KASOL VALLEY- FOREIGNER'S PARADISE.

THE HIMALAYAN VILLAGE RESORT-KASOL VALLEY.

Kasol Valley located in Himachal pradesh on the way to Manikaran is considered as Foreigner's Paradise.As we travelled from Manali to Manikaran , Kasol Valley just mesmerized us after a terrifying track /road across the tall mountains....Soon after we started the unhill climb,our heart started beating very fast seeing the narrow road going higher & higher into the range across & the deep gorge beneath. Just kept waiting for a down hill climb....Time kept flowing off until we reached Kasol Valley ...We need a break badly ;and a cup of tea ,snacks at the Himalayan village resort was an ice to our heart counting journey so far... The resort was too beautiful ... if known to us earlier ,we would have thought to have a nice stay at this resort . ...May be next time.....
   The Kasol valley looked serene , peaceful ,cool across the valley ...often could get to see small wooden houses besides the river flowing across....Its learnt that foreigner loves to come here year after year & very often most gets settled down... These region is flowing with Charas & other toxicating items too ...just don't know exactly ,what , atracts the foreigners to this region.

 MANIKARAN .............................

THE HOT WATER SPRING AT THE SHIV-PARVATI TEMPLE -MANIKARAN.

    It was time now for us to move towards Manikaran,which has got a marvelous hotwater spring..A temple & a Gurudwara too( frequented by lots of devotes)...As one reaches Manikaran ,the eyes catches the watervapours coming out of every corners...it's spectacular sight to see around. A stomach full lunch at the Gurudwara completes the lovely journey to this part of India.
        

ARAKU VALLEY- THE MYSTIC TRIBAL LAND.

We started our trip to Araku valley from Vizag city( Rishikonda beach resort).Had hired an Inova car prior ,for our journey to Araku....After a short drive thru' the countryside,U took on the uphill climb  across the Eastern Ghat stretch towards ANANTGIRI....Anantgiri ,is a small town located on the ghats & the stay at its APTDC hill resort was an experience in itself.... Though we didn't stop atthe 'Tyda jungle bell'resort,which too looked impressive amongst the deep jungle. The Anantgiri resort is too scenically located on a hilltop & the cottages were too good for a stay....

 The Anantgiri resort ........................

The ANANTGIRI WATERFALLS....................................

  The Coffee Plantations across the eastern ghats at Anantgiri....

The Black pepper pods...........................................

  Next we drove off for a visit  to Anantgiri Waterfalls & then came the coffee plantation. After having a stroll amongst  the coffee gardens,which is spread across huge stretch of the hills....we did a bit shopping of coffee ,coffee beans,dry whole cinnamon, star anise,clove,pepper straight from the garden .

 The Mystic Araku Valley..............

A morning amongst tall eucalptus at Araku valley..............

    Next we drove straight thru' the ghats to the Tribal Land of Araku Valley.... As we entered the region ,the mystic,cool & polution free environments just had a warm touch  feelings; Though its a very small place ,but one might feel like coming back here again & again to experience the essence of the tall eucalptus,& the chilled mystic serene climate of the Eastern ghats. We had ourbookings at the Valley resort,Araku.

 The Tree house at Padmapuram gardens at Araku Valley.

   After lunch  at the resort & enjoyment of a tribal dance show , was next to do list was to visit the Padmapuram garden & the tribal museum. The weather at Araku was quite chilled & it was drizzling,when we reach  the Padmapuram garden,which is some 7-8kms from the resort.Inside the resort,the main attraction is the 2 tree house.The garden is quite well spread with quite a good collection of trees. The tribal museum had a good collection of exhibits but photography is not allowed inside. Though ,there's not much to see at Araku,but the weather had been excellant ; the stroll inside the well planned resort was a good experience.

  The Borra Caves ..............

 Inside the Borra Caves............................................

    On our way back to Vizag ,next morning ,we planned to visit the BORRA CAVES....

WEAVING ACROSS THE GULF OF KHAMBHAT.

My journey  across the gulf of khambhat in Gujarat ,started from Bhavnagar. The whole stretch of this region gave me a feeling of rural Gujarat. Though the region is quite green with standing crops but the ditches on the road made me eagerly wait to hit  the national highway.After Bhavnagar, its the Gulf of Khambhat- a vast stretch of waterbody breaking into the land & anarrow road passing thru' it...It was a lovely sight,with the sun going down across;

    After that ,starts the Rann area....Though ,not expected to see it on the way-but was happy to feel the little Rann of Kutch too ,on our journey across the Gujarat state.The huge salt panes,& the salt dumps/factories,uninhabitated land ,which looked green after the rains ,with babul trees in its midst ,made our eyes tired & keep waiting to see some localities across....Its a very  very long drive thru' the Rann,which took us almost  2+ hours drive across.

DIU- THE ESSENCE OF PORTUGUESE HUE.

                           DIU -THE ESSENCE OF PORTUGUESE HUE.

The RASAL BEACH RESORT ,with HOGGLA TREE IN FRONT.

  THE NAGOA BEACH---------------

 THE SIBERIANCRANES on the marshy stretches of Diu.....

As we kept exploring VIBRANT GUJARAT state ,our next stop over was the Union Territory of Diu...... Its almost 90+ kms distance from SOMNATH. Its primarily,a small  island city with air connectivity; Since we were travelling by road, could capture the various essence of the rural gujarat region.... The region looked very fertile with all round standing crops of groundnut,cotton,sugarcane,maize.... DIU is a small island territory unlike Goa & connected by a bridge with the main land.We bypassed UNA City & entered Diu.Had to pay Rs 200/- for tax at the entry.Since ,we had prior booking at 'RASAL BEACH RESORT' ,which is located at NAOGOA BEACH ,next to the Diu Airport strip----- we drove straight to our resort as it was getting almost dinner time. It looked beautiful,but have to wait for the day break to explore Diu.
        Took a walk on the Naogoa beach,which was bang opposite to our resort next morning.Though the beach was not that clean,but was good for a walk thru'...After breakfast,we left for DIU FORT,which is some 10kms drive on the otherside of the town. On the way, we stopped a while to see the Siberian Crane on the mashy wetland,just besides the road. Never,earlier have i saw them from so-o close;

 Myself, at the Seafront at Diu..............

 Myself ,on top of Diu Fort................

Myself ,inside St. PAUL'S CHRUCH,DIU....................

    The Diu fort is a broken fort made of limestone besides the sea. We walked up & down the fort & enjoyed the lovely view of Diu City from the top of the fort.
  Next stop was St. paul's Church & the fishing area -seafort of Diu & lastly the Ghogla Port area, before we left Diu for Ahmedabad city which is 400+ kms drive ..
       The Hogla trees adorns the city of Diu ; The Hoggla trees look like palm tree but not exactly so; A peculiar species from this part of our vast country. Diu is a old city but not that well maintained like Goa.....the houses & locality around bears the looks of Portuguese culture that long back flourished across these part of India. Mostly during the weekends this tiny island city keeps bustling with Gujarati tourists ,who ventures into this region to enjoy a glass of alcohol with family & friends.... Gujarat being a dry state & Diu being the nearest  territory for weekenders ,keeps on thru' lot of checkings/checkposts for smuggling  bottles of Alcohol across....................
    No doubt, it was a good experience to enjoy the silence & serenity across this small union territory called DIU.

A road trip to Dwarka & Beyt Dwarka from Ahmedabad.

                              A Road trip from Ahmedabad to Beyt Dwarka.

 The windmills adorn the road to Dwarka................

 As we sailed across the Arabian Sea from Okha Jetty to Beyt Dwarka....

 THE DWARKADISH TEMPLE of DWARKA on the bank of Gomti river...

The ruins of Balabadra's house at Beyt Dwarka.

 The drive from Ahmedabad to Dwarka is 547kms & 11hrs journey. It was Aug' 2011 that we planned for a beyt dwarka  trip from Ahmedabad. We started around 8:30am from our Ahmedabad guest house after breakfast; it was drizzling then ..... its a straight drive upto Rajkot via NH-8. The roads are really good to drive. Got to see a whole lot of 'Pharma Industry' amidst green natural belt. After Rajkot, the biggest city is Jamnagar ,which we reached around 2pm. The sheer sight  of the 'Reliance 's Jamnagar refinery' was a great experience. Its so huge (4-5 km stretch)- then came the 'Essar's Refinery',which too was quite huge,besides polluting the environment.Had had our lunch at Krishna residency on the highway itself as it was getting quite late & we were feeling hungry...We reached Dwarka around 5:15pm.
        Quite exhausted by now after the whole day drive we checked into a hotel which we had prior booking( a brand new one ), rest other places around Dwarka is full of dharmashalas & their condition looked pathetic..... except for the Kokilaben Relience's guest house....its a small place & felt like we have reached a remote hamlet outskirt of indian border.Even our hotel was not much big one but being a brand new hotel ,made us comfortable for a night stay there;
      We had to leave for Beyt Dwarka immediately after getting freshenedup ,as it is in Okha or Mithapur which is some 30kms from Dwarka. On the way to Beyt Dwarka we crossed the 'Tata Chemical',were Tata salt is processed.After reaching the OKHA JETTY,we had to hire a boat on share basis ( Rs 10/-per person) to Beyt Dwarka,which is a small island of 24km stretch inside the Arabian Sea. The boats were really overcrowded, but a good experience,with the sun going down into the Arabian sea.
       Beyt Dwarka is the home of Lord Krishna & the main Dwarkadish temple is located here.No Mobiles & Cameras r allowed into its premise,so either to deposit it at the enterance or not to bring along. Had a lovely darshan of Srinathji & enjoyed the evening arti too...A lifetimes  experience to see Srinathji on Janmastami day....It was a humble feeling standing under the roof of Lord Krishna's home.We had to rush back to the ferry ghat as it was getting dark......... After we reached Okha Bandar(jetty),we planned to visitthe " NAGESHWAR JYOTIRLING" too....its located quite in a remote location & roads are quite good thru' the salt panes.. oh! what a lovely reconstruction by Music icon GULSHAN KUMAR .The darshan was not much hassled as now-adays ,No puja is allowed at the temples by the devotes...; its beautifully decorated Shivling.
      Now we had to move back to  dwarka as,slowly we were feeling hungry.Because of Janmastami,the whole city of Dwarka was overcrowded & had to stand in waiting at 'Guruprena hotel' resturant( one of the best in Dwarka town)---- though the food was okay but very very oily...

Myself standing next to Lord Krishna's home at Beyt Dwarka.

After dinner,we reached back to our hotel & had to unwind fast as the next morning we were supposed to visit the Iskon's DWARKADISH temple darshan by the Gomti river....

AKSHARDHAM TEMPLE AT GANDHINAGAR

                         AKSHARDHAM TEMPLE AT GANDHINAGAR

Akshardham temple at Gandhinagar is some 30 kms from Ahmedabad city. Gandhinagar is a beautiful planned city like Chandigarh & is very green - pollution free. It was our first trip to Akshardham temple & so prior to our visit we got spl. VIP passes for the darshan and so, looked out for the VIP gate as we near to its premises ........... Its now a restricted zone after the rough spell of attack in its premises few years back. So, had to go in for lot of security checks. It looks like a fortress from outside.... No bags & cameras are allowed inside.As we  entered the premise ,we were given a brief on the temple & other facilities inside with the help of a model.
     We took the photographs with the temple at our backdrop- courtesy, the photographer of the temple .(printed copies r charged 100Rs/- each and given after an hour). First we went to the museum inside; beautiful model representation of Lord Swaminarayan's life is present at themuseum... Then the movie show of " MYSTIC INDIA" was just an awesome experience....And lastly the robotic model ,playing music was a great enjoyment . What a perfection of those clay models playing the instruments.
****** Note: all the shows are paid services  and are priced Rs 300/-per person.

    Then went went into the main temple .What an architectural marvel on red sandstone.....; the granduar is spreading its essence all throughout the vast acres of this premise.... the swamy's statue is made of copper-goldplated. It had been a great experience but surely will repent for not being able to enjoy the water show at the temple ,which takes place in the evening  & we could hardly wait till that long .... May be again sometimes later if we happen to be here...............

CHITTORGARH- the ruins of a rich by gone era..

 At the enterance of Chittorgarh Fort.....

 View of Rani Padmi's place..............

 The view of Battle field of HALDIGATTI  ,from the walls of Chittorgarh fort...

 The Jain temple at Chittorgarh fort..............

 
 The VICTORY TOWER.....

 MEERA BAI'S TEMPLE .............

NH-74.... to Chittorgarh from Udaipur....

CHITTORGARH-- the name itself fascinates people who read about its rich past history several times in our school history books. A person being at UDAIPUR ,it never can be that someone skip a visit to Chittorgarh. CHITTORGARH is a2 hrs drive from Udaipur.After crossing the airport limit of Udaipur,we took NH-74,which is a beautiful smooth road.....The drive was amazing with sun playing with the clouds & desert turning green after the rains.There's now an uphill drive upto the CHITTORGARH FORT, which is now almost a ruin of Rana Pratap Singh's reign.We visited Rani Padmini's mahal inbetween a small waterbody....then a jain temple which had a lovely architecture & the Victory Tower....The artwork carved out on the walls of victory tower is amazing.... but climbing to the top of the tower was not my cup of tea ,so i left that onto my hubby to capture the views from the top of the tower, on our camcorder ; a easy way out for me to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings............. Next it's the MEERA BAI's Temple & the Mahal she stayed with herhusband .....There's a Museum too but remains closed on Mondays..... It was a great feeling ,standing on the walls of the fort & viewing the battle field of Haldigatti ... it might had been a hush terrain than ,but now its totally green & the lovely  GOLDEN CORIDOR road passes by;  Though , it had been exciting to read about the place in history books but not that exciting when one happens to be here ..............

AN EVENING BY THE NAKKI LAKE( Mt. ABU)

 MT. ABU ....................the hillstation of Rajasthan.

  The view from top of the range ,as we kept climbing across to Mt. Abu....

The International  Road to Mt. ABU....

As we went exploring the Desert Land of Rajasthan by road ,our next stop was Mt. Abu....Mt. Abu is almost 350kms drive from Jodhpur. The road  to Mt. Abu from Jodhpur is of International standard. As we drove thru'...we felt as if we were in some foreign country; though had to end up paying hefty toll taxes ,but its worth the money spending....The surrounding looked amazing with white clouds hovering around in the blue sky & the valley looking green,as we kept climbing the mountain....
   Mt. Abu is a small little place on top of the range...the date plants all over gave a nice impression... Dilwara temple is the main attraction for tourist visiting this place. But besides the Dilwara Temple , THE NAKKI LAKE on top of the range posed a beautiful experience...After all the travelling in the first hours of the day ,we thought to  enjoy a cool evening by the NAKKI LAKE.....

  The NAKKI LAKE ............an evening view.

 The sun has slowly gone down  & posing a serene atmosphere all over....

 The changing colours of the sky across the Nakki lake ( Mt. ABU).

     There's a huge shopping area next to the Nakki lake ...after we got down our vehicle,we started walking along the bylanes of the little shops allover the place & my eyes kept rolling thru' the glass doors of the shops........... Cann't stop myself from entering into few shops.... Got myself a lovely Bandhani saree,a mirror worked churidar piece & few chunni's for my near & dear ones,besides the Durga mata idol on white stone..... After all those shopping ,its now time for some crunchy pakoras & enjoying the beauty of the changing colours of the sky from the lakeside as the sun went down.....The resturant fellow kept wondering,why we were eating so-o slowly  & simply sitting with a plate of pakoras... As mostly people love to do boating in the lake after gobbling food at the resturant.............. Soon, it was feeling chilled but its now time to capture the amazing moments in our camera frame .... Both me & my hubby were on with our digital &  camcorder ....The pictures above will explains the moments ..........
      It had been a lovely experience sitting by the Nakki lake after all the exploration of Rajasthan ...& now it'll be back to Udaipur & than fly off to mumbai. A Memmorable journey thru' this desert  countryside can be ended with a sweet note ..."MERA DESH KA KOI JABAB NAHI.."

My Journey to the desert land of Jaisalmer....

The Distance between Jodhpur & Jaisalmer is almost 300km.... After we started off on NH114...road looked good but not like the one we came across while travelling from Udaipur to Jodhpur. Bypassing small villages were mostly people were engaged in stone quarries, we moved on....At first we saw rows of Babul trees adorning the long stretched road as we drove off at 100km/hr speed.Soon,it was the Golden Sand,Babul trees, neem trees & small shrubs greeting us on our journey to the land of sand & sand dunes. After almost 2 & 1/2 hr drive,we reached POKRAN. Now slowly the Babul trees disappeared & left behind small bushes &shrubs & sand & more sand all over..........We kept looking for any Dhaba to have a cup of tea ,but found none  until we reached Jaisalmer.On our way we crossed acres of land with bajra cultivation, camels walking around & the beautiful peacock crossing over  thru' the bushes.
    Aswe entered the city premise,we glanced upon the GOLDEN FORT OF JAISALMER ,made up of yellow sandstone. Long heard about it earlier,read about it ,but now it stand tall infort of us amidst the vast arid land of sands.We were quite impressed to see our hotel .... The curvings & architecture+ interior of the hotel,just made us feel like a maharaja style. After lunch, we planned to drive down to SAM village for the desert safari & enjoy the sunset in the midst of theThar desert.

    SAM is around 40kms away from Jaisalmer city.it was a drive thru' the arid land of Jaisalmer, though was looking quite green above the sand,since it rained well . After almost an hours drive,we reached Sam ,were it was only sand& sand all over;amazing to walk thru' the sand dunes........The camels carrying tourists on their back thru' the sands of the Thar Desert.We spend lot of time enjoying the sand dunes until the sun went down into the desert horizon..
       we were now quite restless & needed to drive back to our hotel soon as this region of Sam is almost uninhabitated..... After dinner,we just had to go off to sleep fast. Next morning ,we left to see the Golden Fort of Jaisalmer .Oh ! what a lovely golden colour of the stone built fort,shinning in the morning sunlight.Afterentering the fort gate,we got the impression that its mostly commercialized &residential. Lots of shops selling articles,made of camel skin,stone ,badhni work,camel  bone-artifacts& Rann of Kutch's embroidary work articles. The one which catched my eyesare Rajasthani dolls hanging on the walls of the golden fort.Saw the Salim Singh's Haveli & Patuwan Ki haveli,& fort museum. As I climbed upto the topmost level of the fort ,it looked marvellous in the midst of the desert sand standing tall .

    It had been a great experience  to visit the Thar Desert  at Jaisalmer .... Now its almost 280kms drive back to Jodhpur from here ...