Just About Everything

I love traveling, the wanderlust in me is always hankering to see new places, meet new people...sometimes it is the journey that I look forward to it more than the  destination. Many times I travel alone, I just enjoy the solitude sometimes, it is a nice break from the routine life. If I am travelling with a group of people who have the same kind of lookout towards travelling, the journey becomes even more exciting I guess. The conversations, food, music, and so much more... Wow! Writing about journeys is making me want to journey again! I am sharing one of my travels; actually it is just the journey that was quite memorable and packed with a whole lot of uncertainty. So here goes- My brother in law, who is with the armed forces, was posted in Bhutan. In one of their journeys from Kolkata to Bhutan, we (me, my younger sister and our cousin sister who is a lot older than us but lovesto travel) we decided to accompany my eldest sister, her husband, and our two year ol...

Tribal art on a hut in Garpanchkot Garpanchkot is 15 kms from Barakar at the border of Burdwan and Jharkhand and around 250 kms from Kolkata. You can choose to go by road or take a train from Howrah to Dhanbad. This is not a very popular tourist destination, I wonder why though. My cousin who recently went to Barakar and Garpanchkot was enamoured by the temples she saw in both of these places. The stone temples of Barakar and the terracotta temples of Garpanchkot are really beautiful. Not only that, Garpanchkot can be a great place to visit because it is visually appealing too. It’s serene, sylvan and peaceful surroundings  makes for a great weekend getaway. Old terracota temple Garpanchkot Terracotta temple Garpanchkot, West Bengal Terracotta temple Terracotta pillars A very old terracotta temple at Garpanchkot

Barakar stone temple Barakar is in the neighbourhood of Asansol in the Burdhawan district of West Bengal. It is at the border of West Bengal and Jharkhand. Barakar houses some very beautiful stone temples dating back to the 8th century and 14th, and 15th century. And not many people know about it! From Kolkata it is at a distance of 250 km. You can go by road but I am not certain about the road conditions. The best way would be to board a train from Howrah to Dhanbad. You can hire a car to take you to Barakar. Or, you may fly from Kolkata to Durgapur (30 min) and hire a car from there. It would take you around 1 and a half hours to reach Barakar. These temples are known as begunia temples because they are shaped like Eggplants (the Bengali name for eggplant is Begun). This place definitely deserves a visit. If you like old temples, Barakar is one pleasant surprise. An update on Barakar: I am adding some more facts about Barakar, thanks to a very valuable comment by someone ...

I am uploading a video of Sunderbans that I took during my last visit in January. Not a great video but it will give you a general idea of how beautiful and serene Sunderbans is.

Queen's bath Queen's Bath, Hampi Queen's bath in Hampi quite an elaborate structure surrounded by decorated corridors with work on the ceilings.Believed to have been built by Achyuta Raja, this was used by women of the noble family. It is quite a nice structure. Entrance to Queen's bath Structure around the Queen's bath, Hampi, Karnataka Work on the ceiling Intricate work on the ceiling of Queen's bath