Shimla Manali 2024 travelogue

 Shimla Manali 2024

This was my second trip to Manali but since hubby and kid had not seen the place, we planned for it. I had not seen Shimla so thought of adding it. What did I think of about adding Shimla....well read on to find out. We generally use Veena world tour as a guideline for planning. However, please note that their tours are solid action packed and if you want a leisurely tour then be ready to drop few or many things from it. We obviously didn't want to be rushed and we definitely didn't want anyone to give us wake up calls so we went on our own. So here it goes....

Day 1 Pune to Chandigarh 4:10 am flight. We left our house at 11:30 pm or so (and hence counting it as a day) spent the night at the airport. Btw, this was the only direct flight available to Chandigarh. All others have a stop either at Delhi or Jaipur. So its your choice on what you want - direct flight with bad timings or a 1 stop flight with suitable timings.

Day 2 - reached Chandigarh at around 6:30am (2+ hours flight), had an amazing brownie and tea at Chaiwala (that's the name of the stall) - a tea stall inside the airport arrival area and yes, it didn't cost a bomb. Our driver was waiting for us dot on time. This cab service was recommended by a friend who has used it frequently and I sincerely thank her for giving us a very reliable and safe guy to drive us around. He was acting as our guide too. We had breakfast at some highway place ahead of Parwanoo. We reached Simla by 12:30. 

My kid said that scenery enroute was similar to Sahyadris (in the monsoon) just more greener and he wasn't wrong. We had lunch at our hotel. Hotel had a beautiful view of a valley filled with deodar trees. It was quite chilly that day. Around 4pm, we went for some local sightseeing. We went up the lift to mall road and did some shopping. Missed the chance of going to Jhaku temple because the last ropeway cable car was at 5/6....yes that's the answer we got at the ticket counter (so no idea if it was 5 or 6 or somewhere in between) and we had reached that counter at 4:45. So if it's 5 then might have to come back in the same downward journey of that same cable car. Well we got similar answer on second enquiry, so didn't take a chance. Mall road is fun for shoppers. My favourite brand of winter jackets "Fuel" had it's company showroom called Knits here so I happily treated myself to an overcoat style jacket. Just FYI for my shopper friends, this company shop is available in Shimla, Nainital, Mussoorie and Dehradun and offer exquisite European style jackets. Purchased a sweater for my kid from a local shop plus a beanie. After some snacks and chai we returned to our amazing hotel, rather BnB called The Bodhi tree. Clean, neat rooms and linen, nice hot water and a view to die for. Food is also very good. We had a local dish called Rehru which I can loosely call a HImachali kadhi and it was yum. Do try. I recommend this place. Just one downside, there was nothing nearby for our driver to eat. He had to travel further away for food. However he never told this to us while in Shimla. Our driver pretty well knows the entire North India and Shimla Manali were not exception and we were dependant on him for local inputs. The hotel offers parking. The temperature in Shimla that day was close to 10 or less than 10 degrees that day. However the next day was not cold.

 

The view from our room

Day 3- Today we went to Kufri. The entire road is green. Kufri has a lot of adventure sports like zip line, rapelling etc. However we are not an adventurous family and although I am an exception, I have already done most of the adventure sports. Only remaining on my bucket list is sky diving. The driver stopped us at a place where all of this were offered but as I said we only chose what we wanted. You can book at these early places or go to that spot and then pay. Both options are available. We took a horse ride to the top which was approx. 20 min one way. On the top you can take photos sitting on yaks, with angora rabbits etc. There are lots of games for kids like rifle shooting, archery etc. Further ahead you can go to step farms and apple orchards. We didn't go there. The place has many shops mostly woolen wear and food. We had some yummy maggi and tea and started our downward horse ride. This is more of an adventure considering the road is full of pebbles and rocks, very narrow and steep. You will be advised how to weight shift so as to remain on the horse. LOL. Back to Shimla, we went to Lakkad bazaar and purchased some items for gifting. Note that Shimla is based on multiple levels of the mountain so you need to keep climbing up and down. So lakkad bazaar is located one level up and you have to climb up. There are a lot of things you can buy as gifts but my brain didn't work on the spot and in hindsight, I feel I could have purchased a lot more as gifts. The wooden containers like casseroles and dry fruit containers or masala dabba were really beautiful but then since I use a dishwasher, I now buy only dishwasher specific items but good as a gift to someone who can use because quality, finish and carving was excellent. The wind chimes were amazing and in hindsight I needed one. I feel nowadays, everyone has everything and buying gifts is a difficult thing. You can't carry bigger size things with you due to luggage restriction and small things can be unnecessary. Back at the hotel room, we saw an amazing sunset right from our bed and Eid ka chand since it was Eid time.

The horse ride at Kufri

Sunset from our room

In a nutshell - Overall there aren't many things to do in Shimla. Frankly I wasn't interested in the standard sightseeing like the church. I missed "The Ridge" somehow and dont know how much of a loss it was. You can easily skip Shimla if you like or be very specific on what exactly you are interested in. As I said earlier, in Shimla you need to walk up and down because that's how the city is located and although the corporation has a lift facility, you have to spend some extra minutes buying the ticket and for also for space in the lift. You also need to walk to the lift if your driver cannot find a place to drop you off near the lift. It is a crowded place. On the other hand, Manali is more flat. If you skip Shimla, I have another recommendation in it's place so keep reading on.

 

Day 4- Today we started for Manali. The way is filled with hair pin bends and that took a toll on my kid who has motion sickness. Somehow even the medication given before starting the journey did not work for him. I was worried because you are in the middle of nowhere and going forward is the only way out. Thankfully he felt better after few hours aani aamcha jeev bhandyat padla. If your child too has motion sickness skip Shimla and go directly to Manali because the road from Chandigarh is straighter and its a bigger highway.

On our way, we saw the Sundernagar lake and the Pandoh dam. There is so much road and tunnel work happening in Himachal that the place bears no resemblance to my memories of Manali 20 years ago. We took a chai stop at some roadside dhaba which had a river as it's backdoor neighbour. Although Shimla was so cold, our travel to Manali was a totally sunny day. It was hot.

 

Pandoh dam

We took a stop at Kullu at Vimla wools outlet. Kullu has a lot of shawl factories and you can buy some good woolen stuff here. All the things purchased here were used by us so I can say that the quality is really good. Finally, we reached Manali around 8:30 pm. We generally used to leave hotel room after breakfast which in most case was 9-9:30. It took us quite a longer time than usual because of our frequent stops due to my kids health. That is the entire reason why we didn't go with a tour operator. Our life was so much easier because we were on our own. The car was an Ertiga so its spacious. My kid could sleep in it, we could stop when we wanted and where we wanted. We made decisions on the go.

When we reached Manali at night, it was super cold unlike the hot day temperature. Our hotel was very average and not a recommendation and hence not mentioning it here. We were located on Hidimba temple road.

Day 5- Today we did local sightseeing. First stop obviously Hidimba temple and Ghatotkach temple. Here the atmosphere is quite festive. You can wear local outfits and click photos. You can click photos with angora rabbits. One Rajasthani guy was playing a traditional instrument called Ravanahatha, super melodious but I think he knew only one song "ud jaa kale Kawa..." The place was brimming with people and had a long queue for darshan. We took darshan from far. Ghatotkach mandir is an open mandir below a tree so there are no queues here, so do visit. Its just a 2 min walk from Hidimba.

 

Next stop was Club house. This is a HP government shopping plaza. Nearby you can do adventure activities like river crossing and zipline. We had an amazing lunch at German bakery just outside club house and although club house is not recommended, I totally recommend German bakery. Apart from bakery items, you get full fledged lunch menu and of course food is yummy. I repeat, Club house is a total disaster. Waste of time and energy. 

We then went to the best place in Manali..... Beas river. Wow. I loved this place 20 years back and I equally love it this time. I can spend hours by the river side with my feet soaking in the icy cold waters of the Beas. In fact I love the river side so much that I wanted to go there each day so yes its my personal favourite. The riverside has changed drastically - man made as well as by nature. There is so much "new" road work going on by the river side and secondly, last year there was so much water which came down from the mountains that the road was swept off, so the repair work adds to it. It was my son's first time and he was thoroughly enjoying playing in the water and collecting stones. Unfortunately, this time (ie 20 years later on my second visit to Manali), I found very less stones with mica. Manali has stones which contain mica, so next time you see a very shiny stone in Manali, you are looking at Mica. Rub your palm briskly and the mica will stick to your palm adding a natural shimmer on your skin. Maybe I did not look at the correct places.

The beautiful Beas

A shiny mica stone

Our next stop was Vasishta mandir. The temple has been recently renovated. I love this temple because of a personal connection with it. I belong to the same gotra, so in a way it's my ancestors temple. Luckily that evening, the temple had arranged dinner for girls belonging to this gotra who have married into another gotra. This is done on the eve of the janmadin of Guru Vasishta i.e. Chaitra shashthi (3 days after Gudhi padwa). The temple was being decorated for the occasion. It is located in such serene surroundings, beautiful snow covered mountain peaks. The carvings on the temple are awesome. Next to it is a Ram temple and Shiv temple. Also next to the temple are hot water springs.

The Vasishta temple

Beautiful snow capped peaks behind the temple

After darshan, we strolled on the street which has lots of shops and tapri restaurants. Kiddo is currently collecting state animal of every state. So went looking for a mountain leopard either in wood or metal. We found it in a tibetan shop. We then had a local dish called siddu. It was good and I will recommend it. We called it a day after this.

Day 6 - Today we planned for Solang, snow point and Atal tunnel. Solang valley is an open area with mountains surrounding it and a ropeway. Go here for paragliding. We had planned to stop here on our way back. Snow point is a place where you find snow all 12 months of the year (note - it is not fresh snow and is quite dirty). This is much before Rohtang pass. Rohtang pass is open only for a specific period of time so not many people get to go there. Atal tunnel is the latest attraction. We got ourselves suitable snow clothes and boots on rent in Manali itself. We did our bookings for ATV ride, skiing and tube ride in the same shop. There must be a 1000 shops which are govt registered who do this booking. All the mentioned sports are carried out on the other side of Atal tunnel. 

So reiterating, our plan was to stop at Solang on our way back and first stop was supposed to be Atal tunnel and the adventure sports.  There was a landslide much ahead of Solang on the way to Rohtang and hence we got caught in a major traffic jam. We reached Atal tunnel post 2 pm. The place is a must see for its natural beauty. There was fresh snowfall two days back and hence we could see white snow as against the dirty black snow before the tunnel. Once you cross the tunnel, you actually enter the Lahaul-Spiti area. It was freezing cold. We first had lunch at a cafe which was badly managed taking a lot of time for simple orders. The reason everyone was choosing this cafe was clean washrooms. Be ready for a queue. Dont underestimate the time in that queue. The place was packed with tourists. Finally we went for our adventure rides after 4pm or so. By the time we were done with it, it started raining and ice particles started hitting our face. It was like God was throwing crushed ice on us, just the orange or cola flavour was missing. Ice Gola ban jaata tha LOL. It was time to head back. It must have been past 6 pm easily but I didn't check the time. No time to check the time. I didn't even want to leave the place. There was so much left to be admired. There was rive flowing behind this adventure area, wahan to gaye bhi nahi. 

Now for my recommendation instead of Shimla. You can go to a place called Sisu lake which is located after Atal tunnel. I can only imagine it's beauty. The place we had gone was so very beautiful and I heard Sisu is way more beautiful than that. I have heard that there are hotels available to stay but please do some research before going. Remember, this is Spiti area which we are talking about and it is a high altitude place so you may have to read on that too.

Due to traffic jam even on our way back, we were left with no time to stop at Solang for paragliding. We also wanted to pick Pine cones. This is not really the season for it but we had spotted a place where we could pick them. However the rain too had become heavy and we just decided to head straight back to the hotel. Also, in Himachal, although you have a dedicated vehicle at your disposal, doesn't mean you can stop wherever you want. The roads are so narrow that when you stop, you can cause a jam.

Atal tunnel is a must visit, totally recommended. People, just because we lost a lot of time in traffic jam doesn't mean you too will encounter the same. The effort is worth it. Full marks to the natural beauty. The sports is just a side dish.

On our way back we stopped for some steaming hot momos and tea, and they were awesome. The rain was full on. As per our driver, the mountain peaks had snowfall. He mentioned that if you see the peak covered with what seems like a cloud then it is snowing there. Well you have to see it to differentiate it.

Guys, I am recommending our driver too. If you are planning for a trip to any part of North India, any state right up to Ladakh, you can hire him. He drives safely and is reliable. I can give you his contact details.

Day 7 -  The rains from yesterday had not stopped and had no signs of stopping. Today we had planned on Naggar castle, Knoi waterfall and Sajla Vishnu temple and waterfall. We dropped Sajla all together because of the rains. The Sajla waterfall is a small trek from the main road and we had no plans to walk in the rain. The way to Naggar is full of apple orchards. The plants were in full bloom making it picture perfect. This is not the apple season. We had a good time taking photographs. We saw many traditional houses on the way. It is now difficult to spot traditional architecture in Manali. Traditional houses have roofs made of slate rocks which are thinly cut. The house has a plinth which is around 2 feet tall made of stones and wooden beams. The rest of the house is made of wood or combination based on the financial strength of the person. Most of these houses store wood in one area (for fire). I did see few of these traditional houses in the Vasishta mandir area too. 

Naggar Castle

The Knoi waterfall is visible from the road itself. You can obviously go there and spend time if you want but for us it was raining heavily so we did not go near the waterfall and took a photo stop from the road itself.

 

Naggar castle houses an art gallery....bullshit. Don't fall for it, there is a tiny room which has a small village setup. If you are traveling for that, then don't go. The castle itself is a beautiful piece of traditional architecture and sculpture, very tastefully done and was /is still the residence of the king of Kullu. It now has a hotel and a fine dining restaurant. The food is really good and if you are visiting you can try it. There are lot of tiny restaurants/tapris outside the castle too so it's your choice. The view from the castle is really good. You can spend a lot time admiring the sculptures in wood and also the view from the castle. 

That stupid art gallery

Today, we only did half day sightseeing and returned to the hotel to relax and to do packing because next day was our return journey to Pune. We missed visiting Manikaran sahib gurudwara. This is in a totally different direction towards Kasol but we had put it in our plan. The road to Manikaran generally has traffic issues. There are hot springs in Manikaran too. We couldn't squeeze it in our itinerary although it was part of our initial plan because we didn't want the kid to again face motion sickness because of the winding road and secondly, we had a flight to catch and it was a risk with the traffic. Our decision proved correct since we heard there was a 4 hour jam that day.

Once we entered the border of Punjab, we took a quick stop for lassi. It was on my bucket list to have lassi in Punjab. It was good but frankly, we do get that kind of lassi even here. I don't recall where in Pune I had that lassi. Chandigarh has a defence airport but it is very tastefully done and it's huge. Also compared to Pune, there were very few travellers. So that's all folks. We enjoyed our time in Manali thoroughly. So long Manali, until next time.

Himalayas keep calling me but my kid said "No more mountains". Looks like I may have to do some solo trips :) Anyone wants to join me?

Zakir Khan live

 Attended Zakir Khan show. I was quite excited and looking forward to it because I rarely go for movies or events especially after boycotting trash Bollywood. I will first give my verdict and then get into details for whoever is interested in knowing what exactly happened. The Zakir Khan part of the show was enjoyable but overall experience of the event was totally frustrating. If I ever see Swiggy organising any show, it will be a big no from me.

First and foremost, what was announced as Zakir Khan show on bookmyshow, slowly changed to being a "comedy and gourmet experience". When I bought tickets, it was a 4 hour thing with super expensive tickets. Later bookmyshow changed the venue. After a while the 4 hour show had changed to 6 hours!!! Later more details emerged like live music, opening acts (but by God knows who).

The way this show was organised was trashy. As the date arrived, the details were as follows. Gather at 3pm, live music starts at 4. Opening acts at 5:30 and Zakir at 6:30!! Even after reaching at 3, the parking was already full. Tickets didn't have seat allocation. First come first serve basis. The Sun was hot, hot, hot overhead. Its open air. It's 4:20 now and no sign of any live music. Some recorded stuff is playing. The Sun is directly overhead and I am hiding from the Sun by sitting on the floor between two rows of chairs like so many others. The entire show seems to be a farce was my first reaction. Hard drinks were available on sale. So if you are in a group you can just sun bathe (the way they do in France with your drinks). Damn it!! We are not in France. This is Pune.

4:29 pm - The first thing the organiser ie Swiggy guy says is sorry for the Sun. Hum dhoop deliver nahi karte. Btw, the main show will be at 6:30pm!!!!!!! Till that time audience should treat to the food and beverage organised by Swiggy. The food counter area was covered and cool, however the show seating area is on first cum first serve basis so you cannot leave your chair to go there and enjoy. So one person was doing the back and forth else your seat for which you arrived from 3pm will be taken away.

4:33 pm - Please note that the farthest seat is sold for 2k. Zakir, well you are not really worth it. Well the show hasn't started yet and it's 4:30. The organisers want the audience to celebrate birthdays or get the treat out of someone who still owes you one. Yes that's what he said. I am not making this up

4:49 pm -A 20Rs colddrink is for 40 and people have no option to keep drinking something to stay hydrated under the overhead Sun. Huh!!

At 5:10 a silly compere, Rajat Sood, started the show. I am calling him a compere not a comedy guy. People started booing him, shouting bye bye but he went on.

5:49 pm - The first song was performed by a Pune lad, a rap song. This was followed by songs from Malang, the band. First song was a remix of Ranjish hi sahi. Second was penned by Zakir Khan and composed by them. The band was not bad but not worth my time and money. I have better things to do. After some more songs, finally the late Latif Zakir Khan arrived at 6:45. The show went on till 9:30. Post thanksgiving, he took another 10 minutes for his "sher" and "nazm". That part too was half hearted. Zakir itni jaldi hawa mein udne laga. Amit Tandon still rules in spite on not being a yuva anymore. 

Book review: The devotion of suspect X

Book review: The devotion of suspect X

Author: Keigo Higashimo

Rating: Unputdownable (if such a word exists but I have heard people use it)

Genre: Crime thriller 

The story revolves around a divorcee mother (and her child) and the murder of her ex husband. The story is woven fantastically and set in Japan. Every character is unique. The detective is relentless about her alibi, you feel sorry for the mother and child. However the characters of Ishigami and Yukawa, two geniuses, the former a mathematician and latter a physicist scientist have been written so well. There scientific streak plays a major role in the murder mystery. The biggest surprise is the ending. 

Highly recommended.

London diaries

 London Diaries

 

UK was never on my mind as a tourist destination. Why pay again to people who have already looted so much from us? Well! The best thing I learnt from this trip is to let go. Let bygones be bygones. We live in a different world today where our economy has given them a beating for the first time. Our choice of destination was first Rome and then we thought about Greece but then we found out that Schengen visa dates are not available at all and we won’t even get an appointment before our travel date. That's when the travel agent suggested UK. “4 din mein mil raha hai visa”, she said. When I started researching the place to finalize an itinerary (yup we didn't go through that agent, UK doesn’t need one), I realized UK is in a big mess. Inflation is sky high, veggies are being rationed (only 4 carrots per buyer, you can read the story here https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/rationing-of-fruit-veggies-in-the-uk-the-politics-and-economy-behind-it/articleshow/98233209.cms?from=mdr üôÅ), compulsory 15% service charge in restaurants (instead of customary 10%), strikes going on especially in the medical fraternity etc. Paris too btw was in dumps due to strikes (even garbage picking employees were on strike so the city was stinking it seems). This was the situation 2-3 months before my travel date when I was researching. After much back and forth and checking many more options, this seemed to be the easiest trip to plan. Air travel, hotel and 4 days for visa. Initially we wanted to do London plus Edinburgh but we made it even more easy by sticking to London. Our itinerary was flexible.

 

Day 1 - We started from Mumbai by Kuwait airways. I had seen many pics of the new interiors of Mumbai airport but it was my first time to see it in person. It's been a long time since I travelled internationally, Corona chi krupa. We had friends for company on the airport to chit chat since this friend (with his family) was travelling to US on the same night, same time. So the wait wasn't boring at all.

 

Day 2- Surprise surprise!! Our flight was to depart half an hour before schedule. So we took off at 1:45am and dinner was served at 3am. Sabko utha utha ke dinner de rahe the. Dinner was okay. Nishad was fast asleep and didn't bother to eat. Kuwait airport, at least what I saw, was ordinary. Nothing fancy. The moment we landed the azaan started. We took the connection to London after around 2+ hours. Breakfast was again okay. Typical English breakfast with scrambled eggs (my hubby definitely makes them better), sausages (beef so I skipped), juice, yoghurt, croissant, bun maska jam (now it's sounding Irani) and tea/coffee. What happened to those spices for which they made others life hell! Atleast, some black pepper. Anyway. I watched 2 movies in 10 hours. I watched "The intern" and "Thalaivi". Both movies are good. I did try sleeping but I rarely get a full sleep when I am traveling.

On landing, we took the underground from Heathrow to Earl's court. We stayed in a very basic hotel called Manor. One tip here for first timers. While researching (applicable to budget hotels only), I came across hotels where a shower was attached to the room but the toilet wasn't. Funny and stupid. I was glad to get a full bathroom attached to my room. I have been to Europe before but had never come across something like this. Thank God, I didn't miss this detail. My hotel was a stone’s throw away from the underground and secondly you have a bunch of restaurants around. So 5 stars from me on the location. A shop exactly next to the underground called “Earl's court food and wine” sells packed Indian food eg chicken curry and rice or biryani Or veg options with authentic Indian taste. So our food problem was immediately solved. We love to eat other cuisines but we knew we had a "go to" place for food. This same shop sells souvenirs and also rain cards aka pocket raincoats. I had purchased it in India and taken along.

 

Today we had planned Madame Tussauds (station Baker Street), not for the wax statues but for its Marvel 4d experience. This was on my kids list. It was good. My kid enjoyed a lot. As far as the statues are concerned, frankly there were many which I didn't like especially Deepika Padukone, Shahrukh and Katrina. My question is, did Deepika go to them for measurements and colour matching with such horrible make up or has the quality of the wax artists dropped? Shahrukh was recognisable but not an exact replica. Katrina was better amongst the three. More than a decade ago, I had visited Tussauds in Amsterdam and it was good, much better than what we saw here. 

 

Next, we saw Sherlock Holmes Museum. This was on my list of places to visit. Undeniably the most famous address in the literary world, I loved the museum especially because the lady who gave us a walkthrough had a captivating style and she brought Sherlock Holmes to life. Sherlock’s house, Dr’s equipment bag with all his surgical things in it, the letters written by Holmes, all made it seem that these two men (along with Moriarty etc) were alive. The museum is a just a tiny walk away from Tussauds.

 

Regents Park was close by so we dropped in there. Lovely park. Total greenery, serene, well-kept and I love it when a park has a water body with ducks in it. Birds chirping. It was a bright sunny day hence the Brits too were cheerful.

 

This much site seeing was enough today. We went back to the hotel totally tired and sleep deprived with jet lag as a bonus. So my take - go to Tussauds for the marvel experience but not for the statues or the history of London or other phalana. I will recommend Sherlock Holmes museum and regents park. I liked it. Btw, do you know that London has a pigeon menace. Back at the hotel, we slept like logs.

 

Day 3 - The day is quite longer and starts early too. Today we had booked a tour to Warner Brothers Harry Potter studio in the afternoon. So in the morning slot we went to Hyde Park (station Hyde Park corner). My husband and kid loved this park more than regents. It's a huge park and we could not explore it in entirety. The internal roads of the park were filled with horse poop so it was a little disgusting. However the greenery is to die for and the squirrels were so adorable. My kid had fun clicking the squirrels. Overall, London has so many huge green spaces right inside the city. Please keep contactless cards handy. The public toilet here did not take coins and my international credit card (contactless card) did not work here since ICICI has not entered into a partnership here. For the same reason, we purchased oyster cards for the metro travel. The drawback with oyster is that they charge a 7-pound fee per card. However, you can keep the card with you for life. Con of having an international contactless card is that you will pay fees per transaction since it will be considered international transaction. So find out what works best for you.

 

My first impression of London - keeping the history aside, I loved the city. Loved the houses, the huge office buildings, the carvings on them, well planned transport system and since it was start of summer - the weather too. London otherwise is a gloomy place with people who are not upbeat during those winter months. All people dress elegantly and this is something that really distinguishes Americans from the Europeans. BTW, I have never seen such wholesale long noses on people's faces. They really do have extraordinarily long noses. Women’s faces can more or less be put in 6-7 moulds but they are good looking although I found women in Paris are a notch more good looking. I also saw lots of children everywhere. The only person I spoke English with, is my son who like an angrez has stopped speaking in Marathi for some reason. I have to bring him back to becoming a Puneri. My hotel guy was Indian. The underground help desk guy was a Sikh. After entering Mc Donalds, the person at the counter exclaimed “Tumhi Marathi aahat”. He was overjoyed to hear Marathi. He was aapla Mumbai cha mulga. He was so happy that he gave few extra fries to my son. The nearby shopkeeper too knew Hindi.

Now bring in the history and I felt yeh sab humare paise se banaya hai aur yeh bakiyon ko loot ke banaya hai. Aish hai. Irrespective, from builders and architects point of view, everything is tastefully done. As for the weather, it was the start of the summer and but the wind was cold. My method of judging if the season has properly changed or not is by looking at locals. There was a sizeable number of locals who were still wearing jackets and that meant it was only early days of summer. The wind was blowing and it was quite cold.

 

Harry Potter studio - The buses are called coaches and start from the Victoria coach terminus. So you have to first reach Victoria underground station then it's a little walk to the bus stop. My son is a big fan of the books but somehow he was not drawn towards the movies. Most of the experience here is about the movie making. Kids and adults alike love Harry Potter and the craze is evident and still going strong even after so many years have passed. As the bus leaves London, you immediately see vast open green spaces suggesting that the population here is still low. If we leave Mumbai or even Pune for that matter, the urban sprawl continues for a very long time before you finally hit an open patch either agricultural or otherwise. The urban sprawl is limited. Back to Harry Potter, the studio gave good insights into film making. The sets, drapery, mechanics e.g., how the iron moves over clothes automatically and the knife chops vegetables automatically. It is good info for kids. In fact after knowing how it works, Nishad was fully relaxed in that forbidden forest. The green room is a highlight. Unfortunately, they charge you separately for filming you on the broom and the queue is  really long. We decided to skip it because my kiddo was interested in every single detail and we had limited time on hands. We could not stop at every place. Each kid gets an activity passport and you can put a stamp of every house on house on it. BTW, my kid is in Ravenclaws house. The souvenir shop is highly overpriced even by UK standards. 34 pounds for a wand is ridiculous considering half of them were just moulded plastic and quality was worth Rs150. Some had beads on them but I won't give it more than Rs 200. Anyway the hysteria associated with it makes you keep logic away and buy so many things. As for the weather, although yesterday was bright and sunny and today it was quite cold. English weather! The next day was back to being sunny.

 

Day 4 - Today we went to Greenwich Royal observatory. This was on my husband’s TODO list. You must take the tube to North Greenwich and then take the bus to Trafalgar Estate (and not Trafalgar Road, these two stops are adjacent but different). After you alight from the bus, just enter the bylane on the same foot path and keep walking till you reach a park. Enter the park and in the middle of the park, you have to climb a small hill. The observatory sits atop this hill. All in all, it is a bit of walk and a climb so do keep that in mind. A wheelchair accessible road is available but it quite a longish route. I can proudly say that quite a few of my friends have referred to my travelogues before they planned their trips and hence, I write these tips in case they have senior citizens with them. A note for senior citizens – All my trips where we have used public transport in Europe and Singapore requires a lot of walking and hence, they should consider their fitness level. Truth in today’s era is that some senior citizens are more fit than me. In my defence I have walked in the waree for 21km. LOL.

 

Anyway. Back to the topic. The park is huge and a delight for pet dogs. The observatory had a fair number of visitors, especially a school picnic although it is not a typical touristy place.  This was a must visit location for my husband who was interested in knowing all about the clocks made by John Harrison to solve the longitude problem over the sea. The clock actually went through four versions before being declared perfect and won the coveted award of 20k pounds to whoever solved this issue. My son was age appropriately interested in standing with two feet on the two sides of the meridian and making a reel.  I will recommend this place. They do have a deer enclosure somewhere but we had to skip that. Kiddo had a great time rolling on the grass. Parks across England need a special mention and accolades. They are extremely well kept and are huge in size. Most belong to the Royal family.

 

Today we also went to Wimbledon. You might ask what kind of planning is this? We had two locations on the opposite side planned in a day. Well, we had plans to do Wimbledon on the weekend but a friend with a good know-how asked us to change our plan because 1. It is overwhelmingly crowded on weekends 2. this was a long weekend and 3. you get a family ticket on weekday which is far less than the price on weekend. Remember that to go to Wimbledon, you should not go to Wimbledon station but get down at Southfields. Further we were told it's just a few minutes walk from the station but boss take my word. It's not "just a few minutes" for a Punekar although it could be for a Londoner. You better take bus 493 and get down at Gate 4, Wimbledon Stadium. The tour of the courts goes on 90 minutes which includes some fabulous history of the game, the passion of the players and staff alike, technical aspects about maintaining the grass and Rufus - the hawk. We saw multiple courts including the prestigious centre court. The place was in full action mode since the tournament is not far away. This was followed by the museum which is in the same complex. We were exhausted that day but it was a day well spent. Wimbledon was on my bucket list. However McEnroe's ghost was nowhere visible. Either I missed it or a change has happened. Please google the terms if you are not aware. We crashed on our beds that night and our eyes were closed the minute we hit the bed.

 

Day 5 - Today we decided to sleep an hour extra in the morning. Humari vaat lag chuki thi. Today was a special day for us. Windsor Castle was to be followed by a visit to my husband’s very dear friend. We took the tube to London Paddington National Rail after which you have to take the GWR rail, basically the inter-city railway as against the local metro. Your final station is Windsor and Eton. The castle is just outside the station and thank God, no walking today. Please do not miss the Royal shopping area at the station. A special mention to Hobbs. I loved every piece of apparel on display.  The castle is as expected.... Grand. The variety of weapons on display made my kid go crazy. He loves history. Swords, pistols, armours in huge numbers and very well arranged. The entrance moat and courtyard are good too. The beautifully decorated halls are a highlight. However, same cannot be said about its architecture. The halls were dimly lit artificially using lamps in spite of the beautiful sunny day outside. The King's closet was huge as expected followed by a dressing room which didn't have any mirror (maybe they had one in olden days). The next room however had two huge mirrors on the wall. They were placed next to the windows and did not help at all in bringing the natural light into the room. Secondly they were placed at such a height that the king would have hardly seen his face in it, not a full self. These were the flaws I found in one glimpse and based on common sense. The lone security guy in the funny red outfit and a hat covering his eyes was standing like a doll. What a redundant job! BTW, he is known as the royal guard.

 

The gift shops are as usual overpriced and nothing exquisite to buy. The new addition are coronation memorabilia or the Queens photo merchandise after her demise.  The castle has a chapel adjacent to it. First, excuse my lack of knowledge about difference between a church, chapel, cathedral, abbey etc. 1. They all seem same to me on the outside 2. I don't know the meaning of these words. 3. I am not going to make any attempt to find out the difference even now. Moot. After entering, we realized we were walking on graves. Most of them are in the path and all the visitors were walking on the graves because there was no choice. That was the only path to move inside the chapel. There is no other way. The place was totally crowded due to 1. Sun was out and 2. Long weekend. Only the recently expired queen and her husband’s graves are on the side. Apne ko ajeeb lagta hai woh.

 

Once done Kaustubh’s dear friend was kind enough to come all the way to Windsor to pick us up. So kind of him to do that especially because we were quite far away from his place of residence. At the friend’s house, Nishad was the happiest because he got friends of his age with the same hobby.... Reading. Also they love the same authors. Lots of catching up for the guys and as for me, I am so glad to have found such wonderful friend. Although I was meeting them for the first time, I never felt so. It was as if I knew them forever. Thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality, yum food, gifts and the gappa in their beautiful garden. I am so glad we didn’t do any walking today because my kid was actually exhausted. Our friends dropped us back to the station. Thank you for this enjoyable and memorable evening.

 

Day 6 - Today was our popat day. We had planned for a hop on hop off bus tour along with Thames river cruise. This would ensure that we cover all photo stops inside London. We reached the pick-up point and were told that due to a cycle race, the bus tour has been called off. We could either use same ticket on a different route (which I was not interested in) or we could do the tour on the next day. Next day too wasn't an option since we had already made plans with another dear friend (number 2) of ours. We cancelled the ticket. So we decided to go to the Natural History Museum. We were shocked to see the queue spilling right on to the footpath. Hai re Sun and long weekend. Also, this was unplanned so we didn't even have a ticket. We got scared of the queue. Btw, the museum is free but still you need an entry ticket. That is the museums way of controlling the numbers being let in.  So plan C kicked in and we started walking towards Harrods. Harrods was quite fun. The perfumery hall was filled with perfume smells and I was wondering if people were able to differentiate one from the other. The ladies section did have a good designer collection with a wow factor but same was not true with the men’s section. We ended Harrods with a good ice-cream.

 

Next we went to Picadilly. The entire area was closed due to the cycle race. We got to see the race. We walked along up to Trafalgar square. It took us longer than usual because road crossing was not allowed unless all the cycles passed. We were invited by friend 3 for dinner tonight but we had to cancel the plan since my kid was really exhausted. A big apology to him. The only good part was that we were supposed to eat at a restaurant so no food was wasted.

 

Day 7 - Today was yet another amazing day since we were to meet another friend of ours. He picked us up at Richmond and we travelled in his Tesla. I loved his car. The fully transparent roof was ‘ek number’. Plan was to go to the countryside. So exciting!

We first went to a model village called Bekonscot. It’s a cute little model of 6 villages complete with a working train network, stations, working railway crossings, working cable cars, lakes, windmills etc. It just gave a glimpse of country life. Later we went to Little Marlow park where we were joined by his wife, daughter and a cutie patootie doggy. Nishad was so happy to pet the dog. He is generally scared of dogs, although he does love them. This doggy made him comfortable. The rest of the day Nishad along with his new friend spent to day enjoying with the doggy. Doggy was super excited when he saw ducks and chased them right into the water. He went swimming behind them. Secondly he was sniffing away, checking for any duck eggs. We had a picnic by the lakeside. Good food, amazing company. Mast. Later we went on a long drive in the country side.  All the greenery was so therapeutic for the computer strained eyes.

 

Next stop we went to Bushy park, another royal park. You are totally one with nature here. We saw a variety of birds and lots and lots of deer. I didn’t see these many deer even in Jim Corbett. Gappa, tappa, jokes, laughter, and nature. What more do you want. Perfect. After dinner, our friend dropped us back to the hotel. Thank you, guys. We spent an amazing day with you.

 

Day 8 - Today was our last day in London. We did not have any specific itinerary today. There were many places which we had not seen, especially because we lost one day of sightseeing due to cycle race but now we did not have enough time left. We had to meet one friend (number 4) for coffee. So, before that I made a quick trip to a music shop in Kensington called Kensington Chimes. I purchased some strings for mandolin and violin for my father. We also had to check out of the hotel. Well, the checkout also was early at 11 am as compared to India. The hotel kindly agreed to our request to keep our luggage with them for few hours. So glad that we managed to meet this friend although it was a working day for him. After coffee, we had some time on hand before we head to the airport. So we took the metro to Big Ben. There wasn't much to do and not much time on hand. We grabbed some go to lunch. It was time to say goodbye.

At the airport, I got a refund on my oyster card balance. I had to take help from the staff because the machine was not dispensing cash. So the man helped me to a machine which was working and said that I should not take a refund. “You will again have to pay 7 pound fees when you come back”, he said. I just smiled. I hope that I do come back sooner for another trip and this time go to Edinburgh. Bye bye London, till we meet again.  

Book review - Limitless

 Limitless - I received this book as a gift for being a guest speaker on women's day. Hats off to Radhika Gupta for hammering on that success is not a product of some good work and good luck. Super successful people have that winning attitude and tremendous hard and smart work, learning and correcting themselves all through the roller coaster ride. I feel Radhika lived a (professional) life, which I would have loved to and aspired for. I was also a successful professional but she is in another league. This book is a must read for kids and adults alike. With her lucid language and identifiable/relatable references, age will not be a limitation. Do not miss her talk "The girl with a broken neck" on YouTube. Ending this review with a quote I really love.

कामयाबी की किमत वही जानते है

जिन्होंने हमारा संघर्ष देखा है

वरना औरों के लिए तो बस हम lucky  थे

Orissa travelogue

 Orissa Travelogue

When you have a holiday at school then a trip is a must - long or short. My plan was to go for an undersea walk. We planned a perfect holiday to Pattaya. I wanted to go out of the country for a while now. The Wuhan virus was playing spoilt sport. We don't need RTPCR tests anymore, well not true really. There is still no vaccine for under 12 kids and all non-vaccinated people still have to undergo tests. This is not a requirement for Thailand but for India. This meant that for our return journey, we will need a test for my son. I always take the worst-case scenario into account. What if we had to be isolated, will we get a choice of food...my son doesn't eat non veg...blah blah. So basically, it has to be a domestic vacation at least for now. 

My husband's love for historical places and ancient architecture is well known. Orissa was always on my mind but we never had a direct flight but when things have to happen, they happen. Just realised that not one but two airlines have direct flights to Bhubaneshwar. So off we went. This time we did not want to go on a group tour. It is too hectic. So we got our bookings done from Veena world but it was a customised tour. My neighbours and a cousin helped with a lot of info. I never knew that I know so many Odiya people.

Day 1 - was our travel day. We reached in the evening and checked into Mayfair lagoon. My first impression of Orissa - clean city with excellent roads. Not one pot hole and the roads are made of tar. Pune contractors - anyone listening. Please go take some inspiration on making good roads and being honest with your profession. The traffic is also very less. The city seems to be a very small. Back to the resort. I recommend this resort. Must visit. Excellent property and good food. Except for starters everything was to my liking. Starters are not bad, just slightly different. What a buffet spread...yumm!

Day2 - was packed with sightseeing. We first went to see a 3000 year old temple called Lingaraj. Amazing architecture. It is quite different to what I have seen till now. Most temples in Orissa are not single temples. It is a temple complex with multiple big and small temples. Orissa is seriously a teerth kshetra. The number of people visiting the temples is very very high. We did not stand in queue for darshan but whatever glimpse we could get was enough. I was lucky to catch the aarti.

Our next stop was the first century BC, Udaygiri and Khandagiri caves. These caves are similar to what we see in Maharashtra. These are basically stops for Jain and Buddhist monks on their journey. The difference is in the pictures sculpted on it. You get to see a flavour of old Orissa. Udaygiri caves are more or less at ground level. Not much to climb. However, the Khandagiri caves, which are just opposite to Udaygiri, are atop a hill and involves a climb. We lost track of time, watching the intricate artwork admiring the people's costumes, head gear, trying to make sense if the pictures relate to Ramayan or Mahabharat. Ramayan is easy to spot when you see Hanuman with a hill in his hand. We decided to skip Khandagiri caves and moved on to the next spot. What deterred us was the heat.Too hot. Actually you never know, even Pune may be that hot. It's just that we don't get out of the house and roam around in the heat anymore.

Our next stop was Dhauli Stupa. It is a beautiful white stupa. Unfortunately, there was some construction/repair work going on at the stupa hence they were not allowing any vehicles till the end. We had to walk up all the way. It is a short walk, nothing difficult but again the heat was really slowing us down. The view from the top is also great. Entry inside the stupa was not allowed, dont know if it was the repair work or if that is the rule.

Evening was at the resort. Evening and night were way cooler. The resort had ample space to walk. The place is so tastefully done and there are lots of activities to do. We went around the property. They have a huge man-made water body and in the middle of it, a Shiva temple. Very serene. Nishad found the resort library and it became difficult for us to pull him out of there. He lost all interest in food or anything else. He actually got out because the library was going to close. The day ended with the most beautiful part....live music at the resort's restaurant. All good old Hindi songs, mostly Kishor Kumar. It was a treat. The singer had a melodious voice. Good food, good music - aur kya chahiye.

People who do not like travelling much, fail to understand what we achieved by climbing to a destination which was closed. I have friends who prefer to stay at the resort and relax and take a dip in the pool, eat and drink. True. That too is a great way to enjoy your vacation but getting closer to nature makes you richer in experience. Yes, the hot Sun too counts in "nature". I enjoy watching local people, trying to understand their language, accent, mannerisms. You come across helpful people or otherwise. It brings out your nature too. We are now so used to luxury that any discomfort has become intolerable. We were not provided with water bottles by Veena world. All of this is paid for. Now buying something from roadside is no more acceptable. You get 10 thoughts. Is this authentic clean water. Small things can upset you. When you pay a premium for everything, you expect things to be done accurately but then it doesn't happen so. So travelling is necessary otherwise you never appreciate the cool breeze after the heat. The man made things are awe inspiring and nature, an even bigger canvas for God's art.

Day 3 - Next morning we went to the Nandankanan zoo. It is a huge zoo and is also well maintained. They did not allow plastic bags inside. They were confiscating it and providing alternative paper bags. Water bottles were allowed with a deposit of Rs50. You get the money back while exiting if you show proof that you are taking your plastic bottle with you and not littering it in the park. Excellent way of keeping people under control.

The zoo has two parts, a regular zoo where the animals are in enclosures and the second part where the animals have a much bigger space and the visitors have to sit in a bus and go for a safari. The zoo enclosures are also very big, not like Peshwe Park, where the lion has barely enough space to move in his cage. Here the zoo enclosures are huge open areas with a boundary except for the leopard where the enclosure was closed from the top because they climb high. There are so many animals. In Peshwe Park, you get to see one lion or one tiger (at least that's how it was in our childhood). That is not the case here. Secondly, they have golf carts so you need not worry about walking that huge area. 

If you take a ticket to the safari, you get a lion safari, tiger safari, bear safari and a herbivore safari in that same ticket. Unfortunately, you are put in a bus and the windows have a very tiny grill spacing. It becomes difficult to take a photo. Everyone wished there was an open jeep. Later, I thanked that it was not an open jeep. Some Indians are just useless and kids are out of control. The lions were asleep and the kids behind me wanted to wake them up and look at them. They started yelling at the top of their voices and also making animal sounds. Thankfully, the lions didn't care one bit but I may have growled back at them (well that was what I wanted to do but kept quiet :D). If we were in open jeeps these kids would have gone overboard.. maybe.

Even in that smaller safari, the tigers managed to hide themselves. The tiger photos which I have put on FB, are from the zoo section. The tigers with exceptionally broad black stripes had some explanation for the broad stripes. It was written on a board, on the enclosure but a monkey prevented us from getting close to that board LOL. So no idea why the tigers were different. We saw two bears and herbivores were in plenty. It was an overall satisfying experience. I will give it a must visit especially if you have kids.

After the zoo, we departed from Bhubaneshwar for Puri. We stopped in between at a place called Pipli. This is the handicrafts village of Orissa and is famous for it's applique clothing and bags. Which girl doesn't like to shop ;) There is another place called Raghurajpur, famous for Pattachitra. We did not go there but yes, the paintings are really good. We got to see some in Pipli and in Puri too (few paintings).

Next, we went to Puri. It was evening and we were exhausted. Secondly, the sun sets at 5:30ish and by 5:40 its pitch dark. So going to the beach is out of question. We had booked ourselves at Toshali Sands. This resort is slightly off Puri. They claim to have a private beach but don't fall for it. No beaches in India are private and even in Goa if they claim its private, they are bluffing and using their contacts and power to keep other people away to gain exclusivity. In case of Toshali Sands, forget private beach, this property is not even beach touch. Just across the road, there is a forest area. Entry is with permission. The resort has made arrangements for its guests to go to the beach across the forest (actually end of the forest). They provide a vehicle which drops you and picks you up from the beach. It is a free of cost service. The beach is not near (as in not walking distance) and it is a 5 min drive. The place closes at 5pm. Word of caution. Dont be the last ones to go to the beach because there are no lights at all in that area. As for the resort, it is an old property and therefore the rooms n bathrooms look dated. Good property but if I compare it with Mayfair in Bhuvaneshwar (since both were equally priced), Toshali is over priced. 

Day 4 - Today we had three things on our list. 1. Jagannath temple 2. Konark Sun temple and 3. Chandrabhaga Beach

The plan was to go to Jagannath temple, followed by a beach close to it called Chandrabhaga and then to Konark. Now here is the catch. You cannot make the temple plan as per your will. The temple opens early in the morning, 5 or 5:30am and is open till late night 9 or 10 pm. However, the temple is closed in between TWICE for bhog. Also, this timing is not fixed. There are slight variations everyday. We were not aware of this. So you need to check the timings on the website and then plan accordingly. Best plan is to go early in the morning but, well, we were on vacation and getting up early was the last thing on our mind. If you go with the group tour, they ask you to wake up at 3:30 and then they reach the temple at 5 or 5:30 to get the best darshan. So our plan changed. Since we were getting out of the resort post breakfast at 9:30, we first went to Konark. 

Konark - We hired a guide (I will advise you to do the same because that's when the real beauty of the temple will be appreciated, when you understand how it is built). At the entrance of the temple, you will see many vendors renting out umbrellas. My advice - please do keep an umbrella over your head. The heat is so much that wearing only a cap will do you no good. The place does not have a tree cover although that is not true with Orissa. It is a very green place. The Konark temple had a magnetic levitating dome. It is an architectural marvel. Every inch of the stone blocks is carved and these blocks are held together using iron (most probably molten iron is poured in ridges created in the stone which fit like jigsaw). The most interesting part is that the dome design was done by a 16 year old. This dome was destroyed by good-for-nothing Portuguese people because it was causing navigation issues for the boats due to the magnet. Idiot Portuguese people (who know nothing but to convert people) actually destroyed a master piece. The entire structure was held because of the magnetic field and the iron. Destroying the dome also caused a small collapse in the temple. Later another bunch of good-for-nothing people ie Mughals destroyed this temple because thats what they know to do...destroy. Destroy temples, destroy lives, destroy happiness....nothing creative. The third destruction was not man made, it was caused due to nature and yet we still have a magnificent temple in front of us. I cannot imagine the beauty and grandeur of this temple when it was built. 

The first rays of the Sun fall on the main deity. The temple is in the form of a chariot. Each wheel is a sun dial and accurately tells the time based on the shadow falling on it. The temple has taken into account the equinox and it is a proper year-round clock. There are different statues of the Sun in a different pose, one for the mid-day Sun (where the ray actually fall on it) and one for sunset. There are many other structures in the temple complex too. Detailing the architecture in a blog will not do justice to it. You have to see it, feel it and understand it. Only then will you appreciate it. We also visited the Arka Khetra interpretation centre next door. It is very informative. You should visit it if you have the time.

Jagannath Mandir - We were already on back foot. People told us stories how the priests in the temple harass people for money. When we reached there, there was a sea of people. Easily 25 to 30000 people. The heaps of footwear and the long queues to deposit footwear, mobile phones and camera and any leather items was long. Please note, you don't have a single queue, there are many. I was really sceptical rather scared looking at the crowd. What if we want to turn back after entering and there is no way out of the situation? Such questions started coming to my mind. With a child in tow, you really think twice before entering such huge crowds. You dont want to get lost in there. The Sun at Konark had really hit me hard. Acidity and headache had taken me over. I was in no situation to stand in the queue to enter the mandir. Kaustubh hates crowds and he readily agreed. We went stright for the Puri beach, not the Chandrabhaga beach. Puri beach is the main attraction here. The place is lively. By now, the Sun had come down and the breeze made me feel better. We had a good time on the beach. We had traditional jhal muri there. I liked it (with mustard oil). We had just taken a single pack for tasting but it was good. We thought of buying another one. We did not find the same seller so purchased from someone else but it was not as good as the earlier one. I didn't eat much (just tasted) because my headache was still troubling me but I am glad we went there. Nishad enjoyed a lot. One point I must mention. The jhalmuri seller no 1, without fail, gave us instructions regarding not littering on the beach. He requested us not to throw the paper cone containing the jhalmuri anywhere on the beach. Incidentally, a camel (yes you get camel rides on the beach) pooped on the beach and the camel guy cleaned everything right away. Yes, my India is changing and glad to see Orissa is a clean state. 

Day 5 - Today we had a trip planned to Chilika lake. It is a little far from Puri but worth a visit. The boat ride takes you to meet dolphins. We saw around 10 of them. Most were in pairs but at one place we saw 4 dolphins together. This species is called the Irrawady dolphins. During migration season, which starts in few days from now, you also see migratory birds. Later we took a stop at the Pearl island. People bring shells and open it in front of you and you get to buy the pearls. They were selling another coral stone but I was not interested. Next, they take you to another island where they serve exclusive non veg dinner. Since my son doesn't prefer eating non veg (or is rather averse to non veg food) we skipped this island. 

We came back to the hotel and went to the so-called private beach. The beach is really good. You can have fun in the water. A painter was sitting on the beach selling pattachitra. We got a good, reasonable deal. That was the end of our vacation.

Day 6 - Back to Pune. Bhubaneshwar airport has quite a bit of mismanagement so please ensure you reach on time. Bye bye. Hope you enjoyed the trip with me.

 

Nainital travelogue

 Delhi - Mussoorie - Nainital - Jim Corbett park travelogue

After a two year long house confinement, I was dying to break free. I wanted to see the greens, smell the roses, touch the clouds and hear the birds chirping.
I generally spend time researching a new vacation location but this time I was so desperate to get out of the house that any destination was welcome and off we were to the hills. We booked a readymade Kesari package. We might stick to the package tour format for another year or so because it is very convenient when kids are young. I have given my recommendations on the places I visited in this blog and a final aye or nay on this trip at the end.
Our first destination was Delhi. Our tour package was from Delhi to Delhi. We decided to go a day earlier and spend an evening roaming around in Delhi and eat some North Indian food. We landed at 1:15 in the afternoon. The minute we came out of the aircraft, the heat instantly turned us into a bharta. If you would have seasoned us, we would have been tasty. I will never ever complain of heat in Pune. The air entering our cab was a hot blast as is someone was directing heat at us. We requested our ola guy to turn the ac on ASAP. We booked ourselves in the Beaufort Inn Hotel. I loved the place for its cleanliness. Spick n span. The room service too delivered fresh, hot and tasty meals. Highly recommended.
Going anywhere in the afternoon was struck down looking at the heat. We did have some plans in mind but we decided to cancel it. After the sun showed some mercy, we set out to the nearest location India Gate and the war memorial. We are a patriotic family and such places make us bow down with humbleness and respect to those who made their ultimate sacrifice for the nation. My son has read about almost all the people whose statues were put up at the param yodha sthal. It's a huge place and you can easily spend more than an hour if you want to read about these people and their bravery. This too is part of the war memorial however the amar jawan jyoti is on the opposite side of the road. We reached the opposite side of the road just in time for the change of guard ceremony. This place is not a picnic spot and although beautifully maintained, you cannot just sit on the grass or any place you feel like. You are expected to pay  respect to the rules and regulations laid out by the army. The souvenir shop is good too. We have read about almost all soldiers who have received the param veer chakra, so books on these bravehearts were not on our list, only Siachen was a new read. My boy is the happiest when he gets his hands on some new books. The evening was very hot too. The heat 🔥is scorching and at the same time we were perspiring similar to Mumbai, a horrible combination. It is draining.
My impression of Delhi in this trip (I have been here few times before too). Food- Excellent. Lunch we had at our hotel. It was a very late lunch and I was hungry. I had heard a lot about a restaurant named Gulati, famous for its butter chicken and I am a big fan of this dish so I had to go there. However unfortunately because of a heavy and late lunch I hardly had any appetite. Do I recommend this place? Yes and no. Butter chicken was good so I will go this hotel if I am in that area but I will not go out of the way to come here. It was an early dinner for us because the safety issues in Delhi are well known and we cannot take chances of being on the road at night. If you are a Delhiite, you may disagree with my assessment but ask any person outside the state who has travelled with tour operators, we always get clear instructions for safety in Delhi.I am wowed by the Delhi road infrastructure. Now you know which area I was in. Huge wide roads and awesome flyover network. Road quality excellent. The next day we were off to Mussoorie. The Delhi Meerut expressway is way too impressive. Wow. Check my fb for the photo. Another thing I observed was that many houses in Delhi have the front outer wall of the building fitted with tiles. Also most buildings which shared a common wall or if the walls of two adjacent buildings touch each other with zero gap then that wall is left un-plastered from the outside (this could be old Delhi area - don't know for sure). Later I realised that this was true even outside Delhi. 

Day 2 - It was a day meant for travel to Mussoorie in a bus. We took two halts, one for lunch at Bikanervala and second was a tea coffee break at Cheetal garden, a decent joint. We left Nizamuddin at around 12 by bus. It seems Delhi has speed limits which meant the bus just wasn't allowed to catch speed. Secondly it was making a horrible noise and I suspect the speed jammers were responsible for it. The bus seemed to crawl on that splendid road. Delhi Mussoorie is 290km can you imagine how long it took for us to travel? Yes 12noon to 10pm (reduce 2 hours for the breaks I mentioned above). At one point I felt that if I had a geared bicycle, we would have been better off.

 
Special mention of Dehradun. As we near this place we suddenly are greeted by a forest. I think it is Rajaji tiger reserve. When we enter Dehradun, we realise this ordinary looking quaint city must be housing some of the richie rich because the minute we entered, we were greeted by car showrooms one after the other. All big brands including Mercedes and also Harley Davidson. The city mainly has bungalows - single storied or plus one. A minority were +2. The apartment culture though is entering in a big way. The city is home to all kinds of business, small shops but all categories. So it seems to be a business destination for that part of the state. Roads are full of potholes. 
As we left Dehradun, we started our steep climb uphill to Mussoorie. It was almost 8pm and deep below you could see the entire well lit Dehradun. Here is the fun part. If you turned your neck to the opposite side, you could see the top of the hills were also brightly lit and no guesses, it was Mussoorie. The roads were very tiny and had sharp hair pin bends. Hats off to the driver who maneuvered the bus skilfully. The entire route is so busy. At some points, I had my heart in my throat. After that really long slow drive, I feel it is better to go to Dehradun by flight and then go ahead. 
Finally we reached our destination Hotel Surbee resorts. The resort is big in terms of number of rooms. It has a valley View and the view is good. However I will not recommend it because it scored less on cleanliness. Not happy with the bed linen and overall upkeep of the premises. We quickly had dinner and dropped to sleep the minute we hit the bed.

 
Day 3 - Today was sight seeing day and the pace would be leisurely. So the plan was to get up at 7 but it was not meant to be. In the early hours of morning, the birds started chirping quite loudly as if they were just sitting next to me. Our rooms had a balcony each which were covered with tin sheets. All of a sudden all sheets started rattling one after the other. I thought there is going to be a storm and the breeze is making the sheets move. I went near the balcony door and saw a huge battalion of monkeys having a morning race. "The whole waavar is ours", said the monkeys. Only a true Marathi knows this sentence 😆. 

Today we visited Kempty falls. Water gets collected at the base of the falls and forms a natural swimming pool. The British used to like this place and they made it a picnic spot. They used to camp there, have tea parties. Hence the name Kempty (camp+tea) falls. 😂😂😂
You can swim in the natural pool and there are many shops which offer swimming suit on rent along with a changing room facility. You can get into the water if you want but the water was not so clean. I didn't go and I wouldn't recommend it to my blog readers either. Other activities at Kempty are a zip line, traditional attire photography etc. You have to take a cable car to reach this place. Nothing great about the place.

 
Next we went to a place called Gunhill point. It seems that a canon was fired in the middle of the day, everyday, by the British and everyone would adjust their watches accordingly. Hence the name. There is absolutely nothing up there. A telescope guy makes money by showing 10 points in all 4 directions of Mussoorie. They include Sachin Tendulkar's bungalow, a wall built by the British which marked the boundary between the area ruled by them and Gadhwal (written in English as Garhwal). Nishad enjoyed bursting balloons using a gun. He almost got 5 targets out of six. So if you ask him, he enjoyed Mussoorie but if you ask me, I would say don't waste your time, effort and money on this city. First of all it is not enroute another destination. You have to specifically go to Mussoorie as a destination. Weather in Mussoorie was awesome. Full marks in this regard. I loved that chill in the air. 

In the evening we spent our time shopping at mall road. I purchased a nice European style warm jacket. You get in wool, tweed, fleece and more. Nice designs. You also get a lot of wooden articles like pots, trays, spatulas and canes for the elderly.

 
Day 4 - This was yet another tiring journey day from Mussoorie to Nainital. We started at 8am. There were two buses carrying our group and people in the other bus had some issue with respect to their bus and it had escalated which delayed our start a bit. Btw, did I mention that a chaar dham yatra was going on, so there were chances of the bus encountering traffic at various points. We were supposed to have lunch at Haridwar without stopping anywhere in between. However, plans changed and we were given an opportunity to wash off our sins by a surprise visit to a Ganga ghat in Haridwar. Of course we were happy for the break but I was indeed surprised because it was unplanned and it was a long journey so spending extra time was not affordable. After this stop, we had a lunch break. We were told that two rooms were booked, one for guys and other for girls for relaxing. Another surprise. Well it turned out that the second bus issue had escalated far more and some settlement had been reached whereby they were getting another bus for travel which was smaller and two people had to be adjusted in our bus. So we were delayed by 4 hours just so that the warring second bus members could reach Haridwar and the transfer could take place. Huh!!! Our route was Haridwar, Najibabad, Kashipur and so on. We were supposed to reach Nainital at 8ish but went there at 12 midnight. Imagine crossing the ghat in the darkness but this ghat is better than Mussoorie ghat. Secondly, the road was almost empty. Once the bus reaches Nainital, you get transferred to smaller vehicles to reach the hotel, in our case it was Hotel Welcome Park.

Wow!!! We had a splendid lake view. When we woke up in the morning, the view was to die for. I could easily get used to sitting near the window and have coffee every morning and in the evening too watching the sun set. (Feels like a statement from the tv show "Mountain life").

 
Day 5 - Today we went boating on the lake. Nishad tried his hand at rowing the boat. I am glad he is collecting experiences. It's not so easy as it looks and this is what he learnt. For some, earning a living is a lot of physical hard work. Education is really important. Clean water, fish living in it and the fresh air. Perfect day, perfect weather. We then visited the Naina devi mandir and a Gurudwara next door. 

We took a cable car ride to snow view point. There is nothing up there. You don't get to see snow and frankly you don't get to see any thing. It seems you can see Himalayas far in the distance via telescope October onwards and that too if the weather is clear. There is a cheap dinosaur world up there and an even cheaper go karting track without basics like helmet. You don't feel like entering both the places. This is a big no no. 

This was followed by my favorite SHOPPING!! Do I have any recommendations? You mostly get the standard stuff - clothes. There is a Tibetan market which "doesn't" sell Tibetan stuff. I bought some not so important things here, nothing Tibetan but I found an authentic Tibetan shop (opposite China town momo - the momo's here are to die for... yummm - highly recommended) . You can get shawls and woollen wear in this shop at reasonable rates. All the stuff there is exactly what you basically get in Mcleodganj. Purchased some shawls. 

Nainital is famous for candles and you get a huge variety especially in scented candles which are made locally. Bada bazaar has two famous shops - Malhotra and Gupta. I didn't purchase candles but a friend recommends Gupta because the prices were very competitive. We returned to the hotel before the mall road shuts for traffic at 6. We had dinner at our hotel (in a very cramped restaurant area). Although this hotel has the best view and food is decent in taste (variety is less), I won't recommend it because of this cramped up restaurant and secondly because they don't provide hot water. Forget 24 hour hot water, they don't even provide it in the morning timings which is promised by them. When all guests turn on their tap, second floor has no water at all. When you are with someone like Kesari, you know how we run on a clock hence that morning hour is really important.

 
Day 6 - Today we went to Ranikhet. We visited Kainchi temple. This temple was built by Baba Neem Karoli , not for himself but for multiple Gods. His bhakts extended the temple and made a temple of Baba after his demise. He is similar to Sai Baba in status here. Trivia - Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have also visited this temple. Unko pata tha is temple ke baare mein. Mujhe nahi pata tha. Shame on me. (Relax I am not so bad... I had heard of him but didn't know that he is so much revered). 

Then we visited the Kumaon regiment museum which has information about the regiment and the honours won. It showcases weapons and equipment captured during various wars. The guide at the museum was so funny that he made this visit memorable. In the absence of this specific guide, you might not enjoy the museum as much as I did. We ate Kumaoni food here, a raita and chicken along with regular North indian stuff.

Next we visited a pine forest where you can take photos. It's a picturesque place and the song pucho jara pucho from the movie Raja Hindustani was shot nearby. I loved this area. I wanted to go with Nishad for collecting pine cones but we found nil. The locals sell pine cones for Rs 50/- each and hence the place was clear or else who would buy from them. I believe collecting pine cones is an extremely enjoyable activity to be done with kids. Buying is a big no no. We also saw the Kumaon regiment memorial (Shaheed smarak) and golf course from the bus.

 
Kesari had planned a surprise for us in the evening. The highlight for the day (and the entire trip) was definitely a Qawwali program organised by Kesari. The singer Shaheed and his group made it a memorable evening. He actually involved his audience in his shayari and the entire crowd was in splits and rolling in laughter. Highly recommended program. This was kept as a surprise and was not mentioned in Kesari itinerary. Do not miss. 

 
Day 7 - Today we visited Ghodakhal temple, a temple full of bells. People offer a bell for their navas (mannat). A scene from the movie Vivah was shot here. You get beautiful bells here in the shops outside the temple. A pure peetal (brass) plain bell's cost here was Rs 1000 per kg. They  had bells easily weighing upto 5kgs. The other variety had beautiful designs of Ganesh or other Gods carved on it. These bells were made from ashta dhaatu (8 metal alloy). These costed Rs 1500 per kg. I am sure you can bargain. Remember the year is 2022 for the pricing. Today night, it rained heavily in Nainital. 

We saw Bhimtal lake only from the bus. This area is more scenic and it seems that the further you go up from here, it gets better eg. Kausani, Almoda. Next we went to Naukuchiyatal lake for a boat ride.  This lake has 9 corners and is the biggest and deepest lake. Taal basically means a lake. Very scenic. 

There is a tea garden nearby and a UTDC shop for tea and one for selling Gadwal silks, shawls, razai etc. I loved the way these government employees ensured a sale (Unlike many government employees). They made us sit comfortably and displayed every category of saree they had with speciality and cost. They have banana fibre, bamboo fibre, bichhugutti (bichhukaati as called in Himachal) and silk. It seems the bichhukaati fibre heals back pain and cervical pain. Razai's were made of pashmina wool and other wool (normal bhed/sheep wool). You don't get cotton filled razai's here. The outer fabric is again of the above mentioned bichhukaati or cotton. I don't wear sarees much and I didn't have space to carry a razai which I actually wanted. They do courier it to you but we didn't take that chance.

 
From here, post lunch, we proceeded to Jim Corbett park. We stayed at Cloyster resort and spa. Good place. I will recommend it. It is situated in the outer zone of the park. Enroute we visited the Jim Corbett museum. This is basically his house converted to a museum.
Some things I concluded from information given here are as follows. This is completely my take. Jim's father was born in India and died in India. Jim was born in India. His claim to fame was his book "man eaters of Kumaon" (and some more followed) . He had hunted down 10 man eating tigers. He was a "great hunter" as mentioned in the museum info. Photos of him with his kill are displayed there. He was one of the founders of this national park but do you know how many big cats he killed? 250!!!! So this is a case of 'sau chuhe khaake billi haj ko chali'. This guy used to kill for fun and was famous for his hunting so got invited (or took it upon himself) to kill the man eaters. He was an entitled Britisher who never married. He had purchased a lot of land nearby which was let out to villagers. The museum proudly mentions that he donated the place to the villagers when he left for Kenya. Do you know when he left..... in 1947. So basically when the rule changed, this guy left India. He didn't feel fit to continue in the country of his birth where he lived an entitled life. I will say personal choice. He could have sold off the property he owned but he chose to donate. This is good but why did he do that? Museum says that's because he was good at heart (I read in between the lines that maybe he was in a hurry to get out - now I understand, this is how our media must be making villains out of heroes or vice versa). The sanctuary was originally named after the then governor Hailey and called the Hailey national park. Post independence it was named Ramganga national park. The naming had nothing to do with Corbett. When Jim Corbett died in Kenya in 1952, our government named it after him. When in India, Corbett worked for the railways and served in British Army during the world War. His books were actually published during his stay in Kenya, not here so I was surprised that our government remembered this kind soul (sarcasm intended). I just cannot understand why we have to run behind these goras and try to portray them as superiors. 

On reaching the hotel, a karaoke night was arranged by Kesari and it was fun.

 
Day 8 - Safari timings are allotted by the park authorities and so are the vehicle numbers. You don't get to choose. A family may get split into two jeeps if you are in a group. The safari takes place twice a day and we got the morning slot. We got up at 5 and were ready to be picked up by the jeeps at 6. Unfortunately there were fewer vehicles sent by the department and we lost time making adjustments. We entered the sanctuary with much hope via the Garzia gate. We were welcomed to the sanctuary by a peacock who danced for us with a full feather spread. He looked regal. We saw many spotted deer and sambar deer. That's all the park has to offer. In comparison to Kaziranga, this place is absolutely zero. Forget tiger sighting, there aren't enough birds to see. A very big disappointment. If you want to see a tiger, the only chance is dhikala gate and here you have to compulsorily stay overnight in that zone. Don't be fooled into believing that you might see a tiger elsewhere. The only chance is if it decides one day to roam around on the street that day. 

We ended our trip with some games which were a lot of fun followed by karaoke.

 
Day 9 - was bye bye and return journey. It was raining heavily since morning. Our flight from Delhi was late by 2 hours due to rains. 
All in all, it was a good outing after two years of lockdown and being indoors but as a destination and a package as a whole, I would not recommend this trip. There are better destinations in India than this. Don't get me wrong.  I don't mean to say the places are bad. I am comparing one tour package with another. Mussoorie is out of the way and after all the effort to reach there (12 hours to go and similar to get out from there to next destination and stay in Mussoorie for just one day) , there is nothing to see although the weather is beautiful. If you want to enjoy the climate, roam around in the hills, you need to spend time over there to absorb the beauty of that calm, quiet nature. One night doesn't do justice. Jim Corbett is a scam, unless you choose to stay at dhikala zone. Nainital and it's surroundings are beautiful - scenic with beautiful weather. After comparing our trip to Kaziranga and Shillong, this fell short in the areas mentioned above.