Across South Sikkim.

It was my second time visit to sikkim after a gap of some 12+ yrs....Basically,  we intended to visit North Sikkim ie Gurudonzmar lake ,to be precise ,which we missed out last time as that time it was total trek route only but now a days 4 wheel drive vehicles taking tourists out to those forward posts in sikkim too but since the weather turned bad and all routes to north sikkim closed down , instead of sitting in our hotel room at Gangtok,  we thought to finish off our trip to South Sikkim , which have opened up with famous locations like Ravangla,  Namchi  ,for tourists..... it was some 8/10 hrs round trip  from Gangtok...we informed  our driver about our plan and pushed out early in the morning to avoid traffic congestion across the hilly roads of Gangtok city.......

Our first stop was Namchi,  which is a planned miniature  complex which houses all famous temples( Duplicate) across length and breadth of India in one location itself .....Its lay out is very beautiful  and maintained  very well ...Tourists comes here , enjoys strolling around its beautiful  gardens , praying at its innumerable temples including the replicas  of Char Dham .....

 Next stop was The Buddha park,  at Ravangla  , which is absolutely  beautiful  and shouldn't  be missed out ,during a trip to sikkim.....Mostly it remains covered in clouds and if lucky can gets the glimpses of mystical Buddha ......The drive from Namchi to Ravangla  too is full of trills ....narrow  road across high mountains surrounded  by pines and covered in clouds ....I simply loved it as we drove thru'......Needless to mention , even the drive from Gangtok  to Namchi was beautiful  but had a different flavour to it ....

After our visit to Ravangla 'a Buddha park   we had a short stopover at a Rose Garden close by ,which houses innumerable varieties  of Flora 's from sikkim....its really a lovely walk across the large garden and ger to see such exotic flowers........

Though, the distance we covered in a day trip was bit more  but it was all worth .....loved to see a different  side of Sikkim's flavour..

Mystical Buddha of Ravangla ( South Sikkim)

Ravangla,  is a small tourist town at an elevation of 8000ft in South Sikkim, easily accessible  from the capital town of Sikkim,Gangtok.

  The Buddha Park built , to mark the birth anniversary  of Buddha  by Sukkim govt between 2006 to 2013 made this quaint town famous on tourist map The Buddha Park,also known as Tathagata Tsal is situated near Rebong and features a 130ft high statue of Buddha as its centre piece....One should be lucky enough to have a clear view of the Buddha Statue as it's mostly covered in clouds......But surely make every tourists visiting the place awestruck by the awesome beauty of the statue as well the location and its mystical surroundings ........

      The drive upto this places too is just awesome ,through the clouds and dense pine jungles ,with innumerable twists and turns across the high mountains.....

Besides the Buddha park,  a Rose garden on it's way has to be mentioned for its innumerable  varieties of exclusive flora of Sikkim ......

ALLURING EMERALD HILLS OF MUNNAR.

Set at an altitude of 6000ft in Idukki district of kerala, Munnar ,was once the most favored summer retreat of the erstwhile British rulers in colonial days. Unending expanses of tea plantations, pristine valleys, exotic species of flora & fauna, and aroma of spices and cool chill in the air ,makes Munnar a all time favourite destination  all  tourists visiting kerala . It is considered as the largest  tea growing region of south India. The emerald green tea plantations  are contoured ,clipped and sculptured  like ornamental hedges , alongside the low western ghats, making magnificent scenery...often one is above the clouds, watching the veils of mists clinging to mountain tops, making every visitor speechless, as they look across.....
      As one step into the Munnar hills ,the fresh air , the smell of the woods all across and cascading waterfalls ,starts giving in a holiday mood....Though roads all across the hills are quite narrow ,terrible traffic jams takes place often as one drives up hills . The drive is so thrilling that no one wish to miss  a chance  to keep enjoying those uphill climb and all those scenic beauties all across the climb.......As those tea  estates starts on ,u  can get sure that munnar town isn't  very far off .....all across the hill climb hundreds of resorts keep welcoming all visitors for a stay ...its alway better to get ones booking done prior as Munnar is an all season destination....The town centre though ,is very congested,  but ,being a tiny hill town ,no place is too far away , so every  hotel/ resort got a beautiful view to enjoy a stay.....
    MY EXPERIENCE  SURROUNDING THE EMERALD HILLS OF MUNNAR:
      Since I was driving  all the way from kozikode via Athirpally waterfalls,  by the time we checked into our hotel room it was quite dark. We were 2 ladies travelling  ,so didnt wish to venture out at night instead take rest and wait for the day break ....A mystic  morning  woke us up and we had to plan out of day activities  and places to see .....but I alway put the tea estate view on a first priority.... after sumptuous breakfast   ,we firstly planned out to head for the tea estates across the hills ,which we missed out while on our onward journey......As we came out of our hotel room, we found that the tea estates are all around and the chill in the air making the surrounding so so beautiful....Everywhere our eyes turned its emerald green with azure blue sky in its backdrop ....my joy saw no boundaries.....my camera lens kept clicking every inch of it ....I was so so happy to enjoy this beauty , was missing my husband a lot, as he too loves to travel a lot .....after quite sometimes at the tea estate , thought to go for a tea factory visit and get some spl tea to carry back home .....I loved those apple ice tea, peach tea ,lemon - black salt tea to name a few ...besides those green leaf tea of munnar , all those unique blends of tea filled up my shopping kitty ........next we headed to idduki town to be a witness to the destruction it had encountered during the kerala flood of 2018.....next 2 days ,occupied us for local sightseeing across munnar town ......Had a wonderful  time with my youngest sister , enjoyed a 4 star hospitality stay and did lots of shopping of spices and tea 's to complete my visit to this beautiful  hills.

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Rejoicing the cascading waters of ATHIRPALLY WATERFALLS.

Athirpally waterfalls, is situated in the Athirpally  panchayat  in Chalukudy  taluk of Thrissur district  in Kerala(India) .This falls is on the chalukudy river,which originates from upper reaches of Western ghats ,at the entrance of the Sholayar  ranges.
   It is the highest waterfalls  in kerala, which stands tall at 80ft. Its marvelous cascade of frothy waters  makes a width of 330 ft and often referred  as the " NIAGARA  FALLS OF INDIA"...From here, The Athirpally  falls flows thru' the verdant  greenery of Vazhachal Forest towards the Arabian Sea, creating a spectacular  vista of scintillating  waters, emerald jungles and azure sky.
   SEPT - JAN is the best time to enjoy a stay here...lots of home stays, resorts are spread across for tourists to visit the place.

The scenic beauty of Athirpally, has always been attractive location for Film makers. Famous song " Jiya Jale" from Dil Se movie, " Barso re megha" from Guru , song sequence from Bahubali,  " Sunta hai tera khuda" from puskar,  " chalk chalay mitwa" in Nayak  have been picturised  here.

  My experience: Since ,I have almost visited kerala fully from North to south ,I just didnt wish to miss out Athirpally waterfalls...so when opportunity came my way last January to visit Kozikode,  I just had to plan a drive out to Athirpally waterfalls....since I was alone ,I thought to ask my youngest sister ,who was then working at Kozikode, to join me.....We , planned out a stay at Munnar via Athirpally waterfalls,  as we were not sure of the places to stay around Athirpally......After almost 4+ hours drive we reached Athirpally waterfalls site around mid day ....since the roads across Chalukudy is a single lane road that heads to Athirpally,  it took us quite a time to reach as non of us was sure of the location ....many of our friends did say that one has to trek almost 2kms or so to reach the waterfall site but we found ,all such information wrong .....After we parked our vehicle in parking bay at Athirpally waterfalls site , we had to walk some half a kms to the rock bed from where the waters suddenly  cascading down some 80fts ,making a beautiful  scenic beauty amidst dense jungle .....the wind here is quite strong and one cannot stand too long here as the rock beds  get too heated up ...govt of kerala  has made very good arrangement to walk around ,provided with washrooms and places to sit at some locations ....some adventure seekers can also walk down 80 ft up to the place where the water is falling but thinking about the steep climb up back ,we just dropped the idea to go down instead.....but surely ,its a wonderful experience  . Later ,on our way back we took our drive thru' rubber plantation  dense jungle across to munnar ,which too ,was another experience  altogether  for 2 ladies taking on such journey  in an unknown region .....

AWESOME DELICACIES OF SARAFA BAZAR ,INDORE.

Indore's love affairs with food is long and legendary,  with street food  being much discussed and passionately debated topic in foodie circles.Thr flavors of Indore's diverse kitchen mingle madly at legendary  Sarafa bazaar, which comes alive at 9pm,when jewellery market,behind Rajwada palace,a crumbling remnants of Holkar dynasty  closes  down.
    Sarafa Bazar has lot to offer for gastronomically inclined.Though , no oneis sure about the origin of this bazar; it is believed  that it started 100yrs  ago and was encouraged  by jewellery shop owners ,so that noise and bustle would secure their  own shops at night. This late night market gets nearly  3000 + visitors,both local and  tourists.Sarafa Bazar stays open well into the night,both fuelling and satisfying  the city's irrepressible  appetite.
About 50 different dishes are available  here.  Sabudana khichdi, Garadu  ,malpua,  khopra  patties, Egg Benjo, Dal Bafla ( close cousin of Dal Baati churma) ,Jelaba, Ratalu, Hapus Icecream with Srikhand  ,10 flavors of panipuri,  Doodh Chana,  Namkeen  ,kanji vada, Petha paan, Indori shikanji..etc etc...to name a few.
Sarafa Bazar is a place that beacons food lovers to return again and again.

My experience at THE BHIMBETKA ROCK SHELTERS.

Bhimbetka Rock shelters,  is an archeological site in central  India,close to Bhopal city, spans the prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic  periods. It traces the earliest human life on the Indian Subcontinent  and evidences of stone age  starting at the site in Acheulian times.....
     Located in Raisen district  of Madhya Pradesh, about 45kms SE of Bhopal City,is an UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE, that consists of 7 hills and covers 750 or more Rock Shelters, distributed over 10kms.....Some of the shelters were inhabited  more than 1 lakh years ago.
  It gives rare glimpses  into human settlements and cultural  evolution  ,from hunters - gatherers to agriculture  and expression  of spirituality....Some of the Bhimbetka rock shelters  features  prehistoric cave paintings  and earliest ones are about 30,000 yrs old....

The best time to enjoy the place is,after monsoon  or in winters ....otherwise, the rocks get very hot and it makes trekking across a very tough work...Earlier, one had the trek thru' ,all the way up to the top but now vehicles are being allowed  to the topmost point ,so that one can easily access at some 15 caves with paintings to experience that early life of Man.
     It had been a wonderful experience for me and my husband  to see such wonders found in India, about which hardly tourists in India intend to visit...... I got to see 100s of foreign tourists flocking the place and taking interest to learn more about the early Man.The route across those 15 caves opened for tourists are very well marked....covered inside evergreen trees ,its an awesome trek thru'......tried to capture the Bhimbetka Rock shelters in my lens.....

Walking across the corridors of Ahilya bai Holkar fort,Maheshwar.

Ahilya bai Holkar fort is located in Maheshwar  town,in khargoan district of M.P (India).It was the capital of Malwa ,during maratha Holkar reign.
    The exquisite beauty of Maheshwar  and River Narmada is captured in many of our Bollywood movies like Ashoka, Padman,Yamla pagla Dewana,few shots of Bajirao Mastani ,Neerja to name a few.....There's more than 100 temples at Maheshwar, telling  the stories of Maheshwar. In the late 18th century, Maheshwar, served as the capital  of the great maratha Queen Rajmata Ahilya Bai Holkar. She embellished  the city with many beautiful  buildings....
Ahilya Bai fort houses a beautiful museum ,exhibiting beautiful items used by the Queen,needless to mention is the golden jhula of gopalji, which belonged to Rajmata Ahilya bhai ....besides a beautiful  embellished  temple ,whose walls are beautiful carved with sculptures ,worked out on soft SANDSTONE....its something to look forward for ,when someone visits the places ...every wall is so unique and beautifully carved out ,might take hours to go thru' ,if someone truly admire such beautiful architectures ,standing by river Narmada....
Many of this carving on the walls inside Ahilya bai Holkar 's fort finds its place in the beautiful Maheshwari sarees ,an exquisite product which has been patented  by the artisans of maheshwar...No tourist returns back from Maheshwar without getting  oneself a piece of such masterpiece of maheshwar.....The fort ,that houses,the palace, temples might take hours to see and  cherish such masterpiece works on its walls ....I just loved it and tried to capture every frame of those carving in my camera lens.....