My son has started taking photos and I am giving a pose infront of Beas River in Manali

Kedar Badri

kedar badri two mountain peaks as seen through telescope from kufri. Are the going to be my next outing.

horse riding

while returning from Kufri we got us snapped

final day of the tour (4/12/08)

Generally at the end of any tour we became very sad, but this time we were very tired and wanted to finish the tour. We left the hotel at 12 noon. Total bill was Rs. 11364. We visited a couple of temples on the way.

At kalka we went to Pinjar Garden ( thanks to Hiranmoy For Information)It is said that Pandavas used to visit this place frequently. There  is one amusement park by its side.

We entered the station at about 6-30 PM. A coolie helped us to the waiting room. Then the train arrived at 10 PM and started at 11-55PM schedule time. We immediately fell asleep.

For the whole tour we hired a car Rs. 9500. The name of the driver was Maljit Singh. He was a very energetic guy.

Maljit Singh. our drive giving a pose in nehru kund

a

simla day 3 (3/12/08)

Kufri --We went to kufri at 10 am. We had to ride on horse to go to the the tourist spot. We all enjoyed the horse ride(Rs. 250 each). It is said to be the highest point of Simla. Few chinks of ice, here and there, didnot interest me. Wide range of Himalayas could be seen. We viewed few spots through telescope (Rs.  200 for three of us). We did not enter the Fagu amusement park as it was not cost effective. There was one temple of Seshnag. One temple of Lord Shiva was under construction. All in all Kufri is a must see for all Simla-goers.

There is one nature park (zoo). We entered there as Rik insisted. It was quite boring for us.

In the evening there was electrical fault and no electric supply in our room for some time. New experience in a star category  hotel. Rik is behind in another horse

simla day 2 (2/12/2008)

We were very tired yesterday.  We went to the mall , ridge  the market place. It was very congested. Things are very costly. We knew that there was a lift for taking to the mall. So we went through the lift It saved lot of energy. we visited Simla Kalibari ,The church. The jaku temple was at the hill top. We thought of visiting it but our unfit bodies didnot permit.

In the evening we visited the mall again and did not find any thing interisting.

All of us had some sort of acidity and couldnot take the dinner.

the ridge in the mall road

Manali day 4 (1/12/08)

We woke up early, completed the packing and  took breakfast and started for Manikaran. The roads are uneventful. Manikaran is a beautiful place. There is a Shiva temple and a Gurudwara side by side and a hot spring in front with steam coming out of it. The place is surrounded by hills on all side. A true feast to the eyes.

Then we left for Simla. It was a long boring journey. It took almost 7 hours. On the way our driver got involved in a fight with a motorcycle driver.

After a long search we found out our hotel Quality Inn Himdev which lacked quality. There was no carpet in the floor, no bathtub in the bathroom, room heater is substandard, room service is terrible. This is one rare hotel which doesnot give you welcome juice.

Ridig the yaks is a novel experience.

At monikaran ther is a hot spring with steam coming out of it.

manali day 3 (30/11/2008)

We spend the day by doing a little bit of local site seeing. Nothing special. Few temples here and there, hot spring,club house river crossing parks for children. Hadimba temple needs special mention. It is 500 years old. Hadimba wife of Bhima is worshipped here. Her son Ghototkoch is also worshipped in a near by open trr temple temple.

we finished the day by doing a little bit of marketing in the evening.

tomorrow we are going to leave for simla early in the morning.

Ice all around in Rohtang.

manli Rohtang pass

Rik became sick due to lack of oxygen  in Rohtang pass. He is being nursed by his mother.

Manali day 2

At 7-30 AM we took break fast and set off for Rohtang Pass. We had to take warm clothes on rent. It involved  bargaining and finally we hired warm clothes for three of us at Rs 550. The roads to rohtang Pass were narrow  and at places are very bad. We had our hearts in our mouth for most of the roads. Things became more frightening when our Tata INDICA car got stuck in the road where there was water and ice. It needed pushing to get the car going. Horrible experience. But after that it was a beautiful experience. It was like Switzerland. The rohtang pass valley was totally covered with snow. my son and I tried our skills in skiing. It was difficult and we could not manage. We snapped few photos with the skiing instruments. We threw snow balls at each other. Rik was overzealous and became sick because of lack of oxygen. I was late to recognise it. Eventually  Rik was taken to car and little nursing and a hot cup of tea made him comfortable

Finally on our way back we took lunch at Marhi. Journey back through narrow hillside roads were equally uncomfortable. We visited Beas kund- the source of river Beas, Nehru kund, Beas Nalla, Rahla water fall,and Solang valley.

I must say Rohtang Pass is a lifetime experience.

  

Though not recognisable the two persons in picture are Rik and Rinku

manali 28/12/08

About 10 hours journey from chandigar manali is very tiresome. I had a novel experience of travelling through  a tunnel in the hill. The hotel QUality inn river country resort is quite good one but not the best.

The Bias river is flowing in front surrounded by hills all around.

Beas river

shimla

with just two days left to start for manali I am quickly going through the web pages to gather as many information as possible about those places

teaching the interns

few homeopath interns are deputed in our hospital. I have to teach them . novel experience.

that's me in the train to Gwahati

shimla

I plan for a Shimla tour at the end of November. Now I must start to gather required information.

durga pujo 2008

puja 2008 in front of laptop cam

Shillong

Shillong is the capital of Meghalaya. On 29th august we boarded Kanchanjangha train at 12 noon. Train was late by 2 hrs. Train journey was uneventful. A Indian resident foreigner shared the coach with us. I tried to bribe the T.T to place his seat elsewhere. It was not fruitful. Train arrived at Gwahati station at 6 o' clock. Swapan Das was waiting for us at the station. We boarded a Indica  and set off for Shillong which was three hours journey. The roads are plane not and not steep as anticipated. Roads are not as picturesque as we thought. Hotel Polo Towers was 4 starred hotel with all facilities. Swapan Das arranged a car for site seeing 

Then after the break fast we left for local site seeing. At first we went to the Elephant falls. It was very good. Previously there was a rock which resembled elephant. That's why it was named Elephant Falls. At present the rock is missing---it has been destroyed in earth quake. It has two parts. First Falls and Main Falls.

Lady Hyadri park: Small park with lot of flowers and a few animals. Different types of owls are interesting. There are a few swings, sea-saw, and slips for children to justify its name of park.

Cathedral Church: The church is as usual calm and quiet and awe- inspiring.

WARD LAKE:---A beautiful lake with a wooden bridge in the middle. This place attracts lot of tourists. There are facilities for boating. One can see lots of fishes in the water. Lots of lotus can be found in the sides of lake.

The Golf Course:- The golf course is surrounded by pine trees. One can see boys and girls playing football and cricket. People would prefer to spend their afternoon here.

Rabindranath Tagore:  It was favourite spot of Rabintranah Tagore.

Only two stones are found depicting the fact Rabindranath Tagore once lived here and wrote a few poems

The Cherrapunjee (SOHRA):--iT IS SAID TO BE THE WETTEST PLACE ON EARTH. Average waterfall being 12000cm per annum. It is a must-see for all tourists. During the rainy seasons it provides awesome picture. The road to Cherrapunjee from Shillong is downhill. On the way one can see the hills covered with pine and other trees. At places the hills are covered by clouds, mists and fog with no visibility at all. There are frequent showers. So umbrellas and raincoats are always necessary. There are few places to see in Cherrapunjee----

1) MAWKDOK VALLEY --  with fogs and mist behind

Same place with clear back ground

 

2) Nohkalikai Fall:- Beautiful group of falls.

3) Ramkrishna mission:- The temple is good. There are lot of pictures. There is a museum. Staffs are very cooperative. They will help you to see all around.

4) MAWSMAI CAVE:- this cave has lighting system for going inside.

 

5) SEVEN SISTER FALLS:- a group of falls falling from a lot of height is a feast to the eyes.

 

6) ECO PARK:-- massive waterfalls and green range of hills with cloud cover are simply awesome.

Jaintia hills tour:--It is about 65 kms from shillong and is not a hot tourist spot. Roads to the Jaintia Hills are accompanied by green hiils on either side. There is a Durga temple which is said to be 700 years old. Ramkrishna mission reconstructed it. The idol of Goddess looked different.

There is a lake called Third Lasklang lake. There seem to be boating arrangement. It is quiet and beautiful.

Nartiang is a rock garden. many natural stones in the form of pillar are present.

umiam sports complex

foam bath at Polo Towers Shillong

shillong 2

 

Only 8 days left before we go for shillong. We shall go by Kanchanjangha which is supposed to start by 10 am and reach by 5-30 am next morning.

Pulak

Pulak
Originally uploaded by rikdatta

That,s me when i was in my teens. I had big moustaches. I used to smell my fresh mustaches.

Shillong 1

Now that I plan to go to Shillong on 30 august. Hotel and Railway Ticket is being booked by pharmaceutical company. honeymoon with Alkem has come to an end as they are not showing enough response regarding this. Now I am going through internet and other sources to learn about that city. So far I have learnt that I have to reach Guwahati by train and then I can go Shillong by car or bus.

B day

Yesterday I became 40. So bye bye 30s. I was getting pretty nervous and disappointed to reach 40. I am no more a young lad running after the young ladies. they will call me jethu and I had to agree to it. how does it fell to get old. Old is gold. Not really. First time in my life I got a gift on my birthday-it is from a medicine company. they gifted me a shirt.

I want to write a biography. Let me see when i can start.

sunday

Lazy Sunday. Not much Work. Just sit back and relax. Watch tele, spend time in front of computer.

thats me

we are three

Three brothers sitting together. Not the best quality picture but still one can recognise the faces.

tv

I today configured the tv in my laptop. It is working fine.

thanda

Yesterday I got one two ton AC  machine. It has started working.CHIL CHIL

Writings on the wall

Some time something happens over which one doesn't have any control. now I want to leave rampurhat but I am not getting any scope to do it. No MES examination now.

So I have to concentrate on what I can achieve here.

rainy lazy evening

It is rainy day.  It is one of the rare mondays without the ad day. I am sitting comfortably in front of my laptop and blogging (in BENARAS one foriegner lady was kind enough to take snap of us way back in 2006)