• हरिद्वार में वैसाखी और मुंडन
    By

    हरिद्वार में वैसाखी और मुंडन

    Read More
  • By

    सिद्धबली धाम, लैंसडौन और तारकेश्वर धाम की अप्रतिम यात्रा

    Read More
  • Winch at Palani
    By

    Munnar Magic

    Read More
  • By

    Are you looking for a perfect Staycation with kids & family? Abu Dhabi is the answer.

    Read More
  • By

    A BLISSFUL EXPEDITION: EXPLORING MYSORE, OOTY, AND COONOOR (PART-3)

    Read More

Recent Stories

Soul resurgence trip to Ajmer and Pushkar

By

Anything even remotely related to Pushkar Lake has a halo of sacredness and divinity. Legend has it that a dip in its waters cleanses all the sins and is the surest way to achieve salvation from the cycles of life. Circled by some five hundred odd temples, the lake has 52 ghats, which connect the temples to the water.

Read More

Jalori Pass !

By

JALORI JOT (PASS)  Till now you read that after visiting Jwalajai, Rewalsar, Parashar, Manikaran, we stayed at Pandoh.  Everyone was happy that we were…

Read More

Majestic Ladakh : ZojiLa- The Most Treacherous Mountain Pass In The World!

By

Wait a minute! It has a history of war too. Don’t raise your brows! Yes, it has. Kashmir was then an independent Kingdom and Maharaja Hari Singh was its king. It was the year 1947-48. The king was finding it difficult to decide with which country to join his territory, India or Pakistan, or to remain independent. The king chose to remain independent but his wishes were short lived and dashed in October 1947 as Pakistan sent Muslim tribesmen invader into the territory of Kashmir who were then approaching to the capital Srinagar fast. Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession, ceding Kashmir to India on 26th October. Thus the first war between India and Pakistan broke out over Kashmir in 1947. India referred the dispute to United Nation on 1st January 1948. During this war Pakistani invaders seized ZojiLa in 1948 while they were on the verge of capturing Ladakh. On 1st November, Zojila pass was recaptured by Indian forces under Operation Bison. On 1st January 1949, a ceasefire was agreed with only two-third of the whole Kashmir under Indian control and the remaining with Pakistan (we call it now as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or P.O.K). In the ceasefire lines, LOC (Line of Control) was drawn up which was formally established in 1972, after a third war between India and Pakistan in 1971.The Line of Control remains the de facto border between the two countries.

We spent enough time at the pass looking at how other vehicles were negotiating the road at the mountain edge that has no barrier. The road is so narrow and vicious that it is known as one of the most dangerous passes in the world. But the route is a lifeline that keeps the people of Ladakh connect with the rest of the world. However it remains closed for more than six months in a year for blockage due to heavy snowfall. The road reopens in late spring. ZojiLa at an elevation of 11649 feet above sea level is considered to be the second highest pass after Fotu La on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway.

Read More
श्रावस्ती संस्मरण – भाग १ ( Memories of Sravasti -1)

श्रावस्ती संस्मरण – भाग १ ( Memories of Sravasti -1)

By

श्रावस्ती से भगवान्‌ बुद्ध का गहरा रिशता   रहा है । यह तथ्य इसी से प्रकट होता है कि जीवन के उत्तरार्थ के २५ वर्षावास( चार्तुमास ) बुद्ध ने श्रावस्ती मे ही बिताये । बुद्ध वाणी संग्रह त्रिपिटक के अन्तर्गत ८७१ सूत्रों ( धर्म उपदेशॊ )  को भगवान्‌ बुद्ध ने श्रावस्ती प्रवास मे ही दिये थे , जिसमें ८४४ उपदेशों को जेतवन – अनाथपिंडक महाविहार में व २३ सूत्रों को  मिगार माता पूर्वाराम मे उपदेशित किया था । शेष ४ सूत्रों समीप के अन्य स्थानों मे दिये गये थे । भगवान बुद्ध के महान आध्यात्मिक  गौरव का केन्द्र बनी श्रावस्ती का सांस्कृतिक प्रवाह मे भयानक विध्वंसों के बाद वर्तमान मे भी यथावत है ।

इतिहास मे दृष्टि दौडायें तो कई रोचक तथ्य दिखते हैं । प्राचीन काल में यह कौशल देश की दूसरी राजधानी थी। भगवान राम के पुत्र लव ने इसे अपनी राजधानी बनाया था। श्रावस्ती बौद्ध व जैन दोनो का तीर्थ स्थान है।

माना गया है कि श्रावस्ति के स्थान पर आज आधुनिक सहेत महेत ग्राम है जो एक दूसरे से लगभग डेढ़ फर्लांग के अंतर पर स्थित हैं। यह बुद्धकालीन नगर था, जिसके भग्नावशेष उत्तर प्रदेश राज्य के, बहराइच एवं गोंडा जिले की सीमा पर, राप्ती नदी के दक्षिणी किनारे पर फैले हुए हैं।

Read More

Manikaran !

By

The night was spent nicely at Bajaura and next day we were fresh to start our journey further.  From Bajaura we reversed towards Kullu…

Read More

A trip to Shillong, Meghalaya

By

Later when I Googled, I found that it is indeed a reservoir and an artificial lake and was created by damming the Umium river and covers about 220 square km. This is first hydro-power project in this part of the country. Barapani is a major tourist attraction. Plenty of photos are available on the web.

We reached Shillong late afternoon. I was very excited, keen to find Shillong of my dreams: hills, fern, orchid and low cloud. Unfortunately, the sights and sound of the city did not match my imagination.

We drove past the crowded Police Bazaar area, the assembly and the polo ground and reached a quieter part of the town called Upper Lamthumai. Our hotel, Roseville Hotel, is located there.

Roseville Guest House: The hotel, more like a home stay, has cottages for guests and a well maintained garden. I identified Pine and Birch trees and some flowers. It has an old world charm. The property is famous for beautiful rooms and heritage rooms and was earlier managed by ITC Welcom. The tariff: Rs 3,000+25% tax per day.

Read More

Mumbai sight-seeing – Juhu Beach and ISKCON Temple (Part 1)

By

Juhu Beach is a gastronomic paradise of snacks like Bhelpuri, Chuski ice balls dipped in syrup, Pani Puri, Pao bhaji etc. On weekends people throng the beach and enjoy horse rides, dancing monkeys, acrobats, balloon sellers, toy sellers and many other types of beach amusement. You can even indulge in shopping by buying souvenirs made of sea shells and other trinkets.

Read More

Majestic Ladakh : The Journey Begins!

By

Now let’s begin the journey. Yes it starts with this prologue. For me, the journey actually began much before I stepped into the land of Kashmir to enter into Ladakh.

The Chinese philosopher, Lao-Tzu, said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” It is true for travelling to the top of the world, Ladakh! The first step undoubtedly would be to know a little bit about Ladakh.

It started, for me, four months before I actually travelled the region- through numerous articles, blogs and travel stories. Before going to Ladakh it was much essential for me to know about the places to go and activities to do in Ladakh, its history, culture, religious institutions and the mystics.

Read More

Road to Chandratal

By

We reach Kunzum jot, slightly off the main road and where vehicles take a customary loop to offer prayers. It is an overcast morning…. has continued to be so since Losar. More clouds come rolling in and almost obscure the Stupas at Kunzum Jot. Behind the Stupas and to their right, the track is clearly visible going to Chandratal. As our three vehicles halt there, we see no sign of the advance party. After mulling our options, we decide that one vehicle will go down the Kunzumla towards Batal and check out the motorable road to Chandratal since that is the only other place the other Scorpio could be. Sure enough, in a while we get a message from a tourist vehicle coming from Batal that our two Scorpios are at the motorable road and for us to join them there.

Read More

Parashar Lake

By

The journey was started with a visit to Bheemakali temple.  The temple was looking maginificent from the hotel itself but when we reached the…

Read More

Chandrataal – the Moon Lake

By

As we moved ahead, we crossed more and more nallahs. To our surprise they were even more dangerous now. The water flow was huge, it was so violent, we thought as if we were going to flow away with the water down to the Spiti river.

Read More

Khajuraho - Beyond Temples

All that you can do besides the temple sojourns in this beautiful city Take me here

Featured Stories

Our Favourites
हरिद्वार में वैसाखी और मुंडन

हरिद्वार में वैसाखी और मुंडन

By

इससे पहले की मैं अपना यात्रा वृतांत प्रारम्भ करूँ, आप सभी पाठकों को मेरा सादर नमस्कार। पिछले कुछ दिनों से एक अति महत्वपूर्ण कार्य…

सिद्धबली धाम, लैंसडौन और तारकेश्वर धाम की अप्रतिम यात्रा

By

बहुत दिन हुए किन्तु कहीं घूमना फिरना नहीं हो पा रहा था, आखिर होता भी कैसे क्यूंकि हमारी पांच माह की बेटी ने हमे…

Wanderings in South Goa.

By

You are really spoilt for choice when it comes to restaurants in Goa. Besides the beach shacks, where you can sit on the sands and gaze out at the sea, sipping on a drink, while waiting an hour or two for your meal to arrive, there are many restaurants inland which also serve excellent food at very reasonable rates. There is a fusion of East and West, Portugese and Indian, meat and vegetables, which makes Goan cuisine unique. Coconut is used liberally, along with other Indian spices in the cooking. ‘Fish curry rice’ is the most common food and available virtually in every restaurant. The different types of seafood on offer in Goa includes pomfret, kingfish, ladyfish, mackerel, tuna, shark, crab, prawn, lobster, squid and mussels. Chicken, pork, mutton and beef dishes are also on offer at all the restaurants, cooked in the popular Goan flavours such as vindaloo, balchao, recheado, xhacuti and caldin.
We had already planned that we would include at least one meal out at a shack or restaurant in our daily sight-seeing itinerary. One precaution we always took was to carry our own drinking water if we did not want to order a drink, or pay for a bottle of branded mineral water.

All Latest Travel Stories