The Spectacle of Himachal

In the lap of the Himalayas lies the Godly state of Himachal Pradesh (literally meaning a land of snow) – a state that not only has most major Himalayan ranges passing through it, but also derives its name from the Himalayas (meaning a snowy abode). Amongst the many things that Himachal Pradesh is famous for – landscapes, temples, hot springs, perennial rivers, hill stations etc – the most important are the mountains, as they afford the region with not just its topography but also its climate and beauty. Mountains have a hypnotic quality about themselves. On one hand, their gigantic proportions, while mesmerizing, make us realise just how insignificantly small and frail we are. On the other hand, their unwavering stillness takes away the constant chattering of our mind, allowing us to pause and reflect upon the tranquility -  something absent in our hyper-connected lives otherwise. Bright blue skies, long winding roads, a crispy golden sun, green pastures, pristine flowing water and snow covered peaks make up the view across most of the state, offering a poetic rendition of the vivacity of nature.

Mcloeadganj

Quaint but not quiet

Our quest for the quaint and an unending desire to escape the hustle-bustle got us onto a flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh. An eight-hour drive (including halts for lunch and refreshments) on wide concrete roads followed by an ascend on narrow but still concrete roads brought us to our first destination – Mcloedganj, a tiny suburb of Dharamshala, which also happens to be the headquarter of the Tibetian government-in-exile. This wonderful drive ended in to a long traffic jam and a congregation of people at a junction of five lanes, quashing all hopes of quaint and hustle-free. It is only the next day that we realized that the junction – called main square – was the actually the centre of action at Mcloedganj (and probably represented the entire suburb as far as tourists were concerned).

To give you a sense of the place, if you were standing at the main square such that you were not facing any road, but facing the valley, then about a kilometer to your left would be the Tibetian Musem / Dalai Lama Temple, a similar distance to your right would be the Namgyal Monastery / St. John in the Wilderness Church, whereas about 2kms behind you would be the Bhagsu Nag waterfall. These are mostly the touristy places that you would visit in Mcloedganj. Other than that, most people hang out around the square to shop and eat.

The Shiva trilogy – Water, Food, and Substance

What most tourists do not cover are the most interesting things that Mcloedganj has to offer, and both involve a fair bit of hiking. The first is a small hike that starts at the Bhagsu temple – usually where the visit ends for most tourists. The Bhagsu temple has a pond whereby an underground spring delivers water from the melting glaciers. This is the main attraction for tourists as the pond is open for a people to dip in. Once you walk past this gory site (most men strip down to bare minimum clothing), you come across the beautiful Bhagsu waterfall. From here you can hike up either along the waterfall (in dry season) or along a paved trail to the top of the waterfall. There are a number of small eateries on the way, but the best one is at the top of the waterfall - a charming little place called Shiva Café.

Front view of the Shiva Cafe

The Great Indian Summer Tiger Trail - Part I - Ranthambore National Park

This year was going to be an exciting summer. Not only had I planned my jungle trails in advance, I had not one but two jungle trips planned. One would imagine what a summer it was going to turn into with trips planned to two large Tiger abodes - The Ranthambore National Park and the Jim Corbett National Park.

Well, to be honest, the original plan was to go to the very famous Tadoba Tiger Reserve, however, do to unavailability of safari permits, we decided to go to The Ranthambore National Park. A tiger lover paradise, the Ranthambore National Park is one of the largest national parks in northern India. This approximately 400 sq km forest is said to have housed around 50 Tigers once, however, that number is lower now due to poaching - an activity witnessed in almost all big and small forests in our country. Not just the density of tigers, but this park is also known for housing some of the most ferocious wild cats, that have fancy names and even more interesting stories. For instance, one of most recited stories of this park is how Machali (T-16), the royal tigress, fought with a 14 foot long crocodile. And mind you, this is not the only story that you will hear about Machali or the tiger reverse.

This was our first group trip to a jungle; hitherto we had always booked private jeep safaris for the two-three of us friends. However, this time around we decided to join a group being led by one of our most trusted wild life travel arrangers - the guys at Junglelore. Over a long weekend, these guys were taking two groups of around 25 individuals each in a canter (roofless bus) for a group safari. While we were a little anxious and apprehensive in going along with so many people - for a number of reasons: a) it is simply inconvenient to take photographs with 20 other people trying to do the same, b) the canter is generally higher than a jeep and thus you cannot photograph the animal from the eye level, c) more people = more noise (or chaos), and d) we feared that not everyone may be interested in wildlife other than the tiger and that would spoil our chances of photographing birds. Thankfully, none of that was true and it was a fun group to be part of, with enough opportunities to photograph birds and animals alike. In fact, we think that these group trips are a good way to ensure that you can do multiple jungle trips in a season on a tight budget.

A Wild Nesting (Wildernest) In Goa

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

- Marcel Proust (French Novelist and Author)

View of the valley en route to the resorts

Think of a holiday in Goa and the mind immediately renders images of  serene beaches, clear waters, cheap booze(!!), bike rides and wild parties. Never does one imagine hilly terrains, gushing waterfalls, winding roads and wild creatures. However, just like the country that the state resides in, Goa offers much diversity beyond beaches, booze and minerals. Owing to its location between Maharashtra and Karnataka a part of the Western Ghats passes through Goa, providing a biodiversity to the state.

Inside view of the cottages

View from the room

The Western Ghats frame the Eastern and Western borders of Goa, and stretch into Karnataka. Somewhere in the midst of these hills, on a road connecting the capital of Goa - Panaji - to Belgaum in Karnataka lie two secluded natural abodes - Swapnagandha & Wildernest. Nestled 700-800 metres above sea level, these eco friendly resorts are concealed by thick forest covers and offer beautiful views of the forest, valley and a couple of majestic waterfalls. Staying close to nature while offering all the comforts of modern living (except air conditioners) is the key attraction of these mostly word-of-mouth publicised resorts. Guests are logged in to mostly similar looking eco-friendly wooden cottages, with the difference being mostly the view offered from these cottages (one of our rooms had this magnificient view of a pair of 143 mtrs waterfall). While the cottages are eco friendly and made out of wood, they offer enough comfort and amenities for a good stay, with the only exception of an air conditioner.

How I (Nearly) Got Kissed By A Lion At Gir National Park

Asiatic Male Lion

It was a rather quite Saturday morning, our fourth day at the Gir National Park. While my earlier (and first) trip to the Gir National Park was just before the busy season ( in October of 2010, just before the Diwali holidays; read here for details), this time around we chose to go in the busiest season – the summer holidays – as it also  happens to be the best time to spot the wild cats. As it turned out, in the first three days, we had a fairly good amount of sighting of birds, lionesses and cubs, an old male lion and a cheetah!! Boy were we lucky or what?

But greedy as we humans are, we wanted to see a ‘Young Male Lion’ as we (my friend actually!!) weren’t satisfied with what we shot of the ‘Old Male Lion’ two days back. So we started our penultimate day with the usual chore of getting up at 3 and waiting in a queue since 4 in the morning outside Sinh Sadan (the forest department office where permits to enter to the Gir National Park are issued). Finally at 6:30am we managed to get our permits and stacked our tired selves (since were following this routine of standing in long queues twice a day for the last three days) in to the gypsy. We instructed our driver and guide that we had seen enough of most things and would only focus on spotting a ‘Young Male Lion’ in this trip. So they made some calls to find out where this dude was last seen and figured that he was probably somewhere near the end of our trail (each safari permit entitles you to visit one trail, and in one direction i.e. you cannot turn around or travel in the reverse direction, nor can you jump to any other trail).

Dancing Peacock

A Pair of Green Bee-Eaters

Lesser Flameback Woodpecker

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

A Fleeing Cheetah

A Pride of Lions

Phi Phi Islands - Thailand's Lesser Known Paradise

Located near the southern tip of Thailand in the Andaman sea- between Phuket and Krabi - is a pack of small, mostly uninhibited, islands. While each small islet has its own name (Bamboo Islands, Maya Bay, Monkey Islands, James Bond Islands - where the bond film The Man With The Golden Gun [1974, Roger Moore/Christopher Lee] was shot), the pack together is mostly referred to as Phi Phi Islands (locally called as Pi Pi Islands or Ko/Koh Pi Pi). Initially, these islands were frequented by only those seeking adventure and only in recent years have these come on the radar of general holidaymakers. The popularity of these islands can be gauged from the fact that most of them are unidentifiable on Google maps and are mostly visited by the general tourists as part of a one day boat trip. However, a few like us, are lucky enough to be knowing these jewels before planning our trips (we were told, rather insisted, by a couple friend of ours who had visited these islands as part of a day trip, and boy, are we thankful or what!!).

Phi Phi Leh

Phi Phi Don

The largest of the Phi Phi Islands (about 25-30 sq. kms!!) are two identical twins called Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh. When being approached by boat, these islands look like fortresses, as they are covered on one side by tall limestone rocks. While Phi Phi Don is the only inhibited island of all the Phi Phi Islands, Phi Phi Leh houses the famous 'Maya Beach' where the movie The Beach [2000, Leonardo diCaprio] was shot and is thus a famous tourist attraction. Adventure enthusiasts can hook up with some local agencies who can arrange a tent and some food on the Maya Beach for an overnight stay. For regular holidayers wanting to stay, Phi Phi Don is the only option. Although still lesser known compared to destinations like Koh Samui, Phi Phi Don has a variety of hotels across all budgets for those seeking an overnight stay in this  heavenly abode. Like most other beaches in Thailand, these places are characterized by crystal clear waters and pristine white sands; what differentiates them from the regulars though is that these are relatively less crowded and more serene.

Maya Bay

The Beach @ Phi Phi Islands

The Economics Of An Autorickshaw...

Photo Credit: http://photos.ibibo.com/photo/1420483/canon-d-autorickshaw-bangalore-india

Circa - Summer of 2006. We were on our way back from Inox Adlabs, Wadala after disappointedly watching The Da Vinci Code. A little ahead of the theatre, towards the highway, we crossed what was going to be my first work place after my MBA. That got us to discussing the vagaries of my travel to Credit Analysis & Research (CARE) Ltd, which was oddly located on the Eastern Express highway, a little before Chembur. Mayuri (fondly referred to as MJ), in her usual candid manner, poped out with a suggestion: “Teja, why don’t u consider buying an autorickshaw and leasing it? That way you can travel to and fro work for free, and also earn rentals!!” Laughter burst immediately, but little did any one think of the economics of MJ’s idea.

Back to 2011 – around the first rains of the season. There exists an unusual relation between rains, potholes and autorickshaws in Mumbai. Inadvertently, with each passing rain, the number of potholes in Mumbai increases at an exponential rate, no matter how often they are repaired. Similarly, one wild shower can cause most autorickshaws to breakdown, irrespective of its age. Surprisingly, no manufacturer has paid any attention to this crucial detail – maybe in next meeting I’ll point this out to them.

In case you are wondering if I have changed my mind about the blog title from ‘economics of…’ to ‘distress of…’ - not just yet; hang on. The reason I ramble about these issues that, had it been for them, then I would not have yet completely understood the economics of autorickshaws. So, getting back to the story, somewhere around the ascent of this year’s monsoon, I was stranded on my way home in a broken-down autorickshaw. Out of curiosity (an-analytical-mind, afterall!!), I initiated a conversation with the driver as to why these autorickshaws break down. As the downpour gained momentum, our conversation drifted from the problems to the finances, and revelations happened.

Being an analyst, I simply couldn’t resist the temptation of running the numbers on an excel sheet and calculating the IRR (Read more on IRR here).  While my first calculations stunned me, I later realised my folly. Nevertheless, I thought this would be an interesting post, and hence here it is. Lets first start with the assumptions:

The First Bird Watching Tale....

Its been a little over a year that I have taken liking to this new activity called bird-watching. Quite different from what it used to be in school days - this one takes you away from the urban centers into the less treaded paths – however, the excitement still remains the same. While one may argue how boring it is to be excited looking at birds rather than ‘chicks’, I’d say lets leave that discussion for a private meeting (after all my wife is usually the first one to read my blog!!).

Well, lets get back to the new hobby then. So, our (whats more fun than finding a company to bird-watch with!!) quest to watch the international beauties took us all the way up to the border of Rajasthan to a place called Bharatpur. Bharatpur is located on the Eastern border of Rajasthan, and lies between the Agra and Jaipur (although Agra is much closer, click here to veiw a map). In Bharatpur rests a less-known sanctuary called the Keoladeo National Park, commonly known as Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary (click here to view map).

The Keoladeo Temple at the heart of the park.

A World Heritage Site, the Keoladeo National Park is more than 200 years old, although it was recognized as a national park only in the latter half of the nineteenth century. For about hundred years prior to the recognition, this place was owned by the Maharajas of Bharatpur and was a famous hunting ground for them and the Brits. (As per official records, in one of the hunting expeditions, a British Governor hunted over 4000 birds in a single day - hard to believe, especially with the kind of rifles that had in those days!!). The park derives its name from the ancient Keoladeo Temple, devoted to lord Shiva, residing at the heart of the park.

For the love of God, and Wildlife - II [Gir National Park / Wildlife Sanctuary]

The second part of our vacation was a trip to the Gir National Park / Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat. This was a rather unplanned trip as we had no idea as to how we were going to get to the Gir National Park from Palitana. The only thing planned for the trip was our place of stay – Hotel Anil Farm House.  With some asking around, we figured that there was no direct way to get to our second destination. Thus began our half day long road trip, starting at 5 in the morning with a cab from Palitana to Songadh, a 6 hour long bus ride from Songadh to Junagadh, and finally 3 hour (for a distance of 50 kms) auto ride from Junagadh to Sasan - the village around the Gir National Park. (click here to see the journey on a map). Normally, its much simpler to get to Gir from Mumbai – you either take an overnight train to Junagadh and then a bus (recommended over an auto-rickshaw) to Sasan or an early morning flight to Rajkot and then a cab/bus to Sasan.

Sasan, also known as Sasan-Gir, is the village near the Gir National Park and is located along the banks of the river Hiran. Most of the hotels in Gir are located in this village, and are thus along the bank of the river. While options are abundant from the Department of Forest’s Sinh Sadan to the Taj (which had been shut, but was to be restarted), there were two properties that we liked in particular and recommend to the budget traveller: (a) Hotel Anil Farm House and (b) Sinh Sadan. The latter is a property owned by the department of forest built in colonial British architecture, and is probably one of the cheapest properties around. Another reason why we like it so much is that no matter where you stay, you’ll have to come back Sinh Sadan for all your permits to enter the sanctuary, so then you might as well stay here – considering that you’d typically be entering the sanctuary at 6 in the morning.

For the love of God, and Wildlife

Planning a holiday can be quite a tedious task, especially when its a family affair. Parents like religious outings, wife wants to relax and enjoy the luxuries, and you like adventure - gosh, life can be so complicated with so many options. But then, as they say, where there is a will, there is a way.

I was in one such dilemma when I was planning my holidays during a recent annual leave. The idea was to accommodate it all - the pending family visit to the holy place, a quite & relaxing holiday and an encounter with wildlife. A little probing and some googl-ing a trip is planned to Gujarat: Mumbai - Palitana - Gir.

View Map

Traversing more than 2000 kms, this was probably one of the most exciting trips of my life. It was divided into two parts, with the first part - a weekend excursion - comprising of Mumbai - Palitana with parents and wifey. From Palitana, parents came back to Mumbai, while wifey and me carried on for a 5 day trip to Gir National Park - which was the second part of the trip. I'll talk about first part in this blog, and will follow it up with a blog on the other part later.

A Vacation Amongst Clouds; On Ground, In Air

About 110kms from the chaotic city of Mumbai, and 16kms form the crowded twin hill statsions of Lonavala & Khandala, lies a small town off the highway called Kamshet. While not as famous as the twin hills that precede it (considering you are travelling from Mumbai), Kamshet is a major paragliding destination in Maharashtra, often metaphored as the 'paraglider's paradise'. Surrounded by lakes, paddy (rice & sugarcane) fields and the beutiful mountains of the Western Ghats, Kamshet and its neaby villages offer an altitude of 2200ft above sea level and some of best landscapes one could capture.

The beauty of Kamshet lies about 200 feet above the town, a 13km journey, not easily traversable without one's own vehicle; and the village roads dont exactly make the drive joyful. However, once you cross around half the distance, and reach about half the elevation, the road will no longer be the focus of your mind - for your eyes shall be treated with some majestic views of the lush green fields outlined by lofty mountain ranges embellished with numerous waterfalls.

Weekend Break: 45 Feet Above The Ground

Lonavala has long been a favorite monsoon getaway for most weekenders in Mumbai and Pune. Situated amongst the picturesque western ghats, over 600 meters above sea level, this hill station is known for its waterfalls, dams, a candy-like sweet called "chikki" and a private city called Amby Valley.

While I have always preferred a weekend getaway to quieter, less populated places, Lonavala has been an exception. Its not the love for chikki or the huge dam (infact I have not seen the dam in the ten years of my holidaying in Lonavala) that take me back to this crowded hill station; rather its a small village a little before the amby valley called Jambulne. A little known place, difficult to traverse to without your own vehicle, it is home to a 25 acre forest land owned by the friend of a close friend's father. The first time I visited this place - I probably was a ninenth grader and knew little about trekking and camping in forests - I was spellbound with the beauty and serenity of the then huge forest land.

From then to about a few years back, I have been to the place (better known amongst us friends as the 'Farm') atleast once every year. Having born in a month that experiences peak monsoon, I have been lucky enough to celebrate many a birthdays in this heavenly abode just the way I like it - aloof. Three small tin sheds - a kitchen, a bedroom, and a toilet - was the only human construction initially, covering over a couple of hundred sq feet of more than one million sq feet of land available. The simplicity and closeness to nature - no electricity, no gadgets just some solar powered lights - was the main attraction of the place. It made the tedious travel to the place a looked after event each year. We would pack our bags with ready-to-eat food before taking an early morning bus from Mumbai to Lonavala. Upon reaching Lonavala, the first task would be to head to the market and shop for food, water and beverages before queuing up for a 17km ride in the local trax on a share-a-seat basis. The jeeps (or sometimes trucks carrying rocks for construction) would drop us at a junction from where we would walk up 4kms to reach the farm.