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Food is one good way to understand the culture of a place & during just concluded trip to Sulafest we sneaked bit of time whenever we could, At one such breakout breakfast trip to Sadhana Restaurant which is recommended by Lonely planet I thought of trying not only the food but make a VLOG & spread the experience...It’s a virgin video so pardon my camera shy personality, the odd pauses , etc.☺️ The verdict: Misal tastes great with Pav & Sadhna Restaurant is now recommended not only by Lonely planet but me too 😉 Courtesy : @pixie_gypsyy ————————————————————— #foodvlog #food #foodporn #foodblogger #nashik #maharashtrianfood #indianfood #indiavlogger #culture #igers #instavlog #instagram #instafood #india #l4l #foodie #foodlover #foodinsta #misalpav #sadhanarestaurant #chulivarchimisal #solakadi (at Sadhana Restaurant - Chulivarchi Misal)

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Weekend Getaway -Ranthambore

For people who office for a living but travel for passion an extended weekend is the right opportunity. Being based out of Gurgaon the vicinity offers so much to be explored & last Oct’ 17 beginning after scourging the internet from mountains to plains off course we applied the ~300 km filter that makes it 7 hr. drive unless you are off-roading we decided on Ranthambore a neat 7 hr. drive from our place

While early morning drive is always refreshing waking up especially when you plan to leave a tad too early is always fraught with risk we were planned at 5 am but it was almost 6.30 am when I was behind wheels & as for us Indians a morning cup of Tea Coffee is a definite

One sad part of shared holidays especially if you use the popular expressways like NH8 is the traffic - Everyone out there seems to share your enthusiasm

While there is a shorter route through Alwar we decided to use most of NH8 partly coz of our familiarity & also coz the highway is broader & is safer to speed on occasions.Once you take a left after Manoharpur Toll on NH8 for NH148 which takes you to Dausa right through middle of Aravalis,this drive is breathtaking, you hardly see any vehicle movement or population, the landscape is arid with occasional sand dunes just the way we like,

Sighting these desert ships is fairly common & what we realized throughout is every few kilometers they had these open water tanks for obvious reasons

Caravan NH148

Dunes

While deciding on accommodation we really did not have any choice coz of the last minute decision to travel the only place which had one was RTDC while Ghoomar Baori Ranthambhore is classic & more picturesque & reason it was full we managed a slot at Vinayak it was budget but decent & comfortable

(The pic below is from Internet since in the two day melee we forgot to click a proper one)

The place had not so well stocked bar & which was predicted so we carried our own but their rates were pretty economical therefore we decided to use it ,for a person who loves classics like railway cutlet pouring soda from a glass bottle was appealing together with the pleasant Oct. sunset over an arid landscape

It is recommended you get the safari bookings online, In India the process varies from state to state we managed the offline route since in rush we forgot to check for one & had to shell out few hundred rupees extra. We decided to go for an open bus (Canter) instead of the typical jeep rides since we had tried the latter on previous occasions at Jim Corbett & Sariska the former is economical but less private

Morning next Day -

Wish I could get you the smell of the morning air it was so fresh of forest scent & vegetation together with the morning cup was simply soulful

& the morning cup is a perfect way to soak in nature

We took the Safari on 1st Oct’ i.e. the day park opens & being an extended weekend the rush was expected in-fact one of hotel staff quipped that it seemed like a new year tourist flow

The Safari lasted approx 2-3 hrs.& there was this constant struggle & demand from fellow tourists to sight a tiger to which I guess most of us who have had prior Safari experiences will be familiar with & as expected there was none except the dramatic finger pointing by the driver,infact on one such occasion when the driver mentioned a movement behind some distant bushes a guy on the canter jokingly mentioned that at best it could be a deer or worst a langur 

Unlike Corbett, Ranthambore does not have a Tourist canteen within the park which is appreciated  While I’d still love to see a tiger but not seeing one is not particularly frustrating to me personally, well I feel the different breeds of Deer that the park had can more than compensate & let us give all animals an equal share of respect

The day was unusually warm for Oct & by the time we were through with Safari we were both tired & hungry so after inquiring we were directed to this restaurant named Noon to Moon serving the best Lal Maas in town we validated this on Zomato & true it was , the place was pretty basic but the food is strongly recommended by us too 

What more in this short time we managed to squeeze in some reading time followed by post lunch nap 

Evening was Bar time as usual & the option for beer for Kingfisher that I love ,it is the drink that I fed on since college days but I feel is loosing out to the Bira’s of the world it has this old world charm though & I love it 

The next morning & the final one was this quick sojourn to Ranthambore fort while waking up again at 5 a.m. was tough I could still motivate myself for this last leg of the trip driven by the excitement of driving through the forest , you need to register your car number at the entrance & you are done

  As we came out of the parking lot & close to ascending the Fort we were immediately greeted by this post card perfect scene -A group of peacocks/hens nestled on this huge decaying tree. This one is my favorite 

Nestled amidst the forest is Ranthambore fort very green, surrounded by small gorges & lakes, not many are aware that this is the 2nd biggest in India after Chittorgarh fort & it took many dynasties across 5 centuries to finally complete this. Only one gate is open for public use (Forest’s buffer zone) while the rest are closed since they fall within the core jungle

Within the premises there are quite a few temples our Guide took us to one Shiv temple which is less popular but we also also visited the Ganesh Temple (Trinetra) which gets flooded every year on Ganesh Chaturthi this is also supposed to be the oldest Ganesh temple in Rajasthan 

Best Shot we managed of the Shivling in low light of the cave

We recommend this place as a quick getaway from Delhi NCR & believe the place has lot of offer other than the wildlife Safari

Thank you, this is my virgin travel blog hence might not have the OMG feel but hope you find this useful to plan a sojourn to this inviting place

P.S. - Special mention to Mrinalini my wife for helping me complete this project 

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Sitting over a mud mound in Rabi sowing season soaking nature is so spiritual for me this twenty minute experience was better than a mindfulness meditation The guy here is weeding wheat crop which though not organic is a farming reality ——————————————————— #nature #asilai #azamgarh #i4i #soulful #india #uttarpardesh #therapeutic #instagram #instanature #instagramer #rabicrop #wheat #teak #sunset #village #tumblr (at Asilai)

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Sitting over a mud mound in Rabi sowing season soaking nature is so spiritual for me this twenty minute experience was better than a mindfulness meditation The guy here is weeding wheat crop which though not organic is a farming reality ——————————— #nature #asilai #azamgarh #i4i #soulful #india #uttarpardesh #therapeutic #instagram #instanature #instagramer #rabicrop #wheat #teak #sunset #village (at Asilai)

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This Jaggery(Gud in Hindi) not so sophisticated Factory lies on the periphery of our village & runs for six months in a year during the sugar cane harvesting months This shot was taken during evening while we were giving a tour of the place to one of our family friends The guy in the picture is helping in the third phase of jaggery making i.e. Solidifying the cane juice called Patti in local dialect #tumblr #indianvillage #travelblogger #nativeplace #instagrammer #travelphotography #travels #travelgram #travelindia #uttarpradesh #azamgarh #asilai #jaggerymaking #jaggery #sugarcane #instagram #instagood #instapic #instagood #instashot (at Asilai)

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Just behind our fireplace @asilai (nondescript village in E. UP /Azamgarh)we have this young Kadam tree (Burflower is the English common name), probably in this season it is the only tree that bears fruit which makes it bustle with all kinds of life twenty four seven , with sunset the feeding baton moves from squirrels and sparrows to nocturnal beings popular amongst them being FLYING FOX,as they jostle for space and flap their wings its gives one a very eerie feel especially with their occasional chirp and click They are camera and light shy till they actually have caught on to a Kadam fruit We constantly kept a ear on their movement occasionally trying to film ,Me and my sister got lucky on two occasions (the video is a merger of evening one and two) The guy in the cast looks pretty confident and adamant to finish his Supper,being a moonlit night helped to detect him through his wing's shadow against sky post which we moved softly towards the tree to focus first and switching on the lights later, while Aarushi kept the phone recorder on pre zoom mode always I wanted to put some voice commentary to the episode but could not Time it and my post record editing skills are still beginner level however I believe this is the best we could get with a One plus mobile camera and a crude battery operated torch light (was not a pre-planned shoot you know) P.S - Flyingfox I guess is the only flying mammal and a bird that does not breed by laying eggs and they say it eats and shits through its mouth 😟(it's a myth) , the one in video I suppose is of a Grey Headed sub-order and their head & teeth is similar to that of a 4 month old dog puppy Recording Courtesy : @_aarushi #wildlife #nocturnal #eerie #instavideo #oneplus #asilai #village #flyingfox #mammal #indianwildlife #vacation #uttarpradesh #treeoflife #instaupload #youtuber #instagramer #instagood (at Asilai)

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Just behind our fireplace @asilai (nondescript village in E. UP /Azamgarh)we have this young Kadam tree (Burflower is the English common name), probably in this season it is the only tree that bears fruit which makes it bustle with all kinds of life twenty four seven , with sunset the feeding baton moves from squirrels and sparrows to nocturnal beings popular amongst them being FLYING FOX,as they jostle for space and flap their wings its gives one a very eerie feel especially with their occasional chirp and click They are camera and light shy till they actually have caught on to a Kadam fruit We constantly kept a ear on their movement occasionally trying to film ,Me and my sister got lucky on two occasions (the video is a merger of evening one and two) The guy in the cast looks pretty confident and adamant to finish his Supper,being a moonlit night helped to detect him through his wing's shadow against sky post which we moved softly towards the tree to focus first and switching on the lights later, while Aarushi kept the phone recorder on pre zoom mode always I wanted to put some voice commentary to the episode but could not Time it and my post record editing skills are still beginner level however I believe this is the best we could get with a One plus mobile camera and a crude battery operated torch light (was not a pre-planned shoot you know) P.S - Flyingfox I guess is the only flying mammal and a bird that does not breed by laying eggs and they say it eats and shits through its mouth 😟(it's a myth) , the one in video I suppose is of a Grey Headed sub-order and their head & teeth is similar to that of a 4 month old dog puppy Recording Courtesy : @_aarushi #wildlife #nocturnal #eerie #instavideo #oneplus #asilai #village #flyingfox #mammal #indianwildlife #vacation #uttarpradesh #treeoflife #instaupload (at Asilai)

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This party of peacocks yes correct not vultures pecking at the bark of decaying Peepal tree was straight off a post card right before you ascend Ranthambore Fort It might have been uncanny but then it was 6.30 am ...while a picture is a thousand words but it still cannot get you the scream of this lot.. #peacock #ranthamborefort #sawaimadhopur #instapic #traveller #rajasthan #picturesque #canon77d #mornings #photography (at Ranthambhore National Park)

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The calmness of the morning defies the turmoil that was experienced a night before ....the weather was rough,windy with rain nd hailstorm, our tent started to leak and in a moment we were pretty soaked up including the sleeping bags the good thing is we had a torch handy and used it to plug the gaps through some spare clothing and a paper glass to collect and throw out the rain water ...visibility outside was near zero and we had to shout our lungs out to our guides who could then help us with a spare sleeping bag and gosh it felt so lucky 🍀....well sometimes it gives you solace to know that your fellow camp mates are equally in despair and you are not the only one who run the risk of being blown over the mountain top...while at that point in time you could only promise yourself that this is the last thing that you would repeat to yourself provided you survive the feeling post the storm is pretty rich , it gives us a story to tell and an experience to share and lastly with all the hustle of city it tells us that life is fragile and beyond our materialistic goal...the irony is while we have become smart and sometimes cunning to thrive in the human world we have moved away from nature and badly equipped /scared to even hang in a rough night #campinghimalayas #story #gettingtougher #lifeofadventure #lifeofhimandher. @pixie_gypsyy (at Triund)

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#spitivalley Its been a month to this story but the feeling so fresh I guess that's the hangover of good company and a great adventure Trip to this road less traveled is a lifetime gift for an adventure enthusiast ...it took us more than 6hrs to cover 60 kms , I'd ride my bicycle faster on Sundays than this , but those boulders, streams ,missing roads and humanity set against the backdrop cold rugged desert mountain is mesmerizing. Sorry 😐 for the bad audio though #spiti #instavideo #loveforadventure #himalaya #mountains #valley #stream #rugged #gettingstronger #raiddehimalaya #raiddespiti #chandratal #incrediblespiti #himachal #roadlesstravelled #travels #travelindia #travelgram #adventurer #mystory (at Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh)

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Mornings be like this Wish I could get you the smell of the morning air ...so fresh of forest scent & vegetation together with the morning cup was simply soulful #forest #tigerreserve #ranthambhore #rajasthan #instapic #traveller #nature #morning #autumn🍁 #fallweather (at Ranthambore National Park)