RSS FeedDesktop Calendar: July 2011
Jun 30, 2011 Binsar, Calendar, Uttarakhand
Background image: Kumaon mountains soaking in the winter sun, captured during my trip to Binsar, Uttarakhand.
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Rafting at Kaudiyala, Uttarakhand
Apr 28, 2011 Adventure, Guest Post, Rafting, Uttarakhand
Last one in the guest posts series – by Mridula Dwivedi. Mridula, a professor based out of Delhi is an avid traveler. She shares her rafting experiences in this last of the guest post series.
In the last two months I visited the Rishikesh region twice. The first time I went with family and as our daughter is small we could not do rafting. The second time I was part of a large group and we were staying at Rimo Expedition’s campsite just opposite the KMVN Kaudiyala. The campsite has tent style accommodations and rafting was the main activity.
We did rafting on two days of our 3 day stay. On day 1 we took it easy as we had arrived in the morning itself. On day 2 we rafted from Devprayag to Kaudiyala and on day 3 we rafted from Kaudiyala to Shivpuri. I sincerely wish we could have completed the entire trail till Rishikesh on day 3 but we were short of time as we were taking the Shatabdi Express in the evening from Haridwar.
This was my first try at rafting and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my experience. The good folks at Rimo took us on a mild stretch on the second day. The stretch from Devprayag to Kaudiyala is calm and ideal for getting introduced to rafting. So what do you have to do when you go rafting? Basically we were given a life jacket, a helmet and a paddle each. You put on the life jacket and the helmet and assemble to listen to the instructions by the experts who are going to be present in each raft. Usually 6 people plus an expert go in a raft but I guess they can take 8 plus the expert as well. I liked the instruction given by Gunpalji a lot. His first few lines were, “agar instructions nahin follow karoge tou bahut paani pilaunge” (If you do not follow my instructions I will make you drink a lot of water).
Soon we were in the rafts and on our way to Kaudiyala. While we were going to Devprayag by bus I was clicking pictures of the Ganges from the moving bus. It was quite an amazing experience to go back all those 30 kilometers sitting in a raft right in the middle of the same river. Also rafts have a safe bag in which you can keep your camera. They let you take it out in calm waters and click pictures.
On the Devprayag – Kaudiyala leg the highlight was being able to get into the river in the placid waters. What happens is that when the rafts enter calm water they let you hold the rope attached to the perimeter of the raft and get into the cold water. It is great fun. We did it many times. But as the water was calm we had to paddle a lot. We started rafting at 11.00 am and we reached Kaudiala at 4.00 pm and literally wolfed down our late lunch!
On day 3 we were rafting from Kaudiyala to Shivpuri. This stretch involves going over a few rapids. The most interesting one we faced is called the Wall. Here the water rises quite high like a wall in front of you and at that point you feel you are paddling for your life! Getting wet is a certainty and being thrown out into the water a high probability. After the wall every other rapid feels easy.
Part of the instructions is also about how to indulge in a water fight with other rafts. If you lift your paddle in a particular way while crossing another raft at a close distance, you can drench them thoroughly and the experts are quite good at it. Be it the water fights, going through the calm waters or crossing a rapid, rafting is a smashing experience.
Photos by Mridula Dwivedi
The Ancientness of Orchha
Apr 26, 2011 Guest Post, Heritage, Madhya Pradesh
Here comes the fourth one of the guest posts by Arun Bhat. Arun is a freelance travel writer and photographer, based in Bangalore. He writes about the less known town of Madhya Pradesh, Orchha and what made him to extend his stay over there.
Chaturbhuj Temple
I get a puzzled look from most people – especially those who are not regularly on the road – when I talk about Orchha. “Where is this place? How do you spell it? Tell me again, what is it called?”. The questions go on. It is the first time they would have heard this name. The obscure sounding pronunciation adds to the complexities. But in most occasions, they are interested in the place because they saw some pictures that I showed them.
My introduction to Orchha happened just that way. It was not a place I had heard about in text books, glossy tourist brochures or magazine covers. But if you are trolling the web long enough looking for places to go to, and to see where others are going, it won’t be long before you stumble upon Orchha. I would have missed the name like everyone does, except that some pictures from the place made me pause and take a second look. It appeared so attractive, it remained on the back of my head since the day I first saw the photographs.
A visit had to ensue, though it took a few years to materialize. A year ago, when I decided to crisscross the beautiful places in Central India, Orchha was the first and obvious choice. The place lived up to my expectation at the very first glimpse.
Betwa River and Cenotaphs
It was a quaint little town in the middle of the forest – one of the places where life goes at its own pace without worrying about what is happening in rest of the world. There isn’t much else but forest in every direction of the town, with a few villages dotting the road to nearby Jhansi. An old fort is the dominating landmark in the town. Two temples – one dilapidated and one renovated, a group of cenotaphs in memory of kings of yesteryears, a few houses and an equal number of guest houses, a big chowk where most of the town folks hang our is all that the place is.
It is this small size of the town that allows all the ancient structures – the palaces in the fort, the very tall Chaturbhuj Temple and the cenotaphs of the kings to dominate the landscapes. Climb up on one of these buildings and you see the other structures standing so high that they make everything else in the vicinity look like miniature models. The views suddenly give the idea of being in a lost country ruled by kings living in a magical, opulent world – the kind of place we would see in a Hollywood setup.
Chaturbhuj Temple and Raj Mahal
I was so charmed by Orchha that I let the days pass by without leaving the place, giving more of my days to Orchha and less to many other places I wanted to visit in Madhya Pradesh. As I went on my daily stroll to the fort, I frequently encountered questions like “You are still here? (there was no offence in their questions!) Are you doing some research on Orchha? Are you working with some publication?”. It took about two days for people to get used to seeing me as much as I got used to these question. My initial plan of spending two days in Orchha had dragged on for five.
The fort complex with its palaces is nearly four hundred years old. Despite its place in the history as the capital of Bundela Kings who played a major role in the region’s past, it doesn’t really figure as prominently in history books as nearby Jhansi and Gwalior Towns. Raj Mandir, the royal palace, is a beautiful structure built from mortar with an open quadrangle in its center and beautiful galleries and living quarters around it. Its top floor is built with an array of Chhatris (shelters with umbrella-like roof) that perhaps allowed the royal women a bird’s eye view into the town.
Cenotaphs of Orchha
The best sights from the Chhatris are the group of cenotaphs at the opposite end of the town, and the tall Chhaturbhuj Temple right in front. Chhaturbhuj Temple is the largest and the grandest of the building in Orchha standing at a height equivalent to a ten-storied building. Adjacent to it is the Ram-Raj Temple, as old as the other structures, but has seen constant renovation and fresh paint supported by continuous flow of devotees.
It is the cenotaphs that attracted me the most in Orchha. They are simple structures with tall gopuras which may not appear very charming from up-close. But seen from a distance, the bunch of looming towers appear as if they belong to a lost world. They have a mood of their own that changes with the weather – appearing sturdy and fortress-like on a clear day, charming and romantic on a foggy morning.
The location of cenotaphs is as charming as the cenotaphs themselves. Betwa River, with its clear waters, flows gently next to these edifices. An old culvert offers a good view of the towers from riverside. A reserve forest stretches far away on the other side of the river, offering a sense of isolation to the cenotaphs as well as rest of the town.
The river, forests and the lost world symbolized by the ancient remains held me to Orchha strongly for many days.
Photos by Arun Bhat.
Kashmir, in slow motion
Apr 20, 2011 Bike Trip, Guest Post, Kashmir
This is a guest post by Harshad Sharma, a professional photographer, a software developer and a motorcycle tourer based out of Ahmednagar. Harshad shares his experiences during his bike ride to Ladakh.
Motorcycle tours are my drug. I can’t do without a decently long tour every once in a while. And last year, I had the chance to undertake the ride of a lifetime – travel with my buddies through Ladakh. We would be passing through Jammu and Kashmir regions on the way, but since we were following advice form many travelers who had been to Leh, we had no plans to spend any time in between.
Our plan was a fast-paced ride through everywhere else and spend more time in Leh and around. However, as any adventure goes – plans have to scrapped and re-made often. We started from Srinagar on day 3 and reached Sonamarg valley around 3pm, stopped for lunch.
Drass was our target for the day, however barely 4 km away from Sonamarg, we were stopped at Nilagrath checkpoint and informed that the Zojila pass was closed for civilians for the day. We were an hour late and would have to spend a day in the tiny settlement.
Two among the four of us were unhappy, two welcomed the change. We went walking up on the road. Chatted with locals at a restaurant. I got the opportunity to make some of the best images of the whole journey during this slowed down time. We had absolutely nothing to do and since we were barely three days into the trip, we didn’t have much to talk about either – so we kept roaming about, exploring hills around Nilagrath.
As the sun finally decided it was time to shine elsewhere, I was ready with my camera to capture the golden hour – something I had missed photographing previously since we were riding from noon to late into the night. Turned out Nature had plans to make me happy, very happy!
Also got this photograph of a full moon rising just as the sun cast out its last rays on the mountain peaks.
Went back to Sonamarg for dinner, as we had already decided we ordered only the local delicacies. On getting back, I couldn’t resist the urge for some night photography. The full moon lighting up a stream flowing just beside our guest house made for a beautiful 30 second exposure.
We finally decided to let the journey take its time, and it probably was the best change in our plan. Witnessing new lands in slow motion is a great way to enjoy the trip and make lasting memories.
Harshad Sharma with complete gear during his bike ride to Ladakh. He has been to Leh and back from Maharashtra, till Central India (Nagpur) to the east, and till Bangalore and Chennai in South. He frequently travels distances of 300-400 kilometers a day for photography assignments. You can find more about him at http://harshadsharma.com.
Photographs by Harshad Sharma
