Antarctica – Western Peninsula (Part – 1)

We were originally supposed to cross the Antarctic sound to the eastern peninsula but that did not happen due to the weather condition , so we continued further south along the western side of the continent. 13 Jan 2018 Today morning started with a good note. The sky was crystal clear , though it was still very windy. I woke up early and went outside with my camera. Though there was not much wildlife to be seen but outside scenery was stunning . We were essentially going through glacial landscapes , with…

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๐ŸฅšEaster break … St. Briavels and Wye valley

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง This was one rare exception where I just booked the stay but did not plan anything, hoping others will do it. Nevertheless we arrived very late at Chepstow because lots of planned engineering work was going on M4. Weather was terrible on Friday , it was drizzling all the day. We checked-in at 5.30 and there was nothing else to do for that day. It is not everyday you can stay in a castle that too without breaking the bank. YHA did a fabulous job to maintain and renovate the castle…

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Return Voyage back to Ushuaia

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ถย ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ถย ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ถ Distance from South Shetland island to Ushuaia is around 1000 km and it takes around 2.5 days for a ship to cross this. It was relatively quite as the realization is slowly sinking in that this trip is over . We had a glimpse of a world very different from our day to day world. There was a certificate ceremony which was great gesture from the company and we got a photo op with the captain and other expedition members. Crossing the Drake passage is relatively better this time though it…

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Antarctica – Western Peninsula (Part – 2)

15 Jan 2018 - 12AM Today we had a packed program for the day. I was up early to watch landscape and then we had an early breakfast at 7.30 AM. The plan at 9 was to land at Cuverville Island . This is located at the Northern entrance of the Antarctic peninsula. It is surrounded by a beautiful landscapes of glaciers and snowed mountains of Ronge island and Danco Land (Antarctic Peninsula). This island has biggest Gentoo Penguins breeding colony of the Antarctic peninsula. After spending couple of hours we left…

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Uttarayan – Last years of Tagore’s Life

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ This was our last day at Shantiniketan. We left our hotel after breakfast at 8.30, our first stop was Kankalitala . The temple is about 9 Km from Bolpur station located next to Kopai river on Bolpur - Labhpur road.ย It is one of theย Shakti Peethasย where the waist (orย kankalย in Bengali) ofย satiย fell. From Kankalitala we came back to Visva Bharati and visited Niharika art gallery . Niharika exhibits work of Prof. Selim Munshi, an old Ashramik and a well known painter. The gallery is named with his wife's name. he has painted the…

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Crossing Drake Passage

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ถ ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ถ ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ถ In a traditional Antarctic cruise from Ushuaia almost 2.5 days are spent crossing Drake passage. I will try to reproduce my personal diary I maintained during this trip. 10 - Jan - 2018 Our journey to Antarctica has began. I was very excited since morning. I went for some last minute shopping and also got some USD in cash from a local exchange. I also visited local prison museum in Ushuaia to kill few extra hours. We were allowed to board the ship after due immigration formalities at about…

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Sundarban – The largest estuarine mangrove forest

This is the largest mangrove forest in the world and not that far from Rajarhat , which was once a small village outside Calcutta. I born and brought up there and spent first 18 years of my life in Rajarhat , still I did not visit Sundarban. So it was always in my bucket list. December is always peak time to visit Sundarban, still I had no option. So I booked a 2 night / 3 day tour from local Calcutta tour company called "Chuti Chuti".

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Around Bolpur – Sabujbon, Amar Kutir, Khoai, Sonajhuri

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ This was our second day at Bolpur. We decided to utilize as much time as possibleย  to explore in and around Bolpur. I finished my breakfast by 7.30 in the morning and then hired a Toto for the day. Our first stop was Sabujbon , this place is around 15 Km from Bolpur in small village called Rosulpur.ย ย Spanning an area of around 100 acres, this site features lush green vegetation for about 80 acres and large water body covers the rest of 20 acres. We spend few hours walking around the…

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Shantiniketan (The Adobe of peace) – Visva Bharati University

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ The trip to Shantiniketan was almost like a pilgrimage to me . I should have visited Shantinaiketan ages ago but due to something or other it got delayed. I made sure that this time that I would have 3 spare days to make this visit happen. We started from Howrah by Shantiniketan Express, which took 2.5 hours to reach Bolpur station. From station WB Tourism guest house is about 1.8 Km, we took a shared Toto to guest house. Latter in the afternoon we went to Visva Bharati campus. Tourists are…

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Timiศ™oara

๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ดย ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด We reached Timiศ™oara at 10 in the morning. The weather was nice. Our apartment was in a suburb which was 2km from historic center. Timisoara is the capital of Timis country .ย It has a very diverse cultural background being inhabited by Romanians, Hungarians and Germans, among others. I just took time and enjoyed some walks through the city. Watched the people, admired the architecture and take in historical feel of the city. One of the major landmark is theย Timisoara Orthodox Catehdral. The legend is that after August 23, 1944, on October…

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