Summer in the Himalayas

 

 

 

This summer we went on two trips to the Himalayas- a short one to Nag Tibba and Koti Banal ( again- 3rd time in 3 months) and a long, leisurely one to Raithal ( near Uttarkashi) and Gangotri. Both were WOLIDAYS  ( WORK + HOLIDAY- Work for mother and Holiday for me and Baba)

The short one first.

 The last Friday afternoon of May, we headed for The Goat Village Nag Tibba. The famous jam at Kempty Falls jam slowed us down and we reached Lasun Gaon village ( from where one has to trek for 1.5 hours to Nag Tibba)  2 hours behind schedule. By then it was quite dark and it was very exciting trekking in the dark imagining wild animals lurking all around us.It was almost 9.30 pm when we reached The Goat Village which is actually a very beautiful rural resort on the top of a hill.

At The Goat Village

 Dining Room TGV

Next morning I walked round the place. After breakfast, we again trekked down the hill to car point and headed for Koti Banal, about which I have already written before and so will not write again much. On the way we stopped at Rajgarhi to see ruins of raja's palace. 

We stayed at the house of Pradeep bhaiya . The house faces a chaukhat.

 At Rajgarhi

 At Pradeep bhaiya's house

View of chaukhat from the house

Now about the longer trip to Raithal and Gangotri.

On Tuesday 28 June, when monsoon had invaded the Himlayas, we set out for the hills gaian. That night we stayed at Netala on the banks of the river.
Next day we went to Raithal and it was am amazing drive through the hills full of flowers. Raithal site where quaint cottages are coming up too was very scenic. Next time, we will stay in these cottages.
Raithaal village also has an amazing 500 year old multi storied mansion. People call it Panchpura and I learnt that it belongs to the Rana family.

Thursday was free day for mother snd so we headed to Gangotri which was just 3 hours by road from Raithal. Gangotri is am amazing place. The road which leads to Gangotri runs through very scenic mountain scenery as you can see from the pics I have posted. 

 Grain drying session at Raithal

 500 year old Panchpura at Raithal

 Raithal Site- apple time amidst the cottages.

 Watching the river go by at Netala near Uttarkashi

 Lunch time- Raithal site

 Gangotri- where Ganga descended on earth

Waterfall on way back from Gangotri 

Koti Banal- A Kohinoor hidden in the Himalayas

 This long pending blog post covers two trips to Koti Banal- one made in February with my parents and the other done in March during the Holi holidays with my mother and her two students- Harshul bhaiya and Ekangsh bhaiya.

  

Koti Banal is a beautiful hilly village in the heart of the Himalayas. The village is full of ancient houses made in such a way that they have withstood many past earthquakes successfully and will withstand many more in the future- I hope. Such houses are called pherols. They are mostly four and at times even five stories- imagine a five storey house in the hills and withstanding earthquakes since centuries. Hard to imagine isn't it? I too thought like that before -multi story houses and earthquakes don't go together, till i visited Koti Banal.

I enjoyed the second trip more as we stayed in the houses of the villages and I had Harshul and Ekangsh bhiayas for company. While my mother and her two students were busy studying the buildings and making sketches, taking measurements, I had a great time playing with the village boys and patting the calves of the village.

  Last night we even had campfire. It was a great experience.

 We stayed in  a house in front of this magnificent pherol. If you look carefully, you can see us brushing our teeth. .

I just loved the calves of Koti Banal- so young, sweet and playful. Wish I can spend some time with them again.

Tito's Tokyo trip TTT in December 2015

I had posted this trip before, but accidentally it got deleted. So i am having to write this again and not liking it very much. 

January in Pink city, Jaipur

My New Year began with accompanying my mother for a trip to Jaipur, popularly known as the Pink City. Why it is called so you will understand a little later when you see my pictures.

The Yoga Express dropped us at Jaipur at 4.30 in the morning and surprisingly even at that hour Jaipur pleasantly warm. Not frozen like Mussorie, not bitingly cold like Dehradun, but warm, pleasantly warm. Maa had booked a retiring room for us, which meant no haggling with auto drivers, no searching for hotels, just climb up to the first floor, walk into your room and catch up on your sleep!!!!!!

Later in the morning, after a good nap, we headed for Amer Fort. This was the fort I had read about so much and seen on the internet and now I was really going to see it!!!!!I was very excited.

Amer Fort is  really very magnificent. It is like a mini town on top of a hill and inside a fort. There are palaces, durbars, museums, temples, playgrounds and gardens.

 Later in the afternoon, we went to Hawa Mahal or palace  of the winds. This is another grand structure in pink. From the top of Hawa Mahal, I could see three forts- Amer Fort, Jaigarh fort and Nahargarh or Tiger Fort.

Next day we visited the City Palace. It is full of museums displaying everything related to the lives of kings and queens. I like the weapon museum very much. So many different kinds of swords, knives , daggers,bows and arrows of  famous Rajput kings of Rajasthan. There is also a museum of the royal robes once worn by the kings and queens.That afternoon we also tasted creamy and famous Jaipuri lassi -one of the most famous drinks that you get in Jaipur.

Next day it was time to depart from Jaipur.We boarded the AC Double Decker express to New Delhi and returned to Dehradun by bus .

A hurricane trip to Sursingdhar

Snow peaks on the way to Sursingdhar. Can u spot me? 

On 24th of November, just three days before we were supposed to leave for Japan, five of us ( we three and my grandparents from Kolkata) went on a hurricane trip to Sursingdhar to Nalin uncles's resort. My mother is the architect of the project and she had some urgent work at the site which had to be done. She also wanted to show something to my grandfather who is a civil engineer.

So Off we went. From Dehradun, Sursingdhar is just three hours into the hills. The weather was very clear and we got to see the snow capped Himalayas all along the way and my grandmother was extremely thrilled. The peaks stretched out for miles and miles all along the right side of the road and my grandmother just kept watching them.

Reaching Bhaiti how to take photos of snow peaks with her new phablet

 At Sursingdhar we were given two very good rooms in the first floor of a beautiful bungalow. The rooms were very good and the view from the rooms too very fabulous. We were really in the lap of the mountains.

Morning tea with snow peaks for company 

 Next morning we woke up at sunrise and had a clear view of the snow peaks like Chaukhamba ( my father's favorite) and the others. After some time we could also see the Tehri Dam, a big spread of blue in the middle of green mountains.

My mother had already gone to the site after an early breakfast. Later in the morning, we ( myself, my father and grandfather) went to the site. My grandfather did a good survey of site, going up and down the contours, while my father continuously talked on his phone as I wandered about.

Later that day, after lunch we returned to Dehradun. It was a short but  sweet trip.

With Dadai at Maa's site

At 

Riding the Kalka- Shimla- Kalka Toy Train-A Ride to remember

At Kalka Train yard

 I love train journeys. I have traveled in plain-trains many times, but not once have I traveled in hill- trains. That is why the Shimla toy train has been an experience I have been eagerly awaiting to experience for many years. I have always imagined how nice it would be to rush in and out of tunnels, cruise though the green forests and sail past beautiful waterfalls on the way.


Inside MY train FINALLY

 Our train was scheduled to leave Kalka station at 5.30 am. We woke up before dawn and it was still dark when we trooped into Kalka station and hurried into our waiting train with only five minutes left for its departure. But alas, just as we were expecting the train to begin its journey, we heard an announcement saying that our train would be departing two hours later as its link train ( Howrah Kalka Mail) was running late. What a disappointment.
In the spare time that we had, I visited the train yard and was thrilled to see so may toy trains. At another corner of the station in the broad gauge section, I came across a funny sight - a reluctant goat was being dragged into a passenger train by its master. The animal was braying in full blast. Hearing it, a dog too got curious and tried getting into the train but was shooed away by the people. I am sure  the goat will have been entertained all the train passengers with its braying all through the journey.

Barog station, in front of Barog tunnel - in blue

Finally the train started and within fifteen minutes we were in the heart of the hills. We crossed forests, beautiful sceneries as I had imagined. There were 103 tunnels with Barog tunnel ( see above) which is the longest tunnel in this section even having a resident ghost in it. The story goes like this- Mr. Barog was an engineer deputed by the British to build the railway. However, he passed away during the construction of the tunnel and his ghost is still believed to live in this tunnel. People have seen and even talked with him. How interesting !

Crosing a viaduct

The train also passed over a number of viaducts which is nothing but a series of arch bridges- one above the other. We finally reached Shimla at 2 pm. We were staying in the retiring room and is was really fun to stay amidst the hiss, roar and whine of the engines.

Shimla Mall

Afternoon we went to the Mall in Shimla, which has a number of beautiful British Era buildings. Here you are seeing me stand in front of the Christ Church ( extreme right). I had wanted to see this building ever since I saw "3 Idiots." Rancho too had been here and I was happy to follow his footsteps.

Train yard, Shimla

Next morning it is was time for the return journey. I wandered about a bit in the train yard in Shimla. Then I bid good bye to the hill station and boarded my train for the return journey.

A Fun-filled family Trek to Deoriatal, Tunganath ad Chandrashila

 

A few days ago, my cousins from Calcutta along with their parents came to Dehradun. My mother, who works in the Himalayas as an architect had planned a family trek to Deoriatal, Tunganath and Chandrashila for all of us.

On 16th October we set out for Sari village from where we would  trek to Deoriatal. The route crossed the Tehri dam and ran like a snake through the mountains. I had traveled on this route earlier in April this year when I had accompanied my mother to Guptkashi so I knew that we would come across broken roads, wiped out villages, broken bridges- remains of the Kedarnath disaster. But the others had not travelled on this route after the disaster and were horrified on seeing all that.

 We reached Sari quite late in the evening. Next morning as we set out for the trek before dawn,. It was really thrilling to walk in the dark with a guide leading the way in torchlight . I imagined the wild animals through whose home we were walking.

 

We reached Deorital a little before sunrise. The sight of the Himalayan peaks reflected in the clear waters of the lake was so beautiful that it we could not stop admiring it.

We spent quite a lot of time there, having picnic breakfast on the banks of the lake, climbing a watchtower , running about on the rolling meadows.

 Tungnath has the highest Shiva temple in the world. The 4 km trek to this mountain top starts from Chopta and passes through oak forests, green meadows. In the last stretch the tree line just vanishes and it is just rock, rock and bare rock all around.

Tungnath is very high and very cold. We stayed at a guesthouse next to the temple. The moment I stepped out of the room, the famous Himalayan cold pounced on me like a hungry tiger. I hurriedly stepped back and retreated to the warmth of the blankets, refusing to come out again.

But next dawn again we, three reluctant kids were again woken by our parents and we trekked to Chandrashila to watch the sunrise. It was very cold up there, but the sight just before and after the sunrise was such an inspiring sight that I forgot all the discomfort. Here I was at the top of the world, clouds below me and I was looking straight into the face of the majestic Chaukhamba peak.

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It was a wonderful feeling which I have carried back with me to Dehradun.