Travel Story Book » India

Pindari Glacier

Kausik Saha — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:41:37 +0000

The Pindari Glacier is a glacier found in the upper reaches of the Kumaon Himalayas, to the southeast of Nanda Devi and Nanda Kot. The glacier flows to the south for a short distance of about 3 km and gives rise to the Pindari River which meets the Alakananda at Karnaprayag in the Garhwal district. The trek to Pindari Glacier is a relatively easy to moderate grade trek and a popular trek route. The trek route goes through a variety of landscapes and one has to walk through dense forests, along the river bed and on trails with snow clad peaks all around you. For a nature lover, it’s like a full course meal, guaranteed to satisfy a connoisseur’s appetite.

My team members for the Pindari trek

It was 3 years since the last trek to Annapurna Base Camp and another trek was turning out to be an immediate necessity. Surprisingly, things fell in place quite smoothly this time. The team was finalized with Santanu pitching in with his entire family, train tickets were booked and Roop Singh finalized as the guide for the trek. Since Santanu was taking his three and a half year old kid, it was important that we availed the services of Roop Singh, who has the skill and capability to take care of young children. It proved to be a wise decision as he took complete responsibility of the young boy throughout the trek.

Getting started

For me, it was a quick journey from Kolkata to Bageshwar. I left Kolkata on Nabami evening – a bit difficult leave my daughter in the middle of the Durga Puja, but did not have any other option. Kolkata to Delhi by Indigo evening flight and then checking out the Delhi Airport Link to New Delhi station. It was cool!! 20 mins from Terminal 3 to New Delhi station and another 5 minutes to Old Delhi station. The Airport Express service is comparable to the Heathrow Connect or the Narita Express or the Hong Kong Airport Express. Surprisingly, very few were using the services. I believe it will take some time for Indians to get used to the fact that public transport can be used for commuting to and fro from the airport.
I would be traveling to Haldwani by Ranikhet Express and still had some spare time. My rucksack was dumped in the cloak room and decided to explore Parathawala Gali in Old Delhi. It was quite late and many shops had closed. The shops were not much impressive, but their menu was!! Whoever has heard of karela paratha!! I was not bold enough to try it and settled for papad paratha and dal paratha. Both were new to me and surprisingly delicious.
The next morning I arrived at Haldwani at 5 AM. A 3 hour share taxi ride to Almora and I was enjoying my breakfast with Santanu and his family in their hotel room at 9 AM. Without wasting much time, we took another car to Bageshwar where we were expected to meet our guide Roop Singh. It was a short journey of about 2 hours and by noon we were in Hotel Siddharth waiting for our guide.

Bageshwar to Loharkhet

But a faux pas was in the cards and there was no sign of Roop Singh. All previous communication with Roop had been through the telephone only. That too not with him, but with his brother Ballu Singh.

Dusserha procession at Bageshwar

Our plan was to proceed to Loharkhet the same day, but we were stranded without Roop. We decided to check out the taxi stand for available options to go to Saung. Luckily we met a driver who was a relative of Roop and he could create contact with Roop over the phone. There was some mis-communication due to which Roop had the idea that we would be spending the night at Bageshwar and start for Loharkhet the next day. However, we met Roop when we reached Saung after a 2 hour journey along the banks of the Saryu river. Truly speaking, the first impression of Roop was very disappointing. Very soft spoken and one can hardly here him speak, frail structure and we were wondering if this is the Roop Singh that we were supposed to meet!! Once we started the trek, all our apprehensions turned to admiration. Go with him!! Unfortunately, it was raining heavily by that time and dusk was approaching. After warming up with some hot Maggi and tea, we decided to move ahead to Loharkhet. Soon some plastic wrapped figures were moving towards Loharkhet in the semi darkness. I was tired after my long journey since yesterday and none of us were not mentally prepared for this long walk. Roddur started crying after some time as he was startled by the turn of events and this is not the trek that he had expected!! It turned out to be a long and steep walk. The rain and darkness made it look much more difficult. Ultimately after almost 2 hours we reached Loharkhet and we were surprised by the quality of the room – surpassed all expectations. We were the only occupants for that night. Dinner was in the kitchen, sitting by the fire and enjoying hot chapattis, dal and soyabean and potato curry. That became our staple menu for both lunch and dinner. for the next eight days.

Day 1: Loharkhet to Dhakuri

This was ideally the first day of the trek, though we had walked for a good two hours the day before in torrential rain. Everybody was in good spirits.

The lush green route to Dhakuri

Roop had gone down to Song the last evening and was to return with his mules that would be carrying our bags. Roop arrived after some time with a smiling face and ‘namaste’ on his lips. We started on our walk while Roop loaded our bags on the mules with the help of his grandson Krishna. The first day had the maximum ascent – Upper Loharkhet was at 1824m while Dhakuri was at 2672m. The total distance was 9Km, of which the last 1Km was descent from Dhakuri Top. It was very hot and we were getting exhausted frequently. There were a couple of maggi and tea shops on the way that are quite useful. The entire route does not have much habitation except for some after Dhakuri and Khati, which is a big village. These stall owners open their shops during the trekking season and stay in some makeshift homes during that time. The entire route was paved with stone at most of the places which makes it easier to maintain, though the unpaved ones are easy to walk on and seem more natural.

The route was very scenic, though there was not much shade and we gradually moved up towards Dhakuri Top.

Maiktoli as seen from Dhakuri

It is a small low altitude pass that lead on to the Pindar valley. 2 Km from Dhakuri top is a temple of Chilta Devi. If the weather is clear, it provides a grand view of the snow-capped peaks. But it was cloudy when we reached the top and all we could see were clouds. As we descended to Dhakuri, we realized why it is said to be the most beautiful spot on this trek. Undulating meadows surrounded by dense forest facing the mountain ranges – it’s a perfect holiday spot. The Maiktoli, Panwalidar and Nanda Khat peaks stare at you in Dhakuri. Unfortunately all the rooms at Dhakuri TRH was occupied by a group of 21 trainees from Mosouriee. The good thing about KMVN is that they have one or two tents as a standby and we were given the only tent in Dhakuri. The tent was huge, so we did not have any problems with it. Evening was approaching, so we had some light meal instead of a full lunch. Dinner is served quite early, around 7 PM. It was also for the first time we saw how efficient Roop was. He was waiting with water when we reached Dhakuri. Tea followed immediately afterwards and ensured that food was good and always served in time.

While strolling around, suddenly I came across birds, beautiful birds with long fluttering tails. God, they were beautiful. It was only then I noticed that various types of colorful birds were flying all around Dhakuri – a real treasure chest. They were members of the Magpie family and I saw quite a few variations of these birds in Dhakuri. The evening was spent in bird photography. By this time, the clouds had moved away and the mountain range was standing upright in front of us. It was 3 days before full moon and they were sparkling white in moonlight.

We had just gone to bed when suddenly we felt somebody pushing against the tent. Bells started ringing and the identity of the intruders became clear – our mules. Why the hell did they want to come in the tent? Santanu went outside and drove them away as I was half asleep or pretending to be asleep?

Day 2: Dhakuri to Khati

The next morning we were up at 5:30 AM for the sunrise. Nothing spectacular – but the weather was clear with the promise of an interesting day ahead of us.

Onwards from Dhakuri to Khati on the way towards Pindari

The journey to Khati was a short one, mainly descent. The forests of Dhakuri ended too soon and after that there was not much tree cover on the way and we were sweating. By this time, Suparna’s shoes were already coming apart and were tied with ropes around her feet. Roddur was comfortable with both Roop and Krishna and most of the time was traveling on their shoulders. Roop showed a shop from where Suparna could manage to buy a pair of shoes.
There is a village Dau before Khati and a road from here goes towards Jatoli, which is also the road to Sundardunga glacier. Khati is a big village of that region. Terraced farming is done in the village and potato is the major cultivated crop. Due to intense winter and snow in winter, no other crops or vegetable can be grown there. Khati also boasts of a primary and secondary school and all children of the village attend school. We came to know of these facts during our stay in Khati on the way back.
At Khati, we stayed at Sangam Cottage, a very neat and decent accommodation run by a local Tara. It had a small but neat lawn with flowers in front, the rooms were big and the food was good. We will remember his preparation of a delicious, finger licking dish of potato and freshly plucked rye (sarso sag). Roop left for his village Jatoli where he would spend the night and be back the next morning. Jatoli was 7 Km from Khati (1 hour journey for Roop) and on the route to Sundardunga glacier. Khati is also the confluence of the Pindar and Sundardunga river. The rest of the day was spent in meeting other fellow trekkers, a stroll to the village, talking with some villagers and photographing butterflies and bees. It was in Khati that we met a couple in their fifties and they were walking almost 20Km every day. Having completed Sundardunga trek, they were on their way to Pindari. It was also here that we met a 71 year old gentleman, who did a rock climbing course at the age of 63. Our finger-licking dinner was in the kitchen by the fireside. And at night, I got the first shot of the snow capped peaks in moonlight – from Khati only Maikoli is visible.

Dance of the butterflies at Khati

Day 3: Khati to Dwali

Today would be a long walk of about 11Km. So we made it a point to leave by 8 AM. The route was beautiful and we would be traveling through dense forests. We walked along the Pindar river and had the flowing river besides us throughout the walk. At times we were on the river bank and could touch the ice cold water. We crossed innumerable streams formed by melting ice and flowing along the sides of the mountains to merge with the Pindar river.
This stretch between Khati and Dwali also has its share of a tea shop at an intermediate location. It was almost a 6 hour walk from Khati, but ours was a leisurely walk. Pros can definitely do it in a much shorter time. In between it started raining heavily with small ice pellets hitting us at high speed. However, the forest cover spared us from the severe intensity of the rains. We were once again wrapped in our plastic sheets as we moved on.
Dwali TRH is at an amazing location. You cross the Pindar river, and when you think your journey has come to an end, you have to walk up for quite some time to reach the TRH. From the top, you will feel that you are sitting on the side walls of the saucer. The place is circled by high green mountains with a flat approach land at the bottom. Amazing location!! Dwali is also the confluence of Pindar and Kafni river. Both the trek routes to Pindari and Kafni glacier share a common route till Dwali and then bifurcate from here. The trek to Kafni glacier follows the Kafni river while that to Pindari glacier follows the Pindar river. However, only Maiktoli can be viewed from Dwali, view of the other peaks being blocked by the narrow george of the Pindar river.

Destination Pindari

Day 4: Dwali to Phurkia

The penultimate day on the way to Pindari and it was a short walk of about 5 Km. Phurkia has the last staying option on this route, unless one is carrying tents. A very gradual ascent, not very difficult – that is how one can describe this days walk. It had its fair share of ups and downs. We had some company this day – a group of 8 trekkers from Bangalore. It was good to exchange views and our experiences. This day we were walking with the Pindari river to our left. The nature of the vegetation was gradually changing as we gained height. The forest cover when we started to walk from Dwali gradually decreased and tall trees gave way to shorter trees and ground hugging shrubs. The walk was gradually becoming tiring and suddenly the Phurkia TRH came into view. The view from Phurkia is restricted and only Nanda Kot can be seen from there. It is to a large extent surrounded by sky hugging mountains on all sides.
The TRH accommodation in Phurkia was not in very good shape and we had a not so memorable experience with rats at night. No wonder people do not stay there longer than expected at Phurkia!! The PWD accommodation was in deplorable condition and looked like it has not been used for quite some time.
Myself and Santanu got hold of a chair and took a seat along the road. Clear crisp weather, snow clad peaks in front, lunch was served where we were sitting – I believe we were rooted in that place for over a couple of hours till we began to feel the cold. There was a small tea shop there and spent the evening in the small, smoky shop where a lot of people had assembled for warmth generated by the burning logs in it. After dinner, we were treated to a view of the sparkling snow clad Nanda Kot in moonlight. It was the night of Kojagari Purnima and the surrounding was basking in moonlight. Surprisingly it was not as cold as I had expected it to be in Phurkia. Luckily there was no wind and that gave some relief from the usual cold of Phurkia. Dhakuri was colder!!

Day 5: Phurkia to Zero Point and back to Dwali

The final day and I was up at 4 AM. Santanu and Suparna would be starting a little later with their kid. By 4:30 I had my morning tea, woke up Krishna and had started for zero point with Krishna as company. The point was cover at least 3 Km before sunrise so that I get to see all the visible peaks flare up to the rays of the rising sun. From Phurkia, the view is restricted and one gets to see only a single peak. All I can say is that I was witness to a spectacular sunrise and marveled at the way each of the peaks were lit by the rising sun one by one.

Sunrise as we walk towards Pindari Glacier

The route was very gentle and green meadows on either side. The tree line gradually ended and soon the region became devoid of any vegetation. The landscape changed from green meadows to rocky and strewn with boulders. With every turn of the journey, a new peak became visible and soon I was surrounded by high, partly snow clad mountains all around. Soon the ashram of Pindari Baba came into view. I decided to stop there after visiting zero point. Zero point was another 1 Km from there. The final point looked quite dangerous to me – a narrow ridge and hardly two people can walk side by side for the last few meters. The usual scramble was there to take photos and capture the scenery all around. I was not any exception!! I sat down on the ground there at a wide part of the ridge, hoping to spend some time there. The view at zero point is spectacular with a number of peaks encircling the region. The prominent peaks visible from zero point are Baljuri (5922 m), Panwali Dwar (6663 m), Nandakhat (6611 m), Changuch (6322 m), Nandakot (6861 m) along with a number of unnamed peaks. The Pindari glacier was to the left of zero point at a distance and one cannot walk upto the mouth of the glacier. I found that quite a few people were not aware of this fact and they were very disappointed that they could not touch the ice over the glacier. According to the guides, the snout of the glacier has receded in the last couple of years. Earlier, it used to be much near to zero point.
Another Aussie trekker started distributing some breakfast to all present there. I had minimal food in my bag, and that too sufficient for myself and Krishna. So I could only accept the food given by my fellow trekker and unable to offer any.

Approaching zero point

My remaining team members soon joined me at zero point and after spending some time there we all started the journey back, stopping at the ashram on the way. The ashram is maintained by Pindari Baba. We were offered tea, puri and sabji there. It seems he cooks everybody in the morning for all those visiting the glacier. He lives alone for 10 months of the year and the remaining winter months he is traveling to other parts of the country, collecting funds for his philanthropic work. Myself and Santanu had a long chat with him and we were impressed.
It was almost noon when we left. Surprisingly the weather was clear, with no signs of any cloud or rain. It would be a long journey – another 12 Kms upto Dwali. After a short re-fuelling at Phurkia, we quickly moved out towards Dwali so that we reach there before evening.

Day 6-8: Dwali to Bageshwar

Our guide - Roop Singh Danu

Its always sad to write about the return journey. As we re-traced our original route, we did not have any new experiences. But we did it at a relaxed pace, stopping at Khati and Dhakuri on the way. At Khati we asked Tara to prepare same vegetable dish that we had relished earlier. Tara tried to arrange for some chicken, but it was too costly (a thousand bucks). We had a nice evening chit-chat session with two of the school teachers of Khati and came to know a lot about the village and its schools. Since the village did not have a high school, some of the girls traveled 10 Km daily to school.
From Khati, there is an alternate route by which one can avoid Dhakuri and reach a motorable road at Supi in a day. But my impression is Dhakuri should not be missed. The final destination as well as the journey also matters.

To conclude, we had a car waiting for us near Loharkhet. Roop arranged for it – I do not know how. He also picked up whatever we had left at Loharkhet TRH. It was difficult saying good bye to him. As long as we could see him from the car, he was standing with his hands folded and a sad face. We all hoped that we will meet him soon.

Tiger Tales – Bandhavgarh

Kausik Saha — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:40:14 +0000

If you thought that only human beings fought among each other over rights of land ownership, you are grossly mistaken. Land disputes, claiming land rights and acquisition of land by force is not restricted to humans only. The biggest member of the cat family – the tiger, is also endowed with these vices. Interestingly, tigers are not social animals. Each adult tiger requires a marked territory of his/her own and no other tiger has access in that territory. The territorial boundary of a tiger is marked by claw marks on tree trunks. These marks act as a signal to other tigers that they are in occupied territory, if they dare to intrude, either purposefully or by mistake. Intrusion leads to territorial fights among two tigers, that could lead to serious injuries or can turn fatal. Sometimes the vengeance is so intense, the hatred so strong, that the winning tiger kills the other and eats it. Cannibalism is not very common among tigers, but at the same time is not something that is not heard of. As there is no dearth of prey in the forests of central India, hunger is definitely not a cause of cannibalism among tigers.

The Bamera male at Bandhavgarh

The only time two adult tigers are seen together are during mating – for a few days. Once mating is over, each tiger returns back to their own marked and acquired territory. Even during the mating period, there is no sharing of food. They kill separately, there is no sharing of kill, whatever be the extent of passion flowing between them.
Cubs, once born, are taken care by the mother only. In rare cases, the father has been seen with the family for short duration. Till the cubs grow into adults, which is almost two years, they remain with their mother, feeding on the kills of their mother. After that, each one ventures out on their own, identifying their territory and claiming possession over it. This might not be as easily done as said, as it might involve vicious fighting capturing the area from another tiger.

Bamera male approaches a sleeping Kankati

All this and a deep insight into the life of the almost extinct animal was acquired in my recent trip to Bandhavgarh. A no-frills trip with some like minded friends – Dr Abheek Ghosh, Rajan Khinkhide, Adwait Mahajan, Nitish Mahajan, Saran and Safique Hazarika. All of them hard-core forest lovers with Abheek leading a NGO in Nagur for the betterment and conservation of forests and wild life and everybody associated with it. They had come from all corners of the country – Chennai, Mumbai, Nagpur and myself from Kolkata.

Is everything right in Bandhavgarh?

Bandhavgarh National Park is today one of the prime centres of tiger tourism. With a very high tiger density, the probability of tiger sighting is very high in this national park. But not without a cost. And this might lead to the destruction of more tigers in the near future. With an area of 448 sq Km, Bhandhavgarh has become too crowded from the predators.

Post mating - Kankati and Bamera male

Without sufficient habitable area, territorial fights among tigers is on the increase. Many tigers have died due to in-fighting among the tigers, some of them have mysteriously disappeared after having been ousted from their base territory by a stronger one of the species. Many cubs have lost their lives to stronger adults, as some grown-ups prefer to get rid of future rivals while they are young.

A couple of days after we left Bandhavgarh, a female cub was found dead, with its hind portion eaten. Though the reason was death was not identified, it was assumed that this gruesome act was the handiwork of an adult male. We were lucky to see a mating pair while in Bandhavgarh. The female named Kankati (one of her ear lobes is mutilated) also has a dubious past – she fought with her sister over territory acquisition and won over her in a gruelling fight on a cold winter night. Her sister was killed and Kankati went ahead and devoured half of her sister. So intense is the struggle for survival in tiger land!!

Another disturbing fact is the location of some of the habitations around the park. While in the park and in your safari vehicle, there is a small stretch where you can look up and see villagers doing their daily chores – separated from the forest by a stone wall boundary which can be climbed easily by any human being. So its left to one’s imagination whether the wild predators can cross the fence, if required. Project Tiger was started in 1973, but still there are habitations just beside the core forest area, separated by a flimsy boundary wall. Its bad for the predators and the villagers. The predators find easy food by killing cattle, the villagers live in constant fear about their lives and their domesticated animals. Compensation given by the forest department for the cattle killed by tigers, but according to many that is far below the market price. So it has become a practice for some to poison the old cattle and leave it to be fed by the tigers, and as a chain reaction, poisoning and killing the tigers. Human-animal conflict has manifested its ugly face throughout the country in recent times and Bandhavgarh is no exception. My feeling is that more needs to be done on this front, the administration has to be pro-active and be more sensitive to the real needs of the people who have been earning their livelihood for generations from forest products. Unless some urgent measures are taken ASAP, it is not far when India will be without any major stretches of forests.

Latest Update

Bisons relocated from Kanha - facing challenge from the tigers

I started writing this quite some time back – and since then there has been some incidents which I feel I should update in this article. The first update is about a female cub being killed and eaten by another tiger (this I have mentioned earlier). The second update is that two of the Mirchiani sub-adult cubs are on a human killing spree. As of today (8th July, 2011), there has been three killings and the last one person killed been eaten by the tiger. The two cubs have been removed from the forest and moved to Bhopal Zoo. This was waiting to happen any day – and one needs to visit Bandhavgarh and see the area that was the habitat of the Mirchiani family. It is adjacent to a boundary wall and people living on the other side within a distance of 50m of the wall.
Will this man-animal conflict continue or will we be able to come to a feasible solution? Personally, I am pessimistic on this issue and think that wild life will perish sooner or later due to lack of natural habitat.

Pench & Tadoba

Kausik Saha — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:11:18 +0000

I remember I first read the stories of Mowgli when I joined my school Cubs troop in primary school. Mowgli, Sher Khan, Bageera and Kaa were names that weaved stories in my mind. It was also the first time that came to know about Rudyard Kipling. And thus begun a long love for the author and his stories. It may sound strange, but the backdrop of Jungle Book was the forests of Pench.

A parrot takes a peek out of the comfort of the nest - in Pench

It was almost two years since my last forest visit and the heart was screaming loud for a trip to the forests. March to May is the best time for a trip to the forests if one is interested in wildlife. So this year we opted for the forests of Pench and Tadoba, both these forests situated around the border of the Indian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and teeming with wild life and birds.
Some amount of pre-planning was done, as my previous experience says that unless you get a good safari driver, you can literally be taken for a ride(pun intended) if you are unlucky. The first effort was to scout for partners. Jungle safaris, specially in MP is becoming expensive and getting somebody to share the cost is a breather for the pocket. This effort failed and so the next task was to identify a good driver for the safaris. I had been in touch with Dr. Abheek Ghosh of Nagpur, an avid wild life lover and spends almost every weekend in the forests around Nagpur. He arranged for the services of the drivers who take him around in Pench (Bablu/Lalan) and Tadoba (Sanjay). This proved to be very effective and went a long way in making the trip a great success.

Pench

We landed in Nagpur one Saturday night and proceeded immediately to our hotel in Turia village by a pre-arranged car. Turia is one of the entrances of Pench MP. The next day was Holi festival – the forests were closed. The day was spent resting after a long flight to Kolkata from New York just a day earlier. Holi in Turia was seemed to be a bit subdued and not many colorful faces were seen. I loitered around the village for some time but nobody even attempted to smear me with color!! Played with some of the village children for some time and then again returned back to catch up with some sleep.

Day 2 in Pench

Ready before six in the morning and rearing to enter the forest, we did not have to wait long before Lalan arrived with the gypsy. All formalities were soon competed at the gate and soon we had crossed the gate and were in the forest.

As close it can get - Collarwali in Pench

We were in for hardly five minutes, when we were alerted by the assembly of a large number of jeeps in front of us. Even before we could realize what was happening, a huge tigress with a collar around her neck walked by the side of the road and almost in front of us. This tigress is known as Collarwali, because of the radio-active collar around her neck. This collar is used for tracking the tiger when it is not seen for a long time, primarily during the monsoons. The tigress flaunted herself majestically, oblivious of the surroundings, totally ignoring the presence of vehicles and jeeps around her. It crossed the road, circled a jeep and then proceeded along the road. Some of the vehicles followed Collarwali from a distance and those immediately behind her were suitable rewarded when she decided to go for a kill and killed a spotted deer in front of everybody. We missed it, but no regrets. Collarwali is the proud mother of five cubs and we hoped to catch the cubs and mother together sometimes during our stay in Pench.
Pench has a wide variety of landscapes and there are large meadows, water bodies – the backwaters of Pench river, sal forests and thick high grasslands. Even without any wildlife sighting, it is a pleasure to move around the forest. Pench is also the home of a large variety of birds and birding was a great experience for me in this trip. We saw around 50 varieties of birds in Pench and Tadoba. In the rest of the morning drive we saw lots of spotted deer, sambar deer and birds.

Queen of the forest - Collarwali eyes the tourists

Because of the afternoon heat, we started the evening drive a little late, around 3:30. The forest seemed to have withdrawn into a deep slumber and hardly any signs of life were visible. But gradually as the heat subsided, more and more animals came out. Tiger sighting is definitely attractive, but I am also fascinated by the way the guides track the tigers. Alarm calls and pug marks are the major indicators of the presence of a tiger or leopard in the vicinity. Alarm calls are raised by deer and langurs. As the tiger moves about in the forest, the alarms are also raised by these animals and are used to gauge the movement of the tiger. This, along with the knowledge about the location of the water bodies is successfully used to locate a tiger. This evening we moved about in the forest till Bablu, our driver stopped the jeep on hearing alarms raised by deer. The call kept moving, which indicated that the tiger was moving about, but soon the calls became irregular and infrequent. This left everybody around confused and soon some of the cars left. But Bablu wanted to wait and I went by his judgement. After all, he was the one who knows everything about this place. Soon, his judgement proved right as Collarwali once again walked out on the road. Collarwali walked around a bit and decided to lay down bang in the middle of the road. Two cars were in front of her and another four behind her.
It was almost 6:30 – past the deadline by which the vehicles need to be out of the gate. Reluctantly, we reversed and proceeded towards the gate. The cars in front of Collarwali were lucky, really lucky!! They had to wait for more than an hour before Collarwali decided to make way for the cars…

Day 3 in Pench

Another morning safari and Abheek drove in from Nagpur early in the morning to join us in the morning drive. This time we decided not to focus on the tiger but enjoy the forest. It was a learning experience and came to know a lot about the animals in Pench. Almost at the wee hours, we went to the central point of the forest, Alikatta, just to check if any tiger sighting has happened in the morning. It seems that Collarwali along with the cubs has been located by forest department elephants.

Colors of Pench in summer

We enlisted ourselves for the ‘Tiger Show’, hoping that we could see the cubs. So it was the customary elephant ride from a point on the roadside to the place where the tiger is. Normally once the sun is out, the tiger takes shelter in a shady area, preferably near a water body. The elephant ride was rough as the tigress had taken shelter quite in the interior. However, we had a good view of it lying down, but the cubs could not be seen. They were nearby, by had hid themselves and were not visible. Nothing significant happened in the morning, apart from waiting and scanning an area near Alikatta for jackal cubs. These cubs were hardly 1 week old and Abheek had seen photographs of them from another tourist. But we could not locate them and gave up after some time.
The evening drive proved to be fruitful in this respect and we could get the jackal cubs. They were hidden in a dead trunk that had fallen down and had a large cavity in it. The hole was home to the cubs (and most probably the mother too) and they playfully moved in and out of their home – much to our delight.

Day 4 in Pench

The morning drive was the last jungle drive in Pench. We would be moving to Tadoba immediately after the drive. Abheek had returned to Nagpur and was back again in the morning. God knows how he manages. We covered some parts of the forest that we had not been to earlier.

The Indian Roller - in Pench

Palash trees were in full bloom and some parts of the forest looked colorful and bright. Saw quite a few new birds which Aheli noted down in her diary. The list of birds seen were increasing!! Just like the previous day, we made a halt at Alikatta where we came to know that the Tiger Show was on. To go or not to go in Tiger Show is a big dilemma. Ultimately, we again decided to go only if the cubs are there. Fortunately they were, but unfortunately by the time we went there, the mother had relocated herself. One of the cubs was peeking at the approaching elephants from behind a big boulder. The second cub was also hidden behind the boulder. Soon they dashed towards the thick and dried undergrowth and disappeared. Well, it was not a grand sighting, but atleast we saw them for some time. It was almost mid-day and time to leave the forest. Soon after taking some rest at our hotel, we were on our way towards Tadoba in Maharashtra. As the route to Tadoba was through Nagpur, we took a food halt at Haldirams. It was scorching hot and we needed the lassis and cold drinks.

Varanasi

Kausik Saha — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:54:41 +0000

Enjoy the photographs while the travelogue is updated

Kinnaur

Kausik Saha — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:33:50 +0000

While the travelogue is being written, please enjoy the photographs of the trip.

Sabuj Bon

Kausik Saha — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 12:36:15 +0000

Sabuj Bon is ideal for an weekend trip from Kolkata and had been on my radar for quite some time. Unfortunately, my father fell ill last year when we had planned it here with friends. So when I had three days to go out of Kolkata, and other destinations did not materialize for various reasons, Sabuj Bon was the choice by default.

Inside Sabuj Bon

Initially I had planned to drive my car, but as the team size increased to seven members, a SUV was rented for the trip as it turned out to be the most practical option. A very smooth drive from Kolkata to Burdwan was followed by a breakfast halt at Shaktigarh for luchi and sweets. The sweet lovers of our group were elated at the hot langchas (a fried variety of sweet) that were available at the eateries there. By this time, I had taken the directions of Sabuj Bon and proceeded towards out destination. The paddy fields were lush green in color and as far as our visibility could be stretched, green was the only color that could be seen all around. A very pleasant drive on an equally well maintained road. After asking for directions a couple of time, we arrived in Sabuj Bon a little before noon. Once inside the compound, we were glad about our choice.

Sabuj Bon

Cottage accomodation at Sabuj Bon

Sabuj Bon is a village resort nested deep within the village of Rasulpur belonging to Panchsowa panchayat. Its is about 13Km from Bolpur and 15Km from Shantiniketan. Within a huge compound, the accommodation is mud huts with straw covered thatched roof. The inside of the rooms were cool and provided the much needed respite from the midday heat. The rooms basic but spacious with attached toilets. For those who want more comfort, there are a couple of rooms with AC also. But the best part of this place is the greenery within it. The owner wants to develop it as a plant museum and it already has more than a lakh of plants within it. There was complete peace all around. There are a couple of ponds within the compound and the dining space is a covered area by the side of one such pond. Fish caught from the ponds is served for lunch. A leisurely stroll within Sabuj Bon or in the village or on a banks of the river Ajoy – there are many things to do while staying there.

Lunch was traditional bengali food: locally grown rice with begun bhaja, dal, alu-pataler dalna, alu posto, fish, chatni, papad and sweets. Excellently prepared and the cook, by his constant persistence, ensured that we were fully stuffed. We decided to take a little rest and then go to Shantiniketan. But as usual, we left quite late, and had to rush to the Rabindra Museum as it closes at 4:30 PM.

Shantiniketan

We managed to reach Uttarayan with barely sufficient time to cover the museum and the other buildings within the compound. Frankly I expected the museum to be richer in content. After all, the legacy of Tagore is an important part of the culture of Bengal. At present, a replica of the Nobel Prize is kept in the museum, after its theft last year. A short tour of the five buildings in the compound in which Rabindranath had stayed in Shantiniketan – Konarak, Udayan, Shyamali, Punascha and Udichi, his car and we were out of Uttarayan by 5 PM. Fortunately the guards were accommodative of the fact that we had arrived late and kept the visitor areas open until we had left.

Local guides swarmed us as we were out on the road. With so many old people, a walking tour did not seem feasible. So we decided to take the tour in our car and the guide would accompany us in the car itself. An one hour tour followed and we covered all the important locations of Shantiniketan: Chatimtala, Amra Kunja, Deholi, Nutan Bari, Salbithi, Patha Bhavan, Hindi Bhavan, Nippon Bhavan, Chini Bhavan, under construction foreign language building, Beni Kunja, Chaiti, Kala Bhavan, Kalo Bari, Sangeet Bhavan and house of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. But being in the car meant that there was not much scope of taking photographs.

Kankalitala

After the tour, as there was some time left before dinner, we moved towards Kankalitala. It is one of the fifty two pithas or sacred spots where a part of the dismembered body of Sati fell. In this case, it is the waist (Kankal), hence the name. It has a temple of goddess Kali without any staue; instead a photograph of the goddess is worshipped. The greenery all around us was the best part of the journey. It was almost dark when we reach Kankalitala. Puja was offered and after spending half an hour before starting our journey to Sabuj Bon. It was pitch dark all around and Aheli and myself loved to search for any light as far as our eyes could see.

At Sabuj Bon, hardly any sound could be heard at night except the sound of crickets and other insects. After a late dinner, which was served in a machan(platform built of bamboo) near the cottages, it was time to retire for the night. As it was cloudy, not many stars could be seen, but enjoyed the hundreds of fireflies dancing on top of the trees. Aheli was terrified that some insect should enter the room (even the smallest of cockroach is sufficient to frighten her), so the doors were kept tightly shut while I took a bamboo chair and sat in the middle of the lawn, enjoying the darkness, the silence, the skies and the chirping of insects all around.

Woke up to a cloudy morning the next day. Plans for the day were flexible and after much discussion and argument, decided to visit a relative at Kirnahar. Kirnahar is around 40 Km from Bolpur. It was the holy festival of ID and by this time we had been served semai and payesh on behalf of the owner. Kirnahar turned out to be a small town and although we had planned to have only breakfast with our host, ultimately we ended up having both breakfast and lunch at our hosts place.

Fullara

The temple at Fullara

After lunch, we decided to pay a visit to the Fullara temple at Labhpur before leaving for Shantiniketan. Labhpur is the birthplace of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, the Bengali writer. Like Kankalitala, this is one of the sacred pithas where the lip of Sati fell. There is a big pond within the temple from where lotus are offered to the goddess. They have provision for eating the bhog, but for that we had to reach there well before noon. We spent some time in the temple and around it, offered pujas and then left for Khoai Mela in Shantiniketan.

Khoai Mela

The Khoai mela is a fair held primarily for tourists only on Saturday evening at Sonajhuri. It was started with an aim to help the local women sell locally produced and home made items and now it has turned out to be a regular affair and quite popular with the tourists. One can find a variety of items being sold here. Home made food items like ghugni, patisapta, chirer puli, bread jilepi, postor naru, etc. And to keep up with the food habits of the tourists from Kolkata, you will find shops selling vegetable momos!!

Baul song at Khoai mela

I fail to understand why vegetable momos need to be sold in this place, as it is totally alien to the food habits of the people of this region. Ornaments, leather items and musical instruments like flutes, ektara and dotara were also on sale. It was drizzling and the number of vendors as well as visitors were low in the beginning, but gradually the number increased. My daughter bought a flute (which she is unable to play even now) and we feasted on ghugni, patisapta, jilepi and hot tea. But the best part of the fair was the baul singer, who seemed to be a veteran there and quite popular among the tourists. He had a wonderful, deep voice, singing from the core of his heart and spent nearly an hour listening to his songs before the other team members dragged me away.

Shopping

Some shopping had already been done before coming to Khoai Mela. As we had some time to spare,
our female members had decided to utilize the time by quenching their insatiable thirst of shopping. A few hundred meters from Uttarayan is a line of shops selling locally produced goods (leather items, terracotta decorations, batik printed and other clothing, etc.
Leaving Khoai, it was decided to go to Sriniketan, which is supposedly the place to buy local specialty items. We reached Sriniketan to discover that it was already closed. Without losing hope, the shoppers of our team proceeded towards Amar Kutir, which is a cooperative selling similar items. I will not go into the details of what was bought, but definitely decreased my net worth by several hundreds of rupees!!

Returned to Sabuj Bon there after, again in pitch black darkness. Dinner was ID special and nobody complained!!

Embankment of river Ajoy

Day 3 and we were to return back. Early morning I went for a stroll around the village and on the embankment of the Ajoy river, which runs a few hundred meters away from Sabuj Bon. The greenery all around was so refreshing and it felt bad that by today evening we would be in the noise and pollution of Kolkata once again!! After a filling breakfast of luchi and rasogolla, and some discussion on orchids with the owner of the place Mr Salim and his friend Mr Dutta, we bid farewell to all the staff there. We made a small detour to Shantiniketan once again as Aheli wanted to visit the deer park.

It seemed to be a favorite hangout for the young couples of the locality. Noisy and disappointed tourists streamed in and out of the park, expecting deer to be lined up for them as soon as they enter the park. Luckily we were able to see a herd of three moving around and jump across the road to disappear within the trees. This place has a close resemblance with Bethuadohori to a large extent.

After that we started our return journey to Kolkata, enjoying every bit of the drive until we entered the pollution and noise of Kolkata.

What we missed

View the Khoai landscape
Stroll along Kopai river
Visit Pearson palli, a tribal village or other nearby tribal villages
See the terracotta temples of Itonda, just 2 Km from Sabuj Bon

Deoria Tal

Kausik Saha — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:26:11 +0000

Deoria Tal was a part of my trip to Garhwal: Khirsu-Ukimath-Auli-Haridwar. But without a separate trip report for Deoria Tal, it would be sheer injustice to the beauty of the place.

The Garwhal ranges of Himalayas posses so many treasures of nature, which are bestowed with unparalleled beauty. Deoria Tal is one among such vista’s that captivates any body with its charismatic appeal. At a height of 3200 meters, Deoria Tal’s crystalline water offers a spell bound images of its beautiful surroundings.

Deoriatal

It is believed that it was the place from where the mighty Pandavas were asked queries by Yaksha. The lake is surrounded in a soothingly inclined field bounded by a deep wood cover. Set majestically in the lap of the magnificent mountain peaks, Deoria Tal is a popular destination to the nature lovers.

We left for Sari village from Ukimath at around 8 AM in the morning. Sari is 10Km from Ukimath and takes around 35 mins by car. Reaching Sari, the first task was to locate Lakhpat Singh, with whom I had conversed quite a few times over the phone. His house was just at the entrance of Sari, with a big sign board written in Bengali regarding availability of all arrangements for stay at Deoria Tal and Sari.

Contrary to the impression of a well-built and hefty person that I had pictured in my mind from the name, Lakhpat Singh turned out to be a thin, lanky person. I chatted with him for some time while breakfast was ordered in another shop. Sari is occupied primarily by Negis. Chairs were laid out in the sun where breakfast was served. By this time, two horses had been hired at Rs 400 each for the trip. Our female team members were to take the horses in the steep uphill journey.

On the way to Deoria Tal

Breakfast over, we moved on. The rock wall that we had to walk over looked imposing. It was a almost near vertical wall, may be inclined at around seventy degrees. However, the trails were not very difficult to traverse and the 2 Km uphill journey was completed in around 1 hour 30 minutes. Aheli walked for the first 1.5 Km, but later on mounted a horse as she was tired. As soon as we reached the top, the surroundings were suddenly transformed, if a magician by a sweep of a magic wand has transferred us to a magical place. A small lake, Deoria Tal, was in front of us. And lined up behind Deoria Tal stood the majestic peaks of Chaukhamba, Kedarnath and many other snow capped white peaks.

The next couple of hours was spent sitting on the banks of Deoria Tal. There were no other visitors to the lake that day. Occasionally village women passed by with loads of dry firewood bundled on their backs. After a while a person collected the entry fee to Deoria Tal of Rs 40 per person (as it falls in the Nanda Devi Reserve Forest area). There was a small shop at one side of the tal. Two boys cooked some rice, dal and vegetable for lunch. It was great!!

We left a couple of hours later at 3:00 PM. Ideally, all of us wanted to stay back and spend the night in the tents. But without proper arrangements, we decided to come back later once again some time later. Hopefully, soon we will be at Deoria Tal once again.

Garhwal: Khirsu-Ukimath-Auli-Haridwar

Kausik Saha — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:33:37 +0000

This was a trip which was planned for well in advance, something which is very rare for my travels. There were two reasons for doing so: (1) I always love to have some like minded company with me during my travels, but last minute planning makes it very difficult to get one (2) My luck with the Himalayas has been bad in general. So this trip was planned in December when the probability of having clear blue skies is the maximum. So a friend and me, along with our families, boarded the Rajdhani Express from Kolkata to Delhi on Christmas eve and set off for our trip to Garhwal Himalayas. A silent prayer on our lips – Oh God, please, please, please, give us a clear blue sky when we reach there.

Heading for Haridwar

Har-Ki-Pauri at Haridwar

The train was an hour delayed in reaching New Delhi, leaving us sufficient time to check into a nearby hotel and freshen up before boarding the next train for Haridwar. Unfortunately that train arrived two hours late at Haridwar, when half the city was closed and the remaining half was in the process of closing. Luckily my friend Utpal has a friend in Haridwar who suggested a hotel where we moved in immediately. It was cold, too cold.
We ventured out in the streets for dinner and only ‘Dada-Boudi’s Hotel’ was open at that time. It is a favorite haunt for all Bengali tourists to Haridwar where hot meal thalis are served – steaming rice with a spoonful of ghee, fries, dal and vegetables. It was great and was welcome after the train food. Steaming hot rice and ghee, with a dash of chilly and brinjal fry….sinfully delicious. But did I start putting on weight from then?

On the way to Khirsu

The next morning a SUV was arranged for – and it will be with us throughout the trip until we return back to Haridwar. Our driver Mahgal Singh seemed to be calm and confident – has been driving in the area for more than 10 years. Without wasting much time, we started our journey towards Khirsu. But not before we had our breakfast of hot kachoris and a glass of steaming milk tea. It was cold, but fortunately nobody complained and got used to it after some time (and hopefully enjoyed it). Our first destination was Khirsu, a small village 20Km from Pauri, the headquarters of Tehri. Very soon we had crossed Rishikesh and were traveling through the mountains, roughly following the course of the river Ganga. The Ganga looked beautiful from the top – sea green water, sandy white banks and meandering through dense forests. There were a number of rafting camps that could be seen on the banks and they looked so tempting. Brightly colored tents set up on the white banks. Mangal Singh informed that these rafting camps provide various packages where one stays overnight in the huts or camps, camp fires and barbecue dinner at night and then raft to Rishikesh in the morning. It was mentally noted instantly – something I should try sometime later.

Devprayag

Devprayag, Garhwal Himalayas

Our first halt on the road was at Devprayag – the holy confluence of the rivers Alakananda and Bhagirathi. From Devprayag, the river Ganges is born. The confluence of the two rivers is distinct, the turbulent gray water of Bhagirathi and the calm green water of the Alakananda. We went down to the banks of the river, spent some time and then resumed our journey to Khirsu. The weather was pleasant and it was a welcome break from the heat and pollution of the cities. The air felt lighter and the sky was blue, dark blue – a rarity in Kolkata at present where everything is shrouded in a blanket of smog all throughout the year.

Reached Khirsu

We reached Khirsu around 3:00PM. The view was wonderful from GMVN, where we were staying. The snow capped peaks of Chaukhamba, Kedarnath stood out proudly against the clear blue sky. There was a big garden in front and people were assembThe rooms at GMVN were nothing great, but fine enough for a night’s stay. Lunch time was over and the kitchen was closed, so we ventured out in search of something to eat. There were a couple of shops outside and one of them cooked up some mouth-watering noodles. Actually it may not have been that good, but hot food and hungry stomachs always make a delicious combination. Groups of tourists were scattered on the lawn and enjoying the ambiance and the scenery. We also joined them and spent the entire evening outside until the cold was biting through our clothing.

Sunrise at Khirsu, Garhwal Himalayas

The next morning I woke up early to catch the sunrise. It was not very dramatic, but every sunrise in the mountains touches the heart somewhere and this was no exception. A few snaps at various angles tried to capture the morning, but its very difficult to portray the mood in our snaps. The remaining members of my team had decided to skip the sunset and woke up to a bright sunny morning. Aheli had ventured out briefly to get a glimpse of the sunrise, but had again taken shelter under the thick blankets and fallen asleep once again. We met quite a few people at Khirsu, some had come from Bandel while some were from Delhi. But majority of them were Bengalis. Later when we were having breakfast at one of the shops in the small market, the shopkeeper told us that mostly Bengali tourists come to Khirsu. The next batch of tourists will start appearing when it starts snowing in end January and April. We were surprised to see frozen frost on the ground and the rooftops. This gave us hope that may be we will be able to find snow at Auli. Fingers were crossed….

Chandipur

Kausik Saha — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:34:04 +0000

Chandipur is around 250Km from Kolkata and 16Km from Balasore, the nearest town. One of the many beaches that dot the coast of Bay of Bengal in Orissa, Chandipur is now a popular tourist destination. It also shot into limelight with the Indian Missile Testing center being set up at Chandipur.

The beach at Chandipur

The trip to Chandipur was an impromptu trip – we just decided to go there all of a sudden. Actually after the trek to Gomukh & Tapovan was canceled and then the trip to Rishi valley had to be adjourned because of the severe cyclone Aila hitting West Bengal, I was just yearning to take a break – anywhere. As I had not been to Chandipur before, I decided to explore the beach of Chandipur for a few days and take a welcome break from work. Being just 3-4 hours from Kolkata, not much pre-planning was required. Purchased the train tickets (did not feel like driving), booked the OTDC hotels and we were ready to go.

Oh, the sea is not dry!!

Well, don’t be surprised by the above statement!! Many had discouraged me from going to Chandipur, as for most of the day, its a beach without any water. So, imagine our surprise when at first sight we found that there was water till the shoreline. We reached OTDC Panthaniwas, our hotel for the next 2 days, after a 30 minute auto-rickshaw ride from Balasore station. After check-in, no time was wasted and within a few minutes hit the sea. Surprisingly, the sea was very shallow. Even at full tide, the water was only upto my waist. And we could walk far, far away into the sea at waist deep water. You can walk on and on, till you feel fatigued, but the water will hardly rise above your waist. Really unique!!

Crabs & Prawns

After a 2 hour swim, I had to drag my daughter out of the water as my stomach was rumbling with hunger.

The shallow sea at Chandipur

And why not? One of the main attractions of any sea side trip for me is the sea food – giant crabs and prawns. One of my favorite destinations for sea food is Sankarpur, and I was eager to try them out at Chandipur. Unfortunately, they were good, but a little below expectation. The prawns were not as big as they were expected to be! The same could be said for the crabs and the curry for both of them were so similar, it was not much fun.

The water has disappeared!!

Dark monsoon clouds engulf the sky

The evening stroll on the sea beach had a surprise in store – the water had disappeared!! The sea bed was dry and people were walking all over it. This was an unique experience. Aheli, my daughter and myself started walking towards the distant water – and it turned out to be an endless walk. After walking for about a kilometer and a half, we gave up. No matter how much we walked, the water seemed to recede further and further away.

After that, the rest of the evening was spent in strolling on the beach, have dab(green coconut) and jhalmuri and tea.

Morning Walk

A journey to a place does not have a sense of completion unless I walk around the area. So at six in the morning, I was on the beach again, but this time to walk along the beach. To make life uncomfortable, the sun was up and it was getting hotter, the sea was dry and it was humid. Luckily one could walk along the beach for quite a distance. It was too early for the tourists to get up from bed and the beach was desolate except for a few workers who were working on an adjacent construction. I love walking, specially in desolate areas.

Red Spots on the Sea

Red crabs on the sea at Chandipur

After walking for some time, I noticed red spots on the sea bed. After observing carefully, similar red spots could be noticed on the beach also. What are these? Well, they were colonies of red crabs. Chandipur is the home of horse-shoe crabs (a sign board says so). Thousands and thousands of crabs were on the sea bed and the beach. What a sight!!

Violet shells

For the first time I also saw violet colored shells – quite unique. My daughter went on collecting them until her hand and my pockets were full. Its a ritual when we go the sea – collect shells, clean them up, bring them home carefully so that they do not break and then forget about them!!

Trip to Budhabalanga

Budhabalanga is the confluence of the Budhabalanga river and the Bay of Bengal and 5Km from Chandipur. It was one trip that I wanted to do, but could not. An auto-rickshaw had been booked, but it did not turn up. And when it did, it refused to go as it had another passenger for a longer trip (and more money). This was the last day at Chandipur and after a morning swim we would be headed for Panchalingeswar. The planned morning swim turned out to be an afternoon dip in hot water as the tide timing was 12:30 PM. We walked nearly a Km to dip in the hot water and then return back to our hotel for another delicious ‘chingrir malai curry’. Any Japanese would have said ‘Oishi’!!

Bhedaghat

Kausik Saha — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:08:39 +0000

Bhedaghat is just 33 Km from Jabalpur and is ideal for a day trip from the city. We reached Bhedaghat continuing on our trip from Kanha & Bhandhavgarh. It was the final destination of our trip before we board the train for Howrah from Jabalpur.
As we reached Bhedaghat in the evening, there was not much scope of going anywhere. The Marble Rocks are just adjacent to the MPT hotel where we were staying. Night boating on the Narmada can be done only on full moon night and four days before and after it. As full moon was not nearby, the whole area would soon be plunged in darkness immediately after sunset. We took an auto to Dhuadhar Falls. But after reaching there, my daughter started complaining of stomach pain and we had to come back after a glimpse of the falls from a distance.

Marble Rocks

The next morning after a quick breakfast we visited the Marble Rocks. Early morning and tourists were few. Shopkeepers selling decorative items of stones and soft marbles were setting up their shops and getting ready for the day. A boat ride on the waters of the Narmada through the Marble Rocks is a must-do activity at Bhedaghat. As hardly any tourists were there we abandoned the idea of going on a shared boat and instead decided to reserve a boat. The roof cover of the boat was quickly drawn overhead, the red carpets on the floor rolled out and we were ready to board our vessel – a big boat, three persons on a boat that can accommodate at least twenty!! And for three of us, there were two persons rowing, one person controlling the boat sitting at the hull, one guide and another two attendants!!

Charm of a guided tour

Guided tour on Narmada

I cannot think of visiting Indian tourist sites without a ‘guide’. Many may wonder why, but to me the guides add a different dimension to the tour. Their narrations of history, which may be mostly incorrect, helps in transforming you to the historical period. Our tour of Marble Rocks was no exception. We came to know of the length, breadth, height, depth and all possible facts about the rocks. He came out with a big list of Indian movies that have been filmed there, occasionally spiced up with dialogues from those films. Enchanting!! The way they can capture the interest of the audience.

Extending the ride

Even before we realized, it was time to go back. But we want a longer boat ride!! Its possible, but at a cost – well exactly double. We decided to carry on – there is no point in not doing the entire length of the ride. It was a good decision – as the rocks along the shore became higher and higher. The stretch looked beautiful – vertical white marble cliffs along both the shores of the Narmada. By this time I was seated at the front of the boat, with my legs dangling out over the waters. We went as far as we could – till mini Dhuadhar falls. The mini Dhuadhar falls is a local name given to a small waterfall, that is created from the main Dhuadhar falls. 45 minutes over, it was time to return back to the jetty.

Strange means to earn money

While returning to the jetty, we noticed some local boys jumping(diving) in the waters from the top of the vertical cliffs whose height would be around 50 ft. They were shouting something which we could not understand and were jumping in the water. The guide informed that they do this feat on request from the visitors in the boats for Rs. 20. Surely a strange way to earn money.

Back at the jetty, we had a final glance at Marble Rocks and proceeded towards Dhuadhar Falls – about 1 Km away and 5 minute journey by auto.