Jaisalmer, The Alchemist’s Fort

Jaisalmer, one of the most beautiful city of Rajasthan, evokes a cluster of associations in the minds of travelers, a golden fort, golden desert sands and elaborated carved havelis. It is a wonderful place to visit in the winter. The city is divided into two nearly equal haves, the town at ground level and the fort upon Trikutta Hill, both of which provide plenty of visual vision pleasure.

Rawal Jaisal built the Jaisalmer fort in 12th Century. The fort can be accessed by a ramp winding through five massive gates. There is a large courtyard known as Dussehra Chowk, from where you can view the Royal Palace, or Raj Mahal. Inside the fort is a complex of 7 Jain temples built in the 15th and 16th century. The Parshvanath temple is the most impressive of these. It has finely carved torana and the ceiling of the sabha mandapa, which supports a demonic looking head surrounded by five bodies. And as we walk around the Mandapa the head seems to connect, in turn which each of its bodies. Another highlights of the complex are the poky little basement called the Gyan Bhandar, under the gaudy coloured dimly lit Sambhavanath Temple. The other major monument in the fort is the Rajmahal, the erstwhile royal residence, which is now converted into the Jaisalmer Fort Palce Museum and Heritage Centre.

There are three 19th century havelis at the ground level foremost between which is the Patwa Haveli. This is also known as the Patwon- ki- Haveliyan, because there are actually five different houses. These havelis are perhaps, the last truly great Indian buildings constructed without a trace of European influence. Two of these Patwa havelis are government run.

Not far from the town centre is the Gadisar Lake, formerly, which is also the Jaisalmer’s chief water source. It is a charming picnic spot. To get it to it, we crossed an imposing gateway called Tilon ki Pol. there’s a domed pavilion in the centre of the water. You can also do boating, as the paddleboats are available.

The Jaisalmer Folklore Museum situated nearby contains a few puppets and traditional items of daily use, the Desert culture Centre and Museum displays fossils, coins and musical instruments.
The lanes inside the fort are packed with shops selling fabrics replete with embroidery and mirror work.

You can take a jeep to the Sam sand Dunes, 42 km from Jaisalmer, hop on to a camel for an hour around sunset and then get back to your comfortable hotel bed or else find a fancy tent to stay in for night. At the other end of the scale, you can ride for days with only a camel driver for company and the most basic provisions. The best option for reasonably hardy travelers is a 2-day safari with one night spent under the immense canopy of the desert sky. Lying under the open sky at night, with a dune entirely to you

Kabini, Pachyderm Palaces

Kabini is the place famous for the greatest elephant shows in Asia. This is an arena where you have 200 or 250 elephants doing the star run in just one evening. It has the existence of a mind-blowing 60 sq km of static water inside the forest precincts, the result of a dam build across the river at Beechanahalli. The water bifurcates the national parks of Nagarhole and Bandipur, but unites a spectacular on its shore. Kabini have all types of animals like mouse deer, chital, spottable tigers, and bear however then again Kabini is all about elephants and more elephants. And according to Project Elephant reports there are 5,500 to 6,000 of them in the contiguous stretches of forests comprising Nagarhole, Bandipur, Mudumalai and Biligirirangana sanctuaries.
To go on a safari in a jeep through the roads of Nagarhole we reach at the edge of the thick bamboo jungle and drive through a gargantuan collection of pachyderms, which according to me was one of the greatest wildlife experiences in Asia.

The jungles around have a primeval touch to them. Tall trees, huge bamboo brakes, remote ponds, hillocks and above all the backwaters. We hoped a jeep early morning the next day. We were able to see the jungle walking up, the leaves and shrubbery washed clean with dew. We were lucky to see the peacocks, the grey langur having their breakfast high up on the branches. Large herds of the chital were hanging around by the side of the game road. And in the evening the sun was busy playing a round of hide and seek from within the cluster of the trees. The elephants started to assemble by the backwaters including other animals also.

After that marvelous view we went to see the water source in the Sunkadakatte area named Tiger Tank for the frequent sightings. The beautiful Bisalwadi Kere Lake with its watchtower was another good point to spot both the spotted and striped varieties of big cats.
We also did a boat ride along the river with the thick jungles all around us, we were able to come close to various herbs of animals on the shores. We also drove over to the Sunkadakatte forest and ride at the top of an elephant.

We stayed at Sunkadakatte Guest House while there are other options also like Kabini River Lodge and Water woods.

Sariska National Park, ancient tiger lands.

Sariska wildlife sanctuary is green, serene and was the hunting preserve of the Alwar royals, and its palace has been privy to many of these shoots. There is the sight of first hill burnished with the rust leaves of dhok, as one crosses over the hill into Kalighati Valley. There is a leaf – fringed avenue of dhok that greets the visitor at the old gate leading to Kankwari, overgrown on both sides with old trees of guler and pilkhan. Then there is a site of an explosion of blue- breasted quail, of the deep pools of the Siliberi Nala flowing down from Pandupol and of Pallas fishing edges watching for prey from nearby evergreen trees. I still treasure these memories from my numerous visits to Sariska.

My last tiger sighting at Sariska, one hot April was in the grassland just beyond Kalighati. Sariska was established as a Tiger Reserve in 1978. Before independence, the reserve was part of the erstwhile Alwar state. There are 16 revenue villages and associated cattle camps inside its boundaries. Almost all of the Sariska is hilly terrain dominated by the Aravallis, which run north- south along the park. Two vast plateaus Kanwari and Keraska top the Aravalli. There are three large lakes within the boundary of the park: Mangalsar, Sillserh and Somasagar.

Early morning and evening are the best times to make trips into Sariska National Park, though chances of spotting the cat are few and far between. That’s just not on the account of the diminishing tiger population, but more on account of the terrain like the undulating low hills, wide valleys and hill plateaus are hardly ideal for tiger spotting.

You would be easily able to view the nilgai, chital, langur cavorting through the tree cover. And by luck you might also view the tigers, leopard, jackal, with dogs and hyena. However birdwatchers can spot the white- breasted kingfisher, serpent eagle, great Indian horned owl and other avian species quite easily.

The most enjoyable part is the drive through the park where paths are dip down into the valleys and sinister shadows cross the jungle. If you want to do a cross-country jungle safari, then book one of the authorized forest jeeps well in advance at one of the two hotels Tiger Den and Sariska Palace.

When you are done with the animals, drive down into the Sariska forests to the ruined fortress atop a solitary hillock at Kankwari. Here emperor Aurangzeb imprisoned his elder brother widely held to be the legitimate successor to the throne of Delhi. From Kankwari move on to Neelkanth, a temple town near Tehla builds by the Gurjar Partiharas. Neelkanth was mysteriously submerged under a deluge of sand and rocks centuries ago, and nobody around knows what made the town suffer such a fate. The Naldehwar shrine nearby attracts hordes of pilgrims and picnickers- the former to the natural shivaling formed within an old tree trunk in the higher reaches of the forest, the latter to the little brook and seasonal waterfall at the base of 364 steps you have to climb to reach the lingam.

Sariska has only two choices to stay, a heritage hotel and Rajasthan tourism property Sariska Palace and Tiger Den. There are no options to dine apart from your hotel. However a visit to one of Alwar’s most popular eateries, the Prem Pavitra Restaurant is a must.

Chiplun, Break free of Goa

Chiplun lies along the banks of the Vashishti River, just shy of the Konkan coast, almost half highway to Goa from Mumbai. Chiplun is like a host undemanding of its guests but always solicitous. No dazzling attractions force you choose, there are always wide green vistas to gaze upon and beautiful points drive to. Also, enough good food and purchases will interleave your interlude.

You can cover all of Chiplun in 1 day and the other day you can view places outside Chiplun. I rented a car for sightseeing, basically my hotel did the booking part for me, however you can also get the auto rickshaws. Most places are easy to find in Chiplun, despite the fact that most of the roads don’t have names.

Pethe Parshuram Village near Chiplun is a dreamy, times-gone- by air, which belies its uniqueness and its significance to the people of the Konkan. According to my guide, Parshuram, a hot-tempered saint gave up all his land to prove to his guru that he was a true sanyasi. He came to Pethe Parshuram, the legend continues, and in characteristics anger, threw his mighty axe into the churning sea, which at that time, presumably, came right up to Chiplun. The water receded up to the point where his axe landed. Pethe Parshuram is today a clean, one cobbled stone street village that makes a quite living from tourists who come to the temple and buy knick-knacks from the surrounding shops.

Vashishti River is 20 minutes from the highway. You can do boating, and while you enjoy the boat ride you might also view crocodiles. You can fish also for which you do not require a permit.
All restaurants are called hotels in this place and hotels are called lodging so don’t be confused. You can stay at Gateway Riverview Lodge, Hotel Royal Palace and Motel Vanashri and many more.

There are few restaurants like Taj’s Riverside for Konkani cuisine, Pethe Vishranti Graha for papad and there are many dhabas to eat also.

Ladakh A Spiritual High

Ladakh A Spiritual High

Ladakh is a high altitude plateau at India’s furthest frontier, bordered by POK and Tibet. To the west is Kashmir and to the south Himachal Pradesh. The Indus River bisects the plateau and by its banks is Leh, the capital of Ladakh. The vast land, dry and dedicated, swells and billows into great tiers of snow-crested peaks. Arching over it is a sky, pure blue, benign, sheltering. The river bisects the floor of the valley. The best season is from May to the end of October. Winter in Ladakh is bitterly cold. If you plan to travel by road, keep in mind that the Rohtang and Zoji La passes are open only between mid June and early October.

Dominating Leh from its vantage on the northern crag is the Leh Palace, a diminutive Potala. In the late afternoon, the wind picks up, riffling the prayer flags, carrying snatches of the deeply- intoed homage to Manjushri.

The mountains, snow-capped peaks and fortress- like monasteries provide a dramatic backdrop to the many roadside cafes, restaurants, beer bars, carpet and curio shops, and trekking and rafting agencies. It is full of trails that connect remote villages spread across ancient trade routes, and there is no better way to absorb this fascinating land and its culture than to trek through it.

Leh Palace is the imposing nine- storey Palace of Sengye ‘Lion’ Namgyal dominates the city. Explore its dark passages, making your way to the top floors to get a brilliant view of the Indus Valley. Further beyond the palace is the Tsemo Gompa.

Shey is the old capital of the Ladakhi kings. It is a pretty spot with numerous chortens and graceful willows that dip their leaves into pleasant artificial lake. There are extensive remains of a fortress on the hilland a palace, incorporated into which is a temple with a handsome copper and gold Shakyamuni Buddha. Around 300m away is the Thiksey Monastery, which housesa huge three storey Maitreya Buddha.

On the beautiful Leh-Kargil road lays the earliest surviving monastery of Ladakh known as Yung-drung, or the Swastika. Its site, perched on a rocky promontory high above the Lamayuru Village at the valley.

On the high southern bank of the Indus, in a lush, quiet oasis across the road from Saspol is the ancient center of learning. Alchi Choskhor. One can happily spend the whole day studying the frescoes and loafing under its verdant apricot trees. There are two high altitude lakes Tso Moriri and Pangong Tso.

Leh abounds with places to stay as almost every house being converted into a guesthouse ranging from Rs. 300 to Rs. 3000. There many hotels like Shambha La and Lharimo, which offer, heated rooms and lovely view. The Leh area has restaurants, cafes and bakeries catering to all budgets that run the entire range of cuisines from authentic Tibetan fare to European to Kashmeri to Israeli.
A successful trek in Ladakh requires you to acclimatize well. Spend a few days in Leh, go for gentle walks and get used to the altitude.