Exploring East Nepal

It was really a spontaneous decision to go to Eastern side of Nepal when my Dad asked me if I was interested. Almost no prior planning was done but I thought I'll take few days leave at office over weekend to spend in our Travel.

Packing our bags, me and my family on Saturday morning drove out of the city. Driving on a new route via B.P highway, we were excited and thrilled to see many places.

Traveling almost 1500kms from Kathmandu, this part of Nepal is a paradise which has a fascinating history, enthralling culture and filled with scenic beauty. Exploring its rich Natural diversity from shivering in the hills to dancing in the hot Terai plains , East Nepal has something for everyone.

 Here are the Highlights of My Travel !

 ~ Bhedetar ~

Our first destination was Bhedetar, Pearched at 1420m it was like a hillstation above Dharan city. The damp monsoon air carried equal parts of cow dung, firewood and fog when we reached there in the late evening.

Charles Point, place to get the best view of Bhedetar which was named after Prince Charles, who visited the place back in 1980. Luckily we got the chance to see the beautiful Bhedetar before the mist covered the entire area.

One of my most memorable moment was climbing all the way to Namaste Jharna, and discovering an incredible view. It was simply Amazing and WOW!!

~ Dhankuta ~

Hile famous for the astonishing scenery of surrounding Himalayas, it was an eye-catching view of "Tongba" statue (wooden steins with brass hoops and fitted tops filled with millet-based alcoholic beverage) in the middle of the city.

Much heard about the place, the architectural masterpiece building, the timber construction, old fascinating house with balcony, such bold use of colors at the residence all made me look back again and again towards the building while climbing the uphill.

One could spend days wandering through the streets of Dhankuta with its uninterrupted natural beauty.

Saying goodbye to this breathtaking scenery we headed back to East West Highway destined to reach Ilam. On our way, we came across Koshi barrage in Saptari district. It seems like an ocean rather than the river. One of the biggest river barrages, it was thrilling  to drive across the long bridge with huge waters.

~ Ilam ~

You know you reached Ilam when you start seeing the tea estates on both side of the road. Located at the foothills of Mount Kanchenjunga, Ilam is a small town with sloped hills of tea gardens, and thick natural forests. It was an excellent getaway from my city life for fresh mountain air, a brisk walk in the tea garden, tranquil time and sightseeing spots.

                   Definitely find some time to check out the Tea Manufacturing Factory if you stop here!

On the way to Ilam Bazaar, there are two hot spots for tourist and they are Kanyam and Fikkal. As my Dad said Kanyam has largest tea estates that have made Ilam famous for more than a hundred years. (Can you imagine??) Likewise, Fikkal is a sort of business center which is also the junction from where we went to the eastern border city Pashupatinagar.

When you are finally ready to leave this place do visit Kakarbhitta, another border city from Mechi zone.

~ Biratnagar ~

Ranked as the 2nd busiest and biggest city of Nepal after Kathmandu, Biratnagar was mostly filled with the same crowd as the capital.

It was good to see rickshaws that are one of the oldest means of transportation primarily still in existence in the city.

~ Janakpur ~

Last but not the least, Janakpur was the much-awaited place on my travel list.

The beautiful and famous Janaki Mandir is a Hindu temple that lies in the heart of Janakpur. Built in extravagant baroque Mughal style, Janaki Mandir is one of the most fascinated temples. The holy temple is draped with colorful lights and decorated with colored glass, engravings, and paintings, with beautiful lattice windows and turrets. Honestly, it felt so peaceful and religious to visit this incredible site.

Also don't miss the chance to visit marvelous Bibaha Mandap, Dhanush Sagar, Ganga Sagar. It's around 10 minutes away from the main Temple.

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Luckily, I think there will always be a “next time” for me and my travel. Here’s to trying out Tongba in Hile, horseriding by the tea estates, paying respects to the religious places, feeding the wild boar in the middle of the highway and much more. Cheers!!

The Pink City | Jaipur

Jaipur, also known as "The Pink City" or "Paris of India" and the capital of Rajasthan happened to be in our Travel list. A riot of colors, majestic forts and palaces that boast of the Indian royalty and erstwhile Maharajas was definitely one of the must-go places and my trip to Jaipur last year only solidified my belief.

Excited for our 2 days trip to Jaipur, me and my sister woke up early in the morning at 4.AM. We arrived at New Delhi Train Station at around 5:15 A.M. It was my first time travelling via Railway. The experience in Ajmer Shatabdi Express was very pleasant and hospitable. After 5 hours of comfortable train journey, we arrived at the  land of Maharajas. We took a cab and went straight to our hotel. After quick refreshment, we headed to the heart of Jaipur-The Pink City.

Our first Stop was  Hawa Mahal which is Jaipur's most distinctive landmark. It is so named because it was essentially a high screen wall built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals while unseen from the outside.

The Palace of the Winds

Then we headed to the beautiful City Palace. An enigmatic complex of courtyards, gardens and buildings, the impressive City Palace is right in the center of the Old City. The most amazing discovery is that beyond the square is the private palace, the Chandra Mahal, which is still the residence of the descendants of the royal family.

Peacock Gate-City Palace

Next to City Palace is Jantar Mantar which is an astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century. It includes a set of some 20 main fixed instruments. It was amazing to see such huge instruments designed for the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye, and all that with such grandeur.

Stairs to Samrat Yantra, Jantar Mantar

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="4320"] The word's oldest observatory[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_220" align="alignnone" width="4320"] The model of Samar Yantra[/caption]

In the evening, we landed to a local restaurant where they served us with delightful cuisine and with much more awaiting us the next day we headed back to our hotel.

Our second Day began with visiting the much acclaimed Forts. The three most renowned forts located in Jaipur are : Nahargarh fort, Jaigarh Fort and Amer Fort. We booked a cab for a whole day and started with Nahargarh Fort.

Nahargarh Fort, standing tall is the pride of the city of Jaipur. Inside the long courtyard of the palace, there are three suites each on the three sides, making a total of nine identical suites (meant for the queens). There is no better place to see Jaipur city than gazing at it from the Nahargarh Fort. We also searched for the place where portions of the movie Rang De Basanti were shot. It was not far from the entrance area where the "Pathshala" song was shot. It is a huge water reservoir and used to store water during the rainy season.

[caption id="attachment_231" align="aligncenter" width="3120"] Entrance to the Fort[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_219" align="aligncenter" width="3072"] Wanderlust-Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_234" align="alignnone" width="4096"] "Masti  ki Pathsala" - Rang de Basanti[/caption]

Jaigarh Fort was next on our list. The story of Jaigarh Fort is as intriguing as its history so obviously we couldn't miss this site. It is best known as the site of the world's largest cannon, the Jaivana, which was test-fired only once — according to legend. I wondered why anyone would even try to conquer a city with a cannon that fires with the range of 35km. The three forts are connected to each other by underground passages which supplied water to the forts.

[caption id="attachment_228" align="alignnone" width="4096"] The biggest cannon in the world lies in Jaigarh Fort[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_235" align="alignnone" width="4096"] The Victory Fort with many stories on the wall[/caption]

After much walking, we came back to the city to have some lunch and went to see the Jal Mahal. Possibly the most serene sight amidst the chaos of Jaipur is the beautiful Jal Mahal of Jaipur, the Water Palace. This low-rise symmetrical palace, that once was a shooting lodge for the Maharajas, appears to float on the center of Sagar Lake. Due to lack of time we said our goodbye to the Jal Mahal as Amer Fort was waiting for us.

On the way to Amer Fort, we were hysterically laughing by re-enacting the dialogue of Hrithik Roshan in the movie Jodha Akbar regarding the Amer Fort. That says ‘Amer ki saltanat’. Not even bothering to speak out the rest of the dialogue.

It was already late afternoon when we reached Amer Fort. It is one of the most beautiful places in Jaipur.  The Home of Princess Jodha(wife of Emperor Akbar) left us speechless with its tremendous beauty. As it was evening, the lights added much beauty to the palace. We then attended a spiritual aarati in Shila Matha's Temple inside the fort. We quickly explored the fort as it was already dark. It felt like each stone had a story to tell and it did indeed! This marked the end of Jaipur Trip and we headed back to our hotel as we had early morning train the next day.

[gallery ids="225,230,227,229" type="rectangular"]

With only 2 short days in this city, I know justice simply hasn’t been done to all the sights, sounds and smells that Jaipur has to offer. We left with photos, experiences and bags full of goodies, promising to return to unearth, appreciate and enjoy the many more unseen treasures that this city has to offer.

 The last Stop-Jaipur Train Station

Unforgettable Travel - Bandipur

Deerwalk Plan Analytics Team| Bandipur| April 2015

25th April 2015 was the unforgettable date for our travel and Bandipur was the place. Travelling is fun and that fun doubles when you have amazing people to travel with. Me and my office team were all set and excited for our 2 days hike. The sky was cloudy and it had started to drizzle in the morning, but it hardly mattered to us as we were busy making plans to make the trip memorable. We left office right on time and picked everyone on the route and reached Kalanki at 8am. We packed some food & water and left the valley. Our journey had begun with all of us sharing our excitements of the hike and how amazing it felt to catch a break from our daily routines.  After travelling few kms along the curves of Naubise we stopped for breakfast at a roadside hotel.  We had breakfast, clicked few photos and got back on the road.  We were driving alongside the Trisuli River, playing games in our very own Deerwalk van and listening to the songs.

It wasn't my normal Saturday where I slept till late, had more than one bed teas. It was an exciting Saturday on road and none of us had any idea about what nature had to offer us. Suddenly, we felt the bus hit the bumps on the highway. At first, we ignored the jerks assuming it was the speed and made a few jokes about it.  Soon it turned scary when we could see all the locals outside, panicking and grumbling about the earthquake. When we reached Bimalnagar our slated hike start point, we got out of our vehicle and stood by the roadside as a precaution. We were all worried as we were not with our family in such a time and we had no idea whether to go ahead and complete the journey or return back. Then suddenly right there we felt the tremors and the road beneath us started shaking. We were holding each other. We were not able to stand straight as the road was shaking. All of us tried to contact our families and check their safety status as soon as we heard the news about our valley.

We decided to travel ahead towards Bandipur as reaching a safe place was the only agenda we had then. We reached Bandipur, checked in our hotel. The excitement of the hike was all gone and the hike was the last thing we had in our mind. The only thing we did have in our minds was to contact our families, relatives, and friends and be assured of their safety. We roamed around to see the earthquake’s effect on the city. The beautiful city was totally shut; people were scared to stay inside their houses. Luckily the hotel we were staying served us lunch at around 3pm. We were unable to decide what to do and what was actually happening. Nature’s wrath was upon us and each other's support and confidence was the only thing that kept us going at that situation. We traveled around the city for some time with earthquake being the only topic of our talks.

 Upon dusk, we all stayed around each other and hoping that everything was going to be alright. The earthquake had taken out the power in the city and we spent our night under the dark sky. The night felt too long.The tremors repeated every hour and it looked like it had no plans to stop. Early morning at 5am we traveled back to Kathmandu. We were all ready for the journey back home as we didn’t even take off our shoes for the whole night.

It was a silent morning with nothing much to talk about along the way. We couldn't even imagine what was waiting for us back in the valley. We reached Kathmandu around 11am to a city which didn’t look like the one we had left the previous day. The city was broken, people were broken, rescue was ongoing, and it was all chaotic. It showed us how vulnerable we are to Mother Nature. Indeed, we wanted to make the trip memorable, but we were unaware of the fact that we had something else waiting for us. While we all were there merely playing our parts. 

Discover Yourself

Hello Beautiful People,

Thank you all for visiting my blog. I am very happy as well as bit excited to start with the blog. This will be my first blog and I am trying to discover myself through my writings, photographs and sharing  my experiences about my life.

Everyone needs to discover about oneself. Always be the light from  within.

Accept yourself above all else. Resolve to make peace with who you are so that you can start showing up for the world. Be confident with yourself. Connect with your core. Challenge the obstacles that come in your life, it makes you strong and you'll be able to know how much strength you possess to make it through.

This life is what you make it. Don't live the life what other says about you. Only You are the person who knows the real you and no one else.  Be true to yourself.

So always keep your head high, your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.

Hope you guys would enjoy a little bit of me in my stories.