Monday, October 27, 2014

Participation at India Unexplored - Digital Campaign

India Unexplored - As the name signifies its a platform were we will get options from Unexplored India.

A digital initiative by famous travel publisher "Lonely Planet". They are inviting people to participate in the campaign, by submitting their entries at the micro-site of the "India Unexplored". People have to give a small write up on unchartered destination of India.

I wrote a small write up Nahan (Read detailed article here) along with some pictures. They have kept prizes worth Rs. 3 Lacs (Not bad!). If you review the website you will come across many unexplored terrains and I am super excited to explore new destinations.

Dear Readers, if you have explored something interesting, do share it on http://unexplored.lonelyplanet.in

We might not win but atleast we will help others to know more about some unexplored terrains.

A good initiative by Lonely Planet

Source of news: Afaqs

Happy reading!

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Synonym of Greenery - Almora - Binsar - Jageshwar

Almost a year....yes you read it correctly I went on vacation exactly after one year. No harsh feelings, it was few personal commitment that kept me toooooo busy to think of vacations. My love for mountains ended on one more destination - Almora.

Almora - beautiful, green, eternal peace...you name it and you will get it all! A picturesque Himalayan city of Uttarakhand. Before I go ahead on this blog...
CAUTION: The beautiful city just has beauty...don't you dare think of scrumptious food. So if you are planning to visit Almora, carry lots n lots of Cuppa Noodles, because we also just survived on our beloved MAGGIIIIII.
Saviour - Nestle should pay me for surrogate advertising ;)




We started on 2nd Oct night at around 11:00 PM, we hired an Innova, as none of us were willing to drive and let me introduce you WE here - Anurag Gupta (My loving Hubby), Nikhil & Akarsh (Two little brother cum friends) and Anu (Sister from another mother..ha ha ha ha).

As calculated by me the expected journey was around 300 kms, but our driver bhaiya was too smart he took us from a long route (They always do that to make that extra penny...grrrrrrrr). Anyways till he drives wisely I don't mind paying him that extra penny (Aaaahhhh...My heart pains). The entire trip was all charged up with lively Punjabi Numbers played from Nikhil's PSP (Deadly collection chiks!) and of course thanks to Anu & Akarsh for making hell lot of noise...poor driver he might had been super irritated.

We took our first break at a roadside dhaba, nice, clean and quick service. We just had tea that too in small mud cups (We call it Hunda in our local language). Once we were refreshed, we hopped on and soon we could feel the swirls of mountains. We reached our hotel at around 7:00 AM - Ayush Guest House, Almora. 

Weather Check: Cool breeze and pleasant.

Now I would like to give bit detail on how I got this amazing guesthouse. While we were planning for Almora, I came across this website www.stayzilla.com, I was impressed with what they say about themselves "If you call us cheap, we'll take it as a compliment.".....ha ha ha ha ha! But I must say my first experience with them was awesome. I booked 2 rooms for 3 nights and they called me to say that I don't have to pay any advance....Like seriously!!...It was a deal of 700 rs per room per night... and if I don't turn up..I had nothing to loose...bang on! and I was sold!. So this is how I booked Ayush Guest House. 

Although the name does not sound like a five star, the services, the location could have beaten any 5 star property. To reach the hotel we have to do 15 minutes trekking and somewhere in the middle of the mountain we could see our tiny guesthouse.

Ayush Guest House
Post check-in we had Tea, Maggi and Toast (Only this much and trust me this was our biggest mistake, as we starved for rest rest of the day!). We checked with our hotel owner about the local sight seeing options, he guided us to cover the two sides of Almora, first stretch covers famous local temples ends at famous Jageshwar Temple and second stretch, which we decided to cover the next day was Binsar Wild Life Sanctuary.

We quickly got ready and moved towards our first destination - "Golu Devta ka Mandir". What makes this temple different than any other temple is the process of sending your request to God. We human being believe is direct connection with God, so here at Golu Devta temple the concept is that you write your request on a Stamp Paper, its not a joke...I m serious....People write their request / wishes on a stamp paper and tied it at temple premises. We tried reading few, but then we realized it would be wrong reading someone's request. 
 
Arziyaan!
Outside this temple there was a local food joint, we had some Pakoras with yummy chutney, Noodles which was not even close to what we generally eat. The waiter told us about the special Raita / Yoghurt, which we order but none of us had courage to finish it. We were still hungry and we tried ordering Parathas (Staple food of Delhites), but the guy refused to serve it, without any reason.

From there we drove 50 Kms ahead of Almora, and we reached Jageshwar. We stopped at first sight of temple and clicked many pictures. But then Panditji told us that that was just one temple, drive few KMs and there you will find group of temples (Its was like....yeh toh sirf trailer hai...picture abhi baaki hai mere dost). 
  
Jageshwar - Group of Temples

 Jageshwar temple belongs to our history and has beautiful structures made up of just stones, we felt we reached Flintstones era. But now these temples come under Archeological Department of India, who take care of all temples. On close observation we can see ancient scriptures on temple walls.

Within 1/2 Km drive we reached group of Temples at Jageshwar, there were approx 10-20 small temples, along with a main Lord Shiva Temple, which is one of the Jyotirlinga. (And I was gald that I completed by 3rd Jyotirlinga).

By this time we were dead tired and hungry, we went to KMVN Jageshwar Resthouse to check for some food, but he refused to give anything and said they make everything on order. We again went to some local food joint and had Maggi and few Parathas.

We had to reach hotel before it gets dark, as we have to do 15 minutes trekking to reach our Guesthouse and by the time we reached it was dense dark. Thank god to our smartphones, we reached Guesthouse safely. We had amazing dinner and we all dozed off!

The food at Ayush Guesthouse was average, we can't expect them to give us three course meal, but the owner managed to give a good mix of Veg and Non-Veg dishes along with curd, pickle, rice. The best part was the hot phulkas made by the owner himself. The food was heaven!

 Next day we all were charged, as we had to cover Binsar Wild Life Sanctuary. Our destination was 20 Kms away from Almora, or if I be precise 18 KMs, rest 2 Kms is a trek till Zero Point. You are being stopped way before Sanctuary gate, we got our entry tickets 150 rs per head and 250 rs for Car. The roads inside the sanctuary are very narrow but our driver bhaiya was an expert. The point from where we have to start our trek is close to KMVN stay houses, which generally get an advance booking of 3-4 months, so even if you are planning to stay here you really need to have good jack!

Entry Gate of Binsar Wild Life Sanctuary

Before we could start our trekking, we all were hungry again and by now you can understand what we had...Exactly what you are thinking - MAGGI and tea. We started 2 Kms trek and it seemed a never ending job for me...but once we reached Zero point, we realized how beautiful mother nature is...we could hardly see Himalayas because of dense clouds. We clicked few pictures and trekked down to where our car was parked.

While coming back from Binsar, we came across an amazing Cafe called - Manoj Cafe. Good ambiance, the hotel balcony has a background of beautiful Himalayas. At first look the hotel guy said a "BIG NO" (I think  they don't understand the concept of Snacking Or Munching), then god knows what happened, he took our order. He served us amazing coffee, with Pasta & Pizza.

The day ended with yummy dinner served by our own Raju Bhaiya (Ayush Guesthouse Owner-Cook-Supervisor-Waiter)

The very next day we are all were ready to hit the road to reach Delhi. We bought some famous Bal Mithai and Chocolate Barfi from local market and it was a happy ending :)
I believe I have covered my entire trip!

Keep reading! Stay Blessed!

Friday, October 18, 2013

Eat, Sleep & Repeat Mode -Trip to Mcleodganj

Hi All,

As promised in my previous blog, I yet have to pen down my entire trip to Mcleodganj, so here it goes:

We (The group of 5 friends), started from ISBT Kashmiri Gate at around 8:30 PM. We crossed by Murthal (I was drooling once I saw Sukhdev Dhaba for yummy parathas) - Karnal - Ambala and then I slept :P, long journey indeed. We took a stop over somewhere close to Chandighar (I guess!) at Neekanth Dhaba and trust me, we had an horrible experience here. Generally we have an impression that roadside dhabas's serve good but once you reach here you will realize what do I mean...for sure!

Anyways moving on, we took one more break at Kangra (Around 5:00 AM) for morning tea and few of us rang the morning alarm too :P. The bus dropped us to Mcleodganj Bus stand at around 7:00 AM, from bus stand we walked down the streets of Mclo to reach our Hotel Jungle Hut. Mclo is a small hill station in Upper Dharamshala, the entire city is stretched in three roads; the 1st lane goes towards Bhagsu Temple & Waterfall (Main Attraction of city), the 2nd lane goes inside the city and has major Food joints, massage centre and other recreation centers, the 3rd lane goes towards famous Dalai Lama Temple.

Weather: Mclo gets rain in October, the weather was pleasent in day time and was cold at night. It was drizzling on most of the days. But you would enjoy the weather.
View from my hotel

We walked on the 1st lane, which has our hotel, the best thing about our hotel was its location, I will tell you how! 1 km ahead of our Hotel was Bhgasu temple and if we walk 1 km back, we will reach the Mclo main city. So everything was on a very short distance.

The hotel was an average one, I would rate in 3 out of 5, I liked the location of the hotel and views from my room. The only problem was that we have to remind the hotel staff for cleaning up and keep it tidy. Rest the room service and the restaurant in the hotel was fine.

The basic rule in Mclo is to explore the variety of cuisine, so you have to roam around in the city and try has many big-small cafes / food joints you can. Following are the rating as per my choice to the food joints we tried in 3 days:

Hotel Green House: Good breakfast, love the pancakes and different flavors of tea. Breakfast for 5 people cost us around: Rs.540

Hotel Gayaki: Purely vegetarian Tibetan food; awesome potato momos (I also smirked my nose, but just loved it and ordered twice); Tummy full food cost: Rs.520

Hotel Four Seasons: Good Italian food like Lasagne, Salad, Pizzas, Spinach momos. Tummy full snacking cost: Rs.825

German Bakery (At Bhagsu): Amazing breakfast, I tired Israeli Breakfast which was average but my friend tried Chicken Burger, which was awesome and some nice potatoes cooked with local flavors. (Potato is a staple food) Cost: Rs.665

Shiva Cafe (At Bhagsu): Average on food but Heaven when we talk about the location. There are not much of options to explore, so we just had Maagi & french fries along with Chai. Cost: Rs.160

So now you can imagine, what was our prime focus just to hog! and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Just a small tip, whenever you order something in small restaurants, just decide in one go and order because if you will repeat your order then you have to wait for good 15-20 mins, which eventually kills your hunger.

Major attraction of the trip was the fun at the Bhagsu Waterfall, to reach waterfall we have to follow a track of approx 2 kms, but its worth walking, once you reach there, you will find free flowing water from mountains, chilled!!


Trek to Waterfall

Guys enjoyed the dip in the water, followed by a photo session of entire group :)

Shopping: Mclo does not  have much of shopping options, majorly we will get fake Adidas, Reebok shoes / jackets. And even if you like buy something negotiate to your best level.

All in all, we had a relaxed trip. All 3 days we were in - Eat, Sleep & Repeat Mode!

I would like to thank my buddy - Mohit & Sameep, who suggested the vacation destination and helped me in planning the trip. Thank you guys! Hope next time "WE"will go together-together! -------Hugsssss-------

This was a KISS (Keep it short & simple) trip!

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Planning for Mcleodganj

October 2013, winters approaching, festivity in the air with Navratras and Durga Puja and on top of everything, its one of my best friend's birthday, so we planned a weekend trip to Mcleodganj.

After a regress research, we finalized the destination - Mcleodganj, also known as Upper Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh (India). The plan is to leave Delhi ISBT on Thursday night (10th Oct, 2013)and reach Mclo early morning on Friday (11th Oct, 2013).

To start with the preparations, the first thing we did was to block the Volvo ticket. To my surprise we got instant booking via Himachal Road Transport Corporation (http://www.hrtc.gov.in/hrtctickets/), a government owned website and the kind of details we got on the website for Bus along with a picture was really surprising. We also got a chance to allocate our seats and finally we booked our seats and did online payment, Kudos to the team....great work! One important thing whenever I plan I get my tickets done round the trip, this is just to avoid last moment kiosk :)

Next step was to book an accommodation, when I checked on Google, I got many options and as per budget i froze on few options namely - Hotel Bhagsu (My first preference because it was a Govt Own Hotel), Hotel Jungle Hut & Hotel Green. I divided my preference in Good, Average & Budget hotel respectively (that is my style of shortlisting). I was unfortunate to get the Hotel Bhagsu, as it was sold out on preferred dates and on the same time I was fortunate to get availability in Hotel Jungle Hut, which to my surprise was actually a above average hotel (As per reviews got on internet). So i NEGOTIATED (which is in my Gene) with the hotel manager and got a good deal for two rooms for two nights. I will share the final cost break up in my next blog.

Hotel website: http://junglehutdharamshala.com/

So far so good...everybody is excited for the trip, two major things are sorted - Travel & Accommodation.

The next blog will have further details on the trip along with some nice pictures.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Missing my blog

I have been missing my blog and have not been visited it for a while, as now I am Wife, a Cook, a Chachi, a Daugther-in-law and let me be precise - I am Married now!

So I am enjoying big responsibilities, I have to admit the fact that initially it was really difficult to manage the dual responsibility - Home & Work, but whatever the situation, "Home and family" always comes first. So with no choice I learned to manage both and I am glad to tell you all that I am about to complete happy two years soon.

Moving on, I will soon share my long two years of journey through my blog as I am a "Voyager" and "Life" is a beautiful journey.

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Wedding Era!

Yes! Very proudly I announce myself to be Mrs.Gupta now. Yes it happened finally.....I met somebody on 7th March and everything was finalized in a week times...wow! I proudly called up my all friends and to share the good news and captured their reaction saying "What" (Nothing to my surprise).

We finally hooked up on 9th June, 2011 and now let me define the "WE" - Mr. Anurag Gupta & Mrs.Teesha Gupta - We now pronounce you man and woman.


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Busy Weekends!!

Four back to back long weekend, isn't it just great. I know I know it is, but there are many workaholic just like me. Yes!! i mean to say that I am in OFFICE, either it was a long relaxing weekend (For others) or a steady weekday, I was on with my work.

But I feel its my personnel decision so I don't have right to complain. So lets not complain and keep the spirit of workaholic high!

Wish me luck :)