Places to visit in Haridwar

Haridwar: The gateway to the Char Dham Yatra

My maiden trip to Uttarakhand started off with a visit to the holy city of India, the gateway to the Char Dham yatra; Haridwar. A crawling bus ride from Delhi with bumper to bumper traffic from Roorkee right up till Haridwar meant we had to miss the famed Ganga aarti in the evening. 

Har Ki Pauri


We finally reached our hotel, got fresh and rushed off to Har Ki Pauri; our first place of visit. For first timers in Haridwar it is a task trying to find our way through the narrow by-lanes. After asking fot directions from multiple people we finally made it to Har Ki Pauri. The Ganga aarti was over and most of the people had started returning. This wasn't such a bad thing since it meant there was very less crowd. "Less crowded" in places like Haridwar was like a luxury :)

Har Ki Pauri @ night

Coincidentally it was full moon on the day we visited Haridwar which meant our visit was even more cherished. Har Ki Pauri is considered to be the most holy spot on the Ganga river to take a dip and rid oneself of our sins. The words "Har Ki Pauri" means the footsteps of Lord Shiva. There is a huge rush here during the Kumbha mela which takes place every 12 years. Here the Ganga river is the deity and the temple. People pray to the Ganga river for blessings and seek solace. We also performed the Ganga Puja & offered the set the traditional "diyas" floating on the river. 

Shree Ganesh Mandir @ Har Ki Pauri

Brahma Mandir @ Har Ki Pauri

There are many small temples around Har Ki Pauri dedicated to Lord Ganesha, Lord Brahma, Raja Birla Tower, etc. The place is always lively and has an utterly divine feeling. There are many shops all around selling items ranging from brass utensils, idols & photo frames of all Indian deities, food stalls, beverages, jewelry shops, toys, etc 

Shree Shringeri Shankaracharya Math Mandir @ Har Ki Pauri

Since we had reached pretty late in the evening, we made it a point to visit again in the morning. This time round we got a clear view of the Ganga river flowing in all its might. We went ahead and at least took a semi dip in the chilled waters to get a feel of the holy Ganga river.

Raja Birla Tower near Har Ki Pauri

Me @ Har Ki Pauri

Mansa Devi Temple

An early morning trip was planned to the Mansa Devi Temple. After some inquiry with the locals we finally reached the entrance of the Mansa Devi temple on the Upper Road. The Mansa Devi Temple is perched atop the Bilwa Parvat in the Sivalik range. The temple can be accessed on foot through a trek or by a rope-way. The locals refer to the rope-way as "Udan Khatola".  The return ticket for the rope-way was priced at Rs. 84/head while the child ticket was priced at Rs. 55/head. 

Mansa Devi Mandir entrance @ Upper Road

The temple, considered to be very holy, is believed to have emerged from the mind of the great sage Kashyap. The presiding deity in the temple is Mansa Devi, to whom the temple is dedicated. This is one of the trio which forms the Siddhpeeth. 

Mansa Devi Mandir entrance after Ropeway

Mansa Devi Mandir from Har Ki Pauri

The ride up the rope-way provides a panoramic view of the entire city of Haridwar. Even if you desire to take the 3 km trek up to the temple, would recommend to take the rope-way just to enjoy the view. The temple premise houses various other deities with a large number of pilgrims & tourists flocking the temple.  

Maya Devi Temple


The second temple constituting the Siddhpeeth is the Maya Devi Temple. The temple is located off the Upper Road in between some residential buildings. One will need to check with the locals to reach the temple. The temple does not have too much crowd. So, it feels peaceful to spend some time here.

Maya Devi Mandir just off Upper Road

Chandi Devi Temple

The third temple in the Siddhpeeth trio is the Chandi Devi temple. It is located at about 6 km from Haridwar towards Najibabad. This temple is also perched atop a hill Neel Parvat. It can be accessed through a 3 km trek or by rope-way. The ticket to the rope-way can be purchased from Mansa Devi itself. The joint ticket is Rs. 190/head. Since we were short on time we could not visit this temple. 

Haridwar Market

The local market is another highlight of Haridwar. Anyone who is fond of shopping for artificial jewelry, idols of Hindu deities, brass or bronze utensils would absolutely love this place. The numerous shops serving the local delicacies like aloo puri, aloo parathas, lip smacking sweets, etc flock the entire area.

Colorful bangles in Haridwar market

Colorful Idols in Haridwar market

Many more memoirs to share ...... Sachin

Wandoor Beach: Port Blair - Andaman

Wandoor Beach: Port Blair - Andaman

Sometimes one is destined to visit some places. Wandoor beach is one such place for me. On my maiden tour to Andaman; Wandoor was not on my itinerary but I was more than glad that it made its way into my plans. We were actually scheduled to visit the North Bay Island but the weather played spoil sport and none of the boats were allowed to sail. So, we were forced to change plans and our guide was more than welcoming to accommodate Wandoor beach as an alternate.

Towards Wandoor beach

Towards Wandoor beach

We also went along since it would be better to make most of the time in the Andamans rather than letting one day go by. He arranged for a car & we were off to Wandoor beach. It is located on the southern tip of Andaman and is about 30 km from Port Blair. It would take about 45 mins. We took a pit stop at an agricultural garden on the way towards Wandoor. The garden had a wide variety of trees and plants. The plants were ranging more flowers, medicinal and decorative ones. We spent around 30 minutes here and then left for Wandoor.

Agriculture Garden towards Wandoor beach

Agriculture Garden towards Wandoor beach

Agriculture Garden towards Wandoor beach

Agriculture Garden towards Wandoor beach

The route going towards Wandoor passed through small towns and dense forests. The final stretch close to Wandoor gave glimpses of the sea with the backwaters. We finally reached Wandoor beach and got to see the pristine bluish green waters that Andaman is known for. The sea was calm and serene. Crystal clear waters just looked so soothing.

Backwaters towards Wandoor beach

Wandoor beach

Wandoor beach

Wandoor beach

Fallen tree trunk @ Wandoor beach

The beach stretched for about 2-3 km with golden sands, fallen tree trunks and small islands visible in the distant horizon. The Jolly Buoy Island and Red Skin Island are visible from Wandoor beach. The Jolly Buoy Island is known for clear waters with glass bottom boat rides being conducted to see the corals. The boats leave very early from here and since we reached by noon we couldn’t visit these islands.

Jolly Buoy & Red Skin Islands from Wandoor beach

Jolly Buoy Island

We clicked a lot of photographs and then had some snacks. We purchased sea shell curtains as souvenirs from here. We left from here and this time we took a different route. On the way back we visited the rubber making factory. The visit was very informative on the process of rubber extraction and manufacturing.

@ Rubber Factory

@ Rubber Factory

Many more memoirs to share .... Sachin

Day 7 : YHAI National Himalayan Mountain Biking Leh

YHAI National Himalayan Mountain Biking Leh

Day 7 - Ride from Haniskot to Lamayuru via Fotu La pass & back to Leh base camp

We woke up to a chilled morning. There was dew all around. And now we had the dreadful task of pumping water from the famous hand pump. This pump would probably be second most popular behind the one uprooted by Sunny Deol in Gadar :)

Ready to leave from Haniskot

We had breakfast and got ready to leave. As mentioned earlier since ours was the last batch means we got some benefits. Since YHAI volunteers were packing up the camp and they had a pick up to take their belongings to Lamayuru; we also got the privilege of sending our ruck sacks with them. We didn’t need to load them on our bikes. We packed up our ruck sacks and handed them over the YHAI volunteers. Posed for some group photographs and off we were.

From Haniskot

The plan for the first half of the day was pretty much set. Scale Fotu La pass and then cycle downhill till Lamayuru for lunch and leave for Leh by 3 PM. We left from Haniskot and started cycling towards Fotu La pass. The uphill soon started taking its toll on us. The ride was pretty much punctuated by small breaks which seem to be getting very frequent as we move ahead closer to Fotu La pass.

From Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

From Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

From Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

From Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

We left from here and our next target was to reach Rakesh tea stall. This was Sumit’s regular halt while he keeps cycling on this route. We cycled for about 30 minutes and reached the tea stall. We parked our bikes and sat down to have tea. We made the most of time we spent here since our stop would be directly at Fotu La. As usual the break was full of jokes and laughter. We finally left from there we had to catch on time. 

Tea break from Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

From Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

From Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

Rest time from Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

The frequent breaks were obviously used as an opportunity for group photographs. Since this was pretty much the last day we would be cycling along as a group we tried to make the most of it. There was one particular patch on the highway where we could see the moon even at 9:30 am.

We stand united :)

From Haniskot towards Fotu La Pass

We cycled and fought the altitude to finally see Fotu La in sight. The final stretch gave us glimpses of snow clad mountains and the icing on the cake was a milestone clearly mentioning “BRO: Fotu La Top HT-13479 Ft Highest Point The Srinagar Leh Road”. This is what we were cycling all this while for the last 5 days. We had finally made it. Akhilesh & I hugged each other in joy of having accomplished the mountain biking expedition. All the things that happened prior to us coming here and all the obstacles that we had to cross just seemed insignificant. This was it; we have completed our second mountain biking expedition in 2 straight years; something that we didn’t envisage at the start of 2013 when we hardly had any outings.

Akhilesh @ Fotu La Pass

Near Fotu La Pass

Near Fotu La Pass

Akhilesh & Me @ Fotu La Pass

Akhilesh & Me @ Fotu La Pass

Me @ Fotu La Pass

Akhilesh celebrating @ Fotu La Pass

Our camp leader at Leh had challenged us to get a group photograph at Fotu La ensuring that all members were present at the same time. This seems a challenge since it is not recommended to spend more than 30 minutes at Fotu La (and frankly it becomes difficult to spend more time here because of the strong winds). Since some of our fellow participants had already crossed Fotu La and made their way towards Lamayuru; we at least made it a point to have the group photograph with all the available group members.

LMB16 @ Fotu La Pass

Fotu La Pass conquered

It was a joyous moment for all of us since none were regular cyclists but we all made the efforts to accomplish something outside our comfort zones. We clicked as many photographs as we could and since it was getting late we decided to leave and descend towards Lamayuru.

LMB16 @ Fotu La Pass

LMB16 @ Fotu La Pass

Akhilesh & Me @ Fotu La Pass

From Fotu La Pass towards Lamayuru

We soaked in all the memories and with a heavy heart started pedaling towards Lamayuru. Frankly pedalling was really an exaggeration since the entire route from here till Lamayuru was total downhill. We zoomed past the next 10 km in no time and crossed the same route that we had our trial bike ride on the first day. The locals here were busy in their daily chores and one just activity we saw was milling of wheat.

From Fotu La Pass towards Lamayuru

@ Lamayuru

We finally reached the base camp at Lamayuru. We returned our bikes with Mr. Tiwari and proceeded to have lunch. After lunch we bid adieu to Chetan & all the volunteers at Lamayuru. Our bus was ready and we being the last ones to board the bus were again on the staircase :)

Akhilesh with Chetan Joshi (Ext L) & Tiwar Ji (Ext R) @ Lamayuru

After about 3 hours we finally reached Leh and as per the schedule the next day was supposed to be a rest day while we had to check out on the day after tomorrow. But since we were already done with the cycling expedition and we wanted to make the most of the time we had in Ladakh; we decided to check out as soon as we reached the camp at Leh. We checked out from YHAI and collected our certificates. We booked a room in the nearby Tara guest house and went to the Leh market for dinner. We closed the trip with joint dinner; it was me, Akhilesh, Hamza, Meet, Vinod and Yogesh. While returning back we booked the cab for our Pangong trip the next day. 

This finally bought the curtains down on the best trip that I had till date. Ladakh will always have a special place in my heart. Signing off ; “Juley”

Many more memoirs to share .... Sachin

Other escapades in Ladakh:

Pangong Lake
Khardungla Pass
Nubra Valley
Places to visit in Leh
BRO signboards in Ladakh