श्रीलंकेची सफर (फेब्रुवारी २०१५) - आसावरी जोशी

श्रीलंकेची सफर 

विधात्याने निळ्याशार समुद्राच्या कोंदणात बसवलेला हा पाचूचा तर मणी. 
सायलोन / सिलोन म्हणजेच श्रीलंका.  

येथील सफर म्हणजे  स्वर्लोकीची सफर. 



श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे हिरव्या शालीने लपेटलेले डोंगरी दरी. हिरव्या गालिच्यावर नीलमणी जलाशयांनी केलेली कलाकुसर. 






श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे रंगी बेरंगी फुलांनी बहरलेली फुलझाडे, वेली आणि orchids. आंबा, फणस, अननस, केळी, पपया, राम्बुतान या वैविध्य पूर्ण फळांनी लगडलेली फळ झाडे . उंच उंच माड आणि त्यांच्या संगतीत रुक्ष कोरफड सुद्धा फुलांनी सजलेली






श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे तमाम पक्षीप्रेमींची चंगळ आणि कितीतरी नाना तऱ्हेचे पक्षी. तेही एकाच ठिकाणी "Yala national park " मध्ये. 





श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे दिमाखदार बिबट्याची (leopard) ती सावध चाल आणि बेसावध बछड्या वर धाव. त्याची ती न सुटणारी घट्ट पकड आणि बछड्याची असहाय्य तडफड . भेदरलेल्या मोराची तेथून सर्रकन उडून जाण्याची धडपड आणि इतर पक्षी प्राण्यांनी त्याच वेळेस केलेला तो विलक्षण आक्रोश. 

श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे म्हणजे मदोन्मत्त हत्ती (Tusker), त्याची डौलदार family आणि पिल्लाच्या रक्षणासाठी घेतलेला आक्रमक पवित्रा . 




श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे देखण्या डौलदार मोराने पिसारा फुलवून केलेले नृत्य, camouflage होणारा monitor lizard, त्याची सर्रकन लवलवणारी जीभ, लांब शेपूट, दगडासारख्या खवल्याची त्वचा.

श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे जलाशयाची कितीतरी रूपे, अथांग सागराचा किनारा, त्यावर अथक अदळणाऱ्या लाटा, आतमध्ये सरसर खेचून नेणारी ती वाळू, त्या लहरींवरचे असंख्य रंग, त्यावर डोलणाऱ्या होड्या, ते  लांबवर पसरलेले विषुववृत्त आपल्या कवेत न मावणारे, सागर किनारी वसलेली ती गावे तर कुठे yala सारखी जंगले देखिल. 


महावेली , मालवाठू , कला ओया, केलानी सारख्या नद्या, 
रावणा धबधब्याची ती भव्यता. ठिकठिकाणी असणारे lakes , गोड्या पाण्याची तळी , lagoons. 



श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे इ.स. पूर्वी ४०० ते इ.स.१२०० काळातील Dambulla cave temple मधील विहंगम रंगचित्रे, मूर्ती आणि sleeping Buddha. तो सिगिरिया रॉक. इसवीसन ११०० काळातील Polonnaruwa स्थानी असलेले आत्ताचे ruins, तेथील वास्तुकला ती भव्यता आणि हवीहवीशी शांतता. 




श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे निगाम्बो (Negambo), गॉल (Galle) अशी आधुनिक शहरे, Kandi येथील थंड हवेचे ठिकाण तेथील शिरशिरी आणणारी थंडी आणि त्यातच भरभरून बरसणाऱ्या पावसात केलेली भटकंती. 

Polonnaruwa, Dambulla , Nuwara Ellya , Yala , Puttalam  
या गावातून फिरताना देखील जाणवणारे स्वच्छ smooth रस्ते. 
तेथील लाघवी लोक, त्यांचे "अयोबुवान", त्यांची मदत करण्याची वृत्ती, 
स्वच्छते बद्दलची आस्था आणि सुरक्षे बद्दलची जागरूकता .  

श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे Seyara Holiday resort आणि तेथील सकाळची फेरी, Hotel Mount Villa आणि तेथील kitchen team. 

Nuwara Elya चे American star hotel आणि तेथील कडाक्याची थंडी. Yala मधील hotel Pala आणि तेथील संध्याकाळची खमंग भेळ. 
हॉटेल New Ocean Hill आणि तेथील backyard चा अथांग सागर, 
रात्रीची ती मैफल आणि हो रात्रीच्या पावसातील swimmingचा बेस्ट experience . 

श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे डाळ-rice आणि coconut ग्रेव्ही मधील curry असे simple veg जेवण आणि फिश, चिकन ची नॉन-व्हेज मेजवानी. 
Pol roti, fruit रोटी, कोथू, होप्पर, स्ट्रिंग होप्पर, दोदोल, मस्कट, खाण्या जोगा सांबार, अशी तिखट गोड variety देखील. 



श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे Toyota च्या २९ seater AC बसमध्ये हसतमुख श्री. लाल आणि त्यांचे बाल आणि पाल यांची साथ. आणि हो त्यातील Angel Travels ने खास दिलेली सवलत जेणेकरून इतर जगाशी संपर्क सुटत नाही ते म्हणजे Dialog Network चे Wi-Fi  network. 




श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे Shopping आणि Shopping. 
Blue, Yellow आणि कितीतरी रंगांचे Sapphire, Moon stone आणि विविध Gems, लाकडी हत्ती, masks , fishermen stick , बाटिक prints. kandyan साडी - श्रीलंकन style. 



श्रीलंकेची सफर म्हणजे नवीन मित्र मैत्रिणी आणि प्रेरेणा दायी 
आशा senior citizensची साथ संगत आणि या नवीन बंधनात गुंफले गेलेलो आम्ही . 

सागराने वेढलेल्या या बेटावर भ्रमंती करताना मनावर पडलेले 
impression हे शब्दात व्यक्त करू शकले ते केवळ या team impression मुळे . 

*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*  इस्तुती  *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*

2014 in review

     Travel and visiting new places, knowing new people & cultures continued to be of my interest in 2014.We started off the year with a trip to Bhigwan in February to see different birds, especially Flamingos. As it was our first trip here, we were amazed by seeing so many birds and also the professional attitude and love towards nature by Sandeep Nagare and his boys. 

Sikkim- Places we visited

     After this wonderful trip, we went to Sikkim in May. Devshri wanted to go out before she dived into her 10th std preparations. We went through Veena World. Our tour guide - Shabbir Gabajiwala (from Mumbai) had made interesting choices. After making a career out of interior designing, he shifted his career to tours and travels at the age of 40 because it was his true passion. Hats off to him for making this risky mid life course change. I am sure he'll enjoy life much more and make progress. Sikkim is not a frequently visited place, but it is a fantastic Himalayan destination with its magnificent peak Khanchedzonga never out of sight (unless the weather isn't clear). It is the 3rd tallest peak in the world. Majestic mountains, lush green trees, roaring waterfalls and amazingly friendly people defined this region. We were lucky to see the Rhododendron flower, for which you have to be at the right altitude at right time. Buddhism seemed wide spread with many peaceful monasteries and monks. I  started to develop a liking to these monasteries for their calm atmosphere. Being a border state with China, the Indian army is never out of sight. We visited the Nathu-la (pass) which is an entry point into China with an altitude of 15000 feet.

Prayer wheels at a Monastery 

Gangtok - Sikkim

Rhododendron - Sikkim state flower

Khangchendzonga - 3rd highest peak

Thosegar near Satara

     There after, me and Devshri made a monsoon trip to Thosegar falls. Some father-daughter quality time. This is a fabulous local attraction, especially in the monsoons. Caught some nice photographs there and also saw the windmills in the area.

Thoseghar Waterfall

Windmill at Chalkewadi

Chalkewadi

Falls from Chalkewadi

     In November me and Asawari went to McLeod Ganj (near Dharamshala). This is the capital in exile for Tibet. Official residence of HH Dalai Lama. We had come here to do some meditation at Tushita center and generally to relax. Both of us were keeping quite a hectic schedule this year and thus needed a break. 

Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj

We stayed in a home stay called "Chocolate Log", owned by Sheryl Hampton and her husband who had retired as an Indian airforce fighter pilot. Great couple to talk to and had a life time of experience to share. Once again, Sheryl's story was about how she transitioned from being a school teacher to a patisserie owner- a successful entrepreneur. For help at the estate and the cake shop she had a young man- Ronak Dhanak who, a doctor by education, had left a nice pharmaceutical job to follow his passion to be in the mountains. And oh, I missed mentioning that Sheryl owns a wine manufacturing unit in McLeod where she gets her grapes from Nasik. And she has written her story in a book aptly names "The Chocolate Log". 

Paragliding - Bir / Biling

Breakfast at McLeod Ganj

Monastery

Triund trek

Biling - Bir Paragliding

     I was trying to practise meditation for the first time and it was a great experience at Tushita. I found it interesting that the person guiding through the session as well as the participants were visitors from outside India. Most of the days we  seemed to be the only two "locals" in the mix. I have promised myself to continue meditation regularly and so far I have stayed true to my word. At McLeod we rented a scooter to see the place. I have come to the realisation that a two wheeler is a great way to see a place and soak yourself in the atmosphere. We also did a 12 km trek to Triund which involved a total height gain of almost 1000 ft. We met a British person on the way who was an expert in trekking in region and shared many experiences. The places we visited were mostly Buddhist monasteries. We made it a point to meditate in each one we visited since it is so calm and quite inside monasteries. The last thing not to miss writing about was Paragliding which we did at a place called Biling/Bir. 

     So that was my travelogue for 2014! Beyond travel I also successfully tried my hand at recycling the home greens/rubbish into manure. Turns out that the plants really flourish in this naturally rich soil created. Another milestone for me was that I learnt swimming, thanks to some persuasion from Asawari. YES, I did not know swimming before. Now I will survive if thrown in water. 

Bhigwan Flamingos 1-Jan-2015

Started the new year with a trip to Bhigwan.

Bhigwan area. 100 km from Pune

Greater Flamingos

Greater Flamingos, रोहित 

For company I had my son Arnav, Father and friends from office- Mohan and Shailesh. Mohan had also gotten along his daughter with him. We started from Pune at 5:30am and reached Bhigwan by 7:30am. We met Sandeep Nagare at his village Kumbhargaon. He is the local guide and had a nice little setup of his own for the tourists. The sky was overcast on the way and in fact we hit rains on our way to Bhigwan. Lucky that the skies were clear at Bhigwan. The boat ride took us deep inside the backwaters where the Flamingos were resting and eating. I did not know that Flamingos do not eat fish but only green algae that grows in the water! We were pretty luck to see a lot of Flamingos in all their colorful glory.

Brown headed Gull - कुरवा 

Grey Heron, राखी बगळा 

While we were photographing them new flocks arrives from nearby flying down from the sky. That was the most amazing experience to see the sky filled with Flamingo orange color.  Managed to get some good photos. We also saw many other water birds like egrets, common gulls, herons, ducks. We were back to the shore by 10:30am. We settled down at the small hotel that Sandeep runs, had some hot breakfast and tea. I got a book on the local birds published by Sandeep. The good thing about the book is that he has identified the Marathi (local) names of the birds as well.

Green Beater, वेडा राघु 

It is interesting to know how people get into the profession they are in. Sandeep's story was similarly interesting.
All in all, a great way to start the new year 2015! Can't wait to see more of India and the rest of the world. Let's see what 2015 has in store...

Little Egret

Grey Heron

Thoseghar, Chalkewadi monsoon trip (Aug 2014) ठोसेघर - चाळकेवाडी वर्षा सहल.

This is my first road trip with my daughter! just me and her. She needed a break from her tenth standard studies and I needed a break from a busy week.
Thoseghar is beyond the Satara town off the Pune-Bangalore highway and monsoon is a great time to visit. The waterfalls in its full glory.

On the way to Thoseghar

We started from Pune at about 4:30am to make sure we beat the crowd and have the nature for ourselves. And it was a very wise decision. It was raining intermittently during the journey. We reached the Thoseghar falls parking lot at about 7:30am. The whole area was lush green from the rains.

Thoseghar Fall, Tarali Dam further downstream

I guess we reached too early because even the guards had not arrived at the entrance to the fall. Fortunately, the gates were open. This facility is well maintained and a nice walkway toward the two main falls that can be enjoyed from here. We reached the viewing area after about 5 minutes of walk, listening to the sound of the waterfall and birds. We heard a bird that was actually singing !!! almost reminding me of the Mockingjay in the Hunger games movie. We could not spot the bird, so I still don't know which bird it was. I later asked a local who told me that it must be गोगी पक्षी. I need to find out. The water fall can be viewed from a observation gallery, and boy what a site. This place is actually a ravine with steep vertical edges where literally a series of waterfalls constantly dump water. All this water gets collected further downstream in the Tarali Dam. 

Thoseghar falls, This is the beginning of the Ravine

I don't think there is a way to go to the bottom of the fall. And you can see in the photos just how lush green the area is.

Windmill at Chalkewadi

There is a way to go to the other side of the ravine by going to the next village called Chalkewadi. I had read that the views from that end are breathtaking but one has to hike off the road. But before going there, we had a nice hot breakfast just outside the entry gates. The folks who run this restaurant are really nice and we enjoyed our Misal Pav and tea. Here I was told that we will be able to see many windmills, so we were excited to go. Chalkewadi is just a few kilometres away. We took directions from a local person to go see the windmills. Unfortunately the whole area was covered with clouds swept in by the winds (well that explains why this site was selected to install these giant windmills) and we could not see the windmills at all. Fortunately we did not give up and stopped the car for some time and I probably go the best (in my opinion) photo of the trip. I never knew but here I realised that the windmills make a very spooky sound from the rotating blades. Thank god they are not very near the village. From here we came back to Chalkewadi village and again checked with a local if there was a way to get to see the falls from this side. And he guided us to go to a "dhaba" which actually turned out to be a abandoned house, park the car and take a path. A 15 minute walk according to him. But the villagers warned me to be careful about the slippery road due to rain. I was in no mood to go after this warning, but my daughter prodded me and we started walking. The walk was quite safe and the nature did not disappoint. After about a 15 minutes hike we reached the edge of the ravine and we could see the Thoseghar viewing platform on the opposite side. I can confirm now that the views of the waterfalls from Chalkewadi were truly mesmerising. Take a look...

On the way to the waterfalls from Chalkewadi

String of waterfalls from Chalkewadi

... and here is the proof that we were here.