as Dhuandhar or the smoke cascade. The holy river flows by serenely flanked by the towering cliffs which reflect in it like a mirror the changing moods of nature. So powerful is the plunge that its roar is heard from a far distance. The whole scene of the falls and the thundering sound of it is a breathtaking spectacle of Nature's power.

From the falls we went for boating at the Marble Rocks of Bhedaghat. The crystal clear calm water of Narmada, fringed by the perpendicular magnesium limestone rocks provides a fascinating site. The calm loveliness of the scene is one of cool quiet, the sunlight sparkling on the marble-white pinnacles and casting spotted shadows on the tranquil waters. These white rocks with tinges of various colours due to some impurities are truly majestic. In the narrow channel of the mighty river, there is a place approached so closely from the opposite banks that the local people have aptly named it the "Monkey's Leap”. After boating we bought some souvenirs for my friends we returned to our hotel.

Around 8pm we left for the station to board Mahanagari Express scheduled on 9:50pm. The train was late by an hour so we all sat down on the platform and clicked some snaps & sang songs.

This is how we ended our excursion. I never thought that I would enjoy my trip so much that I will go on talking about it in the coming days. The most exciting, fun-filled trip came to an end.