Evenings over the frozen lake

Soon after we relocated to Madison in summers, we paid a visit to lake Mendota that was surrounded by lush green flora that time. During our conversation to some residents there, we gathered that in winters this lake freezes and people walk, ski and do ice fishing on it. And then a wait to witness another version of this lake started. Few months later, after watching hues of fall, came winters. I was finally standing over the lake with no drenching and drowning in water, caught up in the merriment of the moment. Belonging from comparatively much hotter region on earth, skepticism of surviving the chills of winters like these, where even lakes freeze, was extremely high.

​View of lake in winters (above), view of lake back in summers from the same point (below)

I looked at some kids playing on one side of the lake with their parents. On another side my gaze followed a group of men, walking to the deepest points (deepest till 83 feet) without any fear or anxiety. I had heard stories about cracking of ice on solid waters, where sometimes people die of hypothermia. So, I instinctively maintained my proximity to the shores.

Post few weeks, our Italian friend, planned a trek to the lake. He took us to the backside of the same lake, which we had not explored yet. As we reached down to it, there was a stunning white floor all around. It was another view of the frozen lake, much more mesmerizing, much more exciting. We continued to walk ahead. I was extremely cautious and alert of the brittle floors in between. Somewhere I was scared that due to my weight floors may crack and I will drown in coldest waters I have ever known. Past some ten minutes of walking, we saw a truck standing in the middle of the lake and two men ice fishing. My heart sensed a warmer feeling with a sudden sense of safety. My body felt lighter. Talking to one of the men there, we found out that this year ice sealing the lake is thinner i.e. from twenty eight inches thickness of previous years to mere fourteen inches. 'Global warming', I sighed thinking.

​From left to right: Our shadows on the lake floor, my husband and our friend walking ahead,
I am standing beside a fishing hole, ice-fishing in action)

Walking over the icy lake was in my immediate bucket list, and I was happy that my wish had been fulfilled. While coming back we saw a splendid sunset leaving its gleam all over the ice. A feeling of gratification was filled in us for our friend. It was because of him we experienced this beautiful day. Soon as we stepped on to the earth from solid water, he teased me saying ‘you are finally safe’ and laughed aloud.

​Sun going down from the time we started our walk to the time we reached back to that point.

Visit to Limestone Caves, finding God and evolution

My previous year was dedicated to traveling, exploring and absorbing myself in this new western world of East and mid-west in United States. I also spent some time trying my hands at Canvas paintings and polymer clay crafts (that I deeply fell in love with) and will eventually share those works here.

Right at the beginning of this year I visited one of the most beautiful natural sights in Madison with my husband called 'Cave of the Mounds', which was discovered in 1939. The delightful beauty of this limestone cave illustrates nature's intricate handiwork, with many beautiful structures inside. Limestone is majorly made up of Calcium Carbonate, that came from shells of marine organisms on ancient ocean floors. Since these are water soluble, rainwater created cavities in them forming a cave. The water that formed cavities, carried calcium carbonates to other areas creating new formations inside the caves. Many of these formations and structures took millions of years to form.
My previous visit to any such limestone cave was back in India in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, though those caves did not have cavities as deep as this. And hence walking here was a richer experience for me.

Cave of the Mounds, Wisconsin

During our walk, we spotted two places with peculiar formations (specifically to Indian eyes) closely resembling Indian Gods. The first was common and often found i.e. Shiva-ling. The second one resembled Lord Ganesha. With a quiet understanding, we passed a smile at each other. Both of us knew, if it was in India, this would have been a place of religious interest.

Formation inside the cave resembling to Lord Ganesha (above)
and Shivaling (below)

On our way back home, we were discussing about such places in India where devotees go despite the journey being life threatening. And many people each year lose their lives to be at those religious places. Interestingly, many of the relatives of dead consider it to be auspicious when their known die there (since everyone will die someday), believing them to reach heaven. Perhaps it is the spirit of adventure and the hope of finding something bigger than ourselves that makes us go such great lengths.

Since these caves were formed on ancient sea-bed, the limestone here were rich in many minerals and fossils. We bought fossils of fish, which being a biologist’s wife now, is a cherished possession at our home. 

The Ammonites (spiral shaped fossil) were sea creatures that lived from 65 to 350 million years ago and are now extinct.

It is interesting to see how every creature on earth including ourselves, evolved from fishes- you may find the first episode of this documentary interesting – Your inner Fish

P.S. Wish you all a very Happy 2017 :)

America - a whole new opposite world…

I have been wed for four months now, first time away from my parents, siblings and home and yet at home. Two months back I moved to the city of Sacramento in California. During my first initial adjustment weeks, I was in my observatory phase. "We have bigger malls and taller buildings back in Delhi. This place doesn’t inhabit many people either. It looks so vacant." I mumbled to GK (my husband, as I fondly call him) comparing the place with my previous den. Traveling to new places and relocating to a new place both have different responses on our mind. I was struggling with similar dilemma. Rather than enjoying this new place, for the first time I was judging it. During first three weeks America confused me a lot. I found everything got reversed here. Entering inside the lift at airport was my first awakening, there was no ground or zero floor in it. Here they call it first floor. The time zones, the driving rules and the simplest things like units of measurement everything upturned. Weights in pounds, distance in miles, volume in ounces/gallons, temperature in Fahrenheit seemed like learning a whole new language. Automobile fuel (petrol) is called gas here even when it is in the liquid state. Live wire also changed its color from red to black (as GK told me).

While going out, I always ended up opening the left door of our car to be on the passenger side. All the traffic rules are opposite to what I have been following back at home. Driving on the right side with driver’s seat on left, free turns on right and so many different signs drawn on the roads each meaning something different. For one month GK patiently directed me to the passenger’s seat. One day I opened the car’s door to sit, he already on the driver’s seat said, let us both share this seat today and drive together. At home whenever my attention shifted to switches, with an intent to switch off the lights I ended up switching them on. I thought I have adjusted to everything around, when one day I was absent-minded, trying to plug my charger into the socket and unable to insert the pins, I found another inversion:

A is for America on April 1 

Orchha, Madhya Pradesh- a Photo Story

My first trip was decided through Facebook. These days Facebook is playing a pivotal role in our lives. One of my junior from college has a travel bug and has great photography skills. Looking at her updates on Facebook tempted me to message her. I told her I would like to accompany her on her next trip. From then onwards, I managed to break the monotony of routine life to enjoy the experience of exploring new places, food and knowing people of India. However first trips have their own charm especially when you learn about something that you have been longing for. In my case it was photography. I would like to present the photo-journey of the beautiful time I had exploring Orchha…

Orchha , Madhya Pradesh 
(26^th Feb,2014 – 1^st Mar,2014)

Our came in existence at the end of February, 2014. When I got to know we were packing our bags for Orchha, I was clueless how it looks and what this place was all about. Since I had never heard its name earlier, it created more excitement in me to explore this new piece of land.

History of Orchha

Orchha is a small town in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. This town was established by Maharaja Rudra Pratap Singh in 1501 which lies on the Betwa River in Tikamgarh District. The word ‘Orchha’ means  ‘Hidden’ in Bundelkhandi language and was named so because it was covered completely by forests before being found.

Primary attractions in Orchha are Jahangir Mahal, Laxmi Narayana Temple, Bundela Chhatris (cenotaphs), Rai Praveen Mahal , Chaturbhuj Temple & Raja Mahal.

Photo Story of Orchha:

Jahangir Mahal

Jahangir Mahal is one of the most finest and vivid examples of classical Mughal Architecture.

Entrance of great Jahangir Mahal

Jahangir Mahal

Open Court of Jahangir Mahal

Betwa River Banks:

Spend maximum time here

1.   Bundela Chhatris - (cenotaphs) designed in the memory of late rulers and noblemen. There are fourteen 'Chhatris' or memorials to the rulers of Orchha, grouped along the Kanchana Ghat of the river Betwa.

View from Betwa River

Closer View

Chaturbhuj Temple:

 

1.      Laxmi Narayan Temple

Interesting Paintings Inside Lakshmi Narayan Temple:

Raja Ram Temple:

Top view of Raja Ram Temple

Other Details:

Duration of my visit-   26^th Feb – 1^st Mar

Weather conditions during my stay-  Slightly chilly during early mornings and nights (Sweat-shirts are advisable)  

Mode of travel from Delhi -  Train

Hours of Journey -   6 hours journey

Stayed at -  Friend’s house

Restaurants I liked there-  Milan Resturant, Betwa Tarang Restuarnt, Bamboo Hut

Author:

Manisha Raj is a professional software engineer in Delhi and an amateur photographer who loves to travel and explore new places and cuisines whenever she gets a chance. She fondly calls herself “Artist Manisha” due to her love for sketching and shares her  dream to hold an exhibition of her artistic works sometime in her life. She loves festivals and hence her second favorite month in the year is October (after February i.e. her birth-month); a month in which festivals and celebrations start in India and continue till New Year. 
She decided to pen down her travel experiences and this was her first post as a guest blogger on Elixired.
Manisha's Twitter 

Shimla in Photographs...

In December, I happened to visit Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. It was my second visit to the place, this time with the family of my maternal uncle. With a hope to see snowfall which I have never encountered before rather none of us had, we decided December to be the best time for the same. Our excitement levels were high but like before this time too there was no snow-fall. Rather we were welcomed with the clear and warm sunny days which was unavailable in Delhi that time. Here I am sharing a few Photographs of the place that you may enjoy. If you plan to visit Shimla do not miss Indian institute of advance Studies.

Temple of Tara Devi which I didn't explore before served picturesque views. It was standing beautifully on a mountain cliff. 

Me with my Aunt and cousins at Tara Devi Temple.

A view from Tara Devi Temple

Evening in Shimla, Mountain of houses...

Sunset Hues, near mall-road.

Mall-road at Night

The Church at night, Shimla

In my last blog about Shimla I mentioned my visit to Indian Institute of Advance Studies. I hvisited this beautiful place once again. It was lovely as ever, though this time with a little snow here and there.

It was built in 1884 as a home for Viceroy of India, which later on in 1965 was established as research Institute. The architecture inside is quite magnificent and mesmerizing. 

Indian Institute of Advance Studies, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

In case you are travelling to Shimla by Road via Ambala-Shimla highway, you may like exploring  Pinjore Gardens on the way. To read more about Pinjore refer to Wikipedia here.

My first shot in Pinjore Gardens

Pinjore Gardens, Pinjore, Panchkula District, Haryana.

...to all my fellow bloggers and readers. Thankyou so much for your support to this blog!!!

Kerala- Land of greenery, polite hosts and mundu...

A travel experience becomes unforgettable with a beautiful place and polite and welcoming hosts. Kerala had both- amazing scenery and amazing people. Though best time to visit Kerala is during winters but it wasn't bad during May-June when we were beautifully baked till golden brown. The place was clean and roads were bump-less!Our tour started from Kochi towards Trivandrum- the lower half of Kerala. Since Kerala is horizontally straight, one can plan it vise-versa too!  

Thrissur: After reaching Kochi Airport, we changed our attires and visited famous Guruvayur Temple in Thrissur. It was quite crowded. Evening processions are held on a daily basis there, where statues of Gods were rested on Elephants and they took rounds of the sanctum sanctorum. Elephants were fairly trained. In Kerala- many temples allow Salwar-Suits for women, though in some temples women can only enter in Sarees . While for men- Mundu or Dhoti is a compulsion. One could purchase these from the adjacent bazaars. Women also have the option to tie Mundu over their dresses to be appropriately dressed before visiting God. See images below to understand the proper way to wear a mundu and don't ever dare to call a mundu a lungi, some of my Keralite friends swear by it:

Women:

Images above are taken from Google

Men:

Images above are taken from Google

About 2-3 km from the temple is the training house for the temple elephants- Annakotta, you can visit it if you arrive on time: 8:00 to 18:00 hours.

Not very far from this place, were these majestic waterfalls named - Athirapally. People say during rains their beauty is worth seeing. Though when we visited, it was not raining yet the falls looked beautiful. We were surprised to see locals especially females jumping from one large rock to another wearing sarees, and heels with no fear of falling down and getting wounded. We despite wearing sport-shoes couldn’t make those high jumps, but warily we trekked all the way to this:



KOCHI:  Next day we visited Matancherry. Matancherry palace, also known as Dutch Palace was a simplistic building housing the paintings and artifacts of the king's of the yore. Next we headed to Jewish street and a famous Jewish Synagogue there, which didn’t impress us at all. All along the street were some antique shops you could window shop there or buy something if you like.
Next we turned towards Fort Kochi and in vain we asked for the fort, but no fort was to be found as none existed (the Dutch had destroyed it long ago, but the name caught on). We went to a quaint little princess street for lunch and walked about there. One can choose to stay there as the locality looked attractive. We waited for sunset at the beach having the old Chinese fishing nets. I asked the local coconut vendor(a man fluent in malayalam, marathi, bengali, hindi and english) while sipping on my coconut water, “You must be getting these fishes real cheap being right there at the source.”
But he said- "No madam. They are most expensive here as they're only half-dead ('tadapta machli' he explained) and are thus more costly than others. They perish very easily. So most of the companies buy them from here and then preserve them for local people and export. One kg of fish is around 500 INR here. After reaching market they cost about 200 INR."

Watching sun going down from this place through the fishing nets was quite a photogenic affair.  If you are here, and interested in photography- don’t miss sunset here!


We missed Marine Drive in Ernakulam and mango festival going on there but as they say one cannot be at every place at one point, on tours we need to prioritize. And being from Delhi, malls and bling was not on our list.

Munnar: From Kochi we hired a cab and went to Munnar. Every bit of land in Munnar seemed to be covered by tea plantations. The patches of winding black roads looked like a snake crawling in a very large green garden surrounded by clouds.  The whole feeling of being there was an ethereal one. A visit to the Eravikulam national park is must. Many people get discouraged after knowing that there are a few 'goats' i.e. Tahr in this park. But go there to experience a lovely trek in lush green mountains, fresh air, and a lovely weather with clouds sweeping right by you!
TIP: Book your tickets from Munnar tourism office in advance for the national park. That will save you from standing in long queues there.
On the way back we stopped at the Munnar Tea Museum which turned out to be overhyped. A man in the museum educates visitors on benefits of green tea and shows some movie. Also if one hasn’t seen how tea is made from tea leaves, one can experience it there. Inside the premises there is a shop from where one can buy multiple-varieties of tea, coffee and other related products. You also get free green tea with your ticket there ;)
The chocolates local vendors sell were extra sweetened and hence were not up to our tastes. In the past, we enjoyed home made chocolates in Ooty by heaps, but here they were not worth a penny!



Catch a show of oldest form of martial arts Kalaripayattu, at Punarjani theater. It was extremely entertaining.


Thekkady: Thekkady is famous for its spices. One will see cardamom plantations in Thekkady like tea plantations in munnar. We bought spices from there. Red chilly flakes bought there turned out especially outstanding, I love them in my lentil soup! 
Thekkady will spoil your fun if you are not planning to live in forest premises. We stayed in the KTDC resort inside the forest. The night came alive with fireflies, the sounds of forest, the beautiful fragrance of wild lillies and captivating stories of the animal encounters as told by an ever smiling watchmen. He boasted- 'Madam in Kerala nobody will cheat you. People are educated here, even an Autowalah will be graduate. I had long conversation with him. When I called my mother excitedly to witness firefles (Jugnu) which are nowhere present in metro cities, he told us, “Madam, these are very few right now. Let the monsoon come, and this forest will be covered with flying lamps.” I was lost dreaming of a disney movie scene.
We got up in the wee hours of the morning and walked to the boundary of the restricted area when some deers passed by the road. Afterwards, we went for a boat ride in the periyar lake and saw many beautiful birds, a baby elephant taking a stroll near the lake, black monkeys playing, a fox trotting by and some bisons and sambhar. Though these animals were not very clearly visible at such a distance, still it was exciting to spot them in their safe and natural habitat- a glimpse of a distant unreachable world. Walking back from the lake towards the resort, we saw an Indian Giant squirrel leaping from one tree branch to the other, a group of wild boars crossed our path, some funny and pretty insects and butterflies made us smile.



Alleppy:  Alappuzha is known for it's backwaters experience. And what an experience it was! One can choose to stay in some loved house-boat or on a land resort and take a ride in the backwaters in Shikara-boat ride.We preferred to stay in resorts near the backwaters and opted for three hour Shikara Ride. During the ride in backwaters one gets to see the local villages, rice bowl of kuttanad (the only palce in world where farming is done 1-2 m below sea level), people fishing in waters, loads of coconut trees, boats with fishing nets or carrying coconuts, ducks disappearing in water and coming out with fishes, kingfisher birds looking for prey and pet eagles kept by the locals. To drink coconut water we got out of our Shikara on the land and saw a pet eagle. Our Boatman put that pet eagle on our shoulders for a photograph! You will see different types of boats in it viz. Shikaras, Houseboats, Fishing Boats, Kayaks and bus like long boats in which people commute between their homes and offices. It was a very relaxing experience, where we ourselves sit back and witness life happening right on the shores of backwaters, as though a drama was being played for us, the only difference was it was a real one.


Trivandrum and Kovalam: Trivandrum is the capital city of Kerala. We couldn’t find much to explore there. However early morning at 5 a.m., mundu clad, we rushed for the darshan at Padmanabham Swamy temple. After coming back from there we hired a cab for Kovalam. Had we more than that day, we could have stayed at Kovalam. The shacks serve freshly prepared food, which was very tasty. Head to the German bakery(waves) for a lovely view and some yummy shakes (try the date shake or orange and vanilla drink). Winds at Hawa beach or Eves Beach were very strong especially at the rock garden high up- it was as if it would sweep us off our feet. The other beach adjacent to it was light house beach. We saw many surfers enjoying their acrobats on their surf boards. Others were swimming or walking at the beachside. Weather was pleasant, the black sand under our feet was soft as muslin and the waves were big yet gentle and pampering!

Hotels and Other Reservations:
Munnar- We had a home stay at Munnar at Estate Residency, which was around 10 kms away from the main market area and free from hustle and bustle. The owner has a a cardamom plantations and mornings are greeted by birds songs around- especially a whistling bird. The food was awesome too. Read full review at tripadvisor
You can also book your seats for Kalaripayattu Martial Arts shows or Kathakali dance shows here:
Punarjani Theatre
2nd Mile Pallivasal, Munnar, India

04865 216161

 
In Thekkady: We booked one of the hotels of KTDC. One must live in the forest area to enjoy the wilderness. (Though one has to stay within the restricted hotel premises in late evening to early morning hours). There are many of these hotels offering different rates catering to different pockets.

Alleppy: In Alleppy our halt was at Palmgrove Resort. The resort offers a wonderful view and is next to the backwaters. They have both open bathrooms safely shaded from outside view and closed ones are also available with some specific rooms. However it lacked majorly in good service and good food. One can rent a shikara for few hours stroll in backwaters of Alleppy. We found Mister Mohan the most reasonable person there who offered us a better deal than anybody else there for the Shikara Ride. He can be reached here: 09544999674
Though One can hire a house boat for the whole day if one wants to spend whole day in back waters. The boat stops at places, if asked. One can enter nearby village on the shores and explore it.

Trivandrum: In Trivandrum we stayed in Hotel Regency after deboarding from our Allapuzha train. Since we wanted a place near Padmanabham temple, we found this one 5 kms away. The room service and staff were very unprofessional but then it wasn't expensive for a one night stay. Near this hotel was another hotel- Highland. It had pure vegetarian restaurant which was crowded all the time and sumptuous food was served by pleasant people.