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".
๐ฎ๐ณย ๐ฎ๐ณย ๐ฎ๐ณ 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…
๐ฎ๐ณย ๐ฎ๐ณย ๐ฎ๐ณ 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…
๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ด We reached Timiศoara 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…
๐ฌ๐งย ๐ฌ๐งย ๐ฌ๐ง We cycled out of the beautiful historic village of Ingatestone with its 11th century church and cycled through the woods towards Highwood and then to the pretty village of Blackmore where we stopped for morning tea and cakes. Then through a series of little villages: Norton Heath, Willingdale, Fyfield (where we hadย lunch at the Black Bull), Birds Green, Shellow Bowells(!), Roxwell, Newney Green, then past the Agricultural College and into towards Chelmsford on the lovely cycle path by the river. I wasย on the train that leaves Stratford at 9:25 getting…
๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ด We arrived Sibiu late in the evening. It was raining heavily at that time . Our residence was just next to the historical center. I had one full day to spend in Sibiu, weather was fantastic. Initially I thought of visiting Lake Baleaย and then cable car to waterfall and transfagarasan highway. Transfagarasan highway closes in November so there is no way to drive through. I latter decided to stay put and visit the historic center instead. I left my hotel after breakfast and left for Astra open air museum. The…
๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ด This was our last day at Brasov. The day started sunny and bright. I went for a walk in the town. I crossed the town center walked toย Bastionul Graft, this is a part of the wall that once used to surround the city. Then I walked up the stairs to the upper tower .ย The White Tower (Turnul Alb) is located directly above the Bastionul Graft.ย Turnul Negru or black tower can also be reached from the canal path. This two towers were used once to keep watch on Brasov. I booked a…
๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ด Bran Castle is one of the man touristic attraction in Romania. Transylvania is full of fortified castles and churches , so in that respect this castle is more of tourist trap. Bran castle was built somewhere between 1200 - 1300. It was used by different kingdoms In 15th century anglo-saxons based in Brasov got the possession of the castle when Hungarian kings failed to repay their loans. From 1920 it became royal residence of Romania. It became the favorite home and retreat of Queen Marie, who ordered its extensive renovation conducted…
๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ดย ๐ท๐ด I decided to skip Bucharest and head straight for Brasov. Brasov is considered the outdoor capital of Romania and can be a good base for Transylvania . Travelling with 1 year old baby makes travel planning very hard , so I decided to take it slow this time but still it was harder than I imagined. The flight to Bucharest from London was 4.5 hours. We took the train from Bucharest Nord at 17.45 . The train ride was supposed to be just over 2.5 hours but due an incident on…
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ We did Clyde river Cruise yesterday. It was a very long day , came back to my hotel at 12 in night. Our flight was at 8 in evening , so decided to take the day easy. We checked out from our hotel at 10. Our first destination was "city chambers" , however 25th Sept was festival holiday in Glasgow , so it was closed. Next we walked from there to Glasgow cathedral , built before theย Reformationย from the late 12th century onwards and serving as the seat of the Bishop and…