Incredible India thru my Lens

Kasauli – Quiet Weekend Getaway (Jul ’09)

If you would like to spend your weekend in quiet place then ‘Kasauli’ is your best choice. Kasauli is located 303 kms from Delhi and one has to take a branch road in Kalka – Shimla road. We went there last year expecting some rain but disappointed as there was not even a sign of thunderstorm. Nevertheless, the place was quite serene and a beautiful place to spend your time by watching the sunrise/sunset and nature walks around.

The main attractions in Kasauli are ‘Monkey Point’, ‘Christ Church’ & ‘Sanawar’ one of the best schools in the country.

‘Monkey Point’ is located 4km from the bus stand. A small temple is situated on top of the hill and the climb to the temple is quite steep. Once can have a look at River Sutlej from the top. Since this temple is located in cantonment area, camera’s, electronic items are not allowed. Christ church is located very close to bus stand and still looks beautiful.

Don’t miss out the night view of ‘Chandigarh City’, ‘Sunrise’ & ‘Sunset’.

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Weekend Trip to Virgin Hills – Landsdowne (Oct ’09)

It’s been a while we went out for an outing and this time I was planning to do it on bike. Decided on the destination and it has to be Lansdowne for its virgin beauty. But problem arose when we find there was no hotel room available for stay as ours was planned in last minute. After googling for some time, got hold of an hotel named OAK Grove Inn. We checked with the owner Col. Rawat and fortunately rooms are available. He also gave directions how to reach the place as we need to take diversion before reaching Lansdowne.

Finalised on the stay, we started packing things and it turned out to be a Lansheadache as all our earlier trips done in car. I haven’t prepared my bike for touring also, so no saddle bags. Got the cruiser box, and it was half packed with air pump and an spare rear tube. But somehow packed things for two days stay (2 sets of dresses, laptop, 2 camera etc.,).

We started from Faridabad around 5.40 AM, filled up tank and headed towards Meerut. To me it was a long awaited trip and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Road conditions are pretty good except some bad patches here and there. It was one of the beautiful roads to drive till Lansdowne. We took Delhi – Meerut – Mawana – Besuna – Ramraj – Meerapur. Here we stopped for breakfast at Monty Millions. I think it was the best restaurant enroute to Lansdowne. Food served here was good and worth the money.

From here we have to go to Bijnor via Kiratpur, but we somehow missed the road and took ‘Kotwali’. Then realised the mistake and joined the correct road at Najibabad. From Najibabad the road looks good and once you reach Kotdwara the drive through the hills was an awesome experience. Excellent weather and cool wind will keep you fresh. We didn’t go to Lansdowne as we have to go to Jaiharikhal where OAK Grove Inn located.

Reached the hotel at 1.00 PM and what a location it turned out to be. The owners, Colonel Rawat and his wife, live in a house adjacent to the hotel. We met them and had a little chat and got into the room. The room was neat and clean with wonderful view of mountains. They maintain a wonderful garden and you can see a variety of flowers planted around the hotel & their home. There was an wonderful terrace made of wood which was amazing and you can sit there and watch the little village down that place and beautiful scenery in front of your eyes.

After resting for few hours we headed to see sunset point but unfortunately before we reach sun went down. So had a coffee at Tiffin Top and retired for the day.

Next couple of days we visited the main attractions in Lansdowne. There are very few places to hang around. Don’t miss a chance to watch sunset from Santoshi Mata Mandir, its an awesome experience.

Major Attractiions:

Bhulla Tal
Shiva Temple
St. Mary’s Church
Santoshi Mata Mandir
St. John’s Church
A river near Satpuli – 25kms from Lansdowne

Highly recommended and an ideal place to spend your weekend holiday peacefully.

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Nelliyampathy – an exotic destionation in God’s own country ( Jun ’10)

During my visit to Coimbatore, planned to touch Kerala as I don’t want to miss a chance to visit God’s own country. But I didn’t had much time so couldn’t venutre out more as I would have loved to. So, searched for the nearest destination in Kerala from Coimbatore and got the info about the place – Nelliyampathy.

The image put up in Kerala Tourism website was so inviting and hence decided to visit Nelliampathy. We started from Coimbatore on Saturday night and reached Palakkad and checked into the Srichakra International hotel. Food served by them was amazing and really loved the Fish Curry served there.

We started our journey to Nelliampathy at 6 AM the next day. The destination is located around 55km from Palakkad and half of the distance was uphill drive and one has to negotiate 10-12 hairpin bends. The drive in itself was an amazing experience with clouds traversed in touching distance with beautiful landscape.

View of Pothundy Dam during uphill drive was amazing and sunrise was simply superb. It took 2.30 hrs to reach Nelliampathy, as we were still fresh started to visit the main view points. Vallew view from Seethakundu & Kesavanpara was lovely. Couldn’t visit Mampara due to time constraint and also advised to take local jeep which I didn’t like. After 3 hrs of sightseeing returned back to Palakkad. Wish I could have spent more time on this place.

Major Attractions:

Seethakundu
Mampara
Kesavanpara

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Valparai – Perfect weekend getaway from Coimbatore (Jun ’10)

Valparai is located at a distance of 95 km from Coimbatore and serves as a perfect weekend getaway from the crowded city life. The main attraction is the green carpeted tea estates all over. The drive from Pollachi to Valparai is itself is a wonderful experience. There are quite a few places you can visit before reaching Valparai.

Aaliyar Dam, Monkey Falls & Indra Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary are located enroute to Valparai. The hairpin bend drive will keep you entertained and offers beautiful views of Aaliyar Dam. Don’t miss out an opportunity to stop your car at Loams View Point which is located in 9th hairpin bend.

Once you reach Valparai you can further visit places like Sholayar Dam, Mel Neerar Dam, Athirapally Falls, Pooncholai Village for valley views.

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Weekend trip to Gangotri (May ’10)

This was an unplanned visit to the Himalayas to beat Delhi heat. I was checking weather in near by hill stations and saw the temperature were not so great. Almost all the nearby hill stations showed a prediction of mid 30′s. Finally decided to go ‘Uttarkashi’ in Uttranchal, where the predicted temperature was around 26. All set and we started our journery towards ‘Uttarkashi’. But when we reached there condition was not much different than Delhi and what a disappointment. Then we decided to further move on to ‘Gangotri’, and we were not disappointed. The temperature must have been in single digits, if not in negative.

This was one crazy ride as we covered 1050 kms in 48hrs with 65% of travel in hills. One must have at least a week to cover these regions as they offer a lot to nature lovers.

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Orchha – The Hidden Beauty (Jul ’10)

As usual, started searching for a weekend getaway from Delhi. This time I am trying to go to a different place other than Himalayas (as I have covered almost all the places in 300km radius). So, searching for a getaway has now become a difficult one. Decided to plan a visit to Madhya Pradesh as it was visited less frequently (infact less travelled). While searching got to know about this place called Orchha. I fell in love with this place when I go over the images in the internet and decided to visit the place for sure.

Didn’t want to travel on my bike/car and hence decided to use public transport. Checked out the train details to Jhansi and got confirmed return ticket and a wait list ticket for onward journey. Till Friday evening didn’t see a change in wait list number and decided to go by bus. The last bus leaves from Delhi to Jhansi at 8.30.  Reached ‘Sarai Kale Khan’ and boarded the bus. Not so impressive seats but settled on a window seat in the middle of the bus. Bus started at 8.30 PM but there were only few passengers on board so the conductor decided to fill up some passengers from Nizamuddin Railway Station. After picking up few passengers from the Station, bus started its journey at 9.30. Journey was uneventful after Agra as most of the passengers got down there.

Reached Jhansi at 7.45 AM and got a bus to Orchha. I had already booked a room at ‘Orchha Home Stay’. It is managed by a french couple ‘Asha & Louk’ who fell in love with this little town. The concept of this home stay is that, you will be taken to one of the 6 families which are part of this program. You will be provided a separate room within their home. There is a good chance for outsiders to learn about the life style, culture & customs of the residents of Orchha. You are free to join with them for breakfast/lunch/dinner or else if you like privacy you can have it in your room as I did.

Orchha is a tiny little town which has got wealth of hidden beauties.  The major attractions include -Chatturbuj Temple, Ramaraja Temple, Laxmi Narayan Temple, Raja Mahal, Jahangir Mahal, Laxmi Temple.

Don’t miss out the famous view of Orchha on Betwa river side during Sunset.

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