Day 3
We had booked two rooms in The Swiss Hotel. One a cottage and the other a suite, Tenzing Norgay suite which was in first floor. The suites are located at separate building and one can have the view of the snow clad Kanchenjunga from there on a clear day. There is a point in the hotel with the latitude and longitude markings of the mountain. both the cottage and the suite were spacious. But unfortunately when we visited it was cloudy and we were not able to have the view. In the reception there are pics of old Darjeeling and to note that The Swiss Hotel was constructed in British era and all there was only muddy roads in the terrain. But you have to visit the place now to see the structures developed there. Even the roads are narrow and if you get caught in a traffic jam, that's all, you need to wait for minimum 2 hours :(
The driver came to the hotel after inquiring with us sharp on time. His name was Mr.Prashant. He told us that he was driving there for around 5 years and belongs to Nepal. In fact most of the locals were Nepalis who knew Hindi. And the locals preferred walking and they climbed up and down the mountains to reach their homes. And the main source of income was tourism and related activities here!
So first we visited the Peace Pagoda or the Japanese temple. It was a beautiful place with wonderful views. Next we went to Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoo. The specialty here was various wild cats. And yes the terrain is hilly, so you will get knee pain if you are not used to walking ;)
Kids dressed like locals from rental shop there. So we came outside to find our car not there. We called the driver , seems like he had parked in a different place to avoid held up in traffic.
In the lane down the zoo, there was a line of shops selling spices. We didn't buy it since we did not know it was original or not. We did miss the rope way. Our driver took us to some tea estate where we can buy darjeeling tea. But there were lots of stalls there giving samples of tea to tourists and we have to buy from the same shop the driver halts us. We did not quite like the idea and did not buy anything. On the way back he showed us a famous college in Darjeeling where some film shootings have taken place. Films like Main Hoon Na and Yaariyan have been shot there.
He then took us to a place called the rock garden. This place was quite faraway from the town. I think around 10 km. the roads were really steep and very sharp bends. This place had a stream surrounded by rock walls cut at various heights. This rock garden and the zoo were the only places we liked on the whole!
It was well past lunch time and we wanted a good vegetarian hotel to calm our stomach after all that walking up and down. It was very hard to find a vegetarian restaurant here and that too most of them had bars in it! So we simply asked the driver to take us to one and he took us to such a place.Though the place was not quite tidy and it was well past lunch time. We ordered some momos,rice and dal. So it was tasty afterall but i don't remember the name of this place now :( Other than this time all our food was at The Swiss Hotel all the time and it was delicious like simple home-made food which chef Krishna and his team served us. Momos,noodles,dal,rice and once we had kichdi, for breakfast it was bread toast and puris with aloo masala. Some more dishes added to the menu will make it more good!
So after having this light meal the driver left us back in the resort. We freshened up and got ready for shopping. There's no fun without shopping in any place!
So we walked all the way to the Mall Road and Chowrasta, the heart of Darjeeling. Kids enjoyed ride on a horse. The whole place was crowded and it was quite windy and cloudy. Our shopping was for some shoes, hand gloves in woollen,nose guards, jerkins,mufflers.All for the trip to Yumthang and Lachung in Gangtok. Seeing the climate here, we could somewhat anticipate the weather in higher altitudes :)
It was lightly drizzling and so wound up our shopping soon and returned to the resort. Also we need to wake up early the next day to see the sunrise at the Tiger Hills. We need to be ready by 3:30 AM so that we can catch up the sunrise at 4:30 AM. Waking up so early in the cold weather was too much.So we were debating whether to go or not, but glad we could make it and that too on time! So we had an early dinner that day!
Day 4
So we were all ready by 3:30, our driver came sharp 3:30AM and we had our uphill drive for another 45 min to reach Tiger Hills. So when we reached the road to board our car we could already see so many cars buzzing ahead. So we could imagine the traffic pileup ahead. Also it was somewhat a clear day. So the driver took us in a somewhat different route to take us to the top on time ahead of the traffic. But the road was bad and he also said that it was part of a Tiger reservoir. So we were there on time and yes the weather was so chilly that literally everyone of us were dancing, even after having so much of protection. So the sunrise happened around 4:30 and we stayed there for 10 min. After this our driver took us to some Botanical garden with some viewpoints shown from telescope, The old Darjeeling palace and some other places.By that time it was already 7:30 Am and we drank some tea and had some momos there.
So we came back to our rooms. It was time to bid good bye to Darjeeling. We left the place after we had our lunch by 12:30 pm. Though it was with heavy heart that we did leave the place , our minds were waiting for the onward journey especially to Lachung and Yumthang and the snow there!
We did start our journey around 2pm after the driver came and took us to the taxi stand. So for Pelling drop we had a different driver. The distance is around 108 km .It takes around 2-3hrs because of the road conditions. West Bengal side of the route is so bad compared to Sikkim side.So we reached there around 4pm with a stopover nearly 30 min before the destination for restroom.
So if i need to tell about Pelling in short, it's a place in West Sikkim which could be easily called a town. And we could easily see that the number of lodges or resorts were way more than the total population. Clearly tourism and agriculture were the only job activities here. And the whole town shuts down early around 7pm. So it would be wise if u can find a place to stay that has a well maintained and run restaurant. Ours was something sort of a home stay with a very small kitchen. But the location was very good. It is situated in Lower Pelling away from all the maddening crowd. The place iam talking about is Himalayan Retreat. This place is very near to Chumbi Valley resort. At 2500/- per day we could have taken any other place as well. But since the construction was new we had no issues with bed and bath. Only food was the problem to us. But i can say that any other place in Middle or Upper Pelling can give you a better view. We had booked 3 rooms here. One was without any view. And i can say that when we went there all the rooms(8) were full. So if you are not bothered about food and dont have any elders and can really walk up for some good food then you can go here!
So we had some disappointment that day with regard to food but had a nice stay in the cosy place.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Monday, January 19, 2015
Movies seen in 2014
I am taking a break from the previous post to update about the list of movies seen last year. Why, because I think I've seen a lot of movies compared to past years. Yes,after having kids the time taken to movies was less. But now both of them have grownup and they too lookout for movie outings!
So the list for 2014 not in any order:
How to train your dragon 2
Rio2
The amazingspiderman 2
Cuckoo
Jeeva
Interstellar
Thegidi
Seval
Sadhuranga vettai
Velai illa pattadhari
I also want to record here that the first movie for Vinay was Imsai arasan 23rd pulikesi and for Prithvi it was Dasavathaaram. Prithvi As a baby was afraid of darkness and sound in the theatres. When we take him to theatres it was usually outstanding watching for his dad, means he has to stand outside and watch it ;) while me and EO used to sit inside. After a couple of years he used to sit till interval without any fuss and get his popcorn. After the popcorn gets over he would start asking when the film will be over or when he can go home,haha.
So now we go to movies they recommend us after hearing from their friends :)
So now the problem is little less, I can say!
In fact I was surprised that they can sit for long movies such as amazing Spider-Man and interstellar.
They had lot of questions to ask after watching Interstellar!!!
This year started off well with watching PK and to remember that they enjoyed 3 idiots very well as kids. But they didn't understand quite a lot in PK;) thanks to the lingo and the concept.
So the list for 2014 not in any order:
How to train your dragon 2
Rio2
The amazingspiderman 2
Cuckoo
Jeeva
Interstellar
Thegidi
Seval
Sadhuranga vettai
Velai illa pattadhari
I also want to record here that the first movie for Vinay was Imsai arasan 23rd pulikesi and for Prithvi it was Dasavathaaram. Prithvi As a baby was afraid of darkness and sound in the theatres. When we take him to theatres it was usually outstanding watching for his dad, means he has to stand outside and watch it ;) while me and EO used to sit inside. After a couple of years he used to sit till interval without any fuss and get his popcorn. After the popcorn gets over he would start asking when the film will be over or when he can go home,haha.
So now we go to movies they recommend us after hearing from their friends :)
So now the problem is little less, I can say!
In fact I was surprised that they can sit for long movies such as amazing Spider-Man and interstellar.
They had lot of questions to ask after watching Interstellar!!!
This year started off well with watching PK and to remember that they enjoyed 3 idiots very well as kids. But they didn't understand quite a lot in PK;) thanks to the lingo and the concept.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Trip 2014- Darjeeling,Pelling,Gangtok
Hi my dear blog,
Sorry for not looking into you seriously.But when i opened the dashboard today, i saw i had posted 19 logs . Not bad , i said to myself!!!
So I want to write about the trip we went in May last year.It was a memorable one for everyone.We started planning very early for this trip as early as February,so we'll know how to go about everything. We didn't go for any package so that made the job even more tough.We had to look upon reviews for each and every hotel that came up in trip advisor.in. Also check for routes we need to cover on each day,no. of days needed in each place etc.. etc.. etc.. Have to thank Trip advisor website and its patrons a lot. Each day would start with Trip advisor and end with the same.
Looking back now it's almost an year ago!!!
Yesterday my husband was speaking with one of his close friend about how to go about the trip and he asked me for certain route we took for reaching Darjeeling from Siliguri. I couldn't remember the name of the place instantly and that is when i decided to write about the trip i here.Even though the place and the memories we had there would live with us forever, i thought writing here would help us in remembering even the minute details later on. Also i had written here about a previous trip we had in 2008.Every year we go on a trip and i think i should write here but that never happens.
Right from the beginning every one involved were so anxious and very much looking for to this trip.I am happy that we could end it perfetly!!!
So it was a family trip consisting of 9 members with 6 adults and 3 children. My mom,Mil,Fil,Sil and her daughter, We the 4 of us went together.
So now i am forgetting all the dates.We started by 19 May 2014,Monday and came back by 31 May 2014 Saturday.
The itinerary was like this:
Day1: Chennai-Kolkata. Take train from Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri(NJP)
Day2: Reach Darjeeling from Siliguri
Day 3: Darjeeling sight-seeing
Day 4:Reach Pelling from Darjeeling
Day 5:Pelling Sight-seeing
Day 6: Reach Gangtok from Pelling
Day 7:Gangtok sight-seeing
Day 8 :Reach Mangan from Gangtok
Day 9:Visit Lachung and Lachen and reach Gangtok
Day 10: Gangtok Sight-seeing
Day 11: Reach Siliguri from Gangtok.Take overnight train to Kolkata.
Day 12: Reach Kolkata and sigt-seeing .Reach Chennai by night
DAY 1:
Let me go straight into trip details.We took a 7:55 am flight from Chennai airport to reach Kolkata 10:10 am .This was a first flight experience for me, my kids, Sil and her daughter. so we were all pretty excited and anxious about how it will be. We booked our tickets in Indigo airlines and our check-in at airport was quite smooth.We landed at Kolkata around 10:30 after taking our baggage. Have to mention about the food that we ate at the airport here.Since my mom had to take medication she had to eat her breakfast and we spotted an outlet with some Idli name in it there. Surprised we went there to eat,ordered idli and uthappam.Being a hardcore south-indian, we were happy to spot a place like that in Kolkata but it was a total disaster! I have tasted nothing bad like that in my life, atleast a idly cannot made in such a way was my thought. Lesser said now :-(
We had an issue with the pick up car we had booked. We wanted to have a Tata Winger to accomodate the whole family for KolKata sight-seeing.But the one operator who had promised could not arrange one for us.So we took a lot of time in finding another one. So we waited till 12:00pm for the car.Alas, not a good start for a great trip i would say.
Atlast when the car arrived , everyone was in the mood, ' Chalo,let's explore the city now!',haha
We first wanted to visit the Dakshina Kali Temple and headed there straight. It was around 16 km distance and took one hour to reach there.When we reached there our stomachs were grumbling and we decided to have lunch first.We enquired some locals about the options available.Some of them did mention about Pooris being given as Prashad at temple.Our bad we should have taken their word and should have gone for it.But went to a little hotel according to some people's directions in a quaint little street. And to our dismay they did not have lunch and had only dosas ( not again :().Since we were late that was the only option and we ordered that.It was ok kind of stuff.So within this time our minds changed and we decided to visit the Kalighat temple.The city of Kolkata has got its name after this deity and its on the banks of a river.
When we reached Kalighat the temple was closed and there was nearly half an hour time.On our way to hte temple we spotted the trams and wanted to get in that.So took time off to get inside a tram and clicked pictures merrily. The tram was so old.And it was very slow that people alighted on the run.We got down at next stopping and took our ride back to temple.Even though there was no rush inside the temple premises, we could not have a quick darshan of the deity.We came out of the temple and headed towards the bank of river Hooghly. The sight was so very disgusting. The water was not flowing but stagnated and we could see so many people bathing and doing other things as well.So we came out of the place. We then went to boating in Hooghly river We could spot the Eden Garden cricket stadium nearby.I actually liked the many transport facilities this city had, the trams, the waterways, metro,buses, not to mention the other options. We wanted to go in metro too but were running out of time! Outside near the banks things were made ready for the evening aarthi. We wanted to see it and waited there.From around 5:30 to nearly 6:30 we waited there.But it was taking time.
So we visited Indian railway museum situated nearby and passed our time seeing all the models kept there.The kids were enjoying the place very much. We had to take the Darjeeling Mail train from Sealdah station at 10:05 pm. We decided to have some chats as we did not have anything solid.We took the option of going to Haldirams to have some amazing chats.In the entire day that was the proper meal for us and we all gorged like there was no other day.We supposedly ordered what all we could find on the menu card along with steaming hot cuppa coffee.Our stomachs were thanking us!!!
We reached the station around 9 pm and were waiting for the train.We bought some dinner from a shop at the station, some rotis and plain chawal with dal. We boarded the train and slept heartily waiting for the next day with so much enthusiasm!!!
DAY 2:
Reached NJP by 8:00 am.We had booked a cab from there for the whole trip.It happened to be that we cannot travel in a single cab the whole trip because the entire journey was in two states and each has travels that can run cabs in their own territory, meaning one driver can drive in a single route only. So we wanted the travels to speak with agents in other routes as well .They have a network among themselves so that was not a problem. The pricing and the routes we wanted to take everything was mentioned clearly and decided. While my husband and my Sil was doing this, all others had to take breakfast in the hotels that were available there.
The usual route to Darjeeling from Siliguri is through Kurseong but we wanted to go through Mirik. Even though distance(116 km) would increase the travelling time,it'd be very good both for the eyes and the back. Around 10:30 am we started our journey to Darjeeling.Would like to mention here that if you are taking this route siliguri to Darjeeling do eat @ Gopala Gopala restaurant. We had some food here on our way back and it was good.The route through Mirik was so scenic.There was some tea estates and it was fully covered with fog.In one place there was a huge play ground fully covered with mist. We asked the driver to stop the vehicle and played hide and seek through the mist. It was a lifetime experience for us.We reached Mirik and there was a park there around a small lake. We had a stroll there to stretch our legs. We tasted the lychee there.
We had booked our rooms at The Swiss Hotel. We reached the place after a little bit enquiring.It was located off one of the main roads.We reached there around 2:00 pm. The hotel staff called up and confirmed our coming.After reaching there the first thing we did was to order for our lunch and checked into the rooms. We gave them just half an hour time for preparing our lunch.But it was so delicious!!!We took rest for some time and in the evening went for a walk till Mall Raod.Did some little shopping.
Wait for the next post for Darjeeling sight-seeing!!! Bye till then :)
Sorry for not looking into you seriously.But when i opened the dashboard today, i saw i had posted 19 logs . Not bad , i said to myself!!!
So I want to write about the trip we went in May last year.It was a memorable one for everyone.We started planning very early for this trip as early as February,so we'll know how to go about everything. We didn't go for any package so that made the job even more tough.We had to look upon reviews for each and every hotel that came up in trip advisor.in. Also check for routes we need to cover on each day,no. of days needed in each place etc.. etc.. etc.. Have to thank Trip advisor website and its patrons a lot. Each day would start with Trip advisor and end with the same.
Looking back now it's almost an year ago!!!
Yesterday my husband was speaking with one of his close friend about how to go about the trip and he asked me for certain route we took for reaching Darjeeling from Siliguri. I couldn't remember the name of the place instantly and that is when i decided to write about the trip i here.Even though the place and the memories we had there would live with us forever, i thought writing here would help us in remembering even the minute details later on. Also i had written here about a previous trip we had in 2008.Every year we go on a trip and i think i should write here but that never happens.
Right from the beginning every one involved were so anxious and very much looking for to this trip.I am happy that we could end it perfetly!!!
So it was a family trip consisting of 9 members with 6 adults and 3 children. My mom,Mil,Fil,Sil and her daughter, We the 4 of us went together.
So now i am forgetting all the dates.We started by 19 May 2014,Monday and came back by 31 May 2014 Saturday.
The itinerary was like this:
Day1: Chennai-Kolkata. Take train from Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri(NJP)
Day2: Reach Darjeeling from Siliguri
Day 3: Darjeeling sight-seeing
Day 4:Reach Pelling from Darjeeling
Day 5:Pelling Sight-seeing
Day 6: Reach Gangtok from Pelling
Day 7:Gangtok sight-seeing
Day 8 :Reach Mangan from Gangtok
Day 9:Visit Lachung and Lachen and reach Gangtok
Day 10: Gangtok Sight-seeing
Day 11: Reach Siliguri from Gangtok.Take overnight train to Kolkata.
Day 12: Reach Kolkata and sigt-seeing .Reach Chennai by night
DAY 1:
Let me go straight into trip details.We took a 7:55 am flight from Chennai airport to reach Kolkata 10:10 am .This was a first flight experience for me, my kids, Sil and her daughter. so we were all pretty excited and anxious about how it will be. We booked our tickets in Indigo airlines and our check-in at airport was quite smooth.We landed at Kolkata around 10:30 after taking our baggage. Have to mention about the food that we ate at the airport here.Since my mom had to take medication she had to eat her breakfast and we spotted an outlet with some Idli name in it there. Surprised we went there to eat,ordered idli and uthappam.Being a hardcore south-indian, we were happy to spot a place like that in Kolkata but it was a total disaster! I have tasted nothing bad like that in my life, atleast a idly cannot made in such a way was my thought. Lesser said now :-(
We had an issue with the pick up car we had booked. We wanted to have a Tata Winger to accomodate the whole family for KolKata sight-seeing.But the one operator who had promised could not arrange one for us.So we took a lot of time in finding another one. So we waited till 12:00pm for the car.Alas, not a good start for a great trip i would say.
Atlast when the car arrived , everyone was in the mood, ' Chalo,let's explore the city now!',haha
We first wanted to visit the Dakshina Kali Temple and headed there straight. It was around 16 km distance and took one hour to reach there.When we reached there our stomachs were grumbling and we decided to have lunch first.We enquired some locals about the options available.Some of them did mention about Pooris being given as Prashad at temple.Our bad we should have taken their word and should have gone for it.But went to a little hotel according to some people's directions in a quaint little street. And to our dismay they did not have lunch and had only dosas ( not again :().Since we were late that was the only option and we ordered that.It was ok kind of stuff.So within this time our minds changed and we decided to visit the Kalighat temple.The city of Kolkata has got its name after this deity and its on the banks of a river.
When we reached Kalighat the temple was closed and there was nearly half an hour time.On our way to hte temple we spotted the trams and wanted to get in that.So took time off to get inside a tram and clicked pictures merrily. The tram was so old.And it was very slow that people alighted on the run.We got down at next stopping and took our ride back to temple.Even though there was no rush inside the temple premises, we could not have a quick darshan of the deity.We came out of the temple and headed towards the bank of river Hooghly. The sight was so very disgusting. The water was not flowing but stagnated and we could see so many people bathing and doing other things as well.So we came out of the place. We then went to boating in Hooghly river We could spot the Eden Garden cricket stadium nearby.I actually liked the many transport facilities this city had, the trams, the waterways, metro,buses, not to mention the other options. We wanted to go in metro too but were running out of time! Outside near the banks things were made ready for the evening aarthi. We wanted to see it and waited there.From around 5:30 to nearly 6:30 we waited there.But it was taking time.
So we visited Indian railway museum situated nearby and passed our time seeing all the models kept there.The kids were enjoying the place very much. We had to take the Darjeeling Mail train from Sealdah station at 10:05 pm. We decided to have some chats as we did not have anything solid.We took the option of going to Haldirams to have some amazing chats.In the entire day that was the proper meal for us and we all gorged like there was no other day.We supposedly ordered what all we could find on the menu card along with steaming hot cuppa coffee.Our stomachs were thanking us!!!
We reached the station around 9 pm and were waiting for the train.We bought some dinner from a shop at the station, some rotis and plain chawal with dal. We boarded the train and slept heartily waiting for the next day with so much enthusiasm!!!
DAY 2:
Reached NJP by 8:00 am.We had booked a cab from there for the whole trip.It happened to be that we cannot travel in a single cab the whole trip because the entire journey was in two states and each has travels that can run cabs in their own territory, meaning one driver can drive in a single route only. So we wanted the travels to speak with agents in other routes as well .They have a network among themselves so that was not a problem. The pricing and the routes we wanted to take everything was mentioned clearly and decided. While my husband and my Sil was doing this, all others had to take breakfast in the hotels that were available there.
The usual route to Darjeeling from Siliguri is through Kurseong but we wanted to go through Mirik. Even though distance(116 km) would increase the travelling time,it'd be very good both for the eyes and the back. Around 10:30 am we started our journey to Darjeeling.Would like to mention here that if you are taking this route siliguri to Darjeeling do eat @ Gopala Gopala restaurant. We had some food here on our way back and it was good.The route through Mirik was so scenic.There was some tea estates and it was fully covered with fog.In one place there was a huge play ground fully covered with mist. We asked the driver to stop the vehicle and played hide and seek through the mist. It was a lifetime experience for us.We reached Mirik and there was a park there around a small lake. We had a stroll there to stretch our legs. We tasted the lychee there.
We had booked our rooms at The Swiss Hotel. We reached the place after a little bit enquiring.It was located off one of the main roads.We reached there around 2:00 pm. The hotel staff called up and confirmed our coming.After reaching there the first thing we did was to order for our lunch and checked into the rooms. We gave them just half an hour time for preparing our lunch.But it was so delicious!!!We took rest for some time and in the evening went for a walk till Mall Raod.Did some little shopping.
Wait for the next post for Darjeeling sight-seeing!!! Bye till then :)
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