VJ's Travelogues

Lunatics on killing Spree

2007-04-20T13:57:00.001-07:00

Hi Everybody! This blog is not dead, neither did I stop traveling. Everything in life has a purpose and I was convinced that the purpose of this blog is over. I wasn't sure if I'd ever return to add another entry. I hoped this was not an end, a mere burn out, a hiatus. A couple of days back a bizarre thing happened and then another incident in the subsequent week and it made me write one more

Nanda Devi & the Unsoeld story

2006-12-30T08:33:00.000-08:00

“No photograph can do justice to 13,000 feet of vertical relief,” said Jim Wickwire about K2….. ….and there I was standing face to face with the 2nd highest mountain peak in the country, The Nanda Devi!! The Nanda Devi stands tall at 25,645 feet after Mt. Everest at 29,035. What I saw was inexpressible and clearly one of the most spectacular and moving sights one can hope to see in the

Lansdowne & Garhwal Rifles

2006-09-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

We don't remember the days, we remember the moments and I re-lived each moment of my past in those 24 hours. It was one of those perfect days and everything seemed so right. The surroundings were the same, the faces were so pleasantly familier, the trees were testimony of the fact that not everything in this world has changed. I spotted the Pine tree next to my house and it felt that it wanted to

Songsten library

2006-08-20T05:41:00.000-07:00

33rd Tibetan King, Songtsen Gampo (617-650 A.D. Dehradun is quite a paradoxical city .On one hand there is the mad rush of tourists and then there are areas that are unusally quite and at times their aloofness seems exceedingly inexplicable.Over the recent years ,there is a huge influx of local tourists primarily from Delhi and adjoining states for a quick weekend trip . They often pick tips from

The 12 Jyotirlingas

2006-07-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

There are places , you go with blank mind,unaware of their significance.You witness it and have a great time there .Then you go home and read about it and realize Wow,I've been actually there.Jageshwar was such an experience .I've been told that It is one of the The 12 Jyotirlingas.I surely consider myself fortunate to have visited one of them,unaware of its importance.Now what is a Jyotirlinga

Letters to the god

2006-07-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

This is an an amazing story of faith . The temples in the Uttaranchal region have always fascinated me for their sheer uniqueness. I decided to visit at least two of the well known ones situated within a few kilometers distance from Almora.(that’s all I could have managed in a day) I decided to pamper myself and cover the distances in a hired private car! The Chitai Temple: The Chitai temple

From Colombo to Almora

2006-07-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

There are times when I think, how wonderful it would it be, if I could just add one more day in my holidays.Doing a regular office job leaves you with very little time and then you have to make the most of whatever you get (read weekends).My Kumaon trip was such an extended weekend.At the end of 4th day,I didn't want to come back and I asked myself , What if I had just one more day? The answer

Rendezvous with Ranikhet

2006-07-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

"You can live for years next door to a big pine tree, honored to have so venerable a neighbor, even when it sheds needles all over your flowers or wakes you, dropping big cones onto your deck at still of night." ~Denise Levertov .. The two-hour drive from Nainital to Ranikhet over miles of mountain road is full of pine trees and step farms.Ranikhet could easily be called the city of pine trees

Nainital Nostalgia

2006-07-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

I am back from my favorite abode on the Himalayas over a four-day trip! I was able to visit five destinations and I start here with Nainital. I was at Nainital last week after nearly 22 years(I was a kid when i visited it last time and have absolute no memory of it). Nostalgia added to the glory of the little hill town that is to make my visit very special. Nainital is as glorious in the day as

Refreshing times ahead ...

2006-06-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

Lately office work has kept me real busy. I've been working 6 days a week ,sometimes 10 hours a day.I badly needed a break .The good news is that.I got one or i managed to somehow... Fountain pic @dehradun ------>Iam finally heading to my favourite destination --The Himalayas , next week for 4 days . I'll be visiting Kumaon Hills. There is a lot I look forward to .The activities I've planned

Mystical Mussoorie

2006-06-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

My romance with Mussoorie started about 10 years back ,when my family moved to Dehradun . Every morning i'd go to my roof and savour that brilliant strech of mountains .One could easily make out the houses (read hotels) sprinkled between the thick dense green forest .At Night it would look like a million little stars .<--Spiral Mussoorie road.It took me some time to muster the courage to go

I love Dehradun देहरादून

2006-05-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

When do you realize the worth of your city .I guess... when you move out of it ,Unfortuantely. Tibetan Monastryat Sahastradhara road ----->Where's the place where you would find adventure, river rafting, bird watching ,trekking ,mountain biking ,beautiful britiish banglows , wide open mountain roads ,sulphur springs and yes the world famous rice,litchi ,the best indian schools ,Academy that

Tibet, Mcleodganj, Dalailama and more.

2006-04-08T01:03:00.000-07:00

McLo ,here I come...Mcleodganj ('Ganj' means market and McLeod, a Scotsman.) is truly special city. An impromptu trip again . Till I boarded a bus to Dharamshala , I wasn't sure , if iam going to make it or not .But I knew this was happening, finally.Mc Lo is known as the Headquarters of Tibetan Government in Exile . This is a picturesque small colorful city throbbing with tourists ,some of the

The Blue Poppy "Meconopsis betonicifolia"

2006-03-17T00:22:00.000-08:00

" Oh my god! that's a blue Poppy!"" What's so special about it" I askedI hated the look he gave me ,as he looked inside my camera and told "You probably won't see one again in your life time".It was raining that day and i was standing next to a treachrous tin bridge when this bright blue flower caught my attention. I covered the lens of my camera with raincoat and clicked this picture. Never

River rafting @rishikesh

2006-03-06T02:16:00.000-08:00

Been there,Done that.What's the first thing that comes to your mind when i say Tee off,Golf Course, Double trouble,Three Blind Mice, Sweet Sixteen, Marine Drive, Cross Fire,roller coaster,The cashflow and the The initiation.I guess most of us would say these are random phrases that have no association with each other but that's not true .These are name of the rapids ,one would find at rishikesh

Dalhousie,chamba and khajjiar in 2 days flat

2006-02-26T01:45:00.000-08:00

We took an auto from chakkibank railway station to Pathankot(Fare 10rs/head), which is a clean and quite city . There is a big bus station there with buses that cover the whole himachal later i got to know that pathankot is a travel hub. It's on an ideal geographical location and is a meeting point of three states, Punjab, Himacha and Jammu Kashmir. It is used as a base camp for going to

Destination Dalhousie

2006-02-19T01:40:00.000-08:00

This was again a quickfire trip. Manali/kullu was the place everybody wanted to go . The fact that we had only 3 days made the task very tough.I wanted to minimize travel time and maximize the travel comfort. Had we selected manali that would have meant , travelling 12-14 hrs in a car( after 9 hrs in office).I was sure with the bunch of punjabis friends, i was going with. Most of them would be

Himachal pradesh

2006-02-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Above ..is my trip to Dalhousiewe're able to make it to chamba,khajihaar,dharamshala,mcleodgan in record time

Hemkund Sahib and Govindham

2006-02-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

Day3 We rested in a budget hotel last night and got up early next morning . Took a nice hot bath. A bucket of hot water cost Rs 30 .We got ready and had our breakfast . Now , one of the things that one must know, that every edible item is priced 3 times and nobody's complaining.The simple logic being the height and no transportation system except for the mules ,

Karna Prayag,Vishnu Prayag,rudraprayag,karanprayag &Joshimath -- day1

2006-02-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

Day no 1The path to this enchanted valley is long and hard (takes almost a day's travel) .People take rishikesh as the starting point of this long and arduous journey. We had a sumptuous breakfast at rishikesh and kept enough supply for the day.We had a companion in alaknanda river that runs parallel to the road for hundereds of kilometres and at about 100 kilometres from rishikesh you could

The Valley of flowers

2006-02-12T07:15:00.001-08:00

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Incredible India

2006-02-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

India Travel Blog DelhiThe crowded, colourful and unruly heart of India.Delhi is no longer a city of cows stuck in traffic jam, land of snakecharmers and elephants :It is city of dal makhani/tandoori naan,ancient architecture,rich culture and diversity . it gets totally additictive and intoxicating for a first timer .Delhi is a palimpsest, bearing the complexities, the contradictions,

India travel blog

2006-01-28T18:38:00.000-08:00

Hi ! My name is Vijay PandeyI've been highly irregular when i talk about my previous posts.So, irregular that i ended up losing my password 3 times in row now.Here comes the new one ..all charged up and with all the more determination .This one is primarily about my travels in and around the North mountain regions of India, Mighty Himalayas..my home A place in this world i can call my own

Where is vijay pandey now

2005-12-31T01:37:00.000-08:00

Not all those wander Travel & travel & reach the same Place i started from...