A-Z of places I've visited

A for Amarkantak- Amarkantak is where from river Narmada originates. The river originates from a spring over which people have built the narmada temple. Narmada is the only major Indian river flowing westward to join the arabian sea. All other rivers meet the bay of bengal. Amarkantak is suppose to be the highest point in the vindhyachal range. A place called Som dhara near it is like the end of the world. It is at the edge of the mountain. On looking down all you see is clouds, no ground. It is a breath taking sight. The nearest station is Pendra Road, which is well connected by trains from Delhi or Raipur. For those who love the jungles of central India, Amarkantak is a must.

B for Badrinath- It is the temple of Lord Vishnu located in the north of Garhwal region in Uttaranchal. It is just 40km from the Indo-Tibet border. Badrinath was established by Shankaracharya. This is quite an interesting fact because Shankaracharya hailed from southern state of Kerela. It is said his journey (from Kerela to Uttaranchal and back to Kerela) took some 7 years. There is an early morning 5am aarti which takes place at Badrinath. There is a hot water spring and also the river Alaknanda flows besides the temple. People take bath usually by mixing the water from the river and the spring (otherwise you may end up burning yourself or freezing). 5km from Badrinath is a small village called Mana, which is the last Indian village in that area. The road on Indian side ends at Mana. The people of Mana are a mix of Indian and Tibetan blood. There is also Valley of flowers close to Badrinath. The nearest town to all three of them is Joshimath which is inhabited all round the year. Badrinath, Mana and Valley of flowers are opened only for a few summer months. One has to book cabs from Delhi or Rishikesh to reach Badrinath. The journey can easily be two days long one way if weather permits. The road from Rishikesh to Badrinath is about 300km moving all along the river Ganga. On way one passes through many prayags. A prayag is a place where two rivers meet. It is a sight in itself to see two rivers meet from mountain top. The route is marred my deep river gorges and also many waterfalls, some even falling on the road. People take bath and wash their vehicles under such waterfalls.

C for Chail- Chail is located in the state of Himachal pradesh. It is a few hours journey from Chandigarh on one side and Simla on other side. The road from Chail to Simla maintains a constant altitude till Kufri. Most mountain roads are zig-zag and go up and down. This road is only zig-zag and does not change its altitude at all. Chail also has the worlds highest cricket field. Right on the top of the mountain, they have a plain oval shaped field with an old score board. The field looks something like the cricket field in Lagaan (the dust is replaced by lush green grass here). This field is the home of hundreds of monkeys, so never even think about showing an iota of attitude to them. They'll chase you all the way down to Chandigarh (speaking from personal experience). Simla is 4 hours drive from Chail via Kufri. Kufri is known for its snowfall. On way back to Chandigarh, a little off the road (about 15km) is a small town named Kasauli. Kasauli has an airforce base and is also inhabited by mostly retired army generals. One doesn't find too many hotels there (it seems they don't want to encourage tourists). The nearest city to all of them is Chandigarh.

D for Dalhousie- It lies in the dhauladhar ranges in the state of himachal pradesh. One could get there via Pathankot or through Kangra. In Dalhousie town, if you are looking for good aloo paranthas then sharma’s dhaba is the place on Gandhi chowk. It’s a shabby looking dhaba (that’s how dhabas are suppose to look), but the aloo paranthas are comaparable to the best I’ve eaten. Near Dalhousie is the famous Khajjiar lake which is referred as mini Switzerland due to its similar looks. Khajjiar is 23 km from Dalhousie, and buses are available to take you there and back. Another place is dain kund. It’s an airforce base located at the highest peak in the region. This base just over looks Pakistan and therefore is used for monitoring activities across the border. They have a huge radar there which is guess is used to intercept signals. Near the base lies a temple and a beautiful valley. No buses go there, so has to walk. The distance would be around 17 km from Dalhousie.

E for (nothing i can think of.....)

F for Fatehpur Sikri- This was the capital of emperor Akbar. It is about 35km from Agra. Fatehpur Sikri boasts of Buland Darwaza, the tallest gate in the world. It sure is huge. There is nothing more to the town. Closest city is Agra where Tajmahal and Agra fort are worth seeing. Agra is 200km from Delhi and well connected by buses and trains.

G for Gurgaon- That was the only place I could think with G. Gurgaon is a suburb of Delhi on the Delhi-Jaipur NH-8. Old Gurgaon is a usual Indian town, but the DLF area looks more of some western nation. It is flanked by tall,swanky corporate buildings, shopping malls and very expensive residence complexes. The most interesting thing I find about DLF area is the names they have chosen for roads and complexes. Each and every name it seems have been borrowed from the west. There are NO hindi names there. I wondered was it a deliberate policy on their end to choose such names or was it just a beautifully western coincidence. I believe it reflects the follow the west blindly kind of thinking in them, but I there is no way I can prove that. Gurgaon in anycase is used as the perfect face of growing India.

H for Hoshangabad- It is a small town in Madhyapradesh located on the banks of Narmada. I visited this place when in class VIII in a gurukul there. It is well connected to Bhopal.

I for (cant think of something....)

J for Jammu- This is the summer capital of J&K. I've never been to any place where there is so much of military. At first look it seems there is a war going on. 2hrs drive from Jammu is the temple of Mata Vaishno Devi. This temple is very popular among north Indians. Jammu is well connected by rail and road from Delhi.

K for Kanyakkumari- Kanyakkumari is the southern most point of the India mainland. This is where the Arabian sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal meet (though to naked eye it looks a simple sea). It is also the place from where Swami Vivekananda grew as a person. They have an Ashram of him there. Just off the mainland into the sea is the rock where Vivekananda used to meditate. There is also a beautiful statue of Guruvayur standing in the sea. Interestingly Kanyakkumari is in the state of Tamilnadu (for some reason I always thought it to be in Kerela).

L for (cant think of any....)

M for Mcleodganj- This is the seat of the govt in exile of Tibet. Home of the Dalai Lama. One would find a large number of Tibetans there, and many in monastic robes. Mcleodganj is about 15km above the town of Dharamshala. If you choose to walk from Dharamshala to Mcleodganj through the short cut, there comes a point from where one can see the cricket stadium in Dharamshala. It's like a bird eye's view of a stadium. Dharamshala is very close to Kangra which is famous for it's apple farms. The mountain range in this part of Himalayas is called Dhauladhar range. In Mcleodganj the majority of foreign tourists are from Israel. I don't know the reason for that, but they say Mcleodganj and Kullu are like second home to Israelis. Besides hotels, one room apartments are also available for those who plan to stay for months. A lot of Tibetan and Israeli food is also available along with the usual north indian food of course. Dharamshala is well connected by buses from Chandigarh and Delhi.

N for Nainital- This famous hill station lies in the Kumaon region of Uttaranchal. It is named after the Naini lake, which now is absolutely polluted, thanks to the tourism industry. There are other lakes around Nainital, but all are polluted now. There is Ranikhet some 35km from Nainital which is lot less crowded and clean. I personally prefer Ranikhet a better place to visit than Nainital for the simple reason that there are very few tourists there. Nainital is well connected by bus from Delhi, while the nearest station is located at Kathgodam.

O for (cant think of any....)

P for Pushkarji- Pushkar is 12km from the city of Ajmer. While Pushkar is known for the only temple of Brahma in the world, Ajmer is known for the dargaah of Khwaja Moinuddin chishti, a sufi saint. It is said that more Hindus visit the dargaah than Muslims. Pushkar is located on the bank of a lake. Ajmer too has a number of lakes. Ajmer is well connected by train and bus from Jaipur and Delhi.

Q for (cant think of any....)

R for Rohtang Pass- Rohtang pass is beyond the town of Manali. I went there in the month of May and it still snowed there. Beyond Rohtang lies the lahaul and spiti valley which connect Laddakh to Himachal. There are only two roads connecting to Laddakh. Besides the Srinagar-Leh NH-1A, this is the only road. The river Beas flows through Manali. Manali is well connected to Delhi and Chandigarh through road. It takes at least two days to reach Manali by Road.

S for Shimla- This is the capital of Himachalpradesh and the former summer capital of the Raj. It is the biggest city I've seen in the mountains. It occupies almost half the mountain. The Mall road in Shimla is where all the activity is in the night. New year's time is when it is most crowded. It is said that it always snows on the new year's eve, but this time it didn't snow and it made news. Shimla is well connected by road from Chandigarh and Delhi.

T for Thiruanandapuram- It is also known as Trivandrum for short. It is the capital of Kerela. The airport is located next to the sea, so the sight of runway is quite good. There are very few red lights in the city and not much traffic. The only place where one could find traffic snarls is near the secretariat. The narial paani is the most common drink you could get. In restaurants you get warm boiled water. I found it difficult to find open cold drinking water. And one should definetly try eating barrotas there.

U for (cant think of any....)

V for Valley of Flowers- This is the best place I have visited in my life. It is breathtakingly beautiful and one major reason for that is not may people visit the valley. The only way to get to the valley is to trek 18km from Govindghat (nearest road point) of to sit on a poney. Beyond the gate of the valley, the ponies are not allowed. You pass through the gate, climb the mountain and you the a 10km long valley. It is just amazing. All you see is a bed of flowers. All kinds of flowers, all possible colors. There are some flowers which blossom only once in one year. So if you see them on a day, you will not see them for the entire year. Also the valley changes its colors. Today it might have purple flowers, and tomorrow there will be magenta flowers. My writing skills are not good enough to describe the valley. All I can say is it's a must visit for those who love to trekk and those who love mountains. It is one of the very few places left in the mountains which is untouched by the tourists. Beyond the valley lies Badrinath on one side, while on the other side is Hemkunth Sahib. This is the highest gurudwara in the world. It is located at the banks of a lake. Nearest town is Joshimath, which is more than a day's drive from Rishikesh and Delhi.

W,X,Y for (cant think of any....)