Goa - Boat cruise on River Mandovi

We expected the Sunset Boat cruise to be a pleasant experience, unfortunately it was just the opposite. They had a cultural show on board which was unbearably noisy -- assault on one's ears. A foreign tourist who was on another boat felt the same, what's worse, he said that there was a lot of smoke in his boat which gave him a headache. Though we did not experience any smoke problem I felt a throbbing sensation in my head later thanks to the loud noise masquerading as music. Much of the show was about dancing to Hindi film songs. I wish Goa Tourism had given us an option of a noiseless cruise for those like us who have not been able to develop a taste for noise, but they call it a "cultural show". Without all the noise it would have been a pleasant experience.

Compere a welcoming us and announcing the "cultural show"

 

Watch video below:

Goa - Panjim and Miramar

 Starting today I begin a series of posts on my trip to Goa in February 2010

Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach

Miramar Beach - Boat on sunset cruise

Panjim street

Fine Art Gallery, Gitanjali (left) at Panjim

Panjim

Panjim - Old house

Panjim - Old house

Uttarakhand - some more photos

My first four posts were all about my recent trip to Delhi and Uttarakhand, in this post I have shared a few more photos. This trip will always be memorable to me because this was the last holiday I spent with my mother who passed away recently.

Iron Pillar of Delhi in the Qutub Minar complex.

Cows relaxing at Triveni near Rishikesh

This can be seen at Triveni near Rishikesh

Temple near Laxman Jhula, (Rishikesh) this place is known as Tapovan.

Statue of Laxman near Laxman Jhula

Laxman Jhula

Near Laxman Jhula

View of the Ganga from under Laxman Jhula

My mother watching the Ganga flow. This photo was clicked at the restaurant of the hotel we stayed in at Rishikesh.

Ganga at Rishikesh --a close up

My mother at the balcony of our hotel room at Rishikesh.

People collecting rocks and pebbles from the Ganga riverbed at Rishikesh

Looking for food early in the morning -- Rishikesh

Temple at Shastradhara near Mussourie

Dhanaulti near Mussourie

Dhanaulti

My next post will be on Goa.

Jehangir Sabavala

This morning I learnt that Jehangir Sabavala is no more, I am one of his many admirers and I remember having met him very briefly when I visited his exhibition at Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay way back in the mid 1980s; I do not recall the exact year. A colleague from my office had accompanied me and he happened to carry his camera. There were lots of visitors at the exhibition but I was able to talk to the great artist briefly. My colleague suggested that I pose for a photograph with Mr. Sabavala, the artist readily obliged.

Jehangir Sabavala was a lively person, a thorough gentleman and sharing a few moments with him was an honour. I love his work and I always felt that he painted his pictures with a great deal of care. His paintings do have an influence of cubism but are yet different, they are products of his own unique style which he had evolved. He was truly one of India's greatest painters who will continue to inspire generations of painters to come.   

Mussoorie and Dhanaulti

Some images from Mussoorie and Dhanaulti, Uttarakhand.
Dhanaulti is located about 27 kilometers from Mussoorie. We visited this place in the month of March this year. We learnt that it has snowed quite a lot in Mussoorie this winter but the snow had melted long before we visited Mussoorie, however we did see small heaps of solidified snow in Dhanaulti which were still in the process of melting. 

Mussoorie: View from the mall

View from Camel's Back Road in Mussoorie

Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti: Snow capped mountains seen at a distance

Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti

Dhanaulti

Somewhere between Dhanaulti an Mussoorie, this pic was clicked from a moving car

Somewhere between Dhanaulti an Mussoorie

Inside Hotel Park Plaza Sylverton where we stayed

Inside Hotel Park Plaza Sylverton, view from another angle

Hotel Park Plaza Sylverton, lawns

View from Hotel Park Plaza Sylverton

Hotel Park Plaza Sylverton, another view of the lawns

Flowers placed in the hotel's garden. 

Video: Mussoorie and Dhanaulti