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!

Chokha Sahar

Top Staring Local Sight seeing/Shopping ChokhiDhani Fair Some Tips

Hello Friends!
Starting
I am here again with yet another trip story. Last Friday, bored of our daily routines and normal life, we(our DCH group) decided to do some Xing-bang(as koke says). The initial destination was Chandigarhan then may be kasuali, but mood changed and hence destination. The Car was now heading on NH-8 for Jaipur instead of NH-1.We started at 8:00 PM and took our dinner at Haldiram's on NH-8(nice building and nice food). After that I took on driving seat and Dany started to catch his breath seeing speedometer crossing 130-140. The dialogue of trip was " AbeyVishaldheerechalnaa!!Abeysaaledheere hi to hu. Sirf 120 hi to hai." Initial Plan was to stay in "Chokhidhani" the famous theam based resort. But when we inquired about the lodging rates, 3500 bucks per night/per couple was not a economic choice. So we took a medium class hotel for 500 bucks near Bus Stand with TV, attached bath and 3rd bed.
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Local Sight seeing/Shopping
Next day plan was to visit HawaMahal and some forts and then gotoChokhiDhani(Now onwards CD). Not much to visit around BadiChaupar and hawamahal but one can do some shoping and so we did. Thank god they accept Credit Cards, we spend some good amount for our near and dear ones. Next was to have aelephent ride in Aamer fort. But elephents
refused to load two more elephents(apne 2 mote). So we decided to go in Car. Again not much to see in these forts when Sun is showering all its might straight on you. A good hide out for local lailamajnus like we have seen earlier in KANAKGARDEN(remember GNC!). We left straight for CD from AAMER Fort.( A piece of advice: The best time to reach CD is by 6:30 PM. Why? u will see in following lines).
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ChokhiDhani
We were there at 3:30 PM. Its around 20 KM from Jaipur on JaipurSanganer Highway (but Road Marks say that we are going toKOTA). Anyway, everyone is fully aware of CD and no problem in locating it. Even Police man addressed us with Sir. Its a big resort with two parts. One is for stay and other for there daily village fair. You can buy a entry ticket for 190 bucks and this includes EITHER lucnh(continental/indian/chinese) or dinner(pure rajasthani). The lunch is served till 3:00 PM so we had our lunch not in CD but a CHOKHA DHABA just opposite to CD. We had 2 hours for CD village fair, main attraction, to open. So we entered the resort area. They have made huts of mud with A/C fitted and all modern emenities like swimming pool, sauna, lawn tennis, pool, dance floor etc. So guys if looking for 5 star lodging go for it. There was a cot lying under a mango tree infront of a villag e hut. We were feeling tired so took a nap there for next hour.
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The Village Fair
The fair started to pick up by 6:00 PM. It was a pure village fair like. Wahisarekheltamashe,jhoole, bailgadi, unt, hathi, chaupal. And everything included in that 190 pass. Ham teenowahajakeekdambachche ban gaye.Jhoolejhoolna, fall se slide karnaa, untkisawarisabkuchhkiyahamne. Even body and head message bhikraraya. Wow! kyapakode the....raja maharaja kitarahtakiyalagakekalbeliya and bhawariya dance dekhnasath me chaiaurpakode..wah! anandaagaya. Fir suruhuajadoo ka khel. It was such a nice experience watching a magician sitting at “chaupal” and we all sitting on cots around him. We also met a astrologer. There was long queue of girls and boys waiting. Here are some edited forecasts(some portions are edited as per requests ;-))

Vishal: You can make friends easily and able to impress people. Very Straight forward.Likely to start business in near future.Marriage within a year.

Kailash: You can make friends easily and able to impress people but not your wife. Sometimes bit arrogant. Will be a “joru ka gulam” Apnakaamkarega.

Danish :Bahot lucky hai par Apneliyeutnaa lucky nahijitnadoosarokeliye. Shadikikataarmeinhai.Paisaabahothaipargaya paisa wapasnahiaayegaa. Isliyekisiko paisa mat do.

Best part was dinner. Proper Indian style sitting in queues with food served in “pattals” and water in “Kulhads” Menu consisted ethnicrajasthanibajrekiroti, make kiroti, gehukiroti, moth bajrekikhichari with 3 full table spoonful ghee and boora. Over that “MaalPua”.Aisaa lag rahathakisasuraal me kharahe ho. Jabardasti ka rkekhilarahe the. We had a stomach full and started back.

Kul milaake maje me rahe…
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Some Tips: If you want to visit the place, start in morning from delhi such that you reach by 4 to 5 PM(It takes around 5:30 Hours from noida to jaipur). Go directly to ChokhiDhani, spend the whole evening, and return to jaipur city. Stay in some hotel. Next morning visit other places in JaipurCity and by evening leave for delhi.

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Sat Taal Ke Ghane Jangalo Ka Bhoot

All characters in the below story are authentic and original. Some salt and chilly (namak and mirch) is added to dramatize the sequences. Just for Nirmal Anand!!!

Hi!!
Arey ek trip ki kahani padh ke man nahi bhara kya?? Ek aur Lambi kahani sunane aa gaye. Any way ab aa hi gaye ho to.....maje lele ke padho. Ye kahani thrill, horror and suspence se bhari ek simple Nanogon(9 apexes) love story hai. For those who hate to read, I am going to elaborate my version of another AAF's memorable trip to Nainital and SaatTaal. Those who dont know SaatTaal, its a small Lake near Nainitaal. We camped one night and one day in Saat Tall forests and had some sweet and sour experiences not only with nature but also with super-natural forces.

Warm Up

This time background of trip was cooking in a new camp. Its good that our new members have shown more enthusiasm than old ones. Manuj has coded this program for some of his clients....hey hey..Am I going too technical. As far as I know, initial list of candidates included some new faces (out of group). I don't know about much details why they dropped us or they were dropped. Their were some grievances within group (AAF) but lets not talk about the negative part. In fact those things consolidated my willing ness to be a part of this memorable trip. But I will specially mention one negative thing about trip. Our dear Kalu was missing as he was going to his home.

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Starting Point : Delhi

On the D-day, we all assembled at Old Delhi Railway station. Let me have the pleasure to introduce the trippers. Myself, Danish, GNC, Kailash, Hema, Manuj, Debolina, Piyush, Vivek and Chandrakiran. For old members of PAG, Manuj, ChandraKiran, Vivek and Debolina have joined in 2001 and 2002 respectively. Piyush is Debolina's Fiancée and Hema is our good friend from CMG. Kailash was joining us till KathGodam only. Those who have read the stories of Rishikesh, train reservations were again the same. Even worse. We have 4 seats at one place, 3 at another, 2 at another place and 1 alone. The 4 seats were in fact in another compartment. Being the seniors, we 4 decided to sacrifice???(was it a sacrifice or escape ;-)). Anyway, after an hour or so, we (me, dany, kalu and GNC) moved to our seats in next compartment. Nothing to tell much about the night as things were still warming up. But three of the people had their head aching after listening my non-stop stories. Even the family underneath our birth was listening to us whole heartedly till late night. We even lost a bet to GNC meanwhile. For details please contact GNC.

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Haldwani and Himalyas

Its a small place near Nainitaal. Its second last railway station in that root and we have to catch taxis after that to reach Nainitaal. Our tour guide Kailash was with us who told us to leave the trains at Haldwani so as we will get Taxis cheaper though we have tickets till Kath Godam. I came to train door one station before i.e Lal Kuan. I can see the mighty sun stretching its body from the laps of young mountains of Himalyas. You know, when I was a kid, I used to wonder why the Himalyas are highest though they are youngest of all mountain ranges. Some day I would like to see the Himalyas from top of them. I have seen Alps range while passing over them. All snow over them.....something like cornetto ice cream cone with chocolate icing over it. White cream is like ice and chocolate icing is like mountains. Haldwani is still in plains and the real journey to Naini Hills starts from this place.

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To the Hotel

We booked a tata sumo and marched towards Nainitaal. The breakfasts were taken in a small village dhaba in between. The name I don't remember. It was bread slice and aloo parathas and of course tea. When we reached Nainitaal, it was relatively less crowded. The hotel agents started bugging us but we decided not to listen to them and enquire our selves. We saw some three hotels but the rooms seemed too costly. Then a agent jumped in to show a hotel. The hotel was good but the rooms he was offering to us were on the fourth floor. I got scared. One thing was good that we have a balcony outside our rooms which gave full view of the Lake Naini i.e Naini Taal.

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Naini Taal : First Day

To tell you frankly, Nainitaal is not my kind of place. The crowd has started appearing, most of them (married?) couples coming for their honey moon. Ab wo sher hai naa...Tadpa diya hai a-had-e-gujarata ki yaad ne. dekha hai hamne jab bhi kisi ko kisi ke sath. After having our brucnh, We hired a taxi for sight seeing. The trip was OK types and we enjoyed site seeing at places like China Peak, Lovers Point, Suicide Point, Water Fall. They dropped us to NainiTaal in evening. Now it was time for Nainitaal lake trip. We hired a rowing boat for 80 bucks an hour. The rower was an old age man who told us his stories also. The Naini lake is divided into two parts namely mallitaal and tallitaal. Both of the two parts have different source of water. He used to participate in the boating competition in his young days. It was an spectacular view of sun who emerged from the lap of mother mountains in Lal Kuan, setting in deep solace of mother mountain in Nainitaal. Night life of NainiTaal has started as lots of crowd can be observed on Maal Road. We visited Naina Devi temple and did some shopping around. One can purchase scented candles and wood work etc from Nainital. I bought some "Ball Mithai" very famous of haldwani. This is a chocolate like sweet with small white balls over it. After some ladies shopping done mostly by Kiran, we were back to hotel.

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Background for Saat Taal

Next day we woke up late in morning. Now the plan was to tour all lakes and then drop at Rani Khet. We were planning to spend a night there with bar-be-que and bon-fire. Luckily we got taxi driver a muslim who knows where to get halal chicken for bar-be-que. Danish "The Chef" has started collecting materials for this like Iron Rods, dry wood etc. After visiting some small lakes like khurpa taal we reached to Saat Taal. The name saat taal is given because of its seven corners. Saat Taal is positioned in a spooky area surrounded by dense forests. As we entered there, in beginning only we saw some camps as we had in rishikesh. A group of young girls was staying there. We all decided to ask for accommodation if possible in tents and Danish and me went to settle the money matters (As usual). The guy, named Sunil, was quite helpful and he immediately offered us a rate of Rs 300 per person for staying and some water games like KAYAK and rock climbing, tracking swimming etc. We told him about our bar-be-que plan and he assured as of full help. We had our lunch there and moved to Naukuchiya Taal, the largest of all Taals. There is a famous say which says that after every three years, this taal takes sacred offering of a life (BALI) and then the color of water goes red. Another is that if a person is able to see all 9 corners of this Taal then either he becomes very fortunate or dies. We had a house boat ride their. Next was Bhim Taal. Its believed that Bhim, second of Pandavaas, pressed his feet to form this taal. We purchased the necessary ingredients like chicken and spices from this place only. Rani Khet was dropped from our list and this was beginning of whole drama and action and thrill and suspense we experienced in Saat Taal.

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Saat Taal : The Bar-be-que

When we finally reached saat taal it was late evening. Due to surrounding forests, the place was covered in darkness a little bit earlier. As we reached the tents, the group of those young girls was leaving. So it was only our group (with two already engaged girls) in the camps. Sunil gave us four tents, 3 for 6 guys and 1 for gals. After reaching their, we started roaming around and suddenly Vivek came with some real scary information about a grave nearby. My "khurafati" mind came into action instantly. As I have interacted mostly with Sunil and kitchen guys, it was easy for me to use their names to authenticate my story. The story goes like this. There was a famous tour and adventure sport lover, James Robert. He loved this place saat taal. He used to visit this place very year from UK and had developed a special affection to the place. When he died while climbing a rock, as per his wish, his body was cremated in saat taal. Furthermore, he loved the bar-be-qued chicken and his spirit must be around the place as we were planning to have bar-be-que.

Freaking out inGanges: First Time

This page is dedicated to Sri Kailash Digari, without whom such a fantastic trip would have not been possible

Hello friends,
So are you ready to journey in memories of Most talked about trips of ST , that is Rafting trip of Application group to Rishikesh ? I would like to apologies all of those who will be discussed in this quit long journey before hand because I am 101% sure I am going to be in big trouble after disclosing some "secrets" of the trip. Unke liye, DIL PE MAT LE YAAR.

BUILDING UP
Now coming back to topic. The preparation for this trip has started around 15 days before the due date of 13th April. All of us were very excited about trip (except few who were very furious about fast river like Suresh). There were differences about the trip schedule but at point every MAN was unanimous. All girls should go within the group and if possible outside the group. Final list included The Boss (GNC), Kailash, Myself, Danish,Suresh(after trying very hard), Mohit, Abhishek,Anirban, Deboo, Manish, Ashwath, Ashwinder, Guninder . This list sent to travel agent but one fine day Ashwinder came to say ,"I am not going." As Ash is not going so her room partner Gurinder wont go. Kailash went mad. When every booking is done and they are backing out. The biggest hurdle came when boss anounced that I have to trevel to Catania in same weekend. I told my problem to everyone and thanks to Kailash and everybuddy, they preponed the trip just for me . Hey! Do you have such friends ??? ;-) (ye baat aur hai ki main abhi tak catania gaya nahi). Till the D-Day the list of persons going was not final. Though we had 14 reservations (11 Guys and 3 Gals). But till friday eve it was clear that all 13 were going..

FROM DELHI TO HARIDWAR
All of us booked our taxis for DELHI RLY ST from ST itself. We were there by 9:00 PM and train was scheduled at 10:15 PM so we had a lot of time for getting some EYE TONIC. One thing I am missing is the tragedy which happened in between our departure from ST and arrival to DELHI Station. Kailash was to withdraw some cash to be paid to trevel agent in Rishikesh and Bad luck no ATM was working (Courtesy UTI Bank). What to do ? Thank God!! Ash and Guninder had some cash with them and everything settled. Now we moved to our compartments. Hey! what is this ? Our seats were divided in two chunks. That too like nonsense. One chunk with all gals and one without any gal. What could be done ? Everybuddy was running towards obvious chunk. Someone has to keep Stone on his heart (yaar! maine dil pe patthar rakhane ka english translation kiya hai. galat ho to sorry). Those unfortunate ones were Boss, Myself, Manish, Anirban and Danish (though Danish has had his peace of cake before coming to his berth), Sabne yahi socha abhi to do din baki hain. Yahi soch ke raat kati. The train arrived at 7:00 in morning in Haridwar. Bright Sun was just rising and welcoming us in LAND OF DEVAS. It was very exotic viewing sun rising from valleys of The Himalaya.

FROM HARIDWAR TO SINGTAAL TENTS
Our travel guide Deepak was waiting for us at train itself. He guided us to the bus parked outside the station and our real journey from Planes to hights started. We were feeling little bit sleepy and that enthu was not building. Even Boss was looking very dull through out bus trip. We inferred it as SOME MEMORABLE MEMORIES associated with place .(yes Boss has come to this place 2 yrs back and might have some SWEET MEMORIES). There is nothing to describe about this route. We took a tea break in Rishikesh. No body tried any breakfast as there were no Sulabh's in between. We arrived to our camps by 9:00 AM

The camps was situated in village SinghTaal around 6 KM up from town BYASI. The camp was around 200 Mt down the road which you have to trevel by feet. There were steep mountains on both side of camps. Lots of flora and fauna on both side (dar lag raha tha ki kahin isame sher huye to). Above all River GANGA flowing at its full speed. Producing sound like roaring lions. The place was cool and our tents were on the rocks not on sand. Deepak told us this was to save us from sand. We put our objections but he assured us that we are going to enjoy this. Again same problem.....who will take tents neighborhood of gals and who will share tent with Boss (Tents were twin share)?? Thank God, we had one tent with capacity 4 (mine ). So no one has to SACRIFICE....

TOUCHING THE GANGES
I was the first one to ran towards ganga jee. Myself and boss entered in water. It was sooooooo coooooool. I washed my face and instantly I got an energy... The river was not that deep as I can see lots of stones but the currents were very fast. That were able to sweep away little things like me easily. So boss cautioned me not to go too deep. We came back to have a heavy breakfast as lots of mice were running in our stomachs. We queried about our schedule. Our trip organizer, Kailash told us that we will go on rafts after lunch. So we had a good 2-3 hours.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
We opted for BEACH VOLLEYBALL from lots of games available. That proved a good choice as it prepared us for tough times to come. There were lots of GADHDHAAS from both sides. It was first time I was playing beach volleyball (as well as volleyball) but no one could guess at that point. My service proved fatal for other side. But again Danish services were like Scuds for us. Simply invincible ... you cant return them. Of all, Boss were shouting the most This lasted for 1-2 hours till all of us were exhausted and felt that now its better we should go for bath.

GANGA SNAAN
Before going to this topic, I would like to tell you about swimmers of group. Boss, Kailash, Danish, Anirban, Ashwinder, Guninder, Mohit and Abhishek were self proclaimed swimmers. We dived in ganga jee and took that holy dip for which millions of people come to Rishikesh. I took 3 more dips for my brother, sister and mom as Instructed to me by her before leaving. Hey! what was that ? Suddenly I saw a stone in middle of river. "Its my home" I shouted. After that till whole trip that was recognized as my home. Here comes the bravest swimmer of our group, Abhishek. He knows swimming and he has courage but its just a matter of chance that he wont swim. There was a very large sand beach on other side of bank. Our swimming guide Lalit told us that the currents are very sharp so only expert swimmers should dare to cross. These rivers has lots of Whirlepools(called EDDYs in local lang) which sucks if you are caught. Finally the daring ones were Boss, Kailash, Danish, Ashwinder, Guninder and Anirban. Is swimming ke baad boss ka kya haal hua, isake liye ek topic alag se. Mean while we were playing in water for whole time .

BOSS KI US PAAR SE IS PAAR YATRA
Boss kood to pade the paani mein par us paar jaate-2 unki baj gayee. He was totally exhausted and developed a cramp in left leg. We saw him floating with current but were confident thet how heavy the currents may be, our boss is heavier than them. Khair it was not possible for him to come back swimming . He opted for other route that was around 3-4 Km through a bridge. He was not wearing slippers. He has to trevel bare foot on burning rocks and sand. That too there were some monkeys in the way. When it became unbearable, boss took off his T-Shirt and tide to his feet. Now you can think of reaction of monkeys over a bare chasted person in shorts with his T-Shirt in his feet. We even dont know what happend in between. Boss part of story was that he asked for lift from Truck driver . He stared at him and gave lift showing full generousity.