Field and food Trip

When we talk about Biryani is India theirs only one city we all associate Biryani with and thats Hyderabad.... the city of  Nizam, Pearls and Biryani's of course. I was on a four day tour to Hyderabad and this trip sure was one of the best field (read official trip) trip I've done on a long time. Despite the hectic schedule I still managed to shop (pearls), eat (biryani & many other AP special dish) and meet friends (AB and cutiepie her son). Talking about shopping I bought myself a really sexy pearl necklace and earings set, which is so beautiful that I fell in love with it the first time I saw, it looks so khandani that I was joking with my colleagues saying  that the Pearl set looks like "Rani Ki Beti ka haar" and I sure will look like Rani ki beti wearing that. Alot of people might not know but the pearls available in Hyderabad are mostly chinese pearl, I found out from Wikipedia that 80-90% of world's cultured pearls comes from China and m really not surprised with that...China wale kuch bhi bana sakte hai.

We had Biryani at the famous "Paradise" restaurant located in Paradise circle, Secundrabad...the biryani's of course were really good and what was really cool about the restaurant was the orders were taken not on a note pad or some piece of paper but mind you on a PDA...thats the first ever Indian Restaurant I have seen using PDA to take orders...it was damn cool...the PDA was connected with the computer in the kitchen and the order gets registered directly to the kitchen. The biryani was followed by "Khubani ka Meetha" and I must admit that was the best Khubani ka meetha I had ever had till now, it was not so sweet and the apricots just melted in my mouth....I am looking fwd to many more trips to Hyderabad to enjoy not just the biryani's but the whole lot of other yummy things the city has to offer.




Paradise Biryani @ Secunderabad



Khubani ka Meetha @ Paradise

                                               

Dilli ke sardi

It's 18 degree celsius in Delhi and I am sure not enjoying it. I like coming to Delhi for all the food, frens and shopping but not in winter....its been 7 years since I left this city and have come many times since then but I always avoid travelling to delhi in winter...it gets super cold and with the thick fog or rather smog it get's too much to take ...air travel becomes a pain with delayed flights. I remember my hostel days in delhi when  sitting for hrs in the hostel lawn on sundays was one of few things we really enjoyed....the hostel evening tea tasted a lil better n bunking the 1st morning class was guilt free.

Saardi in Dilli is sure not pleasant but its also the time when you can wear/flaunt the best winter cloths :)...   

Enjoying winter

Sitting near a "Meiphu" (Traditional Meitei heater) and having roasted peas and aloo is what I like best about winter, winter in Manipur can be real fun but very, very cold too.  Its that time of the year when sleeping for 5 more mins always feels good and sunday feels like the best day.

Well  winter is also the season when we have runny nose, cough & fever to top it all. But its also the time of the year when the best and fresh green leafy vegetables are available at throw away prices....I associate winter with Hanggam (Musterd leaves) , Kobi lei (Cauliflower), Hawai Maton (Tender Peas leaves)& hawai tharak (Peas)  and also the best time to have " Nga ren" & Hawai Tharak ooti...which is an all time fav. For  a total foodie like me winter is all about having the best possible Meitei dish which taste best only in winter. I am enjoying winter and looking forward to having everything best that I can.

Meiphu- Traditional Meitei Heater

Visual Treat- Bhutan (Druk)

Memorial Chorten- Thimphu

Changangkha Lhakhang- One of the oldest temple in Thimphu

Town Square- I guess the most happening place in Thimphu

 Thimphu Valley view from Sangaygang Cross country track.

 Taktshang Monastry - Paro..I really wanted to climb till the monastry which is located at a height of 10240 ft formally build as a Monastry in 1692 but I realized I was physically not fit to climb...after climing for 15-20 mins I started feeling dizzy and breathless...and decided not to climb up...but this has motivated me to go back again and next time I sure will climb till the top.

 Random shoot on the way to Taktshang

 Modern yet traditional Bhutanese house-I fell in love with the houses from the moment I saw it.

Visual Treat-Thailand

 The night Market at Chaing Mai...the best place to shop while in Chaing Mai.

 Chon-Buri craft center, one of the best bamboo and rattan handicraft center I have ever visited. The craftsman ship was just out of this world.

Chaing Mai riverside restaurant. Indian Consulate at Chaing Mai and the Shangri La hotel at Chaing Mai.

Soul Trip and Wanderlusting- Road Trip to Bhutan

Some of the beautiful places I visited in Bhutan

Trip Bhutan was a long and pending one,I wanted to visit Bhutan since long but for some reason or another it never worked out. It was facebook which made this trip possible,seriously  (Jai ho Facebook), I reconnected with my very good fren from college “ KC”…. we had not met since many years and I decided to visit her small and beautiful country on a soul trip.

I planned a road trip instead of going by air as it sounded much more excited and also because for some weird reason air tickets were not available for the period I wanted to travel ( I was informed later that the only flight which operates to Paro is “Drukair” with limited seats) . The journey was sure excited… I took a flight till Guwahati from Agartala…from Guwahati I took a train, the Rajdhani express till NJP (New Jalpaiguri)….travelling in Rajdhani reminded me of my college days…Rajdhani was a Luxury train for me during those days….it took only 28 hrs to reach Delhi and the food was free…unlike the other trains ( NE and the Brahmaputra Train), travelling in which was like a torture and we had to endure twice every year.  Once I reached NJP I had to rent a cab till the border town Phuntsholing, I paid Rs.2200/- from NJP , the best thing for travelers is to rent a cab from Govt. Pre-Paid Taxi Service counter located just outside the NJP Railway Station ( You can also find a lot of Thugs and middle man with taxis but the best is to avoid them) . The idea of travelling all alone from NJP to Phuntsholing was not very comforting….as I was travelling alone but still took the chance, the ride till the border town was mostly bumpy but the teas garden s on the way, were beautiful. 

It took me 5 hrs to reach the border, Jaigoan is the Indian border town and Phontsholing is the border town of Bhutan, the most interesting thing to me was the difference in these two places just across the border. Jaigoan was like any other small Indian town.…road full of potholes, dusty, super noisy, full of people and activities  everywhere….Phuntsholing on other hand was quiter, with better roads, not dusty and peaceful. Once in Phuntsholing I had to get my travel permit from the Immigration office, all thanks to KC's cousin she helped me get the permit (Indians visiting Bhutan are not required a Visa and vice versa), KC’s cousin knew the Chief Immigration Officer and that saved me from all the trouble of standing in queue. 

I stayed at Phunstholing for a night preparing myself for the 6 hrs bus ride to Thimphu, the bus started on time and as it climbed higher altitude I could feel the chill in the air. It felt really good to feel the chill , I had come prepared for winter and the thought of spending one whole wintery week in Thimphu excited me. The bus journey was not at all boring, the bus stereo was blasting Dzongkho FM, I was busy looking at the numerous waterfall…the beautifully painted houses on the mountains it was just so beautiful and I had a company…the last book in the twilight series “Breaking Dawn” I was totally hooked on to the Twilight series ever since I saw the first film.

Once I reached Thimphu, my fren “KC” was waiting at the bus depot which looked more like a mini palace to me…KC’s house looked like one of those beautiful house I saw on my way and I immediately fell in love with the Bhutanese house….they pay so much attention to outside painting and all the houses looked like it had straight come out of postcards. The locality was really clean and the outside view from her house in one simple word was “AWESOME”.

The Journey from Agartala to Thimphu though long was sure one of the best journeys I had till now.

Useful Tips:

1. Book your travel tickets much in advance and visit the Bhutan Govt. official website.

2. The best time to visit Bhutan is Autumn and Spring months.

3. Hotel accommodations can be expensive but the food is very reasonably priced.

4. Bhutanese people speak English very well.

5. Indian currency in the denomination of Rs 100 and below is widely accepted.

6. Credit card and Debit card is just a 4 inch long plastic card. Carry Cash, very few shops and hotels accept Visa Credit and Debit card.

7. Travelling alone can be expensive, plan trip in groups of 4 or more.