Waterbanks Adventure in DamDama Lake

Venue : Damdama Lake, 25 Km North West of Gurgaon on Sohna Road
Date : 25th Dec 2005
Description : Masti, Dhamal and Adventure. These three words describe
the whole trip. We started at around 9:30 AM from Noida. It was a bit
late as we reached there by 12:00 PM. The place is located around 1 km
from main road and now days can be reached by Car in muddy roads or by
boat. But in rainy seasons, only way to reach there is by Boat. The
place is a dense a forest with camps and adventure games located in
between.
Games : As soon we reach there, breakfast(Veg Sandwitch, Soup and
Tea/Coffe) was ready. After re-charging ourselves, K&K went for Table
Tennis and V&S started to look around. The place is big almost size of
two football stadiums with various sports facilities like Rope Burma
Bridge, Tarzan swing, Flying Trapeze, Tampoline, Spiders web, Valley
Crossing, Shooting etc. In mid of all this, you can just enjoy sitting
in Hamaks and Easy chairs also two big halls(hut shaped) to protect from
rain. A 1000W music was playing in the main hall where a TT table and a
Basket ball is also placed.
How we went: We started first with Burma Bridge. The bridge start
swinging when you are in middle. I tried to scare others by jumping when
they were in middle. It was not at all risky as instead of roap in base,
tehy have used wodden planks. Yes, but coming down from the bridge, the
web is very loose and you have to be carefull not stucking in it. K has
to go for a rescue operation for a uncle with his little daughter
Tamanna as he was not able to cross the middle portion alone.
Next thing was Trapeze swing. For those who dont know, its a pulley on
which you just hang by your hands and slide downa rope. Though it was
not more than 100 mt, it was fun. Next we went for spider web, It was a
net(same used in Football Post) spread over a frame like tent. You have
to cross it from one end to other. We started with a challange who cross
it first. KD started very fast and was almost to reach till end but he
has to come back to help KK. V started slowely and together as family
won the race. Next was Tarzan swing as you have seen in movies hanging
on roap and crossing a small pot. It was very small mainly for kids.
Then we went for Rock Climbing. Again, KD started first but was unable
to reach top. I touched the top. Gals were also able to reach till
midway. We also jumped on Tampoline.
Now it was time for lunch. The lunch was quite good with chicken curry,
paneer, aloo gobi, dal makhni, roti, rice and gulab jamuns. Now with
stomach full, we spent some time on green grass in bright sun.
Last thing we did was shooting, The aim was a bottle hanging in middle
from a tree. Initially it seemed difficult but all of us hit it.
Amazing. Now it was 4:30 and we have to leave.
The things we couldnt do or try were, valley crossing, some group games
like fighting your enemy in jungle and fishing. And yes we do saw some
wild animals like Neel gay and fox and peacocks.
This was end of the trip.

Venice : The city of Love

Venice: The city for lovers. Aptly said. I missed my sweetheart. The city of canals. Every where you see water. You walk in any direction for 100 mtr and you find your way is blocked by a canal. People have steamers parked outside their homes like we park cars.
Reaching there: Checkout Google.
What to see: Again lots of sites giving this info. I suggest take a Grand Canal Pass for 9 euros. Now you have two ways either by walking or by steamer. The city is very small. Do visit Murana Iceland and its Glass Factories. I missed it. Wait till night in Venice. The city looks marvelous in water. The lights twinkling in water. Enjoy the cool breeze at the port. Just watch setting sun. Too many things to do too short a life.
Gondola: This is special kind of Boats in Venice. The charges are too high. For 40 minutes and up to 5 people they charge anything from 80 euros to 150 euros. Do bargain.. I prefer to go on gondola ride in evening but its up to you.
Gifts to buy: You can buy the masks of PoP. Don’t buy from shops on main streats. Go inside on smaller Gallis and you find things cheaper. Silk ties and Murana Glass items are other things to go for.

Milan

Milan: The city of fashion, fashion capital of world, the city of culture fused with modern values. I happened to be here for a while. I will share my experiences in few lines below. Don expect it to be informative but its just my experiences.
City : The main city is very small, probably within 10 km from 1 end to other but like other big cities if world, the sub urban area is developed and quite large. Starting from Monza in North to Turino in east. By the way, turino is the place from where Sonia Gandhi belongs to. City is full of medieval period monuments and Italian know the art of preserving their cities. I have seen it in Pompeii.
Traffic: The traffic inside Milan is very busy. You will find signals every 100 mt. The lights are never synchronized. So you clear 1 light and wait for next one. Its better you use ATM (Azencia Transport Mialno) metro services. Very good and very fast. Many roads are single ways so even you make mistakes and find yourself lost.
Eating: My favorite. Being an Indian, I prefer to eat Indian food and you have plenty of Indian restraints in Milan. I visited around 7 or 8. The best one is Rangoli in Via salferino. Take a metro to Mascowa(on green line near Garibaldi FS). From there its walking distance. Wonderful ambience along with warm reception from host makes you feel like being in India. The food is good. The owner Mr Mohan Chauhan is a nice person who make it sure that he take care of each customer personally. Second rank holders are Sukriti(1st Indian restraint in Milan), Just Indian and Angan. The worst ones are New Delhi, Taste of India, Tandoor. For list of all restraints checkout http://www.indiandinner.com/. Apart from Indian food, I tried Mexican(DixiLand near Garibaldi), Italian(all other) and Chinese(very bad). There are Mc Donald all over so no problem if you eat non veg. For vegetarians, Pasta and Marghrita Pizza is good option.
Shopping: three kinds of markets. First one is very costly. These shops are located near Duamo(central Cathedral). Le Rinnasante, Zara, Upim are famous ones. Second level is medium budget. Try shopping at Corsa Bunes Aires near Loreto. Checkout sale at UCB shop near Lima Metro stop on Corsa Bunes Aires. Just get down at Loreto and walk straight forward on this road. You have so many shops with reasonable prices. The road side market is cheapest one. Try a Saturday road market on a street near Corsa Buenes aires(Right if u r going from Loreto to Lima). For electronic goods, Mediaworld and Euronics are good chains. Caution, checkout prices of any product on to or three shops before buying. The prices vary on shop to shop.
NightLife: There are plenty of bars and discos in Milan. Most of them are near Garibaldi. I went to one near corsa Sampione. Its name is bhangrabar. They have a happy hour in which you can get indian buffet with 1 drink in 5.5 euros. The food is rice and pakoras with a dal mixed with pork that too cold. Good place to drink but not good for food.
Things to see in Milan: Aah, you can find many on Google.
Tips: If you want to roam around Milan in train, check the Trenitalia website (Trenitalia.com). There are some schemes by which you can purchase tickets at damn cheap rates.

Pisa

Pisa is another 100 Km from Florence. If you want and you dare then you can cover both the cities in 1 day. We started at 6 in morning from milan and we reached in Florence around 10. After 3.30 we left florence for Pisa. Pisa is a very small town only famous for its leaning tower. You dint find any thing else.
Leaning tower is situated near a cathedral, which is again a master piece. The leaning tower is wround 150 ft high(there are so many sites to tell you about it) and you have to pay 15 euro to be on its top. Notmuch to say so I am attaching some of the photos. Enjoy!!

Florence

Hello dosto,
This time I took a long leap and fly few thousands Km to reach Italy, the country of great Roman civilization. Obviously I was on a official trip but I managed to visit some cities in the wekends. The First weekend was Florence and Pisa. I was stationed in Milan from where Florence is around 350 Km South east. Its a straight 330Km Auto Strada(Toll Road) taking u to Florence or firennzia as they call it. Try www.expedia.com for finding driving directions if you want to drive. The site is fundoo and accurate.
The way from Milan to Florence is through hills. Florence lies in tuscon region of italy which itself is like Himachal or Uttranchal of India. The beuty is immense and if you have some time, do visit tuscon villages. Florence lies in a valley.
Florence is a city of Rensessance period. Most of the artists and sculptures werer based here. Even the city is preserved as it was in medival times making it impossible to drive car. Most of the roads are 1 way. The best thing will be to reach a place called Michelangelo Piazza. This is a place at some height from where you get full view of city. Park the car here and you can roam around. The city is full of meuseaums, cathedrals(called Duamo) and old style buildings. There are very long queues for entry in meuseams. Also very famous is a bridge(see in pic). There are so many jwellary shop on that bridge. Also there is a statue on which people were putting Locks with their names written on that. I suppose it was for fulfiling their wishes.
You can buy some soveniours from the city. I bought some mouse pads with pics of city, statue of Michelengelo, a calender. Just a piece of advice, dont buy them from any main shops. You will find same thing at cheaper rates inside city. Food is a problem so better carry fruits and biscuits.
Overall a old city with so many monuments. In Italy they call it a dead city whereas Venice with old monuments a live city.

Lensdowne & Pauri's Mountains!!

Here I am again with a new trip story. Aap bhi sochte honge ki kitnaa bhoomtaa hoo main. You must be thinking how much travel i do. This time we planned to start towards Himalayas again but somewhere uHello Guys! Here I am again with a new trip story. Aap bhi sochte honge ki kitnaa bhoomtaa hoo main. You must be thinking how much travel i do. This time we planned to start towards himalyas again but somewhere un known un touched virgin.GNC cameup with idea LENSDOWNE.

This is a small place with command office of Garhwal Rifles Regiment. About 80% area is under Army control and rest is supporting. Few places to roam around like tiffin top and a church. Thats what information we could gather from internet. one more info was given that since town is small, only 3 places to stay. We thought less info is given about this place.

Initial plan was to go via road as its just 300 KM from delhi. But I suggested Train route. Last station is Kotdwar(BEL factory). From there Lensdowne is 41 KM. Tickets were booked for all 13(a unlucky no?) of us but on final day only 7 of us were going. GNC was going in Taxi with shirish and Kiran dropped out on last moment. So it was (lucky) 7 of us started. It was a good journey as all have been in past.We enjoyed the company. The train reached Kotdwar by 6 in morning. Kotdwar is a small town with few good restraunts and all basic infrastructure. You can compare it with Kathgodam. We hired a taxi to go to Lensdowne. The fare per person in Geep is 35 Rs so a sumo comes around 350 Rs.

The way from Kathgodam to Lensdowne is full of lush green forests and blue pines. Till a point named Duggadda, road is quite good(National Highway 119 connected pauri and Kotdwar). After that road is OK types. You watch for Sri Sidhbali temple and Sri Durga Temple on way from Kotdwar to Lensdowne.

You can not see lensdowne until you reach there. yes its hidden behind majestic himalayas. Its very small, even smalled than you have thought. It has just one bus stand around which you will find 2-3 eating points and 1 hotel (Mayur) + 2 lodges.

The condition of lodges in worse than a person from delhi can think of. Mayur hotel seems good from outside. What we expected after reaching there was un expected. All hotels full. There is 1 travel rest house(TRH) and 1 hotel called fairy dell. Both were jam packed as it was a 3 day weekend. We even tried for military guest house near kaleshwar mandir but its only for army staff and we were civilians. This brought all our enthuse to bottom level.

GNC was panic as with kids and ladies it was very difficult. He even didnt get hotels in Haridwar on the way(as planned). We have atleast a full night sleep. What next??? The question was big as there was no place near by. Nainital was 200 KM. Dehradun was 150. Haridwar was 100 but nobody wanted to go there. Some one came up with name PAURI. Its a hill capital of uttaranchal. Again a small place, definitely bigger than lensdowne, with some accommodation(that was on priority). The decision to go pauri brought our trip to lensdowne to end.

At this point, while writings this blog, i think we should have given a thought of staying in Kotdwara than going to Pauri. We could have stayed in some hotel in Kotdwara(first check after etting down from train that are there good hotels in Kotdwara), trekked in Lensdowne and enjoyed scenic beauty. The way from Lensdowne to KOTDWARA is just 1 hrs so it would have been less painful.

From there we started around 11:00 AM. All were tired, hungry and frustrated. It was one of its kind incident happened with us that we reached some spot and didnt get any accommodation. Any way Manuj and Piyush arranged some snacks and drinks(which proved disatsrous later) . The distance between Lensdowne and Pauri is 84 Km but Taxi driver asked 1000 bugs for this distance(more than 12 Rs/km). Actually there is no direct route btw these two places and as per taxi driver, he has to be back empty. The road from Lensdowne to Pauri is with all the zig zags a mountain road is famous for. Over that some of us (in fact all of us excluding me) have that jumpin and chips in their stomachs. Over that, the driver was driving very fast. This caused all of us to a vomiting session mid way. Myself and Piyush were robust enough to avoid. I dont have photos else I can show the same scene if you have watched Problem Child -2. In that movie the kid does some trick in my fair lady and all passengers starts vomiting. Finally we reached Pauri at around 2:30 PM.

Pauri is again a small town with very few basic ammenities for travellers. Infact I can now safely comment

Ganga Kinare mera gaon ho

Ganges River, India - 2nd 3rd April 2005
By Vishal K Srivastava

Standing there on the bank of Ganges you can hear the 'gentle' roar ahead till you go a little further and it transforms into a thunderous one.

You can see the water foam, swirl, make whirlpools and rise to form sheer walls. The waves crash into each other in their pristine fury as if they are trying to drown each other.

But you can never even come close to imagining the power of the river. Yup, for a starter, imagine being a pair of Levi's in a washing machine set at top speed!

White water rafting on the Ganges was 'pioneered' by a few adventurous Canadians way back in the early eighties. (A few of the rapids are named after them!)

It's a fully fledged industry now. Around seventeen camps were operational on the entire stretch from Rudraprayag to Rishikesh this season, though most of them are concentrated up to a place called Kaudiyala, 40 kms from Rishikesh.

I and a few friends did about 36 kms of rafting in two days. We started from Shivpuri 1st day and Marine drive 2nd day. The excitement built up as we climbed aboard in calm water. We were taught to respond to 'all forward', 'right back', 'lean forward', not to panic if we fall over or capsize and the rest of the 'boring' safety routines.

Floating into the froth you can truly appreciate your senses tuned to the slightest sound from your guide, the slightest movement of the raft, and the numbness of bone chilling water sprayed on your skin.

The best seat on the raft? Undoubtedly the guys who lean forward and meet the water head on!

Then we let the Ganges take over. First day we did some milder grade I or II rapids, a few names that I can recall were, 'Crossfire', 'Black Money', 'Return to Sender' (or centre ?), 'Golf Course' and a cracker of a rapid where you can body surf.

Then came the 'Roller Coaster', cousin of 'The Wall' with the same terrorising tendencies. Grade IV plus and very very mean.

On second day we did some more rapids like 3 blind mice which we hit most excitingly and all the ones which we did on first day.

We climbed a wave crest and were held there for a trifle longer than required, enough to make everyone scream out of sheer adrenalin-laced thrill. Once past this monster, it is an easy going till Rishikesh, with a couple more rapids where you can body surf too.

The rafting season on the Ganges is from November to mid April. In summers the water level rises and the rapids become dangerous for rafting for mere mortals like me and all but few camps pack up. Though that should not deter the pros who dig for raging rivers!

I would suggest staying in a camp on the bank of the river. There are plenty to choose from. Most of the operators will provide you with pickup from Delhi and back, food, bedding and equipment while you stay on their camp.

It is also possible to sign up with them for the rafting trip only. Of course, you will have to arrange for your stay and food separately. Expect to pay anywhere in the range of 1300 - 2000 Rs per night depending on the facilities and extra frills that each campsite provides. A stand alone run of 12 kms on the river should cost around 400 Rs per person.

Most of the good camp operators have websites, so do a little bit of dry surfing on the net before the real wet thing!