Jagannath Puri Trip, Orissa (9-12 February 2023)

Orissa Trip (9-12 February, 2023) 

(Lord Jagan Nath Temple, Puri; Sun Temple, Konark; Chilka Lake)

About 17 persons (all of whom were related to each other), including me, got the opportunity to visit Orissa and seek blessings of Lord Jagannath at Puri. The program was for 3 nights from 9-11 Feb 2023 and we were to return back to Delhi on evening of 12.2.2023 (Sunday).

8.2.2023

I had a case to attend in Punjab & Haryana High Court in Chandigarh on 9.2.2023. So, on 8.2.2023, I went to Chandigarh and stayed at Hotel JW Mariott. (My wife Meenu and others took flight in morn of 9.2.2023 from Delhi and reached Bhubaneswar in afternoon and visited temples and did other sighseeing).

9.2.2023

After attending my case on 9.2.2023 at Punjab & Haryana High Court, I went straight from the High Court to the Chandigarh International Airport and boarded 3.25 pm Vistara flight UK707 to Delhi which reached Delhi at about 4.15 pm. There, I boarded 5.50 pm connecting Vistara airline flight UK781 from Delhi to Bhubaneswar which got late and took off at about 6.45 pm.

I got down at Bhubaneswar airport and came out at about 9 pm. I boarded the pre-booked cab (booked through Mr. Sambit Kumar Panda of Colors Cab 94371 95602). The driver Parmananda (7978834941, 9937865258) took me and started from Bhubaneswar airport at about 9.05 pm in a Maruti Dzire car. After travelling about 60 km covered in about 1 hr 15 min (total fare incl toll : Rs.1700/-), he dropped me at Hotel Seven Hills, Puri at about 10.15 pm. (There was fog on the way !).

I went to my room #301 at 3^rd floor. Meenu was there. All team members had gone to their respective rooms as it was late night (we were 7 couples, 1 old couple and Kanupriya whose husband was away to US). I took some snacks and strolled in the room while discussing with Meenu the today’s sightseeings by them and later went to sleep at about 12 midnight.

 10.2.2023 Friday

I got up early at about 4.30 am. After freshen up, I alongwith Ajay Beriwal started walk from the hotel at about 5 am. It was all dark and pleasant breeze was flowing. We walked to the beach nearby which took us about 25 min to reach. We walked on the beach for about 10 min. We then took an autorickshaw and returned to hotel at 5.40 pm. I took bath and got ready, as also other team members and all then assembled in the lobby at 6 am and then left in different auto rickshaws for Jagan Nath Temple. It took us about 15 min to reach Lord Jagan Nath Temple, Puri. We all assembled at the shoe counter of temple and deposited our shoes / slippers and mobiles there (for free) as mobiles are not allowed inside.

Sanjay Mittal (team leader) had arranged a Panda (Mr. Saumya, a thin young man, probably in his thirties, in traditional attire) who came and received us there. He was a very pleasing personality. He was assisted by a person who was also very helpful. With them, we went inside where they took us to several small temples within the temple complex and explained the facts about each temple. Then they took us inside the main temple where people had lined up for darshan. There, we had darshan of the dieties : Lord Jagannath on the left, sister Subhadra in the middle and brother Balram on the right side. We had good darshan. 

We then all assembled and reached shoe counter and took our belongings and boarded autorickshaws. We returned to hotel around 9 am.

In the hotel, we headed to the restaurant and took breakfast.  (two Temple pandas came from Jagannath mandir, carrying old records of people visiting temple in the past and showed records of ancestors of Ajay Beriwal and also of Sanjay mittal).

We had arranged for 4 Innova cars for 4 days to took us around wherever anyone of us wanted to go for sightseeing. 

At about 11 am, me, Meenu, Naresh, Meenakshi, Ajay, Monica in two Innovas went to Gurdwara Shri Aarti Sahib, Puri which was hardly 10 min away, and had darshan. The Gurudwara was housed in a building (must be on a plot size of about 400-500 sq yard), with hall on the 2^nd floor.

Then we went to the Beach nearby which was hardly 3-4 min distance. We enjoyed at the beach. It was sunny day but the breeze lowered the intensity of the heat. We also did camel ride on the beach, and took pics. 

We returned to our hotel at 12.35 pm.

All relaxed in their rooms and waited for the panda Mr. Saumya to come with the Prasad (lunch). He was supposed to come at 2 pm and after taking Prasad in lunch, we had planned to leave for Konark temple at 2.30 pm. But the Panda got late (as the Prasad in the Lord Jagannath temple was made and released late). The Panda with his assistant arrived in the hotel at about 3.30 pm. We all assembled in the room of Sanjay Mittal (which was a bigger room, I guess) and sat on the floor in pangat style and the Panda and his assistant served us food (Prasadam) which was freshly cooked at the world famous kitchen of Lord Jahannath Temple. The food was served on banana leaves. The food was so delicious ! There were several dishes and different rice and then there was rabdi ras malai. We thoroughly enjoyed the food. 

We hurried up and started from the hotel in 4 Innovas about 4.05 pm (Konark temple would close at about 5 pm and remaining day would get wasted). 

We reached Sun Temple, Konark at 5.10 pm. 

We straight headed to the ticket window inside the complex and purchased entry tickets (metro train type tokens) to the Sun Temple (Rs.40/- each). The counter for tickets for Light and Sound show started a little later (every day, only about 150 tickets for Light and Sound show are released on first come first served basis, and they don’t sell more than 6 tickets per person). Three members of our team stood in line and bought tickets for Light and Sound show (Rs.50/- each) while we others entered the Sun Temple main complex. 

This Temple is under the control of Archeological Survey of India (ASI). We hired a guide of ASI. The guide took us through various monuments and structures in the complex and explained the history of each. It was getting dark and the later part of his presentation he showed and explained in dark under the lights put up at several places. 

At about 6.15 pm, the Light and Sound show started : all visitors sat on chairs put up in the lawns while the huge elevated projectors at our back threw light and displayed video on the main / big structures of the Sun Temple Konark. The audio headsets were provided to each visitor through which we heard the running commentary of the show. The show was for about 45 min. It was a very good experience. We came out of the temple inner complex at 7.15 pm. We all took tea at Kamat’s restaurant in the temple outer complex. We then entered the adjoining museum (called “Arka Khetra”) maintained by Indian Oil Corporation which is within the complex. Here, the replicas of Lord Jagan Nath Temple Puri and Sun Temple Konark are kept and other artefacts are displayed, explaining the history and the architectures of the temples in Orissa. We also viewed a small documentary movie (about 25 min) on Konark Temple in the auditorium of the museum.

At about 8.45 pm, we all started from the Konark Temple (it was all dark and deserted by this time, with only our cars left in parking !). 

At about 9.50 pm, on the way to hotel, we all reached Vithal Kamat restaurant, opp sea beach. Some of us took dinner here, while some returned to hotel and some strolled on the beach across the road. I took dinner and then joined Meenu etc. on the beach, enjoyed ice cream by the side of the beach.

We returned to the Hotel at about 11 pm.

All were tired, and so went to sleep.

11.2.2023 Saturday

We all got ready by about 7 am. Some members went nearby to beach, some to nearby temples.

We 7 persons in two Innovas, at about 7.30 pm, went to Loknath Temple (which was about 10 min from out hotel, by car). We had darshan in the temple. We returned to hotel at about 8.15 pm. We all took breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. Sangeeta cut her 46^th birthday cake there.

We all checked out and started from the hotel at 9.05 am.

We reached Chilka Lake at 10.05 am. (It is about 50 km / 1 hr distance from Puri. Though it is called as lake, but actually it is a lagoon as it is surrounded by land on three sides and by sea on one side. It is India’s largest and Asia’s 2^nd largest lake. Chilka is the end point, there is nothing to go further. For going to Bhubaneswar, one has to return to Puri outskirt).

We booked boat ride. (This is called Eco-Tourism Centre, Mirjapur, Satapada). We booked 3 boats (Rs.4750/- each boat). One boat has capacity of 6 adults and 2 children. Any additional member is Rs.200/- per head. We did not want to sit in crowded boats with locals and wanted to have our individual boats, so booked accordingly. There are three routes / packages : Route 1 (Dolphin and Sea mouth) 2 ½ hours Rs.4250/-, Route 2 (Dolphin, Red crab and Sea mouth) 3 ½ hours Rs.4750/-, Route 3 (Sea mouth and Red crab) 1 ½ hours Rs.2550/-. We opted for the highest i.e. route 2.

Me, Meenu, Naresh, Meenakshi, Ajay, Monica sat in one boat. These are wooden old style boats, on which generator is fixed at an end and the boatman start the generator motor and hold on to the attached handle while standing, for manoeuvring (there is a fan at the end of the rod, which remains dipped in water and provides thrust to the boat). We watched birds in the lake while boating. The boat reached a land mass strip (small island strip) within the lake. Other boatmen carrying tourists also halted there. The person there brought sea shells and broke some. The white pearl (moti) was found in 2-3 sea shells. We purchased 2 pearls for Rs.200/- each. He also brought few coral reefs and broke, and ruby and moonga was found in two of these. After spending 20 min there, the boat resumed the journey in the lake. At one point we also saw 2 dolphins. Took several pics of the birds in the lake.

At 1.30 pm, our boat anchored at a beach which is called sea mouth. This is that side of the Chilka lake which is surrounded by sea. We drink coconut water at a shack here. A 5-7 min walk, on sand, from this point, through the trail amidst dry bushes/ trees, led us to the sea shore. It was so serene and clean. The sea was looking green !  We spent about 15 min there.

The boat started again and we returned to the starting point at about 2.30 pm.

We then all started from chilka lake at about 3 pm for Bhubaneswar.

On the way, we halted at Raghurajpur, on Puri-Bhubaneswar highway,  after 1 hr journey. It’s a small village of artisans producing different types of handicrafts and traditional paintings. This village has got international recognition due to people like Maga Nayak (9937156954, 9438555879), a master craftman of Patta painting and palm leaf engraving. He teaches this art, for free, the village children. He is about 75 years old, and is helped by his two sons and a daughter. He is a specialist in producing paintings, mainly centred around the life of Lord Krishna. Our team members visited his house where he and his sons run Krishna Arts & Crafts and sell these paintings. Some of us took pics with him, and some purchased these hand made paintings from there.

After spending about 30-40 min there, we started again.

We all reached Lingraj Temple, Bhubaneswar at about 6 pm.

We all gathered and then the Panda arranged by Sanjay came there and accosted us to the temple. He took us around in the temple complex and told us about its history. There are several small temples within the complex. This temple is older than Lord Jaganath Temple Puri and Konark Temple. (President of India Smt. Draupadi Murmu had visited Lingraj Temple today in the morning at 9.15 am).

We had darshan of the main diety (a big black pathar platform symbolises Lord shiva and the saligram piece on it symbolises Lord Vishnu). This is the only temple devoted to both Lord Shiva and Vishnu. We all couples paid 1650/- each to panda for feeding Prasad to poor for 6 months.

Then we were served food / Prasad on banana leaves by the pandas, we all sat down in a pangat style on floor. The food was so delicious. It was such a beautiful sight with we eating food against the backdrop of temple in the temple complex, with no rush of people. It was so quite at this hour. At 7.45 pm, we headed to our hotel.

At 8.15 pm, we reached Hotel Taj Vivanta, Bhubaneswar. 

We all checked in and were allotted rooms and moved to our respective rooms, freshen up and relaxed in rooms. I stayed in room # 727. There was no need for dinner, as we already had such a delicious food in the form of Prasad served at Lingraj temple.

We 6 persons walked to the adjoining mall. Ajay and Monica di purchased sketcher shoes. Explored hotel, sat in lobby. At 10 pm, some of us gathered in room of Sanjay and gossiped and ate chaina poda (local desert) and pizza, arranged through zomato. 

At 11 pm, we retired to our rooms.

12.2.2023 Sunday

It was a relaxed day. There was no prog to visit any place as we were to return to Delhi today (some wanted to visit Udaygiri caves, Buddhist stupa and Mukteswar temple but there was no time left today).

We all met in morning for morning tea in the open area adjoining hotel’s restaurant on 3^rd floor (some of us hit the gym). Gossiped. Then all came down again to restaurant for breakfast, after getting ready.

At 10.30 am, we started from the hotel in 4 innovas. The airport was nearby and it took us only about 20 min to reach the Bhubaneswar airport.

Our flight to Delhi was Vistara UK788. It was originally scheduled for 1 pm, then rescheduled to 1.20 pm and when we cleared security check, we got the message that it is further rescheduled to 1.45 pm. My premium economy ticket was upgraded to Business class !

The flight took off at 1.45 pm.

At 3.40 pm, we landed at Indira Gandhi Int’l Airport, Delhi, Terminal T3. 

Me, Meenu, BNaresh, Meenakshi took a cab and reached home at 5.10 pm.

Another interesting and enlightening trip came to an end.

Rishikesh Trip (8-10 April 2022)

We 4 friends - me, Amit Burman, Bharat Goel and Sanjeev Gupta, in the morning of 8th Apirl 2022 (Friday) started early in morning from Delhi (near Lajpat Nagar Metro station) in the Maruti Ritz car of Amit. The car was driven mostly by Bharat. We were set to go for river rafting in Rishikesh.

Kasol Pulga Trip (Sept-Oct 2021)

Kalga Kasol trip Sept-Oct 2021

It had been a long time since I ventured out to some place in Himalayas, since onset of Corona pandemic in March 2020. My last such trip, or if I can say trek, was in March-April 2019 when I did Har Ki Doon trek. The corona pandemic, which unfortunately consumed lives of so many including my father and many friends, has been preventing us all from moving out. So, I discussed with my travel buddy Amit Burman and as usual, he readily agreed to go out of Delhi to some remote peaceful area in mountains away from the maddening crowd, noise and pollution of the city. He discussed with his friend Bharat Goel and we decided to spend few days in Village Kalga, near Kasol in Himachal Pradesh.

Amit and Bharat left for Kalga, through HPTDC bus from Mandi House in the evening of Saturday 25^th September 2021 (I could not leave with them as I had to attend shradh rituals at home on 27^th and 28^th September).

I booked online the ticket for Delhi-Manali, with drop point as Bhuntar, through Himachal Road Transport Corporation Volvo bus schedule for 7 pm on 28^th Sept.

Day 0 : 28.09.2021 Tuesday

At 6.10 pm in the evening, my son Himanshu dropped me at Punjabi Bagh Metro Railway station. I boarded the metro from there, got down at Inderlok metro station and took another metro to Kashmere Gate Metro Station. I got down there at about 6.50 pm and exited from Gate 7 and rushed straight to adjoining ISBT Building and after walking for 1 min inside, went down where all buses were parked. I went to platform no. 21 where buses for Manali were parked. My bus was also parked there. I sat in the bus at 6.56 pm.

At 7 pm, the bus started from ISBT at designated time. The bus took route from Ghaziabad/ Baghpat through Eastern Peripheral Expressway (due to Delhi border (Singhu border) blocked by farmers since November 2020 protesting new farm laws).

The bus took a stop for about 30 min at Mayur dhaba at Kurukshetra /Karnal on the way at about 11 pm. I did not take any food there as I had taken good meal at 5.30 pm at home in the form of poha and tea, and also I did not want to spoil my stomach by this dhaba food. I instead took cheese ball packed snack and waffle and munched some quantity. 

In late night / early morn, the bus took a halt at some eatery in Mandi for 20 min for passengers to freshen up and have quick breakfast.

Day 1 : 29.09.2021  Wednesday

At 8 am in the morning, I got down at Bhuntar.

As I got down, immediately bus for Barsaini came, which then I boarded. The Fare from Bhuntar to Barsaini was Rs.130/-. The Bus passed thru Kasol. Thereafter, it had a halt of 30 min at Manikaran.

At 10.40 am, the Bus reached Barsaini bus stand. I got down. {I had not gone to toilet nor eaten anything (except cheese ball snacks and strawberry wafle at Mayur Karnal and cookies at Mandi halt) since 6 pm yesterday} I had two bananas at Barsaini. I walked towards the bridge. I purchased Blenders Pride (950/-) from liquor shop on this road. Walking, I crossed the bridge and then turned to right side. Cars, bikes were parked here. This is entry point for trekking up to Kalga village (I found that this is no more a village as almost taken over by cafes and homestays and frequented by youngsters for work from home and drugs !). ( The jeeps take the unmettled road from here to go to entry points of Tulga and Pulga).

I started trekking up from this point. 

Within 30 min at abt 12 pm, I reached our hotel BLUE STAR and met Amit and Bharat, who were staying there since last 3 days.I took bath and freshened up. We then went down to adjoining ROOP KRISHNA cafe run by one Pankaj from Una, HP. I took brunch : paneer bhurji, dal and tawa roti. It was delicious food.

We then went for stroll in Kalga. We went to Nepali mkt area (small area where there are 5-6 shops/dhaba/café). Amit and Bharat took 1/2 brownie each here.We then walked back and sat at Roop krishna café lawn. I took lemon + sprite + salt. After 1 hr at abt 3 pm while sitting there under shed, brownie started showing its effect on both of them. We went to the room on 2nd flr and rested.

At about 6 pm, we came down to Roop Krishna cafe. We opened drinks but Amit and Bharat were under brownie intoxication and so did not take drinks. At about 8 pm, Bharat's friend Gaurav @ shanky joined, apparently drunk. Bharat had gone back to room, I brought him. We took dinner in this cafe.

At 10 pm, we went to the room and slept.

30.09.2021 Thursday

It rained previous night and today early morn as well from about 2 am till 7 am.
We came down to Roop Krishna café and took lemon honey hot water glass (60/-). Then went back to our room and freshened up.

At 9.45 am, after getting ready, we came down. I did pranayam on yoga sheet in the lawn outside Roop krishna cafe.

At 10 am, we took breakfast in the cafe.

At 11 am, we  started for a small trek to the small waterfall on way towards Kheerganga.

At 12 pm, we reached there. We rested and clicked pictures at the water fall. We spent about half an hour there. We then returned back. 

I and Amit planned to go to Pulga but Amit got scared by steep decline from Kalga's end (as he has fracture on waist and did not want to take a chance), so we dropped the plan. We picked Bharat from Gaurav's room in nearby Moon Light guest house and went hopping in village for different cafes on the periphery of Kalga on valley edge. We passed by Soul Kitchen cafe - good view of the valley and pleasant wind here sitting. We then moved a little ahead to HOLY CAFE cafe surrounded by apple orchards. We sat on the 1st floor which had a big hall like place with sitting arrangement (no chairs). Several Boys and girls were doing work on laptops and some were smoking, while some taking food. We had a very good view of the entire valley from here, enhanced by the pleasant wind. 

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(Holy cow a little ahead of Soul Kitchen tucked in remote corner of Kalga (almost last point in Kalga on that side)

Took pizza there.

4 pm started from Holy cow.
Came to our hotel. Rested.

6 pm opened our drinks bar in open verandah on 2nd flr at extreme end.
Very good view of valley from here. Played songs on mobile while drinking. Enjoyed masala Kaju (brought by Bharat) with drinks.

9.30 pm came down to Roop krishna cafe. Took dinner.
10.45 pm back to room. 

1 and 2nd Oct 2021
1.10.2021 Fri
8 am Got up in Blue star Guest house in Vill Kalga. Got down to adjoining Roop krishna cafe ( run by Pankaj from Unah, HP). Took lemon honey hot water while listening to shiv songs on cafe music system thru bluetooth.
Got back to room. Took bath. Got ready.

9.30 I got down. Did pranayam on yoga sheet in his cafe lawn till 10.
10 am took breakfast in his cafe : Tea, Butter toast
Cleared bill of cafe with Pankaj. Cleared bill of hotel with hotel owner Karan and Anuj.

11.20 am We started walking with our rucksacks to go to Pulga. Its steep down from back end of Kalga. Trekked down to river stream. Removed our shoes and sat there with our foot soaked in cold river water of Parvati river. Really enjoyed the vibe and ambience here oveelooking the valley.
(At this point, road is there- one side (non metallic) going to Barsaini via entry point of Kalga and other side (non metallic) going to Pulga with Tulga entry point 1 km before Pulga entry point. Last motarable point is pulga. )

Abt 12.30 we started from that river stream point. Trekked abt 2.5 km to reach Village pulga.
Searched for some good hotel in pulga. Loud music being played by Hotel Boom Shankar guys disturbing whole village.

Checked Hotel Bella View adjoining Boom Shankar. Ordered lunch there. Meanwhile I and Amit went out to search for hotel.
Looked in hotel Shiv Palace (wooden room on 2nd floor meant for 4 persons, ready to give for 1000/-).
Then tried Hotel Parvati at extreme end of village after walking abt half km through very narrow pagdandi,,, he ready to give for 800/-.
Returned back to Bella View hotel. Took lunch. Bella View is run by a youngester
Mukul Malhotra (from Paschim Vihar) his father was also there. Earlier mukul was selling handicrafts/readymade clothes online but affected due to corona, moved to this business. Giving Rs. 7 lakh as annual lease to this land owner...paid lease for 5 yr upfront, lease prd 10 yrs. Got structure readymade....did finishing and furnishing. Started only 2-3 months back. He here since last 6 months. All fittings and accessories brought from Delhi.
As we did not find any attraction or good vibe in Pulga plus there was so loud music which wl play throughtout today, we decided to move to Kasol instead.

Mukul telephoned Barseni taxi union (tel : 8629090838) and arranged a taxi for us for total Rs.300/-.

We came down to entry pt of Pulga. Tata Sumo taxi waiting for us. It took abt 25 min bumpy ride for the taxi to drop us at Barsaini bus stand. There, Bhuntar bus waiting. We got into it.
Abt 4 pm, bus started. Abt 5.15 pm, we got down at Kasol. Looked for hotels to stay tonight. We checked 2-3 hotels. Rhwy were charging 1800-2000 but all concrete with no open space for enjoying nature. Luckily, we went off road and stumbled upon Hotel THE WOODWARD (near a riverfront hotel THE ALPINE whose tariff is 4000/- per day !)

Woodward manager Goldy bhai is from Laxmi Nagar Delhi. Waiter/ catetaker is a young boy Baboo. He showed us room on 1st flr. We liked it because there was such big open lawn in hotel premises and was surrounded by jungle/tall pine trees and away from main road traffic sound and pollution. Tariff 1500/- per day.
We shifted to room. Freshen up.

7 pm we opened our bar in big balcony on 1st flr overseeing jungle and other natural views. Enjoyed Music on music system of hotel placed in lawn on Gr flr by bluetooth.

9.45 pm we took dinner in hotel.

Then we walked in kasol mkt at 10.30 pm. Shops were closing down. We took pastry and icecream at LITTLE ITALY cafe counter gr flr.

11 pm went to sleep.

2.10.2021 Sat
7am got up in Hotel The Woodward Magique, Kasol.

Took Ginger Lemon Honey hot water 60/-
Freshen up.
We 3 walked down to river front at distance of abt 50 mtr.
Came back.

I did exercise and pranayam on yoga sheet in wide balcony in front of our room on 1st flor.
Took bath.
9.30 I and Amit walked to mkt. Bharat getting shave in mkt. Joined him. We 3 then walked.
Took breakfast in a dhaba called NAMASTE opp Nature's Park.

Got Kasol Delhi Volvo tickets booked for tomrw eve 6.30 pm volvo of KTC for Rs.1000/- each, from a shop at kasol bus stand (owner Lalit).

11 am came back to Hotel.
Took light breakfast again : corn flakes, milk

11.45 am We walked from Hotel on the main Kasol road (towards Manikaran). Saw spot near Sandhya hotel where buses to Delhi are parked. After walking abt 3 km, reached a point where temporary rope/wood bridge on river on left side. Tired. Turned back. Took tikki on roadside tea stall Delhi Chat Bhandaar. Walked back again towards kasol mkt.

Then saw a point downside adjoining river where there was a table and 4 concrete stools...good view of river and valley from here. There are steps also to go into the river and soak feet. We sat here and ordered 3 lassi from Lucky snacks corner. Took pics. Nice vibes. Sat there for abt 1 hr.

Then started again...came to kasol mkt. Took lane on right side going to Chalal village via iron suspension bridge over the river parvati. Crossed bridge then returned (decided to go there to Chalal tomrw).
Near there, spotted PANJTARA cafe whose menu outside read - thin crust pizza, Dosa etc. Entered. Very nice place and ambience, comparable to any 5 star lounge in Delhi.
Ordered Thin crust farm house pizza (450/- : such a reasonable price ! ).
Pizza came after 25 min ..we were pleasantly surprised at its big size...8 slices. Meanwhile, singers Twinkle Agarwal and Aryan (singers in Panjtara cafe) came on the corner stage...twinkle playing guitar and singing, aryan singing. They giving live performance on 1st 2nd and 3rd Oct here which starts ar 8.30.pm. They practicing. They singing marvelously well ! They sang 3-4 sangs for us, composed by them/aryan.
We clapped for them. They aporeciated it.

Started from there at 3.40 pm. Walked towards our hotel. Stopped at Hotel The Alpine (near our Hotel). It has dining/ sitting arrangement on wooden platform on riverside...river flowing by our side. We ordered 3 tea @ 80/-. Enjoyed the ambience while sipping tea.
At 5.10 pm, we rerurned to our hotel.
Relaxed.
6.30 pm opened our bar : first we trued on Gr flr in lawn but mosquitos troubling so shifted to 1st flr in wide balcony outside our room. Played music on hitels heavy Speakers using my mibile bluetooth for abt 2 1/2 hrs kishore songs sung by other singers. I also sung along.
10.15 pm we took lunch in hotel at our drinks table.
10.45 we walked on kasol road....savoured ice cream at Litrle Italy counter. Bharat ret to hotel. I Amit walked to erstwhile YHAI camp site but that area totally changed. So many hitels hv come up.
11.15 we ret to hotel
Walked for 20 min in long gallery corridor bakcony outside our rooms.
12 pm went to sleep.

3.10.2021 Sunday

7.30 am Got up. Freshen up.
I went to roof and did pranayam and exercise on yoga sheet.
9 am came down to room. Shave, bath. Got ready. Packed Rucksack.
10 am I came down to Gr floor, ready, for breakfast.
Took veg sandwich and tea in breakfast.
Cleared bill of Hotel : 1500x2 = 3000 + 1800 for food for 2 days = 4800. Goldy (owner) charged 4600/-. Took pic with him. Nice person. Took it on lease in 2017.
11.15 am keeping our Rucksacks tucked at hotel reception, we started walking.
Stopped at TIBETAN KITCHEN ROOFTOP near Kasol bus stand adjoining HP Govt Forest Officers Residence Complex. Climbed stairs to rooftop cafe at 3rd floor. Took chicken momos and veg Thupka. I also tried Thupka. Tasty.
Very beautiful view of Kasol from here as rooftop was at good height and sunrays were kissing valley and area and sun was at our back. Clicked pics and videos.

12.15 pm started from Tibetan Roof Top cafe for excursion to nearby Chhalal village. Crossed suspension iron bridge at starting. Trekked thru Chhalal village dotted by numerous cafes and Homestays/ small hotels. The route aling Parvati river was gradually inclining up.
After abt 30-40 min walk, reached top point in Chhalal where we took cold drink. From here the route is gradually sloping downwards to other side. We took this route, going downwards, evetually walking along the river parvati. This area is called Katagla. Cafes and Homestays here also. Then we crossed wooden suspension bridge over the river to cross over to other side. From here, we climbed up to the Bhuntar Kasol road. This point on road is called JaiNala, also known as Shani Mandir point due to a Mandir here on road. After 10 min wait, Bhuntar Manikaran bus came. We and some more perons boarded it at 2.18 pm. (Thus we entered Chhalal from one side thru main Kasol road and came out from the other end 15 min bus ride away).

Got down at Kasol bus stand at 2.30 pm.
Sat in Panjtara Cafe nearby (yesterday we likee its ambience and pizza very much).
Ordered veg Farm pizza (450/-) as well as non Veg pizza (600/-).
3.50 pm we started from panjtara and reached our Hotel at 4 pm. Amit and Bharat took tea.
4.40 I Amit went to Little Italy. I took Butterscotch Milk Shake (180/-).
5.15 Ret to our Hotel.

5.30 we started from Hotel with our Rucksacks. Halt at Swagatam Tours at Kasol bus stand from where we booked bus. After 15 min, owner Lalit accompanied us to spot where bus parked on road a little ahead of hotel sandhya. Gave our luggage in boot of bus.
Boarded our Bus to Delhi (Himalayan Nomad run by Kullu Tpt Co. KTC)

6.50 pm Bus started from Kasol for Delhi. 

Notes :

1.The rates of bus tickets, when booked online, are higher than offline booking through agents. For example, online booking of ticket thru HPTDC’s website charged bus fare as Rs.1700/- per person for Delhi-Manali (no option given for booking till only Bhuntar). The online booking of ticket thru HRTC’s website charged bus fare as Rs.1500/- per person for Delhi-Bhuntar (option given in Delhi-Manali for booking till only Bhuntar). Whereas when booked offline thru agent at Kasol, for return journey, we were charged only Rs.1000/- by Himalayan Nomad Volvo of KTC from Kasol-Delhi (direct bus to Delhi from Kasol !). so it always better to book Volvo tickets offline.

Offline tickets, for Himalayan Nomad bus by KTC, can be booked at :

9736100000
9736300025
9736900025
(DELHI kasol Delhi, Manali, Jammu etc.)

Or through agents at Kasol : Lalit 9805144084, Sanjay 9911456369, Swagatam Tours 98163, 9736305315

Get the Best Legal advice and know the latest legal developments in India : Legal Consult

Hi Friends,

Thank you all for patronising and appreciating my blog. With your love and support, the Blog is shortly going to cross the 1,00,000 milestone !

As you are aware, I with assistance from my collegues was earlier running a Facebook page by the name 'Law Reservoir' where the posts about the latest / interesting judgements passed by the Supreme Court, High Courts and other Courts in India were being published. Now, the said FB page has been shifted to a more interactive and effective page 'LegalConsultIndia'. 

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Wishing you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022.

Yours 

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HAR KI DOON TREK (March-April 2019)

Me and my friend Amit Burman had been talking, for quite some time, of doing some trek on our own using guides and porters (before going to some backpack trip to Europe or some other place). After discussing several options including Pawali Kanta, we zeroed down on Har Ki doon trek. In connection with our proposed backpack trip to Europe, I spoke to Balbir Singh Dasila who also showed interest in doing this trek. Accordingly, on 14thMarch 2019, which was about two weeks before the departure date, we booked our train tickets to and from Dehradoon as per the common dates suitable to all of us. At the last moment, my nephew (sister’s son) Ayush Jindal also chipped in, who travelled by bus to Dehradoon as he could not get train booking.

Day 0 : 27.03.2019 Wednesday

At about 10.50 pm, I reached New Delhi Railway station by Uber cab. Our coach was B6. Amit also reached at about 11.20 pm. But Balbir got late as his cab met with a minor accident on the way. He made it just in the nick of time and reached inside the train at about 11.45 pm.

At 11.50 pm, our train (Nanda Devi Express) started from .......

Meghalaya - Cherrapunji Dawki Darrang Mawlynnong - Shillong Trip (December 2018)

Meghalaya – the land of living root bridges, caves and waterfalls !

I had been planning to break away for a few days from the polluted environment of Delhi. So, I browsed about few places on the internet and ultimately zeroed down upon Meghalaya in the North East part of India where the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Shillong (Meghalaya’s capital) was being shown by the AirVisual mobile App around 60-70 as compared to about 300 in Delhi !

I discussed with my fiend Amit Burman and he was ready, as ever, to take this adventure cum excursion trip. So, we booked our air tickets and finalised a driver who was to pick us from Gauhati Airport and drop us back there after taking us to different places in Meghalaya wherever we wanted to, as our programme was flexible. His name was Sameer (9101438016) . He was referred to me by a friend Geeta who had done Meghalaya trip solo recently in October 2018 with him. (This about 24 year boy turned out to be very helpful and even booked accommodation for us in Cherrapunji and Dawki on our behalf).    ..................

Canada Trip (East Coast of Canada) May-June 2018

It had been my dream to see the world beyond Europe. This dream was fulfilled by my trip to Canada in end May 2018. This overseas trip was made, as far as my memory goes, in shortest time. Around 21st May, I was browsing some sites for package trip to overseas countries. I stumbled upon Thomas Cook site which was offering 5 Nights 6 days package to East Coast of Canada. I and my wife Meenu already had Canada visa available with us which was expiring on 15th June 2018. I thought of availing this opportunity. However, I was told that the group package departure date is 29th May and only 1 seat is left and thereafter the group departure date is in July. I was a little disappointed to know this and dropped the plan and got busy in my professional work. However, around 24th May, Thomas Cook people got in touch with me and told that now 2 seats are available for the 29th May group departure for said trip. Though time left was very short to complete formalities like making payment etc., we decided to take this trip. So, in a day I made the complete payment to Thomas Cook and they got down to making air / hotel bookings for me. Panic set in as the D day had arrived but the tour operator had still not forwarded the air tickets, hotel accommodation vouchers etc to me. On 27th May, I had to leave for Chandigarh for a case. After attending case there on 28th May, I returned to Delhi by about 7 pm on 28th May Monday. Fortunately, around 6 pm, the Thomas Cook people finally managed to email me the air tickets, hotel accommodation vouchers and other details of the trip to me, which gave me a huge relief .............

Family Trip to Europe : Paris, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Innsbruck (Austria) October 2017

We were very excited as after a long time, we family of four were going on an international holiday trip, that too, for the first time through a non-customised package tour. I had chosen Cox n Kings and frankly, were quite apprehensive as to how a non-customised trip would work, particularly since we were going to a different continent i.e. Europe. I had booked the package in August 2017 itself. All arrangements like Visa, air tickets, hotels accommodation, fooding (Indian buffet) etc. were done by Cox n Kings. Tickets of few events / destinations in Europe were paid by us separately, which I would point out in later part of this travelogue.

                                                                                    .........continued

Election of President of India

The election to the office of President of India and Vice-President of India is going to be held in coming days. Many of you would perhaps be wondering as to what is the procedure for electing the President and the Vice-president of India. 

You should know that the substantive provisions for election to these two offices are laid down in the Constitution of India. The election is held under Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952 and the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Rules, 1974. The public, which otherwise cast vote to elect the Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly of any State, do not cast vote in this election. Only the Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly of all States cast vote in this election.  ............