This time, I had been off to the hills!!! To parts of northern west Bengal...WB is though the state that I originally belong to but have hardly stayed there! Destiny had it that my mother is posted at an odd location called Binnaguri (has Asia's largest military cantonment, which in turn has more wild tigers & elephants than men & women..;-) )since last 3 years!
I flew down to Kolkata on the 29th of April (my first flight alone & the ticket was from my pocket!!! Though am hoping to settle the LTA claims..;-D). Despite my prayers to have a handsome co-passenger, two old, unassuming men were my co-passengers L on the left & an absolute 'chikna' (I don't know the appropriate word in English!) male was the steward!! Two snobbish ladies chatting endlessly abt their hubby's health & wealth ever since they boarded the plane, were on my right!
(Though they sounded very rich & travel by air as much as I have ridden my bicycle, I still felt like telling them..."Try & earn once, u'll feel better!..:-)")
From there, me & my Dad (who came down from Bokaro..:-) took off for New Jalpaiguri, which is the gateway station to most places in the North East.
There, we met my beloved Mother as per our plan.
Then followed our journey into the hills! It was fabulous! Though I am not very good at writing travelogues & at appropriate descriptions of places & objects, but you can merrily assume the best of adjectives describing nature at its best for places like these!!
Our first destination was Kalimpong!
By the way, Northern west Bengal is primarily inhabited by the Nepalis & so is culturally very different from the rest of West Bengal!
Though I haven't been to Kerala, But I guess this is God's own country too!!!
The royal Himayalas which stand in the defence of our country at its northern borders are majestic!!! Thickly forested in a green that's pure & colours one soul!
(hum pe yeh kisne hara rang daala..;-))
Flowers in myriad hues..& I mean it!!! Kids must go there to learn all colours...everything except black!!! The combinations that nature can create, man can never can!!! & I can bet, they are better creations than elegant shopping malls & cinema halls! I would very soon, provide you with my illustrative evidences captured in my digicam! Again, I m just an amateur photographer but few photos are at par with best of PC wallpapers that we come across...
Roads uphill are not only beautiful but are a potential test to the skills of the driver! We traversed hairpin bends, S bends....(some had a radius of 35ft!)
Sometimes, it churns up all lipids, fluids & hormones inside us!!
The other destinations were Lava, Lolegaon, Rishap & Tinchley! The beauty of each of them is beyond the scope of my vocabulary as well as the length of my mail! Our tour was what they call as eco-tourism, wherein the owners of the lodge are as hospitable as our own people, tea is from the tea plantations behind the cottage, egg & chicken are from their own poultry, honey from their beehive, vegetables from their kitchen garden , fish from their fisheries etc.. Campfire in the evening warming it up by songs from Darjeeling to ones from Bob Dylan to papa kehte hain..:-)
Rishap, which is at an altitude of 8000ft, renders a spectacular sight of the Kanchenjunga! As artistic people put it, its 'mystic beauty' indeed..:-) Just that, it was beyond the range of my camera! One needs to trek up the extremely scary way to the cottages.
Tinchley is at 6000 ft & the entire place has been developed for tourists by WWF.
Pine forests accompanied us all through.
Lodging everywhere, was in wooden cottages. That was a welcome respite from the suffocating urban flats that we live in! Life in those places is simple but clean, peaceful, beautiful...
By the way, we met a Bangladeshi (obviously Bengali Muslims) family who were quite amicable & the young girls were a feast for the eyes for men of all age groups! Unfortunately, they don't get to wear those hype clothes back at home.
On our way back, we went to a place called Mongpu, where Rabindranath Tagore spent quite some time & hence that cottage is a memorial now! This gentleman's work is galactic! & One Bong, I guess, can't finish it all in a lifetime...& Ones like me cannot even decipher them! (am extremely regretful about it!) So just managed to get a few rare pics of his work, belongings & himself...:-)
Way downhill saw an increasing temperature! Though lush green surroundings are abundant in those areas even in the foothills/plains!
The more I travel, the more I feel, there's lot more to see, know & be in...
Unlike my Rajasthan trip in November, amidst forts & places, other beautiful man made creations & birdwatching, this trip was amidst God's best creations, flower & butterfly watching!
I now realize why we mugged a 1000 times in Social Science at School.."India is a land of diversity"...For every reason we can think of, India rocks now!!! All we lack is the awareness that we are the best!!! (Am trying hard to generate revenues in dollars, for my land by working for the foreign clients!)
If I ever get a chance to go abroad, I would make sure that I leave marks permanent enough for them to respect Indians & know India!
(if you have read my mail about the Rajasthan trip, you would know what I am talking about!)
The 2nd week of my planned Earn leave was spent at Kolkata with Ma, at a place that's formally our residence, now turned into a fully equipped/furnished rest/guest house..:-)
On my journey back to this sleepless city, I was traveling by (Yours faithfully, Indian Railways) & had an interesting travel with a female from a 'not-so-nice' background in the opposite berth (not for any fault of her own) & a female from IIT kharagpur (Btech(mech)) on the berth above!..:-)
I flew down to Kolkata on the 29th of April (my first flight alone & the ticket was from my pocket!!! Though am hoping to settle the LTA claims..;-D). Despite my prayers to have a handsome co-passenger, two old, unassuming men were my co-passengers L on the left & an absolute 'chikna' (I don't know the appropriate word in English!) male was the steward!! Two snobbish ladies chatting endlessly abt their hubby's health & wealth ever since they boarded the plane, were on my right!
(Though they sounded very rich & travel by air as much as I have ridden my bicycle, I still felt like telling them..."Try & earn once, u'll feel better!..:-)")
From there, me & my Dad (who came down from Bokaro..:-) took off for New Jalpaiguri, which is the gateway station to most places in the North East.
There, we met my beloved Mother as per our plan.
Then followed our journey into the hills! It was fabulous! Though I am not very good at writing travelogues & at appropriate descriptions of places & objects, but you can merrily assume the best of adjectives describing nature at its best for places like these!!
Our first destination was Kalimpong!
By the way, Northern west Bengal is primarily inhabited by the Nepalis & so is culturally very different from the rest of West Bengal!
Though I haven't been to Kerala, But I guess this is God's own country too!!!
The royal Himayalas which stand in the defence of our country at its northern borders are majestic!!! Thickly forested in a green that's pure & colours one soul!
(hum pe yeh kisne hara rang daala..;-))
Flowers in myriad hues..& I mean it!!! Kids must go there to learn all colours...everything except black!!! The combinations that nature can create, man can never can!!! & I can bet, they are better creations than elegant shopping malls & cinema halls! I would very soon, provide you with my illustrative evidences captured in my digicam! Again, I m just an amateur photographer but few photos are at par with best of PC wallpapers that we come across...
Roads uphill are not only beautiful but are a potential test to the skills of the driver! We traversed hairpin bends, S bends....(some had a radius of 35ft!)
Sometimes, it churns up all lipids, fluids & hormones inside us!!
The other destinations were Lava, Lolegaon, Rishap & Tinchley! The beauty of each of them is beyond the scope of my vocabulary as well as the length of my mail! Our tour was what they call as eco-tourism, wherein the owners of the lodge are as hospitable as our own people, tea is from the tea plantations behind the cottage, egg & chicken are from their own poultry, honey from their beehive, vegetables from their kitchen garden , fish from their fisheries etc.. Campfire in the evening warming it up by songs from Darjeeling to ones from Bob Dylan to papa kehte hain..:-)
Rishap, which is at an altitude of 8000ft, renders a spectacular sight of the Kanchenjunga! As artistic people put it, its 'mystic beauty' indeed..:-) Just that, it was beyond the range of my camera! One needs to trek up the extremely scary way to the cottages.
Tinchley is at 6000 ft & the entire place has been developed for tourists by WWF.
Pine forests accompanied us all through.
Lodging everywhere, was in wooden cottages. That was a welcome respite from the suffocating urban flats that we live in! Life in those places is simple but clean, peaceful, beautiful...
By the way, we met a Bangladeshi (obviously Bengali Muslims) family who were quite amicable & the young girls were a feast for the eyes for men of all age groups! Unfortunately, they don't get to wear those hype clothes back at home.
On our way back, we went to a place called Mongpu, where Rabindranath Tagore spent quite some time & hence that cottage is a memorial now! This gentleman's work is galactic! & One Bong, I guess, can't finish it all in a lifetime...& Ones like me cannot even decipher them! (am extremely regretful about it!) So just managed to get a few rare pics of his work, belongings & himself...:-)
Way downhill saw an increasing temperature! Though lush green surroundings are abundant in those areas even in the foothills/plains!
The more I travel, the more I feel, there's lot more to see, know & be in...
Unlike my Rajasthan trip in November, amidst forts & places, other beautiful man made creations & birdwatching, this trip was amidst God's best creations, flower & butterfly watching!
I now realize why we mugged a 1000 times in Social Science at School.."India is a land of diversity"...For every reason we can think of, India rocks now!!! All we lack is the awareness that we are the best!!! (Am trying hard to generate revenues in dollars, for my land by working for the foreign clients!)
If I ever get a chance to go abroad, I would make sure that I leave marks permanent enough for them to respect Indians & know India!
(if you have read my mail about the Rajasthan trip, you would know what I am talking about!)
The 2nd week of my planned Earn leave was spent at Kolkata with Ma, at a place that's formally our residence, now turned into a fully equipped/furnished rest/guest house..:-)
On my journey back to this sleepless city, I was traveling by (Yours faithfully, Indian Railways) & had an interesting travel with a female from a 'not-so-nice' background in the opposite berth (not for any fault of her own) & a female from IIT kharagpur (Btech(mech)) on the berth above!..:-)
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