Tiger Hill Sunrise and Ghoom Railway Track (Barfi Movie Track) and Panoramaic View of Kunchenjunga

I wasn't thrilled with the idea of getting up at 4 am to see the famous sunrise on Tiger Hill in Darjeeling. I am not a morning person and the only time i have seen the Sunrise is while returning home early morning from parties. Anyways my sister had told me that it is worth a watch. So i prepared my-self to see the Sunrise. So we got up at 4 am, it was really chilly and i had to forced my self out of the bed. Cursing myself what the hell will i achieve by watching the Sunrise. People travelling with us were already ready and in hurry i forgot to wear my shoes. Wearing shoes is a must as the road is very slippery in winters with all the snow and its really cold so shoes help you keep warm which i did realize. So i sat in the taxi and it dropped me to a taxi parking spot. From the parking it is a long 15 minutes walk. As i was not wearing shoes and with outside temperature below zero degrees ever step i took i kept telling my self that it was the most idiotic thing to do which i realized while walking to Tiger Hill as i told you earlier road was slippery with dew and snow. The whole time while walking up the hill i kept cursing myself. As i reached the sunrise point thousands of people had gathered to view the sunrise it was like people waiting outside Mannat to catch a Glimpse of Shahrukh Khan. Well to be honest i had never seen the sky so colorful, different shades from dark black ,blue, light blue and yellowish.  Also you are made to get up earlier than usual to get a better view and second i guess to promote the business coffee and tea which obviously is over priced but still helps you keep your hands warm. So there was still sometime so i wandered off to the other end to see the Kunchenjunga, it was snow clad and still dark, suddenly there was a loud noise and people started whistling as if some Bollywood star had actually appeared but it was even better than that  it was the most beautiful thing i had even seen a golden ball emerging from the sky and all my efforts of getting up early had paid off. The Sun rise in Tiger Hill is a must watch so do whatever you have to but do not miss it. Gradually as sun rays fell on the Kunchenjunga the snow clad mountains reflected a reddish light which made it look even more prettier(all has been captured in the images). Then on our way back we stopped to click pictures on the Ghoom railway track (famous train track in Barfi) it was beautiful very simple. You can get a ride in the toy train as well. It has a specific schedule so if you guys are interested it is a must try.

Sunrise -beautifull right

kunchenjunga before sunrise

just experimenting with my photograpy

BEFORE SUNRISE

AFTER SUNRISE KUNCHENJUNGA

Snowfall on the plants

Ghum (Ghoom) raliway station

Ghum railway track

Ghum railway track close up 

Drive from Ganagtok to China Border

The best places with the best scenic view are never nearby .  This mean getting up early and that i hate. Specially when the temperature outside is 0 degrees. I am sure nobody in their proper mind would want to get out of the bed. Anyways since i had promised my mom that i will not crib. So like a good boy i got up and got ready for the drive. We were going to Nathu La pass but since it was closed we went Baba Harbajan Singh Shrine( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Harbhajan_Singh ). Nathu La pass is little further than the shrine. We left at 6 am and you need a special permit to go there as this road takes u to the china border. The drives was breath-taking and i was thinking it would have been so much better if we had open jeeps to enjoy the view. I was so glad that i got up early mostly i end up being happy after getting up early. As you can see in the picture-1 We were driving besides the cloud and sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds. One side was bright and sunny and the other side was dark with snow clad mountains. The scary part was that the road seemed under construction and a bitter slippery, but it was an adventurous drive. Its an army area so not many people and mostly army men were their . On our way to the shrine was a frozen lake which we planned to visit on the way back. The shrine was still far and you are not allowed in this area in the dark. On reaching the shrine I got out of the car without my jacket as it was so sunny didn't feel the need. But as soon as i got out it was so cold and to top it high speed cold winds were blowing. Within minutes my fingers started getting numb. Realized that the temperature was in minus. Didn't realize it in the car. The shrine is surrounded by mountains and the place is very peaceful and relaxing. It has a nice cafe and a small souvenir shop nearby. You get a special pair of slippers the special thing about them is that if you write the name of the person on the packing of slippers and put it on Baba's feet all sorts of troubles go away. On our way back we stopped at the Frozen lake.It is really beautiful to look at. You will find very pretty and colorful Yak. You can ride on them as well.

picture 1

Lake view 

picture 3

scenic beauty

Our way 

the under construction road

View from the Shrine

Baba Harbajan Singh Shrine

Scenic view of the drive

Yak at the frozen lake

Not So Famous Place Near Mumbai -PALASDHARI

Well Nowadays Picnic (outdated term) means a visit to a mall or a crowded tourist spot where we end up cursing ourselves and the people around thinking don’t they have better things to do than be here and add to the chaos. Especially if you are living in a metro and specially if its Mumbai with crazy traffic jams and is a living example of India's rising population. Well it had been ages that i had been on a picnic like the good old golden days, so one fine day one of my colleague comes to me and tells me about these places PALASDHARI 2 hours away from Mumbai. Weekends i am the laziest  person on the planet so i was a bit hesitant because we will have to get up at 5 am in the morning. Getting up in the morning is one of the toughest task for me but then a failing relationship and nothing better to do on a weekend so i made myself say yes. So we got up at 5 am  and realized that we don’t even have water left with us for doing essential things every human must do in the morning. But this wasn’t the first time we didn't remember filling water in the tank. Anyways we still managed  as living alone makes you resourceful . We boarded the Mumbai local train From Dadar To Khopoli(Central Line). Also thanks to a couple of married friends who joined us, well thanking them for being married cause their wife packed breakfast for us damn sweet of them. Like the good old days we had our breakfast in the train and then after crossing a station called "Thane" the view became really pretty plus it was monsoon so atleast the weather was with us. You will come across few tunnels on the way and some how making weird noises comes naturally to us whenever we cross a tunnel. The best part was just roaming around in the Mumbai local (where at times moving your hand seems impossible) and checking out the scenery and clicking nice photographs for Instagram. After 2 hours of train journey we got down at Palasdhari, I was so amazed to see such a quiet station near around Mumbai. It was just as it is shown in movies quiet, beautiful and greenery all around.  We started trekking towards our destination which is a small waterfall. I was so happy to have woken up to come here the weather was beautiful and it was so green so nice. On our way we could see greenery as far as eyes could see and mountains and a train track between mountains, somehow that always fascinates me and reminds me of Ruskin bond short stories. Then walking a bit further was very trippy kind of a passage wide enough for 2 people 2 cross, one side was nothing i mean nothing (well I was scared too look down :-) ) and other side had water flowing. Thankfully the trippy passage ended and we crossed a small stream of water, well the current wasn’t strong good enough for a group photo and few selfies, Then out of nowhere emerged a village with small shops. The houses in the village earn money by keeping your luggage safe, and you can freshen up & serve you food as well. So we Kept our luggage changed and started our trek towards waterfall, Well the best part about the trek was everything around was so beautiful and crossed mini streams of water. We reached the waterfall, It wasn’t a big one though, had few people enjoying rain and waterfall. It was fun after a bit of trek we jumped in the natural pool created by the waterfall. After a long trek and swimming we were damn hungry. Personally  i wasn't expecting the food there to be great. I had ordered non-veg Thali (Rs 150) its like a unlimited thali. The price for veg thali is the same only they give a Gulabjamun in the Veg one. Non-Veg thali had Chicken curry and Bhakri( Rice Chapati) well the food was simple yet one of the best I ever had, I ate twice my capacity the food was so fresh and so good I miss it everytime i think of it. So after the amazing food we started our trek back to the station. Was a fun picnic away from traffic, People and pollution.

Palasdhari Station

Scenery on the way

The Waterfall

.

The Great Mumbai Breakfast

The really long travelling time in Mumbai can make you really hungry. Getting up early and running to office to be on time is a task and cooking or having breakfast is near impossible feat to achieve. Having breakfast means sacrificing 5 minutes of extra sleep and sacrificing 5 minutes of extra sleep is a big no no for must of us. We have been time and again told by our parents that breakfast is the important meal of the day. You realize it is necessary for you to keep you going ,specially when you have a hectic travelling ahead of you. Also you need something quick,filling and something easy on the pocket. A big thanks to so many food stalls serving yummy breakfast in almost every nook and corner of Mumbai. The best part of these food stalls is that they are next to stations and bus stops . The food i must tell you is fresh and really good. My favorite is idli, medu vada sabudana khichi and missal pav. So if you are a tourist in Mumbai and have no hurry for reaching office, still you must try these yummy delicacies.  

Sabudana Khichdi with coconut chutney topping

Menu

Medu Vada

Idli

Upma

Poha

Mumbai Monsoon- The Other Side

Well they say the best time to visit Mumbai is the monsoon time. Well it is true though but for touirst who have come to visit Mumbai because people who have to go to work its a different challenge all together. It is like preparing for a battle once you leave home and no gaurantee of reaching home on time. To prepare for the battle you need an Umbrella this is a must other wise the battle is lost, extra pair of clothes, food for munching as you will be travelling 2 hours extra every day maybe more, water resistant footwear and a towel. Well i don't wanna sound stupid for not liking monsoon as i love the weather, the cool sea breeze and high tide at marine drive. The Tides are so high that the water comes on the road. Enough of good stuff back to travelling woes, Traffic jams are the worst enemy and to add to that there are craters on the roads which further add to the slow moving traffic. A funny statement about these potholes during monsoon was BMC workers are secret NASA agents and creating moon like surface for their operations on Mumbai Roads. Trains run slow, run late and that adds to the already crowded trains. I mostly travel via ac bus to work and during monsoon time it breaks down frequently and don't think ac buses are empty they are as full as Mumbai local. But one positive thing about this place it people never stop, Mumbai never stops. People having 2 Wheelers wear raincoats over there formals or wear there night suits and change into office clothes on office washrooms. The bosses don't complains for coming late during monsoon :-) . But the best part is the garma garam cutting chai and pakode after reaching office makes you alive and then you can enjoy the rains from office window till the time you don't have to leave. And when it rains heavily you spread rumours leave office early today its raining heavily. So u reach late and leave early not a bad deal. The battle starts again on way back home but thats Mumbai monsoon for you no matter how much we crib ,we wait for it every year.

Sukha Puri

Sukha Puri

Well we all talk about the famous Pani-puri ,Vada-pav and Bhelpuri of Mumbai. Some how the complimentary snack Sukha Puri is neglected. If anyone has eaten a spicy plate of GolGappe in Delhi  you ask for a papdi dipped in meethi chutney. Well after a spicy Pani-puri plate in mumbai you get Sukha-puri without asking, its like a thumb rule here. This contains aloo (batata) , Sev and special masala in Puri(gol gappe). It is really yum and most of the times one is not enough, Many times people just order the whole plate of it,i am one of those people who can polish off a plate of this :-)
So if you are in Mumbai ask for Sukha Puri! If you like it you can order for a plate of it seprately.

Getting Down from a Local

Monday, January 9, 2012

Well whenever my friends from Delhi visit me in Mumbai i make sure they travel via the lifeline of

Crowded Local!

Mumbai "Mumbai local". Its a shame if u visit this place and don't travel in the local. Even well know celebs & politicians travel in it though in the non crowded ones and surrounded by body guards but trust me that is not fun at all. One of my friend visited me and i showed her around and then gave her an option to travel by train to save money. So we decided to travel from CST to Vikhroli via local. We boarded the slow local( not speed wise slow, it just has more stops) the sitting places were full perfect for her to experience what it is like in a crowded local. I took up my favourite place near the footboard where the back is supported at least one side of your body is protected . Gradually as  the stations passed by the train started getting crowded and we saw the live example of India’s increasing population and to add to our bad luck was train was running late so more and more people were hopping onto our Train. I was travelling with a girl who had no idea of what was going on, but people i tell you are damn sweet that they make sure that you are made to feel secure when travelling for the first time. So we were 2 stations away and i knew my friend was scared about the fact that how will she get down as we could hardly move our hands, or any other part of the body, I guess people sensed (well you would experience it too if you are in such a situation) they asked if we wanted to get down on the next station ,gradually and slowly we moved through tiny spaces and managed to squeeze through people and finally we got down keeping in mind people climbing up, then pulled my friend to the corner as people are in a hurry to climb the train and at times people are pushed back into the train. Well she was in a mild trauma for a second that how we got down and i just told her this is an automatic service people push you in and push you out. That is a crowded Mumbai local for you :-)