GOA – THE MONSOON WONDER

People normally love Goa during the year end, because of parties, lots of tourist, flee markets and dher sara action on the beaches. But I love it in the monsoon. Why? Ah! I am one of those peace loving creatures on this planet. I like it when things are green, when rain splashes hard on your face, when the sky is overcast with clouds, beaches are empty, u know all that is so romantic and relaxing.
In this Monsoon wonder u can be lazy, read, eat and just go for nice strolls. And that’s what I call - a perfect holiday.
At this time of the year u can afford to stay in a lot many 4 stars and 5 star hotels as they give fantastic 4nights 5 days packages on slashed prices. But u have to book a lot in advance since a lot of local tourist come to goa in monsoon because of these attractive offers. Me and my friends managed a decent booking in an upcoming south goa 4 star resort – Baywatch. Nice rooms, Sea view from a lot rooms, they also have Villa’s, a good swimming pool, a gym and a spa.
First thing we did was hire two Honda Activa’s and ventured out to explore the calm and peaceful side of Goa. A plate full of nice stir fried prawns in a shack on one of the not so known beaches of goa on a rainy day, was a perfect start to a rain soaked evening. We almost got lost on the roads of south goa and finally reached our resort fully drenched at around 9 in the night. Next day we haired a car and went towards old goa to the see the beautiful churches that the Portuguese build. Brown stone structure standing in the midst of lawns and huge old trees, this is the Francis Xavier Church of Goa. Right opposite is the cathedral which is the largest in Asia. Old Goa makes u feel like u are in Europe until a beggar asks u for money or u find ur self surrounded by people selling small small artifacts, accessories, candles and flowers asking u to buy at least something. So I bought 5 pairs of crystal earrings for 100 bucks. From old Goa we went straight to the capital city – Panjim. A lazy afternoon, shops are mostly shut from 1 to 4pm. So we had a great lunch at Shere Paunjab restaurant and then went on to see the Panjim Church. This most probably is the church that is there in Sharukh’s movie ‘Josh’. Oh! One thing u are allowed to click photo’s in the church but of the church only, not people or urself. Once in Panjim u must visit Dona Paula, it’s a nice point to watch the sunset. In season time u can even enjoy some water sports here.
We headed back to our den and since it was a friends Birthday the dinner was out in a very goan place – Martin’s Corner. After a lovely evening next day it was time for some more fun. We wanted to check out the most action packed beaches of Goa in off season. So we headed for North Goa the land of Bagga, Anjuna, Calangute beaches. Ah! We did find the regular shacks shut but some hotels were still running their shacks, people were still getting tattoos made and shops were still up selling T shirts, Indian Clothes and Indian Handicraft and even shoes. So I again did some amazing shopping from here. After spending a whole day in North Goa it was time to go back to the resort and take some rest, before the Goan holiday comes to a final end.

WALK IN THE CLOUDS

CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards - Best Mountain destination – Shimla, Best adventure Sport destination – Shimla, Best destination for Health and rejuvenation – Shimla,
Summer capital of the British Raj and now capital of Dev bhoomi Himachal Pradesh has all of the above and lots more in store for everyone. Let me take u to the Shimla that I am still exploring. In every visit I find something new and more exciting.

From Delhi to Shimla by road takes some 8 to 9hrs with proper halts on dhaba’s on the highway and Pinjore Garden in Chandigarh. U can even take a train to Shimla from Kalka. As u reach Shimla u will find dozens of people shouting and running after u don’t worry they just want to make some commission by putting u in a hotel that they have an agreement with. If u are the rich sorts then The Oberoi Group of hotels – Wildflower hall, Shimla is the best place to stay – its right on the Mall road with a beautiful view of the entire city. But if u are like me who wants to be around people and yet be away from the hustle bustle then there are lots of guest houses and hotels in New Shimla Also.
On my latest visit I got a chance to stay at a friends place in New Shimla. A very cozy house made almost in the middle of the mountain giving u fantastic valley view, a beautiful sunrise and lovely wind. Oh! Best part of this place was there is no road to the house, so u can easily get your daily dose of exercise trekking up to the road everyday.
Here I must tell u one more thing I have noticed that when one is on a holiday in the mountains – instead of putting on weight u loose some of it. That’s so cool na!
Ok to roam around in Shimla there are many places in the city that u would want to see. I hit the Mall Road, first every time. This is a meeting point for the localities. But for tourist like me there’s too much here to finish in one day, to start with The Ridge, The church, Scandal point, The old Municipal library, Small little colourful gardens, there is also an old skating ring and Bazaars all around, full of amazing stuff to buy.

Right below the Main Mall Road is Lower Bazaar from where u can buy nice woolens and if u go further up on the Mall Road u will reach Lakad Bazaar a place known for its wooden show pieces, artifacts and even some furniture. Once I finished my shopping I sat on the stairs of Town Hall the old British style building just observing people walking on the Mall. There are some good eating places on the mall the old bakeries give u pastries, cakes and amazing cream rolls and if u wana have Evening snack, lunch or dinner on the mall then Fascination is the place. My pick form mall road were a few postcards of Shimla and Himachali style gold earrings. Oh! Incase u are missing Delhi or Mumbai then there is Barista to chill and show rooms of brands like Reebok etc to shop in.
Day Three - was to visit a few places around shimla – if time permits u can go up chail and Kufri. In kufri u can dress up like a himachali and get urself clicked, u can see potato fields, go for horse ride and even roam around in the woods. Halipad is also a fantastic place which one should not miss. I clicked some Yak’s and monkeys there and enjoyed the beautiful site.
Day Four - It was time for me to go back as my lovely holiday was getting towards an end. So I planned that I must visit Himachal University before I bid good bye to Shimla. It is by far the most Romantic and beautiful looking university that I have seen curvy roads, lush green mountains and Red leaves falling from brass trees in ur path all this in the month of April. But the visual treat is not over yet, walk up the road to Advance Studies. Since 1884 till 1947 it was the House of various viceroys and governor generals and now it is one of the most renowned internationally recognized institutes for Higher Studies. What a fantastic experience it was to be there. On the beautiful lawns and amidst trees loaded with flowers i just wished to be a student of this place but I had to leave to catch my bus back to Delhi on Time.

Photographs Courtesy: Mountain Baba

MONSOON MAGIC

Uksaan a small village in Kamshet can be a wonderful getaway from the hustle bustle of Mumbai especially in Monsoons.
I went there with my colleagues for a special team building training. We reached Kamshet at 8:30 on a Friday night. It takes a 3 and a half hour drive via Mumbai Pune expressway. Take the second exit for lonavala from the expressway u will be on the old lonavala highway. Once u cross a railway line there is a left turn towards kamshet. The road gets bumpy as u reach closer to the village.
Our first Den was Native Place overlooking the uksaan Lake. No TV, room service or newspapers just beautiful calm surroundings. A sky filled with stars above and shinning jugnoos on the trees below.
After a brief introduction with our consultant Mr Mangesh we were ready for dinner. Any meal in Native place is a buffet and tastes like nice home cooked food. After dinner we explored the place a little, took a small stroll in the garden and then the entire gang sat for a singing session, which went on till midnight.
Next morning we started early. Western ghats offer u lovely treks specially in this season. We trekked almost till the top of a hill enjoying the view, chatting and cracking jokes on the way. It was quit an exercise for the senior members of the team who have a sedentary job. The uksaan village, our resort and the lake made a beautiful picture. One hour of trek and everyone was hungry for a breakfast of Poori Bhaji. 9:30 am it was now time for some serious stuff.... team building activities and lot of discussion. All of us were asked to introduce not ourselves but one other member of the team. I think it was Interesting for everyone to know what people think of u. The entire day passed doing several great team-building puzzles some of which we could solve and some of which we couldn’t. Whichever way, it was a learning experience. Many people realised their mistakes some didn’t. But on the whole it was great. In the evening we moved to our camp Pegasus Institute for Excellence, a military style camp, tents with no beds, amazing lakeside, quit and calm surroundings. A small group went for some fun on the lakeside, it was heart warming to see grown up men turn into kids and competing, who can throw the stone and create maximum ripple circles in the lake.
It was getting dark and it started to rain, so we all rushed to the camp. The rain got lovely weather with it so the dinner was laid in the open. After a nice session of Antakshari i went to sleep cause next morning we needed energy for trek and rappelling.
Next morning we did some exercise in a very interesting and different style - singing and dancing. Tanaji – who was the in charge caretaker of our group was directing us. In Pegasus the side open tents are called gazebo’s we assembled in gazebo 1 for breakfast and after that it was time for action.
A steep trek of 25 min took us to the Rappelling point. I was the 9th one to rappel down and the moment I tied the rope on, the rain god decided to make things adventurous for me. Yet it was a cool experience...u just have to put all your weight on the waist and thigh band, tilt at 60 degree, control your rope with left hand and walk backward. First 50 ft was ok then I took my feet away from the rock and lost balance. But quickly got back to normal, it stopped raining and the rock was now slippery so just 20ft above the base I slipped but didn’t loose my cool. With help of a team member and one of the trainers my feet were put back on the rock and I landed safely on the ground.
By the time the entire team rappelled down it was time for lunch in gazebo 3. After lunch there was a brain storming and introspection session that went on till 5:30pm and then we were ready to head back to Mumbai. It started to rain heavily so a treat of one hot cup of chai with pakoda’s was much needed. We all had that and ran to get into our vehicles. I think the entire team went back with a very important lesson that –
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

DEV BHOOMI HIMACHAL

April May june is the time when everyone wants to run away from the scroching heat of the plains.Lots of places in Himachal Pradesh can give u a cool relief in these months and my destination was Kullu Manali.
By raod from delhi is the best way to get there. It takes some 10 to 12 hrs so its always better to leave early morning. The drive is amazing and as u reach closer to Kullu Manali the snow peaks, blossoming white flowers in the apple orchards take u away from all the tension of fast passed metro life. Watch the sunrise on the banks of beas river. Just sit and look at the tall mountains and the plush green woods. Soak the fresh air in. Go for a long walk. That’s how I started my first day.
Manali is a tourist destination, so this time of the year u will find a lot of Hustle bustle on the main street - the mall road. It’s full of just married couples, young groups seeking adventure, school trips and sumo's and safari’s loaded with families. I am a shopoholic and Manali has a lot to offer. The Tibetan market, stores selling Himachali shawls, carft and juices and jams, kashmiri stores and lot of silver shops that u can spot every where. Silver jewellery in Manali is a good mix of Kashmiri, Himachali and trendy stuff, so one has a lot of choice. And whatever u buy, bargain, bargain and bargain because that’s your right.
Its lunch time and u have a lot of choice from Punjabi khana in the restaurants on mall road to German bakeries and Chinese stall. But I choose Jhon Benon resorts. Here though u can order anything from the menu, they have day’s special written on a board. Very English I must say. So since I was in Manali and am a non vegi I choose to eat roasted trout fish, it is fresh water fish which is very popular in this season, with baked potatoes and salad. The mantra is to keep your self light so that u can enjoy your holiday. But John’s place I would say is a bit costly, guess it’s specially made for foreign tourist.
After a nice lunch I walked my way to the Hdimba temple. Clicked some photos, chilled on the bench in the temple courtyard and called it a day. I love walking in Manali, though there are auto’s that can take u around the place or if u are biker types there are all kinds of bullets for u to hire.
Next morning, breakfast was on the Banks of river Beas in old manali’s Café Manalsu. This place has lovely pan cakes, porridge and amazing omelet’s. After placing my order I went for a stroll. There are shops on the entire street in old Manali as one goes uphill. Old Manali is where u will find most of the foreign tourist, especially the budget travelers. The shops here sell lovely silver jewellery, junk jewellery, arti-facts, t – shirts and hippy clothes. I bought some silver earrings and t- shirts and went for my breakfast to Manalsu. With my stomach full of healthy breakfast it was time for some adventure. So I took a cab and was on the Solang valley road. A skiing slope in winters was now used for Paragliding, scooter rides and several other adventure sports. So it was time to fly high, In 600 bucks the pilot takes u for a nice flight. Walk your way up to the take off point which is a good exercise and wait for your turn. I was nicely tucked with belts all around, the key here is don’t panic, the pilot will do every thing u just have to enjoy. We ran a bit before the Para glider went up and we were flying over the trees with the snow peaks giving a lovely backdrop. I felt nothing less then a super woman on a mission in some bond flick. Before I could even look at the whole place around me it was time to land. I made a perfect landing with my feet firm on the ground not stumbling even a bit. My pilot complimented me for this as everyone else around was falling while landing. There are cameramen who are filming every flight so in case u want yours for a record they will deliver a CD to your Hotel for 200rs.
Now it was time to go back to Manali. There is lot of adventure sports like rappelling, rock climbing, river crossing etc. happening in Manali at this time of the year. In kullu u can also do river rafting but my small Holiday was getting over. So I headed for a nice Italian pizza at Ellfarno on hidimba road. The place is run by an Italian woman who is settled in Manali. A lovely wood and slate cottage has fresh pizza and cheese smell every where. I sat outside, watching a fantastic view while enjoying my lunch. One thing u should not miss in Ellfarno is the chocolate cake. I still had some time in hand so I took an Auto and headed for Manu temple which is in old manali enjoyed the peace and chatted with village people and moved towards vashisht where u will find hot sulphur water pools in the temple. I washed my hands and feet with that water, it’s supposed to detoxify u. Now it was time to head back to my Hut. The HPTDC Log Huts was my home for two days. They are nice cozy huts, with individual lawns and the food is lovely. My last night in Manali Log Huts was with a delicious Himachali Dinner and bonfire in the lawn.

My Entry into the World wide web

After having explored and fallen in love with the broadcast medium, this is finally my enrty into the black hole of the world wide web. Keep watchin this space for my not-so-regular accounts of holidays, shopping and foooooood! (by the way i'm on a diet!).....