travelers' adda xplorer september 2012

Travelers’ Adda 2

Travelers’ Adda Xplorer Editor’s Note

Suryajit Bhattacharya

www.travelersadda.com

http://www.facebook.com/groups/travelersadda

http://www.facebook.com/TravelersAdda

Once again with a very good response from our reader, we are proudly launching the 3rd issue of

Xplorer. Lots of traveling, photography, riding and adventures have been done during last quarter.

This quarter we met many hard core travelers with us as active members. We are, as usual,

searching for new places and trying to provide interesting as well as useful information. Many more

ideas are coming forward for the betterment and development of our community.

Many events, many travelogues and so many pictures are continuously decorating our community.

We have many active members throughout this quarter like Hoodibaba, Arunava Das and Pradyut

Kumar Dey who are contributing lots of information and spreading motivation between us. One of

the fantastic and worth reading story is the story of a Ride to Laddakh shared by Hoodibaba.

Introduced to Travelers’ Adda by Shubham, this person is being a great motivation to all the riders

making this a myth that a small old Motorcycle can’t ridden for high altitude like Laddakh. Hats off to

this rider and wish him all the best for future.

This quarter my visit was to enjoy the monsoon on Bay of Bengal. I with my wife Swatilekha enjoyed

the beach too much along with the ride on my motorcycle. In future we are planning for more and

more travel with more fun and adventure and also planning to visit Himalayas in coming future.

Our group is becoming more and more popular in Facebook too and the credit goes to all the

members of the Adda. I must thank to Agnimitra Chowdhuri for his tremendous support to the

community. On the other hand Shubham must be appreciated for his efforts that he is spending on

building this community outside West Bengal. Last but not least we must thank Manojit for his time

and presence in this forum and sharing his valuable ideas for the development of the Adda.

Finally I’m thankful to you all to give a company for this forum and share our habit. We’ll always look

forward to bring interesting and adventurous stories and pictures for you. Thanks to all our members

for their sharing their stories and fantastic pictures.

Travelers’ Adda 3

2 Editor’s Note 4 Trip of the Month –June 2012 - Roopkund

Pradyut Kumar Dey 10 Trip of the Month –July 2012 - Gurudongmar Saura Bhattacharjee 16 Trip of the Month – August 2012 - Kollimalai Shubham Bairy 20 Lazy Weekend - Tajpur - Mandarmoni Suryajit Bhattacharya 25 Heritage - Imambara Suryajit Bhattacharya 27 Travel Guru Travelers’ Adda 28 Travel Guru’s Desk - Sasan Gir – Rann of Kutch Hoodibaba 34 Around the World -Delft, Netherlands

Manojit Pati

36 Travelography Suryajit Bhattacharya

Contents

Travelers’ Adda 4

Roopkund by Pradyut Kumar Dey

The sun is on his southward journey and, as his blazing rays begin to slant, the subcontinent feels freedom from

the oppressive heat of summer months. The monsoon has infused new life into trees and grass. It was autumn

(Sharat). The weather was clear. The white clouds were floating on the blue sky. The sun rays were reflecting

from the dew drenched green grass. When the nature is so kind and mysterious then we four trekkers found

some time from our busy daily life to enjoy the thrills of the nature.

So, me, Tanurup, Somnath and

Subhra planed a trek to beautiful,

mysterious Roopkund. We started

on 16th Sept, 2009 on the day of

Janmastami (birthday of God Sri

Krishna). It seems that the dream

and desire comes true. We got

into the Amritsar Mail from

Howrah and reached Lucknow

next day. We checked in a hotel

there. After having some rest, we

visited nearby glorious historical

places. Same day, we got into the

Naini Express at 10 PM and

reached at Lalkuan station by next

day early morning.

We have hired a car to Dewal

from the station. After having

some tea, we started, en-route we

crossed Haldwani, Kathgodam,

Bhimtal, Bhowali, Almora,

Kousani, Gwaldam, Tharli one by

one. We saw Pindar Ganga and

Koli Ganga River on the way.

Distance of Gwaldam from

Lalkuan is about 170 KM and

takes almost 6 hours. We had our

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lunch on the way. Gwaldam is a

very beautiful hill station. The

dense forest of Pine, Deodar and

the magical sound of the river

makes us emotional. We reached

Dewal around 3 PM.

But we faced a big problem when

we heard that the last car to Wan

had left for the day at 2 PM. All

the enjoyment lost suddenly. It

seemed that we lost all our hopes.

But I feel that, problem during a

trip gives more pleasure once

resolved. And definitely, god was

with us as usual. Suddenly, we

remembered that we should go to

that place (we came to know

about this place when collecting

information from Kolkata) where

we could find some help. There a

Bengali gentleman named Mr.

Raju Saha helped us a lot to reach

Lahjung. The God blessed us in

the form of a human. He gave us

a letter and after showing his

letter, Kamal Sing drove us to

Wan by his car. The rent was 650

rupees. It was 7 O’clock in the

evening. The journey was through

the lonely, dark, dense forest on a

muddy road. Almost nothing was

visible outside. The road was not

in a good shape. There was

nothing to do but to pray to the

God for a safe journey. We

crossed Kuling village on the

way. At last, we reached Wan. All

shop keepers closed their shops.

However, after searching here and

there we found one shop was

opened. The kind God blessed us

this time also. The owner, Hayat

Sing was a teacher there. He

greeted us warmly and arranged a

home stay for us only for rupees

250. His wife served us hot tea

and potato pakora and the taste

was really good. It was very cold

and we have to start the trek next

morning. We had our dinner and

went to bed. In this atmosphere,

the sound of waterfalls seemed

like a music. We fell asleep

listening to it.

Day 1, 19-Sept-2009 (Wan –

Bedini)

It was a bright clear morning. The

weather was very good. We have

started our long awaited trek with

our porter friends Ranjit Sing,

Tilak Sing and Bhuban Sing and

our guide Mohan Sing Dhawan.

The way was through the narrow

trail serpentining the hills going

upwards. The journey was

strenuous but full of adventure

and we enjoyed every moment of

it. After crossing 8500 feet of

altitude, we reached Ran Ki Dhar

and had some rest there. Now the

way was downhill through a

forest with the shadow of Deodar

trees. We could see some part of

Travelers’ Adda 6

the Shila Samundra Glacier

(Ocean of rocks) and Trishul.

Here the Sound of Neel Ganga

River reminded the

story of Lord Shiva and Goddess

Parvati. The source of Neel

Ganga River is Bedini Kund. We

have crossed small wooden bridge

on Neel Ganga River and after

sometimes later, we reached

Gairoli Patal. The route was now

upwards and full of stones. After

3 kilometers of steep climbing,

we reached Bedini Bugyal (12500

feet) via Doliadhor (11500 feet).

There is some flat area where

trekkers can camp for the night.

There is a huge grazing ground

for mules, horses and sheep.

There are small temporary houses

for the locals. They usually go

down in winter. The beauty of the

Bedini Bugyal was fantastic. The

blue sky and the alpine meadow

were remarkable. There is an

ancient temple in the meadow. It

was told that Veda Vyasa had

written the Veda here. We

collected permission to visit

Roopkund from here at rupees

500. It is hard to express the color

of sunset on Himalayas to those

who did not witness it. The

picturesque, red Trishul on the

east on sunset made us

spellbound. The snow clad

Choukhamba, Hati, Khuri,

Nilkantha are distinctly visible

within the distance on the west. It

seemed that the majestic

Himalayan peaks and clouds were

playing to each other. It was a

thrilling experience and we

enjoyed each moment of it. First

time we are spending a night on

12500 feet. It was too cold to

resist. We had some tea and

biscuit. That brought some sort of

relief. At the evening we all

sheltered into the tents. We had

our dinner early and moved into

the comfort of our warm sleeping

bags and went in slumber.

Day 2, 20-Sept-09 (Bedini –

Hunipatar)

At this high altitude one of my

closed friends, Somnath faced

mountain sickness. He had to go

down to Wan. We felt very sad

for him. But what to do, we had to

look forward to complete the trek.

The nature is calling us; we did

not have any mindset to look

back. How tough the road is, does

not matter we are moving

forward. After 500 feet of steep

ascent, we got a road of mild

uphill and downhill. After

crossing it, we reached Ghora

Latauni at the altitude of 13000

feet. It is a very beautiful place

and hard to feel the Himalayas for

someone who did not witness this.

The morning is very bright, the

weather is clear. Time is 9:45

AM. On the left side magnificent

Choukhamba, Nandadevi, Pindar

are clearly visible whereas

spectacular Bhrambatoli bugyal is

on the right side. One trek route

Travelers’ Adda 7

from here leads to the Pindari

Glacier and the other one is going

to Joshimath via Kanol, Sutol. We

reached Patarnachauni at 10:45

AM enjoying the divine beauty of

the nature on the way. There are

three big holes here and a very

sad story behind it. The altitude is

13500 feet. Now the route is

strenuous to upwards. We are

facing some breathing problem

due to thin air and steep climb.

The route looks never ending. It

seems that we entered into the fort

of stones. Number of trees is very

less here.We can hear the sound

of bells of Koilubinayak. It brings

some devotional feelings to our

minds. Though, we are losing

confidence due to this never

ending strenuous climbing but we

have to reach to that mysterious

Roopkund. Atlast we reached

Koilubinayak at 1:45 PM at the

altitude of 15000 feet. There is a

small idol of Lord Ganesha

enclosed in a stone shrine. We

prayed to the Lord Ganesha with

some sweets and dry fruits which

we brought from home for a safe

pilgrimage to Roopkund. The

scenic beauty of the place and

spiritual stories of the temple

gave some relief to our pain. Here

the clouded snowcapped

Himalayan peaks brought some

new feelings. Neither the words

nor the pictures can do full justice

to this beauty. We are very lucky

to witness this. The deep virgin

forests, breath-taking green

meadows, glorious Himalayan

peaks, sound of river and streams,

snowfall, narrow walking trails

through the hills with endless

deep valley are unforgettable. We

can remind this forever. We are

anxious but we are enthusiastic,

curious and brave as well. It is an

addiction to the nature and we are

floating with it joyfully.

Now we are moving towards

Hunipatar via Baguabasa. We

took little rest, had some food and

start walking again. This is a

straight strenuous climbing. Now

we have entered into the slate

zone. We found lots of different

colorful flowers in bloom on the

two sides of the road. After half

an hour later, we reached

Baguabasa at the altitude of

15500 feet. The temperature is

around 1 degree Celsius. We are

feeling a little headache due to

this high altitude. There is a small

cave here, established by Swami

Pranabanandaji. After a little

while, we found the lot expected

Bhramba Kamal. They are

flooded on the two sides of the

road. It is an awesome feeling

which

cannot be expressed in words.

The flowers of the Heaven had

come down to the Earth. At 2:15

PM, we reached Hunipatar. What

we saw, what we felt on the way

can be remembered for ever. It

may not be possible to come

here again but the memory will

Travelers’ Adda 8

always remain close to our heart

and soul. We will spend the night

here today. Our porters and guide

had already pitched the tents.

Some tiredness had been reduced

after having some tea. Trishul,

Nandaghunti are very closer from

here. Roopkund is located near

the base of these Himalayan

peaks.

The weather is now very good.

We are also feeling good at the

end of a tough day. New hopes

are on our eyes to see the

mystery. Again we enjoyed the

colorful sunset on the Trishul

accompanied by the clouds. It was

an excellent sunset to watch. The

nature was at its best form, eternal

and unforgettable. In this

beautiful atmosphere, suddenly

we heard a sound of landslide. At

the evening, it was very dark,

nothing is visible outside. After

having dinner, we entered into the

sleeping bags.

Day 3, 21-Sept-09 (Hunipatar –

Roopkund – Patarnachauni)

Wake up early in morning to

enjoy the memorable sunrise on

the majestic Trishul, Nandakot,

Choukhamba. Our guide and

porters lit up fire with some dry

wood and were trying to escape

from such freezing cold. We

joined them and had our tea. Now

our journey started to that long

awaited Roopkund. It was 7:25 in

the morning. After 1 kilometer,

we found the road is very

challenging, narrow and full of

big stones and ice. It was very

hard to walk on with the freezing

cold. But the weather was good.

The endless route is straight

upwards as far as we can see.

Almost nothing is visible below

into the deep valley due to cloud

and mist. We took some rest and

started walking slowly through

this risky route of thick snow. It

was very uncomfortable to walk

on the thick snow of 2/3 feet

deep. It seemed that we will not

be able to return to home.

However, we are moving forward

with confidence and lots of hopes

in mind. We can see our tents

back clearly at Hunipatar.

One trekking team is coming back

through the narrow route of snow.

We were feeling very uneasy to

walk on to this scary road of soft

snow. We decided, we should

proceed up to the place we can

go. Roopkund is not far away

from here. We are moving

forward to that magical mystery.

But after a little while, all our

hopes, enthusiasm are lost when

Subhra is not agreeing to proceed

further. We travelled so long, we

did so hard work but we will not

be able to reach Roopkund; the

fact lost all our enthusiasm, hopes

and dreams. But what to do, we

all decided that there is no need to

take risk to this dangerous road.

Roopkund is still 800 feet above

from here. We are disappointed,

Travelers’ Adda 9

frustrated and felt very sorry that

we missed the chance so closely.

We did not have any ropes or

things which will help us to climb

up to this risky road. However,

what we have seen on the way

was awesome and over our

expectations. We have decided

our next plan calmly. We saluted

Hara-Parvati (Lord Shiva and

Goddess Parvati) from here. Our

porter went to that mysterious

Roopkund with some worship

items and a camera. After one

hour or so he came back. The

images of our untouched

Roopkund made a permanent,

deep impression in our hearts.

The region of the Roopkund at the

altitude of 16300 feet of the

Himalayas was entirely covered

with a thick layer of snow and

difficult to access. We have heard

that lots of human skeleton were

found at Roopkund, they can be

seen only when the snow melts.

The mystery of the skeleton is

still unknown. At 12:30 PM, we

returned to Hunipatar and had our

lunch and got down to

Patarnachauni by afternoon. We

setup our tents and had dinner

early due to bad weather. It was

not possible to come out of the

tents in such a bad weather. It was

extremely cold. It seemed that the

tents will fly away with the strong

wind. We had nothing to do but to

pray to God. Somehow we spent

the night.

Day 4, 22-Sept-09

(Patarnachauni – Ali – Wan)

It was a bright, sunny morning.

After having tea, our guide,

Mohan Sing suggested to go to

Wan via Ali Bugyal, Tebhaga

woods. The world famous Ali

Bugyal gave some peace to our

worried souls. We started walking

through the hill watching the

beauty of the colorful flowers.

Now we have to cross dense

Tebhaga woods. We have lost our

way in the woods many times. At

last, we reached Gharolipatal by

12:00 noon. We had our lunch

there. Before evening we reached

GMVN tourist rest house at Wan.

We decided to do a feast with our

porters and guide tonight. The rest

house is made up of wood and

surrounded with pine trees. The

chilling cold, the sound of bells of

a temple coming from far away

and the smell of food; the

atmosphere was really fantastic.

Next morning we hired a jeep and

started towards Kousani. What we

gained, what we felt from this trip

cannot be compared. The courage,

enthusiasm, joy achieved through

this journey will deeply live

forever in our souls.

The trek route:

Wan – Bedini – Patarnachauni –

Koilubinayak – Baguabasa –

Hunipatar – Roopkund Tor –

Roopkund – Ali Bugyal –

Tebhaga woods – Gharolipatal –

Wan

Travelers’ Adda 10

Gurugongmar by Saura Bhattacharjee

I have rode from the Foothills of Darjeeling to the Bay of Bengal in the sweltering heat of April 2011, I have

done a midnight trip to Tiger Hill and watched the sun turn the Kanchendzonga from gold to yellow, I had

ridden to the Old Silk Route in the winter seasons and felt the chill, but this trip was nothing like before.

Prologue to the Ride:

It had been nearly six months

since our last bike trip to the Old

Silk Route. The open roads, fun,

adventure and most importantly

freedom had been calling out

since March. The time was due

and we were supposed to ride to

one of the highest mountain lake

in the world, Gurudongmar Lake,

situated at 17100 feet above sea

level and a mere 9kms from the

China border. But then Amit

Nandi, one of the biker from our

Bengal trip backed out as his

mother asked him to not travel

mountains citing some

astrological mishaps were on the

cards. We were supposed to leave

on the 1st of May.

The cancellation was a big heart-

breaker as we had planned it for

nearly a year (originally we were

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supposed to visit the lake in

October but the earthquake had

led us to cancel it that time). The

1st of May came and went; the

heart-break and sadness grew

bigger and more painful. Then

slowly the thirst for adventure and

riding started overtaking our

emotions and within a couple of

days I and Kinjal were ready to

complete the trip to Ladakh

version 2.0 sans our bike gang

members.

The old excitement was back as

we started planning and preparing

for the trip. We met members of

SWAN, who had visited the lake

a few weeks earlier. They advised

us to take full protection and

warned that the roads were in

pathetic conditions and how

difficult it was up there. One of

my dad’s office colleagues too

had expressed his desire to ride

with us but then his ailing heart

condition forced him to back

down.

It was now the two of us, me and

Kinjal. The continued obstacles

had made us determined more

than ever to complete the trip. It

had become a sort of challenge to

both of us. Ramneek Singh, of

Xkmph who had made the trip a

few weeks back helped us a lot

sharing his experience with us. I

was sure about not being

approved leave for four days and

hence planned to just bunk office

and doing the explanation later.

Dr. Kinjal Banerjee (yes he is an

eye surgeon), who has been my

companion and pillion in every

crazy trip of mine was also ready

as ever.

Preparing for the ride:

As regards preparation, we

borrowed one set of biking gears

from a member of SWAN who

happened to be our friend. I had

been planning to learn how to

repair punctures but had not been

able to learn till then. So we

scraped the idea of taking any

spare tubes or foot pump and

risked a gamble with fate. I had

learned how to make the mixtures

lean or rich and how to adjust the

clutch cable (though I seriously

doubted being able to do that if

the need came).

There was also the possibility of

the road being closed due to

landslides but we were ready for


anything. We were ready to go

anywhere but not home in the

next few days. We had also a Plan

B in case we failed to make

Gurudongmar Lake – we would

visit Pelling.

Day 1:

The day finally arrived. After

spending a near sleepless night,

woke up pretty late as Kinjal had

some important work and we

would not be leaving early as

planned. We left home, with both

of our mothers praying for our

safety while hiding their anger on

our crazy unplanned sudden trip,

and started on our ride to live our

dream. After fuelling-up

“Dhanno” we thumped our way

through the metalled roads

enjoying the freedom and he

sound of the breeze whizzing past

our helmets that we had long been

craving for.

We reached Rangpo and rain

greeted us into the “Hidden Land

of Sacred Treasures”. In our hurry

to get out on the road we had

forgotten to buy plastic sheets to

cover the bag. We had to quickly

buy a plastic-sheet to protect our

bags from getting soaked up with

rain. In the process we ended

getting ourselves thoroughly

drenched. After having chole-

batore at a Marwari hotel in

Rangpo we continued on our trip

having dressed to ward off the

rain, but we were sweating as

well. We reached Singtam, which

is a located 10kms from Rangpo,

and from there took the road left

after taking directions from the

policeman on duty in the traffic

post. A signboard informed us

that our destination Mangan was

50 kms away. The roads were

pretty good but then it wasn’t

quite the same all the way

through. We reached Mangan at

around 4.30 p.m. and after

checking out both high end and

low-end hotels we chose to spend

our night at Hotel Malling

Residency, which was pretty

cheap and well-maintained.

Day 2 :

We woke up pretty late, as the

District Collectorate’s office

would not open before 10 a.m.

and we were required to get our

Restricted Line Permit from there.

We freshened up, packed our

things and left for the

Collectorate’s office which was a

mere 4kms from our hotel. One

needs to provide photocopies of

the driving license, bike

registration, blue book, insurance,

tax and a photo identity proof as

in Voter card or PAN card.


The employees were very helpful

and guided us through the

process. We wrote an application

to the District Magistrate stating

our desire to visit Gurudongmar

Lake and that we were taking the

risks personally. The DM was a

very kind person and he gave us

his best wishes for the journey

stating that the rain-gods too had

been pleased with us, as there had

been no rain in the past few days.

The sense of relief was evident on

our faces as we had been worried

the most regarding the weather

other than anything else. The total

time needed to obtain the permit

was approximately 20 minutes

and we did not need to spend a

single penny.

It was almost noon when we

returned to our hotel. After paying

our bill we spent another 20

minutes tying knots around the

bag to keep it falling from the

bike’s carrier we started on our

way to Lachen, a small village

located 60 kilometres from

Mangan, where we were to stay

up for the night. The roads were

okay till Toong, the first

checkpost, where the very helpful

and polite policemen stamped our

original permit, kept a Xerox of

the same and saw us off with best

regards.

The 10 km road from Toong to

Chungthang was the worst-hit in

the earthquake of September 2011

and everyone had warned us of

shooting boulders (loose rocks

kept falling from the top) and lots

of muck. But we were very lucky

as it had not rained in the past 3-4

days and hence everything was

dry as powder. We reached

Chungthang, which was 30kms

from Mangan, by 2’o clock and

after having 3-4 chocolates

(according to Dr. Kinjal it was the

best way to keep fit) we started

out for Lachen. One important

thing to note is that mobile signals

are not available after

Chungthang except BSNL. But

still it is advisable to call

everyone and inform them to

avert family members from

panicking as BSNL is not

dependable.

The road to Lachen was very

picturesque and we had a nice

photo session in one place along

with “Ðhanno”. We rode through

serpentine roads playing hide and

seek with the fading sunlights,


stopping occasionally for some

fags or to rest our aching butts.

We crossed a place called Chaten

and reached the picturesque

village of Lachen at 4.30 p.m. We

stopped at the checkpost just

before entering Lachen where

another round of stamping

permits and registering was

completed. Thereafter, we arrived

at Hotel Dhongkha La as

recommended by Ramneek who

had guaranteed that it was the best

in Lachen. The owner provided us

with a 2-bedded room at a cheap

Rs.700.

After a brisk walk combined with

some photography sessions and

lessons (courtesy Kinjal), we

returned to the comfort of our

beds and rested our tired limbs.

We completed a nice dinner

comprising vaat-dal-sabji-chicken

and went off to sleep early. The

next day we had to start early and

this was one time that I would

never like to be late.

Day 3 :

The vibration of my cell phone

along with the heavy metal tune

of the alarm needs to ring atleast

five times before I wake up on

normal weekdays. But on this

particular day I was awake 15

minutes before the alarm was to

ring. The first thing I looked after

opening my eyes was the sky to

see how the weather was and I

was not heart-broken. The rays of

the morning sun was lighting up

the dark but clear sky as well as

the snow-clad peaks visible from

the room’s window. We quickly

freshened up and after enjoying a

fag and my dose of Diamox

(taken as a precaution for AMS)

we started thumping towards our

next destination Thangu which

was approximately 32 kms from

Lachen. Kinjal’s watch displayed

5.30 a.m. which meant we were

30 minutes behind our planned

departure.

The ride till Thangu, watching the

snow-clad mountains changing

colours or the sun rays peeking

through two mountains, was just

mesmerizing. I too was endowed

with some speed demons and rode

like hell through good, not so

good and terrible roads leaving a

trail of awe-inspired tourists in

their 4*4 SUV’s behind us. As we

climbed from 9000 feet to 10000,

11000 feet – the tall trees got

replaced by shrubs and barren


lands.

We reached Thangu, located at

14000 feet, at 7.00 a.m. and were

happy to have been able to

overcome our 30 minutes lag.

After having our staple diet (what

else other than Perk and

popcorns) and chatting up with

some tourists who were startled

seeing two guys riding upto

Gurudongmar Lake we continued

on our journey to the holy Lake,

amazingly sweating from the

warm conditions. It was another

30 kms ride to our final goal.

The landscape changed

completely a few kilometres after

Thangu, as a desert-like terrain

greeted us. We had seen pictures

of such places but to see that

beauty with one’s own eyes were

just incredible. We rode through

the cold desert, the snow clad

mountains that we see from our

roofs in Siliguri now just beside

us and reachable.

There was just endless desert like

terrain as far as our eyes could see

and the trail left by army trucks

and tourist vehicles were the only

means to know that we were on

the right track and not going

towards China.

Our next and final stop was at

Giaogong, the last army check

post, located 12 kilometres before

Gurudongmar Lake. The army

man checking the permits was

amazed by our craziness and

appreciated our adventurous zeal.

He gave us a token number 10,

and kept the original permits with

him. We were supposed to

retrieve them on our way back (a

nice way to ensure no one gets

left out).

Finally, we were approaching our

destination and the excitement

was getting over my driving

senses. We had to ride over loose

soil and boulders and more than

once the bike skidded

dangerously but nothing serious.

We were just awestruck by the

beauty of the place – the crystal

clear sky, the snow clad peaks

looking so close, the white clouds

seemingly within our reach and

the vast endless land till the

horizon. The beauty can be

captured in high powered camera

lens but the feeling – well you

need to be there.

We raced through but increasing

height meant power loss for the

bike and slower pace but we kept

on riding stopping occasionally

for taking snaps and around 8.40

a.m. we arrived at Gurudongmar

Lake. The last 100 meters was a

high elevation and my bike gave

up. Kinjal quickly disembarked to

reduce the weight on the bike and

I half-clutched and talked dhanno

all the way up in any means

possible as there was no way I

was going to let her miss the view

of the lake.

The first view of the lake filled

my heart with joy, pride and a

sense of achievement. I parked

Dhanno and went back to help my

pillion up the elevation. Kinjal

was struggling with the bag and

the 5 litres petrol jerry can that we

had brought for emergency. The

thin air and low oxygen density at

17100 feet made climbing any

sort of elevation a tough job and I

eased the bag off him to help him

get back his breath.

We both just stood there watching

the beauty of lake and savouring

every sense of joy in achieving

our dream for quite some time.

Kinjal went down the stairs (I

seriously doubted myself due to

my smoking habits) to the banks

of the lake to collect some holy

water. I was amazed to see army


jawans bathing in the cold

freezing waters of the lake while

we were shivering with cold.

Kinjal came up after collecting

the water and taking some snaps.

We then visited the sarv-

dharmasthal and offered our

prayers thanking every God for

their blessings to help us live our

dream.

After spending some more time

taking pictures and chatting up

with awed tourists we bade

goodbye to Gurudongmar and

started on our way back at around

9.30 a.m. The excitement had

subsided a bit as our mission was

almost complete and now we

started feeling trouble breathing. I

was not able to view properly

with my right eye and Kinjal

stated that exposure to so much

dust had dried up my eyes. It

brought a relief as I was thinking

that it was the first step to going

blind. We sped down the loose

soils and boulders in order to

reach lower altitudes which meant

more oxygen.

On the way back we got a bit

scared too as we thought that we

must have come on the wrong

route as we could not see any

vehicles although the tracks left

by their wheels were visible.

Finally, an army truck provided

relief informing that every way

leads to the same place. We

reached Giaogong, got back our

original permits, thanked the

jawans and continued on our way

back.

We arrived at our hotel at 1 p.m.

riding through hot temperatures

and dust much to the amazement

of the owner who had expected us

a little late. We were dying of

hunger and after a heavy lunch we

let our body get some much

needed sleep. The sleep helped us

shake-off the tiredness and we

then celebrated our achievement

with some rum and chips. The

hotel owner too joined us and was

a very nice person. We had a nice

adda session before a great dinner

comprising roti, sabji and pork

(which was awesome). The next

day we were to return home and

hence got to bed early (as in 11’o

clock) and slept off dreaming

about the heaven to where we had

been.

Day 4:

Woke up at 5.30 a.m. and slowly

freshened up. The thought that

today was the last day of our trip

made us go into a slow mode.

Finally we got ready, paid our

bills, thanked the hotel owner for

their hospitality promising to

return very soon, bade farewell to

Jyoti (who served us as if we

were her own brothers) and

started on our 200kms ride back

to Siliguri and more pathetically

to our everyday lives.

The roads did not seem as tough

as it had while coming up and we

sped down to Toong, where the

policemen kept our original

permit. We reached Mangan at

around 11’o clock and after a

quick breakfast started back

towards Singtam. The cool

weather of Lachen slowly made

way for sweltering heat and by

the time we reached Rangpo I was

ready to ride naked, if that

guaranteed some respite from the

heat. We stopped at a shop just

after entering West Bengal, drank

full bottles of cold drinks and

continued upon our return

reaching Siliguri at around 4 p.m.

Our mothers were the most happy

to see their sons back home safely

without a scratch.


Kollimalai by Shubham Bairy

As a Bengali foody the name "kollimalai" always seemed to me as a sweet. But kollimalai is a hill station with

lots of unknown place with lots of unknown adventures and surely A HEAVEN for nature lovers.

Like the most of my other trips I

printed the maps from google

map, and prepared my route.

Though this time I was bit tensed

as I planned this trip as a one day

trip, one way is 350kms, so total

riding would be 700kms, and this

is the 1st time I am going to ride

with Sujoy. But this plan didn't

work. I planned this trip for the 1

holiday after CAT2 exam. We

slept early and started the journey

at 3.30 am.

Tri

p o

f th

e m

on

th

Au

gu

st 2

012


The last evening I checked the air

pressure, engine oil level (I had 1

lit extra for top up). I reached

krishnagiri in just 2 hours, means

in proper time. After entering

Salem, I could not find the main

road for Kolli hills. As we asked

the local people, they showed the

road which was not in our map,

and we lost our way. That time

the sun was scorching on our

head, and we need to go 100kms

more to reach on normal village

road, and no sign of hill on our

sight. We were very tensed and

worried about the place. This time

we didn't had any camera so we

clicked all the pictures on our

2mp mobile camera, SORRY for

picture quality. However, we

followed the route showed by

local people. After crossing

100kms of normal village road we

could find the hill road consists of

85 hairpin bends. Our cup of joy

overflowed. After crossing the

hairpin bends we found that roads

are in "working progress"

condition. They were allowing us

to move further. But that was me,

who didn't listen to anybody

started riding on rough road full

of sand, stone chips. Even I fell

down once when I started to ride

with pillion on this road but

nothing happened. We continued

our journey to Akash Ganga

waterfalls, where we encountered

1000steps. It was really huge and

full of water.

Do you know the history of this

name Kolli hills? These

mountains were sometimes

known as "Kolli Malai", the

"Mountains of Death". The reason

is that early literature records the

existence of an image called

Kollippavai on top of these hills.

This image was believed to

represent the spirit of a maiden

who lured wayfarers by her

beauty and then killed them.

After visiting this place we

decided to stay here for the day,

started searching for lodge. But

no hope, we came back to

Simmendu, which is 15 km before

the kolli hills and the city point,

where I got the lodge. Two

bedded 450/- one night with

parking place also, good deal at

that moment. After having lunch

and we rested for 2 hours in room

as we was tired. After having rest,

we had enough energy to travel

around again. We started riding to

the places of interests, by


following the map on Bus stand.

After that we call it a day, and

switched of my bike engine for

the day.

Next morning we took breakfast

and started return journey at

8.30am, but after coming down to

plan land, it was very hot. It was

nearly impossible to ride, we were

riding for 30mins and was taking

rests, we were making our gloves

wet and riding, taking lots of

water to get rid of this heat, at

4pm we reached Krishnagiri,

from there my place is only 130

kms, but we decided to wait in the

KRP dam park for some time to

take rest then we will start again.

INFORMATION:

Kolli Hills or Kolli Malai is a

small mountain range located in

central Tamil Nadu in Namakkal

district of India. The mountains

are about 1000 to 1300 m in

height and cover an area of

approximately 280 km². The Kolli

Hills has 70 hair pin bends to

reach the top of the hills. The

Kolli Hills are part of the Eastern

Ghats, which is a mountain range

that runs mostly parallel to the

east coast of South India. The

mountains are relatively

untouched by commercial tourism

and still retain their natural

beauty.

Two viewpoints - one at

Seekuparai and another at Selur

Nadu - are being developed to

encourage tourism. The

government maintains a pineapple

research farm where hybrid

varieties are created. Research

about medicinal plants is also

pursued on these mountains. The

government holds a tourism

festival in August. Kolli Hills has

been the top choice for nature

lovers, hiking enthusiasts,

trekking clubs and meditation

practitioners among hill stations

in Tamil Nadu. In comparison to

other hill stations in Tamil Nadu,

Kolli Hills is not commercialized;

less polluted and offers unique

mountain ranges. Agaya Gangai

is the famous waterfall situated

near the Arappaleeswarar temple.

Though it is called as Akash

Ganga.

How to reach Kollimalai

By road

Kollimalai is well connected to all

the major cities of India. It can be

reached by road from Chennai,

Salem, Namakkal or

Tiruchirapalli. National Highway

45 from Chennai takes you till

Ulundurpettai, from there you

will have to branch off on the

road leading to Salem. A further

southward diversion at the main

town of Attur, will lead to

Malliakarai, Namagiripettai and

Belukkuruchi, at the foot of the

Kolli hills. If approaching from

Salem, you can take the

Rasipuram-Namakkal road via

Kalappanayakanpatti, and reach

Nadukombai from where the ghat

road begins.

By rail:

The nearest railway station to

Kollimalai is Salem 100kms.

From there you will have to take

cab, taxi or bus.

By air:

The nearest Airport is in

Tiruchirapalli, 90kms from

Kollimallai.

Where to stay:

Arrow Mansion lodge

Near Indian bank,semmendu

Ph: 9443694907, 04286-247494

Resorts:

Nallathambi Resort & Wild

Orchid Camp, Kolli Hills

More information is available in

internet on their website.


Tajpur - Mandarmoni by Suryajit Bhattacharya

Again, from a Traveler from Travelers’ Adda, this time also a Rider from Riders’ Adda. We Riders at Kolkata,

seriously lacks places to ride to, looks for mountains and fountains. Well, mountains are unbeatable but, have to

ride without it. Well, we also have something which gives us absolute pleasure, powerful and beautiful enough

to wonder us. Yes, it’s Bay of Bengal. And we are lucky enough to live at a distance which is good to give you

a nice road trip for weekend.

During Monsoons, nothing could

be like having Khichdi and a ride

to Bay of Bengal. Well, I had a

trip in my mind but never

expressed to anyone as I was not

completely confirmed whether to

do this or not. It was Wednesday

when I asked Swati whether she is

okay if we have a road trip this

weekend. As expected, she was

absolutely fine with that. I said,

we’ll start Saturday morning then

La

zy W

eek

end


and back by Sunday evening. She

replied whether I’ll be fine to join

the office on Monday by doing

this? I said, yes. But I know, it’s

not that easy as I’ll have to cover

my the entire next week to my

office without any rest, and I

didn’t get any rest since 4

weekends before.

Thursday I called Swati that we’ll

be moving on next day as I

applied a leave on Friday. When I

back from my office, I asked

Swati whether we are going or

not. I asked because I was very

tired. She replied, yes. I said, only

if I feel okay next morning, and

will be starting little late instead

of starting at 4:00 am. She was

okay with that. Next morning I

woke up around 6 as I did

packing my stuffs in the saddle

bags till 12 in the night. After

tying the bags with the

Motorcycle and finishing a small

breakfast, we finally started at

9:30 am.

The weather was absolutely

pleasuring with little clouds and

little cold in the morning.

Through SH-13 (Old Delhi Road)

we turn right to the Bidyabati -

Tarakeswar road and continued

till NH-2 at near Singur. Then we

continued till Baly and left NH-2

and entered NH-6 which took us

to Kolaghat after around 1 and

half hour. We halt there for

around 10 minutes; I ordered one

Tea and Swati having nothing,

was busy with calling our parents.

I feared that the road condition

from Kolkaghat to Nandakumar

(somewhere in middle of Kolkata

– Tajpur) is going to be another

worst experience as when I

visited an year back, it was

pathetic. But as I entered that road

I understand that it’s not going to

be that bad rather it became one

of the best riding conditions with

6 Lanes. Till Nandakumar I didn’t

had any issue and was a pleasant

experience. The bigger issue was

with the road condition from

Nandakumar to Kontai. I was

feared, since Swati was with me

and she doesn’t really likes bad

roads which is quite obvious with

a pillion on FZ-16. That road is

also famous for road accidents

due to its narrow width. Again I

was again fooled as I entered the

road. The road was like Black


Carpet till Kontai. But the same in

increasing the risk as when the

roads were in very-very poor

condition, the Buses and Cars

used to run at a speed more than

80 km/h. And now the road

condition is pleasant, increasing

the risk of unpleasant incident.

The road was full of sharp turns,

shiny green small trees on both

sides. When the sun was looking

through the scattered clouds, the

leaves was shining that much that

it was difficult to keep eyes on,

due to rain in the morning and a

day before. Parallel to the road

there is a waterway on the both

sides, looks like rivers, just

behind the trees. These canals

were made to grab soil to incline

the Roads. Also the area goes

through the villages giving a

beautiful, soft view of Incredible

India. Miles and miles of ponds

for fishkeeping was just lighting

the nature with the reflection of

sunlight.

Anyways, we reached Kontai and

I need some cash to be withdrawn

from ATM. I remember HDFC

ATM there at the highway. It’s

recommended that you get

enough cash before visiting

Tajpur or Mandarmani, or you’ll

have to come back to Kontai for

cash if needed. By mistake I

entered the town where I was

supposed to go through the

highway which touches the town

from outside. The town was much

crowded and took around 15

minutes to get lost from there.

Finally I found the ATM and did

my job there and moved ahead.

Now what, everything was

nearby. Earlier I turned left from

Chawlkhola to visit Mandarmani.

This time we continued 10-12

more kilometers for Tajpur. After

asking locals we left the highway

and turn left to Tajpur. As we

start riding that road, we found

that once there was something

called ROAD. Now its grave

sized potholes in an7-8 feet wide

passage which runs around 25-30

feet above the ground and

surrounded by ponds for

fishkeeping. Well, it was around 4

km in length and you can easily

see the other side which is Tajpur.

This road was bad but was giving

one of the best views of this trip.

Wind was blowing and forcing

small trees to hail us by touching

the ground. The smell of Ocean

was attracting us and we were

completely lost in that lonely


place. How you describe is up to

you, superb environment, very

poor road or I must say no road,

no other creature like us, making

it romantic or adventurous.

Finally we reached Tajpur, an

under construction place, a very

few hotels, away from the beach.

One big car on the beach was

describing the presence of few

other people. We asked for rooms

in some of the hotels but rooms

will be available only for one

night and next day at early

morning we’ll have to check out.

That’s not good. That’s not what

we planned. We visited the beach,

which is, speaking clearly, not

that attractive with small, very-

small waves containing too much

of sand. So we changed our plan

from A to B.

Let’s visit Mandarmani, Swati

asked. I said, why not. Swati

visited there during December

2011 but was not in a condition to

enjoy the beach due to cold. This

will be her chance to do that, I

said, and moved back to

Mandarmani. This time a hotel

opposite to JP Resort and just

beside Hotel Live Sea Valley –

The Hotel Panthatirtha was our

choice as we selected this hotel

for our next stay during last Visit

in December. The only issue was

the availability of hotel room. We

got a Non AC room, at 800 INR

till next 1:00 pm. It was around

3:30 when we entered the hotel

room, did some quick lunch, get

changed and moved on to the

beach. Wow, really nothing could

be like lying on the beach during

monsoon. We found, there are

only 2 couples were having a bath

and around a total of 20 people

could be seen on around the

beach. After 2 hours on the beach,

we get back to our room. Around

6:30 in the evening we gone for a

walk had some food and come

back to the resort campus as it

was high tide. Till 11:30 we spent

there. Far away from crowed,

watching ocean in moonlight will

give you ultimate happiness. The

waves were touching our feet

while sitting in the Hotel campus.

You can thing or believe what I’m

expressing but go there during

full moon night or just before or

after full moon, to feel it. The

dinner was already ordered and

served after 11:30 in our hotel

room. They gave me a Mosquito

coil as they knew that an attack

was about to start. I didn’t light it

up. Around 1:30 in the midnight, I

found myself losing everything

because of Mosquitos. I thought

to light the coil but where is the

lighter? They gave me coil but

didn’t give me any lighter and I

was in my mood so forget to ask

for that. Well, something I had to

do. So I get out of my room and

looking for someone. Luckily I

found the watchman sleeping on

his chair beside the beach side

gate. I ask him for the lighter,

again luckily he had one and I

started lighting the coil in the

corner. The fun was to see the

watchman watching me strangely.

When I ask, he said I must hold it

between my lips to light it. As

show him the coil, he said sorry,

as he was expecting Cigarette and

I was looking like lighting

something else. Anyway, the

Mosquitos were obedient enough

to the coil.


Next morning I woke early at

4:00 am, asked Swati to come

with me to the beach for some

photography. She denied and

continued dreaming. Well, after

getting fresh, around 4:40 am I

start my motorcycle and start

riding on the beach, did some

photography. Around 5:30 am,

when I was sitting on my bike

without stand and both legs on the

foot-pegs, Swati called me and

said that she is ready and want to

come with me and she came to

that Tea Stall. After tea break, we

visited the Mohana of the river

and ride on sand, on waves

coming here and there. It was a

fine morning and the sky was

looking deep blue from the

windows of clouds. Around 8:00

am we did some breakfast and

back to hotel to get ready for a

bath. Till 10:40 we were playing

with waves. Before we saw 20

people and that day there were

only 17 people on the beach

including us, massively unlike

beaches like Digha. Well then we

get back to hotel to get ready,

pack the bags and by 12:30 we

were ready. Swati was not very

much interested in coming back

and was looking at the waves

slapping the wall of resort. I

asked her if she want to stay one

more day, but she said she is

happy enough with this

experience for the time being. We

leave the resort by 1:00 pm and

halted at a beach side Dhaba for

tea and lunch. The back journey

was also very interesting through

the same beauty from different

direction. We passed again the

beautiful and dangerous road till

Nandakumar and then halted at

Sheer’E Panjaab at Kolaghat for

some snacks. Rest of the road we

covered was the same way as we

came. We reached our most

pleasant place by 6:30 pm.

Everyone have their own way of

traveling, watching places and

feeling the difference. This is how

I felt during my Tajpur -

Mandarmani road trip. I’m very

much thankful to Swati for giving

her company and being with me; I

know it’s more difficult to stay as

pillion than riding the machine. I

also very thankful to my parents

to have their patients during my

trip as this too was not an easy job

to allow traveling on motorcycles,

in India at least. Traveling is

something that I like too much

and I believe that this is why I

love my home too much.


Imambara by Suryajit Bhattacharya

On a move to visit some historical

places, an obstruction for a Rider

is rainy weather. So during the

selection of places, I kept some of

very nearby places for such rainy

days. One of such places is

Imambara (Hooghly) visited on

June 24, 2012 with my wife

Swatilekha. It was actually visited

years back during college days

with a friend called Swatilekha.

Her

itag

e


Hooghly Imambara was built

Muhammad Mohsin. The

construction of the building was

started during 1841 which

completed in 1861. It’s a two

storied Imambara with Mosque.

There is a tall clock tower

indicating the huge gate of the

Imambara. There is a prayer

hall which is the main attraction

of the place. The prayer hall is

decorated by hanging lanterns

and marbles. The entire wall of

prayer hall has little

complicated but beautiful

design and filled by text from

Quran. All the glass works done

using Belgium Glass. It’s taken

under Hooghly Municipality

and currently under a

renovation process. The best

time to visit is during

Muharram as all the hanging

lanterns get lighted and the

entire place gets decorated for

prayer. If visiting during

Muharram, visit between 6 pm

to 7 pm as after that it’s not

allowed entering as the prayer

starts.

NOTE: Photography Inside

Prayer Hall Is Strictly

Prohibited. On Special Request,

Imambara Authority Allowed

Travelers' Adda For Still

Photography. With All Due

Respect To The Place We Are

Posting Only One Picture Of

Prayer Hall.


Travel Guru Hoodibaba

This is a new section introduced by Travelers’ Adda. We will select one of our members as travel guru who has

extensive exposure in travelling and passion to share experience with others.

We are proudly declaring Hoodibaba (Dinesh Sharma) as Travel Guru for this quarter.

He has travelled mostly in the

Northern Himalayas with Caliber

115 cc bike. He is 56 years old

and working in a Government

Office at New Delhi. Basically,

he is a solo rider and his recent

trip was to Udaipur-Sasangir-

Dwarka-Narayan Sarovar-Rann of

Kutch in the first week of April,

2012.

After becoming a member of

Travelers’ Adda, he is constantly

sharing his travel experiences

with other members of the forum.

Tra

vel

Gu

ru


Sasan Gir – Rann of Kutch by Hoodibaba

Through this travelogue I would like to remind all those who have smaller bikes with low cc power or those

who have crossed their prime age, like myself, that it is possible to achieve anything. All that matter is the

passion and zeal to do it. If I can do it, so can anybody else. So man, come out on the road and drive as far as

you can.

Ever since I had returned from

Ladakh last year, I was looking

out for a chance to face the

challenge of extreme hot weather

and what better I could think of

than a solo ride from Delhi to

Ajmer-Udaipur-Junagar-Sasan

Gir-Dwarkadish-Narayan Sarovar

-Rann of Kutch-Dholavira.

Since, in the first week of April,

there were only three working

days and I thought why not take

leave for Monday, Tuesday and

Wednesday and make it a total of

Tra

vel

Gu

ru’s

Des

k


9 days leave. I kept one day for

rest after the long trip and was

thus left with just 8 days to test

my limits. I left Ghaziabad on

Saturday the 31st March (00.00

hrs) with the aim to achieve the

target in just 8 days and return on

Saturday the 7th April, 2012. My

Caliber 115 (Hoodibaba) was all

smiling for this great adventure

though it looked impossible.

First of all, I would like to thank

the Gujarati fellows who whole

heartedly supported me and

provided hospitality wherever

they had a chance to interact with

me during this trip. I would also

like to mention that I found the

roads – State High ways and even

the interior roads in Gujarat –

very well maintained which made

my drive in whole of Gujarat

smooth and comfortable. One

thing I missed most in Gujarat

was the local cuisine DHOKLA

as whenever I asked for it, it was

finished !!!! May be I was too

buzy driving.

Day 1: Saturday, 31st March,

2012

I started from Ramprastha

(Ghaziabad) at 00.00 hours on

Saturday, the 31st March, 2012

and after crossing traffic jam at

Gurgaon and the diversions on

NH 8 all the way upto Jaipur,

reached Ajmer and visited the

Durgah. There after left for

Udaipur. The temperature rose as

the day progressed making it

really very difficult to drive on

the high way. Had to stop

frequently as I was feeling

dehydrated in the blistering heat.

Not many vehicles were playing

on the road. It was really very

very hot. Reached Udaipur in the

evening and booked a room at

Dak Bungalow for Rs. 90/- per

day. The stay was comfortable.To

conclude Day’s visit, I must admit

that driving on NH 8 was really

tough as repair work or road

widening is being done

throughout starting from Gurgaon

to beyond Bewar in Rajasthan and

the pace of completion is very

very slow. In fact, I could not find

any worker at any site.

Day 2: Sunday, 1st April, 2012

Visited the City Palace (charges =

Rs. 75 for entry, Rs. 200 for


camera and Rs. 150 for Guide).

The visit was worth every penny I

spent. Of the above, City Palace

only is a must see place when you

are in Udaipur. Could not visit

Kumbhalgarh Fort at a distance of

70-80 kms due to shortage of

time.

Day 3: Monday, 2nd April, 2012

I started from Udaipur early

morning and crossed Rajasthan by

10.00 a.m. The landscape

changed dramatically as I entered

Gujarat, it was more green and

lively and there was clear sign of

prosperity all over. I could not

visit Shayamalaji Temple on NH

8 and turned towards

Gandhinagar to have a look at it.

It looked better planned and

administered than the State

Capital i.e. New Delhi. Again

turned towards NH 8 on my way

to Junagarh. Now the heat was

making the ride more difficult and

the Dhabas/Restaurants were far

and few. On the way I saw

hundreds of devotees walking on

foot to have blessing of Devi,

some 150 kms. away. Their

discipline and devotion was

clearly in contrast to the

Kanwarias who throng the NH 58

on Delhi-Haridwar-Delhi

highway and create a big law and

problem for the administration. I

reached Junagarh in the evening

and booked accommodation at

Girnar Hotel managed by Gujarat

Tourism for a nominal charge of

Rs. 250/-.

Day 4: Tuesday, 3rd April, 2012

Woke up early and left Junagarh

at 4.15 a.m. to reach Sasangir (58

kms) by 6.00 a.m. The road is a 2

lane but there was no problem in

the early hours. Last few

kilometers had to drive in the

forest and that too in the dark and

was a bit scary since I was in

Sasangir . Reached the Reception

Centre of Gir Sanctuary and

National Park by 6.00 a.m. and

was advised by the receptionist to

adjust my seat with one of the

fellows who still had seats

available as it would be cheaper.

Asked a few persons and one

person had only 4 members team

and thus accommodated me as

now they had to shell out around


Rs. 400 less for the permit and the

transport cost. We entered the Gir

forest by 6.30 a.m. and within

half an hour were lucky to spot

the Lion, the King of Gir Forest

entering the bushes. All of us

were spell bound and were just

watching him as he was walking

away from us in the bushes. He

was not perhaps comfortable with

the presence of humans and the

jeeps around him as we had

encroached his territory. He made

his presence felt and roared a

couple of times. After walking

away from us about 50 yards, he

stood still and moved his head

towards us and we could hardly

watch him through the bushes. I

used my binocular to watch him

clearly. He looked at us quite a

few numbers of times and then

turned his head in the opposite

direction and sat on the ground.

Perhaps he wanted us to leave. I

could not take clear pics as now

he was at quite a distance for my

PS camera. But I was satisfied to

see him in his full glory and

respecting his freedom, moved

away after spending around half

an hour with him. Could not spot

another lion and thus came out of

the Forest sanctuary by 9.30 a.m.

and left for Somnath via Veraval

which is around 60 kms away.

Reached Somnath Temple with

ease and the police personnel at

the Temple helped me park my

bike near their police post. It was

so kind of them. As they took care

of my bike, I went inside the

Somnath Temple. It is situated on

the sea shore and has been

reconstructed a number of times.

The police personnel were

amazed to see me having come all

the way from Delhi, and that too

solo on a simple bike. They

guided me for my onward journey

to Porbandar.The roads were in

good condition although I had to

drive just along the sea shore on a

number of occasions. and after

crossing Porbandar moved

towards Dwarka. Reached

Dwarka by 6.00 p.m. and booked

accommodation at Gujarat Tourist

Lodge near the Circuit House.

Since I had already visited

Badrinath Dham, Puri Dham,

Rameshwaram Dham, it was the

last Dham which I was now

visiting as it is considered

auspicious to visit all the Four

Dham in a life time according to

Hindu mythology. And it was


indeed a great moment for me. I

visited the Dwarkadish Temple at

8.15 p.m. and was so

overwhelmed by the atmosphere

inside the temple that I did not

wish to come out. Thanks you

Hoodibaba, my bike, for having

made it possible for me to visit

Dwarkadish.

Day 5: Wednesday, 4th April,

2012

Had another Darshan at

Dwarkadish in the morning and

visited other places around the

temple before departing for Bet

Dwarka. The Temple of

Dwarkadish at Bet Dwarka is still

under renovation and after

visiting the temple returned to

Okha by ferry. On the way back

surprisingly there was no chaos at

the jetty at Bet Dwarka.Had some

breakfast at Okha and started my

onward journey via Jamnagar and

Morbi for Samakhiali on the way

to Narayan Sarovar via Bhuj (to

be visited the next day). Needless

to mention that the State Highway

to Jamnagar was in excellent

condition. However, as mentioned

earlier, the Dhabas/ Restaurants

/Hotels were far and few. And

another thing I noticed at these

restaurants was that the local

cuisines of Gujarat were

altogether missing. Wonder what

the local Gujarat fellows each

while travelling on these

Highways. I myself missed the

local cuisines of Gujarat as I

myself had been travelling on the

highways most of the time.

Reached Samakhiyali by the

evening and booked room at Shri

Samjhiyari Vastini Dharamshala

(a new constructed huge building

which was inaugurated by the

hon’ble CM). The room had

attached bathroom facility and

was really big in size and clean,

Charges Rs. 150/-.

Day 6: Thursday, 5th April,

2012

Left for Narayan Sarovar early

morning.Reached Bhuj about

100kms before noon and visited

the Swaminarayan Temple at

Bhuj.Thereafter moved towards

Mata Ka Mud Temple which is

another 100 kms on way to

Narayan Sarovar. The temple was

closed in the afternoon and after

spending sometime in the

compound, moved towards

Narayan Sarovar which was


another 60 kms away.The Sarovar

had almost dried and there were

very few birds in the

Sarovar.Thereafter went to

Koteshwar Temple which was

also being renovated.and by the

late afternoon returned to

Samakhiyali for the night stay.

Day 7 & 8: Friday, 6th April,

2012

Started for Rann of Kutch by 7.00

a.m. and overshot the diversion

for Rapar and had to take an

interior road which passed

through the villages. I must admit

that these interior roads were also

very well maintained. Although I

was driving at 70 kmpl but was

driving with care as there were a

number of peacocks and other

such birds on the narrow road

which appeared suddenly. I

reached Rann of Kutch by Noon

and was amazed to see the Great

White Rann of Kutch. Must say

that one has to see it to believe it.

It was a bit scary. Visited the

ancient site of Dholavira locally

known as Kotada timba and the

archeological site of the ruins of

ancient Harappa which belongs to

Indus Valley Civilization.I found

that it was only a 2 lane highway

and there were lots and lots of

trucks. It was almost impossible

to drive a two wheeler at that time

in the dead of night. The glare of

the headlights was just blinding

my vision. Moreover, the roads

were almost broken throughout

and somehow reached Pali by

2.00 a.m. The ordeal continued

further till I crossed Beawar and

touched NH 8. Would not advise

anybody to take this route which

till date I remember was the

deadliest road ever in my life, that

too at night and all alone. As I

reached Ajmer the sunlight

welcomed me with smile.

Thanked the Almighty God for

saving my life. Still it was a long

way to cover and with a full day

to reach Home, decided to drive

with ease as there were many

diversions on the NH 8 with no

sign of work being done as it had

been left half completed, and that

too with no proper sign boards as

to which way to turn at many

places.

One has to use his presence of

mind to continue driving on NH 8

in this sector. The road conditions

were really bad. After reaching

Kotputli I was feeling almost

burnt down and now had to take

breaks very frequently. Somehow

reached Gurgaon and thereafter

with not much of a problem and

riding for almost a full day all the

way from Dholavira reached

home at Ramprastha, Ghaziabad.


Delft, Netherlands by Manojit Pati

Delft, known for painter Vermeer, Delft Blue pottery (Delftware) is a city of South Netherlands/Holland. Delft

is also famous for the Delft University of Technology and its association with the Dutch royal family.

I have visited this place two times

for official reason. First one

during February 2011 and next

one on June 2011. I enjoyed both

the winter and summer. I have

experienced -2 degree centigrade

with strong wind during February

end.

First time, I reached there from

Amsterdam airport Schiphol by

train via Den Hague HS station. I

reached there alone on a cold

evening. However, I was lucky

enough to get a taxi to hotel.

Aro

un

d t

he

Wo

rld


Next time it was from Germany to

Netherlands by high speed trains

via Utrecht.

The city have number of

monumental buildings, many

streets there are canals of

connected by typical bridges.

Delft is well also known for

the Delft

pottery ceramic products which

were styled on the

imported Chinese porcelain of the

17th century.

The Market Square is the heart of

the city. One can reach old church

“Oude Kerk” which is 75-meter-

high brick tower that leans about

two meters from the vertical. This

was founded in the year of 1246.

During its build the foundations

weren't strong enough to support

the building, and the church

began to lean. As they continued

to build the church they tried to

compensate its lean on each layer

of the tower. Great painter

Johannes Vermeer buried here.

Nieuwe Kerk or New Church

constructed between 1381 and

1496 contains the Dutch royal

family's burial vault is another

place of attraction from the

market square.

Delft City hall is also a very nice

building see which is again on

market square.

There is also a very nice market

on Saturday on market square. I

had enjoyed lots of different sea

fish items here.

Beside the market square there are

few places to get Doner

kebab which is a Turkish dish

made of roasted meat cooked on a

vertical spit. This one is very

common and popular fast food

item in Europe.

I have tasted this from France,

Germany and Netherlands. Basic

preparation is same among the

countries but have slide difference

in taste and content. Few others

variants are like durum, pita

kebab, iskender kebab, shawarma

etc.

travelers' adda xplorer september 2012

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