Visit to Gangtok (Part - 4)

[Continued from Visit to Gangtok (Part - 3)] The next day we were all tired from the previous day's journey. So we started late in the morning. As we had no more plans about where to go or what to see we just strolled around the MG Marg and the NH6 - the road on which our hotel was located. We came to know about Yumthang Valley from a travel agent's office. The photos of the place amazed us and in our minds we had decided that our next destination would be Yumthang. After having lunch we came back to our hotel. In the evening we went for shopping at the M.G. Marg, the heart of the city of Gangtok.

MG Marg, Gangtok

The next day morning we started early. We inquired at different travel agencies office to find out the rates of package tour to Yumthang Valley. The rates of the 2 Days/1 Night tour consisting of Lachung and Yumthang Valley were around Rs. 1200-1600. There was another package of 3 Days/2 Nights consisting of visit to Lachen, Gurudongmar Lake, Chopta Valley along with Lachung and Yumthang. Finally we booked the 2 Day/1 Night tour through Woodland Tours and Travels (the office is at the Woodland Restaurant). That day evening we bought jackets, shoes and other winter clothes from the market as a preparation for our visit to Yumthang Valley.

Visit to Gangtok (Part - 3)

[Continued from Visit to Gangtok (Part - 2)] The next day we woke up early. We got ready quickly and were there at the Alternative Tours & Travels Office by 7:35 am. There we waited for some time. Then we were taken to the taxi stand opposite the office and told to get on one of the cars. The car took us to the North Sikkim Taxi Stand. We had our breakfast at a small dhaba in the taxi stand.

Changu Lake (Tsomgo Lake)

Our car started at around 9:30 am. There was a checkpost on the way where our car stopped for a while. We bought packaged drinking water bottles from there. Again we started our journey. After some time we were not able to see anything on the side of the road. Everything was covered with fog. The road as well as the weather was bad. On the way we saw a few waterfalls. Then we saw Tsomgo Lake on the side. But our driver said that it would be better to first go to Nathula Pass and then see Tsomgo Lake while returning.

Visit to Gangtok (Part - 2)

[Continued from Visit to Gangtok] The next day we slept till late in the morning thus ruining all chances of seeing Mt. Kanchenjunga if it was visible. Talking to local people we came to know that it was raining everyday and hence there was little chance of viewing snow capped peaks. They had also added that if by chance it becomes visible it would be at dawn.

Common Leopard at Himalayan Zoological Park

As we had decided to go to Nathula Pass and Tsomgo Lake, I booked the one day tour to Nathula, Tsomgo Lake and Baba Mandir from Alternative Tours and Travels. The cost of the tour was Rs. 1200/-.per head. We were told to produce xerox copy of Voter ID Card and two Passport size photographs of each member. After that we had lunch at Woodland Restaurant. Bengali food was available there and the food was good. Then we walked to the S.N.T Bus Terminus. There was a local taxi stand near the terminus. From there we hired a taxi to go to the Himalayan Zoological Park. The zoo was located near Ganesh Tok. We had to buy tickets worth Rs. 100/-.

Visit to Gangtok

Gangtok is a hill station located in the eastern Himalayan range. Situated at an altitude of 5600 ft, Gangtok is also known as Switzerland of the East for its cleanliness. It is the capital city of the state of Sikkim. Gangtok is also a popular tourist destination. The city offers beautiful views of the surrounding hills and Mt. Khanchendzonga from the town itself. Gangtok also serves as a tourist base for visiting places like Tsomgo Lake, Nathula, Lachung and Yumthang Valley. This time in the month of June I went to Gangtok.

River Teesta (On the way to Gangtok)

From Kolkata station, we boarded 12363 Kolkata-Haldibari Express. The train left the station at 09:10 hrs and reached New Jalpaiguri at around 19:05 hrs, just 15 mins behind scheduled time. We came out of the station and took a cycle rickshaw and told the rickshawala to tale us in a hotel. where the hotels. We found a room at Hotel Miami. The rooms of the hotel were quite clean but not very good. After keeping our luggages and getting fresh we went down to have dinner. We had our dinner at the restaurant below our hotel.

Deoghar Trip and Visit to Basukinath

From Howrah railway station, we boarded the Howrah-Patna Janshatabdi Express. The train left Howrah station at around 2 pm. But after finding our seat we found that the window beside our seat was jammed and could not be opened. This was quite annoying as we were unable to look out of the window. The train reached Jasidih at 06:40 pm. We quickly came out of the station and took an auto to go to Deoghar. I had thought that if we could reach Deoghar before other passengers then we might get an advantage in booking rooms in hotels. But after going a little distance the auto driver went inside a petrol pump. And snap went my plans. We had to wait about 10 minutes there. Somehow we reached Deoghar and found a room in Hotel Mayur. The room was in the ground floor and there were no windows. That night we had our dinner at Sindhi restaurant. The food was very good.

Baba Baidyanath Dham Temple

Visit to Tarapith (Part - 2)

[Continued from Visit to Tarapith (Part - 1)] The accident took place just in front of us. A speeding motorbike was coming through the highway. As it approached that point it came to the edge of the highway and lost its balance. The motorist was injured. He was taken to the hospital by some local people in a rickshaw. After that we went inside the restaurant and placed our order. The food arrived but the food was not up to the mark. In the shop there were  plenty of mosquitoes which  made us very uncomfortable. Somehow we quickly had our dinner and went back to our hotel.

The next day we woke up late in the morning and quickly got ready and went to the bus stand. That day the sun was extremely hot. We felt as if our skins were getting burnt. We once again enquired at the bus stand whether there were any buses to Bakreswar. They replied that there were none. We could get bus to Siuri. From Siuri we would have to take auto to get to Bakreswar. But I decided not to go there. So we started walking through the streets of Rampurhat in search of a good restaurant. We did some shopping at the market area of the town. Most of the goods sold here were locally made and the price was also low. On the way we saw a restaurant named Panthasala. After strolling for some time we entered the restaurant. We went upstairs. The restaurant was quite good, neat and clean. We were served Bengali thali. The food was nice. After having lunch we went back to our hotel.

Visit to Tarapith (Part - 1)

We boarded the Howrah Rampurhat Express from 11:55 am and reached Rampurhat at 15:50 pm. We came out of the station. It was raining. There were a number of auto and cycle rickshaws. Also there were trekkers which were going to Tarapith. But we started walking. We asked at a tea stall, whether there were any hotels nearby. They told us that there was a hotel, Prachi Lodge. We reached Prachi Lodge but there we were told that the rooms were dirty and not good. The person at the reception told us that there was a hotel named Gouri Hotel a little distance away. As it was raining we took a cycle rickshaw and went to Gouri hotel. The rooms of the hotels were clean and good. I booked a room there. Rain had not allowed us to go out, so we stayed inside and watched TV. In the night we ate dinner at Mondira restaurant, our hotel's own restaurant. We had ordered fried rice but the food was not good and the price was high. It was still raining outside. There was just one shop which was still open. All other shops were closed. The time was 21:30 hrs.

The next day we woke up early in the morning. We all got ready and came out of the hotel. We took an auto to get to Tarapith. On reaching Tarapith we started walking towards the temple. There were many small shops on either side of the street. At Tarapith there are two main types of Darshans - Free Darshan and Paid Darshan. Paid darshan are of 3 types - Rs. 30/-, Rs. 100/- and Rs. 200/-. Free darshan takes about 3 hours to get Darshan. Rs. 30/- takes about 2 hrs, Rs. 100/- about 45 mins - 1 hour whereas Rs. 200/- is instant Darshan of Ma Tara. We went for Rs. 100 paid darshan. The line was quite large. Atlast after about 50 mins we got darshan of Ma Tara. After that we came out of the temple and had our breakfast at a small eatery. We took a trekker which was heading to Rampurhat station. Gouri hotel was on the way so we had no trouble getting to our hotel. That day we went searching for a good restaurant. We had lunch at Bama restaurant. But the food and the condition was also not hygienic there. Then we took a cycle rickshaw and went to the bus stand.

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 5)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 4)] We reached Puri at around 5 pm. We took an auto rickshaw to get to our hotel. But the condition of the sky was not good. We felt that soon it will start raining. I had decided that as it was too early, so we would go directly to out hotel and have bread as dinner. As soon as we went back to the hotel it started raining. We were quite tired. So we went straight to bed. At night we had bread and biscuit  as dinner.

The next morning we woke up at 10 am. After having breakfast we took rest. Then we had lunch at Savera restaurant. The food was good and the price was very low. That evening we stayed at our hotel. That night also we ate at Savera restaurant. The next day we went to the sea beach. That day the waves were even higher. And what more! The water of the sea was cool unlike that of New Digha. The sea waters of Digha were warm and hot. We also ate sweets from sweet sellers who were roaming near the sea beach. The sweets were very good. After having a great time at the sea we went back to the hotel. From the hotel we enjoyed the wide view of the sea. Then we ate veg thali at Ruchira restaurant. As we had booked tickets for our return journey back to Kolkata on the next day, so in the evening we went out and bought some items like biscuits, potato chips etc. After having dinner we came back to our hotel.

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 4)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 3)] In afternoon, we went to Ruchira restaurant and had lunch. In the evening we went to Swargadwar market for shopping. There we bought some Punjabis, towels for us and our relatives too. The next day we went to the OTDC booking counter. There we booked seats for the Chilika tour. The tour was on the next day. As we did not want to tire ourselves before the journey, we went back to our hotel.

Alarnath Temple

The day after we woke up early at 06:00 am. Our tour was scheduled to commence at 07:30. So we quickly got ourselves ready and went down. Then we took an auto and headed straight to Pantha Niwas. On reaching we saw that our bus had just came there to pick up the passengers. Then our coach guide for this tour checked our tickets as the previous guide had done in the previous tour. But this time all punctuality of OTDC seemed to be lost. Many passengers had not turned up and so our bus had to wait for them. Some came but others still did not came after 20 mins of waiting. So atlast our bus started its journey. Our first destination was Alarnath Temple. There we had to walk for about 10 minutes to reach the temple from where our bus was parked. On reaching the temple we found that there were many people. So we had to wait in a queue to be able to see Lord Alarnath. But time was running out. So we were getting anxious. Atlast we got darshan of Lord Alarnath. After that we reached the main road almost running. We ate breakfast of Dosa and Idli at a small restaurant beside the road. Then we reached the place where our bus was standing. But though it was time but still most people had not come back. So again waiting. After waiting for about 10 minutes outside the bus, the driver came and boarded the bus and switched on the A/C. So we also boarded the bus. But still one of the passengers did not came back. Atlast our bus started. Our next stop was Dahikhia.

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 3)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part - 2)] Our coach guide sent a guide for us. We started walking with our new guide who would show the intricate designs and curvings on the walls of the temple, tell us the history of the temple and explain the reason about why this temple is considered unholy. This temple was constructed by King Narasimhadeva I in the 13th century. The name Konark was derived from the two Sanskrit words - Kona meaning angle and Ark meaning Surya because of dedication of the temple to the Sun god Surya. Our guide showed us the wheels, intricate curvings and sculptures of the chariot sun temple. He also showed us how to read the time with the help of a wheel and the sun. It took 12 years, 1200 workers and 12000 gold coins to build this masterpiece of architecture. One interesting fact that I would like to mention is that one will never find any shadow of this temple on any sides around it. Now most parts of the temple has fallen down. The entire temple was designed in the form of Sun Gods, chariot drawn by seven horses on twelve pairs of exquisitely designed wheels at the base. The temple complex consists of four parts - Bhoga Mandap, Nata Mandir, Audience Hall and the Main Sanctum. Out of these only the Audience hall survives in its entirety. The main sanctum where the idol of the sun god was placed has fallen off. And some portions of the Bhoga Mandap and Nata Mandir survives. After seeing the temple complex we went back to our bus.

Konark Temple

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika (Part-2)

[Continued from Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika] As I was running after the bus and shouting, trying to attract the attention of the guide. At last the guide saw me. The bus stopped and he got down from it. I told him that one of our co-passengers had went to the toilet and had still not come back. We waited there for some time. And then with a relief I saw that our fellow passenger was coming towards us. We boarded the bus and the bus started. Our next stop was at the Nandankanan Zoo. Our guide told us that we would see the important landmarks of Bhubaneswar city on the way to the zoo. As our bus went through the smooth and wide roads of new Bhubaneswar we saw the Assembly House, Indira Gandhi Park (IG Park), Rabindra Mandap, Police Commissioner Bhavan etc. Just before reaching Nandankanan, our guide told us that we would enter the zoo through gate-2. He told us that he would be there with us at the zoo. On reaching Nandankanan we got off from the bus and went in. There our guide told us to wait and he went to buy the tickets. Then he came and distributed the tickets to each of us. The time allocated was 2 hours.

Nandankanan Gate

Visit to Puri, Bhubaneswar and Chilika

From Howrah railway station, we boarded the 12837 Howrah - Puri Express. Our train departed at 22:50 hrs from platform no. 22. It reached Puri the next morning at around 08:30 hrs about 1 hour behind the scheduled time. From there we took a cycle rickshaw. At this peak time tourists were flocking in and it was quite hard to get sea facing rooms. Our first target was the Puri Hotel. On reaching the Puri Hotel we got off from the rickshaw. I went in to enquire whether any room was vacant. There were no sea facing rooms available so I decided to search for accommodation in other hotels. After searching many hotels, at last I found a room in Hotel Swarg. That day we took rest. In the afternoon we went to Quality Restaurant to have lunch. The quality of the food was terrible. In the evening we went for a stroll in the marine drive. We also spent some time on the sea shore. The breeze cooled our minds and body. After that we went to Parijat Restaurant for dinner. The food was better than the previous one but it was not too good.

Jagannath Temple

A Visit to Shimla

[Continued from Visit to Agra] We boarded the 12011 New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express at 07:40 am from New Delhi railway station and reached Kalka at 11:45 am. From there we boarded the Himalayan Queen Express which is a toy train. It departed from Kalka at 12:10 pm. It was a thrilling journey as the train chugged through narrow tunnels, breathtaking bridges and panoramic green valleys. It was beautiful, truly beautiful. We reached Shimla at around 6 o' clock in the evening. We booked a room at a Hotel Moon Palace. The hotel is located near the Mall, the centre of the town. After settling all the luggage in the room we set out to have a first glimpse of the city. After roaming for sometime we entered a restaurant to have lunch. The food was quite good and the price was also reasonable. After that we came back to our hotel and crawled straight into the bed.

Himalayan Queen Express

Shimla Scenery

Visit to Agra

[Continued from My Trip to Delhi] Agra is one of the most popular tourist places of India. The main attraction of Agra is the Taj Mahal. Every year thousands of tourists from India and abroad come to Agra to see the Taj. Agra is also famous for the Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. All these three main attractions of Agra has been given the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Taj Mahal

We boarded the Sriganganagar-Howrah Toofan Exp from New Delhi railway station at around 7:30 am and disembarked at Agra Fort at around 1:00 pm. From there I took a cycle rickshaw and searched for hotels. We booked a room in Hotel Amba Inn. That day evening we took rest in the hotel. The following day we went to see the Taj Mahal. It was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj has three gates - East, West and South. River Yamuna flows to the north of the Taj.  It remains open on all days from 6 am to 7 pm except Friday. We entered the courtyard through the South gate. For security reasons we had to leave some food which we were carrying in the cloakroom before entering the complex. On seeing the Taj we became mesmerized. The majestic structure made up of white marble left us spellbound. I wondered how this structure was built with so much perfection and accuracy. We entered the Taj Mahal. Inside the Taj, intricate designs were curved on the walls. Also there were intricate screens or jalis which allowed light to enter the mausoleum.

My trip to Delhi

Delhi is one of the most multi dimensional metropolis of India situated on the banks of River Yamuna. It is the capital city of India. Delhi is full of captivating monuments, magnificent museums, glorious shopping destinations and yummy eating places. It is also one of the oldest places to be inhabited by humans. Delhi is divided into two parts - Old Delhi and New Delhi.

India Gate

We boarded the Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express from Howrah railway station. Our train departed at 08:10 am and reached New Delhi at around 8 am the next day. At the New Delhi station there are two gates, one is known as Paharganj gate and the other one is known as Kashmiri gate. The Rail Yatri Niwas is situated near the Kashmiri gate but most of the private hotels are located in Paharganj area. We came out of the station through Paharganj gate and started searching for hotels. We booked a room in Hotel Cama. After taking a little rest we came out of our hotel. Firstly we went to see the famous India Gate. This is one of the most prominent tourist spot of Delhi. India Gate, the national monument of India was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens inspired by the Arc De Triomphe in Paris. It was built in the year 1931 and is about 42 m high. Originally a statue of King George V stood under the now vacant canopy in front of India Gate but was later moved to Coronation Park. After India's independence the India Gate became the site of the Indian Army's Tomb of Unknown Soldiers now known as Amar Jawan Jyoti.

Visit to Mandarmani

Mandarmani is a newly discovered, unexplored and virgin sea beach. It is located 172 km away from Kolkata. It is a peaceful and calm beach where you will find not many visitors hanging around the beach. It is also one of the longest motorable sea beach in India. During low tides the water shifts far away from the beach and during high tides it comes very close. So one must be careful while driving on the beach. Recently many hotels and resorts have come up at Mandarmani making it a more attractive option for tourists.

Mandarmani Sea Beach

From Esplanade bus terminus, we boarded a bus and reached Chawalkhola. From there we hired a car which took us to Mandarmani. A metalled all weather road connects Chawalkhola and Dadanpatrabar, a small village en route Mandarmani. From here our car drove along the beach. It was a unique experience. On reaching Mandarmani, we booked a room at Hotel Neel Nirjaney. It was already quite late in the afternoon. Hence we didn't get much time to spend near the sea. Then we ate at our hotel's restaurant. Probably all hotels in Mandarmani have their own restaurant. The food was not up to the mark. After lunch we went to have a look at some small shops near the sea which sell toys, shell necklace, balls and other stuffs. We remained inside the hotel in the evening and watched TV.

Trip to Puri

Puri is  famous for Lord Jagannath temple. The famous annual Rath Yatra or the festival of chariots is celebrated here. This festival is generally celebrated in the month of July. Millions of people from different parts of India come to Puri to watch this festival. It is also a very popular beach resort. It is famous for its long and broad sandy sea beach. One can even view the sunrise and sunset from the beach.

As we were planning a trip to Puri, I thought that this time we will stay in a holiday home instead of a hotel. So I went to the United Bank of India, College Street branch and booked a room at the holiday home 'Ananda Bhawan'. As the day of journey was nearing we were getting excited. On the day of the journey, we boarded the Howrah-Puri Express from Howrah railway station at 22:35 hrs. The train reached Puri at 07:30 hrs. Coming out of the station we saw that many cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws were waiting to take passengers to hotels or holiday homes. We took two cycle rickshaws and reached our destination holiday home 'Ananda Bhawan'. There was a caretaker so we had no problem in taking the luggage to the room. I went to a nearby gas store and from there I hired a small sized gas cylinder. Then we went for a bath at the sea beach. The beach was excellent and the waves produced by the sea here were quite high. After spending some time there we came back to our holiday home and had bath. That day we had lunch at a sea facing restaurant. In the evening we went to the sea beach. The cool sea breeze relaxed our mind and body. We also had some shopping at the shops which were situated opposite to the sea. These shops mainly sell apparels, saris, towels and other clothing products. Then we came back to our holiday home, cooked our food and had dinner.

A Visit to Mumbai

[Continued from Saputara, Gujarat's Own Hill Station] Mumbai, formerly Bombay is the capital city of Maharashtra and is one of the most populous cities in the world. Mumbai constituted of seven islands where the fishermen were the main inhabitants. Today, Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment capital of India. Altogether Mumbai has a tropical climate with a little variation between the summer and winter temperatures. It also experiences a lot of rainfall during the monsoon.

Gateway of India

We woke up early in the morning because we had to catch the Flying Rani Express which was scheduled to leave Surat at 05:25 am. On reaching the station we saw that the train was almost ready to depart from the platform. It was a double decker train. We took our seats in the upper deck. Our train started its journey towards Mumbai. We reached Mumbai Central at 10:10 am. From there we took a taxi and went to search for hotels near the Mumbai CST Terminus (Victoria Terminus). There we booked a room at Hotel New Bengal. Our hotel had three restaurants namely Zaffran, Howrah and First Floor. In the afternoon we had lunch at the restaurant Howrah. It mainly served typical bengali cuisine. The food was quite good. That evening we went to see the Gateway of India, one of the most popular attractions of Mumbai. The structure was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay to attend the Delhi Durbar in the year 1911. The last British troops left India through the Gateway in a ceremony on 28 February 1948. On the way we saw the Flora Fountain, now renamed as Hutatma Chowk. After spending some time near the sea coast we came back to our hotel.

Saputara, Gujarat's Own Hill Station

[Continued from My Visit to Daman] Saputara is the only hill station of Gujarat and it is still unexplored and unspoilt. Saputara is situated in the Sahyadri range and has an altitude of about 1000 m. The name 'Saputara' is derived from the Snake God worshiped by the tribal people and translates into "The Abode of the Serpants". Nature has blessed Saputara with picturesque landscapes, hills, table-tops, lakes and water falls.

Echo Point

We had planned to visit Saputara earlier so we had inquired at the bus stand the day before our journey about the bus timings. The next day we went to the bus stand of Surat. On reaching the bus stand we found out that the 8 o' clock bus had left earlier and so we have to wait for the next bus at 9 o' clock. The bus left Surat and went on its journey towards Saputara. It went over crisscrossing the river Ambika. Then it went through a road which was surrounded by dense forest. This was the Vansda National Park, one of the most unexplored, old and dense forest of India. Many types of animals are found in this forest including leopard, hyena and chital, jungle cat, Indian flying fox, wild boar and many other animals. On the way to Saputara we also saw many tribal settlements. We reached Saputara at around 2:00 pm. There we booked a room at hotel Chitrakoot and also had the lunch there. Gujarati and Jain food was served at the restaurant and the food was very delicious. In the evening we went to have a look at the local market which sold many goods from honey to camel leather shoes.

My Visit to Daman

[Continued from Visit to Tithal] I started my journey from Valsad. We boarded the Sayaji Nagari Express from Valsad Railway Station at around 11 am and reached Vapi at 11:20 am. From the adjoining bus stand, we boarded a bus which took us to Nani Daman. On the way we crossed the check post. Atlast we reached Daman. On reaching Daman we saw that there were many types of public transports like bus, taxis and auto rickshaws plying in the city.

Nani Daman Fort

Firstly we went to book a hotel. After keeping our luggage in the hotel room we went to have our lunch. After having lunch we went for sight seeing. We booked a cab and it took us to Nani Daman Fort. This fort is situated on the north of Nani Daman. Although this fort is quite small, there are schools, radio stations, market, hotels, tourism centre and even burial grounds situated within this fort. The main attraction of this fort is the large gateway to the fort facing the river. Then we went to Jampore beach. It is a very pleasant spot and one can even plan a picnic on the shades of the Casuarina groves. After that we went to Mirasol Lake Garden. It is a wonderful place with two islands connected by a bridge and surrounded by a lake. There are provisions for boating in this lake. Other attractions include the toy train and video games.