Beginning of the End

 Things are changing now; you are not the same person as you were few years back. Is this a sign of end of your old life, it is the beginning of the end. An end which will change you, which will change your life. You might be in love 2-3 years back but now you have moved, you might be married but now divorced. You might be unemployed, but now you have a prestigious job. You are no longer at your home sweet home but fighting the world for survival. You might be a fresher in an industry but now you are a senior. It seems like everything is changed, you are changed, and your lifestyle is changed. Can this be considered a beginning of the end? It will put a full stop to your old life and show you a new one. This might be a confusing period of life, you may want to quit a job and get another one, but is it so easy? You may want to leave someone, again! Is it so easy?

Something to Remember

There are lots of confusions, frustrations, depressions in your life, but I say-it is time to put an end to all misery and start something new. It doesn’t matters that it’s small or large, but change is important. Don’t fear about what will happens if you fail, just think what will happen if you pass. New Year is on the way, so take the resolution right now, that you will start a journey.

A life with full of hopes and divine light is waiting for you, go ahead and achieve it. There is only person standing between your happiness and that’s in the mirror. Anything and everything is possible in this lifetime, so what are you going to do with it? You have already grown up; it’s time to DO something and not just talk about it.  The future isn’t a place.

Chennai to China

If you are following me, you will know that I am working in India-Chennai in an MNC and right now I am writing about my trip to Nepal for an International GERA Conference. It was already completed in my last post and in this post I am gonna describe the journey from Nepal to China Border. We didn’t had all the time in the world to roam complete Nepal but whatever time was left with us, we planned to utilize it to the fullest. We heard that the route to China border is like Laddakh, so we hired a car and started our journey; for me it was like a journey from Chennai to China. I must say this was the awesomest part of our Nepal trip.

Waterfalls on our way

Thinking about the trip, images of Himalayan Mountains, simple people, exotic locales come to mind. Trip was all this and more. Words can’t do justice to the beauty of the land and you have to hike through its hills and valleys to witness its beauty and the majesty of its people especially girls. It was a beauty beyond description barren Rocky Mountains had an exquisite beauty of their own the shattered looking landscapes splashed with small but brilliant patches of green and black. Pahadi stepped out and collected some black rocks for research.

There were quite a number of water-falls on this Road. They seem like falling from the heaven. It’s a place where the road plays hide & seek all along. You have to be careful while driving in these roads. There was a time when I thought that this is it, we can’t go further from here, our car was stuck and driver was working hard to get it through, even then I was cherishing the moment thinking that we have made so far and whatever we have covered was none less than than an achievement. What can I say the journey was important not the destination. There was music flowing in our ship all the time courtesy: Pahadi. We also observed a trend as we were moving towards China in people’s physique.

Our car stuck on road

Finally we reached Nepal:China border, it is actually a bridge known as friendship bridge between the 2 countries. It was a cool border if you can think in a different way. There were more than 4 border policeman posted from the China’s side and only one from Nepali that too was having fun with us and talking all the time. There were 2 guards at Chinese side who were standing straight in attention position for more than 15 minutes so I asked Nepali guard, why he is in the same condition, he informed me that they have a duty of 2 hours, they will be standing like this way not even blinking eyes, this is called as discipline.

Friendship Bridge between Nepal and China

We could not take the pictures of the main entrance of China-border as the Chinese police posted there, prevented us from doing so. Hence for you, I have googled and found some old pics of the bridge for you. We were standing right at the red line: the border line between the 2, so we were in both countries at the same time that was a moment. Then we had some Chinese dishes in a restaurant nearby and headed for a hot spring: Tatopani, which is a major tourist attraction. People come here from far & wide to take a bath to cure their skin ailments, etc. After all this fun we reached Kathmandu, had dinner and stayed in a hotel near Pashupatinath Mandir.

Overall, it was a good experience for us. Only if we had the same facility as Nepalis enjoy (one day free permit to visit the bordering Chinese town) but for us Indians, Visa is a must. So we returned, overwhelmed with the nature's beauty.

Link for Friendship Bridge-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Nepal_Friendship_Bridge

The Journey Continues…

If you are following through the previous posts, you will know that we were en route to Nepal for a conference, so far we have reached India-Nepal border. We crossed border on foot only, now after crossing border, we have two options either will get bus direct from border or from Bhairava bus station, it depends on luck. Sometimes buses are ready at border itself and you can get a ticket for it from a red colored counter, if not, you can board local bus to reach Bhairava bus stand and get bus from there. It is suggested to have lunch before boarding bus; also you should board it keeping in mind that it is going to take complete 12 hours to reach Kathmandu. This journey was also a part of the so called “The Journey”. Believe me 12 hours is a long time sitting in bus where seats are so congested that your knee will stick to next chair and if pillar is there near your hair, you may not even be able to get into your chair, depending on your health.

So if you start in morning around 1pm from border, you will reach Kathamandu at the same time i.e. 1am and then you have to rent a hotel room and in night you may not get a proper one. We should check the room and washrooms properly before checking in. 

Same thing happened with us, we had to board the bus at around 1pm and reached at 1 in night and then had to settle in an improper room, because it was raining, we were tired, night time, so I just checked a room, which was too basic and finalized it without giving a second thought, but I should have properly check the room and took a consent from Maag or Pahadi before finalizing the room. It is good to take suggestions from more than one person before finalizing anything, because what I like may not be the best option, but what more than one person likes will be the better option. These are just little things that I learned in this trip.

Our rooms were like, one had fan another not, while another one had light, and first one didn’t. So they were equal in a manner. In night we had tight sleep, since we were hell tired, then too everyone woke up early in morning and got ready to move. Anna showed some quickness and got ready in common washroom.

From Chennai to Nepal

INDIA-NEPAL Border

Really we have to call it “The Journey”. Journey for all of us was different; one had to join us just after Rajasthan trip, one had to come from Pune, another from Indore and I from Chennai. Let us talk about my trip, aaaa leave the actual trip, because if I tell you the actual one, you will get confused or mad on me. What I can tell you is I started my journey from Chennai after completing my night shift. I pre-poned my shift from 10-7 to 7-4 so that I can catch the only train (Rajdhani) that starts from Chennai at 6 am. Let me tell you some facts about my train, it connect major cities of India to Rajdhani (Delhi). It is a superfast train having few halts between origin and destination. Obviously it is a costly train having minimum coach as 3^rd ac, best thing about it is it provides you enough food that you don’t have to bother about taking any food items with you, train staff provides some food stuff once in every two hours and even you can request for additional things like salad, if you wish. So don’t carry even a single food item, but eat well in Rajdhani. My ticket was in waiting list a day before, although waiting no. was 2 which had a high probability of getting clear, still I didn’t wanted to take any chances and booked a Tatkal ticket. Therefore I started from Chennai via Rajdhaani –one of the best trains of India, changed my train to meet the rest of the crew. Anna already came to Bhopal station a day before; we had to board the Kushinagar Express. Maag and Pahadi started the same morning from Indore. As soon as I board the train to Gorakhpur, Pahadi shouted Kuntalllll, she seemed to be very happy after founding me. I was also glad to join them. The moment, we joined became awesome, amazing, actually beyond words.  

Route Plan

Now let me introduce you to Kushinagar Express as well, it is a typical train of eastern India, in which sleeper is similar to general and 3^rd ac can be compared with sleeper. I am not criticizing the train, or the crowd, just a suggestion for travelers that they should book at least 3^rd ac ticket if they are thinking to travel in those side trains, especially when you don’t have habit of travelling in such trains. This train led us to Gorakhpur-a major station on the eastern side of India. Major because this is the last station on this side, up to which train is available, after this you have to board a bus or hire a shared cab to reach Indian border last village sanauli. From Sanauli you can either have a cycle rickshaw or walk for 5 minutes to cross the Zero Land- an area between two borders, also known as no man’s land. I advise walking provided you can carry your luggage for about a km. Here Indian border ends and Nepal starts. Tune in to next blog for Nepal, remember Journey is not complete yet.