3 days in Kolkata - Food,Food & more Food !

19th March'16 -India vs Pak, Eden gardens..While watching the match the husband asks.. "For the upcoming long weekend .. You want go to Kolkata as your birthday trip?"

Me.. "Ofcourse ..Yeah!!" .. Kolkata has been in my must-go-to places list for a long time.

& that's it Tickets booked.. & while having yummy Achija Pav Bhaji, watching a fantastic match I started day dreaming about Rasgullas,the old houses & what a puchka would taste like. This trip was the best gift to this inherent foodie!

So through the week..I troubled everyone I knew connected to Kolkata.. Friends & acquaintances.. & they all sweetly wrote back to me with the must haves !!

The husband's friends in Cal wondered..why were we visiting Cal! Are we stopping by enroute elsewhere.. Nope, 3 days just Cal!

We are vegetarian yet there was a good ground to be covered..luckily they all recommended the same stuff from the same specific street/restaurant.. So the taste was vetted for us :)

Thursday morn we landed at Cal.. most people we saw had evidence of how well they had played Holi the previous day :)

You know you are in Cal when..

Go Goa_Roadtrip _Mumbai-Ganpatipule-Tarkarli-Goa

December..the month that makes us realise that each year flew by faster than the earlier one..

Our month was also flying by..with family visiting ..Had a week in-between.. & heard about cousins visiting their Goa home from Bangalore..that's it.. The free week also planned for :)

December slowly became a fabulous family month !

Our first long roadtrip... we started off late in the morning towards Ganpatipule..
Took the old NH..very good roads.. Single lane being time consuming barrier..but the landscapes & villages in between more than made up for it.

Endless stretches of nothing.. coupled with good music..perfect day!

Nothingness

Reflections

Manali - Dreamy & picture perfect

Continuing with the good fortune of seeing our beautiful country we planned a trip to Manali - Shimla - Chandigarh flying in & out of Chandigarh (Sep 25 - Oct 3'2015)

I had last been to Manali about thirteen years back. It was a two-three day halt then after a very memorable trek to Sar Pass in Himachal Pradesh.

Situated amidst snow-clad Himalayan peaks, a river playing peek a boo, quaint cafes with good food & music, and colourful shops Manali is one of India's best hill stations. It has a little something for everyone. After spending sometime in Manali, you understand why many foreigners spend months together at Manali/Dharamshala during summers & Goa during winters :)

The Journey:

We landed at Chandigarh in the afternoon around 3 p.m & for some strange reason both of us thought we'd reach Manali by 9 p.m (day dreaming clearly!) Our driver Mr Gurpreet very sweetly said 'Abhi toh teen baje hai.. 12 tak pahunch jayenge' (its 3pm, we will reach by midnight) ..what..midnight !!.. 

Baby Pigeon is here !! 15.09.14

Dazzle of another kind.. this ones about one of the most lovely experiences of my life... 

About a month back I was aghast having found our lovely flowering periwinkle plant destroyed by pigeons. Soon after all the picking,it was just a pot of soil  
One afternoon, I saw a pigeon sitting on that pot & as the day went by..found this - A lil white egg being protected by its mommy's warmth  the same barren pot was now a sight of Cuteness! 

 I had to google to know we had to wait atleast 17 days before the egg hatches !! Aah..thats a long wait...

P3's Travel Dazzle: Ladakh - A Picture Diary of Barren Gorgeousness

P3's Travel Dazzle: Ladakh - A Picture Diary of Barren Gorgeousness: Coz words are just not enough to express the beauty of Ladakh ! Leh town from Shanti Stupa

Ladakh - A Picture Diary of Barren Gorgeousness

Coz words are just not enough to express the beauty of Ladakh !

Leh town from Shanti Stupa

Sikkim - Greens..White & Gravel Beauty.. (Part 2 - North Sikkim)

The most exciting part of the trip is here.. exploring the beautiful region of North Sikkim.

North Sikkim is a must visit. The mountains & gravel make for long tiring drives, but the views & the stunning beauty of the place is totally worth it. We opted for a 2-Nights/3-Days package trip conducted by Galaxy travels (Gangtok). To visit these places you require a permit which the travel operator will obtain for you on submission of copies of  ID & address proof.It is best to book a private vehicle instead of a shared one, as shared ones have 7-8 passengers in one vehicle & the way up is very rugged. 

Highlights:

• Gurudongmar Lake
• Glimpses of Teestha river along the way
• Breakfast at a local's home
• Snow clad coniferous trees at Yumthang valley
• Dom Bang

 (This post is a part of the 2 part blog on Sikkim. For part 1-Gangtok, please follow this link

http://traveldazzle.blogspot.in/2014/05/sikkim-greenswhite-gravel-beauty-part-1.html )

Glimpse-  Gurudongmar Lake

This ones a long post with many pictures, as words just cant do justice to the beauty of this region :)