Treasured Vacations - Travelogues of Sasanka Sekhar Banerjee

Kumaon Beauty - God Tussi Great Ho

2009-11-05T15:04:00.001+05:30

24th Oct - 2nd Nov 2009

Just came back from Kumaon last Monday. Simply breathtaking !!!!!.
We started from Howrah on 24th Oct 2.15 PM. Boarded the Puja Special and reached Kathgodam on 25th Oct 4.45 PM. I had pre-booked a taxi (Babbu - 09719223476) and reached Mukteshwar around 7.30 pm.

Kathgodam to Mukteshwar
The route towards Mukteshwar was a thriller. It was full of deep gorges and big mountains. Sometimes steep climb with bruised road and on one side those deep gorges were enough to shoot one’s BP.
In a fading light the surroundings were truly scary and full of adventure.
En route saw the OMKAR shaped lighting of distant Nainital.

Mukteshwar
Stayed in Trishul Orchard. Excellent place with homely food and of course great views. They have their own orchids and they grow most of the vegetables within the resort itself. During April-May, one can find plenty of fruits including apples, oranges, kiwi, peach in their compound. Quite a delightful scene with Ranges at a distance. 26th morning went to Chauli ki Jali and Mukteshwar temple. Took some stunning photos of the Himalaya from PWD guest house.

Mukteshwar to Chaukori
Started little early on 27th around 9.00 AM. We had to travel long till we reached Chaukori around 5.30 PM. Had lunch in Daulchinna and I must say that the journey was an excellent one.
Views from en route Almora, Daulchinna was simple superb.
"Bal Mithai" of Almora was another part one should never miss. Stayed in KMVN Tourist Rest house in Chaukori.

Chaukori – The Shangri-La of Kumaon
I must admit that this been the best part of my Kumaon experience. Those milky white peaks under deep blue sky and a picture perfect valley in the foreground … Simply mesmerizing. Sunrise and Sunsets on Panchachulli, Nanda Devi was breathtaking.

On 29th morning we went to a nearby Misty Mountain resort for a day trip. It’s just one hour drive from KMVN Chaukori. It's a great place with great views on a clear day. Even the Nepalese peaks were clearly visible.
The resort is in a top of a hill and have a good natural surroundings. Plenty of flowers. Best part is the room and food. Simply superb.

Chaukori to Kausani
We stayed in Chaukori till 30th morning and left for Kausani around 10.00 AM. En route visited Bageshwar and Baijnath temples. Both the places presented an unique scenery of it's own.

Bageshwar temple is situated on the banks of river Sarayu and Gomti. In fact the confluence of these two rivers can be seen from the temple premise itself.

Baijnath temple is situated on the bank of river Gomti and at a distance one can view the magnificent Trishul peaks. Wonderful scenery. I was standing on the river bank and on my left was Trishul and on right was Pine forest with river Gomti flowing in front of me. I was left speechless with the serenity of the place.

Kausani
Reached Kausani around 3.30 en route Garur Valley. Stayed in Anashakti Ashram. View of Garur Valley and the Himalayan peaks was clear and simply superb. Enjoyed the golden Sunset on Trishul and Panchachulli peaks and on the following morning Sunrise on Trishul.

One should not miss the Sunrise on Trishul.
I don't have any word to describe my feeling when I watched the Sunrise on Trishul. Each of the Trident peaks gets sunlight one after the another. Simply magnificent.

After breakfast we left for Almora. En route we were greeted with picture perfect Someshwar Valley. Stayed in Hotel Shikar in Almora.

Almora -Jageshwar
After lunch we went to Jageshwar. The journey from Almora to Jageshwar is one of a kind. We started cruising through a rich canopy of Pine forest and suddenly we were inside a thick Deodar forest where the amazing temples were located.
It is considered to be one of Jyotirlings. River JataGanga flowing beside those temples and it is surrounded by Deodar trees. So serene, so divine. Certain things can be felt which can not be described.

Next day woke up little early and went around Almora. Visited Methodist Church and enjoyed Sunrise from there. Next went to Nanda Devi temple and Chitai Devi Temple. This been the last day in Kumaon I came back to my hotel around 9.00 AM, had breakfast and started around 11.00 AM for Kathgodam.

Almora to Kathgodam
En route visited Kaichi Devi Temple. Surroundings in Kaichi Devi temple was great.
Gentle cool breeze was blowing along with a serene-sylvan surroundings.
Enjoyed the pakoras and refreshing lemon juice just outside the temple.
As suggested by the fellow Kumaon travelers in IndiaMike earlier this one is a must have in the Kumaon Itinerary

Our train was around 6.30 PM towards Howrah. The same Puja special.
As we left Kathgodam, the sweetness of the valleys, the beauty of the snow-capped peaks, those sunrise and sunset scenes, those serene-sylvan natural surroundings and last but not the least excellent veg cuisines in Trishul Orchard, Mukteshwar and Misty Mountains, Chaukori has somehow left the door in my heart ajar ....

God Tussi Great Ho
Please visit this link for the photos - Kumaon holidays

My first foot in Araku Valley – Part III

2008-09-02T21:16:00.004+05:30

17th August, 2008
Trip to a place where nature is God, its huge in size to contain in our pair of eyes and memory.Trip with my a year old son to such a hill station, is special , to remember. In the month of August 2008, just after the rainy season (should be over), as the climate kept changing, we did not change our decision to arrive in the lap of nature. Araku, a hill station, about 900m above sea level is a romantic destination for nature lovers. It was foggy, cloudy, sunny but it never lost its beauty of vastness , silence & greenery all around. His creation overwhelms our thoughts and we will never be able to come to an end to describing what & how He has created for us. It was like a calling to which we replied , " Wow! we would like to visit here again".A huge valley full of greenery, small tribal huts, small farming land, sparse population, fresh air to breath & not so wide pitch road meandering through all these.

A panoramic view in the morning & evening while sipping hot tea & coffee from your hotel room's veranda, is a gift of lifetime!.

Photos - Vizag - Araku Travel photos

Lily Banerjee

Visakhapatnam and Araku Trip - Part II

2008-08-31T22:14:00.004+05:30

16th August, 2008
As planned, we started the day a little early around 10.30 AM and head straight towards the Railway Station. While making the payment for our pencil booking, we were informed that the day we are planning to return to Vizag will have a "Political Bandh" and we may not get proper services while coming back. So we decided to change our plan for Araku. We booked the Hotels from 17th and 18th in Araku. But on two different Hotels of APTDC. On 17th August we will be staying in "APDTC Yatri Nivas" and "Mauyuri Araku APTDC" on the next day. Non AC room rates were Rs 900 and Rs 650 (cottages) per day respectively.

As we were travelling on Sunday, we decided not to book the first class tickets as the daily rush will be missing. So we save some amount of money :).

After that we went to a nearby hotel for lunch. The local Andra food was very good. Post lunch we head straight for the sightseeing. We covered Vizag port area, Old Vizag city ( Waltiar ), 3 hillocks, Ross Hill, Dolphin's Nose, Yarada Beach, Lighthouse and Simachalam.

Photos - Vizag - Araku Travel photos

Visakhapatnam and Araku Trip - Part I

2008-08-30T15:10:00.060+05:30

"Escape" may not be the right word to describe this sudden decision for a break from hectic daily schedules but "Recharge" may be a better one. Both of us were longing for this vacation for quite a while.

We started to find a place where we can relax and enjoy. After a few phone calls to travel agents, some site browsing we finally decided to visit a place with golden beaches that stretch as far as your imagination, green hills rising high on the other side, a city thriving on modern industry and commerce in the midst. Add to the scenario a generous mix of ancient Buddhist heritage, geological wonders, famous temples, inviting culture and mesmerizing arts & crafts - Visakhapatnam (popularly known as Vizag).It is the only place on the east coast where the hills (Eastern Ghats) and the sea meet.

I invited two of my colleagues - Neelesh and Joydeep to join me which they promptly agreed and we all decided to start on 14th August, 2008.
It was raining heavily just as we were planning to go to the railway station. We started around 1.30 pm and somehow reached railway station at 2.40 pm, just 10 mins before Coromandel Express scheduled for departure.

15th August, 2008
We reached Vizag at 4.00 AM. All 6 of us were never looked tired or sleepy even at this wee hour of the day. My son, Soumyajeet, who just had his 1st birthday last month was also at par with our entire mood. We took a Sumo and reached Hotel Sunshine which is nearby to the RK Beach. Hotel charged Rs. 550 per night. We hire the same Sumo driver for sightseeing in Vizag for the next two days. He charged us Rs. 1400 per day.

After reaching hotel, we decided to take rest for couple of hours. I woke up around 8.00 AM to bring milk for my son. It was then I got my first sight of the sea and Dolphin's nose. I went to the terrace to have a good look around. On my left was "Bay-of-Bengal" and towards right was Dolphin's nose in the distance. The sky was covered with cloud with gentle breeze blowing. I remained standed for few minutes in the terrace before going to the nearby market. Pity my camera batteries were on charge and was unable to took a snap. But the first sight of Vizag was wonderful.
We had a good South Indian breakfast in a nearby shop just opposite to the "more" departmental shop in Dhaspalla hills road.

We started the day around 11.00 AM and had our lunch near railway station before proceeding towards Bhemunipatnam Beach which is located at the confluence of Gosthani River and the Bay of Bengal. It's beautiful long beach with tons of fun and not to forget the sweet corn we had there.

The 25 Kms stretch of road literally hugging the coastline from Visakhapatnam is simply wonderful.

After spending an hour we proceed towards Totlakonda and on the way we stopped at some magnificient view points.

Around 4.30 pm we reached Totlakonda which is a Buddhist Complex on the hill-top of Mangamaripeta, locally known as Thotlakonda lies about 16 km from Visakhapatnam on Vizag Bheemili Beach Road. It is picturesquely located on the hilltop at about 128mts. high above the MSL.

These structures include the Stupa, Chaityagrihas, pillared congregation halls, bhandagaras, refectory (bhojanasala), drainage, stone pathways, a kitchen complex with three halls and a refectory (dinning hall) etc.

View from the hill top was magnificient with serene natural beauty around. I was simply speechless ... some times words cannot describe the beauty.

We had a makeshift Buddha too with us :).

The picturesque landscape from Totlakonda - Beemli Beach as seen from Totlakona

The picturesque landscape from Totlakonda - Surrounding Hills and Bay of Bengal

We stayed in Totlakonda for 30-45 mins but felt like spending few hours here. We headed for Rushikonda Beach from here. The beautiful Bhimli road has lot to offer - 30 km in length offers one of the best views of Sea, sand, Hills and greenery. Throughout the entire stretch one can see breathtaking view of sea. Sea is never more than 500 mts away.

Rushikonda beach, six km away from Vizag city, has become one of the favorite evening spots these days. There are some good resorts / cottages in the hill. It is a must for romantic couples, who would like to have a beautiful view of beach from elevation and also have some best sea breeze.

Boat ride at Rushikonda beach.

It was getting dark and we decided to move on. En Route to hotel we decided to visit Kailashgiri.

As it was dark, we skipped the rope way and toy train which we decided to come again later in the trip. The view of Vizag city from Kailashgiri is simply magnificient.

With that we finished out first day in Vizag. We had dinner at YMCA food court in RK Beach. We had a great day - the long beach at Bheemli, the serene and mesmerising experience in Totlakonda, magnificient experience in Rushikonda - perhaps the best beach I have seen till date and in the end evening view of Vizag city from Kailashgiri.

After the dinner we decided to book Araku tickets and make Hotel reservations tommorrow. Araku hotel reservations can be done at the Vizag stations itself in the APTDC counter. From Kolkata we already did a pencil booking in Mayuri Araku Resort for 19th and 20th August. From Vizag there is only one train,Kirondul Express, to Araku which leaves at 6.50 AM. Normally this train is always overcrowded so we decided to book first class instead of sleeper class. Total journey time will be around 4 hrs.

Photos - Vizag - Araku Travel photos