A Trip to Uttaranchal – II – Visiting Vijaypur

This year too, Sankho and I gave in to the call of the mighty Himalayas when we planned our autumn visit. This time we decided to reach an even higher altitude than the last year. So we decided to visit, Vijaypur and Munsyari. Our tour plan was to visit Munsyari via Vijaypur. The main reason for visiting Munsyari was to see the majestic Panchchulli peaks and to do a few treks in the surrounding hills.

For our tour we contacted Wayfarer Adventures and informed them about our tour plan. Mr. Vivek from Wayfarer Adventures made arrangements for our pick up & drop facilities from Kathgodam and to Kathgodam respectively and also arranged for transportation for all days touring.

Our tour plan was from 24th Sep’09 to 2nd Oct’09. However due to unavoidable circumstances we decided to start on 25th Sep’09 and asked Mr. Vivek whether he could provide us the pickup facilities from Delhi Airport.

He did that and we reached Kathgodam on the night of 25th Sep’09. We stayed at ‘Relax Inn’ which was a nice place to spend the night. We had a good dinner and good night’s sleep over there.

Next day morning we had a light breakfast and soon after we left for Vijaypur (210 kms, 6 hrs). We were given a fantastic Toyota Innova, which was driven by Mr. Bablu (Later Bablu Bhai became our close friend).

On the way, we crossed our favourite place Bhimtal, our favourite “Van Vilas” resort and the calm and quiet Bhimtal Lake. Sankho really loves this place. His eyes were sparkling after seeing again the beautiful landscape, which we had experienced last time and it seemed to me that he was trying to soak the whole thing again in those 10 minutes of time. His face was all lit up seeing the Bhimtal lake yet another time.

To reach Vijaypur our route took us through Bhowali, Almorah, Binsar and Bageshwar. As we were proceeding we started having simple chitchat with Mr. Bablu and soon after he became Bablu Bhai. We felt flattered when we came to know that Mr. Vivek would also accompany us in our tour and that the Toyota, which was given to us for touring, is actually owned by him along with the Wayfarer Resort. We were supposed to pick him up from the Garam Pani Market area. Almost after one hour we reached Garam Pani and met Vivek.

WOW! He was such a handsome guy. He looked extremely smart in a blue denim, white tee and a stylish Ray Ban. After the cheerful and pleasant introduction we had tea and started our journey further. On the way we crossed Almorah. We had visited Almorah last time and so Sankho and I were pretty much aware of the roads. We enjoyed the fact that we had not forgotten even a single thing that we had experienced on the last visit. We continued our journey till Binsar and had a small break there for having lunch.

Binsar – A famous place for its BIRDS and its forest. Overwhelming green beauty of Mother Earth is incomparable here. I personally believe that each one of us should contribute some time to save and protect our green world.

Quoting from Wikipedia – “Binsar is a beautiful, quiet and wild Himalayan destination with rich natural surroundings among dense forest. Binsar is perched on top of the Jhandi Dhar hills. This place is situated 33 km north of the Almora town in the Uttarakhand state of India.

From Binsar one can see the 300 km panoramic view of the Himalayan peaks like Kedarnath Peak, Shivling, Trisul and majestic Nanda Devi from a place called ‘Zero Point’.”

At Binsar apart from the natural beauty, I was most enthralled by the stunning silence of the place. When we were crossing the place we hardly came across any other sounds besides the birds’ tweet, rustling of dry and fallen leaves and whistling of air passing through the Oaks and pines. Most amazingly, I was able to distinguish all the sounds at a time. Here we spotted the Whistling Thrush and the Himalayan Woodpecker. I would prefer to visit this place again and again just because of its wild jungle beauty.

After Binsar next was Bageshwar. Bageshwar is situated at the confluence of Sarayu and Gomti. The holy township of Bageshwar is also famous for many old temples. Bageshwar has an average elevation of 1,004 meters (3,294 feet). Nobody can ever argue with me regarding the beauty of this place. Bageshwar is situated between many peaks and has nice plain areas nestled amidst these peaks. This green valley reminded me about all those fairy tales which talked about the beauty of heaven. We spent a few hours at Bageshwar before heading for Vijaypur.

Vijaypur is not very well known among tourists and that was the best part of our tour. Every time, before our trip I search and collect information from the Internet on all places to be visited. Rarely did I come across any detailed information regarding Vijaypur. Even Wikipedia does not provide any information on the place. It was a stopover place for us. We needed to spend a night somewhere before we reached Munsyari. From Kathgodam to Munsyari is a long journey and it was strongly advised to take a break at some point.

Wayfarer made all arrangements for our break and stay-back at night. We reached Vijaypur around 3 pm and realized how lucky we were to get connected with the Wayfarer Guys.

Let me tell you that Vijaypur is an extremely beautiful place. Its virgin, untouched beauty is truly seductive for nature lovers. I can bet that you will fall in love with this place. Vijaypur is greener than the green, nicer then the nicest.

Visiting Vijaypur was all the more better because of the Wayfarer resort. Wayfarer has nice eco friendly huts at Vijaypur. The Huts are ‘hot’, sexy and very comfortable. The whole Wayfarer resort area is situated between green pine forests all alive with flowers, birds and smells of raw earth. Adding to it, Vijaypur also provides fantastic panoramic views of the Himalayas. Unfortunately 26th September’2009 was a cloudy day and we were unable to get a decent view of the Himalayas from the place. We spent a very leisurely time at Vijaypur. Night was sexy with a glowing moon and cold breeze.

Next day morning we woke up around 7 am and looked outside through the window and were left speechless with the beauty of the endless forest. This lush and peaceful corner in on earth is worth visiting. I enjoyed the morning session by exploring the forest, taking photographs of the sun’s rays penetrating through pines. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Himalayas from Vijaypur before we left for Munsyari.

Bird Watching – Worth Experiencing

Since my childhood days I was pretty much involved in watching birds. For me watching birds was simply to see their activities, their colors, to know the sounds of their chirp. I believe birds are the most beautiful creatures of God, and their tweets are the most pleasant sounds in the nature. If you notice them carefully, you will know how lively and beautiful they are. It seems to me that their natural colors are incomparable and unmatched. I always thought I wish I could be look good and beautiful with a dress of Parrot green color, or I wish I would have got a sari of the color of Scarlet Minivet. This was what my Bird Watching, simply to search for vibrant natural colors and listen to God owns singers. And as I grew up my interests on photography become one more vital factor for observing birds and capturing them into the frame.

But now let me disclose a truth. I never knew that there is a concept known as “Bird Watching” or “Birding” and many people spend much of time on bird watching. Many are engaged in doing research on birds and they are known as “Bird Watchers”. I never knew that many travel or tourist operators make arrangement for “Bird Watching.” These operators engage professional bird watcher to guide, help their tourists.

Now you guys must be thinking that why I have started writing on “Bird Watching”. Because this time when we (me and my hubby) visited Himalaya we met two persons “Vivek” and his driver “Bablu Bhai” who are very much learned and knowledgeable on “Bird Watching”. These are the two persons who introduced us on the concept of Birding or Bird Watching and I ended up writing a blog posts on the concept. Now let’s know what is called Bird Watching. As per the Wikipedia definition “Bird watching or birding is the observation and study of birds with the naked eye or through a visual enhancement device like binoculars. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are more readily detected and identified by ear than by eye. Most birdwatchers pursue this activity mainly for recreational or social reasons, unlike ornithologists, who engage in the study of birds using more formal scientific methods.”

Now let me share my experiences. This time when we were crossing Binsar, Sankho asked Vivek that why Binsar is so famous? I replied back as “It is famous for birds. Here you can see rare Himalayan, north Indian birds.” Vivek and Bablu bhai agreed and told us they can help us knowing Himalayan birds in case we are interested.

Very next day on the way to Munsyari, we halted at many places simply to see rare Himalayan birds.
First I saw Himalayan Woodpecker. But unfortunately it was so restless I was unable to capture any photos of it.

Next I saw the beautiful Scarlet Minivet. I saw the male Scarlet Minivet. These male species are having stunning red colored feathers with black patches. These minivets are usually found in southern Asia and their common resident is forest specially in hilly areas. I was fortunate enough to capture the following two.

White-capped Water-redstart was the next who was waiting for us with its beauty. Oh! God! How graceful you are! You gave me an opportunity to see this beautiful life.
White-capped Water-redstart mainly found at mountain streams and rivers.

Then we saw an unknown bird which looks like White-capped Water-redstart.

On the way we saw many others, being an unprofessional & novice bird watcher I was unable to capture many of them. However successfully took the snaps of Himalayan Griffon, Red Billed Blue Magpie, Whistling Thrush and Wagtail.

Tips for Adwords Optimization – Phase – II – Identify Audiences & Build up Marketing Strategy

Once you have defined your businesses, now you should identify your audiences and build up specific marketing strategy to achieve the desired business goal.

To identify your audiences you need to know who are your prospective buyers. Who will search for the product you are offering? For online business you should know that what information you require to add on your website and how to organize it. You should have all those information in your site, which your prospective buyers may search for.

Depending on the targeted audiences you develop your marketing strategy and business plan.

“Marketing is defined by the American Marketing Association as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. The term developed from the original meaning which referred literally to going to market, as in shopping, or going to a market to sell goods or services.

Marketing practice tends to be seen as a creative industry, which includes advertising, distribution and selling. It is also concerned with anticipating the customers’ future needs and wants, which are often discovered through market research.”

You need to consider few major issues while preparing your business strategy or business plans, such as:

The product you want to sell. Product means this could be any like any consumable products, a brand, a service, a website or anything which is sellable.

Where do you like to market? I mean how do you like to position your products and services in the targeted market. You need a proper segmentation. Segmentation will help you divide your markets into subsets with similar needs. Consumer segmentation may include geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation, socioeconomic segmentation etc.

Once you have the proper marketing goal, the defined market now you should concentrate on cost effective advertising strategy.

An advertising strategy is a campaign, which is to create and to communicate a specific message to its prospective buyers. Advertising is generally to communicate ideas about the products or services among the potential buyers. Advertising is to create and cater message to its potential buyers and to convince them to buy the products or the services.

As I mentioned in my earlier post for those who are having online businesses and those are interested to make a mark on internet world, they should trust Google. Google Adwords can be the most profitable advertising strategy for online business owners and effective use of Google Adwords can give you the best return on investment.

On my next post I will explain how to use Google Adwords effectively. Till then you might be interested in the following articles:

Tips for Adwords Optimization – What is Google Adwords
Tips for Adwords Optimization – Phase I – Define your business

Tips for Adwords Optimization – Phase I – Define your business

As I mentioned on my earlier post that to become successful in Google Adwords you must understand your business well. Have a defined market to target and know your audiences and their requirements. Your audience will help you decide on your advertising goals.

Now when you know what is Google Adwords, you should know few other aspects on the overall process.

I have segregated this process as the following:

• Know your Business
• Know your Market
• Know your Audiences
• Know your Advertising Goals
• Start work on Google Adwords

Define your Business: Business is everywhere. Every economic activity that takes place can be defined as business. There are no specific thumb rules to define business. It’s the cumulative effort of many, which brings together time, effort and money to generate profit can be defined as business. However every business is not meant for generating profits like cooperatives; non-profit organizations are few to mention.

Different options are there to classify a business:

Service Business, Manufacturer, Retailers & Distributors, Financial Business, Real Estate Business, and Transportation or might be simple pull car service for school going little angels.

Whatever it is, you must have build up your business with passion. RIGHT!

Now this passion needs to be packaged with focused plan. Without a plan means you are working without a goal. So basically you don’t know all your effort should reach where.

So you must have proper business PLAN.

Once you have the proper business plan, your plan should be equipped with quality resources like good and reliable financer, quality support services like vendors/suppliers etc. Channel their business goal through your business goal.

Now its time for competitor analysis. Who are the other players in the market? Who are the winners? A SWOT analysis is also recommended here.

“Try to get a realistic view of what you’re heading toward”.

Tips for Adwords Optimization – What is Google Adwords

Once said, “Google Adwords can be the most profitable advertising you’ll ever do, provided you do it correctly”- Yes I believe this concept too.

Since last two years I am using Google Adwords for my site. Now I believe I should share my experiences with you all.

Google is a great tool to use. Starting from search to using its latest Google trend options all are very much helpful to make your business successful. Effective use of Google Adwords can give you the best return on investment, at the same time this can drain out your money at the max if not understood properly or not used competently.

For those who are having online businesses and those are interested to make a mark on Internet world, they should trust Google. You might be thinking that why I am promoting Google, no I am just sharing my experiences.

Whoever is searching something in net means human activity is taking places. This is the first point where I would like to ponder. To make my online business a profitable entity I need quality traffic or visitor daily. To have the most quality traffic I need to ensure that those who are landing on my pages are not software based crawler or non-human crawler.
To conform the above, only thing I can believe is that Internet user using search engine to search for their desired results and landed up in my site. Hence if I can trap the search engine users, I am assured of having genuine visitors. The most reliable way that I can use to bring quality visitors is search engine advertising and I want a cost effective way to bring more visitors.

Here I start thinking of using Google Adwords Campaign. With the presence of Adwords tool I can target the prospective targeted market at the very moment when they are start thinking about their desired service. For example if some one is searching for “Ladies Jeans” Adwords will only show results related to “Ladies Jeans”. This is what I called as Most Targeted Advertising (MTA) or Effective Targeted Advertising (ETA). These are my own terminology.

NOW! What is Google Adwords?

Open Google.com in a browser and type “Ladies Jeans” in the search box and hit the search button. You can see two types of results are found. The major parts of the search results are known as organic search results and the results showing at the right panel and placed under the heading of “Sponsored Links” is known as the Adwords results or paid advertisements.

Each and Every advertiser is bidding for the keyword “Ladies Jeans” or with keywords like “Jeans”, which targets a broader market or audiences. Higher the bidding values, higher are the ad rankings, i.e. the way ads appear. However advertisers goal should be to generate lowest CPC (Cost-Per-Click) value or to achieve lowest CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition) value and the highest quality clicks (Leads, sales, members).
Now once you know what is Adwords, its time to optimize your advertising goal through Adwords.

Tips for successful using of Google Adwords:

I have segregated this process as the following:

Know your Business

Know your Market

Know your Audiences

Know your Advertising Goals

Start work on Google Adwords

On my next post I will describe the above-mentioned processes in detail.

LinkedIn Connections 50 – That means a lot

Today I have achieved a long time desired goal. Today I have completed Linkedin connections 50, that means a lot to me. Probably you guys are thinking why I am saying so. So many other people are also there as a LinkedIn member, so what the special about it.

Let me explain you what is special about it.

One day I heard about the name Linkedin and I heard it helps finding old friends, old colleagues and also help you to build up your professional network. It was what I knew all about Linkedin. Then one day on free lazy moments I started browsing Linkedin. I joined Linkedin with simple most registration process and then started searching my old friends and old colleague. I continued for long but was unable to find any of my friends and I left. But I crawled profiles of few unknown people and which left me with unknown curiosity.

Sooner or later I came back and started crawling Linkedin with more inquisitiveness.

Initially it was bit confusing and I was unable to understand that what exactly I was supposed to do. Only one think driven me madly to fill up my profile details was a green progress bar. More I was completing my profile the green progress bar was getting filled up with more percentage. And then slowly as I continued providing all my school/college information and professional details and got my profile updated till date it started showing me 100% profile completion message. Once I completed my profile details it was time for searching for my friends and ex-colleagues. I imported my email address book; I found few of my old friends whose id was eventually there on my address book were also registered in LinkedIn. You must be thinking that if old friends mail ids were there in your address book, so why did not you try to connect them? YEA, good question indeed. May be I tried but there was no response or might be they had tried and they didn’t receive any response from my side. We all know this reluctance kills every relationship.

Anyway I imported my address book and sent them invitations. Magically all of them accepted my invitations and they replied to my mails on the very next day. I had also found that they are all well placed. Adding them in my network left me with pride.

I felt that why not showcasing my profile through Linkedin. I optimized my profile with more details and at the same time continue growing my networks through my mail contacts.

It was the first attempt how I learnt about Linkedin. But just after few days I started receiving invitations from others, who are willing to add themselves in my network. Oh, it was having a cumulative affect. Do you know how? Linkedin is having a feature called “People you may know”. Suddenly I found a name there. It resembles one of my close relative’s name with whom I lost connections since last two and half years and I had very less ideas about his whereabouts. I checked the complete profile and was confirmed that yes it was he, whom I knew very well. I was happy seeing him there. Now we have ideas that what we are and where we are. My dear it’s not end here.

As time passes I received recommendation from few of my ex-colleagues and also added them in my network. Then one day going back home I met my ex-boss. I thanked him on that day being making me webby and helping me knowing Google, Yahoo from different aspects. Later on he accepted my Linkedin invitations and recommended me with his overwhelming words. Now my profile is worth showcasing.

Till here story was good to share, but now there are more to reveal.

One fine morning when I was checking my mails I found somebody sent me networking invitation. I checked the profile and added, then after I received a mail asking me to give a call to the given number or else to provide my number. As usual no exception I was curious and made the call from a public phone booth. The person on the other side informed me regarding a position, which was available in a reputed company. Though the position was based on Mumbai but I appeared for the impromptu telephonic interview. Booth owner was happy but the customers on the queue were not at all happy. No matter whether I joined there or not but I was impressed with the LinkedIn success of “Over 30 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities”.

Guys believe my words I got three other offers only from Linkedin. Don’t you feel this information is worth sharing?

Anyway I invite you all to join my professional network in

A trip to Uttaranchal – Himalaya Darshan

Third day was important as we decided to visit great Himalaya. The trip was planned as, we will reach Kausani by visiting Almorah, Chaukri and we will return via Ranikhet, Kumaon Regiment and the other locations. We will stay back at Kausani for one night to see the sunrise beauty at Himalaya. Undoubtedly the trip was one of the best trip I had ever in my life. The driver Dinesh was too good and very sober. We reached Kausani, by 4 p.m. visiting Almorah, Chaukri and other places. We stayed at hotel Deepraj. It was not that popular and we were given a small room that was at the one corner of the hotel and the complete valley was visible from the room window. We happily accepted the offer without knowing the problem of the room. Anyway we had tea. Tea was good and very refreshing. I was taking rest and Sankho was busy bargaining for room rates, dinner rates etc. etc. Suddenly I looked outside and saw something at the end of the valley. What’s that? It was cloudy and unable to understand that what I saw exactly. I stared outside for long and can’t stop myself to come outside. I went up to the terrace and my camera was all ready. I had never experienced the view before as a result I was unable to understand that what exactly I was seeing. Is it soft white clouds or something peeping behind the clouds? Isn’t it sharp and glossy? Is it a snow peak? What’s that? I started taking snaps randomly and I was sure that it must be a snow peak. Suddenly the hotel boy came up and started shouting, “Are Himalaya dikh raha hain, Himalaya dikh raha hain.” Oh! God. I am standing in front of the great Himalayas. We all were lucky enough. Suddenly the weather becomes so clear that a part of the Himalayas were completely visible. The portion was visible was the famous peak Trishul. We all enjoyed the sunset beauty at Himalaya. The visible Himalayan range turned reddish with afternoon sunlights. We enjoyed this beauty from the Gandhi Ashram.

We came back at hotel and have a good but not so good dinner and then we found that room is too small and the bed was even smaller than that. Thank god we were married. J I set the alarm at 4 a.m. and slept. Sankho was busy discussing on debtor lists with his boss. These guys will never change. I hate thinking about office on vacation. I slept, but Sankho and his boss spent long time over the phone discussing their business. Dark, cold night was not much comfortable as the bed was too small for both of us. We didn’t have sound sleep.

I woke up before 4 a.m. and prepared myself for going outside. I was ready wearing jeans, pullover, gloves and sneakers. Then I went outside silently and obviously there was none. Outside was cold and darker than the darkest night I had ever seen. I looked every corner of the horizon and found endless darkness and silence. I looked at my watch and it was 15 minutes left 4 a.m. Then suddenly I found two bright light spots. Before I understand, two lights vanished. What’s that? Lights were looking like two points, as we used those points in geometry in our math classes. I was spellbound with the beauty and the mystery of the darkness and I became numb. Don’t know how long I was standing there. Suddenly those two points of lights were again visible, this time I realized that points are moving and two absolute straight lines formed with the light rays. It was impossible to understand that how far those lights were but I could realize that a car was climbing up. The car was far, far away from me and the height differences of these two places were huge. It was 4 a.m. then, I was starring at those two light points as it was still visible and points are now larger than before. Suddenly a frightening feeling sweeps through my spine. Something is standing just besides me. I knew I was alone there on the terrace. Then what’s that? I turned around. Oh! My gosh! A black bear! No a black leopard! No a huge black dog. Thank God! At least I can fight. But it was working as a responsible night guard. It was following me and watching every here and there for any suspicious activities. I realized that I am safe here and basically it was guarding its guest. It was 4.15 a.m. then. I experienced every bit of moment of conversion of light. Soft rays of light were emerging from the endless dark horizon. I saw, I experienced the Himalayan beauty of dawn. Yea it was only me who experienced that moment alone. So many other days may be much more beautiful than 9th October’2008. Many other events must be more remarkable than what I had experienced there on that day, but the beauty I experienced on that day is unforgettable for me.

First the whole exposed valley turns to unmatched purplish blue color. May be that is the next shade of dark black color. Then bluish valley turns into lighter blue color revealing all its beauty slowly, slowly. It was extremely beautiful when I saw an unknown power was painting its own imagination with different colors and shades. Very slowly the complete valley was emerging from the darkness with proud Himalaya standing at its border. It turned greenish with a beautiful reddish halo at its back. Now it’s time to wait for that moment which I craved for long. When the first rays of light will touch the Himalayan peak. Its already morning 5.30 and now I am accompanied by my husband and few other visitors. Suddenly we saw the peak of Trishul was glittering and it turned golden. We were yet to see the sunrays but it was the first daylight touched the glorious Trishul. It seemed to me that liquid gold was flowing from the peak.

As time passes the whole Himalayan range was visible and it turned milky white. Wow what a beauty.

We all gathered on the terrace of the hotel, we cheered up, as it was a great success viewing Himalaya. It seemed to me that all journey turns to a jubilant moment when we saw the whole range of Shivalic Himalaya.

A trip to Uttaranchal – Visiting Nainital

After the wonderful Bhimtal visit our second day trip was planned for Nainital. Next morning we woke up early and saw the unforgettable beauty of rising sun. Sun rose just from the back of those unknown peaks, which are flanking the Bhimtal Lake. The whole lake was seemed to be the bank of melted gold. It was awesome. I called it as beauty undefined. We enjoyed the calm and peaceful morning.

After having the Kumaoni breakfast we started for Nainital. “Nainital is a town in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and headquarters of Nainital district in the Kumaon foothills of the outer Himalayas. Situated at an altitude of 1,938 meters (6,358 feet) above sea level, Nainital is set in a valley containing a pear-shaped lake, approximately two miles in circumference, and surrounded by mountains, of which the highest are Naina (2,615 m (8,579 ft)) on the north, Deopatha (2,438 m (7,999 ft)) on the west, and Ayarpatha (2,278 m (7,474 ft)) on the south.”

First we visited Nainital Zoo. It was high enough to climb and to visit all the preserved life. At Nainital Zoo you will find some native high altitude species. We opted for few and then left. But we were fortunate enough to see few leopards (Cheetah), as they were awake and moving around behind the barricade. Here in the dense forest we saw Himalayan owl and a huge snow leopard. Thank God they all were behind the fence. Otherwise I would have not been writing this blog post. From there we started for famous Mal road of Nainital. We walked along the Mal road. It was crowded because of the tourists. It’s prime-shopping zone. This place is famous for its traditional woolen clothes, shawls, scarves, cardigans and local jams. I pointed out few of the shop where colorful cardigans were available. We planned for shopping during return.

We were enjoying our lazy holidays with popcorn, coffee along with the soft sun and the cool breeze of Naini Lake. We enjoyed ropeway journey at Nainital, which connects Snow View point with Nainital. “Snow View is situated at an altitude of 2,270 m (7,448 ft) and located atop the Sher-ka-danda Ridge (north by north-east of the town centre), is easily reachable by cable car. On a clear day, it offers spectacular views of the snowbound high Himalaya, including Nanda Devi, Trisul, and Nanda Kot. The best time of the year for viewing the mountains is late October and November.” From the cable car the bird view of whole Nainital was awesome. We had zeera aloo and chilled beer at Snow View point and opted for few photo shoots.

Once the modeling was over we started for China Peak. The highest peak of Nainital. I was excited to visit that place as the local driver told us that from China Peak Himalaya is visible and once upon a time China Wall was also visible. And after a certain range cars are not allowed to climb up only horse ridding or trekking is possible. I was excited because I felt I would be able to see an extended range of Uttaranchal at a glance. Also I will opt for horse riding to unveil the untamed beauty of the lower Himalayan range. We started and visited those entire famous places like “Lover’s Point”, “Suicide Point” and visited an unknown spring. The spring was beautiful. Needless to say photo shoots was done there. After that we started for China Peak, but after certain distance our driver informed that we have reached the dead end zone and now onwards we have to go by walking or we need to opt for horse riding and to reach China Peak we have to cover 11 – 12 kilometers. Knowing that, my husband discarded both the option and he denied visiting China Peak. I was mourning because of his decision. Anyway I opted for horse riding to came back to nainital, as I never experienced horse riding before. We came back to Nainital and visited to Naina Devi Temple. We prayed there. We visited Tibetan market and shop for woolen clothes. It was a happy shopping time. We spent long time near Mallital and Tallital and then back to our resort.

A trip to Uttaranchal – Bhimtal Journey

Since long I am not writing. I cannot show any excuse, because there was no such reason that refrain me from writing. Yea I was busy with different other stuff but I could have written few lines for you all.

Anyway today I would like to tell you all, about my last trip, a trip to Uttaranchal.

We reached there on 7^th of October’2008 at 1.30 a.m. It was a dark night and no one around. It seemed to me that we were at the end of the world. I was scared because serpentine roads were dangerous and the foggy darkness made the route more mysterious. We, me & my husband were accompanied by the two unknown kumaoni person, one was the driver and other one was the hotel boy. It was a 1 hr. journey to reach the resort. With absolute strangers we reached our resort around 2.30 a.m. There they offered us a cozy, comfy room. They told us this is the best room of the whole resort because the room facing the spectacular view of the outside. Interior of the room was undoubtedly nice and a side of the room had a nice open balcony but else we were unable to understand because of the darkness outside. Anyway they helped us to manage our luggage and we felt that we reached the resort safely. We were damn tired and we slept as soon as the guys left.

Next day morning we woke up when the doorbell rang and it was 10 a.m. We got up and looked at the balcony, and rushed towards the balcony to open the drapes. Wow!!! We cannot believe our eyes. Such a beautiful picturesque scenery just in front of us. Our room was facing a huge lake, later we came to know that is known as Bhimtal Lake. Just behind that, mountains were standing like hands in hand. Few boats were floating in the lake. It was heavenly!

Oops! We forget that doorbell is still buzzing. Sankho opened the door; a 16-17 years old kumaoni boy is standing. Bed tea being offered. We realized that we are spending our leisure time. Otherwise on normal time we can’t expect having bed tea. Anyway we ordered for our breakfast. We had bread omelet, chutney and hot coffee. Then we prepared ourselves for our journey. We hired a car that was waiting outside for us.

The first day trip was for Sattal, Garurtal, Naukuchiatal, Ghora Khal and for other roadside views. We started around 12 p.m. and first visited Bhowali. Bhowali is a junction area for getting bus, taxi, trekker to move anywhere in Uttaranchal. From Bhowali, we visited Sattal. It was a beautiful place indeed. “Sattal or Sat Tal is an interconnected group of seven freshwater lakes situated in the Lower Himalayan Range near Bhimtal, a town of the Nainital Lake District in the Uttarakhand state of India. These lakes sit at an altitude of 1370 meters below lush orchards in the Mehragaon valley.” At Sattal we enjoyed the scenic beauty, had tea made by the local people and of course I did modeling there. Sankho took my snaps wearing the local ghagra & choli. Yea obviously I was looking good.

From Sattal next we visited Naukuchiatal. Naukuchiatal is famous for having nine corners in the lake. It’s also famous for its scenic beauty. You can also walk along the hilly roads, and get the pleasure of nature’s freshness. Green valleys and innocent local villagers are worth mentioning. Don’t forget to have tea, and zira rice there. Because the essence you will not get anywhere else.

We spent a very good time during the first day trip. We visited few other popular areas like Hanuman Garhi, Golu Devta temple and Garurtal. We came back at our resort around 5.30 p.m. We placed order for snacks. It was chicken pakora and vodka for Sankho and for me it was delicious chicken sweet corn soup. After that we had our dinner and planned for our next day trip with the resort manager Mr. Akash. Our second day trip was for Nainital and the surrounding areas.

All that I can do with myself…

I will be your dream, I will be your wish I will be your fantasy.
I will be your hope, I will be your love be everything that you need.
I love you more with every breath truly madly deeply do..
I´ll be strong I´ll be faithful ´cause I am counting on a new beginning.
A reason for living. A deeper meaning. Yea..

I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to lay like this forever,
Till the sky falls down on me…

And when the stars are shining brightly in the velvet sky,
I will make a wish send it to heaven then make you wanna cry..
The tears of joy for all the pleasure & the certain´ty.
That we are surrounded by the comfort & protection of..
The highest powers. In lonely hours. The tears devour you..

I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to lay like this forever,
Till the sky falls down on me…

Oh can you see it baby?
You do not have to close your eyes ´cause it is standing right before you.
All that you need will surely come…

I will be your dream I will be your wish I will be your fantasy.
I will be your hope, I will be your love, be everything that you need.
I will love you more with every breath truly madly deeply do…

I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to lay like this forever,
Till the sky falls down on me…

I want to stand with you on a mountain,
I want to bathe with you in the sea.
I want to live like this forever,
Till the sky falls down on me…

oh yea… oh yea

Album: Savage Garden (1997)

I am living my life……..

Happy New Year to All

Once again we are to cross one more milestone. It’s time to bid adieu 2007.

I was memorizing the events of 2007 that occurred in my life in the last few months. It is nice to remember all the nice and sweet part of your life but it is painful to remember all the grievances, losses and disputes.

I was thinking if we can start a new life from 2008 onwards. If we can expect a better world than ever before. I may sounds heavy, but I really mean it.

Anyway here in my office scenario is completely different. Everybody is in their best spirit and in a very jolly mood. All are in a mood to have fun. We have converted these energetic moods in colorful competition to make it a memorable day for all of us. We have arranged a competition among cubicles. We will decorate our own cubicles and the best one will be the winner. We are now busy with colorful balloons and ribbons. Everybody is trying their best. Every cubicle is trying something different than others. Yes we have used three silver and blue colored Chinese lanterns. Those simply changed the looks of our cubicle. We have more to disclose among others. We will decorate our cubicle with chocolates. Anybody can pick up as much as they want and simply enjoy. How’s the idea.

I hope you guys are also enjoying in your own style. What’s your New Year party plan?

Anyway guys enjoy. See you on next year. Till then

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.

My New Year Resolutions:

This is the best time to set goals for the coming year 2008. I am not the exception so I did it please read:

• I don’t like to get up in the morning. Please do not disturb me before 7.30 a.m. and on holidays not before 10 a.m.
• I will shop more and more so please don’t restrict me.
• Will buy more dolls.
• Every Saturday night will be a disco night.
• Every Sunday has to be a movie day.
• More blogging.
• More googling.
• Personal site launch.
• Yes more photography.
• Recording more videos.
• Exploring unknown destinations.
• There should not be any rules and regulations in my life.

What’s about you dear?