| Author | Content |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
November 22, 2008 2:36 PM Post #5819020
| http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/568815114SeYUdS
Our family had been to some parts of North-east part of India recently. The hills have their own beauty. They are actually the lower Himalayas. One of the higher peaks of the Great Mountain range - esp. the snow-capped peaks - can be seen from many places like Gangtok, Darjeeling, etc. There are many places to visit there, but our tour package covered just a few places. I've linked my webshots album above. Hope you enjoy the slide show.
Darjeeling is known as the Queen of Hill Stations. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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WNYwillieB
Buffalo, NY (Zone 6a)
November 22, 2008 2:52 PM Post #5819061
| Thanks for the scenic tour!! Beautiful viewing!
I especially like that photo of Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill, Darjeeling! So mysterious.
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Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
November 22, 2008 3:24 PM Post #5819160
| Thanks. In fact, the morning [and the day] was a bit cloudy and so we could get a glimpse of the lovely ranges when the sun's rays kissed the mountain peak. Those that went [from the next batch] the next day, were provided with a clear sky and a lovely full view! It is a matter of luck as climate is unpredictable in that area. The picture I posted above is during the afternoon, not from that Tiger Hill, but as we left Darjeeling by road, viewed from the road. |
bootandall
Blenheim
New Zealand
 November 27, 2008 8:51 AM Post #5835140
| Loved this virtual visit to North East India, you and yours look like you had a most wonderful time.
Darjeeling Tea is known here, and I think I now know where this tea( I was brought up on) is grown.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
November 27, 2008 3:36 PM Post #5835763
| Oh yes, the entire group enjoyed the trip. The tea estate there - we drank the brew from the owner next to his estate. Bought a few packets home. I must tell you that the best of the best quality is exported and I don't know how the best will be! We get ones that are a rung lower! Yet, the tea we tasted there was very good - we take it with milk and sugar. Here is a pic of the tea shops - just out of pic on the left are the slopes of the estate. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
November 27, 2008 3:37 PM Post #5835767
| The tea estate all around me! 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Ponditis
Payette, ID (Zone 7a)
November 28, 2008 7:36 AM Post #5837493
| Wonderful views of your trip and of your family too. To see the photos of Kanchenjunga in the background is amazing. I didn't realize it was that close to India. That mountain is the third tallest in the world. I remembered that from geography class in school many years ago. When I was a young girl I thought someday that I would climb all the tallest peaks in the world so I paid attention to the names of the peaks.
I love the street photos too since they show more of everyday life in the large city.
Thank you for showing your trip to us. I very much enjoyed it.
Lani |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
November 28, 2008 1:56 PM Post #5837761
| Welcome, Lani. I did not [could not, in fact] take pictures of more streets and shops though the camera hung in front of my chest because of my poor health [as briefed above]. I just pushed myself on as my family went around shopping, looking for places to sit, lean or even hands on knees. Coming out rather than staying back alone in the room was the better option.
This one is at the famous Batasia loop in Darjeeling where the rail, in a unique loop, descends quickly. Just two trips on the track from the historic train during the day and so people sit on the tracks to sell their goods to tourists who come to visit that loop where now a War Memorial is built in the centre of the loop. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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bootandall
Blenheim
New Zealand
November 30, 2008 9:34 AM Post #5843400
| The people photo are wonderful to see, you look a bit cold in amongst the Camellias.
Great to see how they grow.
keeping you and yours in my thoughts.
Love the trough and the waterlilys in your garden.
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Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
November 30, 2008 2:22 PM Post #5843769
| This is a morning scene from a street in Kolkata, much renown for its high density of population and diverse living conditions. Here is a man taking his bath on the pavement using public tap water. Dur to the high density of population, public hygiene suffers and is hard to maintain by the administration. Yet, life goes on. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
November 30, 2008 2:25 PM Post #5843776
| Another scene from that crowded city: a street barber having a customer! Can you imagine such things there? Nothing can deter them - not even the administration or the public. It's such a tough life for survival there. The websites highlight the tourist spots, but real life, though like this, is interesting to look at!! 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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bootandall
Blenheim
New Zealand
December 1, 2008 6:51 AM Post #5846539
| That a very neat haircut, and I don't think there would be many people here that could still use a cutthroat razor inside or out on the street. |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
December 1, 2008 9:29 AM Post #5846649
| Perhaps after a haircut, he is giving a shave in that picture. |
gardenwife
Newark, OH (Zone 5b)
December 1, 2008 4:36 PM Post #5847482
| I enjoyed the Webshots slideshow. What beautiful countryside with the mountains and the white sandy beaches. The people pictures are always interesting, too.
Snow! It was the first time your daughters saw snow, I guess -- had you and your wife seen snow before? The yak ride looked fun (bet you were glad to sit, even if it was on a yak), and the yak itself festive with the covers on its horns. The Gangamayya Park is beautiful with its bridges and waterfalls, just breathtaking.
The Batisia loop garden is pretty with its purples and oranges displayed together. The ferns at the tea estate are so lush; the fronds look large, too. Your shot of Kanchanjunga framed by the tree's foliage is beautiful.
The bird hanging from the taxi's mirror made me laugh. Regarding the photo of the hibiscus chain, what are those used for? |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
December 2, 2008 6:57 AM Post #5849999
| Thanks gardenwife for your observations and curiosity. Yes, all of us saw and felt snow for the first time ever. The cold climate is only near the Himalayan ranges in north India and we had not gone that high till now. I'd been to a couple of places on the lower Himalayas but it does not snow over there. That yak was a huge animal. Still higher up, these yaks will grow longer fur! Their fur [white ones] was once used by the kings' assistants to 'fan' the king from both sides while he sat on his throne. My health was normal on that day. Trouble began two days later. Yes, colourful decoration to the yaks. I just loved the Gangamaya park too... lovely... I did not want to move out so soon.
The Batasia railway loop [google gives you lots] - I just took pictures from my 1895 book and some 1920 picture post cards. Will add it to that webshots album set soon. That railway station there was built in 1881.
Those feerns were quite large. That green was special and soothing. For that Kanchanjunga peak shot, I was at the hotel room window near a passage on 2nd floor at Darjeeling.
Taxi drivers use all sort of hangings. Somehow it irritates me! Hibiscus chain... those are offered to Godess Kali at a place called Kali Ghat in Kolkata. It was the first time I was seeing a chain with Hibiscuses! Marigolds, jasmines... common. But not this one. That red was striking. |
gardenwife
Newark, OH (Zone 5b)
December 2, 2008 5:37 PM Post #5851183
| Thanks for the explanations. This is armchair traveling at its best. |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
December 3, 2008 4:56 AM Post #5853338
| And you are doing like none other! |
Ponditis
Payette, ID (Zone 7a)
December 13, 2008 7:57 AM Post #5887075
| Dinu, Thank you so much for the details you have filled in for your photos. I am loving our travels with your family. Someday I hope to be able to travel extensively but for now have to be satisfied with photos and your descriptions. I keep a journal of places that I wish to visit someday and your country is one I do wish to see.
I agree with GW in that this is armchair travel at its best.
Lani |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
December 14, 2008 3:25 PM Post #5890465
| Lani,
Don't sit on that 'armchair' too long...after agreeing to GW... the joints will get stiff! LOL. Move on!! I guess you will make it here one day, before old age [85] catches on!! I'm glad you liked the photo-descriptions.
Busy working last two days 7 hours a day working on the pond.
Dinu |
gardenwife
Newark, OH (Zone 5b)
December 15, 2008 3:56 AM Post #5892737
| Have you posted pictures of the pond anywhere? I'd love to see what you've been up to!
Howie and I enjoyed a treat tonight - a journey up to the pinnacle of our county courthouse. What a view...And signatures dating from the 1800's all along the upper floors accessible only by iron stairs. I will be posting photos on my Flickr photostream - http://flickr.com/people/gardenwife |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
December 15, 2008 4:30 PM Post #5893939
| No not yet posted. This evening even when it was dark... but thanks to the streetlight's diffused reflected light from the newly painted walls... was enough to lay down the liner in place carefully and fill some water. I've connected a pipe to a tap that will get water by 2am. So by morning when I get up, it should be have more. But I have to be there as it fills up higher, because as water fills up, the liner will develop folds from the curves of the pond. I've to adjust it as it fills up and not later... the water volume will prevent it. The depth in the end should be about 20-21 inches. The liner fits in nicely into the hole.. luckily, the size I dug up and the std. dimension of the liner tallies nicely. So there will be no cutting off, except for the corners that protrude too much out of the round shape. There is no place to fold and keep in. Pics will be posted soon.
Will see that flickr stream... just poke me again when done.
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gardenwife
Newark, OH (Zone 5b)
December 16, 2008 9:30 PM Post #5898831
| It's great your liner is just right! I cut ours off too close to the pond. Someone taught me a neat method of securing a liner around a pond. I wish I'd learned it before we did our pond! LOL
Here is an illustration I put together to show how it's done. It represents a cross section of the pond. The liner goes beneath a layer of flat stones, then wraps over the stones, and another layer of stones is placed on top again...Etc. Depending on what material you use, square like cinderblocks or natural like sandstone or slate, the effect will look different.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
December 17, 2008 2:12 PM Post #5900967
| Thanks GW. I did not use that method. I just dug up a bit, laid down the edge and put flat stone. May be you should post this idea in my thread in Water Gardens where I'm going now.
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LiliMerci
North of Atlanta, GA (Zone 8a)
January 26, 2009 5:34 PM Post #6053342
| Wonderful trip. Thank you for sharing! |
Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
January 27, 2009 5:42 AM Post #6056474
| Thanks LilliMerci. |
2racingboys
Bartlett, TN (Zone 7b)
January 30, 2009 3:00 AM Post #6069122
| Wow, looks amazing! I'd love to go there one day.
Kind of reminds me of when I lived just outside Leon Guanajuato Mexico, in a small town called La Sandia.
The life there was the saddest thing I have ever seen.
Makes one really appreciate all that we have day in a day out, yet we never think about these "simple things".
Most people in those parts never have had running water or indoor toilet facilities. In la sandia we used "el cerro" which means the woods. That was the potty. Seriously.
Not to mention when I came back to the states I was 90 pounds.
Nevertheless, I came home with more respect and appreciation than ever - never to forget all the things in life should never be taken for granted.
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Dinu
Mysore
India (Zone 10a)
January 30, 2009 2:08 PM Post #6070229
| Well understood, 2racingboys. Here in some of the rural districts too, some developmental agencies are trying to popularize the use of proper toilets. They are preferring to use the 'woods' for evacuating which is causing concern through ground water pollution. The bacteria percolates down to the water table. Good comparison with life in that place. I've seen a few videos where life is similar to here in the rural parts. Two square meals to many will be a bonus in these parts, but some farmers are doing well. |
