Thati Dhanari- Back in the heart of the Himalayas

 This is almost after a year that I was back in the heart of the Himalayas, which is like my second home.

I was headed to a village called Thati Dhanari, where a new Goat Village hideout ( my mother’s work) is coming up at the top of the mountain.  

The Thati village turned out to be a historical gem, full of old ruined heritage houses and two chaukhats/ panchpura, one of which even had  a deer head as a trophy. It was capital of the kingdom of the Panwar family , who once ruled the place. This place is also the family home of current Army Chief Bipin Rawat, who had visited the village sometime back..

 Now the trek to the hill top to the proposed Goat Village hideout. It was quite a steep uphill trek of about 4 km through bushes and forests. For about two hours we were climbing, climbing and only climbing. We climbed through an afternoon which surrendered to evening and finally it was quite dark by the time we reached the hideout, which is actually a chaani, a farm houses where people stay while they take their animals to graze during summer.

The place had no electricity and we were completely in the heart of the jungle, surrounded by the strange sounds of the night. Dinner was cooked on wood fire by the bhaiyas who had come with us from Thati village.

It was a magical experience listening to their stories of the land and jungle. 

After dinner, we retired to our room where sleeping bags had been laid out on the floor. In the night If I had to answer Nature's Call, I was forbidden to step out beyond the verandah as leopards are known to frequent the place almsot everyday.

True to their words, later in the light while I was cocooned in my sleeping bad I heard a lot of strange sounds,  One them could have that of the leopard, who knows!!!

Next morning, it was time to return from paradise to home, to studies with longing for the next trip to the mountains. I am enclosing my mother's site visit report below. It will give you an idea of the place very comprehensively. 

A delightful holiday at Dhangal

At Devidanda with Dig Uncle

In the last fortnight of December during the long awaited winter vacation, we visited Dhangal , a small village located on the edge of the Rajaji National Park. On the way we passed by Yamkeshwar ( Yam = God of death) temple located on a lonely cliff. Spirits are said to frequent it , especially after sundown and before sunrise. People come here only in groups. Maybe there is some truth in that- because both the times we passed by it, I could not spot a single soul going or returning from the temple. You too please study the picture below and see carefully if you spot someone.

Yamkeshwar temple

 Now, coming back to Dhangal. It was grown quite dark by the time we reached Bhrigukhal where 2 persons sent by Digambar Uncle ( our host in Dhangal) were waiting to guide us. The last 2 kms was a full rocky drive on a  mud track and through deserted farmlands. We crossed a small river bed and the ride ( on 4 wheels) ended besides a deserted building. The last half km to the house was an uphill trek on a stony path, through bushes (which seemed like jungles in the dark) and glow of fireflies ( which seemed like animal eyes). We walked quietly and heaved a sigh of relief as we reached Digambar Uncle's house.

Dhangal is a very small village with a handful of houses. Digambar Uncle's family owns the most of them. Behind the village, a densely forested hill rises steeply.  All the houses are laid in one long row with a courtyard in front ( see the pic below) where leopards at times prowl in the dead of night. The toilet is in the courtyard, so going there to answer nature's call deep in the night could be quite an adventure. My mother's students have been staying in the house for some days ( for doing measure drawing) and I asked them if any of them had seen anything at night, I was deeply disappointed when all of said NO.

Lunch in the sunny courtyard 

Dig Uncle has a very charming personality and I enjoyed his company  a lot.  I spent major part of the evening talking and listening to him. That night after dinner there was a camp fire with local songs and a bit of drums. A local person sang the songs while I played the drums and later joined Vikas  bhaiya in dance. I think we created enough ruckus to scare away the leopards for that night.

 Next morning Dig Uncle took all of us to Devidanda,  a temple located on a hill top . I walked up with Dig Uncle, conversing with him all the way up. My mother''s four students too were on their own, enjoying and taking pictures. I sat with Dig Uncle on the hill top, soaking in the splendid views and enjoying his company immensely.

After returning from Devi Danda, it was time to pack up and head home once again with golden memories of the last two days well spent in the company of Dig Uncle. Oh yes, he also gave me 500 rupees as a parting gift, just like my own uncles. I am looking forward to meeting him again.

To Devi Danda with Dig Uncle

Saur- Simple and Salubrious

In September end, after my First Semester Exams FINALLY ended , I felt I really really needed a break and so was the case with my parents. Instead of spending time in the city, I decided to accompany my mother to one of her project sites- Saur. Saur turned out to be a simple but very scenic and salubrious village tucked in the mountains. My mother is working on The Ramola family house ( picture above). It sits on a mountain terrace with light green fields in front and the dark green mountain as the backdrop. It is almost 100 years old.

Though we had earlier planed to reach by daylight, my father refused to go beyond Dhanolti without stopping for a quick chicken curry roti at his favourite restaurant in Dhanolti. It got dark soon after we crossed Jhadipani and to add to our adventure,, it became misty and began to rain.
Somehow after a few phone calls from Sanju bhaiya of Saur, we managed to reach our destination.

Stepping into Saur gave the feeling of having gone back to the old times,. The rooms in the dimly lit  house had the old world feel. To add to the feel of adventure , the bathroom was one storey down and had to be reached by a  creaking wooden staircase. 

Next morning, after carpenter bhiaya had left after meeting mother, Sanju bhaiya took us around the village. Last year, many young artists had painted Life Lessons on the walls of the village, making the place look really stunning. I walked up and down, chatted with village aunties who had all time in the world to answer all my questions. Mother is planning a museum in the Ramola House and she met many villagers to enquire about the lost customs and fading practices. During the conversation, one village lady brought out an antique hookah, which was once the heart of village social life.

 Sanju bhaia also took us to village gharat which is still used for grinding corn and millets by diverting the flow of fast flowing stream water.,

By now morning had given space to afternoon and it was time to pack my bags and head home with renewed energy. I left behind the serene greens, the sprightly stream ( Saur Gad) with sweet memories and a longing to visit again.

KAAMBUCHCHA!!!!!!!!!! ! My great American holiday

Once my school exams were over in December, we set off for our grand trip to USA - New York and California . On the 13^th of December, we took the flight to Rome  from Delhi by Alitalia , the flag carrier of Italy . At Rome we had a stop over and then took the flight to New York.

My uncle and his family live in a city called Stamford in the state of Connecticut,   a small town just outside New York. Next day, we woke up to a white morning of pre –Christmas , as if everything had been prepared for Santa Clause’s arrival.

Snowfall happens here almost every day. It is so chilly outside and there is not even a soul in sight .

Still we went for a walk in this beautiful country. The cold however soon took a toll on us and we had to rush back home .

In the weekend, my uncle took us to New York City Also called NYC, an hour's drive away. 

First of all we went to  the famous central park  of NYC .We saw some horse drawn carriages Then we went to Times Square , one of the famous popular tourist spots of NYC . I noticed that NYC has a mixed population of people of many nationalities.

We also went to the High line , an elevated park in NYC. It provides a respite from the concrete jungle and also has fabulous views of the city .

At Highline 

The Atlantic Ocean is very close to my Uncle's house. You can see it every time you head out to NYC.

With Mamu ( Uncle) on the shores of Atlantic Ocean 

An exciting trip To Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley and San Francisco awaited us the next week. We woke up early in the morning of 19th December for the flight to Las Vegas. 

We have arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!

After getting down at the airport, we took our self drive vehicle ( a huge black SUV) headed to our stopover for the night, at a small town called Kingman. In the evening  we went to Walmart , superstore to do some shopping for our camping .

Our Hotel in Kingman ( The Big black vehicle, second from left and next to red car is ours) 

Loading Supplies 

Next day we hit many birds with one stone . On the way to the Grand Canyon, we travelled  by the historic Route -66 , a road by which gold rush travelers travelled during the California Gold Rush!'

On the way, we saw ghost towns. But there is no need to be scared at all ! These are just the towns abandoned after the gold rush travelers  stopped coming !  

While trying to locate our hotel in the grand Canyon (the Yavaipai Lodge), we got our directions wrong and landed up the middle nowhere. The culprit was the GPS .

We finally we reached our destination , The  Yavapai Lodge . It is a beautiful place surrounded by great scenery.

Yavapai Lodge

 Next day , the road was covered with snow and ice ! But in spite of that we came out of our blankets to see the sunrise in Grand Canyon . We enjoyed it quite more when we climbed onto a desert view tower . Outside it was cold and frosty , but inside it was warm and cozy . It has fantastic views of the grand canyon.
The sunset proves that there mountains of gold in the grand Canyon and still that’s what local tribes say. From a high point of the Grand Canyon  we saw the snaking Colorado river flowing 1 mile down in the valley. It is a perfect example of rugged beauty, risky to explore .

Grand Canyon during Sunset 

After some days of enjoying nature at Grand Canyon, we needed a change. So we went to our next stop, Las Vegas city

On the way,  we stopped at  Hoover Dam  on the Colorado Rover.  It is a landmark of American history. I asked a lot of questions to Mr Dustin , an employee the Hoover Dam tourism department. We also took a tour of the dam’s museum, galleries and power generation system.

Las Vegas city is famous for its lights . It is also called the Entertainment capital of the world and also known as the Sincity .

At LV all action happens on the strip , a wide road with dozens of hotels and extremely well lighted with array of colorful lights.. Our hotel The Cosmopolitan was located on the Strip. This hotel was unlike any other hotel I had stayed before. There was casino on the ground floor lobby.

Casinos, LV

Next day , for a couple of hours , we watched the various buildings of Las Vegas . The city does not feel that great as it feels in the night. After lunch, we drove towards the wilderness of nature in Red Rock Canyon National Park. The place is located on the outskirts of LV. It has strange rock faces carved with the hands of nature made by wind ,water and sun and seems to be full of mystery 

 It seemed quite surprising to believe that such opposite  environments  like LV and RR canyon can live so close to each other in harmony.

We now headed towards the Death  Valley National Park, the biggest  national park in the USA .Does death Valley really live up to its name? Well , it is called so as during gold rush explorers perished  in the desert in extreme heat due to lack of food and water! 

Three of us at Death Valley 

Jessie James Uncle took us on a tour into a ghostly mountain range of the Death Valley in his red SUV  . We saw a ghost town , petroglphs (fossils) , hot springs and finally the Devil’s Den also called the Titus Canyon through which a river flowed through millions of years ago . We were driving on the dry river bed. The place was very scary , but there was really nothing to be scared of ! 

Near Titus Canyon with James Uncle

Next day , we were out exploring death valley on the road again  . We went to Badwater- a  place which is below sea level  . The water here is salty and contains chemicals . Only an old species of fish called Pupfish exists in the so called oasis of water and life .

At Bad Water

Next stop was a natural bridge , simply surprising as there are rocks are hanging in the air ! Next stop was the artists palette .It has lots of colours - red , green , yellow, pink ,etc. It seemed as if nature has painted the mountains with a delicate series of colours, her brush made by the wind , water and sun . These are actually nothing but traces if metals like iron , aluminum , magnesium and titanium . While creativity comes in play , science remains the same  

Then we bade good by to the sun , at Dantes view point, a fantastic place having the view . But still the adventure in our minds did not set . We then camped for the night near our hotel room and had a fantastic time at the campfire site .  My auntie cooked a WOW chicken curry in the pitch dark camping ground. My uncle warned her not to throw the water with which she had washed the chicken on the ground as that might attract animals. 
 It was really exciting to imagine wolves walking around, tempted by the smell of human beings and chicken curry. 

The highlight of our trip to DV was an Off road trip to Race Track - again with Jessie James uncle driving one of the hardy SUV s, while my Uncle driving the other. My father too wanted to drive, but his wish remained unfulfilled. 
Race Track is again a mysterious place as it contains race tracks created by boulders which moves on their own. We too saw many such big rocks after walking 1 km on the fully Lunar like landscape. Being in this place seemed as if we had gone out of the earth.
On our way back we saw a big hole  also called the Ubehebe crater , once a Magma chamber which emptied suddenly millions of years ago . We saw a tea kettle junction , where people deposit and take tea kettles without any reason . It is a place full of mystery ! 

Racetrack, DV

That night at the camp we cooked egg curry  . Next to us  were some people who were also camping in Death Valley . I made friends with a boy called Alias and I enjoyed his company . I also saw his Recreational Vehicle ( RV ) also called  a Home on Wheels . It has all the amenities like a kitchen , beds and bunks and a toilet .

Along the Pacific 

After exploring land we went towards the sea. We traveled day and night towards Sans Simeon , a coastal settlement .

Next day , we went to visit Hearts Castle- a magnificent castle built on a hill overlooking the Pacific.  built by a man having great dreams and he built a great castle . We also saw the history of the castle and a film about Mr. Hearst  who was the owner .

We saw the sun setting in the horizon and drove towards Monterey , another coastal city not far away 

Sunset at San Simeons 

Driving along the Pacific Coast

On the Pacific coast

Hyatt hotel, Monterey Bay

Next day, after a leisurely breakfast and late start , we went close to the coastline and also drove along it . We saw some waterfalls and a beach . Sunset at Bigx Bee bridge was really a sight to behold. 

Sunset- Bigx Bee 

.Next day , we went whale watching and saw whales dancing  on the water and seagulls flying  and sea lions  resting   and fighting in their own arena . They looked very funny. We saw gray whales which are friendly.

Whale watching trip 

Our next stop was San Francisco . On our way we stopped at Sunnyvale , San Jose , the popular silicon valley of USA .

San Francisco is a different city altogether. It has rollercoaster  roads where cars are parked on slopes and some streets look as if , it is at the top if the mountain , and you are going to fall if you go the edge of it . I too saw trams and electric buses in the road . Then was the most beautiful thing that I heard and saw , the new year countdown  and fireworks of San Francisco  . We had a great time there in the city seeing the fireworks and also we went to the famous Golden Gate Bridge  and the Bay Bridge of San Francisco . The Bay bridge is three to four times bigger than the golden gate  bridge .

We ate crabs and prawns and a lot of seafood at Fishermen’s Wharf .

At Fishermen's Wharf 

Can you tell what is on my plate???????????

We also went to Antiock , a suburb of the great city  where one of relatives stay . Their sons Nil and Noel study in 10^th and 12^th grades. I enjoyed with them too. I liked the locality in which they live  . It has beautiful gardens and houses .

California trip ends and again NYC

For the next 5 -6 days , we roamed around in the streets of NYC . We saw Grand Central many times  , Intrepid a retired aircraft carrier and enjoyed the museums of NYC with great enthusiasm .At last the three of us my parents and me saw the saw the green statue of liberty symbol of American democracy and liberty  and walked on the famous Wall street  of NYC .

The last weekend, we also went on day trips to to Mystic aquarium and the Bear Mountain. 

At Wall Street 

lake near Bear Mountain 

Personal feelings and Family experience

During this trip I got to experience life like a local.  I played with my two cousin sisters a lot . The younger one was quite naughty and she did many funny things .  I went to Golla’s  school a number of times. Getting inspired from her , I did a crash course on Martial Arts .

Here It is -10 degrees average and still the houses are so warm and cozy . But in India , house of concrete feel so cold and bone chilly even at 10 degrees .

The best thing I liked was the spirit of the people. In spite of extreme cold , the people still work hard and things are not closed during the winter .

Golla's school 

The last thing I would like to say is KAAMBUCHCHA!!!!!!!!!! !!! You must be curious to know what is really means. Pl ask Mamu- he only introduced the word. But whatever it means, to me it will always signify the spirit of my trip to America .

KAAMBUCHCHA!!!!!!!!!! 

A mini holiday in the hills with friends and family

Exams are taxing. Exams are tirirn

AT Kandigaon, near Damta

With my friends 

 Exams are taxing. Exams are tiring. And after they are over, you need to relax really well. That was the thought when we went off for a short trek last weekend immediately after my 1^st semester exams. This time my friends Iswit and Ranvir too were there with their family, and that made the trip all the more enjoyable .

On Dusshera day, after biding farewell to Ma Durga and asking her to come again next year, the three of us set out for the small town of Damta located about 70 kms from Dehradun. We reached at around noon and stayed at the PWD guest house ( arranged by Pradhan). It was an old colonial bungalow crying for maintenance.

The next morning , Pradhan uncle took us to his summer village Kandigaon, which is about 12kms from Damta. The village is located at a mountaintop and commands a very beautiful view of the surroundings. My mother talked with some villagers and explained the home stay concept. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have home stays in this lovely village? I wish it happens soon.

Next, it was time to meet up with my friends and their families who had started in the morning from Dehradun and were very exhausted after being caught after up in the infamous “Kempty’ jam.  

After having lunch together, we set off for the farmhouse of Gajju uncle, located amidst apple orchards. Gajju uncle is Ishwit’s own uncle. The house is very beautiful , but to reach it you have to trek 4 kms – up a steep hill and through a dense jungle. We had started walking at late afternoon from the village Tya and by the time we reached Gajju uncle’s house ( after slipping and falling down a number of times), it was quite dark .

We were exhausted but very happy. 

At Rarhi top 

At Devrana Temple

Up the apple tree- friends and me

Gajju uncles house in the apple orchards