4 Awesome hill stations

Mussoorie hill station
Mussoorie, a renowned travel destination in India, is situated at around 34 kilometers from Dehradun. Mussoorie is found at an altitude of around 2000 meters above sea level. In 1820, Captain Young from British Army found the place to his fondness and designed his residence. The name, Mussoorie comes from the plant of identical name that are found in abundance over there.

Bhatta Fall is located on the Mussoorie- Dehradun Road and is an ideal spot for bathing and picnicking.

Mussoorie1

Almora Hill station
Almora is among the prime tourist destinations of the state of Uttaranchal. Almora is additionally referred to as the cultural capital of the Kumaon Region. The most effective seasons to travel are from April to June and from September to November. The winters are awfully cold in Almora.

Almora is encircled by the mighty Himalayas.  You’ll be able to visit several places within the Almora hill station. There are a number of the sightseeing places,  the 1000-year-old Nanda Devi temple , the Chitai temple around eight kilometers from town, 800 year old Sun Temple at Katarmal about seven kilometers from Almora and a horde of 125 temples largely of Lord Shiva dating back to  11 AD. located among the dense deodar tree forests and therefore, the Jageshwar, thought to be one among the twelve ‘jyotirlingas’ of Lord Shiva.

Almora

Nainital hill station

Nainital, a small city situated within the hills of the Kumaon, encircled by mountains on the 3 sides and revolves around the lake of Naini. This can be an exquisite hill district snuggled within the lap of the central Himalayas and it’s aforesaid to believe the rishis brought the sacred waters from the lake of Manasarovar to create Nainital  lake.

Nainital is found at an altitude of 1938 meters above than sea level. Nainital is additionally referred to as the Lake District as there are over sixty lakes over there. Apart from these lakes, beautiful mountains and the lush green vegetation add to the exquisiteness of hill resort Nainital. There are several places to go to like Bhowali, Ramgarh, Bhimtal and Naukauchiatal.
Pant Nagar is the nearest aerodrome to travel to Nainital, that is found at around 70 kilometers from Nainital. The Kathogadam train station is the nearest railhead and is 35kms away.

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Kausani Hill station

Kausani is found within the Kumaon region of the state of Uttaranchal in India. This hill station is situated at an altitude of 1890 meters above sea level. Kausani is renowned for the magnificence of the landscape that gives you stunning and fascinating views of the Kumaon Himalayan region and the Himalayan peaks Nanda Devi, Trishul and Nandakot.

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Kausani has a great dawn and the vacationers throng to this spot to see the breathtaking views here. The spot has fresh air with the fragrance of pines. The scene is spotted with pear plantations and tea gardens and amid summers the valleys are brimming with wild blossoms. It has excellent thick woodland and the shining slopes lit up by the setting sun.

Kausani offers the brave trekking with fine treks like the Bageshwar Sundardhunga Trek, Adi Kailash Trek and Base Kausani Trek. For the untamed life aficionados, there is a bird sanctuary near the hill resort at Binsar.

Truly, Uttranchal, India has awesome hill stations worth a visit.

Mount Mary Church and Bandra Fair

Mount Mary Church, Bandra
Mount Mary Church, Bandra

Mount Mary Church is located on a small hill facing the ocean. It is a semi-Gothic style structure which was built over 100 years ago. Legend states that Mother Mary’s statue is much older around 16th century.

A view of the sea while coming down the hill.
A view of the sea while coming down the hill.
Mount Mary's Church, Bandra
Mount Mary’s Church, Bandra

With the month of September setting in, it was Mother Mary’s birthday on September 8. The following week is the Bandra fair. With the Bandra fair beginning this week, the church and its ground have a festive look. Over thousands of devotees come to this church every year from all over the country and not just Mumbai. The duration of the fair is of 8 days which is part of the annual Feast of Our Lady of the Mount celebrations.

A glimpse into the fair that began on 13 September 2015

Candle stalls at the fair
Candle stalls at the fair
Bandra fair

You may like to read PILGRIM NATION: VIRGIN MARY IN VAILANKANNI – Best Places of Interest


Liebster Award

Liebster Award for Blogger

I am honoured to have been nominated for Liebster Award. Getting appreciated for my work and getting an award is always a happy feeling.  I would really like to thank Arun from mytravelpedia.net for nominating me for this award.

Liebster Award

Liebster Award is given to recognize and/or discover new bloggers and welcome them to the world of blogging. It consists of 10 questions that the nominated bloggers answer in a blog post and link it back to the blog that nominates them. They then must create 10 new questions that they’ll ask 10 upcoming bloggers who will do just the same.

Here are the questions which I am supposed to answer:

  1. Do you have any place in mind which you feel is underrated when it comes to tourism?

Madhya Pradesh in India is underrated. There are many sites worth visiting like Pachmarhi falls, The Bori-Saptura Tiger Reserve, Satpura National Park, The Kanha National Park, Mandu etc.

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Pachmarhi Falls

https://www.flickr.com/photos/agautam2y/3659846270
Kanha National Park (Image Source)

  1. Hotels or hostels?

I prefer to stay in hotels but on backpacking trip with friends it is in hostels.

  1. Your top most essential travel item (excluding your passport)?

Travel Packing Aid which includes currency, travel documents, toiletries and other important items. A neck pillow while travelling.

  1. What is your best advice in saving money while traveling?

Well, I will try to be brief here. Discount in everything from airfares, while eating, car rentals, to currencies, don’t give up looking for Deals, group discounts, talk to locals so that they can tell you places where to eat and some may even offer you to stay over, mini tours.

  1. What is one of the best travel lessons you’ve learnt so far?

If I had to sum up our lessons learnt due to a bitter experience they would be:

  • Do your own research, travel agents are great if they have visited the resorts but if they haven’t been there they know as little as you do.
  • Get multiple quotes and also contact the hotel directly.
  • Find people who have been to or have recently booked the resort you want and ask them which travel agent offered them the best deal. Follow up with those travel agents.
  • If it sounds too good to be true just contact the resort directly, they can tell you if the agent is legitimate or not.
  • Consider issues such as insurance, liability and exchange rates
  1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?

I like the idea of living in the south of France. A small cottage nestled in the hills and vineyards, where I could write and escape.

https://pixabay.com/en/south-of-france-sea-la-croix-valmer-185696/
South of France

  1. What was one of the most unusual/ unexpected travel experience you’ve encountered?

On one of  our travels, our mode of transport broke down in the middle of nowhere. We were horrified. Just then the locals came to our help and took us to their village home. We stayed there for the night. They also served their local food.Next morning, they took us to the nearest bus stand in their mode of transport. We were so glad and thanked them for everything. This was truly an unexpected travel experience I have encountered and cherished.

  1. Do you miss home while traveling? If yes, then what makes you miss home?

Travelling is such a delight! Why think about something you’ve left at home?

  1. What’s your preferred mode of transportation while traveling?

Definitely a train. I can relax and read, or get up and go to the dining car for lunch and watch the country roll by as I meet new people. Airplane if travelling over water (ocean)

  1. What’s your next travel destination and why?

Australia Sydney for its lovely beaches, the harbour, Botanic Gardens and Sydney Opera House.

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Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House from Botanic Gardens

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My Nominees for the Liebster Award (in no particular order) are:

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Here are my questions to other nominees:

Q1.  Your favourite travel destination till date?

Q2.   What is your most cherished experience you have encountered?

Q3.  Your experience on travelling solo?

Q4.  Would like to say something to women out there about travelling solo?

Q5.   Do you prefer hotels or hostels?

Q6.  The most hilarious/funny experience you encountered on your travel?

Q7. What is your next travel destination?

Q8. When did you start blogging? What made you start a blog?

Q9. Name three hardest things/setbacks that you experienced through your blog?

Q10.  How did you overcome obstacles?

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