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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Move on...

This blog is coming to an end here.

We are now writing at www.travelwithacouple.com.

The journey continues...

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Prabalgad 2.0

Prabalgad is a distant and forgotten cousin of Matheran. At 2300 ft above the sea level, with a forest atop with a variety of birds and animals, it has all the ingredients for the making of a hill station. Thanks to the lack of resident water sources, this forest remains pristine and an ideal destination for true nature lovers and adventure seekers. The gigantic V shaped mountain (which is to the west of the fort) cannot be missed while traveling through the Mumbai Pune Express way of high way. It is also visible from the Matheran Sun Set point.

Prabalgad is accessible from the Konkan by taking a turn at the Poinje Phata. This road branches out from the Panvel road, just six kilometers short of the Panvel crossing. From Poinje, you can trek to the top of the fort, passing Thakarwadi. The fort has some ruins of stone walls and ramparts. There is a small water tank and a Ganesh temple. Still, it is wise to take the help of a local guide at Thakarwadi. This way, you can be assured of finding your way amidst the wild tracts of Karvy. The only traces of humans are cowherds who take their cattle and goats to graze in and around the fort. A tiny lake also provides these animals with drinking water. There are few records mentioning the historical or geographical importance of Prabalgad, save that in 1826, the freedom fighter, Umaji Naik, along with his companions, had made the fort his home for a brief period. The fort is close to Mumbai as well as Pune, making it an excellent place to go for a weekend trek. With its misty monsoons and cool summers, a trek to Prabalgad is adventurous and memorable.




See Prabalgad Photos from 2005 Trek

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Journey, is the Reward

Fast cars, super sonic planes, chartered flights, packaged tours... ! are we missing out on the real travel. So thinks travel writer Ed Gillepsies and his partner Fiona. So they set out on a Slow Travel. To enjoy the transition of landscape, culture, people and language. By travelling in train, cycle, camel and ferry. Savouring the rich experience of real travel. Making true sense of the Taoist saying that 'Journey is the reward'.

Read the story here

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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Take a walk!

City walks are the latest buzz with travel lovers. Most of us are even unaware that there are a lot more to see in our backyards. A lot on heritage and culture. A few entrepreneurial travel lovers have found an interesting way to take us through the history of our cities. I took part in a walk in Mumbai with one such group. It is simply great.

Here is a quick guide:
Mumbai -
The Bombay Heritage Walks, www.bombayheritagewalks.com

Bangalore -
Bangalore Walks - www.bangalorewalks.com

Delhi
Nigel Hankin - The 87 year old British, settled in India for many years have been conducting tours in Delhi for the last 20 years. With no telephone or internet contact, Nigel's service is known to outside world only by word of mouth

INTACH - intacdelhi@rediffmail.com, Ph: 011 - 2464 5482 extn:105

Calcutta -
Akhil Sircar, Conservation and Research of Urban Traditional Architecture
ARCH - Manish Chakraborti, archeritage@hotmail.com

Goa
Heta Pandit, heta.pandit@gmail.com, 098221 28022

Chennai
V Sriran, srirambts@gmail.com, 098400 24200

Matheran
Terence D Lima, 094233 67739



(Information Source: Mint Lounge)

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Sunday, February 04, 2007

More on Rail Trail

Many would remember the story of RailTrail, an eco trail through the thick forests of Parambikulam which appeared in this blog earlier. (Parambikulam - A 100 year old forest tramway turns trekking trail). Discovered or re-discovered by railway historians Devan Verma, David Churchill & Marc Reusser, this eco-trail traces the path of the now discarded Cochin State Forest Tramway through some of the thickest forests in western ghats.

Devan Varma has recently shared some interesting photos with us.
Click here. and enjoy!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

25 Wild Life Sanctuaries to experience


Sanctuary magazine is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The issue dated October is a collectors issue (infact every issue of Sanctuary Magazine is a collectors issue).

Some of the interesting features in this issue are 25 best wild life photographs, 25 select articles from previous issues, 25 key environmental issues/battles, 25 wild species that share our cities, 25 species we must not lose, 25 birds of a life time, 25 people who are fighting to save natural india and 25 wild life destinations one should not miss.

Reproduced here are that 25 wild life destinations.

Here is the list:

Corbett Tiger Reserve (Uttaranchal)
Habitat: Northern most deciduous dominated by sal, northern tropical dry decidious, Himalayan subtropical pine forests
Wildlife: Elephants, Tigers, Gharials, birds
Closest Town/City: Nainital (85 km)
Best time to visit: November - April

Gangotri National Park (Uttaranchal)
Habitat: Himalayan moist temperate type vegetation consists of chirpine deodar, fir, spruce, oak and rhododendrons
Wildlife: Lammergeirs, bharal, Himalayan black bears
Closest Town/City: Dehradun (210 km)
Best time to visit: February - May

Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary (Uttaranchal)
Habitat: Moist mixed deciduous forests, temperate moist coniferous forests, sublpine birch, fir and spruce forests and sub-pine pasture and scrub
Wildlife: Goral, birds, butterflies, leopards
Closest City/Town: Almora (25 km)
Best time to visit: September - March

Valley of Flowers National Park (Uttaranchal)
Habitat: Alpine meadows and sub alpine forests shelter about 500 species of flowering plants. A large portion of the park is covered with glaciers.
Wildlife: Flowering plans and butterflies
Closest City/Town: Joshimath (33 km)
Best time to visit: July - August

Great Himalayan National Park (Himachal Pradesh)
Habitat: Confluence of temperate and alpine forest types with a mix of oak and conifers
Wildlife: Musk deer, Himalayan black bears, snow leopards
Closest City/Town: Kullu (55 km)
Best time to visit: April - June & September-October

Gir National Park (Gujarat)
Habitat: Semi-arid and deciduous forest, stunted deciduous forest interspersed with grasslands and scrubland.
Wildlife: Asiatic Lions, leopards, birds
Closest City/Town: Junagarh (58 km)
Best time to visit: November - March

Little Rann (wild ass) Sanctuary (Gujarat)
Habitat: Predominantly Saline Desert. Some areas are semi-arid
Wildlife: Asiatic wild ass, chinkara, wolves, striped hyenas
Closest City/Town: Ahmedabad (105 km), Rajkot (140 km)
Best time to visit: December - March

Ranthanbhore Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan)
Habitiat: Dry deciduous habitat dominated with dhak trees. Three lakes form the life support system for the park.
Wildlife: Tigers, leopards, birds
Closest City/Town: Sawoi Madhopur (12 km)
Best time to visit: December - April

Keoladeo Ghana National Park (Rajasthan)
Habitat: Man-made wetland; semi-arid and thorn forest with small patches of grass land.
Wildlife: Migratory birds, rock python, Indian monitor, jackals
Closest City/Town: Bharatpur (5 km)
Best time to visit: November - February

Melghat Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra)
Habitat: Dry deciduous forest with teak and bamboo
Wildlife: Birds, tigers, guars
Closest City/Town: Amaravati (100 km)
Best time to visit: December - March

Tadoba Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra)
Habitat: Southern tropical deciduous forest with teak and bamboo
Wildlife: Tigers, dhole, birds
Closest City/Town: Chandrapur (45 km)
Best time to visit: November - April

Netravali Wild Life Sanctuary (Goa)
Habitiat: Westcoast tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests.
Wildlife: Birds, reptiles, amphibians
Closest City/Town: Dabolim (55k km)
Best time to visit: August - February

Kanha TigerReserve (Madhya Pradesh)
Habitiat: Mixed deciduous on the plains and dry deciduous woodland on hilltops and slope.
Wildlife: Tigers, swamp deers, birds
Closest City/Town: Jabalpur (160 km)
Best time to visit: November - March

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh)
Habitiat: Indus-Ganges Monsoon forest type mainly consisting of semi-evergreen sal forests mixed with Terminalia and mixed bamboo species.
Wildlife: Tigers, birds
Closest City/Town: Umaria (35 km)
Best time to visit: December - April

Bandipur Tiger Reserve (Karnataka - Tamilnadu)
Habitiat: Dry deciduous scrub, southern tropical dry deciduous and southern tropical moist mixed deciduous forests.
Wildlife: Elephants, tigers, dhole, guar, four-horned antelope, birds, reptiles, butterflies
Closest City/Town: Mysore (78 km)
Best time to visit: January - May, September - October

Periayar Tiger Reserve (Kerala)
Habitiat: Mostly tropical evergreen forests and semi-evergreen forests, occassionally broken by large areas of grasslands.
Wildlife: Elephants, guar, birds, reptiles, butterflies
Closest City/Town: Kottayam (112 km), Madurai (140 km)
Best time to visit: November - April

Silent Valley National Park (Kerala)
Habitiat: West coast tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen and secondary evergreen, souther tropical hill savannah woodland, southern montane wet scrub and grassland.
Wildlife: Birds, reptiles, amphibians
Closest City/Town: Palakkad (58 km), Coimbatore (90 km)
Best time to visit: July - February

Annamalai (Indira Gandhi) National Park (Tamilnadu)
Habitiat: Dry deciduous, evergreen, semi-evergreen and montane wet temperate forests.
Wildlife: Elephants, Birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies
Closest City/Town: Coimbatore (80 km)
Best time to visit: September - April

Mahatama Gandhi Marine (Wandur) National Park (Andamans)
Habitiat: Mangrove forest; tropical evergreen and moist deciduous forests on the sorrounding landmass. Majority of the water dominated by coral reef.
Wildlife: Corals, tropical fish, molluscs, salt-water crocodiles, birds
Closest City/Town: Port Blair (29 km)
Best time to visit: December - March

Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary (Orissa)
Habitiat: Mangrove forest along creek and estuaries - an amalgamation of sea and freshwater habitat.
Wildlife: Turtles, king cobra, water monitor, crustaceans
Closest City/Town: Bhubaneshwar (190 km), Cuttack (77 km)
Best time to visit: December - March

Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (West Bengal)
Habitiat: Dense mangrove forests with several rivers, creeks and estuaries. Most of the area consists of inaccessible swamps.
Wildlife: Tiger, mangroves, water monitor, crustaceans
Closest City/Town: Jorhat (98 km), Guwahati (230 km)
Best time to visit: December - April

Kaziranga National Park (Assam)
Habitiat: Alluvial grassland, deciduous woodland scattered through the grassland, semi-evergreen forest and tropical wet evergreen forests
Wildlife: One-horned rhinoceros, swamp deer, common otters, gangetic dolphins
Closest City/Town: Kolkata (160 km)
Best time to visit: December - March

Manas Tiger Reserve (Assam)
Habitiat: Tropical semi-evergreen forests, tropical moist and dry deciduous forests and extensive alluvial grasslands.
Wildlife: Birds, hispid hare, pygmy hogs, golden langur
Closest City/Town: Guwahati (180 km)
Best time to visit: December - March

Eagle's Nest Wildlife Sanctuary (Arunachal Pradesh)
Habitat: Wet temperate evergreen dominated with bamboo. Heavily logged regions - with pine, birch broad leaved oak and rhododendron.
Wildlife: Birds, reptiles, amphibians, yellow throated martens
Closest City/Town: Guwahati (328 km)
Best time to visit: October - April

Namdapha Tiger Reserve (Arunachal Pradesh)
Habitiat: Wet evergreen rainforests, moist mixed deciduous forests and temperate alpine forests. Namdapha has an astounding diversity of forest types.

Wildlife: Reptiles, amphibians, birds, small cats
Closest City/Town: Digboi (85 km)
Best time to visit: December - April

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Parambikulam - 100 year old forest tramway turns trekking trail

Parambikulam in Kerala - Tamilnadu border and part of the Anamalai hills in the Western Ghats is a nature lovers' dream come true. Though it is in Palakkad district of Kerala, it is accessible by regular roads only through Pollachi in Tamilnadu. Or the other option is the forest tracks from Chalakkudy, in Kerala. I visited Parambikulam almost 20 years back and all I could spent was a couple of hours. It was one of those quickie one day trips organised by my school to Parambikkulam and Valparai. It is now one more addition to my 'To do' list.

The latest issue of Outlook Traveller tells the story of a long forgotten (or unknown) story of the Cochin State Forest Tramway. Built in 1903, the 80 km meter guage line connected Parambikulam to Chalakkudy. The track passes through dense jungles and past 254 bridges and culverts. Parambikulam was a favourite destination of the renowned ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali. He had identified over 100 species of birds along the tramway. He infact spent his honeymoon at the tramway resthouse and named a species of bird he found there after his wife.

The tramway was discontinued sometime in the 1950s. The good news now is that the State Forest department has converted this into a trekking trail. This eco tourism venture integrates the tribals, who organises the trek along with the forest officials. There are three treks on offer. A short trek of 1 day, a medium trek of 2 days and a long trek of 3 days.

Till I get a chance to plan and do this trek, all I can do is to marvel at the pictures in the magazine, read the article again and day dream. For the detailed story, one needs to pick a copy of the magazine, since I do not find the article online.

(Text in italics suggests that most of it is borrowed from the magazine)