Tuesday, March 30, 2021

In Tumbling we arrive, part 3 of 6

Yes dawapani is 15 km from Darjeeling, a small village with a view of Mt kanchanjunga, above is the image we had seen while planning the trip here, 980 km from Home
This Morning was a washout, no view of Kanchenjunga as yuou can see what we saw, oh well the glory of being in the hills
and I spend the early morning with cups of tea and #Achal_pakhrin, the girl of the house who is a avid singer, and a great presence in instagram, loved her energy,
slowly all woke up and we did a few images on the front lawn of our wonderful host who was patient with us and let us Photograph him in various avatars,
Followed by breakfast of vegetable momos which were just amazing
And a walk into the park for a few Km, not much but still helps digest food and warms us up with our photography
Today we would be headed for Tumbling 3000 meters approx. date was 16th march today and we set off by 1030 hrs. 30 odd km to Manyabhanj, and then I was told I could not take my bike any further on road towards Tumbling, Seems few bikers had come to this national park, misbehaved with nature, destroyed rhododendron trees, played loud music, and more and thus bikes had been banned, (needless to say the forest authorities don’t own up to the fact they failed on there job to protect the park, but banning is easy then actually working, if only the DFO had the guts to say they woudl make sure such actions will not be repeated and they woudl educate bikers before they head out into the park,,, but then such officers are non existant seems like,,, so there we are)
As Bikes had been banned to Sandakfu, and we would have to rent a jeep, well I was forced to park my bike at our guide shyams house for the next 3 days.
Rented 2 4x4 n we drove to tumbling, where we would stay 3 days these land rovers are only a shell, they have the bolero engine inside and yes they are 4 * 4 En-route we stopped at Chitre as the fog rolled in and we had a lovely photo opportunity and took 30 minutes to acclimatize and enjoy being in nature
We were at Tumbling by 1600 hours and stomach was growling for some food, the town had 5 houses all home stay, on the border of India and Nepal, depending on which entrance one used one could be stepping into Nepal or India
Soon evening descended it gets dark by 1730 hours and By was it cold, the temperature quickly sank to -1 we froze but lived to see another day.
Next day wake up time was 0500 hours We were hoping to see Kanchenjunga , (sleeping Buddha) Sunrise time is 0540 hrs Dinner was served by 1930 hrs n we retired early. #kanchanjunga #backtonewnormalseries #canonindiaofficial #edenonearth #tumbling #roadtrip #earlymorning #relationships #instamood #bestoftheday #editorialphotography #rajatghoshphotography #rajatghoshfilm #editorialphotographer #biketaleswithrajat #india #wisdom #love #Pure #environmentalportraits #photographytrip #RoyalEnfiled #balance #poise #moods #chitre

Sunday, March 28, 2021

KOlkata to Dawaipani day 2&3

14th March A night before a ride is always a little restless, and we were up early, Mukta would be on her first long ride and am sure she was as stressed too how she would handle the long ride, we hit the road at 0610 hrs, Burman da, an avid rallyist had given me road status updates n suggested I take the krishnanagar rd. not Burdwan road, The roads were 100 km of single road, followed by 4 lane highway, the road conditions were mostly great, barring small patches od the single lane highway, we were at a patch where we encountered a closed rail gate, and double laneing on that patch saw me get ahead of all the traffic in one go, ( who says rail gates are bad ) Taking a stop at Malda famous for Mangoes
which I was more familiar with, we did good time and mukta turned out to be a good pillion we were in Raigung by 5 pm ( our night halt) On the way we took a stop at Adina(a historical site, which boasts of the biggest mosque in Bengal
While at Adina the locals were very helpful in keeping our luggage safe as we roamed the mosque/ tomb and there were a few tourists who did co-opeerate with us and posed for a few pictures for us, I tell you should you ask nicely they will co-operate
we would eventually ride on to Raigunj night halt was at _the the kulik guesthouse / tourist lodge which is bike friendly with a large parking lot and was nice clean n staff friendly,
we took a hot shower n were refreshed, was i glad mukta held up well, it had been a 400km run N she had sat thru well, being a pillion is definitely more diff than riding i feel. Early dinner of fish n rice later we retired to our rooms, wanted to get a early start.
15th MARcH Morning we started at 510am the roads were quiet bad n we had to make a stop, n pull out extra riding lights, it was till dark, and navigating these bad roads with huge trucks for company needed lots of light power too first 50km. we were flying by crossing dalkhola famous for traffic jams, and did good time, came across a new bypass at islampur, it helped us save time, google at one point took me off the highway n into rural country, yup we bypassed 10km of jam, thank you google We were greeted with the Tea gardens as we neared shiliguri
weg great roads kept us riding at a steady 100 kmph
We were at Rohini, outskirts of Shiliguri by 930am we pulled up for breakfast with yummy momos, and calling on our friends who had arrived by train was pleasantly surprised to know we were only 1 km behind, The other photographer had taken a train to New jalpaiguri station, Post breakfast we met up by 1000 hrs next stop was dawaipani , 70 km from rohini, approx 3 hrs.
Now the fun started full loaded bike with luggage and a pillion, well testing my riding skills today we are . Was a steep climb up n Mukta was once again a trooper who sat well as we rode up the narrow paths, temperature was low, 12 degrees maybe, we had enough warm wear to not freeze us yet, we reached our location safely, last 10km was steep n roads that made riding so much fun.
Our host for the next 2 days were a lovely couple, with typical loving disposition , the lady just felt like a universal mother, a pleasure to chat with.
Her husband amazingly had made the homestay during lockdown , just by washing YouTube videos, well i don't know if i believe it all, but still.
above is our host and the home they creates for guests The rooms were cozy n comfy, warm water abundant, now we were 8 , n most had a warm water shower. N momos n thuppa for lunch had us refreshed, weather did not play sport n heavy fog kept us indoors this night . Not much photography lets see what the next day holds. #backtonewnormalseries #canonindiaofficial #edenonearth #coexistance #dawaipani #earlymorning #relationships #instamood #bestoftheday #editorialphotography #rajatghoshphotography #rajatghoshfilm #editorialphotographer #photographytrip #biketaleswithrajat #india #love #Pure #environmentalportraits #Naturephotography #RoyalEnfiled #balance #poise #moods

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Jamshedpur to Dawapani- Part 1

Pabelites have made plans for a trip to Darjeeling and a few villages around for s photography outing, I waited till the last minute to decide if I too can make it? 10th march, I speak to a few members who do ask me to come on the photography trip, any excuse to ride my bike and summer is approaching, maybe this will be my last trip on bike before summer comes along. Mukta too wants to go on the trip but train tickets aren’t there, so
Mr. chivalry jumps in & on 12th I head to Kolkata, we are goanna head to Dawaipani along with the “Photography association of belghoria “ gang. As usual morning of 12th I wonder is it too much work to be riding 2000 km over the next few days going, why oh why, n if it was just me,
I might have bailed, but knowing muktas trip hung in balance, I started out 0610 hrs. On 12th I left for Kolkata, 6 hrs. Ride approx., I had asked Mukta for a bowl of thhupa as my prize for taking her on the trip.
I have always ridden solo to the hills this time I would be riding with a pillion a new experience, I was thinking to add a bigger top box, to accommodate more luggage, as I would have a pillion, but then weight considerations made me decide otherwise, and we were going to start out for Raigung, 400 km ride the next day, Mukta she had never ridden long distance, I had her invest a few G;s on riding jacket, shoes, riding gloves, knee guard and more in eventuality of a crash Once in kolkata a quick chat with Tarun da, another rider who rides with his daughter allayed my fears of the bike getting back heavy n I just chilled in kol #backtonewnormalseries #canonindiaofficial #edenonearth #coexistance #darjeeling #kolkata #earlymorning #relationships #instamood #bestoftheday #editorialphotography #rajatghoshphotography #rajatghoshfilm #editorialphotographer #biketaleswithrajat #india #wisdom #love #Pure #environmentalportraits #pabel #Naturephotography #RoyalEnfiled #balance #poise #moods

Sunday, March 7, 2021

Flame of the forest

Flame of the forest, wow, the jungles are on fire and NO we dont need no firebrigade