Back
from a long driving trip to Badrinath, Kanchula, Tunganath and
Devariyatal from Bhopal. Absolutely stunning places, absorbing scenery
and lovely people encountered along the way. Putting up some pics as
teasers before I compile the entire report and pic here on IM.
Cheers!
Hello!
DAY 2
Directly after the safari, we drove off to Meerut via Agra. The Yamuna expressway is really very good... our first experience on it. That stress free drive ended as we took the turnoff to Bulandshahr and onwards to Meerut. Some stretches were really beautiful tree lined avenues... others were potholed and narrow. In all, a decent drive.
DAY 3 and 4
The next day we made an early start to Lansdowne. Had breakfast of Chole-Bhature from a ‘thela’ in Miranpur which was yummm! Skirting Bijnor, drove past Najibabad, Kotdwar and then onto Lansdowne. The scenery changed after Kotdwar dramatically as the hills began. One particular signboard had us in splits...’Be gentee on the curves’. Lovely roads and picturesque settings all the way to Lansdowne.
I was surprised that despite the place being not particularly high up (in altitude), it was cold indoors even in the afternoon! The most striking thing on reaching was the profusion of flowers everywhere. The tiniest place be it on the mountainside or along the road was blooming with wild flowers. Many moss-laden trees had orchids on them in full bloom. Coming from the hot, dry and dusty plains, this was pure bliss!
The two days in Lansdowne, all we did was bird watching and enjoying the long walks in and around the place. For us from the plains, it was a completely new set of birds we saw there and the Plum headed and Slaty headed Parakeets caught our attention with their raucous screeching. Thus began our acquaintance with birding in the Himalayas... Russet Sparrows, Lesser Yellownape, Brown fronted and Himalayan woodpeckers, the Eurasian and Black headed Jays, the numerous Tits, Verditer Flycatchers, Barbets, the list is endless. Kept us enthralled for the entire duration of our stay there...
Some pics along the way... Attached Images
Cheers!
Attached Images
Bear with me for the very long TR to follow, but then it was a rather long trip 
. So here goes... the first installment.....
The first leg of the trip was Bhopal to Devri (6 Kms ahead of Morena, near Gwalior). The reason for this fairly obscure destination was the boat safari on the chambal river slated for the next morning. Checked in at the FRH in Devri in sweltering heat. The place was absolutely burning up!! No power that day, though we were told that this was a one off... this generally never happened. When the situation did not improve till late evening and after nightfall, we had dinner at the FRH (which was very good) and decided to fall back to Morena and stayed at the circuit house there.
The boat safari on the chambal was mesmerizing to put it mildly!! Our main aim was the endangered Indian Skimmer and the equally endangered Gangetic dolphin. Go to see them both to our heart's content. The dolphins are majestic creatures and being blind, do their hunting as well as navigation by sonar in the bump on their foreheads... We could not manage any pics since it is very difficult to predict where and when they will surface...
The pics are
1. The boat pool on the river
2. Sunrise on the river chambal
3. A Ghadial in the river
4. Indian Skimmers in formation flight
5. The river lapwing
6. A marsh crocodile
7. The famed banks of the river (also the place where some scenes of the movie Paan Singh Tomar was shot)
. So here goes... the first installment.....The first leg of the trip was Bhopal to Devri (6 Kms ahead of Morena, near Gwalior). The reason for this fairly obscure destination was the boat safari on the chambal river slated for the next morning. Checked in at the FRH in Devri in sweltering heat. The place was absolutely burning up!! No power that day, though we were told that this was a one off... this generally never happened. When the situation did not improve till late evening and after nightfall, we had dinner at the FRH (which was very good) and decided to fall back to Morena and stayed at the circuit house there.
The boat safari on the chambal was mesmerizing to put it mildly!! Our main aim was the endangered Indian Skimmer and the equally endangered Gangetic dolphin. Go to see them both to our heart's content. The dolphins are majestic creatures and being blind, do their hunting as well as navigation by sonar in the bump on their foreheads... We could not manage any pics since it is very difficult to predict where and when they will surface...
The pics are
1. The boat pool on the river
2. Sunrise on the river chambal
3. A Ghadial in the river
4. Indian Skimmers in formation flight
5. The river lapwing
6. A marsh crocodile
7. The famed banks of the river (also the place where some scenes of the movie Paan Singh Tomar was shot)
Attached Images
Directly after the safari, we drove off to Meerut via Agra. The Yamuna expressway is really very good... our first experience on it. That stress free drive ended as we took the turnoff to Bulandshahr and onwards to Meerut. Some stretches were really beautiful tree lined avenues... others were potholed and narrow. In all, a decent drive.
DAY 3 and 4
The next day we made an early start to Lansdowne. Had breakfast of Chole-Bhature from a ‘thela’ in Miranpur which was yummm! Skirting Bijnor, drove past Najibabad, Kotdwar and then onto Lansdowne. The scenery changed after Kotdwar dramatically as the hills began. One particular signboard had us in splits...’Be gentee on the curves’. Lovely roads and picturesque settings all the way to Lansdowne.
I was surprised that despite the place being not particularly high up (in altitude), it was cold indoors even in the afternoon! The most striking thing on reaching was the profusion of flowers everywhere. The tiniest place be it on the mountainside or along the road was blooming with wild flowers. Many moss-laden trees had orchids on them in full bloom. Coming from the hot, dry and dusty plains, this was pure bliss!
The two days in Lansdowne, all we did was bird watching and enjoying the long walks in and around the place. For us from the plains, it was a completely new set of birds we saw there and the Plum headed and Slaty headed Parakeets caught our attention with their raucous screeching. Thus began our acquaintance with birding in the Himalayas... Russet Sparrows, Lesser Yellownape, Brown fronted and Himalayan woodpeckers, the Eurasian and Black headed Jays, the numerous Tits, Verditer Flycatchers, Barbets, the list is endless. Kept us enthralled for the entire duration of our stay there...
Some pics along the way... Attached Images
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