Gokarna And Sundarijal

A pleasant couple of hours walk in the vicinity of the Boudanath stupa will take us to the old Newar village of Gokarna, north of the Royal Game Reserve From Bouthnath take the road towards the reserve and turn left on to a dirt road after twenty minutes. Another twenty minutes’ walk will bring you to the beautiful three-storied temple of Shiva called Gokarneswor, Lord of Gokarna. The courtyard has an incredible collection of stone statues of deities from Hindu mythology such as Narad, Surya the Sun God, Chandra the Moon God, Kamadeva the God of Love besides the more conventional images of Shiva and Vishnu. Although they are probably only about a century old I have never seen such a collection in one place in Nepal.

After visiting the temple you can walk up to the village which is inhabited entirely by Newars and is surrounded by the game reserve on the three sides. Although the village is so close to Kathmandu the villagers are very poor and many do not even speak Nepali. There are deer, monkeys, and peacocks in the game reserve. It is a popular picnic spot for the people of Kathmandu and there is some entrance fee to enter the premises as well.

Further down the road are the waterfalls of Sundarijal at the edge of the valley; a pleasant bicycle ride down quiet roads.

Neeti’s India Visit - Mumbai

The best thing in Mumbai was the Water Kingdom. We stayed in Mumbai just for two night and one day. This is the reason why we opted for going to water kingdom and not to the Essel World. The water kingdom has a 45 degree and a 90 degree slide. I had slided in the 90 degree slide and almost lost my breath. It was so scary. I felt like a little kid for some time. Then I enjoyed the other rides like the Black Demon, a slide which was dark but finally I wasn’t scared. Then we rode bumpy rides sitting on huge air tubes of one and pairs as well. All in all, water kingdom was hilarious and tiring at the end. I had a nice sleep that night.

Next day in the morning we went to shopping in the fashion street. I was surprised to see the level of bargaining we could handle in the fashion street. If they said a t-shirt was of Rs 500 we could casually start our bargain with Rs. 150 and finally buy the stuff in Rs. 250. Well I had shopped mostly in Mumbai and was happy I did that.

Finally, from Mumbai we had to catch a connecting train to Lucknow to return back to Nepal.

Neeti’s India Visit - Goa

Goa was a splendid place with the sea and the friends I had been with. We lodged in the southern part of Goa which is quiet. Goa was fun. We went for cycling and enjoyed the roads of Goa with colorful tourists around. The northern part of Goa is livelier and is filled with youngsters. We had dinner in Bagha beach and rushed to Teetos to enjoy the nightlife. In the southern part of Goa, we visited the Fort Aguda and Rocky Beach. Both the places were remarkable. The cruise ride of Goa was entertaining.

Let me not forget to include the water sports that we enjoyed in the beach. Paragliding, banana ride, motor boat, and early morning boating. I just did not want to return back from Goa.

We also went to the café coffee day of the place whose coffee and pastries were mouthwatering. Luckily our last night in Goa was the 14th of February, Valentines’ Day. In the last night we had camp fire, drinks, and open floor dance arranged by the small restaurant near the hotel we lodged in.

Finally, it is not that easy to explain the flood of emotions shared with my friends and with Goa’s enormous beauty. This trip to Goa will be cherished by me today and always.

Neeti’s India Visit – Bangalore

Bangalore, currently known as the city of information technology is a place with mild weather in the day and cools in the evening.

We lodged in Mayur Deluxe Lodge residing in Balepet Square. The lodge was quite congested with narrow corridors. As soon as I reached Bangalore I gave a call to my cousin who stays there. She was a great help to my pals as she guided them to shopping malls and other areas where they could find stuffs cheaper. Then I went to meet my aunt who had cooked delicious dinner for me.

The next day we went to Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace. The palace is made up of teak wood which is supposed to stay cool throughout summer. The place had some stolen memories of Tipu Sultan and his ancestors. The palace is colored black and golden and has some vibrancies that pulls you to stay longer. Later on the day we went to Lal Bagh botanical garden. The garden was huge and had fountains all around. There was a green room also. It was an exercise on the trip walking on the passages of the botanical garden.

We also went to the science museum of Bangalore. The museum was also huge and due to time lagging behind we could not comprehend the place to the fullest.

We left Bangalore soon after we visited the museum for Goa. Since, we had very less time we skipped the fountain show of Bangalore. It was a remarkable trip to Bangalore.

Neeti’s India Visit – Hyderabad

Hyderabad was a warm place with lots of posters in the city of movies. They were so huge that one could easily say that the people who resided there loved to watch movies of their local language.

We went to The Cyber Towers. It was an educational and inspiring presentation and speech given by one of the IT heads of the companies working in Cyber Towers. We had our breakfast in the restaurant of Cyber Towers. The break fast was delicious. Later we went to the the Ramoji Film Studio. The Studio was enormous with more than 50 spacious gardens and fountains. The studio also had an adventurous section where we did artificial bungee jumping, trekking, climbing, and sliding. The studio also had a room with artificial rain theme where we danced for some time. Ramoji Film Studio also has an amuzement park and a place to shop around. One of my friends sister guided us to Ramoji Film Studio. We also visited Char Minar in Hyderabad. Char Minar was a crowdie place and we were warned to double check our pockets time to time.

We had also visited the Lumbini Park of Hyberabad. The sea was calm and it was a refreshing when we bowed our heads before the statue of Lord Buddha standing in the center of the sea. We also enjoyed a 45 minute show of musical fountains as a laser show of the most attractive and important aspects of the people of Hyderabad.

We did a lot of shopping pearls in Hyderabad. The friend’s sister took us to a shop which we could rely on and the pearls were worth spending on.

The trip to Hyderabad was full of essence and the most diversified place we visited in our IT tour to India.

Neeti’s India Visit - Agra

Agra, the place where the mystic that is in the seventh wonder of the world, Taj Mahal, stands was about two hours from New Delhi.

We had to walk for fifteen minutes to the place where Taj Mahal stands. This was to protect Taj Mahal from pollution. The maintenance department has put deliberate effort to repair its surroundings. We could see rickshaws all over the place that does not need fuel.

I was seeing Taj Mahal for the second time and believe me I felt as tough it was my first trip to the place. This huge creation took my heart like it took when I saw it for the first time. I had a crush on the antique piece standing in front of me. My friends and I enjoyed the story of the Taj Mahal’s making and the true love behind its making. The guide told us in a very interesting way the history behind Taj Mahal.

We clicked a class photograph hiring a photographer. These photographer have an album with them to market their skills in front of the tourists.

It was late when we left from Agra. We did dinner in a road side dhaba where food was simple and stomach filling.

Neeti’s India Visit - New Delhi

I have never been to India as of now. The closest I have been near India is at Rakshwal which is a part of India near the Nepal-India border at Birjung, Nepal. I was chatting once again with my dearest friend, Neeti Agrawal. She then have an idea about sharing me her experience about her India Tour. She wrote this post to share her tour to me and my readers. I hope everyone enjoys it with Neeti.

The day I reached to New Delhi with my friends, it had cold weather. We had lodged in the Hotel Crown Continental in New Rohtak Road. We had not reached on the check in time so we had to wait in the waiting room for two hours. We were already tired of the journey from Nepal to India by road. As soon as we got the rooms, I called my sister who was studying in Delhi to meet me.

My friends went on the Café coffee day, the metro of New Delhi, and did some shopping, whereas I went with my sister at my uncle’s place to meet them. We went for a movie and then for the dinner in the same mall. Later in the evening, when I met my friends, we shared our activities of the day and I realized that I missed some beautiful moments with them and they as well missed the movie I saw with my uncle’s family. Still, I decided to not to leave my friends ahead in the trip.

The next day in the morning we had a minor clash with our tour operator since he was not happy with our attitude of doing things on our own. After we sorted out the things with him, we left New Delhi to visit Agra. We returned from Agra in the late eve.

The next day we visited the LaxmiNarayan Temple. The temple was very soothing on the trip. It was the day of Shivaratri. Then we went to Raj Ghat. This is the place where important politicians’ and legends’ memories are engraved after their demise. We had seen Late Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi’s visions and accomplishments engraved there. A tour to be remembered throughout my life was the trip to Raj Ghat. We went to visit India Gate and Lotus Temple. Lotus Temple was huge and again the architecture it had was just out of question. The place was had good crowd of tourists but it was still quiet.

New Delhi is no doubt the place Indians are proud of. Delhi was a place to be remembered and a place with lots of things in particular.