Saturday, May 27, 2023

Tata-Kolkata and Potato Cutlets on the way


 

We are headed to Kolkata, a 300 odd km run, to be completed in Six hours approx, though with conditions of road being so much better,,, maybe we can do it in Five hours as standard speeds on highway are 80kmph and we will driving though 250 km of highway and barring a few slow down well we would make it in good time, and paying approx Rs 500 in Tolls.

My co-passenger on this trip is my mom aged 86 and aunt aged 80  so adding my 50+ years there is 210+ years travelling on this trip.

We were off at approx. 0630hours, and as we started out I noticed a check engine light on for longer then it should be, but it went off in no time and we made good time to Behraghora, we refueled 80 km from Jamshedpur, fuel is 5 Rs cheaper in Jharkhand compared to West Bengal and we wanted to make most of the difference in price.

 


The petrol pump attendent and me had a chat( while fuelling up)  about her getting into Army and how she could do so, and what help she would require, not that she asked for any help as she is trying to do it on merit and by herself her grandpa was in air force and she seemed like a tough cookie, and am sure she will crack the exam (if anyone has any advice please share)

We crossed Behraghora and another 20 km later we stopped at the last tree that gives shade on this road and once we cross this tree located outside the Behragora Police station there is no shady tree for another 50 km almost. The check engine light was on again and we stopped to have breakfast and give the car a rest for 15 minutes, we looked around a bit and chilled for a while

 

 


 

 

Then we were on our way again, the check engine light was still on( maybe I should have chilled for another 10 minutes), I did not want to mention this to my Mom who was on this trip with me, and her sister both in there Eighty’s, so another 30 km later I pulled over in name of having tea, I had spied a tea shanty and a tree off the road, so we stopped again to cool the car .




and of course me had to eat some Potato cutlets Piping hot and looked fresh, we discussed the effects of Rs 2000 having to be returned and so on, with customers( you guessed it right we are in West Bengal), where all are very wise,  a good 20 minutes break this was.  The cost of 3 cups of tea and 2 Potato cutlet was a princely Rs 25, yes .30 cents.in USD


Before we started on and thankfully the light did not return and we made it to New Town, my sister’s house by 1230 hours, we had made it in 6 hours approx. and total distance covered 310km, fuel consumed at average of 16.6km to a liter.

 

 


 

 

Temperature in Kolkata is 35 degrees, overcast and now to take care of my Sugar craving with a Ice Cream.


 Road condition excellent, and average speed is 80 - 100/km per hour ( as posted on highway)

Next trip will be to Shantiniketan in a weeks time will then to relax and eat in Kolkata.

 

©  Rajat Ghosh, stock footage / pictures available for licensing

 #teastall#beauty#spring#reflection#motorbiketrip#butterfly#fivebarswordtail#backtonewnormalseries#minimalism#peace#editorialphotography#newfriends#rajatghoshfilm#biketaleswithrajat#travelphotography#environmentalportraits #stockimage #rajatghoshphotograph #storytellingimage #conceptualimage#Creative#instagood #roadtrip#addiction#Jharkhand#love


 


 

 




 


Thursday, May 25, 2023

Birds of Dalma, this Summer


 The flexing Swift

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 The yogic Eagle

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Returning to Chandigarh, trip is ending, should we be sad ?

Time to wind down our trip.

 


 

The last day setting sun threw up some lovely images and soon we were mesmerized by the play of light on the mountain faces. Our home stay was located 16 km from Dalhousie, it is a lovely property in location, views are beautiful, no wi- fi though ( in the works ) Vegetarian food is very good, Non Veg not so, coats approx. Rs 4000 for 2 people per day. ( ph no on request)

 


 

 

Evening we sat outside and admired nature and chit chatted among our self.

 

We are done with Dalhousie or so we think following day we start back for Chandigarh,

We start out at 1000 hours, we would only need five hours on the road or so we presumed.

As we stepped out we decided to head out to Panchpulla waterfall before we start back for Chandigarh,

 


We were on our way Google did show us a way which seemed too risqué and we asked the locals, and were redirected to where panchpulla really is located.

 It would be another 10 – 14 km detour and that would be another additional hour or so.

Via Dalhousie town towards Chamba we went and from Gandhi Chowk one takes a right, go downhill  and reach Panchpulls waterfall. ( if one goes uphill here one reaches Kalatop.




  It was a Quant waterfall, small waterfall but with lovely ambiance, loads to shop for the shopaholics,   as we settleled into a hot Americano on the face of the mountainside,

 




the café had quiet a few stones with artists inspirations written on them.

 


 

followed that up with meeting a old man who was selling Ayurvedic herbs, we had a long chat with him, and bought some herbs from him, would be curious to see how it actually effects and helps. It is for diabetics, original Shilajit at Rs 200/ounce and Keshar for Rs1000 for 2 ounce

( test of Purity for Keshar is- it should mix completely with water and it smells strongly

 



 

We made a few images to remember our trip here, we would be starting back towards home here on.

I was meeting my friend Ravi Shankar after 30 years since we passed out from school ( same batch, different schools)  and it did not feel like we had been away at all, and how time has flown, here he is with his daughter who is an dentist already in the years that we had lost touch.

 


 

We were finally on our way by 1200 hours and we expected a ETA of 1800 hours to reach Chandigarh.  The drive was smooth and we made good speed, and we were at our hotel by 1730 hours, One of my biker friend Sanjay Bali who lives in Chandigarh we planned to meet up with and he was on time by 2030 hours, (he is an Ex-Airforce pilot), Good habits die hard I say,   we went out for dinner, this was my first visit to Chandigarh and we decided to see some of the town and explore some sights. It was a fun time we had.

The city is well planned and build in a grid format, very easy to navigate and very able street signs to facilitate navigating around the city.

 


 

Lots of food followed, some had  burger  some one chinese –noodle and chilli chicken and hot and sour soup    and kulfi later we drove to the lake side and spend 10 minutes by the lake side too, Finally we were back to the hotel by 1130 hours after Checking out Sanjay's bike collection and requested him to make his 2300cc, Rocket available for us to try it out.

 

 


 

Riding the Rocket , 2300 cc Motorcycle is story for another day...

 

#himachalPradesh#beauty#spring #Dalhousie#dharmshala#reflection#motorbiketrip

#backtonewnormalseries#minimalism#peace#editorialphotography#newfriends #rajatghoshfilm#biketaleswithrajat#travelphotography#environmentalportraits #stockimage #rajatghoshphotograph #storytellingimage #conceptualimage#Creative#instagood #roadtrip#sightseeing#Dhauladhar

 

 



Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Dalhousie it is now


 

We started the day at 0930 from, we are headed to Dalhousie, named after Lord Dalhousie, it s also home to Dhauladhar Mountain range, colonial charm, pristine beauty( to name a few) 

 

We are yet to have breakfast and we have 100 steps to climb before we reach the road and 200 meters of steep climb to the car park.

 

We managed the climb up and was not as difficult as we had presumed it would be, stopping every 20 steps and take 3 to 5 deep breath we were doing ok, maybe we are getting stronger thanks to all the Aloo(potato) and Gobi(cabbage) Paratha we have been eating over the last few days.

 

This day would be a Four hour drive to Dalhousie, as we start our drive we try to check out the Stadium, but preparations and innovations are reasons sighted for stadium not being open to the public, we had missed missing a friend who loves 10 km from where we are and as I call him to let him know we will miss seeing him, serendipity strikes and he informs us he is not too far from the road we would be taking to go to Dalhousie. 

 


 

  So we make a make a detour and go to meet him,

Traffic had come to a standstill due to an accident and set us back by 20 minutes or so.

 


 

Dr Krishna, associated as a professor of Astro Physics  is a cousin of a friend of mine and we had such a lovely time meeting up with him, we discussed varied topics under the sun, and enjoyed breakfast and coffee, he almost convinced us we too should move to Dharmshala and enjoy life in the mountains. What a wonderfull time we had.   It was noon before we were ready to move on. 




The drive was steady and we enjoyed the rains in the mountain and Dir. Ravi by buddy behind the wheels enjoyed the drive and I am enjoying being a passenger for once. Stopping along the way for tea and to admire the scenery

 



 


Hills and Meadows home stay,16 km past Dalhousie, is our destination, and it has amazing view, No Wi – FI though and Power backup is missing, but it is cold enough , temperature is 10 C so no complains.

 


The room is simple and staff friendly, dropping our luggage and grabbing a bite we head out to explore the area, nearest  is 

 

 


 

Chamera lake and the watch reads 1730 hours as we hang out in the rain by the water body for a while before we call it a day and head back to our nest for the day.




This is the view from outside our home stay, One could just sit and admire this and have coffee all day long I feel, it has mostly been raining since we go there and I wonder how people get by life with so much rains.

 


 

 

The plan for the next 24 hours is : khajjiar and Kalatop wildlife sanctuary.



The day started out all Grey and we stayed put in bed till 0800 hours and by the time we had showered and had breakfast it was 1000 hours, we set off for Khajjiar, 24 km from Dalhousie, and 40 km from our homestay, Khajjiar is also called mini Switzerland of India. Located at 6500 fee, it has a small lake in the middle of the meadow, it boasts of lake, pasture and  forest all in one place.

 


 

 


 

The country side here is plastered with ads about home stay and is worth of a look I say, it is so lovely though it does seem to rain a lot here, Sadly there are no great Toilet facility, they charge Rs 10 for me and women and could definitely do a better job of setting up a better Toilet facility.

 


 

Approx. at 1400 hours we set off for Kalatop wildlife sanctuary, located 10 km from Kijjer, we set out on a hike out here, amongst really tall Pine trees and ferns and if one is lucky we might see Eurasian Jay bird, all in all it just took out breath away with its sheer magic what with the fog making a appearance too.

 


 

 



After paying a toll of Rs 100.00 one can drive all the way to Kalatop too, but we chose to walk along and soon it was too cold and made us retreat back to our car before we did the whole 3 km trek to top

 


 

 

 


 

 Barely had we jumped into the car before the skies opened up again and we had the road to ourselves, as traffic seemed to disappear as we drove back to Dalhousie to grab lunch at Kwality restaurant.

 


The food is excellent we had Chinese food and can vouch for there Chinese chef being excellent, Kwality is  located at a stones throw from St Johns church 

 


 

Lunch and Church visit done we started back by 1645 and was back out our home stay an hour later, the sun decided to make its presence for the first time this day and made a appearance at 1820 hours approx..’

 


 

 

©  Rajat Ghosh, stock footage / pictures available for licensing

 #himachalPradesh#beauty#spring #Dalhousie#Swizerland#kalatop#stjohnschurch#reflection#motorbiketrip

#backtonewnormalseries#minimalism#peace#editorialphotography#newfriends #rajatghoshfilm#biketaleswithrajat#travelphotography#environmentalportraits #stockimage #rajatghoshphotograph #storytellingimage #conceptualimage#Creative#instagood #roadtrip#sightseeing#khajjiar