A trip to the North East

This was probably the shortest plan for a trip ever .. my team was sitting having tea one afternoon and they just asked me in passing whether I was up for a trip to the NorthEast .. I said Yes and that was that !  Three weeks later on 27^th April, we were on the 5:555AM SpiceJet flight from Bangalore to Guwahati. Of course a lot of drama ensued in between due to the one and only Bipul Kalita, our so called tour operator who kept changing hotels on us and refused to give any details of the cars that were going to take us among other stuff and whose only answer to every question that we had was  - “No need to take tension Madam, I am relaxed” !

Day 1 - 27-April

Lunch at Sankar Bhojanalay

After all this, on reaching Guwahati airport , we did find two Innovas waiting for us though. One of the drivers was Bipul’s company guy Rinku Ahmed and the other was on contract Vijay. So we were off to start our 7 day adventure ! We were ten of us in total – the three bachelors Aakash, Raju and Vijay, the three “married” bachelors Giri, Ramesh and Arun and our family of four.  We started off in the two cars out of Guwahati. It was extremely hot and sweaty though and having woken up at 2:30AM that morning, we were ravenously hungry by the time we reached the outskirts. We stopped at this completely nondescript small roadside shop called Sankar Bhojanalaya , a Marwari pure vegetarian restaurant. I’m not sure if we were just plain hungry or it was really the rotis that were so good, but the simple meal of roti, dal and sabji was one of the best we have had. This was some kind of a very late breakfast or very early lunch, so we didn’t stop for any lunch afterwards but continued on our journey through the plains in the outskirts of Guwahati. The scenery of lush green paddy fields, small ponds and lakes dotted with the purple flowers of the water hyacinth , villages with small houses whose front gardens were full of the customary white crape jasmine and colourful hibiscus, endless number of cows and goats grazing in the fields, white herons and black mynahs dotting the swampy landscape  rushed by our windows as the car sped on through NH52. An interesting part of the highway stretch was where the road divider was the boundary between the states of Meghalaya and Assam for quite a stretch.  After a couple of hours, we finally crossed the mighty Brahmaputra which was so wide that the bridge itself was about 3.3kms long and this was one of the narrowest parts of the river ! After a brief stop at the checkpost to the entry of Arunachal Pradesh state , to clear formalities of entry with ILP (Inner Line Permits - we had managed to get these done online to save ourselves time) , we reached the small sleepy village/town of Bhalukpong on the banks of the River Kameng by around 4 in the afternoon. 

River Kameng in Bhalukpong

We checked in to Hotel Druk , a very basic hotel with bare minimum amenities. The air was nice and cool outside and wanting to take advantage of daylight while it lasted ,we went for a walk to the banks of the River Kameng. A short walk and you could hear the river’s gurgling before you could see it flowing between the steep slopes on the two sides.  Absolutely beautiful  .. we spent some time watching the river flow at its own pace and harmony , the nip in the evening air, the birds chirping on their way back home adding to the serenity of the evening. Some folks had the momos at the road side shops and after a good dinner at the hotel, we all retired early that night.

Day 2 - 28 April

After breakfast of aloo paratha at the hotel which almost became our customary breakast for the rest of the trip, we set out for the next leg of our journey by around 9AM.  We stopped briefly at the Tipi Orchid Sanctuary which was on the way. Maybe it wasn’t the season , so we didn’t get to see a whole lot of orchids in bloom but the some that we did see were absolutley gorgeous.

bamboo orchid in bloom

At Tipi Orchid Sanctuary

By this time we also started to see the many army jeeps and vans crossing us which would be a regular feature throughout our road trip. The drive out of Bhalukpong (700ft above sea level) started to get on to higher altitudes and winding roads uphill. The tropical forests all around were lush and green and so beautiful – the numerous different shades of greens and browns and sudden splashes of bright white flowers on the tall trees were a delight and soothing to the wary eyes of us city folk. If you paid close attention, one could also see so many varieties of small flowers lining the sides of the hills ,tiny yellow star like flowers, pale pink orchid type of small flowers, mauve ones .. of course for the flower crazy person that I am, not being able to stop and examine each of these was sheer torture ! The mountains were also full of lots of wild banana trees, huge and overbearing in some areas as well as  fig trees. Apparently there were spots that were famous for the hornbills that would come and feast on these figs but of course we were not lucky enough to spot any ! Soon after an hour or two , we started encountering a foggy area on the road which stretched for about 19 kms from Sessa to Nachi Phu .. just saying that the area was full of fog is an understatement ! The visibility was down to about a feet or two in front of our car. Apparently these roads are always like this. The folks who lived in the villages around never see sunlight through most of their lifetime – not sure I would be able to survive in a place like this. But the drive through this region was one of the most exhilirating ever – I was absolutely amazed at the skills of Rinku and Vijay navigating through the narrow roads with close to zero visibility. En route we stopped at one of the many waterfalls in the area , Ramesh, Vijay and Aakash ventured down to where the water fell on the rocks , touching the water froze their fingers though ! 

Dirang Dzong

The temperature in this zone was down to a single digits for sure and the wind blowing from time to time didn’t help either. But the whole effect of the fog, the road only visible as a blurry outline, the trees appearing suddenly for a brief instant when the fog moved ahead made the whole experience unforgettable. Once out of this zone, the landscape started to become slightly more elevated and slowly we started seeing the beginning of the pine forests now. In the meanwhile the River Kameng flowed alongside us down below in the valley keeping us company through the journey all the way to Dirang. The Dirang dzong , an old fortified administrative establishment of the Monpas built in the 17^th century welcomed us as we entered the outskirts of Dirang at around 4. We enjoyed our visit inside the settlement , the Monpa kids made sure we were entertained with their drum beats, music and dances. The walls of the fort were unique , made of woven cane sheets and then plastered outside. It seemed as if time has stood still here for 400 years. 

Mona children at Dirang Dzong

Dirang is a charming hill station at an altitude of about 4000 ft above sea level and with a spectacular view of the Kameng Valley below along with the river and very pleasant weather. The roadside houses and the hotel that we stayed in (we split up between Awoo and Pemaling thanks to the expertise of Mr Kalita) had lovely flowers in all vivavious colours that one could imagine – white, red, blue, purple, pink and each flower pot looked picture perfect to the core. The roses were huge,  a deep blood red and unimaginably perfect .. my eyes just couldn’t get enough of these flowers ! We visited the Dirang monastery that evening as well and just as we were walking on the grounds, the arch gate of the monastery was flooded with sunlight in the middle of the green hills all around and a blue sky beyond, the light characteristically bright just before the sun is about to set. The whole scene was not only spectacular but immensely peaceful to say the least.  After a couple of photo shoots and many selfies , we decided to check in to the hotel. We feasted on many snacks followed by dinner at the Pemaling hotel and satisfied with our progress so far, settled into bed for a good night’s sleep.

Day 3 - 29-April

Se La Pass - Welcome to Tawang

We were all very excited as we were to travel through the much expected Se La Pass today .. having read so much about this pass , we were full of anticipation as we left Dirang in the morning and boarded the car once again. The heights grew and the roads became more dangerous and curvy. You would pass under a hanging cliff with no visibility of what was coming from the other side. The nature of the flora slowly changed as well. The pine trees now were of a different type with layers building up to the top. Our first stop was at Baisakhi , one of the army base camps. Extremely well kept , very clean toilets , a shop to buy any warm clothing or other necessities and a nice canteen where we filled us up with momos and tea. The army camps were a regular feature now after a couple of kilometers. In addition were the many stupas that we saw along the way on roadsides, at road turnings and the blue sky filled with the colourful prayer flags every so often .. this was mostly in honour of the Dalai Lama who visited Tawang and passed through this route just a couple of weeks ago ! The whole place and the roads really looked ethereal , sometimes there would be clouds embracing the mountains and then they would float by moving on to the next one. Finally we reached Se La at around mid day and before we drove in under the famous “Welcome to Tawang” arch, we got down from the car as we were totally excited with the  appearance of snow on the slopes around us ! It was freezing cold to say the least and the winds made it even more difficult to withstand at times, so we had to equip ourselves with caps and gloves to enjoy the moments and scenery all around. Se La is at 13200 ft above sea level and when we walked down to the pristine lake in the middle of the pass , some of us tried running back up the steps when we realized the low oxygen levels were actually a fact and not to be messed with. My head actually spun and I needed to breathe in slowly for a couple of minutes before walking back the rest of the way. 

Se La Lake

Finally we had to tear ourselves away from the beauty of the place to move on to destination Tawang. En route we stopped at the mighty Nuranang or Jang Falls. The milky white of the water splashing down the mountain side about from about a 100ft was simply spectacular , so ferocious , yet such glory ! Most of us walked to the base and many of us got wet just from the spray of the water all around. There is a small hydel power plant just next to the falls which cupplies electricity to the local region around. After the Jang falls, we stopped at Jang at a small restaurant for food. 

Nuranang Falls

While others ate at the small restaurant, I ventured walking alone to the small bridge which would connect the rest of the way to Tawang. I need to mention at this point about the dogs of the whole region. They are probably one of the sweetest set of dogs in the world. Every stop we made for food or tea at the small villages and shops had a host of dogs who were ready to befriend us all the time. We names most of them , our favourites were Snowy at Nagamandir, Bageera at Tawang town, and many of the dogs who walked with me in the Jang area.

Dhruv with Snowy

 Initially I was a little frightened to be honest as there were about 10 dogs coming all towards me and I wondered if I would make it out alive, but it seemed that they were ready to play fetch ! And finally two of them decided to walk towards the bridge along with me …. Just totally loved them ! On the way here, we would also start seeing our first yaks. The characteristics of the cows slowly changed as they became more furry and with long hairs and slowly transformed into the yaks of the higher regions. We spotted a mother and a baby who patiently waited on the roadside for us to take their pictures as well ! Finally after a most adventurous day, we reached our hotel Deki Peylbar at Tawang in the middle of pouring rain at almost 7 in the evening ! To say it was cold would not be enough, we didn’t check temperatures, but I am sure it was downwards from zero by a couple of degrees. The pouring rain and the windy night didn’t help either but the room heater and the thick blankets sure did !

Mumma and Baby Yak

Day 4 - 30-April

Today would be one of the most exciting journeys ever – atleast we were in full anticipation of what lies in store on the road to BumLa. Extra permits were secured for traveling to BumLa since this would be the Indo Chinese border. In addition we would need to hire special cars since our cars would not be allowed in this zone  ..  off we were on our expedition in two Tata Sumos! We needed to start our journey a little early – target was to start by 7AM , but we ended up leaving at 8AM, still not so bad , but late nonetheless. We crossed the first check post where all papers produced, checks done , all was green and we went ahead. Soon after the checkpost, we started getting on to somewhat bumpy roads and crazy swerves – but our driver assured us that “atleast there are roads here, moving forward we won’t have roads !” .. I wasn’t very sure what that meant but was soon to find out .. the landscape started to change slowly with some snow showing up on the slopes and sparse coverage of the pine trees all around interspersed with bright red rhododendrons on the bushes .. it seemed as if these were scenes out of a picture perfect Christmas postcard , it looked so pretty. My regret remains not stopping en route to take pictures of this region. 

En route to Bum La

Slowly after 12 kms of bumpy road driving , we entered the zone of no roads – these were essentially dirt roads filled with ice and snow in winters and in the midst of summer when we were there, even though there was no ice, the roads were muddy, slushy and full of some snow. All around the terrain started changing in front of our eyes to have no more greenery at all and there was more snow to be seen everywhere , snow on rocky mountains interspersed with clear lakes every now and then. Some lakes had a name, one of our favourites being the Nagula Lake. Others were nameless but equally mesmerizing. If it weren’t for the number of army vehicles and base camps and other tourist jeeps like ours, the entire landscape had a surreal beauty that kind of made it hard to believe it was real. Adding to the beauty was the exhiliration that comes with such border landscapes – romance of long forgotten silk routes through treacherous borders, of the Dalai Lama escaping into Bum La from Tibet , the many bunkers that could be seen reminding us of the wars fought , of so many stories written of escapades through borders and nature’s harsh beauty – the thrill of it all made us temporarily forget about the crazy bumpy ride, the smell of diesel all around .. we all seemed to just want to soak in the beauty so that these moments of nature stay with us in our hearts forever. Even now when I close my eyes, I can see the stark nakedness of the mountains, the rocks in all its barrenness covered by snow , the ranges broken by the shimmering of sunlight on the sudden appearance of a lovely lake here and there and my heart feels like embracing it in all its glory. 

one of the many lakes on the way

Along the journey , I also felt my heart swelling over with new found pride for the Indian army.  Seeing the conditions they stay in to protect our country at the borders gives you a totally new perspective of what the call of duty really means and what commitment stands for. In spite of such harsh conditions, many still took a moment to wave at us and the children in our vehicles and give us that wary smile of assurance. We were lucky to give a lift to two officers to their next base and chatted with them about their careers so far in the army and their experiences. I was atleast personally humbled by their bravery and gumption. Dhruv was especially excited to see the remnants of bunkers used during the war. Finally we reached Bum La – essentially this was part of the old Tibet and the landscape was everything you expected or had read about Tibet before. The border made for an interesting stop with the Heap of Stones monument and crossing over to the Chinese side. 

Heap of Stones at Bum La

This was at 15200 ft and definitely I could feel the lack of oxygen slightly reeling my brain though not too bad. But it was absolutely biting cold with a kind of snow blizzard greeting us as soon as we landed so that the visibility really became close to none. Having received our certificates of reaching the border, we started on our way back through the same roads. We stopped at the oldest nunnery (also known as Ani Gompa) of Tawang – the Brama Dung Chung Ani Gompa situated on a far off mountain away from the Tawang main town surrounded by beautiful lush pine forests and rhododendrons. About 45 nuns stay here and it was just so serene and humbling to see them go about their usual chores and studies untouched by the happenings of the commercial world around them. We reached back into town by around 5 and were famished , so replenished ourselves at Taste of Tawang , one of the traditional Tawang restaurants with good food and butter tea ! We satisfied our shopping craving with souvenir shopping at the small shops around town before retiring back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep !

Day 5 - May 1st

We would be leaving Tawang today. While we waited outside our hotel for our cars to get loaded , we enjoyed watching little children braving the cold, wrapped up in woolens going to the school next door. Some were really tiny wraped in the baby carriers on their mother's backs or holding their parent's hands walking the way - their cheeks all red and rosy - each one of them so very cute ! Of course we couldn't leave Tawang  before visiting the second largest monastery of Asia (second only to the biggest one in Lhasa) known as Galden Namgey Lhatse. It was built in the 17^th century. The characteristic yellow tin roofs of the monks housing can be seen from several points across Tawang town and a chance sighting of dazzling sunlight falling on this bright yellow from a distance or the yellow rising out of the clouds all around clearly gives you a feeling of celestial paradise. It was drizzling in the morning, and the clouds seemed to be taking a stroll around Tawang embracing the town and the mountains around in her soft envelop. 

Tawang monastery in the mist

a little Lama

We braved the drizzle and rain and walked into the monastery .. the inside was absolutely gorgeous. I have visited many monasteries before but the peace inside this one, the sight of The Buddha had a suprememly calming effect on one. I could not forego the chance to sit for a while and medidate breathing in the calm and peace that one can find only in such a place. The grandeur of the thangkas inside the monasteries as well as the embroidered drapings all around the ceiling were just extraordinary. After meeting a couple of Lamas along the way, turning the prayer wheels with our individual hopes and prayers, we finally had to leave the town of Tawang and trace back our route – this time to Bomdila. This was another hill town , at a much higher altitute than Dirang though and hence much colder as well. Bomdila is the headquarters of the West Kameng district and seemed to have quite a bit of development in and around compared to other smaller towns. After a long journey through the day and added excitement of a road block due to a fallen tree , we reached the hotel by almost 6:30 in the evening. We would pass through Se La again today and it would greet us with a completely different character of sunny skies and a clearer disposition. Throughout the route today , we got glorious sunny and blue skies all over the green lush mountains as we traveled downwards with floating clouds making a visiting appearance all around as if to drape the mountains in further beauty. I couldn’t take my eyes off the road or the beauty all around. The bright prayer flags adorned the clear blue sky and created picture perfect postcards to be stored in the memory of my heart forever.

Glorious weather on our drive back

Day 6 - May 2nd

In and around Bomdila in the morning

It was time to come down back to the plains ! After spending the morning walking around the two monasteries in Bomdila on a clear sunny morning and visiting the craft centre buying stuff that I didn’t need but really wanted , we started off to retrace our path along Sessa, Nachi Phu, Nagamadir, Bhalukpong and finally reached Kaziranga and our resort by 6 in the evening. 

fog between Sessa and Nachi Phu

It was fun to go back down the same paths that we had come up on and to find familiarity of spots and roads that we had visited just a couple of days ago. Along the way we stopped for a short lunch of Maggi and momos at one of the small village hotels and kept driving till the landscape totally moved away from the hills onto plain lands out of Arunachal and back into Assam.  Our resort at Kaziranga was a very very old establishment, we weren’t sure when the floors of our hotel rooms were last cleaned , but the outdoors were maintained beautifully with dahlias in full bloom as with other flowers. The night was a long one with power cuts and finding ourselves in pitch dark rooms with some animal or insects scuttering over the tin roofs  - but we somehow survived the adventure and ready for the next day !

Day  7 - May 3rd

The morning started as early as 4AM as we needed to be ready and at the front gate by 5:15 am to be in time for the elephant safari at 6AM. We reached the western zone main gate a little before 6 and were told that we need to wait for the safari to begin at 6:30.  Of course there was a twist in the tale in the middle of all this as Bipul informed us gleefully that he had not booked any safari for us as he had apparently not received any “instructions” from us ! What we were to do at Kaziranga without any safari booked, I am not too sure  - but Bipul seemed to think it was perfectly okay to tell us this at the 12^th hour. Somehow we were able to manage an elephant safari in spite of all this and what an experience it was ! Our elephant’s name was Urmila and she was all of 35 years old and such a sweetheart. 

The mighty one horned rhino

I was worried that with my spectacular luck, I might be the first one ever to visit Kaziranga and not get to see the one horned rhinos that the park is famous for – but seems like we were in good luck after all. The rhinos roamed all around the lush green marshy swamps within Kaziranga , completely not bothered by the elephants approaching them or the continuous racket made my the many tourists taking the ride. Urmila seemed to be extremely happy to meet us and show us all around the park. We saw some other wild elephants from a distance as well as some swamp buffalos but really far away. But all the sightings on the slightly cloudy Wednesday morning seemed a perfect way to round off our absolutely exciting trip so far.  We would then drive on back to Guwahati with some intermedidate stops for cane products shopping on the road sides as well as stopping at nursery in search of exotic plants of the region that I could take back with me .. We also stopped at the Kamakhya Temple, though due to constraint of time, we couldn’t make it to the inner chamber. 

Having taken Devi’s blessings and eaten enough pedas as prasad we were ready to drive to the airport and catch our flight at 7:30pm ! After a long haul and a break in Kolkata, we finally reached home by 2:30AM ! What a trip this has been – from rolling grasslands , swamps and marshes all the way to snowy rocky mountains , the change of nature in front of our eyes , the beauty that every turn brought was mind boggling to say the least.  In addition were the endless pictures, selfies, car rides full of Lakhsminarayan Chivda and peanuts and chola - Thankfully we all made it back in good shape – surely the sights and sounds helped us cope with the many long car journeys  - my boys were remarkably well behaved through the trip and coped farily well too, I am hoping this experience helps even further in bringing out the explorers in them ! However this did seem like just a starter of a trip with many places beckoning a second coming or a third and fourth to actually discover and explore in so much more details and experience the actual rather than touch and go !

  

Seychelles - our dream holiday come true !

23rd December, Wednesday, 2015

After much undue excitement of Tumpu’s viral fever with temperatures touching 105F on Sunday and just barely coming down to about 102 till Tuesday morning, I was kind of sure that we’re not travelling on Wednesday to Seychelles. Not only was I irritated with such apt timing of viral fevers , but there was quite a large sum of money to be lost as everything we had booked was non refundable. But I made peace with it on Tuesday night and had kind of resigned to my fate, but looks like miracles do happen from time to time and Wednesday morning after I came back from an early morning walk with Brownie, I found Tumpu and Bubula ready with their bags for their journey to Seychelles that night ! I checked Tumpu’s temperature and it was back to normal for the time being ! So it was a complete mad rush through the next 8 hours or so as a couple of last minute shopping was still left, packing for the four of us for 10 days , making sure we weren’t leaving behind essentials for our trip , especially in this season which was supposed to be full of tropical rain showers - so armed with snorkelling gear, umbrellas, swimsuits, shorts , torches and the like  and a marathon list making and packing session through the day , armed with boxes of antibiotics and bottles of Crocin, we headed out for the airport by 7:45 in the evening ! We flew in to Mumbai on the 10:40pm flight and reached just after midnight. Our flight to Seychelles was scheduled to depart at around 4:40AM , but the moment we reached and completed our immigration, we saw that it had already been delayed to 7AM and then got pushed out to 8AM .. this was sad because we were already so tired and exhausted and spending the night lounging on airport chairs was not something we were looking forward to .. 

24th December, Thursday, 2015

Thankfully the flight did take off shortly after 8 in the morning and four and a half hours later we were were making the descent towards the paradise islands .. the view as we descended was magnificent to say the least. You could suddenly see specks of green in the blue ocean and as we moved closer, the green specks became slightly bigger surrounded by a border of yellow sand and turquoise blue bands of the ocean changing in to the deep sea blue further inwards. It was a glorious morning and the islands were literally shining in the sunlight giving us a warm welcome to our dream destination ! The runway was a small strip of land flanked on the two sides by the lovely blue ocean and green patches of the island and it was totally idyllic touching down into Mahe with anticipation of much more glorious times ahead in the next couple of days. Having our passports stamped by the famous derriere , we had finally arrived at Seychelles :) 

Dhruv in front of the small carrier to take us to Praslin from Mahe

However the experience was a little soured by the fact that obviously we had missed our connecting flight to Praslin but there was no new flight that had been arranged for us by the airlines. And the airport staff were anything but helpful. They seemed to have no clue about our delayed flight and the fact that we needed a new connection to Praslin. Anyway somehow things got sorted out and we were extremely lucky to get a connecting carrier at 1:45 , just in the nick of time to reach Praslin, take a taxi and rush to the jetty to catch the ferry to LaDigue by 2:30pm ! 

from the ferry on our way to La Digue from Praslin

Our understanding was that LaDigue was supposed to be a car free island, but that wasn’t exactly true. There were a couple of these large trucks converted into open buses with two rows of seats on the two sides and wooden railings lining the sides. Kind of interesting - I’m not sure what to really call these - but we took one of them with our luggage and reached our home for the next couple of days CocoTier du Roche.

We were just so totally tired and hungry that we kept the luggage in the room and walked to the nearest eating joint, Gala Takeaway which was about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. It was a small joint with ready made chicken fry and some rice and surprising lentils which were very similar to our dal along with some beef curry, pork stir fry and the like. Stuffing ourselves with what was available, we walked back to the hotel and everyone kind of crashed out. The excitement of coming, not coming, the mad packing in a day, the delayed flight, no connection at Mahe, everything had drained us totally and we went into some deep slumber for the next couple of hours ! 

25th December, Friday, 2015

Christmas Day and this was our first actual day on LaDigue. The place we were staying at is a self catering villa arrangement. There are about 10-12 houses or so and the whole area is a beautiful wild garden with very familiar flora and fauna as in South India. Full of coconut, banana , lime, guava, papaya , mango trees all around interspersed with lots and lots of different colours of  hibiscus, allamunda, bougainvillaea, purple flowers and lots of green and colourful foliage. The early morning is beautiful with the chirping of so many birds all around. Especially the red body which is apparently native to these islands in the Indian Ocean such as Seychelles and Madagascar, the jet black sun bird drinking in nectar from the coconut flowers, our all familiar mynah and the many spotted turtle dove.

The jet black sun bird

The Red Fody

We also spotted the famous green gecko - this was no common green, it was the colour o f bright fresh plantain leaf green , almost fluorescent and full of a red/orange spotted design - on the bright orange of the coconut stalk , the scene looked straight out of a Paul Gaugin painting ! In souvenir shops that I would visit later, there would be so many things with this gecko design, t-shirts, wooden pieces, so obviously Mr Gecko was a special inhabitant of the islands in the area. 

The fluorescent green gecko

Walking a little further out of the area, you can hear the roar of the ocean from the streets long before you can see it. The only way to get around from our place was to either go by walking or cycling , so we took the cycle route. This isn’t a holiday for lazy bones and you need to be kind of fit and active to make the most of what the island has to offer to you. Be prepared for miles of cycling uphill and downhill and walking through beaches, trekking from one beach to another through the rocks. We cycled all the way to the L’Union d’Estate. To go through this park, you need to pay 100SR per head and then you reach the small wooden jetty which overlooks the Source d’Argent beach. The first view that hit us was pretty surreal to say the least - miles and miles of light blue water over the rocky coral lagoon , before the waves actually start and goes into he deep ocean. Granite boulders all around and suddenly a small island (if that’s what you can call it) with just a handful of trees. 

Surreal at Source d' Argent

The granite boulders are supposed to be prehistoric rocks in place for ages and ages. We walked through the water and sand/rocks which were filled with these black slug like fat creatures covered in sand which looked pretty disgusting at the start. But then we kind of got used them and spent time studying what they actually do other than lying around in the sand just doing nothing :) We found that they have these black tentacles that come out from their front and they suck onto the sand in front of them, then move their body mass to the next position. Later on we got to know that these are actually sea cucumbers .. we tried our best to avoid stepping on these as we walked through the water but that wasn’t an easy feat ! 

Boys at Source d'Argent

We walked along the beach and found slightly deeper water areas where the boys splashed around a bit , but it was getting a little rough since the bed was pretty rocky and full of corals. Walking a little further into the water, we saw areas of coral clusters which were just beautiful - not very colourful though, but in all shapes and flower like arrangements - if you looked a little deeper , you could see so many fish coming out and going in to these coral spaces. It was beautiful ! Unfortunately it actually started raining and we decided to take shelter on top of a rock where there there was  a makeshift shelter with some straw and leaves and wild flowers - seemed like an ideal wedding spot :) We started walking back from there and through the estate where there was an enclosure full of so many tortoises ranging from 10 years old to over 100 years old .. They loved being fed the leaves and generally trudging along - it was fun watching them for a while. We cycled to our lunch spot - a restaurant called Zerof - very good food and a lovely house rose wine to go with it. Dhruv had a nice sea food creole curry with rice while Tumpu and I had fish with rice and chips. Sahu had a grilled barracuda with rice. Shortly after lunch , we cycled on to the other side of the island and visited Anse Severe. The beach was shallow here with some small waves crashing the shores - but the speciality was the variety of corals all around. And the sand, oh the sand !  it was literally pink in places mingled with the white .. it was so beautiful , I just wanted to carry some of the sand back home .. we cycled even further and further till we reached the end of the road and with high tide approaching , we couldn’t really get into the water anymore, so just sat and enjoyed the sound of the ocean and the the view of a couple of islands that we saw across from this end.

Dhruv in a pensive mood watching the waves come and go

26th December, Saturday, 2015

Today we went to Anse Grande - the cycle/walk route was pretty long and very steep .. cycling downhill was actually scary at times because you seem to be literally flying down without any barriers on the two sides of the road. One wrong swerve and you’re into the forest and rocks. Dhruv did brilliantly on the cycle though while Tumpu was quite settled on his Baba’s back seat. 

Our cycles on La Digue

He made for good entertainment as live radio , singing One Direction hits continuously and of course thoroughly enjoying himself ! At the end of the hilly road, we came across a sudden patch of a water body in the middle of the forest area which was full of these big water lily blooms - almost looked like a lotus but not quite. 

The white water lilies

The shady paths all around and the swamp in the middle seemed so perfect. After some more marshy path, we could hear the roar of the ocean and then came onto Grande Anse and wow .. was it grand or was it grand !! The colour of the sea was a lovely aquamarine blue with waves splashing on to the absolutely pristine white sand. Initially we were told that this beach isn’t safe for swimming or getting into the water but there were plenty of folks who were getting in and swimming, not too deep though. But I was unlucky as I wasn’t prepared with my swimsuit, so had to be happy just wetting my legs. The boys simply had a ball .. Tumpu didn’t venture too much into the deep - he was happy chasing waves back and forth and Dhruv was happy jumping in the waves endlessly. 

Anse Grande

T found a brand new pair of Ray Ban shades washed ashore with the waves and promptly claimed these as his own ! Anse Grande is probably the biggest beach on the island of La Digue and it is really vast stretching from one end to the other between huge boulders on both sides which is typical of most beaches on the islands here. The boulders are framed on top by greenery that is so stark green in contrast to the blue sky and white sand and blue ocean. It looks so totally fresh and beautiful. There was a small eat out on the beach run by a couple of locals. A buffet was on the cards, local food served in huge steel containers. The waft of food cooking on the hot day was making me hungry and we decided to have our lunch there. In addition to octopus curry, pork stir fry, chicken curry, lentils , rice and noodles, there were these huge grilled fish being grilled on charcoal giving out a lovely smoky aroma all around. 

Fresh grilled fish at the buffet

Settled with a glass of Takamaka (the local Seychelles rum) and Sprite and Coke for the kids, we stood in line waiting with plates in hand in the cramped food joint. Food was very satisfying and yummy and life was good :) After a short rest and spotting a couple of salamanders slipping in and out of the wooden benches, we set out on a short hike through the rocks and on to the next beach which was Petite Anse. 

Trekking to the other side

Petite Anse

The sand here was equally white and pristine , but the water was a little more rough. The beach was smaller than Anse Grande as the name suggests but so so very pretty and picture perfect. We sat on the rocks for a while watching the crabs getting washed away as the waves splashed on the rocks and taking them away. There was so much to discover and stuff - the live shells and mussels stuck to the rocks , forming pretty designs on the rocks with their arrangement and formation, the small slithery creatures (I found out later that these are called mud fish) looking like tiny tadpoles literally jumping from one rock to another , tiny schools of fish in the small puddles of sea water that formed in between the rocks .. I could sit there endlessly and just study all the creatures. We ended the day with dinner at the Fish Trap set on the beach by the jetty. It was probably by far the most expensive restaurant on the island , had a nice ambience , especially if you got to sit outside looking at the black sea flooded in moonlight and lights of the small boats glittering out on the sea and the cool sea breeze washing away the tiredness in your bones that had formed through the day. 

27th December, Sunday, 2015

This was a big day for us - we hadn’t booked the boat ride in advance - but cycled up to the jetty in the morning and found a boat that was ready to take us out to the other islands and snorkelling along the way. It started off being a bright sunny morning and kind of hot when we boarded the speed boat. 

Ready at the jetty for our boat ride

But as we left, the sea became kind of rough and riding through the waves which were almost 3-4 ft high was kind of rough and scary. It started raining as well and T and I held on to each other so tight and my heart flipped every time we jumped those waves. Dhruv was super cool though and didn’t feel a thing - he was so brave, my heart swelled with pride. Out near the island , when I told the boat guys that we were going to do snorkeling for the first time , they were pretty shocked, I don’t think they were initially ready to really help us - but I insisted. 

Snorkelling ready ! 

What helped was a French middle aged couple who were with us as well - and the lady was really nice , said she was also a beginner - gave me a 30 second crash course on the do’s and don’ts and within a couple of minutes, Dhruv and I were jumping into the ocean.. but once we were in , it was a land of dreams for me atleast .. it was as if I was in a scene from Disney's Finding Nemo. Fluorescent blue tiny and big,  bright yellow and black, orange , green fish all floating in and out of the corals - some coming so near to me .. I wasn’t so good at the snorkelling , so had to keep taking my head out of the water , but it was oh so an experience altogether .. Dhruv and I totally loved it and I felt so blessed to be experiencing this with him, both doing it for the first time , he on 11 and me 41. Unfortunately it suddenly started raining again and the clear water became a little rough - not only that, once I got back on to the boat I actually started feeling a little sea sick and ended up puking as well.  We were glad to get back to land and into the room - freshen up and rest a while before cycling back to the island pizzeria for lunch. I spent the rest of the day in the room with the boys , sleeping, writing, reading and more than anything studying the spotted turtle doves - activities of their entire families and the endless snails in the garden.

Snails everywhere !

Mommy and Daddy of the spotted dove family

There were just so many - mommy snails, baby snails, snails on leaves, on branches , in the grass making way through a couple of feet in two hours - now I really know what moving at a snail’s pace means .. I was daydreaming about whether anyone would give me a job studying the life and habitats of these beautiful creatures on this island. We ended our stay on the island with dinner at Zerof;s again - the special Sunday night buffet with live Creole music - the lead singer had a lovely baritone voice and I was almost tempted to start dancing to the lively tunes and songs that they played - seemed very close to Cuban folk songs and closer home to our Goan/Konkani music and tunes - simply loved it ! 

28th December, Monday, 2015

Today was a rainy day - but we were lucky since this was the day of transit, moving out of La Digue to Praslin and taking the flight back to Mahe. 

Looks like a toy plane - waiting for take off from Praslin to Mahe

We stopped the taxi in Praslin, the driver being kind enough to take us to spots along the side of the famed Unesco World Heritage site of  Valle De Mai Forest to see the towering coco de mer trees and and I finally spotted some of the fruit on the trees as well. Apparently these can grow to as big as 20 kgs ! It was like these large double headed coconuts growing on tall palm trees with oversized leaves. 

coco de mer

This was supposed to be the original garden of Eden as some call it and the coco de mer unlike any other fruit in the world was supposed to be the forbidden fruit of Eden. After a tiring day of travels, we reached our destination in Mahe at Baie Lazare at Maison Solaile .. the owner being Andrew Gee , an artist from UK settled here in the Seychelles for the last 20+ years. 

Maison Soleil

The houses were done up so tastefully and some quirky additions such as an outdoor bathroom tile with turquoise blue stones brought in from Bali, a wooden branch used as the toilet roll holder in the bathroom , lovely corals placed around here and there made it a delight to stay. The walls were full of lovely paintings of the beaches or local scenery.

The well stocked kitch

The kitchen was stocked with everything you needed for a short stay with lovely crockery and tea sets and the basics of cooking up a quick meal whenever we needed. We were really happy with the choice we made for our stay and was looking forward to the next couple of days.

29th December, Tuesday, 2015

The island of Mahe compared to La Digue was of course vast. The roads plenty but very very hilly and roller coaster like at times. It wasn’t really possible to get around on bicylces here , so we decided to walk mostly and take local buses from one place to another. The walks were long and many miles at a stretch through roads up and down. But somehow even though our muscles were aching, the light breeze and the absolute beauty in every corner of the forests made the walks worthwhile. There were so many varieties of ferns,  inner cliffs of the roads that we walked through  draped in wild money plants, red seeds of large trees adorning the paths all around and colourful flowers sneaking out from here and there.

Exotic plants that we buy at the nursery and try to go in our gardens in Bangalore grew in the wilderness all around .. areas full of flowers, my favourite wild pink creeper, the purple wreath, the red and orange birds of paradise and so many varieties of them - they just drove me totally crazy. In my opinion, this was the true beauty of Seychelles  - not only in its beaches but also in nature’s bounty in every nook and corner. The wilderness of the forests, the birds fleeting in and out, huge fruit bats flying over us, roads lined with spider webs and huge lovely colourful spiders, it seemed to be a different world altogether where time stands still and you can truly be one with nature. I was very happy that we didn’t rent a car, we wouldn’t have enjoyed this raw beauty that these idyllic islands have to offer us. This was a complete tech free holiday as in no data plan, no iPad, no video games for the boys - but they were totally engrossed studying the bats and spiders and the snails on the roads and collecting the red seeds - this is how life should be.  Though at times poor T would be really tired and carrying him became an impossible task mostly. The flora and fauna all around reminded me of the Western Ghats in India.

The day wasn’t as bright and sunny as we would’ve liked it to be - but it was okay - we decided to make most of the day while the weather lasted. So we started walking to the famous Petite Anse which belonged to the Four Seasons Resort. Tony Blair was apparently staying there while we visited , didn’t get to meet him though ! And of course various other celebrities, But the beach was accessible to the public and what a beautiful beach it was. Dhruv , Tumpu and I had just the greatest time in the water. It was safe to kind of go out deep and we totally enjoyed ourselves swimming, jumping the waves , swimming back to the shore. I also got a glimpse of the 10-12M$ villas that were bought by the likes of European Football League managers and Russian businessmen and politician - people who travel with a staff of 30 odd people every time they visit - I wonder what a life like that would be. Just the walk into the resort was like a hike in itself - absolutely stunning. 

Petite Anse of Four Seasons at Mahe

After spending the afternoon at Petite Anse , we had to hike back up to the main road and went back to our lodge to freshen up before heading out to a really late lunch. We chose a restaurant called Anchor Cafe which was situated on the road side with the view of the ocean in front. The view was very different, not the usual beach - actually no beach as such and the water came up to the edge almost like a lake with several boats stationed there. It looked very outlandish actually and a wild kind of beauty with the rocks along the edges. The Anchor Cafe was a fantastic place - the setting perfect , the food absolutely delicious especially the desserts. The decor done up with old surf boards and old ship anchors and chains and the kids enjoyed themselves. We ate into the evening literally , a lazy long lunch with coffee and dessert and then walked on to the side of the ocean.

Fun at Anchor Cafe

 At the edge there were small sandy patches and actually coral reefs , so we found a treasure trove of shells and coral pieces in this area. A family of locals nearby were enjoying the evening here and their little boy of eight collected shells sitting along side me .. we even exchanged a couple of shells  - it was one of the magical moments of the trip for me  - he was so cute and a little reserved. He left after a while but came back running and I felt a tugging at my dress from behind to see him .. “My mom won’t let me take these, so you take them” .. so I ended up richer with his shy smile and his collected shells which were now mine .. all in all it was a beautiful day !  We were a little apprehensive about catching the bus home. So we decided to start walking back. On the way we suddenly spotted these red crabs coming out of the sand and watching us and going back into their holes. Tumpu was so thrilled to see red crabs “ I don’t believe it, we saw red crabs!!” I didn’t manage to get a good picture though as there wasn’t enough light .. We finally got a bus back to Baie Lazare and then was the long walk back to our rooms. 

But we had to buy some supplies for breakfast and dinner that night. All the stores of Seychelles are owned by Indians who were now rightfully Seychelles folks - but it was so amusing to see the names “Kumar & Kumar”, “Ganpath mini market”, “Shalini Stores (selling the best Takamaka)”, Vallabhji Patelji and the likes. Most stores were owned by Gujaratis or Tamilians - actually we didn’t come across any store owned by local natives. We stopped at one of these “kirana stores” as we call them back home and bought our supply of water, bread, eggs and the like and also wine from Johansseberg being sold in terapacks ! We came home showered and had a light dinner of some quick pasta that I made for us before crashing in for the night.

30th December, Wednesday , 2015

Today was the day to visit Victoria and the famous Victoria Market. This involved a long bus journey though. Almost one and a half hours. But these bus rides were so interesting to watch the local people of Seychelles and them going about their daily business. Mothers carrying babies entering the buses and then promptly pacing the babies in the first lap of another woman who would be sitting ( in case they didn’t find a seat themselves). Guys with real matted hair, reminding me of Bob Marley every time I saw them .. most of the people were kind of reserved. In general they seemed to have a tough life, most of the folks using the bus were folks, working hard for a living , but seemed very patient and accepting of the life they had. But they were generally nice when we asked the locals for directions or any other queries we would have. All the bus drivers were very helpful as well. The fare system was pretty interesting for the buses - 5SR per head no matter what distance you would be traveling. So you get in to the bus , give your 5 SR and you could get down at the next stop or the last one, didn't matter - somehow it economically balanced out overall ! 

Most of the locals were Africans , some women were wildly beautiful, especially the young ones, their head dressed with a thousand small braids, some in multi colours  - the dresses mostly very very bright and lots of jingle on them. Victoria was a small town centre - the market was a little disappointing compared to what I had in my mind to be honest.  At the centre of the town was the Little Clock Tower. 

Clock Tower at Victoria

I was expecting a full spice market with heaps of spices on sale - but except for the couple of isolated stalls behind the fish market, I couldn’t find much. We had lunch at the popular Pirates Arms restaurant. I looked for some souvenirs around but they were too expensive, nothing like the small souvenir shop I found on La Digue. It also started raining a bit, but we took a bus to Beau Vallon, the largest beach in Mahe. We didn't spend too much time on the beach though - took a short walk and and walked back in the rain again and took a bus back to Victoria and then another bus back to home. I cooked a quick dinner of rice, and dal made with canned tomatoes and meat masala powder in absence of anything else and omelettes for all - but it was oh so delicious ! Especially accompanied by glasses of Takamaka with Sprite. We had two regular friends and visitors at the house, a dog called Lucky and a cat called “Cat” .. they were so adorable and had completely adopted us - visited us every evening to chat with us .. loved them.

31st December, Thursday , 2015

Dhruv turns 11 today  - can’t believe how time has flown by and my little baby grew up into a big boy. God’s gift to him was the perfect weather - it was bright and sunny and just glorious. The sky was blue, the birds chirping, the leaves were the greenest of greens and the ocean was the most gorgeous turquoise colour I have seen in my life. We picked Anse Royale as the place to spend the day in .. that was Dhruv’s choice as well. 

Anse Royale at Mahe

Anse Royale was an experience in itself .. the water stretched forverer as a lagoon with waves inwards , the sand white and beautiful. We spotted so many fish in the waters. tiny fish, small fish, some as big as a foot .. silver fish with a yellow lining , some silver fish with very thin black outlined fins , others black and yellow .. it seemed like a dream. I missed a perfect picture moment as a local with long matted hair carried a catch of a large number of squid across the beach. Anse Royale was unlike the other beaches since it was really really long and also had some nice restaurants that lined the beach inland. So we had our lunch at one of those restaurants, a nice lazy lunch by the sea before we headed out to the further section of the beach which needed to be approached by walking on the main road. We took a leisurely walk on the road, boys in nothing but their shorts and stopped along the way to check local stalls selling tender coconuts or local fruits. The beach on the other side was called Fairyland and surely it was one !  It was like a small nook at the end , a cozy beach overlooking a small island which one could swim out to. This was one of the prettiest beaches by far and ideal for small kids who could literally swim as if in a pool and explore the tiny fish swimming all around and the corals and the shells .. the view was truly straight out of a picture postcard ! 

Fairy Land past Anse Grande

We couldn’t spend as much time as we would have liked since we needed to get back to Maria’s for dinner as we had a reservation for Dhruv’s birthday. So we left around 5pm and took the bus back to our Bai Lazare bus stand. Today’s route was slightly different than the other days and we ended up going through the interiors of the villages where you could see the Seychelles way of life on this island up close - small colourful houses with gardens, ducks running around from the front of the house on to the street, chickens running around , a naked child playing with an old toy car someone had left behind , papaya and banana trees in every garden, passion fruit lining the fences as well as varied hues of flowers everywhere and of course our little red feathered friends playing around merrily on the branches.

The ride today was literally like a roller coaster and Tumpu and I had to hold on tight to the bus handle to prevent ourselves from falling off !! It was lovely though .. We ended the day and the year 2015 on a lovely note with dinner at Maria’s Rock Cafe where meat , fish or prawns are cooked in front of you on a hot black stone with garlic or saffron butter and eaten with a creole sauce. Both boys enjoyed themselves and we cut a locally bought fruit cake for Dhruv’s birthday and shared it with all the other guests, an impromptu birthday party for our big boy !  The walk back home was equally magical as the sky was clear and jet black with millions of stars twinkling so bright all around - its been a long time since I’ve seen the sky bedazzled with star jewels .. a perfect way to bid adieu to 2015, an eventful year in my life for sure ! 

1st January, Friday, 2016

The year started off with the most brilliant weather of our whole stay. It was almost as if Seychlles wanted to show us how beautiful and enchanting she could really be before we left. The morning was  perfect with sunshine and birds chirping all around. After a scrumptious breakfast of a cheese and ham omelette , we packed our stuff and shifted it out to the other room which was so nicely and artistically done up - it was small but romantic , ideal for honeymooners with an open courtyard bathroom and a much bigger private garden space. Then we headed out to Takamaka Beach - had to take the bus but today being a public holiday buses were few and far between , so we ended up waiting for almost over an hour at the bus stop ! 

Waiting at the bus stop

We discovered the area all around and found these tiny black and red seeds which were so pretty and ideal for making small bracelets. With my purse bursting with our seed collection, we finally boarded the bus and reached Takamaka Beach. 

Perfectly enchanting Takamaka Beach ! 

And Oh My God ..  I had never ever seen this blue in my life - with prussian blue in the middle outlined by turquoise at the edge - the sea looked as amazing and enchanting as it could possibly be. It was surely going to be difficult leaving Seychelles tonight. We enjoyed splashing around, walking on the beach, collecting some last minute shells and coral pieces and a fantastic buffet lunch at Cafe Batista on the beach. By 3pm, we had to catch the bus back to our rooms though for final showers, cleaning and packing up before we headed out to the airport in the evening. And by night we were out of this dreamland .. truly a paradise like experience - with every nook and corner showing off nature’s bounty and beauty - this was an experience of a lifetime for me .. we felt that it was too short though. A couple of more days to explore each of the beaches more closely would have been  great - though we would surely be hungry for more ! Somewhere along the way, Tumpu has decided that this is where he wants to live when he grows up ! Surely both boys have had the time of their lives , and so did I :) Hoping life is long enough that we get a chance or more to go back and explore the paradise islands all over again some day !