Exploring Himachal - Manali ki Manoram Sair - Part I

अरसे बाद भ्रमण का अवसर मिला इस बार मई के महीने में और बैंक के आखिरी तिमाही  की टारगेट और अचीवमेंट के उठापटक के बाद इससे अच्छा मौका शायद नहीं मिल सकता था दिलोदिमाग को तरोताजा करने के लिए। दूसरी तरफ पटना में मई की प्रचंड गर्मी भी शरीर को झुलसा देने के जतन में जुट गयी थी। ऐसे में पहाड़ों की ओर रुख करने के अलावा अन्य कोई भी विचार मन को नहीं सूझा और इस तरह मैंने और श्रीमती जी ने हिमालय की हसीं वादियों का लुत्फ़ उठाने का प्लान बनाया। अरुणाचल को छोड़कर पूर्वी हिमालय में बसे सारे पर्वतीय रमणीक स्थलों पर समय बिताने का अवसर मुझे प्राप्त हो चुका है इसीलिये जो विकल्प मेरे जेहन में उभर कर आये, वो थे हिमाचल प्रदेश व उत्तराखंड।

ऑफिस के काम से एक बार शिमला जाना हुआ था पर घूमने का ज्यादा मौका नहीं मिल पाया था और जब श्रीमती जी ने भी शिमला और मनाली जाने की इच्छा प्रकट की  तो हमने इस बार देव भूमि हिमाचल प्रदेश को एक्स्प्लोर करने का मन बना लिया। यूँ तो हिमाचल का हरेक हिस्सा (चाहे वो धर्मशाला हो या फिर मैकलॉयडगंज, केलोंग हो या फिर किन्नौर)  एक से बढ़ कर एक है और अपने आप में एक टूरिस्ट स्पॉट है पर हमने इस बार के ट्रिप में कुल्लू, मनाली एवं शिमला को शामिल किया। मनाली जाने के क्रम में चंडीगढ़ में भी एक रात बिताने की योजना थी।

सफर की सारी तैयारियों के बाद मई के दूसरे हफ्ते में हमलोग अपने गन्तव्य की ओर निकल पड़े। राजधानी एक्सप्रेस से पटना  से दिल्ली तक का रात भर का सफर काफी आरामदायक रहा और ट्रेन अपनी ख्याति के अनुरूप बिलकुल सही समय पर नयी दिल्ली रेलवे स्टेशन पहुँच चुकी थी।  यूँ तो मनाली के लिए दिल्ली से भी डायरेक्ट बस सेवा उपलब्ध है पर १२ घंटों  से भी ज्यादा बस के लगातार सफर का आईडिया हमें कुछ जमा नहीं। कुछ तो पहाड़ी रास्तों की उबड़-खाबड़  और कुछ हरियाना रोडवेज के चालकों की सिद्धहस्तता के बारे में सुन रखी कहानियों ने मुझे भयाक्रांत कर दिया था।  तय ये हुआ कि दिल्ली से चंडीगढ़ बस से पहुँचा जाये और फिर वहीं रात बिता कर अगली सुबह चंडीगढ़ से मनाली और शिमला का सफर टैक्सी से किया जाये। प्लान  के मुताबिक़ हमने दिल्ली से चंडीगढ़ केलिए वॉल्वो बस की टिकटें हरियाना रोडवेज की वेबसाइट (http://hartrans.gov.in/ors/) से ऑनलाइन बुक कर रखी थी और  चंडीगढ़ से आगे के पूरे सफर केलिए टैक्सी भी बुक कर लिया था।

दिल्ली के आईएसबीटी बस अड्डे से सुबह १०:२० बजे की बस से हमलोग चंडीगढ़ चल पड़े थे। दिल्ली-चंडीगढ़ उच्चमार्ग जिसे भारत की सबसे बेहतरीन सड़कों में एक माना जा सकता है, पर हमारी बस पानीपत और करनाल के रास्ते सरपट दौड़ लगा रही थी। करीब दो घंटे के सफर के बाद हमारी बस करनाल में एक रेस्तरां के पास 15 - 20 मिनट तक रुकी। रेस्तरां से थोड़ी ही दूर पर हमें एक सुन्दर सी झील दिखी और झील की तरफ हमारे कदम खुद- बखुद बढ़ गए।

करना झील 

लंबे सफर के बाद झील के पास थोड़ा समय बिताना एक सुखद एहसास था और हमलोग झील की खूबसूरती को निहारने में इतने मशरूफ हो गए थे कि बस के हॉर्न की आवाज़ भी सुनाई नहीं पड़ रही थी। आखिरकार बस कंडक्टर की तेज आवाज़ से हमें अचानक महसूस हुआ कि हमलोग अल्प विराम के लिए यहाँ रुके थे और अच्छा खासा वक़्त बीत चुका है। भागते हुए हमलोग बस में चढ़े और कंडक्टर ने हमें जब घूर के देखा तो पता चला बाकी सारे लोग बस में बैठ चुके थे और केवल हमदोनों के इंतज़ार में बस रुकी थी।

करीब २ बजे तक हमलोग अम्बाला और जिरकपुर होते हुए चंडीगढ़ पहुँच चुके थे। चंडीगढ़ के बारे में जैसा सुन रखा था, हू-बहू वैसा ही पाया - सुनियोजित, सुन्दर और शालीन। मोहाली के बाद जब सड़कें और ज्यादा चौड़ी और सुन्दर हो जाती हैं और गाड़ियाँ अनुशासित हो चलने लगती हैं तो यह समझते देर नहीं लगती कि आप चंडीगढ़ में प्रवेश कर चुके हैं।

Image courtesy: yourstory.com

शहर पहुँचने के बाद हमलोग मनिमाजरा स्थित गेस्टहॉउस चले गए।  हमारे पास चंडीगढ़ घूमने के लिए शाम तक का समय था , क्योंकि अगली सुबह हमें मनाली की ओर जो कूच करना था।

मनाली के बारे में विस्तार से अगले अंक में बताने का प्रयास होगा।  तब तक के लिए अलविदा।  

A Trip to Zuluk, East Sikkim

Nature has bestowed upon us bountiful natural beauties in the form of gigantic snow caped mountains, fast flowing rivers, serene lakes and springs so on and on. Our country has been richly endowed with wide and diverse ranges of flora and fauna and other natural formations.

Several tourist places of Eastern Himalaya has been covered in my articles so far. Today, I would like to introduce before my readers and fellow travellers, Zuluk, a relatively lesser known place in Eastern Himalayas, which is slowly gaining popularity due to it’s prominent location and magnificent views.

Located at a height of around 10,100 feet on the rugged terrain of the lower Himalayas in East Sikkim, Zuluk offers excellent view of Himalayan ranges. Zuluk, located at erstwhile historical silk route between Kalimpong, India and Lhasa, Tibet used to be base for traders coming from Tibet for their night stay. After Chinese aggression in Tibet, the silk route connecting Tibet with India through Jelep-la has been closed and now the tiny village is used as a base by travellers going to Kupup, Jelep-La and Tsomgo Lake. In the last few years, Zuluk itself has risen into prominence as a scenic tourist spot due to it’s numerous hairpin bends in the road leading up to the village and spectacular views from the hilltop.

The Silk Route leading to Zuluk

On one weekend, we started from Gangtok to Zuluk via Pakyong, Rongli & Padamchen. Though there is another route from Gangtok via Bhusuk, Tsomgo Lake & Sherethang, which is shorter, we chose the other one, as we had to visit Aritar Lake too. Aritar lake is a major picnic spot for locals and tourists of neighbouring state West Bengal. 

Aritar Lake

One can spend entire day around the lake by indulging in range of fun activities like boating and trekking up to the Shiva temple at the hilltop.

Do Hanson ka Joda

Flowers around the lake

We spent some time at the lake and refreshed ourselves having tolerated travelling on patchy roads for around 2 hours, then proceeded for our destination. We had crossed Rongli by 1:00 PM and after half an hour drive from Rongli, our vehicle started moving up on a never-ending serpentine hilly road with numerous hairpin bends. There are about 32 hairpin bends on the route, which makes this road an engineering marvel. As we were inching towards Nathang Valley, Army camp was before our sight. The major chunk of land of zuluk village is under Army's control. By 02:15 PM, we had reached Zuluk, but we did nit stop there, as for the best views of the Eastern Himalayan ranges, we had to reach Thambi view point, which was another half an hour away. Though it was a sunny day, but after reaching Thambi View Point, weather had changed it's colour and we had started looking for additional warm cloths, which we were carrying anticipating the turbulent mood of weather in mountains. Snow was increasingly visible on the mountains, as we were moving ahead and after some time, our vehicle had started moving with a snail's pace on a snow-covered road.

Scenic View as seen from Thambi View Point

 After having some photographs at view point, we proceeded towards Kupup Lake. 

Snow was increasingly visible on the nearby mountains, as we were moving ahead and after some time, our vehicle had started moving with a snail's pace on a snow-covered road. The panoramic lake surrounded by snow laden hills was before our eyes with all it's magnificence and grandeur.

Kupup Lake

We had chosen another route for our return to Gangtok via sherethang and Tsomgo Lake, to which we all were familiar due to our frequent visit to Nathu-la pass. By 6:00 PM or so, we had reached back home at Gangtok.

How to reach Zuluk:

For those coming from various parts of the world, Zuluk can be reached from Siliguri, West Bengal covering a distance of around 150 Kms. Alternatively, you can also visit the place after reaching Gangtok. Inner Line Permit is required to be obtained even in case of Indian travellers for visiting Zuluk. Hotels are not available at Zuluk, however, one can stay in homestays being run by local villagers. For those preferring staying in a hotel, Padamchen, around 10 km before Zuluk offers more options.

Zuluk can be visited any time through out the year, however after rainy season, the route becomes more beautiful due to blossoming wild flowers covering entire valleys. Come, visit Zuluk. It won't disappoint you.

Lamahatta : The countryside of Darzeeling

“Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.”

- Jeffrey Rasley

Mountains are really a great place to unwind and discover one's inner self and if those mountains are none other than the Himalayas, the experience becomes heavenly. 

Friends! I am back with a new travel memoir about a new rather less known tourist place nestled in Eastern Himalayas, i.e. Lamahatta. Hope, you will find the place appealing enough to include it in your travel wishlist. There are many natural travel destinations in Eastern Himalayas, which are at their best, when there is no human intervention to keep their beauty and glory intact, however there are some places, which have been developed into a tourist spot, so that people can spend good quality time, while enjoying the company of their loved ones along with the lovely nature. Lamahatta is one such travel destination. The place was developed as tourist spot in 2012 by the local administration with the help of villagers at the behest of the Hon'ble chief minister of West Bengal.

The road-side mountain village falls in Gangtok to Darjeeling route and is at around an hour away from Darjeeling. Travelers on Darjeeling trip can plan for one night stay in home stays of Lamahatta. It can also be chosen as honeymoon destination. The scenic site offers something for everyone - breathtaking scenery, magical glimpse of Snow-caped mountain ranges, trekking, delicacy of food prepared by locals and a memorable night stay in tents and huts miles away from hustle and bustle of urban life.

The altitude of Lamahatta is lesser (5700 ft) than that of Darjeeling, however the temperature is almost the same, as the place is replete with greenery, surrounded by large number of dhupi and pine trees.

As we came to know about the place through a colleague, we decided to make it our next picnic destination. It was a 3 and 1/2 hours ride from Gangtok and by 11 AM, we had reached Lamahatta. After reaching there, we decided to find some good home stays for our night stay and keep our luggage there, so that we can roam around or go on trekking freely. There were around 15 rooms and some tents with total capacity of around 40 persons on one side of road. Each room had two beds and maximum 3 persons can be accomodated in one room. The rent for one room was around Rs. 800/- and for tent, it was little higher. We got settled in four rooms and took breakfast there. One special feature of Lamahatta may be the delicious and fresh food served by the locals. You will not get professional service, but will definitely feel the warmth in their hospitality. You will have to tell them in advance, what you want to have in your food.

After having breakfast, we started exploring the place and capture some good views of the manicured park located at the foothill. The garden has many seasonal flowering plants including orchids. There is an entry fee of Rs. 10/- for entering in the eco-tourism park.

View of Garden and trail of flags

Beautiful Hut with beautiful kids

Garden and Homestays at Lamahatta

There after, we decided to trek along 1.5 km long route to the sacred lake, situated at top of the hill. The trek offered some excellent photography opportunities, while walking in the woods.

Walking in the woods

Sacred Lake at the Hilltop

We had reached at the hill top with in 40 to 45 minutes and spent couple of hours there, enjoying the purity of the breeze blowing through the dense forests and purifying ourselves in the process. We started to climb down the hill, as it was getting dark and we had also started feeling hunger pangs.

After reaching our homestays, we had our lunch and then started planning for our evening with bonfire and music in the mountain village. The weather god was getting harsher on us , as the chilly evening was engulfing the village. The temperature must have fallen to 2 or 3 degree celsius on that december night. Now, it was time to show some resistance to the biting cold and we had prepared well. 

Soon, we were all sitting in the open surrounding the bonfire set by us and then started the round of our musical talent in the form of Antakshari. It was indeed very enjoyable and the tranquility of the sleeping mountain unperturbed by the sound of gushing river nearby added to our amazing experience. Our musical night had turned into a magical night. Our tryst with fierce winter night came to an end with the announcement of dinner time by the cook of the home stay. With the fire surrendering to the might of freezing cold and our stock of songs getting scarce, we decided to call it a day. We had our dinner and then rushed to our beds to cover ourselves with blankets and quilts to fight the punishing cold.

In the morning, we were greeted by the sunshine and a clear view of Snow-caped peaks of Mt. Kanchendzonga. With this, our trip was really complete and memorable.

Mt. Kanchendzonga ranges as seen from Lamahatta

Please do share your experiences, if you have been to Lamahatta or any other lesser known tourist places in India.