Category Archives: Travel

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur

The first time I laid eyes on Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpar, it was through a pair of powerful binoculars. Fixed atop a viewing platform policed by the Border Security Force (BSF), and located in Dera Baba Nanak (DBN) near the Indian border with Pakistan in Gurdaspur district.  I stared long, and squinted hard, yet Guru Nanak’s final resting place, for the most part, remained a gleaming speck of white on the distant horizon. It lay beyond an insurmountable concertina coil fence, at the far end of a vast tract of farmland, less than five kilometers from where I stood.  I recall the paved path back to the parking lot was flanked by countless banners demanding easier access to the sacred site. That was nearly a decade ago. In November 2019, a month shy of the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of the Sikh faith, the Kartarpur Corridor became a long longed-for reality.

Last month, I availed this newly minted visa-free border crossing to get a closer look at that gleaming speck. I found the process, for the presently pemitted day excursion, by-and-large smooth and hassle-free. In this post I share travel-friendly information based on my recent experience, should you–Indian nationals & OCIs–be planning a visit. To start with, make sure you have at least two weeks in hand before your intended travel date, and a valid passport. The portal for online registration is uncomplicated and easy to navigate, but do read through and understand all instructions provided carefully. Also, remember to keep PDFs of relevant passport pages and a scanned passport size photograph handy before filling out the online form.  

A successful registration wil be acknowledged via text message to the mobile number shared. This will be followed by a physical verification of your home address et al by the local police station. Expect a friendly phone call from the Ministry of Home Affairs double-checking on details furnished in the registration form. That permission to travel has been granted will be shared via a subsequent text only four days prior to date of intended visit. Following which, visitors are required to show up at the Passenger Terminal Building at Dera Baba Nanak with a print-out of the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), along with their passports or OCI documents, as the case may be.

At the terminal, visitors will go through all the formalities international travel entails – security check, immigration, customs – including a booster dose of polio drops. The ETA form (and not the passport) is to be proferred at all counters for necessary stamps, keep it safe as it will be collected by Immigration on your return later in the day. Customs permit upto twenty-five thousand Indian rupees in cash for personal use, a declaration to this effect will need to be signed. Once done, a short golf buggy ride brings visitors to the Zero Line some 100 metres away, a quick document re-check here and you can walk through the border gates into Pakistan.

Another brief buggy ride drops visitors outside the Passenger Terminal at Kartarpur. Where a row of counters manned by the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) collect the mandatory service charge of USD20 in cash. Though currency exchange booths are also located here, you do well to carry the exact amount in dollars, if possible. One half of the receipt thus provided will be collected by Pakistan immigration authorities on arrival – along side visitor biometrics (digital photos and electronic fingerprints) – and the remaining stub on departure back to Dera Baba Nanak.

Visitors are provided with identification cards that are to be sported throughout the visit, the brilliant yellow lanyards telling you apart from the reds worn by domestic visitors. These need to be returned at the time of departure, please do not lose or misplace. Subject to number of visitors on a given day, the entire process from DBN Terminal to Kartarpur Terminal including ferrying time takes no more than 15-20 minutes. The comfortable bus-ride to the Darshani Deodi (viewing gate) of the gurdwara thereon, splicing through lush fields and across a bridge over the Ravi river, is less than five minutes.

Visitors are welcomed at the Darshani Deodi by volunteers with helpful information about the shrine, points of interest, where to find them in the sprawling complex, and answers to any queries you may have. To the right through the main entrance are the joda ghar to deposit footwear, and locker rooms to avoid lugging around unnecessary personal effects. In any case, you’re allowed to carry only one piece of hand baggage, weighing no more than 7kgs. A change of clothes, I suppose, should be enough if you’re planning on a dip in the indoor sarovars on the premises.  

The double-storeyed sanctum sits serenely in the middle of an expansive complex, hosting a mazaar outside and a samadh inside.  In a widely acknowledged legend, the Guru’s death in 1539 resulted in a conflict surrounding his funerary rights amongst his multi-faith disciples. Following which, his body disappeared and was found replaced with a mound of flowers, half of which were buried, the other half cremated. Unsurprisingly, visitors of all religious persuasions continue to pay homage to this peerless thinker and founder of a world religion.

The rumala-draped marble mazaar to the front of the gurdwara entrance marks the place where Guru Nanak’s Muslim followers buried his remains. Not far from this spot are two wells that hark back to the Guru’s time, and are believed to have been used by him to water the fields of the Kartarpur commune he established and where he spent the last years of his life.

This similarly-clad marble samadh at ground level inside the gurdwara is where the Hindus are said to have cremated his remains. The Granth Sahib, holy scriptures of the Sikh faith, is placed on the floor above, and is accessed for supplication through narrow spiral staircases placed to the back of the structure.

The spotless langar hall where simple vegetarian meals are provided free of cost to one and all, regardless of class, creed, gender or faith. As ordained by Guru Nanak himself, an advocate of universality, and since enshrined in the tenets of the Sikh faith. An equally hygienic community kitchen adjacent to it had volunteers cooking, cleaning and serving visitors with freshly prepared dal, sabzi, parshada (roti), sweetened rice and hot chai.

Spread across a gobsmacking 42 acres, up from the earlier four, the premises of Gurdwara Darbar Sahib are edged by a colonnaded corridor on three sides. This passageway fronts a number of facilities meant for the explicit use of visitors. Two indoor sarovars – one for men, the other for women – an exhibition hall, disourse rooms, a diwan hall, dormitories and public conveniences. The fourth side opens out towards lush farmland referred to as Kheti Sahib.

A ‘high street’ of souvenir shops, food stalls and forex kiosks has been set up beyond the langar hall, past the entrance for domestic visitors. A few of the establishments accept Indian currency but most prefer Pakistani rupees. I bought myself a keepsake I’m a hundred percent certain I can find in a neighbourhood market in Chandigarh. But hey, no one should have to return minus a momento from their visit to a ‘foreign’ land. Never mind that said land is inextricably joined to India’s western hip.

Visitors are expected to leave the gurdwara premises latest by 4PM to make the return to DBN. Buses, waiting at the parking bay near Darshani Deodi, ferry you back to the Kartarpur Terminal. Here, you will be required to handover the ID lanyards, as well as, the remaining stub of the service charge receipt. You will also be required to go through a biometric check of your fingerprints before hopping onto that buggy ride back to Zero Line. On the other side of the gate, similar buggies wait to ferry you to DBN Terminal. Have your hand baggage security checked once again, hand over the ETA form to Immigration personnel and you’re home.

Delhi to Tirthan Valley: Rain in the Hills

In the 1972 travelogue Kulu: The End of the Habitable World, Penelope Chetwode recounts her mule trek from Shimla to Rohtang (13,050 feet) over the Jalori Pass (10,300 feet), a detour to Khir Ganga in the Parvati Valley, and eventual return to Shimla across Bashleo Pass (10,800 feet). This chronicle of an arduous albeit adventurous journey, undertaken in 1963, unveiled for curious travellers the less explored regions of the Inner and Outer Seraj Valley. Today, the valley’s Great Himalayan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a huge draw.

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Chandigarh to Palampur: Colours of Kangra

Andretta Pottery Studio

Kangra Valley in Himachal Pradesh is no stranger to art. In fact, it even lends its name to a mid-18th century school of miniature painting. In the mid-1800s, the British added to the charms of the valley by cultivating Chinese tea. In 1924, Irishwoman Norah Richards made Andretta, 12km from Palampur, her home, and urged other Lahore luminaries to follow suit. An actor and playwright, she was indulgently referred to as the “Nani of Punjabi Theatre”.

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Muziris, is it?

The Sea of Pain is Raul Zurita’s poignant ode to Galip Kurdi. The five year old who drowned alongside his mother and younger brother Alan–immortalised by a heart-rending image evocative of the Syrian refugee crisis–with nary a mention. Not even a fleeting one.  The Chilean poet’s installation at Aspinwall House, for the ongoing Kochi Muziris Biennale, invites visitors to wade through knee-deep water in a cavernous warehouse to read, literally, the writing on the wall.

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Where It Oil Began

“Dig, boy, dig!” urged 19th century prospectors, it is said, on getting whiff of what lay beneath. Whether Digboi came by its moniker as a result of wordplay, as is popularly believed, has passed into the realm of amused conjecture. Historians will have you know that Di is a prefix meaning stream in Singpho, and the prevailing reference–Diboi Nallah, minus the ’g’–may have somewhat encouraged it. What wasn’t mere inference though were the tell-tale signs of crude oil reported from the rainforest of Upper Assam as early as 1825. A Lt R Wilcox of the 46th Regiment Native Infantry, while on a survey of the Namchik River (roughly 40kms east of Digboi) had observed ‘great bubbles of gas and green petroleum’ rising to the surface at Supkhong. And that ‘the jungles are full of an odour of petroleum’. Tea-explorer Charles Alexander Bruce also spotted ‘many oil seepages upstream of Makum’ in 1828.

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The road to Narayan (aka god)…

img_20161027_141638_hdr…is never easy, I’m told, by many a seeker. Less so to the one I sought, as I discovered for myself only ten days ago. A tad off-piste for most visitors to Himachal Pradesh, Narayan Devta Temple–ancient shrine in honour of the local deity–is located in the Nawar valley of Rohru district.  I had made the acquaintance of this little-known nugget through a photograph and was raring for a closer encounter.  The opportunity presented itself soon enough during my stay at a farm near Kotkhai.

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Tirthan Anglers’ Retreat

A sorority-of-sorts reunion long in the making finally fructified this summer past. Siblings and school buddies decided to get away from it all for some rejuvenation. Given the relentless May swelter our respective cities of residence experience, an escape to Himalayan havens was a unanimous no-brainer. Besides, I was returning after a scorch proper from Ujjain where I had been parked for two weeks acquainting with the Simhastha Kumbh.

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Reflections of Aina Mahal, Bhuj

img_7697For a man of his artistic genius and versatility to nearly fade from the narrative within three centuries of his existence is a tad baffling. But for one-line references and the odd paragraph in numerable writings, travel guides, and coffee table books themed around Kutch arts and crafts, little is known of Ram Singh Malam, an incredibly multi-faceted craftsman, today. Were it not for the Aina Mahal (Palace of Mirrors), his greatly diminished but still abiding pièce de résistance, Malam could well have been an easily missed footnote in the history of the arts.

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Gone Fishing, Tirthan

IMG_9626Prejudice alert. Any place I can wake up to a dog curled up close at hand has an everlasting hold over my heart.  I make no bones about it. Nor am I averse to gushing about it. And should that place be set in one of the prettiest valleys of Himachal Pradesh, well then I’m a complete and unabashed goner.

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NEW YORK INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL (NYIFF 2016)

infinity-sThis post goes out especially for followers in the United States of America. Some of whom have, over the past few years, unfailingly pinged Cutting Loose for fashioning their travels around India. In turn, nothing has given me greater pleasure than showcasing to them an India beyond the obvious. If testimonials are to be believed, they’re clearly not missing the tried-and-tested.

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Inside A Rainbow

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Banni beauty

This was a first – signing up for structured travel to play catch-up with Kutch’s capabilities. It, Breakaway’s Textile Trail, had seemed like an enormously exciting way to acquaint myself with an Indian extremity hitherto unvisited. That it was going to unravel itself through brilliantly hued warps and wefts accorded it that much more of the proverbial colour.  As also the knowledge that our intimate group would be accompanied by an expert for edifying effects.

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Goa The Muse

IMG_8788The sea has its moments, yes, but I don’t much care for Goa’s beaches. Nevertheless I gladly wash ashore ever so often for a change of scene and cuisine. Of which the latter, in my mind, remains her irrefutable raison d’être. Languor permitting I have successfully indulged in a spot of exploration in between meals. This is how I ended up making the acquaintance of three enormously ardent men when there a couple of months ago.

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Walk On The Wild Side

“How about a quickie?” a friend had grinned cheekily, emboldened by Dutch courage brought about by more than a few sun-downers. “Why not!” I’d breezed back similarly high-spirited. “Pick a place then!” came his excited riposte. That was all the encouragement I needed. It’d been a while, and I had really begun to miss that fun factor called spontaneity.  Time you summoned it, woman, I spurred myself. Next thing, we’re dashing for his car.

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Surat’s Sepulchral Splendour

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Looking down from Van Rheede’s parapet

For the longest time I had been unable to fathom the fascination a dear friend, nay two of them, have long displayed for the dead. They’re both doctorates–I have often wondered if that’s grounds–and avid travellers, though many decades apart in age. He, formerly a bureaucrat, currently a graver, plans nearly all his trots across India and the globe around beautiful cemeteries, writes about them even.  She, when not teaching English Literature to college-goers, plays tombstone tourist wherever she goes. While I have continually accused them of being macabre for their interest in the interred, they’ve always blamed my immunity to taphophillia on dread of death.

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Notes on the Road

IMG_9288In this age of new-fangled travel apps and notebooks which require power chargers, styli and pinches to get them going, those that employ real paper, ink pens/pencils, and a spit-moist forefinger as page-turner are seen as somewhat of an anachronism. Mostly by all those cool people. In that sense, as an entrenched adherent of old-school ways, I’m quite…well…hot.

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Coffee Museum, Dubai

IMG_6366The refurbished Bastakiya quarter–settled by Persian traders at the turn of the 20th century, now rechristened as Al Fahidi Historic District–is pretty much all that Dubai can pass off as structural heritage. Neighbouring Shindagha where the ruling Al Makhtoum family once lived along the shores of the Dubai Creek is still in the process of receiving its makeover.

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Varanasi Vignettes

IMG_5901Last week, I attended a glitzy Travel Writers’ Conclave in Lucknow powered by a resurgent Uttar Pradesh Tourism. This was preceded by a visit to one of three nodal cities that comprise the newly-introduced Heritage Arc. In what appears to be an earnest bid to swell tourist footfalls to the state, the powers-that-be in the governing dispensation conjured up this concept to better the weather-beaten Golden Triangle. So shared a greatly chuffed Chief Minister during his inaugural address at the conclave. Translating the boss’ excitement into real-time tangibles falls now to the Tourism Promotion Board as well as the current Director-General Tourism, an uncharacteristically creative bureaucrat credited with mooting the idea itself. Regardless of good intentions, they clearly have their jobs cut out for them.

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Ayodhya: Before And After

IMG_5128Before and after my visit, that is. Up until then, Ayodhya for the most part was cloaked in indifferent obscurity. Cross referenced every now and then with childhood reminiscences of Amar Chitra Katha comics. They were an early introduction to our cultural heritage, their colour-infused pages peopled with historical and mythological figures.Well-researched storylines, costumes, architectural and factual details that overshadowed the pedagogy of school textbooks helped us ace many a general knowledge test.

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Dewa Sharif, Barabanki

IMG_5590I travel a whole lot in case you hadn’t noticed. For leisure and for work, and have been doing so for over two decades. That’s nearly as much time as I spent trying to get formally educated. No points for guessing which one was more edifying. It should come as no surprise then that life-on-the-road has begotten me opinion-altering epiphanies and copious amounts of perspicacity much in the same manner as life-as-usual has for others.

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Review: Himalaica, Bhowali

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Conservatory conversations – Raja, Uttam, Lama, Shalini

They should have called them Hook, Line, and Sinker. For, have no doubt, you will be falling for them. I refer to the reception turn-out at a recent home-stay experience in Bhowali, a short, mostly pretty drive away from Nainital, Bhimtal and Sattal. Flowery garlands, aromatic sprinkles, exotic drinks, refreshing wipes, gel-coiffed cheery staff, step aside. Nothing quite says ‘Welcome’ like a woof, a wag, and a…whoa…slurp! If you disagree, read no further, because this post is about the house where Raja, Lama, and Cyber live.

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Fortifying Punjab’s Heritage

Outside Old Courts, Nabha

Early on in February this year a motley lot largely comprising Europeans was spotted excitedly finding its way around the flatlands of Punjab. Somewhat out of character, one would say, as the state as a whole is not known to be a destination for mass tourism or group travel. Excepting, of course, sundry jathas headed to one or more of its historical or popular places of faith, which is generally a domestic movement with the odd NRI family thrown in.

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Bespoke, she spoke

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Determined doer

Were I to pick a single indelible impression from my visit to Hyderabad last year, the genteel mien of an indomitable Suraiya Hassan Bose jumps promptly to attention. A spry eighty-something who has devoted the past three decades of her life to reviving Persian textiles. For the most part, unaided.

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Sufi Stirrings

The Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526CE) is collectively credited for welcoming into its centuries-long fold Sufi intellectualism even as the Mongols were busy trouncing it back home in Central Asia. Eventually, the Mongols too pushed their way into Hindustan but by then this mystical tradition of Islam, drawn no doubt in equal part by the spiritual mystique of Bhakti thought, had found a firm foothold. The Sufis of yore were philosophers, scholars and poets of immense note, as much as they were itinerant knowledge seekers who established a number of silsilas (orders) in their adopted homes.

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Review: The Kothi, Gurdaspur

IMG_0137The old-worldly Kothi, set at the top end of a tree-lined driveway merging with viridian grounds efflorescent with colour, is a happy marriage between traditional Punjabi and colonial design motifs. It was once part of a rambling ancestral haveli that is today an amorphous result of expanding families and their need for privacy without losing all connectedness.

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Pastoral Punjab Revisited

Last week begged for some quality me-time, elsewhere. No sooner (five hours later if truth be had), I found me in Nawanpind Sardaran, a picturesque little canal-side village just off Gurdaspur in north Punjab. It proved to be most rejuvenating of escapes in recent memory, came as it did with oodles of tea, glorious home-cooked food, endless sun-soaks, refreshing morning walks, languorous evening strolls, and mellifluous birdsong. Though nothing can replicate being there in person, through this pictorial post I attempt to walk you through a day in the life of a Punjab village.

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Mughal Memorabilia In Punjab

Detail - Haji Jamal Tomb

Detail – Haji Jamal Tomb, Nakodar

The Mughals left a large and visible footprint in Punjab given its vantage location on their high road from Agra to Kabul, later Delhi to Lahore. Most notable of these structures are from the reigns of Akbar and Jahangir with the latter contributing towards construction of bridges, digging of wells & tanks, and the repair of bridges. Later Shah Jahan would construct and embellish royal structures, serais and roads. Baolis (stepped wells) and traditional wells can still be spotted in close proximity to resting inns and settlements; they once served both man and animal. This harmonious melding of Indian and Persian influences has bequeathed the land with many striking examples of architectural heritage that includes tombs and bridges across perennial streams.

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Responsible Tourism

The 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations defined it as one that:

  • Minimises negative economic, environmental and social impacts • Generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well being of host communities •Improves working conditions and access to the industry •Involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances • Makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage embracing diversity • Provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues •Provides access for physically challenged people • Is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.

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Kathakali: Behind The Tirashila

20140804_184735With cyberspace all abuzz with the recently concluded Onam celebrations, and sadya images flooding timelines, I am reminded of another enduring Kerala tradition, that of performing arts. During a fabulously timed visit last month (you know, back in the day when it wasn’t all dry), with an evening to spare, and encouraged by the friendly people at my hotel, I found myself part of a motley audience at the Kerala Kathakali Centre in Fort Kochi. I was in for a two and a half hour session; an hour and half of which was devoted to on-stage application of the elaborate make-up that typifies this story-telling dance-drama from the 16th century.

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Chittoor Kottaram: Fairytale Setting

20140803_140823-001So you’ve kissed many a frog–chewed on lightly sautéed frogs-legs too as a believer of modern-day fairy tales–and eventually stumbled upon Prince Charming. You’re now planning to perhaps clang away in a vintage car, walk hand-in-hand into a rose-hued sunset, or charge off on a white steed to a happily ever after. Before that, live that romantic fairytale a little longer–the regal way–at Chittoor Kottaram, a royal rest-a-while tucked away amidst a glorious verdure.

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GHNP: Eco-treasure Trove

shangarh farmThe Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), covering an area of over 750 square kilometres, is located in the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, and is naturally hemmed in and shielded by snow covered ridges on three sides. It is contiguous with the Rupi Bhaba Wildlife sanctuary to its south-east, Pin Valley National Park to the north-east and Kanawar Wildlife Sanctuary in the north. Together, these areas constitute the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area – not just India’s youngest National Park, but also the nation’s most recent UNESCO-inscribed World Heritage Site (WHS).

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Kailash 1 (One), Dalhousie

Front view, KOKailash 1 is part of a cluster of three cottages by the same name, and sits prettily in the middle, overlooking the magnificence of snowy Pir Panjals beyond a deep valley. Located far from the madding crowd at Upper Bakrota, Dalhousie’s most alpine hill, this colonial-era cottage is your answer to a home-away-from-home. It comes equipped with two bedrooms & en-suite bathrooms, separate drawing and dining rooms, a fully functional kitchen, a veranda as well as a lawn running along two-sides.

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Review: Ballyhack Cottage, Shimla

photo 1The Ballyhack Cottage is arguably the best located property on Shimla’s famed Ridge – adjoining the Christ Church and minutes from the buzz of the Mall. Recently rebuilt, this five bedroom home has managed to tastefully incorporate the burnished wood sounds, smells and sights that usually age would accord such a place. It is, after all, set within the premises of the oldest surviving house built by the British, said to have been commissioned for then Governor General, Lord Amherst, in 1826. After a brief stint as the Christ Church Lodge, it passed into the hands of the present owners in 1946.

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Gunehar: Where & Why

4R6On a visit to Palampur last summer, at the urging of those at Norwood Green I found myself headed for a day-trip to village Gunehar, hitherto unheard of. Located in close proximity to Bir, largely known as a paragliding destination when twinned with Billing – an activity I have not yet had the desire (read courage) to experience. You see, my sense of adventure extends far beyond the pale, to the palate. Wolfing down meals at all sorts of dubious places works just as well for me, if not my innards. Indeed my aim even that day last year was to locate this cafe, supposed haven of culinary treats that its owner Frank Schlichtmann created himself. In that sense, it was a wasted effort; a hot coffee and hurried chat across the cab boot was all I got.

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Review: White Haven Estate, Dharamsala

Back LawnUndoubtedly Dharamsala’s most charming heritage, it is set at the top end of a large family-owned tea estate, far from the madding crowd. It was once owned by adventurers Robert Shaw, first European to set foot in the Central Asian city of Kashgar, and John Younghusband. The tea gardens are said to have been planted by them in the mid-1800s. The White Haven Estate–oozing character & equipped with the most enviable views–has been with the owning family for over 100 years now.

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Forlorn Fortifications

Colonial influences

Colonial influences

That undivided Punjab was astoundingly well-located on his inroad to Hindustan left many an invader swimmingly chuffed. Naturally, it left many a ruler at the receiving end suitably miffed. They began building citadels of varying sizes and strategic needs, studding the landscape with impregnable edifices whence the potentate in residence defended his moat-girded abode from behind crenellated ramparts and lofty barbicans.Over time, particularly with the advent of modern warfare, their original utility was rendered obsolete. The decadence of Mughal rule found some of them falling into colonial hands–ones that housed military barracks and training academies within, unmindful of destruction of heritage. Post Independence, they simply changed hands while maintaining status quo. Those in possession of owning nobility fell quickly into disrepair with the abolishing of the Privy Purse in 1971–ruination was just a matter of time.

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Review: Nalagarh House, Manali

IMG_0062You can be forgiven for believing you have entered the home of an English squire when you step into the tres chic drawing room at Nalagarh House. And you wouldn’t be that far from the truth, owned as it is by Vijayendra Singh, scion of the erstwhile Nalagarh State. A beautiful wood and stone fireplace crowned by a large gilt-edged mirror, blue pottery on the mantle, silken wallpaper, and roomy armchairs dressed in cheery blue and white chintz instantly set the tone for your vacation.

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Review: Norwood Green, Palampur

Norwood GreenImmaculately designed with a great deal of emphasis on detailing, the ever so plush cottages at Norwood Green lend an incredible amount of luxury to your stay here. Top that with the uninterrupted majesty of snow-tipped Dhauladhars across hillsides carpeted with tea plantation. Right from the word go, young Karan Grewal, your enthusiastic and delightfully-mannered host–he lives in the adjoining cottage–sets the tone as he personally walks you through your temporary home. Read more

Review: Himalayan Kothi, Kais

IMG_0009The Himalayan Kothi is a very fine example of Katkhuni, traditional Pahari architecture, unique in that it uses no vertical supports. Constructed by building a mesh of thick cedar rafters, later stacked with stone, this earthquake-resistant style is a fast disappearing sight in Himalayan architectural vocabulary. Still, it is heart-warming that Shalini and Rajeev Khimta, proud owners of this five bedroom house chose to showcase this style when they decided to build in their orchard near the Kais Sanctuary in the Kullu valley.

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The Devtas Of Himachal

20130728_103622-1Minakshi Chaudhry – Author and former journalist, she lives in Himachal and is a keen observer of people, culture, and lifestyles. Both she and her husband Rakesh love trekking and travelling. Minakshi has authored several books which include the bestselling Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills and More Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills

Other books by Minakshi: Whispering Deodars: Writings from Shimla Hills; Destination Himachal: 132 Offbeat and 12 Popular Getaways; Himachal: A Guide to the Land of Gods; 65 Treks and Over 100 Destinations: A Guide to Trekking in Himachal; Exploring Pangi Himalaya: A World Beyond Civilisation, 30 Easy Treks in Himachal; Sunshine: My Encounter with Cancer, and Love Stories of Shimla Hills.

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Driving Holiday – Spiti

Karan PicKaranbir Bedi, passionate traveller and national record holder in adventure sports, awoke one fine morning to the beautiful sound of rain. He felt dwarfed by his profession as a journalist, and decided it was time to quit his job and follow his heart- to travel and experience life to the fullest till his last breath.Thus was born the Himalayan Shepherd. Karan now spends every summer in Spiti, spearheading high altitude treks and other thrilling stuff, as well as co-managing the Deyzor Hotel in Kaza.

 

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ShopArt In-between

FrankFrank Schlichtmann spent a few years of his childhood in Kangra District with his Bengali Buddhist mother. His memory of those days brought him back to the valley in 2008 from far-away Hamburg, Germany. He has been a traveller, a film maker, a writer, a cook and many things, but now he is primarily a father of a 6-year old. He runs the 4tables project in Gunehar, of which ShopArt/ArtShop, the 4tables restaurant and the 4rooms hotel are puzzles.

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The Kingdom Of Chamba

During the course of my travel and research for Best Hill Escapes, I met and interfaced with a number of people across Himachal Pradesh, a state I claim natal association with. Thankfully this is one umbilical cord that has not needed severing as it continues to keep me close to its welcoming fold. Not least for old-timers, and new friends I have made along the way. That they were ever willing to step up, assist and guide me in my professional commitments notwithstanding: I even got them to write. In a series of (hopefully) less irregular posts, I will be sharing the thoughts, advice and information they generously shared with me.

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Best Escapes Hills

Presenting to you Best Escapes Hills, one of two babies lovingly laboured over most of last year – nine months actually, for the sake of exactitude and irony. A debut cleverly co-incided with the beginning of that time of the year when an escape to the hills is not just the only but your best option. Grab a copy and take your pick from over eighty splendid destinations across India. Summer has never been this inviting for soon – very soon – will arrive its equally worthy twin. Watch out.

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Goa’s Top Four: Sans Sand

I don’t like beaches. Trust me, I’ve tried. From Australia’s Surfers’ Paradise to South Africa’s Clifton, from Sweden’s Skane to home-grown Kovalam in Kerala. Yet, am unable to fathom all the song and dance around them. So when I find myself in Goa recently, I decide to maintain a steadfast distance, keep my flip-flops firmly on, and explore its non-sandy personality instead. Que surpresa!

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 The Sao Tome-Fontainhas Heritage Walk Treat yourself to a leisurely one hour ramble through Goa’s inextricable Portuguese ancestry. Take off point is Casa da Moeda (House of Coins) in the midst of Panjim’s historic Tobacco Square. Go past the 400-year old Sao Tome Chapel via cobbled alleys flanked by brightly-hued homes, pop into an ancient bakery, peer at traditional ceramic name plates, covered porches, art galleries and much else before ending at the character-oozing Panjim Inn for a well-deserved cuppa. Contact Jack Sukhija (+91 9823025748) for details.

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River Islands Only three reasons for you to be on the somnolent Divar Island: you live there, you are checking into the Devaaya Ayurveda & Nature Cure Centre, or like me, taking the ferry from Velha (Old) Goa to walk a less beaten path into rural tranquillity. Piedade village here is home to the Church Of Our Lady of Compassion, handsome Portuguese villas–some happily lived-in, some in disputed disrepair–and Marita’s Bakery, your only chance at munchies. Chorao Island, the other, is reached from Raibandar and mostly comprises swampy mangroves of the Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. You will do well to arm yourself with bus-timings to and from the islands as taxis are rare sightings.

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Goan Villages Give them a look-see, do. Not just the ones synonymous with tourist-choked beaches; them too, celebrated for quality produce of all manner. Once, Agassaim was the go-to for chorizos and sweet potatoes, Arpora for salt, Aldonha for chillies, Assagao for flowers. And we’re only just on alphabet ‘A’. You’re looking at maybe a half hour drive–at the very least–into a hinterland replete with the ever-evocative clichés of coastal Konkan: gangly palms fringing velvety paddy fields, shy clusters of red-roofed hutments smothered by gnarly cashew trees, a temple here, a church there, snaking waterways and a distant sea.

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Restaurants, not shacks The closest I came to scraping sand off my soles was the Calangute-located Casa Portuguesa. Only because it serves up some incredibly authentic Portuguese dishes, and is housed in a handsome old villa suffused in colonial hues amidst a tropical garden. A limited menu seafood delight, Cantare, makes up the front of a charmingly modified two-storied house in the Saligao area; solitude seekers will revel here. If you are in Panjim, do check-out Baba’s Wood Cafe for their Italian fare. Located deep in Fontainhas, you could combine your visit with the Heritage Walk.  Also, I wasn’t entirely honest at the onset. I did drag myself through an unavoidable swathe of beach to get to Souza Lobo; for, love (of food) ke liye kuch bhi karega. The undisputed repository of traditional recipes, they claim to be neither restaurant, nor shack, but a state of mind. I agree.

Note: This piece first appeared at Lonely Planet India.

Goan With The Flow

2013 was a particularly frenetic year on the road. Easing out only towards the last quarter when a couple of short trips took on a somewhat languorous air. They required little planning, lots of navigation (that’s another story altogether), and a relieve of charge. I liked it. So when a chance to carry forward said lassitude into 2014 showed up in the guise of a vacation in sunny Goa, I missed nary a beat before grasping it. Flowing some images by. Read more

Amritsar Heritage Walk

amritsar 056With my summery affair with the Himalayas temporarily yet firmly in the deep-freeze, I turn a bereft gaze towards that more accessible point of interest: a much-reviled, oft-overlooked, dust-laden, ever-sweltering Punjab. But we’re talking winters here. When it is at its glorious best and welcoming most. When freshly sown fields are turning a tentative green on a less fiery sun’s watch. When frosty mornings merge swiftly into hazy afternoons and smoky evenings. When NRIs descend in their droves for the aptly-termed ‘wedding season’ and that customary visit to the Golden Temple.   Read more

New Year Escapes

Tired of air-kissing buddies at run-of-the-mill New Year Eve parties? The predictable wind-down to midnight on television shows? The odd invite from hotels offering the usual suspects: booze, bonfires & Bollywood? This year, wake up and smell the New Year at any one of these delightful properties.  Read more

Escape Life Here

The true worth of long-term social hibernation I realised after re-surfacing from a brief self-imposed one very recently. Returning to a world crawling with obviously predatory bosses, apparently murderous parents, evidently untouchable seers, sick politicos and sickening media stories is hardly the welcome I wished for. Is it any wonder I want to cut loose yet again?

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Lodhi Garden: A Winter’s Tale

Unsurprisingly, seven ancient cities and one busy metropolis later, Delhi’s architectural skyline is dominated by forts, palaces, and sundry monuments at varying stages of (dis)repair. Then, there be those breathtaking ruins of historical remains, the tombs. Of which, the 15th century ones within the Lodhi Garden, in my opinion, out-rank by far many others that dot the National Capital.

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Kangra Fort: Strong & Silent

The erstwhile Katoch rulers of Kangra will have you know that this fabulous fort, spread eagled over a 4km radius, predates Christ. Other than providing a chronological perspective, that’s really not saying much. Given that the Mahabharata, in which Kangra finds a mention as the kingdom of Trigarta,  predates Christ by over three thousand years!   Read more

Gue Mummy: Frozen In Time

IMG_0263Gue is an unremarkable, nondescript village perched high in the stunning lunarscape that is Spiti. Roughly halfway between Tabo and Sumdo, a treacherous little road turns off the highway contouring along a nallah on one side, and an impossible mountain that periodically slides itself down to sit in your path, on the other. Yet, this road must be taken, in order to experience the ‘miracle’ that Gue hosts: A 500-year old (un-balmed) mummy, near perfect in its preservation, with teeth, nails, hair, tendons, still in place.

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Eye Candy

Chanced across these signs, slogans and legends while trotting around Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand earlier this year. Regrettably, missed capturing the one outside a shop in Kullu, that would have pipped these to the post. It proudly proclaimed in bold letters: ARMY EX-MAN. No, seriously.

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Chandertal Lake

Yet another high altitude Himalayan treasure, the Chandertal Lake, lies high (roughly 14,000 feet) beyond the main Kunzum range in Spiti Valley and is accessed via a fairly treacherous and bone-rattling dirt track. About three kilometres from Batal where you begin your ascent to Kunzum Pass, the ‘road’ veers off from the Manali-Kaza route at a rusted sign announcing you are some 14 kms from the lake; of which only 12.5 kms is jeep-able. Save for a couple of near empty camp-sites, there appeared to be little sign of life  as we competed with a rapidly setting sun to reach our destination. We won. I have photographic evidence.

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Ganga Aarti at Haridwar

Factored in some time for the evening prayers (conducted daily) at Har-ki-Pauri  when I overnight-ed at Rishikesh on my way to Garhwal this summer. It seemed, so had the entire world…and its uncle. Though it took me well over an hour to make the 15 kms between the two spiritual centres, it was worth every minute of the muggy June evening.

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Virasat-e-Khalsa Heritage Complex

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After winning an international competition to design this repository of Punjab’s heritage and culture at Anandpur Sahib, the much-feted Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, is said to have studied the Sikh faith for a couple of years before coming up with the design. Borrowing heavily from the vocabulary of fort architecture – bastions, moats, drawbridges, ramparts – he succeeded in his intention to accord it a 300-year-old flavour.

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Floral Exotica

So, it’s not like I didn’t get to see any flora when I was at the VOF in June this year. I did. Just don’t ask me what it’s called! You should also know, being wildflowers, they (mostly) come in two dainty sizes: tiny and small; none of those prize-winners-in-waiting that adorn your pots and proudly-crafted gardens. Often, images can be a tad misleading as they are shot in macro mode even though the first picture in this post is of a type that is organically large. See for yourself.

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