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| Puzzle like ridges on the bark of Ponderosa Pine |
Puzzle (Wordless Wednesday)
Amazing Ladakh
The airline industry upheaval in India in 2012 affected me personally not because I hold stocks of airline companies but because the shutdown of Kingfisher Airlines sabotaged my trip to Leh. Hence my trepidation when booking our visit this year. As luck would have it, our journey was turbulence-free and here I am … ready with a snapshot of the most amazing place on earth… Leh. A place that takes your breath away- almost literally!
Situated at an elevation of 11300 feet AMSL, a visit to Leh needs thorough preparation. The air is rarer than in the plains so the first thumb rule is do everything SLOWLY!
The region is remote, austere, awesome and humbling. Accessible by roads (that are open in summers) and air (ex-Delhi) this is an ideal summer destination for those who love nature. Be sure to read up about birds because you will find several winged friends just waiting to be spotted. With a lot of help from Foliage Outdoors we spotted Black Billed Magpie, Black Redstart, Red Billed Chough, Yellow Billed Chough, Horned Lark, Chukar, Brahmini Ducks, Tibetan Partidge, Red Crested Pochard, Brown Headed Gull (at Pangong).
Sorry folks, bird photography is not my forte so head to these sites for some basic images and info…
Sorry folks, bird photography is not my forte so head to these sites for some basic images and info…
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| Black Billed Magpie |
Dont let the bare mountains fool you. There is plenty of wildlife out there you just need the right perspective to see it! The lucky ones can spot the Marmots, Wild Hare, Blue Sheep, Red Fox, Tibetan Wild Ass (also called Kiang), Yaks, Double humped Camels. Coloured in shades of brown, yellow, white, black, most of these perfectly merge with their surroundings, so do pat yourself on the back if you do notice any of these friends!
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| Double Humped Camel- zoom in to see his pierced right ear! |
The Hall of Fame museum in Leh should be on every visitors’ must-see list. Do drop into the Siachen Gallery and learn first hand what our troops on the northern borders have to deal! They battle harsh weather and inhospitable conditions even in peace times just to keep us safe. Salute to their indomitable spirit.
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| The Last Post |
While distances to Pangong Tso or the Nubra Valley are not very large, numerically speaking, the drive does take a while due to the difficult terrain. The mountains change their personality as the elevation increases. The melting snow along the roadside forms constantly changing ice sculptures! Icicles formed by the frozen water droplets sparkle in the sun forcing you to pull out your camera… Rocks and sand coexist with snow and the gurgling streams rush down to eagerly to join up and form mighty rivers. The bare sandy rocky soil suddenly changes into green bogs near the river banks and this must be a riot of colours in the (relatively) warmer months!
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| Sindhu Zanskar Sangam |
Ladakh has interesting flora as the plants have to adapt to snow, biting winds for most parts of the year. Apricots are said to be indigenous to this region as is the Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides aka Leh Berry).
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| Apricot Blossoms |
Some more images to take your breath away..
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| Along the River Shayok |
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| Zoom in to see the snow sculptures |
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| Pangong Tso |
Here is an interesting article from The Better India entitled The At-Z of Leh! Obviously there would be many more posts on this blogs about this amazing, awesome, forbidding, humbling place! Watch out!
But wait, the reality is that No photo can do justice to Nature’s palette and No camera can capture the colours of the Himalayas…
A week without cell phone or Internet connectivity, makes no difference to the quality my life. It changes ideas about luxury, beauty. Leh forces you to introspect. Who are you? What is your goal in life?
Julley!
The Sun Rises at Pangong Tso (Wordless Wednesdays)
Sky (Wordless Wednesdays)
Sky (Wordless Wednesdays)
April AtoZ Reflections
April has passed by and so has the AtoZ blogging challenge and its time to relax a bit. This was my third attempt and as I said earlier, I was in two minds about signing up this year. My theme this year was “Gardens in Pune”. However I am glad I did as I could see parts of my city (Pune, India) that I had never gone to before.
During the period that I surveyed the gardens, the city was amid a garbage crisis and the machinery to collect and dispose waste was under severe strain. Yet, I found that the gardens were spotlessly clean, the lawns properly mowed, the hedges perfectly trimmed, no garbage in the gardens and a stark contrast to the city outside. Why or How this happened is still a mystery… Almost all gardens had a healthy number of visitors of all age groups. Some were exercising, some meditating, some reading or studying or some just enjoying the beauty. Thankfully not much PDA.
Another thing that was strongly evident was that every park had something unique to offer in addition to the usual garden ‘elements’ (lawns, trees, kids play area etc). These included animal statues, equipment for cardio exercises, miniatures of the 7 wonders of the world, musical fountain, memorials of war, a sensory garden… I came across a garden that was not a garden and a garden that was a forest! There was a a lake in the gardens as also a stream… Wow! Some gardens were very small and some sprawled over several acres. Some very young and some of a heritage status. Yes, Pune is proud to have these gardens. I hope the authorities and people strive to maintain them in full glory.
You can go on an e-visit to all my AtoZ parks to read more!
Considering it was my third attempt at the AtoZ, I think I was better organised in terms of scheduling my posts and preparing for them. However, as before, fatigue with respect to commenting does set in especially in the third week.
And yes, there is some survivor gear too! Have you got your memento? I rather like the T shirts but will they ship to India?
I tried visiting as many blogs as I could and I plan to catch up over the next few weeks. Besides the usual fiction, writing, travel and word/picture prompt-themed posts, I came across some really unique themes for this AtoZ:
Gardening with a botanical focus: My Green Nook
Haikus: Pooh’s Den
Yoga: Destiny’s Child
Postcards: Around the World in Stamps and Postcards
Epics from AtoZ: The Multicolored Diary
Inventions by Women: Shells Tales and Sails
Addicted to Beads: Curling Stones for Lego People
A blog for the care giver/carer: Reflex Reactions
A blog about sketches: lynnelives
A blog dedicated to helping the homeless: Bridge and Beyond
The Choose Your Poison (Stories about poisons): Flash Fiction
Overall, its been a great stint of local tourism and I did spot and correctly identify (Yay!!) some trees that I had not seen before. (That would be the H and A posts)
I may not blog daily but I hope to keep posting regularly especially with my Wordless Wednesdays. Do visit this blog again my dear friends and new readers, I appreciate your visits and comments from the bottom of my heart.
Take care and Good Luck!
🙂
During the period that I surveyed the gardens, the city was amid a garbage crisis and the machinery to collect and dispose waste was under severe strain. Yet, I found that the gardens were spotlessly clean, the lawns properly mowed, the hedges perfectly trimmed, no garbage in the gardens and a stark contrast to the city outside. Why or How this happened is still a mystery… Almost all gardens had a healthy number of visitors of all age groups. Some were exercising, some meditating, some reading or studying or some just enjoying the beauty. Thankfully not much PDA.
Another thing that was strongly evident was that every park had something unique to offer in addition to the usual garden ‘elements’ (lawns, trees, kids play area etc). These included animal statues, equipment for cardio exercises, miniatures of the 7 wonders of the world, musical fountain, memorials of war, a sensory garden… I came across a garden that was not a garden and a garden that was a forest! There was a a lake in the gardens as also a stream… Wow! Some gardens were very small and some sprawled over several acres. Some very young and some of a heritage status. Yes, Pune is proud to have these gardens. I hope the authorities and people strive to maintain them in full glory.
You can go on an e-visit to all my AtoZ parks to read more!
Considering it was my third attempt at the AtoZ, I think I was better organised in terms of scheduling my posts and preparing for them. However, as before, fatigue with respect to commenting does set in especially in the third week.
And yes, there is some survivor gear too! Have you got your memento? I rather like the T shirts but will they ship to India?
I tried visiting as many blogs as I could and I plan to catch up over the next few weeks. Besides the usual fiction, writing, travel and word/picture prompt-themed posts, I came across some really unique themes for this AtoZ:
Gardening with a botanical focus: My Green Nook
Haikus: Pooh’s Den
Yoga: Destiny’s Child
Postcards: Around the World in Stamps and Postcards
Epics from AtoZ: The Multicolored Diary
Inventions by Women: Shells Tales and Sails
Addicted to Beads: Curling Stones for Lego People
A blog for the care giver/carer: Reflex Reactions
A blog about sketches: lynnelives
A blog dedicated to helping the homeless: Bridge and Beyond
The Choose Your Poison (Stories about poisons): Flash Fiction
Overall, its been a great stint of local tourism and I did spot and correctly identify (Yay!!) some trees that I had not seen before. (That would be the H and A posts)
I may not blog daily but I hope to keep posting regularly especially with my Wordless Wednesdays. Do visit this blog again my dear friends and new readers, I appreciate your visits and comments from the bottom of my heart.
Take care and Good Luck!
🙂
The Maps
The month of April 2015 was pretty hectic as I had to write posts daily and visit different gardens to gather information for these posts! That is when I realised that I had not mapped the gardens I have blogged about. So here are the garden locations!
This is the map put up by the Pune Municipal Corporation that actually sparked this theme.
As you can see I have covered almost all directions of Pune. This was only possible due to unstinted support from my husband and daughter – for bearing with delayed meals, restaurant take-aways, accompanying me to some parks and even chauffeuring me to some! Thank you!
Its now time to relax and catch up with other fantastic blogs.
Cheers!
Z is for Zoo
We are on the last day of the AtoZ Blogging challenge and the month seems to have flown by. I have tried to visit and comment on many blogs but would have liked to have done more. I think I can catch up in the upcoming weeks. I am writing about gardens in Pune.
Getting back to the last letter, Z, I had only one place that I could write about—- the Zoo in Pune. Earlier it was located at the Peshwe Park but the animals have now been moved to the outskirts of the city, near the Katraj Lake. The new establishment is called the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and Wildlife Research Centre. This zoo is commonly called the Snake Park as it is home to a large number and variety of snakes. The most important aspect of this Zoo is that it has a rescue centre for orphaned and rescued animals.
Getting back to the last letter, Z, I had only one place that I could write about—- the Zoo in Pune. Earlier it was located at the Peshwe Park but the animals have now been moved to the outskirts of the city, near the Katraj Lake. The new establishment is called the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and Wildlife Research Centre. This zoo is commonly called the Snake Park as it is home to a large number and variety of snakes. The most important aspect of this Zoo is that it has a rescue centre for orphaned and rescued animals.
The Zoo is spread over a vast area that has a lake within its premises. It has enclosures for some wild animals, birds and of course- snakes! The facility offers rides on battery operated vehicles (a ticketed activity) but others will simply have to walk a large distance to see the animals. This is not very tiring due to the thick tree cover in the area. The lake itself is very pretty and attracts a large number of birds particularly in winters- obviously a heaven for birders!
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| Thick tree cover |
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| Katraj Lake |
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| Vehicles to go around the Zoo |
I had been to the old Zoo several times and my visit to the current Zoo was thanks to the AtoZ challenge. However I went there on a Sunday evening just as the school holidays had begun- a bad choice to say the least as I had to face long queues at almost every place… There is a security check at the entrance and it is forbidden to use or litter the place with plastics. Despite the crowd and heat, I returned impressed and plan another visit once the rains begin and schools reopen!
😉
Info:
Timing: 10AM to 6PM (timing may vary at peak season)
Entry: INR 15 for adults
Drinking Water: Available
Rest Rooms: Available
Location Map here.
That’s it folks. Enjoyed sharing a glimpse of my city with you. Take care!
Cheers!
Y is for Yashwantrao Chavan Udyan
We are almost at the end of the April 2015 AtoZ blogging challenge and its been quite an eyeopener for me– I have realised that each of the public gardens in Pune has something unique and different to offer in terms of the special features like landscaping or games for kids or infotainment! The garden I am writing about today is often referred to as the 7 Wonders Park… As you can guess, the park has miniature statues of the seven wonders of the world. They may not be to the exact scale but they do give a good idea of these magnificent monuments and will surely inspire many to travel to see them. All of them have information boards that have site information in Marathi – a good move in my opinion as it ensures that everyone coming to the park can read about the Eiffel Tower or Pyramids or The Statue of Liberty or The Colosseum…
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| Information in Marathi |
If this is not enough, the park also has a 4D show which runs at specific times in the evenings… The themes should be interesting for kids and it seemed quite popular with garden visitors.There are some statues of popular kids’ ‘stars’ like Superman, Tarzan etc.
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| 4D show |
Though the garden is not very big, it does have two huge Dillenia indica trees – their splendid green foliage is a sight for sore eyes… The trees were fruiting when I went there and I wish I had gone a bit earlier to see those lovely blossoms. The garden also has several Terminalia mantaly trees. The Saraca asoca and Petrea volubilis at the entrance of a mock cave add colour to the landscape .
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| Dillenia indica |
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| A mock cave guarded by the Saraca asoca |
All in all, an excellent infotainment destination for kids holidaying in Pune!
Info:
Entry: INR 20 (includes the show)
Parking: Available on the road outside
Drinking Water: Available
Rest Rooms: Available
X is for eXtreme, eXcellent, eXtraordinary
We are almost at the end of the April 2015 AtoZ Blogging Challenge and the letter X is almost always eXtra challenging!! I am writing about gardens in Pune and I think the tedkis (hills) of Pune some of which have reserve forests on the top are truly unique to this city.
These tekdis offer all of the adjectives in the title of this post:
eXtraordinary: Pune is blessed with two rivers and importantly also has many hills located right inside the city limits. They can justly be called as the lungs of the city! We have the Vetal Tekdi (which is the highest), Hanuman Tekdi (which has the Gokhale Smarak Stambh), Parvati temple which is atop the Parvati hill, the Parvati Pachgaon forest area, the Tukai Tekdi and Durga Tekdi. The changing landscape over the seasons is a visual treat!
These tekdis offer all of the adjectives in the title of this post:
eXtraordinary: Pune is blessed with two rivers and importantly also has many hills located right inside the city limits. They can justly be called as the lungs of the city! We have the Vetal Tekdi (which is the highest), Hanuman Tekdi (which has the Gokhale Smarak Stambh), Parvati temple which is atop the Parvati hill, the Parvati Pachgaon forest area, the Tukai Tekdi and Durga Tekdi. The changing landscape over the seasons is a visual treat!
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| Poster |
eXcellent: the hills are excellent places to exercise – for a walk, jog or even train for long treks in the Himalayas. In fact, March and April are months when one commonly sees many walking up and down the hills with huge backpacks, as they gear up for their outings in June or July… The tekdis are also home to some indigenous tree species that are either uncommon or are simply not seen in the city. Some of the trees are Ganer (Cochlospermum religiosum ), Bartondi (Morinda pubescens), Salai (Boswellia serrata), many species of the Capparis Genus. Regular walkers very commonly sight Peacocks on their morning walks on the Vetal tekdi as also a variety of birds… What bliss…
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| Acacia sp |
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| Alangium salvifolium |
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| Gardenia turgida |
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| Dichrostachys cinerea |
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| Dolichondrone falcata |
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| Evolvulus alsinoides |
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| Flower of Watakaka volubilis |
eXtreme: They are an example of extremes of human intervention. Some hillocks have been almost flattened as they have been razed to make way for buildings and concrete jungles all under the name of development. Simultaneously, other hills have been ‘saved’ by peoples movements and resistance to the same ‘development’. There are umpteen examples of organisations who have taken up ‘greening’ of the hills or who spend their Sunday mornings cleaning up the waste or folks who daily take up some water to water new plantations!
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| Morning walkers fill up such bottles and carry them up to water saplings to help them survive the harsh summer heat |
The most surprising part of these tekdis is that despite their obvious presence, a large number of people are simply unaware of this wonderful natural beauty. I know of people who have lived over five decades in Pune and still have not gone to any of the our tekdis…
The tekdis should be a must-visit place in the itinerary of every nature lover visiting Pune.
Cheers!
PS: Location Map here.