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Life is Beautiful.

THE LITTLE DROPLETS OF RAIN @ EN ROUTE DARJEELING


The little rain droplets started pouring in.Sometimes the rains are beautiful indeed and more so when,the eyes are bewildered with green little sparkles on trees,branches,colorful flowers and the dew drops.

I just couldn't resist to keep my hands out of the window panes touching those droplets of tip tip barasta pani.

The driver told us"If it's raining here,it would be some nasty rains over there".

NJP TO DARJEELING : START OF THE JOURNEY


The journey was spectacular,and it was just too perfect to be true.The mountains,the twist and turns of the hilly roads,the greenery,the school going little kids and the rains.

Suddenly the drizzle stopped,and so did our car.

It was our first 30 seconds break,and we stopped because the greenery and the plantations over acres and acres made me think "It's so wow here,what if it won't be so great there".There were few ladies plucking,picking and sieving the tea leaves as well.The one who was nearest to the garden was the sweetest and of course the most accessible to us for the moment.She politely asked me

"Kaha se?"
I said "Chennai"
"Itti duuuur se?"
I replied "yes"
"Darjeeling kaesa laga?"
I said "Abhi gae kaha,but abhi tak to kafi acha hai"
"Photu?"
I replied "gr8"

DARJEELING FOR THE PEOPLE

She took out a choonar(duppatta) from her waist,wrapped it around me ,and embraced me.She then draped the same choonar on her head,and we clicked few pictures together.I never knew a stranger could be that beautiful before,and of all the places I have visited so far,Darjeeling is,and will be one such place I will never forget."All for the people"

THE UNDER CONSTRUCTION PATROLLING PATH WALK


After a few candid conversations with the lady,we hopped in our car.The green maze suddenly turned into foggy mountainous drive with visibility just ranging a few metres ahead.We stopped at an under construction forest patrolling path,and explored some random jungle path on the way walking and trekking along,what fun it was!

We were so lost in the wild foggy patrolling path,that the driver came to our rescue "Chalein?"

The next stop was going to be Mirik

Part 1 of Video on Darjeeling



JUST A LITTLE STROLL AROUND THE MIRIK LAKE

Mirik is a vast lake spread over a large area.Usually planned as a day excursion from Darjeeling,we were lucky to visit the lake en route or you can say we chose to be lucky.The options are plenty:


-Stroll around the lake which itself takes around half an hour to 45 minutes to cover the whole perimeter.

-You can take a ride on a horse

-You can even do a little boating




We chose to just spend some time strolling around the lake,walking on the narrow katcha roads,and of course eating the jhalmuri.A visit to north bengal,for that matter any part of Bengal is incomplete without jhalmuri,and it becomes all the more tempting while travelling

THE LEPCHAJAGAT FOREST RESERVE


While planning our trip with the help of real travel experiences on Indiamike,we found Lepchajagat Forest Reserve on the way to Darjeeling.We,however,did not stay,and just visited the place.The whole forest reserve was enveloped in a thick fog of cold wind.

For those who plan  to stay at the beautiful forest reserve at Lepchajagat and then proceed to Tinchkule,please read the forum below and go ahead:
http://www.indiamike.com/india/west-bengal-f32/lepchajagat-and-darjeeling-details-please-t107097/


THE INDO-NEPAL BORDER: PASHUPATI


One of the most easiest entry points to any of the international locations from India is to Nepal.The people of Nepal have stark resemblance with those of North East India,and to be honest,I have met many Nepalese,all regards to them,they are the most hard working people.

Darjeeling - Pashupati (27 km) (Nepal border)(Not authorised entry point for foreigners, only Indian and Nepali citizens are allowed to enter from here).Photography is not allowed at the spot,and the entry is based on signing the registers/few papers for the Indians

TOY TRAIN 360 DEGREE TURN : GHUM





The place is such that a toy train makes a 360 degrees turn at Ghum.Worth visiting the place.We had planned Ghum on Day3 of our visit.To read more about Ghum and toy train,check my blog after a few days.Darjeeling  is a place where "Mere Sapno Ki Rani" Song was shot and parts of ghum are also being featured in the song.





AND FINALLY DARJEELING....





Aha,what a relief! Darjeeling was more than what we had expected,and according to my brother more beautiful than the much hyped "Manali" and "Munnar".We decided to cover the whole Darjeeling on foot,of course leaving the "Tiger Hill" part of it..in the coming few days.

And guess what..

Me and Kyra are on a vacation to GOA…We are hitting the best pubs,the best beaches,and all the while Kyra is on her Guitar..Its so much fun here!Come join us.

 This post is my entry for ‘The Lakme Diva Blogger Contest’.
Check out here www.facebook.com/ilovelakme for more details.

The mighty Changla@enroute Pangong Lake Winters

 The two most interesting facts I came to know while travelling in the Himalayas are "LA" means "PASS" and "TSO" means "LAKE".Most of the TSO's we have in India are accompanied by LA's.Ex: Nathula Pass in Sikkim is accompanied by "Tsomgo or Changu Lake",Changla by "Pangong Tso".

 Changla is the third highest motorable pass in the world at a height of 17800 feet while the locals claim it to be second highest pass.It doesnt matter to us what the truth is because we were so excited to be on the gateway to one of the best lakes.The feeling itself is nauseatic and cauz of these several factors:





 -Well, at one end the journey to Khardungla(highest pass) is short and sweet.The journey to Changla is long and more scenic.
 -Changla cauz its so much fun to get our pics clicked on the board which says "Third highest pass in the world"
 -Changla cauz of small temple we have at the pass.
 -Changla in winters cauz the air is thin,and the area around have so much snow,that you wish if you could carry some home :)
 -Changla in winters cauz you get to know how harsh can the conditions be for the army.
 -Changla cauz of the great tea by the army.
 -Changla cauz a stopover before the grand experience doesnt hurt.


And was the lake "THE PANGONG LAKE"

 A journey so long of almost 5 hours can sometimes be boring.The vast white sheet was turning to be  monotonous when all of a sudden I saw some water.It felt like relief.I almost jumped off and said "Aha,pangong".The driver corrected me "no mam thats just a water body" to which I quiety asked "How far?".15 minutes.Finally the wait was going to be over.


And the last 15 minutes was..

 How incredible is to see the yaks "herds of" walk over the white sheet of  ice.So conviniently poised and elegantly posing each of them.We took our cameras out and there go "click click click".I wish I had a home somewhere just there.




Precautions:

 -Guys if you are nauseatic or have a tendency to puke over hilly areas,according to our driver,lehsun is what the locals take.My mom has her medicine as hing.

 -Guys if you are travelling in winters,one word of caution,is do not open the windows or hop around while going from leh-pangong..as you might feel dizzy once you are uphill.The best way is to stop as many times once you are returning back.

 -Guys winters can be severely harsh,so if you have light woollens or the kind of jackets we get in Bangalore,that might not work.Either carry heavy wollens,or buy a one from the leh local market.

 -And do not forget those cold creams,we might pay no heed to it in our indian winters out in rest part of the country..but that works great in Leh.My fav: Ponds cold cream,and loccitone lip balm..

Pangong Lake in Winters=Nature's Wonder










"Wow","Simply Mindblowing",no words can describe the marvelous beauty of the thin white sheet covering the vast space on earth.When we started from Chang la,we were excited about what is going to be ahead.The sparkling whiteness of the terrain made me think "no wonder what people say","India is best".I have
seen pictures of my friends in Switzerland,and I envy them but when I saw the beauty around,I didn't regret a single moment to where I was.

And next..came the RAMP walk on the ice




We have had heard numerous stories from the locals there for sometime..as to why the mountains on the other end is black,that pangong lake is just 30% in India,and then when we were finally though all the listening of the stories,we decided to just relax and stroll around.



15 minutes and we thought of just to go into the frozen ice.The thin ice at the bank of the river was cracking with every footstep.And then I asked my driver "How deep is the water?",he said "very" and well according to him,the depth of the lake is so much that at one point of time a submarine used to go inside the lake.

For info on Pangong Lake and the Chinese submarine 20 years back on the lake,read:
http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=385230&catid=44

Well,since it was all snow covered,I asked him "is there any way I can hop in the middle of the lake " to which he replied "at your own risk".The bluntness of his reply just made me sad,and my expression made him do something I never thought he would.He started collecting stones,laid several of them on the bank,threw a few of them into the lake...and then shouted "jump" but be careful.






One stone to another,jump and jump,little pieces of ice cracking,shoes all wet.And to my surprise,after a few jumps,I was at the middle of the frozen lake.The feeling was incredible.The very fact that the icy cold cracking snow is so frozen at the middle and I was safe to where I was at the moment,was great.


The lake wasnt as frozen as the one we have from dec-feb,where the snow is so hard,that even the vehicles can cross across.This one was the cracking one...and I loved the RAMP walk.The journey of 5 hours all seemed to be more than worth all of a sudden.The journey was over,but I still have the fondest memories and till date,one of the most silly adventures too.


Leh visit,Pangong Lake,Nubra Valley,Khardungla Pass,Panamik,Siachen in Summers

Pangong Lake is everyone's favourite,at least by now,thanks to 3 idiots.But whats sad,is the number of canteen which is there besides the lake now,turning it into a nightmare.The drive to Khardungla Pass,the hot black tea at K top,the camel ride at Nubra,the hot water springs at Panamik,Passing the siachen checkpost.Read my travel journal on Leh in Summers.



Read my journey from Bangalore to Wagah on road,Agra to Leh by Road,and Bhutan by Road soon :)