New circuit -Kolkata - Sikkim - Bhutan - Shillong - Guwahati

     When you think of long biking or driving tour.. everyone will recommend you only one circuit, thats Manali - Leh - Srinagar circuit.. It is undoubtedly the best circuit to ride, but what if you have already completed that, or you want to try something else.. Here is one more circuit, from very beautiful north eastern states of sikkim - assam & meghalaya + our neighboring Bhutan, which doesn't ask us, Indians to do any Visa formalities.

   So my friends, here is the amazing route which you can travel..

Journey can started either from Kolkata or Siligudi.

If your starting point is Kolkata, You will take one day of riding to reach Siligudi.

So start very early from Kolkata, thats before 5am & you stand better chance to reach Siligudi by 9 pm. or stop midway & continue till Siligudi on day 2.

From Siligudi, You can visit Mirik, where you can enjoy scenic lake nestled in a small saucer shaped valley surrounded by Shivalik range of Himalayas. Mirik is only 20 Kms of derive from Siligudi. After visiting refreshing Mirik, you can visit Darjeeeling.

Darjeeling is another 4 hours ride from Mirik, but trust me its amazing ride. Distance from Mirik to Darjeeling is not much.. may be 120 kms. but you are on climb continuously, so it takes time. Enjoy Darjeeling market 7 have bamboo beer.. and not to mention Darjeeling tea.

Tea Factory - Darjeeling

Next day, dont miss Darjeeling sunrise.. according to me, its most beautiful sunrise which can be seen in India.If its not cloudy, you will get amazing view of Kanchandzonga.

After Darjeeling head straight to Gangtok, which is capital of Sikkim. It will take 3-4 hours of ride to reach Gangtok from Darjeeling. Gangtok is amazing & one of the best hill stations in India. One can cover changu lake, guru Dongmar, & many other places of north sikkim from here, but bikes are not allowed at most of the places.  

Dont miss Chhangu lake & Nathula pass. You need to take inner line permit from Gangtok if you want to visit Nathula.

Nathu La -Indo Chinese border

Beautiful Gangtok

After Gangtok, You can visit beautiful monestry of kalingpong & then head to jaigaon, which is last village in India before entering Bhutan. From Jaigaon, you can enter Bhutan town called Phutsoling. Indians can go with their vehicles, so dont worry, you can take your bike to Bhutan. Just with your Indian passport you will get entry Permit for Thimphu & Paro. Reach jaigaon on any day except Sunday at 9 am. get permit in few hours & you are all set to enter Bhutan.

After entering Bhutan, You can visit Paro, Thimphu & do tiger's nest Monestry trek. This entire trail is amazing & you will really enjoy Bhutan. People there are very nice & welcoming. You can spend 3-4 days in Bhutan & explore the country.

Tiger's Nest

Start your return journey to India via Bogaigaon. Try to reach Bogaigaon in daylight. Though Bhutan is very safe to travel even at midnight, once you enter India, there are some security concerns, so reach Bogaigaon early which is 30-40 Kms after entering India.

From Bogaigaon, you can head to Tejpur. Now you have multiple options based on no. of days you have. You can visit Tawang which will consume 3 days. Tezpur - tawang - Tezpur - Guwahati.

or you can visit Shillong & cherrapunjee & return to Guwahati in two days.

or you can visit Kaziranga & majouli Island & come back to Guwahati in two days.

From Guwahati, you can send your bikes to you origin, or come back to Kolkata & send back your bikes to your origin..

This circuit is not as challenging as Leh, but its beautiful.. Roads are very well maintained by BRO & you can take pride of doing international ride.

If you have a 2-3 extra days, you can also visit Nepal. Or if you can spend 3-4 hours before visiting Darjeeling, you can visit Pashupati market in Nepal & come back & then go to Darjeeling..

So Enjoy your trip.. If you want us to arrange it for you, call us at +91 9820031162 

Thanks & congrats to my wonderful friends, who did this wonderful circuit even when I had to drop out at last moment..

Travellers:

   Mayur patil

   Navin Mayekar

   Prabhakar kanoje

   Pasad Kargutkar 

   Vikram More

Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

         During my stay at Abu Dhabi, I happened to visit this magnificent monument, constructed in 2007 & which is the eighth largest mosque in the world, & largest in UAE. If you are visiting Abu Dhabi, dont miss this mosque.. Its huge & built with lot of efforts & mullahs too :)


          Sheikh Zayed Mosque is on the airport road & around 6-7 Kms away from center of the Abu Dhabi. One has to take cab for going there, as thats the most convenient option after self driven car. Cab will cost you between 25-35 Dhs depending on your location.

Best time to visit the mosque is evening, one should reach here just before sunset..This will allow you to enjoy beauty of this mosque in daylight as well as moon light with lots of floodlights on..

Sheikh Zayed Moqsue

This mosque has 72 domes of various sizes, among which 3 domes are above the main prayer halls. The premises of the mosque is adorned with fountains, water bodies, plants etc.

Lobbies of Sheikh Zayed Mosque

     Lobbies of the mosque are really beautiful. Pillars & inner domes have beautiful carving. The elegant glass work on doors, paintings & that glittering golden coating makes this mosque true symbol of UAEs wealth & Royal status.

    There are few mosques where non-muslims are allowed to visit, this is one of them. Women have to wear Hejab though. Also it is advisable to wear traditional cloths covering your body.. (Try to avoid shorts / skirts etc.)

     The Prayer hall of this moque is very big, & the carpet in this hall is biggest in the world. There are 3 huge chandeliers inside the prayer hall which are really amazing.

 
        Inner walls of this prayer hall are also decorated with various stones, paintings, carving etc. So, Enjoy your trip to this mosque, click lots of snaps & upload them on your FB :)

       If you are visiting the mosque on friday, you have to visit in the evening as the mosque will be closed for visitors till 2 pm.

Dubai : Shopper's Paradise

    If shopping is your religion.. your kashi / mecca / vatican is undoubtedly this place called DUBAI. For many its a desert but for shoppers, its the most fertile land.. and if you are here in Dubai Shopping Festival..... I am out of words to describe what kind of joy will it be...

     But what if you are not shopoholic... or dont like idea of visiting malls for hours?? I suggest, still you visit Dubai, to salute human's creativity where nature has lagged..

Burj Khalifa - Dubai

Huge malls in Dubai:

     Its amazing experience. Malls are really huge.. one can spend 2-3 days exploring each one of them.. & as I said even if you are not big fan of shopping, you will get many interesting things. There are many malls in Dubai, but I guess Dubai mall, Mall of emirates, Burjumaan & Festival city, are very prominent amongst all.. You can enjoy aquarium, Dubai fountain & Burj Khalifa at Dubai mall, ski world in mall of emirates. Food courts in all malls are amazing & you can try various cuisines. Festival city is also worth a visit. Most of worlds top brands are here with their latest collection.. So dont miss these malls.. Best part is, you can visit most of them using Dubai Metro.





Jumairah Beach:

   Very nice beach, one can enjoy stroll here in the evening after a hectic shopping day.. you can book a table for high tea at Burj al Arab if you are big fan of Luxury.. (it will match your expense of two days hotel bill though).. If dont think, its worth the money.. just watch the beautiful tower from Jumairah beach.. click snap with it & move on.. :)

Palm Jumairah:
   Its amazing creation of palm shaped artificial island.. worth a visit but bit away from other attractions. If time permits visit this place to admire human effort in constructing such a huge man made island..


Dubai Creek park:
  Dubai creek divides Dubai city in two parts.. Dubai emirate has constructed a beautiful creek park on one side of the creek. This park also has dolphinarium which hosts dolphin shows everyday at 3 & 6 pm.. but on friday there is no 3 pm show. You can also enjoy cable car view of dubai creek..

There few more attractions which you can find out from dubai tourism sites.. so now we will move to some tips if you are planning dubai trip..

1> Travelling to Dubai from India is not so costly. One can get return fare from emirates airways for 14-16K.
     Emirates will also sponsor your tourist visa for around 3.5K. Visa takes 3 days max.

2> Dubai is very much tourist friendly. Taxi, buses & metro are easily available.. just carry map of dubai with you & you can plan your own sight seeing.. (Taxi is costly though)

3> There are ample of hotels in Dubai, but try to find hotel near Bur Dubai. Bur dubai is central area of Dubai & connectivity to most of places is very good from here. (you can find hotel for around 200-250 dhs per day including breakfast)

4> Dubai fountain & Burj khalifa are worth visiting in the evening. In fact Dubai fountain will start at 7pm.. So plan your visit to Dubai mall accordingly.

5> There is a huge mall called dragon mart, some sites will recommend it, but you should visit this only if you have specific intension of buying something & you are sure you will get it there.. else going there in taxi is a waste of money.

6> Indian food is easily available and at very reasonable rate, but I suggest try arabic & lebaneese dishes.. dont miss shawrma, hamos, falafel, moutabel, badijan, charcoal chicken, kafsa rice, arabic salad etc.

7> If you are planning your trip in Jan - Feb, you can enjoy Dubai Shopping Festival.

8> If you are planning to cover Abu Dhabi, along with Dubai, you can catch bus to Abu Dhabi from Bur Dubai. These buses are at every 20 minutes interval and cost 15 Dhs one way. Bus takes around 1.5 hours to reach Abu Dhabi.

9> You can take bus to Sharjah, Fujairah etc. from same bus station.

So.. Plan your trip to Dubai & feel free to contact me if you need any inputs.. I will cover what to buy & how to send it back home in my next post.. till then bye bye..

Cruising on Konkan Coastline - Biker's Delight

This post is for all my biker friends.(For those who love to travel in car please dont follow this route as it is.)

Many people love to go on long bike rides but managing northern expeditions is a tough task for them.. but here is the circuit which will allow you the great joy of ride even if you are alone or with your wife or with just 2-3 friends..
For bigger rides read my posts
http://travellerkk.blogspot.com/2009/09/dream-ride.html
http://travellerkk.blogspot.com/2010/10/colourful-quandrangle-of-rajasthan.html

So enough of preface, lets move straight to contents...

This itinerary is from Mumbai..

Day1: 40 Kms

  Your day will start with heading straight to Bhaucha dhakka. & catch ferry for Revas.

  Load your bike in the ferry & within two hours you will reach Revas.

  from Revas follow the route

   Revas - mandve - kihim - thal - alibaug - nagaon - revdanda
  (places can be covered: 

   Forts: Khanderi, Underi,

           kulaba, 

           revdanda

   Beaches: alibaug, nagaon, ashti, revdanda)

   One can easily get budget hotel or home accomodation in Revdanda or Chaul.

Janjira Fort - Murud

                                 

Day2: 70 kms

   Start bit early today as you have many interesting places to see.

   Revdanda- chaul - kashid - murud - rajapuri(ferry) - dighi - sarve - dive agar - shriwardhan

   (Places can be covered: forts: janjira

                                       beaches: chaul, kashid, dive agar, shriwardhan

                                       temples: dive agar)  

Kadyavarcha Ganpati - Anjarle

Day3: 112 kms

   You can catch sunrise at Harihareshwar temple..
   After visiting Harihareshwar, travel to Bagmandla jetty where you can put your bikes into ferry boat & travel to Bankot.
   shriwardhan - harihareshwar(ferry) - Bankot - velas - kelshi - dabhol(ferry) - dhopave - guhagar

   (Places can be covered:
           forts: bankot, suvarnadurg, gopalgad

           beaches: bankot, guhagar, harne, anjarle

           temples: anjarle, guhagar, harihareshwar, kelshi dargah
           others: Nana Fadanvis house Velas)

Bamanghal - Hedvi

Day4: 80 Kms
Travel on Guhagar - chiplun road & take right turn for Hedvi. After Velneshwar you have to proceed to Katale after narvan & ask for ferry to Jaigad.
Cross the Jaigad creek & take the coastal road to Ganpatipule
Guhagar - hedvi - ganpatipule - sakhartar - ratnagiri

(Places can be covered:
         forts: Jaigad, ratangad

         beaches: ratnagiri, hedvi, velneshwar, bhandarpule, are-ware, ganpatipule

         temples: hedvi, velneshwar, ganpatipule, ratnagiri
         others: Malgund Keshavsut smarak & Konkan museuam)

Day5: 150kms
  ratnagiri - jaitapur - padel - devgad - malvan

   (Places can be covered: Forts: Vijaydurg, devgad, sindhudurg, sarjekot

                                       Beaches: devgad, malvan, devbaug)
  You can you can spend 1 day for enjoying many activities..
  In Malwan you can enjoy snorkling, also dont miss tarkarli creek.
  If you are interested in fort architectures & history Viajydurg & Sindhudurg are must visit..

Nivati rock - Island

Day6: 65 kms
    malvan - chivla - nivati - bhogwa - vengurla 

   (Places can be covered:
          forts: Nivati
          Beaches: Chivla, bhogawe, Vengurla      
          others: Nivati rock, Tsunami island)

   Nivati Island is in deep sea perhaps 15-20 Nmiles..

Day7: 25 Kms
   You can spend some morning time at Vengurla & then start for Redi
   Vengurla - ubha danda - morchemad - shiroda -redi - Terekhol

   (Places can be covered: Beaches: Morchemad, redi, terekhol

                                       Temples: Redi ganesh)

Redi Ganesh 

So my friends enough of leisure biking, now lets do some long runs on amazing NH17..
Get ready on day 8 early morning & hit the road

Day8: 215 Kms
   Terekhol - sawantwadi - kudal - kankavli cross this 85 kms route before you stop for lunch
   Then start for big 130 Kms run
   kankavli - nandgaon - kharepatan - lanja - take left from lanja & head to Pawas

Marleshwar waterfall

Day9:
   You have 2 options now, if you want to complete tonight ride 350 kms to Mumbai straight on NH17
   Or ride till mahad
   Visit Parshuram temple, dervan shivsrushti en route.

Day10:
   If you are not home, & still in mahad start riding & reach home...

So my friends, this was the itinerary for ride mixed of leisure & heavy biking in last two days..
If you dont want heavy rides, then Instead of staying back at terekhol or redi come back till Kankavli.
This will allow you to reach home in 9 days with less than 200 Kms every day..

Have even lesser days??? no problems accelerate on first ride, Come till Harihareshwar on day 1 & instead of Revas come by road.. It can save 2 days & you will miss on Revas & Thal thats it.

I will cover some more interesting places in Konkan in future posts.. till then enjoy riding..

Around Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar is most famous hill station in Maharashtra. If you go 30 years back & take some survey, it was the favorite honeymoon destination for many couples. Now its more of long weekend gateway.. The purpose of this article is not to cover what to see in Mahabaleshwar as you can get it on many websites.. This article is about, What can you cover along with Mahabaleshwar.

Ganesh Templ at Wai

Wai : This is a beautiful town nestled on the banks of Krishna River. Dhundi Ganesh temple in this village is very famous. Also if you have some extra time you can visit Dhom Dam which is 12 kms from Wai. You can also spend some leisure time on the banks of Krishna river.. This village is on the way to Mahabaleshwar, so after spending some time here, you can move to Mahabaleshwar via Panchgani.

Ajinkyatara Fort - Satara

Satara: If you have been from Wai Panchgani road to Mahabaleshwar, try this one some time. Satara has very good Aundh museum which showcases things from Maratha history. One can also visit Ajinkyatara fort & enjoy amazing view of Satara town from the top. So if you dont want to spend all your days in Mahabaleshwar you can spend a day or two exploring  Ajinkyatara & river Krishna. Kandi Pedha & mawa of Satara are very famous, so dont miss them..

Kaas Plateau: This is the second longest table land in Asia. This fabulous plateau is home to many plant

Kaas Plateau

species. Sep-Oct is the best time to visit. Its a fantastic destination for leisure day & only 20 kms from Satara. One can cover the Kaas plateau & head straight to Mahabaleshwar on Kaas Mahabaleshwar Road.

Panchgani: Its on Wai -Mahabaleshwar road.well known for its natural beauty, tabletop point, boarding school & Aamir khan's bunglow. In fact Panchgani is another hill station within itself. You can enjoy the weather tourist points & strawberries here..

All the above mentioned places can be visited when you are travelling on NH4, now lets have a look at what NH17 way has to offer..

Pratapgad Fort

Pratapgad: If you are approaching Mahabaleshwar from NH17, you have to take diversion from Poladpur. A very famous fort of Pratapgad is en-route. This fort is must visit to understand the fort architecture of great Maratha King Shivaji maharaj. Dont forget to enjoy lunch of Bhakari & drink buttermilk inside the fort.

So, If you visit Mahabaleshwar often, on your long weekends.. club these places with your trip & enjoy some  amazing new destinations..

  

Ghats of Konkan

    Konkan is perhaps the greenest belt of Maharashtra.. This narrow strip called Konkan is between Arabian sea & Mountain range of Sahyadri. Sahyadri Mountain range runs parallel to coast of Konkan.. One has to cross the Sahyadri to reach Deccan plateau.
   There are many ghats connecting Konkan to the Deccan plateau. These all ghats are true paradise for riders & drivers. Especially from July to February travelling through these ghats is real treat to your eyes.

   National Highway 17 runs through entire length of Konkan starting from Mumbai & National Highway 4 runs parallel to the prior but is on the other side of Sahyadri. If you travel from Mumbai to Goa.. You will come across many ghats Khandala Ghat, Bhor Ghat, Tamhini Ghat, Par Ghat, Ambenali Ghat, Kumbharli Ghat, Amba Ghat, Karul Ghat, Amboli Ghat, Fonda Ghat. Apart from these ghats connecting NH17 & NH4 you have to cross Kashedi Ghat & Parshuram Ghat. If you are travelling north of Mumbai thats in Thane district, you will come across Malshej Ghat & Thull Ghat. In this post I am not going in depth, but will limit the contents just to 2-3 line introduction of these Ghats.. In fact separate article on each ghat can be written as these ghats host many tourist attractions, dams, forts, sancturies & beauty of nature..

Khadala Ghat:
  This is between Khopoli & Lonavala, this is very famous ghat. After construction of express way, it doesn't look like ghat though. Many tourists visit hill stations of Khandala & Lonavla. One can see Lohgad & Visapur forts guarding the ghat.

Tamhini Ghat

Tamhini Ghat:
  This ghat connects Kolad & Mangaon with Pune. A very beautiful & green strip especially from august to november. Mulshi dam on this route is becoming popular tourist destination.

Bhor Ghat:
  Historically important ghat connects Mahad with Shirwal. This route is surrounded by many dams namely nira-deoghar, bhatghar and Veer.



Parghat & Ambenali Ghat:
  Again a very famous strip. Konkan side till pargaon of this ghat is usually called Parghat whereas the road in after that is called Ambenali ghat. This ghat connects Poladpur in konkan with Wai in satara district. Many places of interest like Pratapgad fort, tapola sanctury & hill station mahabaleshwar.

Kumbharli Ghat

Kumbharli Ghat:
  After entering Ratnagiri district, this is the first ghat that will connect you to NH4. This ghat is between Chiplun & Karad. Huge Koynanagar dam is in close proximity of this dam.

Amba Ghat:
  This very prominent ghat, is a national highway NH204. Connector of two important cities Ratnagiri & Kolhapur. This ghat starts from village called Pali on NH17.

Phonda Ghat:
  This ghat runs between Kankavli & Kolhapur.

Amboli Ghat:
  This is perhaps the southernmost ghat in Maharashtra. It connects Sawantwadi with Belgaum. A beautiful hill station Amboli is nestled on this route.

Parshuram Ghat:
  This Ghat is beween Khed & Chiplun. Famous temple Of lord Parshuram is atop this route. One can have amazing view of Vasishthi river.

Malshej Ghat

Malshej Ghat:
  Again one more very famous picnic spot. This route is famous for Flamingos which come here during rains. There is also a wonderful resort called "Flamingo resort" atop this ghat. One can do Harishchandragad trek from here.

Thull Ghat:
   This route connects Kasara & Igatpuri..




So, Here is the brief introduction of all important ghats in Konkan. All my driving/ riding lovers friends.. take out ur machines & conquer them all.. & dont forget to write ur experiences..

Weekend in Pune

Pune, the upcoming IT hub in Maharashtra is also a cultural capital of Maharashtra. This city is worth experiencing as a traveller. The city that has huge history & was center of Indian politics in 17-18th centuries, offers many places worth visiting.. This post is mostly covering places of historical importance:

Shanivarwada:
   Built by first Peshwa Bajirao First, at the heart of Pune this palace is really huge & as strong as Maratha regim at the time of Bajirao. When built this palace of Peshwa's had 6 floors. Today only bastions & protecting wall of palace exists, but the laser show in the evening is really worth watching.

Sinhagad:
  Few Kms away from Pune, this fort has great historic importance due to gallant attack of Tanaji Mallusure to conquer it from Mughals. This fort has become more of picnic spot & is usually crowded in rains.. The view of Pune city from the fort is amazing

Kelkar Museum
  Fabulous collection of many artifacts from indian history. It also has a place called Mastani mahal which will certainly take you back to 18th century.

Lal Mahal:
  Shivaji maharaj spent his childhood in this palace, but this palace is more famous for the attack on Shaistekhan executed with great finess by Shivaji maharaj & his selective maratha troops.

Kasba Peth Ganpati:
  Idol of Lord Ganesh in this temple was found in 17th Century. This Idol was then placed by Shivaji maharaj in Kasba Peth as Gram Daivat of Pune. This temple is very close to Shanivarwada.

Parvati:
  Small hillock very close to Pune city. Parvati hosts temple built by Peshwa & a museum displaying artifacts & weapons used by Peshwas of Pune.

Dehu:
  Known for great sant Tukaram maharaj. This place has very high imporatnce in Warkari community. Sant Tukaram maharaj is still worshiped as a great sant by entire maharashtra.

Army Tank Museum:
 Pune is important place for western command of Indian Army. There is a tank museum developed by Indian Army & artillary department in Pune, showcasing many models of tanks, guns, shells etc. One can see pattern, arjun & many more well known tanks here.

Sarasbaug:
 This is a huge garden developed by Peshwa's. Situated near Swargate ST stand. Sarasbaug hosts beautiful Ganpati temple built in a small pond.

There are many more places in & around Pune like Vrundavan, Shinde Chhatri, Alandi, Chaturshrungi, Peshwe Udyan, Theur, Ranjangaon, Chakan Fort etc.. but this I will cover in some other posts. Apart from Places of historical & cultural importance, there are many other attractions near Pune.. but those we will see on some other weekend..