Foggy Sunday Morning In Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary

As we drove on the unpaved roads inside the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, we were pleasantly surprised to see that we were in a jungle right in the middle of our concrete Delhi. The clock showed 8.30 am and it was still very foggy. 

We had come here for the Winter Bird walk organized by Mr Ishtiyak Ahamad of Conservation Education Center but the weather Gods had some other plans for us. It remained foggy almost thru out the day leaving little possibility  photography and sighting of birds. But to be honest I did not miss the birds, loved the drive and walk inside the jungle. We drove almost 14 kms inside the Sanctuary to reach the Bharadwaj Lake aka Asola Bhatti Lake. 

Peacock

We did spot a few birds but were not able to photograph them because of low light.

Sparrow

Asola Bhatti Lake or Bharadwaj Lake

The sanctuary has many lakes but Asola Bhatti Lake is one of the biggest and most pristine of them all. A part of lake also has a beautiful sandy beach making it a perfect place for nature lovers to spend a day.

 

The sanctuary is home to over 200 species of birds. Many migratory birds also make the sanctuary its home during this season.

Crystal Clear Water Of Asola Bhatti Lake

As the sanctuary is not promoted much by the Delhi tourism, most of us are also unaware of the presence of  these beautiful lakes in our Delhi.

Walk Inside the Forest

The are many trails inside the jungle to explore. As there are no sign marks so its almost necessary to have an experienced guide with you.

Leopard Scratch Marks On Tree

As it was foggy and spotting birds was almost impossible so we went on one of the Leopard trails inside the sanctuary.

Spooky

The terrain provides them perfect camouflage. They say as per the census there are close to 6 to 7 Leopards inside the sanctuary.

Down The Hill On Leopard Trail

Don't forget to bring a good camera or a binocular if you are a birding enthusiast. .

 

We came out around 1.00 pm and not before one of us had a flat tire inside and the gentleman had no spare tire too. The roads are unpaved and at places rocky too so make sure that the tires of your car has good rubber left on them. Also a car with higher ground clearance will surely help. Also bring your packed lunch and water as nothing is available inside.

To sum it all, I loved the experience and would encourage nature lovers to go and explore the little bit of Jungle left in our Delhi.  



Location :-

The entry gate is from Dr Karni Singh shooting range road , New Delhi. If you are driving from Delhi towards Faridabad on Shooting Range Road, you will see Asola Bhatti Sanctuary gate on your Right hand Side. 


How To Get In :- 

You have to take permission from the Delhi Forest department to get inside the sanctuary and that too a day or two in advance.  The best way is to contact The Conservation Education Center and they will arrange the entry permissions for you or you can also join their one the many Nature walks which they keep on organizing. Their contact details are :- 

Bombay Natural History Society,
Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary
Near Dr.Karni Singh Shooting Range,
New Delhi - 110044
Contact Number: 8800748967, 8800741864
E mail- cecbnhsdelhi@gmail.com
Website- www.cecdelhi.org

They are organizing the next bird walk on 14th Feb 2016. If you interested than following are the details :-



Date: 14th February, Time: 8.00 am- 10.30 a.m.

Venue: Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary

Fees: Rs 350 per head/- (Includes entry fee and expert guidance)

For Registrations contact: Mr. Ishtiyak Ahamad, Education Officer on 011-26042010 or 8800741864, 9868441983

Email: cecbnhsdelhi@gmail.com

Last date for registration: 13th February 2016

Tirthan Valley - A Paradise in Himachal

I am a person of the mountains and of open blue skies. I know I cannot stay away from them too long. Mountains have always left me feeling renewed, content and more positive. I found one such place in Tirthan Valley, Himachal Pradesh. Tirthan is gateway to The Great Himalayan National Park and is blessed with immense beauty. It's still not crowded, you can sit alone in the lap of nature and talk to yourself with no one disturbing you. Tirthan Valley borrow its name from Tirthan River, a tributary of Beas river which originates from the Himalayas.

I went there in start of June 2013. Green was the prime colour of the valley with clouds flirting with the mountains.

Round trip from Gurgaon to Tirthan is close to 1200 kms if you take the more secnic route from Shimla side and then crossing over Jalori Pass to enrter into Kullu.



Route taken was-

Gurgaon- Ambala- Dharampur- Kumarhatti- Chail- Narkanda- Ani- Jalori Pass- Jibhi- Nagini(Tirthan Valley)- Aut- Mandi- Ropar- Chandigarh- Gurgaon


For the less adventurous or if you want to avoid Jalori Pass you can take the following Route -


Gurgaon- Ambala- Ropar- Mandi- Larji - Nagini(Thirthan Valley)- Larji- Mandi- Ambala - Gurgaon



Started  from Gurgaon to reach Dharampur by evening. After a good sleep I started the journey ahead to reach Tirthan but nature had its own plans!!! As I reached Narkanda, the rain started to pour heavily. I decided to stay in Narkanda as climbing Jalori pass becomes very difficult when its raining.

Tented accommodation in Himachal Tourism Hotel Hatu

 They have many rooms but just one tent and its beautiful. The tent is big and is neat and clean. You will not find it on their website and hence will not be able to make on-line booking. The only way is to get there and hope its not occupied.

After settling my stuff in the tent I ventured out on a small trek around the hotel. It turned out to be a rewarding decision. I got some beautiful views of the snow capped Himalayas.

I did nothing but rested, enjoyed the surroundings as someone has written beautifully , "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time"

Got stuck on way for more than an hour due to landslide.

Jalori Pass is closed in winters and can be crossed over only in summers. It usually opens in Mid March and closed in December. The road going up to Jalori pass is tightly hair-pinned and has many sharp and blind curves. As many of you may agree, we men like curves and this is no exceptional case :) The views that you get from these curves makes up for what your car has to go thru crossing the treacherous road.

There are few restaurants or Dhabbas as we call them at Jalori Pass. They serve simple, basic but tasty food.

You can very well see the road condition in these two shots. It was still raining. I would strongly advice to be extremely careful while driving down and drive down on low gears specially is its raining.

Finally I reached small village named Nagini in Tirthan Valley which had to be my home for next 4 days. The shot above that you see is an evening shot taken from the rooftop of Khem Bharti Homestay called Hotel Trout Valley. Hotel Trout valley gets its name from the Trout fish found in adundance in Tirthan river which flows only at stone throw distance. It is said that during the british rule, the britishers found Tirthan River water so clear and thus suitable for Trout fish that they bought best seeds of fish from Scandinavian countries.

View From The Lobby

Isn't it Beautiful???

This was my room and what a view it had!!!! I had thought of hiking around but when I found my corner, It felt so complete.

Tirthan River

I loved Tirthan Valley more than I ever thought I would. The place is still not commercialised and acts as a base camp for some of the beautiful treks in the region. There are 2 beautiful waterfalls which can accessed by foot. I visited Tirthan around 2 years ago and never managed to finish the blog until one of my readers asked for a suggestion for a offbeat summer destination. Thanks Reader!!!

Places to Stay-

1. Khem Bharti Home Stay a.k.a Hotel Trout Valley - http://www.troutvalley.co.in/
    Mobile no - +91-9459101113

2. Raju Guest House, Gushaini.
    Mobile no- +91- 9418149808

BOM BOM - Ristorantino Italiano

"I'll serve Carpaccio to you tomorrow for lunch" he said with his thick Italian baritone throat.

While I never knew how to pronounce the dish, however ! I agreed to it. What I figured later while relishing it that It's a culinary wonder made with ultra thin & raw meat slices submerged in olive oil & marinated with lemon... Served with shavings of Parmesan cheese. 

I hadn't ever ventured to raw meat ever  but it was scrumcious . I realised that knowng that it's raw meat, I would have perhaps not let it pass thru my one & only blessed gob ... Well, glad to have ventured & not miss savouring the flavour. There are many things that we don't opt to do or try only because we hold our own notions . Some one said it so right say " the biggest risk is not having to take one !!!" U Don't know what u r missing ?

Coming back to the BOM BOM ...The chef cum owner of this little Italy .. Or should I say culinary twinkle in Agonda, once had a restaurant in Italy. He wound up all and now runnning this shack named BOM BOM in Goa .. 

The restaurant is simple but the chef's perfectionism & passion surfaces in every dish you order ... be it sea shell Pasta or or pork or French roast chicken . 

         Chicken in white wine

           Sea Shells for Pasta

And the best was Tiramasu with cocoa sprinkles over ice cream scoops . Haha ..its a battle between your weighing scale over your taste buds :) .. Well He plans to double the size of the restaurant next year and add more options to the menu. Well while I write this my mouth is watering .. Catch u later .. I better finish my meal .. :) 

Bon appetite !!!

Home For Next Six Days- Om Sai Huts, Agonda

                    Our Beach hut

              Sunset, Agonda

As soon as I mentioned to friends that this month we are going to Goa again, they said "why don't you buy a place in Goa?" Last month during New Years it used to get quite cold in the evenings but  whether has started to change.

This is gonna be our home, our beach hut for this week. 

           View from beach hut

A basic accommodation but with a view like this from our bed we definitely don't call it basic!!!!

The meaning of luxury is different to different people .. Just the way right now happiness means lazing around by the sea.. Replenishing energies with the provisions of nature is surely luxurious.

It's the serene concoction of the sparking sands,fresh blue skies, diluted with grand splashes coming from sea .. And a dash of the moist oceanic breeze..

 ... I say cheers to the world with most simplistic afternoon yet it could not get any more exotic than this. 

This time we choose to stay in OM SAI BEACH HUTS, Agonda, Goa. The place is right on the beach with a restaurant name Sweet Chilly. We definately  recommend this place to anyone looking for peaceful stay. 

Utorda , Goa Dec14 - Lunch at Zeebop!!!

               ZEEBOP - Beach Side Shack

The setting is nice, the food was good, in fact very tasty specially the Goan fish curry and Goan prawn curry but the place was kind of over crowded.

Zeebop is a beach side shack in Utorda, South Goa next Royal Orchid and Park Hyatt. It has a very big sitting space  and you get the sea view from almost all the tables. 

Head to the place if you looking for tasty food and lot of action!!! 

There is direct access to the beach from the restaurant. They even have a beach shower enclosure if you plan to have your food just after you have taken a dip in the ocean!!!

The food is moderately priced but we found the portions inadequate.

Zeebop chefs surely make their way to your heart with the delicious Goan cuisine but the sea view conspires  the same :) . A must visit when in South Goa.

Zeebop contact number-  0832 275 5333

Agonda, Goa - Dec 14 , Staying at Elements!!!!

                   ELEMENTS, AGONDA GOA

             View from Beach Hut

Now with a view like this out of your bed, who would like to go out beach hopping??? There's this small resort called ELEMENTS in Agonda Goa where we are staying for 9 days. The place has got two beach front cottages and 3 rooms in their property. My favourite are the beach huts, very simplistic yet beautiful and the view from the bed is to die for!!!

                   2 Beach Huts

You can sit up there and have uninterrupted view of the ocean. Last year also we stayed in the same hut for 10 days and here we are back again.  The restaurants are right next doors and they are happy to provide room service and wi fi !!  For tarrif and availability you can get in touch with Deepak (090-49-018718). They are not yet having net presence / online booking.

THE MOST SIMPLE THINGS ARE THE ONES WHICH BRING THE MOST HAPPINESS!!!