JAISALMER, AJMER, PUSHKAR

Visited March 2015

We started from Old Delhi Railway Station at 5:35 PM from train Delhi Jaisalmer Express. The train schedule arrival is at 11:15am but since it was late by an hour, we reached our destination at 12:15pm.

Jaisalmer Railway Station

I did pre-booking for 1 night camping in desert along with Camel Safari with “The Thar Desert Tour”, hence one of their representatives (Mr. Annu) came to pick us from the Railway Station.

Day 1: As soon our train reached the station; we got a call from Mr. Annu and in no time we boarded the cab and entered the city. Our booking was from 3pm so we decided to have lunch in the city and then proceed towards desert but since it was Holi, maximum restaurants were closed so we had no option but to head towards desert (Sam Sand Dunes) which was 40 km from city.

Finally we reached our campsite at around 1:30 pm.

Mr. Kamal (with whom I have been in touch for the bookings) accommodated us in one of the tent for the time being. Soon after adjusting our luggage we went to the canteen for lunch which was not included in our package and the same was charged at INR 250 per thali (buffet system). Lunch menu included matar paneer, bhindi fry, aloo ki sabzi with dal, chawal, roti, raayta and sponge rasgulla for sweet dish.

After having our meal we went into our tents as it was pretty hot outside. Our actual tent was ready only around 4-4:30pm as it was Holi and cleaning staff came late.

Soon we got ready for Camel Safari which was scheduled for 5pm but actually started at 5:30pm. After sitting on the back of our camel we headed towards sand dunes.

The ride was for half an hour in which we went climbing the sand dunes and coming down. Initially it was scary but gradually it was exciting.

For next one hour we did some roaming around, some photo-session and some quiet moments in desert as by the time the weather was considerably cool and nice breeze was flowing.

At around 7pm we witnessed the beautiful sunset in desert and after experiencing the same we went back to our camps where we had next activity scheduled “Cultural Event” with evening snacks.

There was a group of local people who presented folk songs popular in them “Kesariya Balam” and “Nimbooda”. We also witnessed the double flute instrument of Rajasthan “Algoza”.

Later on cultural dance and some acts (girl picking up a blade, pin from her eye lashes and girl dancing on iron pins carrying 4-5 water pots on the head).

During the event we were served with evening snacks. And after some time dinner was served (buffet) and at the end DJ was played for people to groove on 🙂

Day 2: The next morning we got up at 8am as that was the time for hot water. Our check-out time from the tent was 11am. Once again we checked-in, this time in railway retiring room of Jaisalmer as we had late night train for Ajmer the same day. The time was to explore the golden city hence we hopped-on a tempo and visited historical sites like

Gadisar lake: It is an artificial lake, built by the founder king of Jaisalmer Rawal Jaisal. We did boating in the lake and fed fish with bread.

Patwon ki haveli: It is a cluster of five large havelis in Jaisalmer. Built in 1805 by Guman Chand Patwa, it took the workers almost 55 years to complete the first haveli.

Jaisalmer Fort (Jain Temple): It is believed to be one of the very few “living forts” in the world as nearly one fourth of the old city’s population still resides within the fort. The fort was the city of Jaisalmer.

After having dinner in Jaisalmer market we proceeded back to railway retiring rooms.

Day 3: Our Ajmer train scheduled departure was of 12:55 am and we reached the city at around 12 noon. We again booked railway retiring room in Ajmer as our train to Delhi was the same night at 2:35 am. After freshening up we went to Pushkar which is around 15 km from Ajmer via cab.

Pushkar is on hills from Ajmer. We reached the place in around half an hour and proceeded towards the kund (small pond) as it is said to take a bath in holy kund before visiting temple. For visiting this ancient temple one has to climb some stairs. Once we reached the temple entry door we could see sanctum of main deity at the center surrounded by places for idol of other god and goddesses.

After darshan we had lunch in a restaurant near temple and soon after lunch we hopped on our cab and started our journey back to Ajmer city. The cab driver dropped us to one of the gates for entry into Ajmer Shariff. We walked for about 10-15 odd minutes and we were at the entry of the dargah. The place had many visitors so we went into a line and had darshan. We spent some time sitting outside the dargah. After darshan we went to Ana Saagar Lake, although it was almost night and dark but the place looked beautiful and the air was soothing.

It was time to be back in our rooms for some dinner and quick rest before our train to Delhi at around 10 am.

How to reach:

By Air: Jodhpur Airport is the closest domestic airport that is functional throughout the year. Major cities have regular flights to Jodhpur. The airport is approximately 5 to 6 hours drive from the city.

By Rail: Jaisalmer is well connected with a wide network of trains covering most of the Indian cities

By Road: There are no direct buses from Delhi to Jaisalmer as the 17-18 hour drive is too time-consuming and quite exhausting

Charismatic Kerala with Kanyakumari

Visited in January 2020

Kerala, a single state having so many landscapes to offer; be it mountains, tea estates, beaches & backwaters. This time my travel love took me to this charismatic state, so here I am sharing my 4 days trip report of Kerala with Kanyakumari.

Day 1: We started our journey from Delhi airport with 7am flight and reached Trivandrum around 10:30am. After collecting our bags, we went to the taxi counter which is located just outside the exit gate of the airport. AC Sedan for Kanyakumari costed us Rs. 3240 and we reached Kanyakumari around 2pm with a stop-over at interstate check point. Our pre-booking was at Hotel Sea View, so after a quick check-in & freshening-up we ordered lunch from the hotel restaurant. Since sun was very harsh at that time so we decided to rest a bit and explore the city in evening around 5pm or so.

Kanyakumari is a small city with all tourist attractions nearby.

We went to Triveni Sangam, which is confluence of three seas namely Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea & Indian Ocean. We went to Kanyakumari Temple after sangam visit as sangam is just behind the temple. It was a quick darshan as there were less people.

One can have urgent darshan by paying 20 per head. Also, gents have to remove their shirts and baniyan for entering the goddess room. Flower and prasad is available outside temple.

We went back to our hotel after darshan as it was late evening and rest of the tourist places could be visited in day time only. Had dinner again in hotel room; sitting beside huge window and enjoying lovely views of sea, Vivekananda rock memorial, Thiruvallur Statue and Kanyakumari city.

It was a full moon that night and reflection of same felt magical on sea, cold breeze added magic to the moment. We sat behind that window, gazing outside and had some chit chats till late night.

Day 2: This day hotel provided us bed tea/coffee as complimentary, so I woke up with the doorbell for tea at around 5:30am. There was also some prayer going-on (on loudspeaker) in a nearby church which waked us in the morning. Since I already had to wake-up for sunrise, so I got freshened up and went to hotel terrace for witnessing the same.

Watching sunrise is very popular or must thing to do in Kanyakumari, hence there was a huge rush around sea for watching sunrise. Luckily our hotel terrace provided that view without any extra effort. But unfortunately, we couldn’t watch sunrise at the scheduled time due to clouds, but once it came above the clouds it was beautiful.

After sunrise I came back and got ready for hotels buffet breakfast around 8am. Hotel again impressed us with the variety of breakfast spread they had. Soon we filled our belly with heavy breakfast and proceeded for the ferry ride. Here we bought ticket of Rs. 200 per head for avoiding queue at the jetty. The waiting time for ferries is very minimal due to the bigger size and lesser distance ferries have to cover. It took us to Vivekananda Rock Memorial which is in middle of sea.

Swami Vivekananda attained enlightenment on the rock, so the place is built in his honour. There is statue of Swami Vivekananda on one side and goddess Kanyakumari temple on other side. Views from this place are stunning as water is all around.

We purchased ticket of Rs.10 for visiting the memorial. Little bit climbing is required to reach these two places located in front of each other.

One wheelchair is available at this place without any additional charge. We took it for my mother.

We took the ferry again from this place to reach the jetty. There is poet “Thiruvallur” statue also next to the Vivekananda rock memorial but entry to this place is not allowed as our ferry took us back to jetty. Now was the time to go back to our hotel, pack our bags and say a final good bye to this last corner of India.

Our next stop was Poovar back waters, we reached there around 2pm as its 65 km from Kanyakumari. Here we hired a boat for backwater cruise, which took us to Golden Sand Beach while crossing through water forest. It dropped us to one of the restaurant boat anchored on the river. We had our lunch there in middle of the sea with some good music. On our return journey we saw some floating cottages also of Poovar Island Resort.

Our next stop from here was Kovalam which is just 30 min (19 km) away from Poovar. We went through two hotels here and finalized on one with sea view from balcony. From here we could watch all the activities of Hawah Beach. After resting for some time we went through Hawah Beach & light house beach which are beside each other. This entire seaside have many options for staying. We watched the sunset and went to a small rock on the beach. We came back to our rooms late evening and after some chit chats we ordered our dinner in the room itself. Meanwhile we also booked cab for our next day excursion of Kumarakom and Munnar.

I woke up early to witness the daily life of locals (my best part of the day).

Here I witnessed fisherman taking out their boats in the sea for catching fishes. Some people taking out the fishing nets from sea which they might have left in the sea previous day. Beach bed owners spreading their beds and locals, tourists jogging or walking around both the beaches. I can never get bored of beaches, whatever time I spend its always less.

But soon I winded up and went to the room for getting ready for buffet breakfast. Our cab arrived at the decided time and we checked-out from our room and proceeded towards our next destination Kumarakom. The place is around 190 km from Kovalam and we took around 5 hours to reach the destination.

Here I got a real shock as I planned a houseboat tour in backwaters of Kumarakom but after reaching the place, the ferry owners said all the houseboat are booked as cruise starts from 11am. But after lots of googling and calling finally I got a houseboat which took us to backwater tour for 2.5 hrs as no houseboats are allowed to sail in the backwaters after 6pm. This was a real saviour as I cannot imagine my Kerala trip without houseboat tour.

Our boat took us through narrow lanes of backwaters to complete bigger area where we saw some Chinese fishing nets. The boat also had two rooms with attached bathroom for staying with complete furnishing of bed, almirah, side sofa, mirror and etc.A small kitchen is also available on back side of boat from where we had our tea and snacks for the day.

This was a beautiful journey where you can spend some quiet time with your thoughts. The cold breeze adds to the comfort.

Again, we hopped in our cab and proceeded towards Munnar which is again around 170 km and took 5 hours for reaching. We took just a single stop on the way for dinner and reached Munnar at 12 in the midnight. Most of the Munnar hotels I had in my list was booked, so our driver saved us here by booking a homestay and I must say it was a good idea as the homestay was very neat and clean and most importantly it was separate as the house owner lived on first floor and gave us ground floor (3 BHK) for staying. Tea and hot water was available in the morning and restaurant for breakfast was nearby, so we checked-out and went to the restaurant through our cab which was booked till Kochi drop.

Day 3: After breakfast we went for Munnar site-seeing, tea gardens, tea museum, Mattupetty dam, Kundla dam and on the way to Kochi we saw Cheeyapara waterfall.

Its beautiful feeling to go through so much of greenery of tea gardens. The whole way looks beautiful and mesmerising.

We reached Kochi hotel around 7:30 pm. We booked this hotel near Kochi airport as we had early morning flight (6am) for next day. Since I was so tired, I just went to bed and slept in no time.

We left the hotel at 4am by a pre-booked cab and reached the airport in 5-10 min. It was a 3-hour flight and we reached Delhi around 10am. This was a complete changeover from a hot to cold weather.

Gorgeous Gujarat

Visited in September 2021

We planned Gujarat trip this time as it was a safe option, going through recent covid cases and travel norms of this state.

For travelling to Gujarat from Delhi only thermal screening was required at the airport. Also while checking through travel agents and airlines they said nothing is required but you can carry certificate if you’re both vaccination have been completed. So we just booked the tickets, packed our bags and went to explore a new place.

Day 1: It was a 2 hour early morning flight and we reached Ahmedabad at 9am. I booked the hotel from airplane itself which I selected while searching for the same online before starting the trip. It was a perfect select as I wanted a decent hotel near airport. They also sent cab for picking us up from the airport. Hotel rooms were cozy and had all required amenities specially lift which I needed the most. Hotel also had buffet breakfast included in room tariff. After enjoying varied buffet spread of poori bhaji, Idli sambhar, fruits, bread butter, juice and etc we did some rest before starting exploration of the city.

Since we had only half day with us in the city so we selected some activities quickly which we will be doing. It started with visit to Akshardham temple, then shopping in Dhalgarwad and ending of day with finger licking Gujarati thali in Sasuji. I would really recommend this place for amazing food.

Day 2: This was the day for further travel to Porbandar from Ahmedabad airport. Since the distance from Ahmedabad to Dwarka is around 440 km so with elderly parents we decided to take flight instead of road travel. It is an hour or so trip from Ahmedabad.

Porbandar Airport is a very small airport with mostly interstate flights. Here we booked auto from outside as suggested by hotel we chose to stay in.

We ordered breakfast in the room, booked cab and started getting ready as we didn’t had much time.

Around 10 am we started our trip for the day and our first stop for the day was Shri Dwarakadheesh Temple, which is around 100 km from Porbandar.

Shri Dwarakadheesh Temple is one ofchar dhamsite. The temple had old architecture made up of huge stones with idol of main deity in the middle and surrounded by other god & goddess. There were lot of devotees at the temple premises, and we just reached on time as the temple was about to get close. Wheelchair facility is available at this temple.

After having a quick darshan at the temple we went to have lunch before further travel toNageshwar Jyotirlinga, which was around 17 km ahead.     

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga is one among 12 jyotirlinga temple in all over India. The temple has an huge idol of sitting shiva. Although there was rush but we had a very nice darshan of Shivalinga here. We also managed wheelchair for my mother after lot of searches.

Our next destination was around 30 km from here.

Bet Dwarka is again an ancient temple having a deep and interesting mythological history. It was abode of Krishna during his ruling years. We firstly took a e-rikshaw from parking place and reached near sea, from where we boarded boat for visiting the temple. This wasn’t the right time for visiting the temple as temple was closed at that time and a huge line of visitor was created. But once we entered temple premises it felt peaceful.

We got late while returning from temple and due to this we had less time for our next stoppage which was a beach (Shivrajpur Beach). We witnessed almost the sunset and sat there for some time near a lighthouse as the same was soothing.

We called it a day and went back to our hotel in Porbandar, also had dinner in between.

Day 3: This was again a long day as we were also travelling back to Delhi this day and it was also my B-Day 😀

While going through coastal highway towards Somnath temple we stopped at Madhavpur beach for a quick photo-sesh as it started raining in sometime. After a good ride of 82 km we reached another Jyotirlinga which is again a site to behold.

Somnath Jyotirlinga: The temple is centrally located in large area beside a beach. Wheelchair service is available at this temple also as for old people it is a large area to walk before reaching temple.

Temple also have one lift so no need to worry about the wheelchair. After darshan I went to the beach which is again a walk as we must firstly come out of the temple premise and then again walk the same distance of temple but besides temple. There was also charge of 5-10 rupees for entering the area. It was beautiful to see temple and sea side by side just separated by a boundary wall.

We had a group pic with temple in the background as a memory for life.

Our final destination for the day was Diu Island (around 100 km).

Diu Island, a union territory. It is a small place with nice beaches and fancy café around the city and nearby sea. Decent number of people (locals & tourist) were there. After spending some time at the beach we sat at a café and ordered some snacks. We also searched for some bakery shop for a cake but found only some chocolate pastries.

Since airport was just 6-7 km from this place so we chilled here and left around 3pm for our return flight to Delhi via Mumbai.

Diu Airport is also a small airport but well maintained.

Finally, it was a time to say a final goodbye to this beautiful place and our wonderful trip.

An eventful day spent in the desert of Jaisalmer

Visited in March 2015

This trip was in my to-do list from very long as it is altogether a different experience.

I did pre-booking for 1-night camping in desert with; The Thar Desert Tour. Our booking included three meals (Evening snacks, dinner & next day breakfast) along with camel safari in sand dunes during sunset and cultural event in the evening.

The day started in evening with camel ride. Initially the ride was scary and even became scarier when it went through the dunes. But gradually we started enjoying as it was something different and unique from regular.

Camel Ride in Sam Sand Dunes

Undoubtedly best part of the trip was to witness sunset from dunes. The whole ambiance was relaxing as the sun was losing its warmth gradually and cold breeze was flowing. We just sat on the dunes and experienced what was happening around us, like the caravan of camel, group of tourists watching sunset. We lived that moment to the fullest and will always cherish in our memories😊

Caravan of Camel in Sand Dunes

Sunset from Sand Dunes

Next was the cultural programme at campsite along with evening snacks and followed by DJ and Dinner.

Cultural programme was a wonderful experience to witness beautiful culture of Rajasthan. Here we learned about algoza, which is a flute like musical instrument and is played in Rajasthani folk music.

Algoza

We even saw lady dancing with piles of mud pot on her head.

Cultural Evening

Night at this camp was beautiful with bright shining moon and dozens of stars. Although it was pretty cold in comparison to day time which was hot in these tents but no worries as the tents are fully equipped for both the situations with coolers and warm blankets. We roam around the camp area and clicked few photos to reminisce memories in future.

Night in Camp

We got up early the next morning so that we could spend more time at the place. Our last meal in this camp had aloo paratha with curd, Bread Butter & Poha with tea for breakfast.

I did my remaining photo & video sessions till our tour guide came and escorted us to Jaisalmer city at our scheduled time of 11am (as per package).

Our Tent

 

AMA Cafe, Majnu Ka Tila (Delhi)

This cafe is located in narrow lanes of new aruna nagar (majnu ka tila). The cafe is on the first and second floor with comfortable sofa, table-chair seating.

Messages of Visitors

The place is happening with mostly young crowd and variety of dishes in their menu.  We did wait for around half an hour to get a table at the cafe on Saturday evening.

Special mention for their staff as they were really warm and welcoming.

Since we already had heavy lunch at AMA restaurant so we only ordered dessert with drink. Our order included chocolate tiramisu, red velvet cheese pastry with strawberry shake and iced lemon mint tea.

Chocolate Tiramisu: Tiramisu is a coffee flavored Italian dessert. Chocolate tiramisu in this cafe was like a chocolate pastry with layer of chocolate cake and caramel. It was soft and tasted good.

Iced lemon mint tea: I really liked it, as the drink also had grind mint leaves along with lemon and tea which was very refreshing.

Chocolate Tiramisu with Iced Lemon Mint Tea

Red velvet cheese cake: The cake looked colorful with layering of cream cheese and red cake. It tasted good with broad layering of cream cheese and then layering of red cake.

Strawberry shake: It was usual shake with strawberry flavor.

Red Velvet Cheese Cake with Strawberry Shake

They give bill in a cup filled with coffee beans which was a pleasant change from typical bill wallet in restaurant.

Bill Cup

Definitely a must go place for their service, ambiance and food.

AMA Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

38 Barracks, Cannaught Place

After spending half day in office I decided to go out and have some good time and not just simply work the whole day on New Year’s eve. What could be a better place then Connaught Place (CP) in Delhi to capture all the happenings, so after taking a half day off from office I straight away went to Rajiv Chowk metro station. I met my friend at CP and we both went to 38 barracks after checking many options online.

The restaurant is on first floor and as the name says 38 Barracks (house for soldiers), interior of restaurant have rifles, shields and etc. It’s a small cosy place with a corner for live music as well. We had an enjoyable New Year’s eve at this place because of live music and nice food.

We ordered cheese stuffed button mushroom, chili paneer sizzler with plain soda.

Drinks

Cheese Stuffed Button Mushroom has a stuffing of mozzarella cheese and mushroom with crunchy coating. This is nice cheesy invention by the restaurant which I fully loved and enjoyed with mayonnaise.

Cheese Stuffed Button Mushroom

Chili Paneer Sizzler: This was chilly paneer gravy served with noodles and with 2 pcs of spring roll, you can make a choice between noodles & rice. This was average in taste so one can go-ahead with some other dish in their menu.

Chili Paneer Sizzler

They have a small cosy place but have all ingredients like live music, good food, drinks for spending a nice evening.

38 Barracks Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Warehouse Cafe, Delhi

An unfortunate Monday which turned out to be fortunate. To elaborate, after leaving office at 6:10 pm I realized that I haven’t brought my home keys and my family was supposed to return home by 11 pm. I called one of my friends and luckily, he agreed to meet as it was off the other day. After doing some window shopping at Connaught Place we went to Warehouse café for having some food.

Restaurant is located on first floor and have dim light ambiance. After entering place, the drink table is on right side and seating area on left. The best thing about the place was the live performance, singer made it a beautiful evening through his nice voice and song selection.

We ordered chicken platter along with Jhatka Mary (mocktail) & Silk Pink (Cocktail).

The platter included chicken tandoori, fish fry & Chicken seekh kabab along with onion and green sauce (hari chutni). Everything was properly cooked and tasted good.

Regarding drinks, I didn’t like Jhatka Mary much as it was salty.

I would really love to visit the place again due to its lively ambiance and food.

Warehouse Cafe Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Trip to Spiti Valley

Visited in June 2019

JULLEYYYY 😊

Well after lot of searching and surfing we decided on Spiti Valley (Kaza) this time by negotiating on previous choices of Kerala & North Sikkim. I must say this was a right choice as the place is amazing..

To begin our journey started with a hiccup. We started from Delhi in Volvo towards Shimla as Manali-Kaza route was closed. Delhi to Shimla is an overnight journey but our journey extended by 3-4 hours as our Volvo broke down mid-way. And we reached Shimla by taking lift in cab, although we paid for it but it was literally a scene of standing on road asking for lift from vehicles passing by.

Day 1: After all these entertainments we reached Shimla around 12 noon where we boarded our tempo traveler for Kalpa, our stopping point for the day. We reached Kalpa in the evening and before that also stopped at a hotel in between for freshening-up and for brunch.

Kalpa is small mountain town in Kinnaur. Since we reached the place late in the evening (also we were exhausted by the journey), we couldn’t even explore our campsite much. We had our dinner, spent some time by the bonfire and went to sleep.

Day 2: The morning here was beautiful as we woke-up to this view in the morning 😊 snow-capped mountain with greenery all around. The place is beautifully maintained with amazing views.

Out campsite at Kalpa

As per local people there is a Shivlinga & Parvati in the mountains.

After exploring the place briefly, we got ready, had our breakfast amidst nature and gathered for our next destination. Before boarding our tempo travelers, we were briefed about an initiative of cleanliness as Kaza is a remote place so cleanliness is still maintained at the place.

We boarded our traveler with a nice message and started towards our destination Kaza (Spiti Valley). The journey was amazing due to beautiful landscape of raw mountain. We stopped mid-way on Khab Sangam (confluence of Spiti & Sutlej river), had some quick photos and traveled ahead.

Khab Sangam

Our next stop was for lunch before reaching Tabo Monastery in the evening

Tabo Monastery

The monastery was founded in 996 CE and is one of the oldest monastery of India.  The same could also be understood through its architecture. The place also has a shop with general stuffs like caps, bracelets and etc.

Kaza welcomed us late evening with drizzling, so without wasting anytime we transferred to our tents. After freshening-up we had dinner, played some game and then retired to our tents for next day’s excursion.

Day 3: This was the day to touch some of the heights 😊

Our first day in Kaza started with a morning walk in drizzling weather followed by breakfast. The first place we explored is known as Chicham bridge, Asia’s highest bridge.

Chicham Bridge

The bridge is at an altitude of 13,596 Ft (4145 meters) above sea level and connects Chicham village with Kibber.

Then we went to Key Monastery, which is built-up on a hill (at an altitude of 4,166 meters & 13,668 ft above sea level), hence it requires some hike but the view from top was worth the hike.

Key Monastery

This is an old but biggest monastery of Spiti Valley. We had organic tea at the monastery which tasted really good. Soon it started raining so we went back to our traveler after exploring the place.

Again, we visited a unique place which is world’s highest post office, where we posted picture postcard for our loved ones. Post office is located at 14,567 feet above the sea level in tiny village of Hikkim.

World’s Highest Post Office

To visit the post office, we went down and then climbed-up till the parking. There is a cafe as well, but it was closed when we visited.

Next was world’s highest restaurant located in Komic village, highest village in world connected with motorable road (altitude: 4587 mtr).

World Highest Restaurant

We had our lunch which included spiti sandwich, potato sandwich, maggie, hot chocolate & tea at this restaurant. Out of all these Spiti sandwich is a must try. The place also has a monastery.

Our last destination for today was Langza, also known as fossil village (due to huge quantities of fossils) situated at an altitude of 14,500 feet above sea level. It has a huge statue of Buddha which is believed to be around 1000 yrs old.

Buddha Statue, Langza

We clicked some quick photos at the place and started back for Kaza.

This was also the day for exploring Kaza market, hence after returning back we freshen-up and went to the market on foot. It is a small market with basic shops, we did some shopping and had momos which was pretty expensive (100 bucks for full plate veg momo) and tasted average.

Post dinner we got confirmation for our next spot (Chandratal lake) as it rained the whole day and the roads were closed.

After some chit-chats we went to our tents as we had to leave early the next day to avoid traffic.

Day 4: Last day of our Kaza excursion started at 7:30 am after having tea. We stopped at Losar village after around 1-1:30 hours of journey from Kaza for breakfast. Losar is also last inhabited village on the Indian side of India China border.

After going through rugged mountains for an hour or two we finally saw some white landscape at Kunzum pass.

Kunzum Pass

The snow was fresh and soft which made the place even more serene and beautiful. After visiting Kunzum mata temple and some photo-session, we started again for Chandratal which was around 14 km from paas.

Kunzum Mata

In around 60 more minutes we reached trek point of Chandratal and after around 1 km of trek we were at the lake. A magical lake with multiple colors.

Chandratal

This is a sacred lake for the people so nobody is allowed to swim or smoke near lake.

Instructions at Chandratal Lake

The whole ambiance is breath-taking. After spending some time at the lake, we proceeded towards the camp site where we ordered our late lunch of chawal & daal (rice & pulse).

We again hopped-on our traveler and started towards our return journey. On the way we stopped at Kunzum paas to play with snowwww and to admire beauty of the place.

We reached our tents late evening and since we had a hectic day hence, I slept as soon as I went in my bed, I even skipped my dinner for that night.

Day 5: We started our return journey from this day and went to Kalpa by stopping at the same place for lunch. Before going to our campsite, we visited suicide point in Kalpa which was very near to our campsite.

Suicide Point, Kalpa

This was the last night of our camping so we spend some good time dancing across the bonfire to make it a memorable evening.

Day 6: We reached Shimla late evening from where we had our Volvo booked for Delhi. Since we had some time between reaching and leaving Shimla hence, we thought to explore Mall road in the meanwhile.

Church at Mall Road, Shimla

Due to holiday season, mall road was packed with people but its always fun to stroll around mall road in the evening due to liveliness of the place. We even climbed and visited church to have a nice view of Shimla city.

At 9:30 pm we boarded our Volvo and reached Delhi next morning around 6:30 am.

*We didn’t took Manali route as the same was closed. Manali-Kaza route is shorter then Shimla-Kaza route.

Points to remember:

  • Take time to get acclimatize. Do get your pulse rate checked on every night in Kaza
  • Do carry sunscreen with high SPF
  • Carry enough warm clothes
  • Carry backpacks

3 Days Goa Trip in September

Visited in September 2018

GOA……. everybody’s dream destination and the place is beautiful. After lot of googling I planned 3 days Goa trip in so called monsoon month, September (as it was mostly sunny during my stay).

Day 0: We left Delhi in 9:40 pm flight and reached Goa at 12:10am. Since I already informed hotel (M-The Business Hotel) at the time of booking about my late arrival in Goa and have also checked for the conveyance, so after reaching baggage counter I simply called the hotel and asked to send cab.

Soon cab reached the airport, picked us and dropped us at the hotel around 12:40am. It took a while for check-in as two more people were before us who were checking in. We reached our room at around 1 am and after changing went to our bed to call it a day.

Day 1: This was an early morning for us as we wake around 7am and decided to have breakfast in hotel itself. Since our room tariff didn’t included breakfast hence we took coupon of INR 200 per person for buffet breakfast which had a variety of dishes like Maggie, noodles, idli sambhar, sandwich, toast, omelette, milk cornflakes, juice, tea, coffee and banana halwa. Everything was delicious and properly cooked.

Breakfast at M the Business Hotel

After filling our tummy with delicious food, we checked out from hotel at around 10am and proceeded for spice plantation tour to Sahakari Spice Plantation through cab (Cab driver’s number was received from hotel itself and after discussing our plan and charges we finalized the cab).

It took us around 1 hour to reach the place. Spice plantation tour is chargeable at INR 400 per person which includes guided tour around the place, welcome drink along with snack and buffet lunch. The place is huge with greenery all over, this is a perfect place for visit in monsoon.

Sahakari Spice Plantation

After having a good time at Sahakari Spice Plantation we proceeded towards our resort Bogmallo Beach resort. I planned visit to spice plantation on day 1 also because the resort check-in time was 2pm and we had to kill the time from 11am to 2pm. As soon we reached resort reception we were served with pineapple juice and after a smooth check-in we proceeded towards our rooms.

Our room, it was beyond my expectation. As I entered the room I could see the sea as the room door opened just in front of balcony door which had a view of sea. I was spellbound and was super happy, the first thing I did is opened balcony door and went to the balcony……. gosh it was beaaaautifullll.

View from balcony

I spent some time at the balcony before going to the room which was also properly done with all required amenities. We spent some time in room inside our bed as it was sunny outside. We thought to explore resort and beach at around 5 pm and following our plan we were up and went around resort.

Resort premises

We sat near swimming pool which had view of the sea, we even went to the beach (Bogmallo beach) through resort gates. Rest of the evening was spent at the beach watching sunset.

Sunset at Bogmallo Beach

It was around 7 pm while we reached resort beach gates but the same was closed and we have to come all over from resort front gate. After reaching we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner and cake cutting as it was my birthday and cake was supposed to get delivered at 8 pm.

We rested, had some tea and got ready for cake cutting & buffet dinner at resort restaurant.

Resort Restaurant

Buffet breakfast & buffet lunch or dinner was included in room tariff.

What a dinner spread it was everything from salad, pasta, cheese balls, chicken, fish, paneer gravy, chana masala, aloo fry, bharwa baigan and etc. In desert they had ice-cream, rasgulla, alle belle and etc.

After having so many delicacies we went to walk a bit in resort premises around pool area. The weather was superb, we sat there for some time before going back to our rooms.

Day 2: Again, an early morning we woke around 7am and after freshening up I went again to the beach, I can spend a whole lot of time near water weather its beach, river, waterfall, dam; as its super soothing 😊

Footprints on Bogmallo beach

I spent an hour or so at the beach and then went back to room to get ready for the buffet breakfast. Breakfast again had who’s who of the dishes to savor upon. French toast, pan cake, Danish pastry, dosa, idli sambhar, poori bhaji, Omelette, juice, tea and etc

After some more roaming around in resort we cleared our bills and checked out at around 12 noon. Our next destination from here was Ritz Classic which is famous for its fish thali. Please note there are various branch of this restaurant in Goa but the authentic one is on 18th June road, Panjim.

Ritz Classic

We went to their other branch at first but since we wanted to have authentic fish thali, hence we went to the oldest branch. The thali is big with so many fish dishes like fish curry, fish fry, prawns, crab, fish kishmur along with solkadi,  papad, rice and sewai (desert).

Fish Thali

Next, we went to our pre-booked resort “Chalston Beach Resort” on Calangute beach (North Goa). After smooth check-in we went to our room for some rest as again it was sunny outside but I the most active member of the trip went to resort’s beach facing restaurant at the same time to have the view; which was beautiful.

View of sea from resort restaurant

We went to beach around 5pm. There is a huge stretch of sea with multiple beaches, at the right of Calangute beach is Baga beach which is the most happening beach of North Goa and on the left of Calangute is Candolim and Sinquerim.

The long stretch of sea

After playing with water, clicking pictures, negotiating with masseur and walking around, I sat on the beach to watch sunset. It was beautiful, I didn’t even want to leave the place in evening when it was slightly dark as it’s wonderful to sea beach and people (some) around the beach.

Beach in the evening

But I had to leave and after reaching room we again did some rest, got ready and went for dinner around 9 pm. We thought to have dinner at Brittos for which we booked cab but when cab didn’t turned-up for around 15-20 min we thought to go for dinner somewhere nearby as Brittos was 3 km from our present location.

We went to the beach (Calangute) and after walking for just 2 minutes got a shack with a seating arrangement on beach. It was just awesome candle lit table on beach. Soon we ordered our dinner which took much time to get served. Meanwhile there was a spell of rain due to which we were shifted from open air table to umbrella covered table. The ambiance was superb with sound of tide and cool soothing air.

Dinner by the beach

We finished our yummy meal in this beautiful location and went back to our hotel room.

Day 3: This was our last day in Goa which started with some roaming around in resort and buffet breakfast in sea facing restaurant (included in room tariff) of resort.

Breakfast at resort restaurant

The buffet included poha, pav bhaji, milk corfnlakes, variety of omelette (masala, cheese and etc), pan cake, toast, juice, tea & coffee. After breakfast I again went to the beach for the last time as we had to check-out at 11 am.

Calangute beach in morning

I thought to spent the remaining time in resort’s swimming pool but the swim wear was only available for purchase and not on rent in resort so I dropped the plan.

After packing and getting ready we completed check-out formalities at resort reception and booked a cab.

Many famous restaurants like Thalassa, La Plage are closed during monsoon hence after a lot of thinking we finalized our plan for the day which included visit to Chapora Fort where movie Dil Chahta Hai was shot. Cab driver firstly took us to a spot from where we can have spectacular view of Vagator beach after that he dropped us to the parking of Chapora fort.

Vagator Beach

It requires some hiking to reach fort which we covered in around 5 minutes.

Entry to Chapora Fort

The fort is ruined but one can have spectacular view of sea from almost all directions of fort.

Chapora Fort

View from fort

We clicked some pictures at the site and then came back to the cab.

I googled some restaurants and found a place to have lunch as most of the restaurant I thought to visit was closed in monsoon season and same goes with my new-found restaurant as well. So, without wasting any time we proceeded to our next destination in south goa, Fisherman Wharff (Cavelossim beach) via panjim for some shopping.

We only purchased some dry fruits from the market (panjim) as only few shops were open due to Sunday. I even purchased “modak” (Indian sweet) from a shop as I haven’t had it earlier 😊

Modak

It took us around 2 hours to reach Fishermann Wharf. The restaurant is beautifully done and was lively due to live performance.

Fisherman Wharf

They have placed tables overlooking the river which was nice.

Fisherman Wharf

To be honest I expected more but the place is okay. After having a late lunch, we proceeded towards Goa Airport (South Goa) to catch our flight back to Delhi. We reached Airport around 6 pm and completed check-in process to board 7:20 pm flight which reached Delhi at 11:20 pm.

Social, Hauz Khas Village

We group of college friends visited this outlet on a Sunday afternoon. Since we reached early there wasn’t much people at the place but gradually it was all full. They have large seating space on both the floors, we wanted to grab the table with lake view but the same was already booked.

It is (restaurant) like big house with seating in rooms and balcony. Restaurant interior was cool with dim lighting and with various seating option of sofa and bench. Bar was also available on the ground floor.

They have their menu in form of a newspaper with large variety of dishes, we ordered Poutine (BBQ Chicken), Fully loaded nachos with iced tea (strawberry) & lemonade and in desert we had chocolate blood bath.

Social Menu Card

Poutine (BBQ Chicken): Poutine is a Canadian dish consisting of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. Since we ordered poutine with BBQ Chicken topping so the dish had french fries with topping of BBQ Chicken and cheese. It was tasty and could be tried at the restaurant.

Poutine (BBQ Chicken)

Fully loaded nachos: Nachos topped with cheese and spices tasted good.

Fully loaded nachos

Iced tea (Strawberry): It was served in small bath tub type bowl and was okay in taste.

Iced Tea (Strawberry)

Chocolate Blood Bath: It is made by mixing chocolate cake, chocolate brownie, chocolate truffle, chocolate ice cream, chocolate mousse & goey chocolate fudge. The mixture of so many dishes was indeed tasty and treat for chocolate lovers.

Chocolate Blood Bath

The place is very popular among youngsters and we can see the same crowd at the place. It definitely deserves a visit due to the ambiance, food and its quirky presentation of drinks, bill.

Bill Box

 

Hauz Khas Social Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato