Explore Great Himalayan National Park - Day 2

Myself ,Ghanshyam and Captain Chatterjee decided to go for the morning birding trail early in the morning. The sky was cloudy but the weather was pleasant. Around our cottages itself there was a pretty good number of birds were seen, verditer flycatchers,himalayan woodpeckers,flycatchers etc.

We went for around two km of walk from the main gate on the road.

The droplets of mist was afresh on the leaves

The valley was looking picture perfect!

We returned back to Mother's Lap for our breakfast.

After our sumptuous breakfast, we began our 6 km steep trail to Chaini Village .The weather kept worrying us from being clear to cloudy and a bit rainy. All of us enjoyed the trail. 

The bird life along the way was awesome

It was a tough trail, but both Mohan and Captain Chatterjee , both of whom I was worried ,managed it well.

The villagers on the way were curious about us and were peeping from the windows. I saw a kid busy doingher homework and curiously gazing at us

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Captain of course kept resting his feet as often as he can !

Someone was enjoying her school holiday by just relaxing in the sun !! How lucky!

We were told that the villagers are also famous for their wood craftsmanship, which can be seen from these beautiful wooden houses on our way to Chaini

Small shrines are built in wooden structures can also be seen all over the place

The mountain hawk eagle soared high up in the sky!

And at last we could get a glimpse of the set of temple towers in the distance

We also passed by a small temple revered by the locals.

Enjoying our walk and the shoot..:-)

Finally reached our destination!

The structures were huge and intimidating. We were disappointed for not allowed to enter the interiors as a safety precaution

Visitors are also not allowed to enter this temple dedicated to Krishna.

Murali got interested in buying the locally woven shawls when we were passing by the village.

Their beautiful daughter happily posed with all of us 

Everyone was curious about us!

The hardship faced by the mountain people in their daily life, shatters the myth of living happily in the mountains.

And when we reached back Mother's Lap, we had a lifer for a sighting. Eurasian Hobby perched right at the entrance on a dry tree.

And as with many of my tours, this dog decided to escort us back to the guest house

I loved the view one got just lying on the bed and rested well till the evening

Enjoyed a nice bonfire 

Dara Gaon Village Retreat

I must say this was one of the chance bookings that I had made...not a person to take any sort of risks while taking my guests on a tour, I was totally convinced while talking to Shiva, the host of this beautiful home stay that we will not be disappointed. He is a soft spoken Gurung, who went out of his way to make sure that we had a lovely stay in his home.

We reached Darap late in the afternoon . A bit of confusion and they had assumed that we wont be arriving for lunch, hence had to wait for a wait on reaching for the food to arrive. And it was worth the wait..Radha may not be able to cook exotic stuff but they are homely and definitely very tasty. One day she prepared a typical Gurung breakfast and each one of us hogged on to it as if we haven't had breakfast for ages..:-)

We never realized how fast our two nights passed by....as it was a relaxing holiday ,none in the group were interested in going for the sight seeing trips around Pelling, though we did visit the monastery and the waterfalls.

A visit to the Darap village was a eye opener too. We learnt that many women in the village suffer from Lung cancer, a possible cause may be the the traditional cooking methods using the firewood. The houses are built with low ceiling, and without any outlet. Hence, the smoke remains indoors. Coupled with their tobacco eating habits, its no wonder that many women suffer from this dreaded disease. Shiva was keen that we should do something about smokeless Choolahs for this village. Will work on this project soon.

All in all, it was a well deserved holiday for every one of us .. truly an amazing holiday in the mountains...