Hands full.

OK I know I should continue with what happened in Dehra Dun but you see I have had my hands full with Ginger chai, Fried Eye and triple M .not to mention the domestic job and the govt one. Its a wonder that my ma in law hasn't kicked me out, when I see the neglected and pending house jobs. ( you see generosity pays. Dehra Dun is still paying me. hee hee hee) Ok so I will continue but not today please! In Jan I promise.
As a filler I am providing you the link to My Manali article in Ginger chai. Trust me , get a look , you will like it.
http://www.gingerchai.com/2009/12/26/magical-manali/
There. That should help you. So A happy new year. See you with the best of SPIRITS ooops I mean see you in best of spirits

Dehra Dun -The Landing

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originally uploaded by mani tours.

Dehra Dun -The Landing
My hard disk drive is showing its true colours so had to import a photo from my Flickr Album. So after a loong flight of 30 mins we landed in Dehra Dun. I was red faced with shame. Some experience I was gifting my MIL , wasn't I ? There was no proper Airport In Dehra Dun , rather it was an Air field. We disembarked and started looking for something to drive us into the main city. the Air field is in a pretty desolate place. Hardly any shops. few vehicles. only some Taxis were standing nearby. They were asking for exorbitant rate to drop us in the city. We were shocked. They simply refused to take part in our bargaining. And you can't bargain alone so we were left alone stupidly looking for some other solution when suddenly we saw an Auto rickshaw and after a little haggling we hopped into it. Our first stop was in Sahashtradhara, A beautiful place fed by numerous springs- hence the name. We had our brunch over there. washed ouselves in the cool pure water of the springs. splashed around, clicked snaps(you have already sen them in my previous post). Shashtradhara is the famous spot in Dehra dun. After spending considerable time there we decided to proceed to Tapkeshwar Mandir. An underground temple where at a particular spot, there is a natural ...should I say stream of water or drops of water bathe a Shivling.Hey Rest in next post okay? I have to rush for my duty

Dehra Dun- The story begins

Here I am back again with my story of that memorable trip to Dehra Dun - a much planned gift for my ma in law- but you see , mani and plans don't go together.

OK lets begin by introducing the above snaps to you- the first one - of yours truly in Sahashtra dhara in dehra dun...what? you are expecting some info from me. Come on guys you know the Internet inside out, you dissect blogs and do all your emotional and financial transaction in the net and you are staring expectantly from me for more info on its latitude and longitude, seasons and shopping areas.Hey I am just narrating my experiences here .Am a hopeless travel guide. but OK I will give my version of some tips but at the end of this narration , I mean the end of this story which can span quite a number of posts.

The second snap - Of my ma in law and shaleen -See their smiles- it took one day and a trip to wipe it off.

Third is of Sahastradhara and the fourth of the nearby hills of Mussourie- just around 30 kms away.

So how did it happen- Oh yeah that I can narrate of course. You see, ours was an interstate and inter caste marriage which had disappointed quite a many people so as soon as I settled in the new house I set about smoothing away the ruffled feathers. I had come to know that flying was one of my ma in law's dream , not the bird like you silly, but flying as in aeroplane. So I decided to gift her a flight trip as her birthday gift. Now it isn't so that I am stingy but belonging to a middle class [family in India puts you under some financial constraint, so I decided on something economical and feasible. So I settled for Delhi to Dehradun. Go by flight, come back by train shatabdi with an over night stay. I made all the necessary arrangements by net but had to slightly change our itinerary due to non availability of leaves and settled for a day trip instead. This point is important for the story - remember!

So on 21st of September , yes that's the day! We arrived happily in the Airport, but the moment our eyes set upon the aircraft my husband glared at me. It was not some Boeing or large aircraft , not even the standard ones , but a small light aircraft- Fokker ? I don't know exactly.I felt embarrassed but My ma in law didn't seem to notice and was looked completely excited. So we embarked on a quite eventful trip and the rest ... I will continue in the next post. I promise I will be back soon.

Dehra Dun - A boon or Bane?

So discussed about music, finished narrating about Auli and Goa. So what next or rather which one next. Did I mention about the Dehra Dun trip which was supposed to be a birthday gift to my ma in law? Did I mention how I made it into a disaster inspite of good intentions? Well the next post is going to be about the day trip to Dehra Dun.

Music and long drives

Salaam Namaste! .Well that's the most my brain can register at the moment after a hectic 12 hrs duty!. But the blog needs uploading seriously. So am here groggy eyed! Sleepy! God! I just hope people don't think I do drugs!

Coming back to our topic- that is the importance of music during long drives. At least for the Bhatnagar family its quite important. In fact in the pre journey preparation it occupies one of the top three position- Arranging the music! Yup arranging the music. No I don't have a recording studio and nor am I a composer, but we do have these thing about fixing the music in somewhat neat folders. Yeah! I know why should we complicate a thing as simple as just buying or borrowing or simply downloading them. See let me explain. Suppose in one of your long drives it starts to rain and what would you like to hear at that time most? Obviously not Here Comes The Sun but something romantic and soft like Rimjhim gire sawan. At least I would straight away lunge for it. But But! Wouldn't it be annoying to search frantically for it in the heaps of Cd's or the play list of a CD? So I simply made folders of all conceivable situations like Rain. Night, Funky etc etc and sorted songs relevant to the situation. Like? Like- Tip tip barsa paani, Barso Megha, Garaz baras sawan ghire aao of the movie Paap! In fact whenever that song is played Shaleen starts thinking himself to be John Abraham driving through Ladakh. How concieted of him!

I have Fiza- a folder to exult the beauty of nature which has songs like Kabul Fiza and Aisa shama na hota by Lataji!

Another folder- night- which has night songs like Aaj ki raat, Raat ki humsafar etc. And also a romantic folder and funky. In fact I am prepared for almost anything. I mean good things. Now,Of course Don't think about accidents. loose motions, puncture- no need to act smart OK?

So that's it. Once when I saw some paddy fields and farmland, I realised I don't have anything to go with it. I am yet to compile a folder for it. Any ideas?

music mani and madness

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originally uploaded by mani tours.

So Why?

So why do we travel so much. I mean around 25 trips in 36 months is way too much ,Don't you think so?
Well you see, we both are doctors( me and shaleen ,I mean). He is in the ICU - criticare, where he hardly gets to treat conscious patients. They usually are in a pretty bad shape fighting for survival.Me- well I can't feed much details except that I work in a government run institute, and shoulder great responsibility, answerable to the NHRC, the government, legal bodies, media, and last not least GOD! If you get the idea, then fine or ...you have to just keep guessing,.So the result is that we are in pretty much stress. He always fighting the MAN with THE HOE, sometimes successful sometimes not so...It takes a toll. No matter how mechanised and cynically you start viewing things, one needs a break. In my set up, its pretty basic with no hi fi hi tech set up unlike his,but we have a diktat. Avoid death inside the institute premises at any costs. So if someone gets too sick we have to set our ass on fire and its a run or race for who can make it first, the patient to the referral hospital 15 minutes away or the LEVELLER to the patient past us! After 2 months we start craving for a break even if it is just for a night. Another factor is that Delhi is flat like a pancake( no offense meant, otherwise its green has monuments and all) but we both are nature persons and so start missing the greens of the mountains of Uttaranchal and Himachal.That are the reasons for our frequent trips to the Mountains. Those beautiful breathtaking serene mountains!
I wanted to take a break from trip reports so I wrote about it. My next post will be about role of music in our trips.

Goa- Moral of the trip

See the second snap? That's my baby being lulled off to sleep by the swaying motion of the car. Why do I feel sleepy whenever I have to make a new post in my blog? OK OK I know I know the reason why my blog is so boring is because I sleep write.
So where was I ? Ok, about the Goa moral science story. Now, See the first snap? Oh my God! How could you ever think that , it is of Goa ? No no , the snap was uploaded to show that Goa is not at all like it. Jokes apart
First thing- Well , people say that Goa should not be visited during the Monsoons. Wrong. If you love the rain, the rough seas. the green country side , then by all means come in the monsoons.Of course you will not find much activities and carnivals and the works. You will have just water water everywhere and many to drink too.
Secondly, no matter how much hard you try for a perfect hitch less holiday with sound planning and applied rocket science, there will be bound to be some last minute problems , so don't lose heart! Hota hai! Happens all the time! at least all the time for me. but there is always a way out.
Thirdly- when you are visiting Goa do take umbrellas, You would not want umbrellas to be your first purchases when on a vacation, do you?
Fourthly- The best way to travel and sight see in Goa is by hiring a bike or a self driven car. Bike is better. So what, we fell off but that was due to our stupidity.
Goa doesn't mean that its a fun and frolic place only. Explore the countryside and you will find many NATURAL surprises.
So I guess thats it .Oh! Yeah! Don't fight after downing a peg or two. . No need to rely too much on prior hotel reservation. You can get a reservation even after reaching there. Sometimes thats better because the things promised in a brochure or the net may not be so in reality.Yippee! I did it. I finished writing ,now I can go sleep my head off!

AULI & GOA - What I Learned

So coming back after another trip from Ranikhet and Binsar rejuvenated...But no no no! This post isn't about it , rather its about What I Learned From My Auli And Goa Trip.Its rather my twisted views regarding the moral of the story...I guess.
AULI-- First of all- Never visit Auli or for that matter Uttarakhand in Holi unless you are as rich as the Ambanis or have a morbid desire to distribute your wealth without any scrupples among all and sundry.( If that is the case, then do inform me. I would like to queue up too.Ha Ha Ha !). I am not sure about the other festivities but didn't take a chance this Dussehra and readjusted my plans
Secondly- About the accomodation. About the GMVN tourist resthouses. Positive about them, is that they have a very wide network. You are sure to find even at the remotest places their TRH. Their net reservation facility is also very efficient. But the negative thing about them is that they are very very basic with no frills at all in comparison to other state tourism guest houses (like HP) or private hotels


3rdly- The roads are good in the the proximity of notable hill stations but deteriorates in the other areas. Thats the irony.The views become exceedingly breathtaking as you travel in the interiors but the ride becomes excrutiatingly bone breaking.( Just a little bit of exaggeration ,if you don't mind)
Fourthly.- The people no matter how demanding they may become during holi, are helpful and cooperative.Their tips are valuable. (Be it about driving or sightseeing or flora or fauna). Though you may get irritated by someone always requesting for rides and lifts, but still can be forgiven if you think about the uphill trudges they have to make every day


Now! about the photographs. Its of Bageswar , en route to Auli. Auli was covered with snow, but Bageswar? Did you see the varied hues? The contrast? DON'T YOU FEEL LIKE VISITING IT?


Now about Goa. Hmmm! Don't you think this post has become a bit to large for your liking. Have a heart for me at least yaar!I will die of exhaustion if I continue to type anymore. I will post the rest tomorrow. Ciao!

Afterword!

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originally uploaded by mani tours.

One of my friend commented that he was disappointed after reading my blog as it was just a routine commentary of what happened and that it would have been better if there would have been suggestions or travel tips. Well! First of all I am not sure if I qualify to tip or not as I have a unique travel history.I mean , my travel patterns can hardly be called conventional and that was precisely the reason I started to blog. So that I don't lose the memory of those breathtaking but precious moments. I mean, I don't think that it is common for people to have an interesting mishappening in almost everyone of their travels. But of course Mandeep I will surely take your advice and try to suggest some tips, not the usual ones but something that I learned first hand from the particular trips.
And Eju thanks gor being a regular reader of my blog.It will be better if I could include you in one of them so make plans to come soon.
So What did I learn from my Auli trip and Goa trip?
Obviously in the next blog, Dear

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originally uploaded by mani tours.

Goa the last day.

Will it by my last day in Goa, or will it be my last day on planet Earth? that was how the state of my mind was in . Finally shaleen returned after shelling out a couple of thousand of Rupees on the bike. He was already morose , how morose could one become. I sheepishly informed him about the loss of tickets. Thank God! we live in a civilised country. He bore it and started another hunt for the tickets. Failed ! But at least we came to a decision amicably in fact there was no scope of any other conclusion. We checked out of our hotel as soon as possible and reached the travel agency armed with the arrival tickets for reference and making the most pathetic of face we told the receptionist of our predicament. Cooperation doesn't cost much .We were issued a duplicate ticket after taking a charge of Rs 100. Don't ask me whether it was official or not! But we let out a sigh of relief. it was 4 pm. our bus left at 6.30 pm and we had still 2 hrs left to loiter and litter around. The Miramar beach was nearby ( actually it is a river beach , a continuation of the outlet - sea beach of the river, know what I mean). so we went there to spend 1 hr of sheer peace and bliss.Miramar is a very quite place, at least it was then. Though not as developed a beach as the others, still you can spend some peaceful minutes over there. We stayed there till 5.30 pm and reached the travel counter promptly at 6 pm. But JINX JINX JINX.! the bus was late by an hour and we started at 7pm. Still we were relaxed enough. we still had enough time to catch the 11 o clock flight of hours. After about an hour of relishing the swaying motion of the bus , we slept like babies. Next when we woke up it was around 6am. By now we must be quite near bangalore, I thought. After about 2 hours of scenery gazing of the countryside we came to a halt. So reached Bangalore. No! it was a tea halt. On enquiring the driver told us it was another 4 hrs journey more to Bangalore. We were shocked! How come we had reached in 13 hrs in our previous trip then? Excuses there were many. rains, bad roads, not a volvo! but but but! we had no time to lose. We decided not to wait and take a taxi then and there. But we found no taxis in the loonies either. Panicking we requested the bus driver to hurry up and promised all kind of favours! Not all! I mean! but almost. But it was of no use. He had his fill of tea. He had his fill of shitting and majestically he moved according to his sweet will. Obviously it was inevitable! What else? we missed the flight by a margin of an hour! And after that we just meekly purchased the tickets for the next flight. fought again like cats and dogs but finally landed in delhi in peace.

Goa- Post Accident

when we fell through the air I was sure I was going to die. For a moment I was stunned.I was brought to my senses when I heard Shaleen groaning by my side. Alarmed, I crawled along to his side, but he assured that he was fine. there were few bruises and scratches but other than that he was fine or so it seemed. When I was fully assured that he would be fine I suddenly became aware of my own pain. my right great toe was covered in blood and was hurting unbearably. Because of the pain I wasn't able to move my feet either. I was howling hysterically- 90% pain and 10 % hysteria.. So much that two couples on motor bike stopped by to help us out. thank the lord for the good Samaritans. they took us to the civil hospital for first aid ( no broken bones only a nasty cut)and then dropped me back at the hotel . Shaleen came later on with the bike. I was very much in despair and shock. And was weeping the whole night. In the early hours I managed to sleep a bit. Morning found shaleen in a very Sunny mood and so was the day sunny. That's one good thing about him. he is very resilient and nothing seems to put him down. there is a kind of childish enthusiasm about him. Even with a damaged bike, injured body and a limping wife he was ready to hit the road for our last day in Goa. With much trepidation I relented , partly because I hadn't shopped yet and secondly we haven't been to Calangute Beach . So with much trepidation, I ventured out. While shopping (I must add that I didn't find Goa an interesting destination for shopping) a young man came up to us and asked us whether we would like to attend a programme on a Holiday Scheme and get ourselves two free bottles of wine and a holiday voucher. I remembered last night's free disc tickets but my husband suffers from short term memory loss of unpleasant incidents and so he readily agreed to follow that man. But the ride was enjoyable .He took us through the countryside and it was one of the loveliest bike rides I ever had. Lots of green. fresh soothing green. and the fresh air. Finally we reached our destination .It was the Royal Goan Beach Club's resort in Baga beach. And God! was it grand! we were given a tour and we simply absorbed the surroundings in awe. The so called programme was a presentation by a young vivacious exec and she was selling a holiday scheme or vacation plan somewhat on the lines of Club Mahindra's 25 year plan where you buy 7days vacation per year for 25 years with lots of other benefits. After the presentation the manager came up to us and asked us if we are aware of RCI and such stuff and I honestly answered that we had been to a club mahindra presentation earlier where we had declined a membership, to which he inquired why we didn't take it up.( wait don't get puzzled! this is interesting hence detailing it).I innocently replied that we couldn't afford to pay such a big lump sum ( around two lakhs rupees) and then the manager said in quite a loud voice , loud enough for the others to hear, abit contemptuously, " Well, If you can't afford club mahindra then there is no chance you can afford us." then turning to his lackey, his highness said "just give them their freebies and let them go" We came back with our tail between the legs and the wine bottles on our hands. Did we mop about it. Well no! we were slightly embarrassed but we are such besaram creatures that we had a nice giggle throughout our return ride.From there we went to calangute. the beach was comparatively tidier than anjuna and vagator and their seemed to be some sort of activity. we wistfully looked at the others playing in the sea as we were incapacitated due to you know...After lunch in the hotel shaleen went off to repair the bike while I started packing....and then A CHILL RAN ALONG MY SPINE. THE BUS TICKETS WERE NOT THERE! I searched furiously for it but they were simply gone! I was again close to tears! What will Shaleen say? How are we going to go? here we had to check out at three and I simply lost the tickets!Ummm! how about writing the rest in my next post and letting myself have my lunch in peace now! ;-)

Twilight by Stephanie Meyers

Twilight by Stephanie Meyers

The photo above, is of my husband shot in the secluded beach of candoliem behind our hotel in Goa.so. shall we proceed onto the second day?
Day 2- Woke up early in the morning to get ready for the sight seeing trip arranged by the hotel people.We were excited. We were expecting lots of fun, picnic, party in the river cruise and what not! But a dampener in the real sense. it was raining heavily. if it continued that way then we will not be able to enjoy at the beach. When the mini bus came we rushed off to it like excited school kids grabbing our lunch packets packed by the hotel people. The bus was half full and we checked on the other co occupants. They didn't look interesting nor interested. Gradually picked up the rest of the tourists from other hotels. we were disappointed. the crowd was not what we had expected. Robust, fun loving, friendly people. the crowd inside were far from our expectations. each of them scowled. all of them remained stiff. the crowd was an assortment. A muslim couple. the lady was in burqa. a family of four with two teenage daughters. very conservative family. the girls looked sad and restrained. a very sexy and modern couple ...but entirely wrapped up with each other oblivious to their surroundings. A couple of guys speaking in accented english trying to outdo each other and a foreigner girl. keeping to herself with no intentions of mixing with each other. Got the picture? so, our first stop was in Donna paula- a beach front u can say, with a memorial built in it. There we made our first purchase. Two umbrellas. Yes Siree! It was raining heavily and without the umbrella no sight seeing would have been possible. The sea was beautifully turbulent giving credence to the story of Dona paula who had committed suicide for her lover but it was no fun exploring with an umbrella overhead. After that we were taken to the cathedral of St Francis.To view The holy remains of the saint. and the basilica of Bom Jesus. Our guide was trying to make the tour lively but was not having much success. By then the rain had stopped and the sun had come out strongly making the air sticky and humid. At that time I cursed myself for visiting Goa in the monsoons.After paying our obeisance we proceeded on to the temple of Lord Brahma. Again it started raining Cats and dogs and disgusted I sat in the bus itself. From there we were taken to the Old House in Old Goa to show the Portuguese lifestyle of yore. I found it interesting . the inquisitive and nosy woman in me liked it a lot.My husband looked bored to death. he is an outdoor type and was waiting to hit the beach. After that we were bundled off to Colva Beach finally for Lunch and exploring. there the halt was for 3 hrs. By then the sun had come out again. We had the time of our life playing like kids on the sea shore. we didn't see any adventure activities going on there due to the high seas so we happily played by ourselves. Here I observed that the Goa tourism hotel was just near the beach and one could view the sea from the balcony . I made a mental note to myself to stay here the next time I am in Goa. It was around 4 pm when we left the beach and were taken to a Feny shop in Panjim and then to the river front for our boat cruise. Till then none of the co passengers had attempted to be friendly with each other. Inside the boat there was a local band playing and then they entertained us to a cultural programme.Few local couples had also joined us for the cruise. Maybe they had come on a date. And a college group of boys. There was a compere who was trying to coax us to dance. we were game for it and only us and another local couple were the only ones in the floor trying to put up a show. the rest looked on mutely. masked faces as if they were all stricken by Parkinsonism. As a token of our participation the organiser gave us a couple entry ticket to a discotheque. When we came back to the hotel we both were not in much good mood. After changing and having tea we decided to visit the disc with our Free couple tickets. We reached there to find it hidden in a very camouflaged spot. the crowd were yet to arrive. there were few gals- a peroxide blond and two or three local gals all in heavy make up and giving coy glances to my husband. After sometime the men started arriving. all heavily built and wearing thick gold chains with surly expression with mugs of beer in their hands. Something was fishy i concluded. My husband conveyed in hurried tones that we were not exactly in a safe and respectable place and that he was seriously worrying for the safety of...of ...hold your horses- his new Handycam. not me or him but the handycam . I was seriously offended but decided not to press the matter then and instead bade a hasty retreat.. We came back to the hotel for dinner and instead left for Mambos again for an after dinner drink. It was drizzling lightly. I had not forgotten the slight of the evening and again brought the topic in the bar after downing a cocktail. A fight followed. we both left the bar as we both were not in any more congenial mood. In the night Baga beach looked breath takingly beautiful. But we just made a mental note about it . we both were too soured up with each other to speak civilly with each other. we were still fighting when we left our hotel. and were still fighting on the road. and still fighting when our bike skid and both of us went flying on the road. that was a nasty fall. a very nasty fall!!!! and what happened next? that's another post.

no no this is not one of my snaps from Goa. in fact I was not able to find them as most of them have been damaged, Enough of my ramblings. let me proceed on to the next level. So what happened in the four nights that we had kept aside for our trip...
Day 1 - went almost as planned. After reaching Bangalore. we had a sumptuous lunch and then made the tickets for the Bus journey. on an impulse we purchased the return tickets too but there were no volvo coaches at 6.30 pm so purchased two tickets on a deluxe ac bus. hmm shouldnt be that bad! after that we spent some time purchasing at thenearest market. there was no time for sight seeing so we let that pass. At night 9 pm we boarded the bus- a volvo coach and we were on our way to Goa. If you havent experienced a bus ride in a volvo then I seriously recommend one to you. they are smooth. fast, luxurious and an experience of its own. especially a night travel that too with the person you love most. the smooth motion, the seats. the lovely night. you will feel so secured and cosy and as if the whole world revolves around that one grand coach. uhh did I say too much? Okay so lets [proceed. It was drizzling and in the night the drops pittering against your window- Aha! just heaven. It was so heavenly that my husband asked me to change seats and he smugly set his broad frame near the window while I took the aisle seat. so much for gallantry!At around 6 am we woke up and had tea in a small coastal town ( dnt remember the name ) . After that we were too awe struck to sleep. evrywhere thre was an abundance of green. the tres had fresh green - new leaves dripping with moisture. there was freshness everywhere, everything loked clean and scrubbed. no slush no murk.at times we could see the coast , the sea and i developed a pain by craning my neck too much. Finally we reached our destination at 10 am . in fact it wasstill fw minutes to 10. well the time taken was commendable and I was happy that we would still have a few hours to spare on our return journey to catch the flight at 11 am from bangalore to delhi. As soon as we alighted from the bus, shalen my hubby sar a rental shop, a rental for bikes and car. i was for the car but the super male in him wanted the bike. and there was no way i was being able to pursuade him, not even for checking into the hotel. Now we had this big case- a suitcase and a bagpack, so definately I wanted to at least check in by a car. but ultimately he had his way. we tok a bike and God! how embarassed I was to lug in a bagpack and with a suitcase on my lap on a bike.. I looked a sight. And then-- just as we reached the main market / city centre our bike came to a halt. Why? no petrol. Finally after some furios calls to the agency they send someone with a jar of petrol. For that we had to wait for around half an hour. Not a good start I could feel. Finally we were offfrom Panaji to North Goa to our hotel in north Goa , candoliem. we didnt know the way so asking for direction we reached Candoliem somehow after some hits and misses. Just as we reached candoliem. a furious downpour welcomed us drenching us to our bones within minutes. It took another 15 minutes in the rain to find our hotel and by that time we both looked like something the cat dragged in. When we reached the hotel , the manager kindly told us that he had recieved any information about our reservation from the delhi agency. Grrrreat! We produced our papers and the manager wa quite accomodating and after a few phone call he cheerfully accomodated us in the hotel. ( WHISPERING PALM BEACH HOTEL) I hd gone for an online reservation after checking it out in the net. Though it was okay but I was abit dampened as it was not exactly like how it was promoted. I was under the impression that it provided a beach view but it didnt and the swimmimg pool wasnt maintained , so was the jacuzzi- maybe due to the season. It was peak MONSOON at that time. not a recomended time to visit Goa if you want to frolic and roll around in the sun,.We had lunch after unpacking and freshening up- at least lunch was good. At the back of the hotel just a few steps away was the beach and so after lunch we went there for some photo sssion and to explore. it was a deserted stretch and the sea was rough. after an hour or so we decidedto explore on our own some of the beaches of North Goa. First we went to Fort Aguada. visited the ruins and remain enchanted watching the splashing waves for a quite a time. After that we headed to Anjuna Beacgh- with great expections. But it was no 1- almost deserted. no 2 - dirty and littered 3- nothing that could enhance the fun quotient.. so just took some snaps. had some coffee.bought some beads and .. thats it. After that we left for vagator beach. At least it was cleaner but even that too didnt have any crowd.It had some sitting arrangement though. the beach was quite rocky and it felt better to stay there and ruminate. watched the sun set, was it an earth shattering experience.? it was a memorable experience. period. We decided to give calangute a miss for that day as it was getting late. and headed instead to Mambos - a pub or a bar in Baga beach. It was already dark. it had started to drizzle again. When we stepped inside Mambos we found it crowded with Foreigners of almost all nationalities. there were hardly any natives. we felt like fish out of water. hurriedly tok a drink each, observed the people open mouthed - u know like awestruck villagers but left at 9 pm for our hotel where we had dinner and completely passed out exhausted . the next day held promises. we were supposed to go on a sightseeing tour from the agency. but tomorrow was another day and in another post

gambolling in Goa

I don't know what I did just now. i tried to upload some of the Goa snaps, but I have serious doubts on what exactly happenefd. But let me proced onto The Goa capers. It all started when we were offered by citibank two free return tickets for using the credit card so generously and of course not to mention ( foolishly). At the same time we also came across a holiday voucher by Travelport- a travel agency? So we decided on this grand plan of combining both the vouchers together to avail an almostfree holiday. But it was not to be. at least not so easily. Now most of us are cynical about this free vouchers and holidays.. Well I just have these to say that they are not that out of reach as imagined but if u are willing to run around a bit around thier customer care executives, you have 100 % chances of availing them- especially if they are from a reknowned group like citibank. So we got the tickets , but not to Goa , to bangalore. We couldnt press Travelport much so had to let go of the free hotel stay and Rs 250/ demand draft. ( My advice- stay away from travel port. Cust CAre not helpful. In fact the whole company is fraudulent).Undeterred we decided to travel from Bangalore to Goa and back to Bangalore to board the flight to Delhi. Made an extensive study in the net to see if it was possible and after satisfying myself with all the details, I set about making the online reservation for a resort - a package and also mapped out a plan. Here was my grand plan
Day 1- Delhi to bangalore by flight at 10 am. reach Bangalore by 12.30. have lunch . make a bus booking ( Paulo travels) to gOa for 9pm then leave to stroll about till 8pm ( including dinner)
Day2- Reach Goa in the morning at max by 10 am. Check into the reserved Hotel At candoliem- whispering palm beach- ummm. I can imagine myself lazing there. Have lunch and after freshening up and a quick nap. off for some sight seeing. As we were in the northern part Of Goa, we decided to cover the northern beaches of Goa. Come back after dinner in one of the pubs , Goa is famous for- like Mambo.
Day 3- wake up early for sight seeing tour by the hotel people and river cruise in the afternoon. Gosh ! what fun it will be with the other couples and families. We will be having a roll.....Dance and games wow.thats what are supposed to happen in a boat cruise isnt it? Have some more fun at a discotheque in our last night in Goa and then head for bed.
Day4- Pack up. go for some shopping. Have lunch and then proceed onto panjim and more strolling around followed by moving out at 6pm from Goa in paolo travels again. Our flight was at 11 am. so we should comfortably reach bangalore to catch our outgoing flight to Delhi at 11am. Sounds so easy.no? A breeze! But! What actually did happen? Was it so easy? Best laid plans, eh? the realty I am going to post in the next post...

Goa gambles

So I am back. But I feel The hotel bit have stretched a bit far and at a very slow pace. Actually I am searching for the photos to back my post.And hence it is taking such a long time and dragging on. Hence I have decided to move on to one of my special trips.Which one ? which one? which? The Goa or the dehradun trip or the first trip or the sariska? or the spiti trip ? I think I will go for the Goa trip . I have only few snaps of which, the rest just got damaged. Its a pity but that has taught me to upload photos promptly to the web. Well wellbut I am not starting the trip in this post. This is just a teaser( something to gain time . hee hee). So whhat happened in Goa? many things! thrills and lots of melodrama and edge of the seat drama! accidents! Shady night club! humiliation in The Royal Palm beach hotel.! and many more... But all in the next post

krishna orchard hotel

DSC02607,
originally uploaded by mani tours.

ay last I have understood how to up load photos from flickr. well guys . here is the hotel krishna orchard wich I missed in previous post

hi folks! was browsing through snaps to find some of the hotels or resorts. But they have been so haphazardly saved ,didn't have the patience to go through all those stuff.will have to take hubby's help. i have uploaded one photo, the pic of the stately hotel is of krishna orchard in mukteswar in uttaranchal, just up Nainitaal. u have to pass Bhimtaal on the way. the drive is comfortable, the scenery as expected is very beautiful. all green and misty- a characteristic of uttaranchal.the speciality of Mukteswar are its orchards. other than that its a very quiet , peaceful and relaxing place to chill. no crowds, no market. just beauty and the peace! Krishna orchard is the major hotel up there. in fact its a chain of hotels in nainitaal and I think Bhimtaal. It was the best one there in Mukteswar. No complains. Enjoyed the stay. clean, luxurious, good food and nice location.

I was a bit upset over the turn of events in the great driving challenge. Need not say that we were kicked out. After following the activities there it dawned upon me that they want VOICES. Voices that are heard or are capable of being heard. As I don't have one here I am going tippety tap tap. But now I can concentrate properly on my

blogs for what they are. My adventure travelogues. ..... So where was I last time? Of course hotels! I had briefly described Manu Maharani Hotel Nainital! Let me add that the best thing I liked about it was the night view of the lake which is simply mesmerising to say the least.I was completely enchanted- the calm lake dotted with the numerous lights of its shore with a dim silhouette of the mountains surrounding it! Ummm!~ can you visualise it? I kept on gazing at it for almost half an hour motionlessly.Other than that the hotel has a discotheque, conference hall . bar and restaurant. the food is quite good.

Now about the photos above. those are of Naldehra Chalets. One of the costliest that we had to stay in. the duplex cottage had a tariff of around 10,000 Rs. But if you can afford it , its worth it. The cottage had a living room , a kitchenette, dining area, living room, world space radio - for the first time and a mini bar and refrigerator, TV and all.Moreover it boasted of a library, Internet a gym, a video library, indoor swimming pool. a children's play area. Normally we wouldn't have checked into such upscale properties, we are very 'middle class" in our means and taste and we are proud of it too. And like a true middle class couple we take pride in showing off our occasional indulgences. Naldehra Chalets wasn't an indulgence. It was the only way out. We had reached Naldehra late at night and as the curfew hour starts soon over there we were turned down every where. In desperation we had turned towards Chalets which was one of the few places where there was evidence of human activityat that time of the night. -The clock was showing twelve midnight at that time . We were tired and desperate- So desperate that if they had said that you can sleep in the hotel lobby or veranda For Rs 10,000 we would have still taken up the offer. But the place was awesome. A beautiful resort in a beautiful location. Just few kms from Shimla. Quiet and peaceful.Best of both the worlds! The experience was fabulous even if we stayed there for one night only.

Pic link

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manishaleen/ Hi all ! Please visit the link if you would like to see the pics of our trips. No fabulous photography mind you. But the places are so beautiful. some of the essence is captured by even hopeless photographers like me.

Continuation of oooops! Actually there was a power cut so we had to go for an emergency shutdown. So the snap in the previous post, isn't it? Well its one of my favourite room in one of my favourite hotel. Hotel Manu maharani in Nainital, A duplex suite! and I went crazy when I first set my foot into it. The Bi level thing was just so oooh!( It was my first time dearies!). And it was affordable. I mean it didn't cost an arm and a foot.For a while I am going to post about the hotels we have stayed and I liked. Complemented with pics of course.. Coming back to this post. There are four pics. The first one of the baby and hubby-it was taken in hotel Chandrabhaga, Keylong in the Manali leh highway. the best one there. Just one snap below it i.e the third ,there is the exterior view with the signboard of Chandrabhaga in the background. Economical and comfortable. A luxury if you ask me in Keylong. Now the other two pics- the second one of my ma in law and baby was taken in Manali Loghuts- Luxury cottages run by tourism department. Nice attached garden. A living room , a dining area, two bedrooms. lots of privacy and a great view to boast and marvel at. See the cottage from out side on the pic which is right at the bottom. A bit expensive but in manali everything is expensive.... Hey Mitsubishi people if you are reading this and wondering where the list of destinations that should have been supposedly posted are, well its 2 posts down.

Well so we have reached the end of the mitsubishi driving challenge first phase. Life will become regular hereafter . so shall I stop blogging.? no, not at all. I have so many trips to narrate about. i really wanted to be among the chosen 25 or 9 if not the three, but we wont be even in the 100 either. how miniscule it makes us feel isnt it. some friends and family members let us done. As it is we dont have much tech savy associates and the remaining few didnt take us seriously! sigh! thats one trip less to write about . but i am enjoying updating my blogs. if only people would read it. Whats the matter with me today? why am I in such a self depreciatory mode today.? ???
Ok leave it. Let me tell you about the above snap. oooops

This is the list of the 23 trips that I have mentioned.
1/Delhi-Pinjore-Shimla-Kasauli-Delhi-Corbett- Nainital- Delhi
2/Delhi- Manali
3/ Delhi-Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore-Delhi
4/Delhi-Dehradun
5/Delhi-Dalhousie
6/ Delhi-Mussourie
7/Delhi-Sariska
8/Delhi-Binsar-Joshimath-Auli-Delhi
9/ Delhi-Guwahati-Shillong-Guwahati-Delhi
10/Delhi-Narkonda-Jalori pass-kullu-delhi
11/Delhi-Dharamshala
12/Delhi- lansdowne
13/Delhi-Bangalore-Mysore-Ooty-Munnar-Kumarokam-Kovalam-Delhi
14/ Delhi-Udaipur-Mount Abu-Delhi
15/Delhi-Sarahan-Kalpa-Sangla chitkul-Spiti-Sarahan-Delhi
16/Delhi-Mukteswar
17/Delhi-Naldehra
18/Delhi-jodhpur-jaisalmer-patiala-chail-shimla-delhi
19/Delhi-Manali-Keylong
20/Delhi-Mashobra-Tattapaani-Manali-Delhi
21/Delhi-Nahaan-Renukaji-Paontasaahib-Chakrata-Delhi
22/Delhi-Nainital-Chaukori-Ranikhet-Delhi
23/ Delhi-Chamba-Harsil-Gangotri-Dhanolti-Delhi
24/Delhi-Gaurikund-Badrinath-Mana-Delhi
25/Delhi-Manali-Jispa-DeepakTaal-Mandi-Delhi
Hey that's 25! And all these while I was thinking 23.

the name and the reason

That's me and hubby. My hubby-The man behind the trips, the Man-iac behind the wheel.

Well I just want to mention the reason behind the blog's title. We usually try to take the lesser known routes for a particular place after we have gone once there by the conventional route.For example- Manali - one of our favourite places. After the conventional route, we have gone there by 1/ jalori pass 2/ By shimla tattapani 3/ once we had returned from manali via nalagarh and we had also gone through the shimla bilaspur route. So that explains why I have named the blog so. Secondly My profile name is eyeswideopen because one can just gaze wide eyed at the beautiful places that I have seen.And moreover I never really got over my crush on Tom Cruise...hee hee hee. Decipher that now.

auli 3

So we were off on day 3 after breakfast to Auli. Villages were stirring and waking up gradually. We left the beautiful in fact the very beautiful scenery of bageswar and baijnath to the comparatively starker terrains of gwaldum.It had rained the previous weeks and the road was a lesser trod one so in patches the road was muddy and slushy. my husband warned that if the car got stuck then i along with my niece in law (9 yr old )have to push the car.Just imagine his audacity .maybe he was kidding but I took it seriously becos if anything of this sort happened then there was no other option. there was no other sign of civilisation. Said too soon!Why we had hardly gone a few kms when we came upon a bunch of rowdy boys dancing and celebrating holi.They pounced upon us the moment they saw us and no they did not colour us if you are thinking so, but demanded bakshish or money. An altercation followed. i screamed hysterically ( ya I am quite capable of dramatics) but boys will be boys they simply did not relent. they sat on the road blocking our way. an impasse ensued.We were running late for the last ski lift to Auli. My hubby was about to give in when a military vehicle puled behind us. I went and complained to them but they indulgently asked us to pay the "cute boys". we knew we had lost the battle and meekly gave in . we paid up and proceeded onwards. from then on the pattern followed. A few km- group playing holi- pay up- move on. I started grumbling about what a bad time we had chosen to travel. After 7-8 such celebrations I think God took on some mercy on us, A magistrate's vehicle joined us somewhere along the way near Karnaprayag and followed us til near Pipalkoti .Nobody dared to stop us now and we had a respite till some distance. After Pipalkoti, it was same again but thankfully dusk had set in and there were few [people in the roads. But unthankfully we were late for the last ski lift to Auli. we had a reservation there and so my husband decided to attempt the road to Auli. till halfway he was managing fine but as we climbed higher we encountered snow over the road until we came upon completely covered road. slippery and dangerous. we had to turn back. there was now o way to reach Auli. there went the hotel rent down the drain. it was a day of loses. we again headed to the lift to request if they could bend the rules a bit and bend the lever abit. but no they gave us quite a stiff response. over and above they gave the very sad news that the ski lift will not be operated the next two days due to holi. AAARGH! I was never fond of holi and now u can understand how I was feeling. Shinu was devastated at the plans going awry. with a heavy heart and a light purse we headed to the tourism hotel run by GMVN.The accommodation was economical but not pleasing to me. I found them very gloomy. The workers warned us that the next day lunch and evening tea will not be served and breakfast will be served very early. Reason? what else? holi! we told them that we intend to leave the next day as there was nothing else to be done but another travel advisory was issued that travelling in holi near Auli was a very risky thing. we were trapped and as there was no other way out of the situation,we went out late in the evening to shop for some dry eatables like biscuits, wafers,fruits, bread, butter. My hubby bought a CD of jumanji. he had brought his laptop along which was a good thing he had done. we rang up our respective departments to extend our leaves for 2 more days. thankfully no problem from that side.

Day 4- we woke up early so as to not to miss breakfast. I was tempted to join the people outside. Who knows we too could have earned back our losses . but that was just a thought.At around 10 am I discovered that hubby dear was running a temperature and shinu started having lose motions and vomiting.Oh God if that was your idea of keeping us occupied then sorry to say , I was not amused. somehow we managed to contain both the patients by afternoon. When both of them felt better, we watched the movie Jumanji. Dinner was served early and it was a simple affair but we found it very delicious.after having a discussion with a local guy who drove an SUV, we decided to give another shot at Auli by road the next morning.

Day 5- next morning we checked out promptly at 7 am and left for Auli. the guy was good. He drove expertly over the snow and took us till about 1 km away from Auli as the snow was heavier over there. We had to walk the remaining km but finding the near impossible destination within reachable distance, every bodies spirits were high and we went happily climbing the uphill road to Auli. we spent around 3 hours over there. Unlike Manali it was a purely a skiing destination. there was no snow tubing or tobogganing . no pesky crowds. only ski enthusiasts were seen over there lugging there ski gear around. we looked quite out of place over there. we too tried our hands ..err.. feet at skiing. slided ....pushed..fell...again slided...pushed...After few rounds of these we took our leave achieving our purpose. Another destination ticked in the Map. Another happy ending. Thank you God! Finally we started on our return journey which was thankfully uneventful.

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27012009119

27012009119,
originally uploaded by mani tours.

i hope tis gets uploaded this time

hi. today I am not going to continue about the auli trip. i am just testing whether I can upload any images or not. By the way things are not going great in the mitsubishi challenge. i mean for us. have made some changes today. lets see. Oh God ! where are you? really need your divine intervention

Auli 2

Hi. I am back ! not that I think anybody was waiting exactly. Well, so where was I ? Ya ! Day 2. Those drums and the holi celebrating crowd!. Ok! so after our tyre puncture was repaired we moved on to Kasauni. It was already evening when we reached,.It is a sleepy little town with the tourists comprising mostly from the so called spillover of Nainital tourists. The townsfolk enlightened us that it is best to visit Kasauni early morning when you can view the snow covered peaks and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the ...what else the Himalayas! so we had tea there and decided to move on to Ranikhet. We knew that we will not be able to spend much time over there, but still we decided to have a go. When we descended down and out of Kasauni., a little away from the entrypoint of Kasauni at a lonely spot an SUV was parked across the road so that it blocked the road. we had to slow down to stop and then... three fellows walked up to us. they were drunk but were very civil and polite. Polite yet authoritatively they spoke to us. They first wished us a happy holi and then coolly , they asked us to pay a hundred rupees. They were so cool, so authoritative and so drunk we dare not argue and paid up silently, but not happily. Some how I did not feel happy at holi . After that they let us pass and we sped off to Ranikhet , a beautiful, neat and tidy cantonment . But it was dark when we reached and the only stop there was at the fuelling station. We drove back to Binsar had an early dinner and planned for an early start next morning to Auli. Next day was choti holi or you can say Holi minor.
Day 3. We started at around 5.30am in the semi darkness. Sunrise in the hills need to be experienced in order to feel its aura and magic. the scenery turning bright from the grey. Everything fresh and pure! Nothing can make you feel more optimistic then the morning mountain atmosphere hence we had no absolutely no idea how the day was about to end that day. People were still sleeping as we passed by small villages. The first major town that came was Bageshwar and then Baijnath ...or was it the other way round??? well but Bageswar and baijnath were the major places famous for its temples. But for me, what still remains etched in my memory is the picture perfect scenery. It was amazing. I use to think this type of places existed only in movies or abroad. The snow covered peaks and next to them the black or dark blue mountains, followed by the wave of green smaller mountains and after that came the undulating fields and farmed land and then the road where we were standing and admiring everything... taking in everything..I insisted that we have our breakfast there itself so that we can spend some more time there. I felt so invigorated and so carefree that i started hopping around and playing Ringa ringa roses with shinu my niece in law.. i hope i can say that. After the breakfast we set off again with a light heart , off to Auli- a skiing destination . Next only to Gulmarg and Pahalgamb in Kashmir... but, but. I am in a hurry so will turn up again in Auli 3. I know i have the talent to give the tv soaps a run for their money the way I am Extending my trip report but hey I am busy!

Auli

I should have known that this was going to be a special tour when i searched for the proposed route . Let me start from the beginning. we had planned a trip of four nights stay maximum which was supposed to go like this Delhi- to Binsar near Almora ( 2 nights- free holiday by club mahindra hee hee!) then proceed on to Auli. Until Binsar it was fine. but when I looked up the route from Binsar to Auli / Joshimath, the only coherent results that came up spoke of the great journey that Adi Shankaracharya had taken up to Joshimath. I mean if nothing has been updated since then, gracious! it wasn't good news. Hitting a blank we had to resort to other sources. We looked up a map , traced the thickest lines ( highways) and charted our own route. So on the d - day .... wait a minute how do I proceed . Day wise . or in detail? Umm let me go in day wise detail .

Day I- we started at 11 pm hoping to reach Nainital in the early morning , covering the plain portion at night and enjoying the hills during the day. But after proceeding a few kms we came upon a big big jam. traffic jam! and the traffic was moving at the rate of 5cm/hr and that too it just slided down due to maybe micro tremors they say that keep on occurring. After trying to find the cause of the jam - as if that would help, we lied back in the seats and just tried to make ourselves comfortable which we did because when my husband shook me awake it was a around 5.30 am and the traffic had started moving again. My husband was in hurry to reach nainital as soon as possible. It was around 11 am in the morning when we finally reached nainitaal. Just stopped for a late break fast or rather a brunch and proceeded on towards Almora. on the way we made a detour to the Taals - bhimtaal , naukuchiya taal and saat tal.

Day 2- At Bhimtaal we had a flat tyre, but luckily there was a puncture shop and got it repaired in no time. Loitered around in Bhimtaal. clicked photos and we were off towards naukuchiya taal where we grabbed some grub again. Now the distances are not that far away but why had we reached up to naukuchiya taal only, by evening tea time???? Well because the usual speed of travelling in the mountain are lowered due to the gradient! Nyah! its because mostly it happens so, that we go- 3km then click click, another three km and again click click , but why ? Oh dear! the angle of the landscape changes approximately at 3 km. But Coming back to the trip , after a late lunch in naukuchiya taal we proceeded on to saat taal a seeming convergence of 7 lakes. it was way down and was almost hidden by thick woods - thickly wooded ,dark. Again some snaps . Viewing the lake at all the angles possible and then proceeded to almora. Half way My ma in law who was with us suddenly exclaimed that her purse containing 10,000 rs. cash , gold earrings and a set of house keys were missing . she must have dropped it. Great! we retraced our steps . this time there was no clickety click . after all the matter was serious, but alas, it was gone. probably some lucky man got it or may be an unlucky monkey!( what a waste that would be). As there was nothing to be done we Finally proceeded to Almora. It was around 8 pm when we reached almora. we had another hour drive ahead of us to reach Binsar. It was dark - An almost obvious occurrence when we travel. we always reach our destination after dark. On the way we came across a small ?hamlet? ghost town which was appropriately named KABARKHAAL.(cemetery) How creepy. Not a soul could be seen. Neither with body nor the body less variety.By 9 - 9.30 pm we finally reached The warmth of our resort in Binsar.
Day 3- Woke up early in the morning. started getting ready. our plan was to cover Almora, Ranikhet and Kasauni. But we got delayed in setting out. We reached Almora and looked around a bit. It appeared to be more impressive when we saw from a distance but when we reached, we found it to be commercially bustling town teeming with humanity. After looking around for sometime we decided to leave for quieter areas. We started towards Kasauni. The drive was scenic and we had started enjoying our self when suddenly the tyre gave away. Another flat tyre. 2nd in a trip. My husband tried to fix it but what luck! the jack got stuck. we had to flag down a passing tempo and get the tyre changed. Setback of an hour. My husband wanted to get the leaking tube repaired as soon as possible , so we stopped in the next village to get it repaired. A small group of mixed bag of young and old people were playing the drums , singing and dancing- - celebrating holi! while our tyre tube was being repaired we let ourselves be entertained by the celebrating people. They looked so happy, without a care! Bringing a smile to every one's lips... How my illusion was about to be broken.... ! But that in another blog. The next one.
P.S The great driving challenge is getting an awesome response from all. How I wish our profile had got some too! Sigh!

This blog idea is not premeditated i swear. i had been meaning to blog long back only i could not shake the inertia. So I was genuinely surprised when I saw one of the requisites of the GREAT DRIVING CHALLENGE that i have taken part by mitsubishi, was to write blogs. it was as if someone up there wanted me to write the travel blogs. now I am pushed into it and I will be posting frequently.Though i was meaning to post my second log about the most memorable trip I have to reschedule it for the next. Well let me just tell you all about it a little. Actually I was in a dilemma which one should that be? the one in spiti where the car gear box broke or the one in Goa where we missed the flight and fell off the bike or should it be the one to Auli where everything went wrong . though spiti tour was a psychological thriller, Auli trip has all the markings of a Bolywood masala movie and as Bollywood is the flavour of the season, it will be the Auli trip.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

At last i have relented - no! decided , to start my blog on our travelling travails. lazy as I am, i used to avoid this suggestion by my husband but after around 23 trips i have agreed to start this blog. More as a record to remember and relive those experiences. Yes ! 23 trips in 48 months. thats a trip after every 2 months in average. Well no, they were not work related but rather to escape from work related stress. Thanks to our flexible job requirements and very sweet coperative co workers we could manage it at that rate. And of course not to mention the never ending enthusiasm of my husband and a drive and passion to drive for long periods. { coming that from an overweight lazy person like him , who puts dagwood to shame, is an achievement.} these trips or holidays are very special to me..us. not for thier romantic value, but the adventure and experience it provided to poor ordinary souls like me. no earthshattering experience mind you, but adventures still like- being strandd in spiti, car windows getting smashed in rohtang, missing the flight and accident in goa, everything going wrong in auli to name a few- harrowing experiences but now that i remember them, it is with a smile. so this blog will be all narrations of those experiences... but for today , i am signing off. i told you i am lazy