Sleepless in Dubai - Chapter 1

Sleepless in Dubai - Chapter 1

It was my first international trip to Dubai. My flight landed at Sharjah airport early in the morning at 6:40 AM. The airport staff were very cooperative and friendly, and I was amazed to notice that some of them were even able to speak Hindi. Immigration was automated through face scanning, allowing the system to open the door for further processing. After collecting my luggage, I proceeded towards the exit gate. Just before reaching it, I noticed a mobile shop offering Dubai SIM cards at a reasonable cost. While speaking with the salesman, I learned that he was from South India, although he had never visited his native country. I suggested that he should consider visiting India to explore his roots. Quickly, I purchased a SIM card valid for three days and exited the airport. Near the bus stand, I found my office colleagues, with one of them arranging luggage for all the visitors. When he asked for my luggage, I realized I didn't have it with me. Frantically, I rushed back towards the exit gate. A police guard was stationed outside, to whom I explained that I had forgotten my luggage at a shop near the gate where I made a purchase. Understandably, he was skeptical given the security concerns, but after persistently explaining and even showing the shop from the other side of the gate where my luggage was visible, he finally relented. I hurriedly retrieved my luggage and left the airport. It was an adrenaline-pumping experience, reminding me why Dubai's tourism slogan is 'where anything is possible'. Marhaba Dubai مرحبا دبي !

 

 

Skyscrapers of Dubai

اليوم الأول : The longest day in Dubai – Day 1

 

I was visiting Dubai on a trip organized by my office, with my flight scheduled from Jaipur International Airport on May 13, 2022, in the early morning to Sharjah International Airport. Departing at 4:45 AM from Jaipur airport, my flight landed at Sharjah airport at 6:40 AM. After a smooth immigration process, I emerged from the airport to find several buses arranged to transport us to Dubai. While boarding my bus, I took the opportunity to call my friend and former colleague, Mr. Munib Bari, who has been living in Dubai for over a decade. Despite it being an early call, he was pleasantly surprised to hear from me and eagerly agreed to meet during my three-day stay. I informed him that I was leaving Sharjah Airport and would share my hotel details upon check-in. Subsequently, I reached out to another acquaintance, Mr. Pratik, a close friend of my wife, also residing in Dubai, to arrange a meeting during my visit. My accommodation was at Novotel World Trade Centre Dubai, situated in the heart of the city, close to notable landmarks such as the Metro station, Museum of the Future, Mall of Dubai, and Burj Khalifa. Upon arrival at the hotel around 9 AM, I found the lobby bustling with activity akin to a supermarket. At the reception, I was directed to a staff member coordinating with guests from India to learn my room details. Assigned to the 13th floor, my room was shared with a fellow traveler from the same bus we came from Sharjah. Both fatigued, we agreed I would take the first shower. After freshening up, I awaited my roommate's turn before heading down to breakfast. Arriving at the breakfast area around 10:30 AM, we found it nearly empty, with limited food options remaining due to the breakfast time having elapsed. Opting for a Tandoori Paratha paired with Baigan ka Bhurta and a hot coffee, I was pleasantly surprised by the delectable taste of the Bhurta, boasting the perfect blend of sweetness from the onion, tanginess from the Baigan, subtle smoky aroma, and vibrant pink color indicative of its expert preparation. It surpassed my expectations for culinary delights in Dubai. Later, I was saddened to learn of the passing of UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan earlier that morning due to a prolonged illness, prompting a 40-day national mourning period, during which flags would fly at half-mast, and a three-day suspension of work in both private and official sectors at the federal and local levels of institutions.

My day one Breakfast

After finishing my breakfast, I stepped outside the hotel with the intention of exploring Dubai city on my own, using public transportation such as buses or the metro. Just to the left of the hotel, I noticed an air-conditioned bus stop. Upon entering the cubical-shaped bus stand, I found it pleasantly cool inside. A man sitting on a waiting chair, whom I greeted and learned was from Pakistan. I inquired about purchasing a bus ticket, to which he explained that in Dubai, one needs to buy a travel card instead. As I observed a few people standing nearby waiting for the bus, one arrived within a minute. They were all Indian tourists staying at the same hotel. I overheard the bus driver informing them about the travel card requirement. I then asked the man where I could obtain one, and he directed me to a metro station situated behind the mall adjacent to the hotel. I was delighted to learn that a metro station was conveniently located near my hotel. Hastening through the mall gate, I entered a spacious passage where I could even catch sight of the exit gate from which I had entered. Across from me stood a beautiful fountain, surrounded by bright red Bougainvillea flowerpots. Capturing a few shots of the fountain, I proceeded forward. To my right, I beheld famous landmarks such as the Museum of the Future, Burj Khalifa, and several towering skyscrapers, offering a breathtaking view. After soaking in these magnificent sights, I made my way towards the metro station. I must confess, I'll be liberally using phrases like 'Stunning view', 'Stunning Building', and 'Amazing place' in this article, as this city is brimming with awe-inspiring sights that naturally evoke such reactions. Upon arriving at the World Trade Centre Metro Station, I was struck by its impressive architectural design. The interior was impeccably clean, reminiscent of a luxurious 5-star hotel lobby, complete with beautiful marble tile flooring—a sight that left me truly amazed. At the ticket counter, I purchased a Silver Travel Card before proceeding to the platform.

On the way to Ibn Batuta Mall

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the metro platform signage was displayed in three languages: Arabic, English, and to my delight, Hindi as well. As the metro train arrived, I boarded the first compartment, only to discover that it was a driverless train. Peering through the glass at the front, I marveled at the stunning views unfolding before me as the train glided along its route. I sat in the first row, and my neighbor was a young woman wearing a sleek black one-piece outfit, which accentuated her appearance. I started a conversation with her and learned was from Pakistan with an American accent. I talked about the city and asked her which places I could visit during my three-day trip. She suggested a few places and mentioned that after a few metro stations, there is the Mall of Emirates, which is a nice place to hang out. She left after a few minutes and later I also deboarded at the Mall of Emirates metro station. While exiting metro train I was a policy man standing on the platform observing the passengers, it was slightly weird for me but later I understood that first compartment is dedicated only for Gold Card holders and rest are for Silver Card holders and if any person found in wrong car then there is fine of 100 Dirham (AED). After exiting, I walked across a footbridge to reach the mall entrance gate. From the bridge, I admired a large water pool and a lush green garden outside the mall, which looked incredibly beautiful. It was so big that it took me a few minutes to digest that Gurgaon, India which is known and famous for its malls it no where standing in compare of Dubai Malls. I noticed several English people inside the mall wearing revealing outfits, which gave the impression of being in a place quite unlike a typical Islamic country. All kind of stores was there in the mall, there was a hyper market bigger then any hyper marked I ever visited in India. I purchased few T-Shirts with “Dubai” printed on it and after hour or so I left back to my hotel where I took my lunch and went to my room to take some rest.

Around 4 PM, my wife’s friend, Mr. Pratik arrived at the hotel in his black GMC Terrain Denali, a luxury SUV. We exchanged greetings as it was our first meeting. He then took me to his house, where he lived with his wife, their adorable 7 year old daughter, and his father-in-law. We enjoyed cold drinks and snacks together. I expressed my interest in visiting old Dubai, but he informed me that it was quite far from his place. Instead, he suggested we visit Ibn Battuta Mall, which was conveniently close by. After that, we planned to visit the Mall of Dubai and Burj Khalifa, and he offered to drop me back at my hotel afterward. This plan sounded good to me. After spending an hour together, we headed to Ibn Battuta Mall.

Entrance of Ibn Batuta Mall

From the outside, it didn't resemble a typical mall building; rather, it looked more like a fortress. Inside, it was one of the most beautiful buildings I had seen, with six theme-based courts, each stunning in itself. We both roamed inside the mall, and I made some purchases while Pratik bought me a 1kg pack of famous Arabic Dates. After exploring this mall, we went to the Mall of Dubai, the biggest mall in Dubai. It was almost dark in the evening, and I was studded to see night view of Dubai, as I brief earlier my day experience of Dubai and trust me, Dubai looks more beautiful at night. All the buildings with amazing lightings. Pratik opened his roof of the car and I was able to take a peek outside view which was breathtaking. We arrived around 6 pm and headed towards the underground parking of Mall of Dubai. I was stunned to see so many car models which I had never seen before in my life, so my suggestion to all car lovers is to rather going to any car showroom in Dubai, go to Mall of Dubai car parking and admire all kinds of cars. This mall has seven floors, including two underground shopping areas. There are several spots in the mall that would amaze any visitor, like an Aquarium and underwater zoo, a Waterfall, Ice Skating, Kid's fun zone, VR video games, and a History zone. Such entertainment facilities are very common in Dubai malls, catering to every age group. It’s a huge from inside and it's impossible to see complete mall by walking in a single day. We went to few of the famous spots of the mall like Aquarium which was having several big and small fishes including Shark, also saw an artificial huge waterfall, it was wonderful. Every kind of shop are available in the mall, you name it, they have it. I purchased a small Camera backpack for myself. After roaming inside the mall, we went to the back side of the mall, an open area with a big musical fountain. From here, one  can see a clear view of the tallest building in the world – Burj Khalifa.

Traveller in front of Burj Khilafa Mall 

"Marhaba Dubai," the words came out of my mouth. This area was very crowded, and we hardly found any place to sit. We took several photographs of each other and of the building and other things. After admiring the ambiance, we left the mall and returned to my hotel. I invited him for some snacks, as we were both feeling a bit hungry by then. We went to the pool area of the hotel and ordered two plates of sandwiches, enjoying the Dubai Moon from this beautiful, quiet poolside spot. He left the hotel around 10 PM. I went to my room and took a cold shower which relaxed my body and tiredness. At 11 PM my friend Munib called me that he was coming to pick me up from my hotel in 15 minutes. I immediately got ready and went downstairs. After a few minutes, he arrived in the same car that Mr. Pratik also brought, although this was quite old. We were meeting each other after a very long time, more than 10 years. We were happy to see each other after a long time. He took me to a hotel ‘City Max Hotel’ a hotel chain spread across UAE by Landmark Group where he is working as a Head of the Training department. We went into the backyard of the hotel where a beautiful restaurant was present. He directly called the head chef and ordered a customized special Pizza for me along with the drinks. We spent an hour or so, we talked about old times when we were working together in Jaipur and about our old colleagues. We shared our current working experiences with each other, especially about his working experience in Dubai and about the possibilities of working in Dubai. Since I had Sandwiches a few hours back, I was not able to finish the whole pizza and he get it remaining slices of pizza packed for himself. After this, we left the hotel and he dropped me at my hotel around 1 AM. I went to my room and changed my cloths, then I checked Sunrise time on my mobile and accordingly I set wakeup alarm on my mobile and slept. That was end of my first day in Dubai. Which was stared from Jaipur early morning.

To be Continued...(in Chapter 2)

Mukteshwar - Gateway to peace in hills

It was December 25, 2021, and I was accompanied by my wife and her two younger sisters. Around 6:30 pm, we left our hotel in search of a cozy spot to enjoy Christmas Eve. Just a stone's throw away, we stumbled upon a charming café named Chandi Mati. From the outside, it resembled a small hillside cottage with its rocky walls. Inside, it exuded a quaint charm with its white interior and dark red wooden accents, reminiscent of an old heritage property. The café offered both indoor and outdoor seating options, but due to the cold weather, all outdoor seats were vacant, with a few people waiting near the entrance gate. Observing the reluctance on the faces of my companions, especially my wife Nupur, it was evident that none of them wanted to brave the cold. One of my sisters-in-law suggested checking the temperature on my phone. After removing one of my gloves, I retrieved my phone from my jacket and checked the current temperature. Suddenly, my hand began to shake from the cold, prompting laughter from my sister-in-law who remarked, 'See, Jiju can't even hold his phone due to the cold! Come on, Jiju, tell us the temperature.' Despite the chill, I managed to announce, 'Oh my god, it's -1 degree Celsius!' This revelation elicited screams from my companions, attracting curious stares from nearby onlookers. We couldn't help but laugh—it was a natural reaction, as none of us had ever experienced negative temperatures before. Welcome to Mukteshwar, the gateway to peace in the hills of Uttarakhand, India.

 

Jim Corbett National Park

For a quite long time, my two sisters-in-law Jyoti and Meenakshi were chasing me to plan a holiday trip in December to visit mountains as they wanted to see and experience snowfall in the winter season. Since they were living in Bhubaneswar which is located in the southeast part of the country which is a coastal line of eastern ghat. So, here is the itinerary plan for our trip – On the first day, we will cover the wildlife sanctuary at Jim Corbett National Park, second day will enjoy shopping at Mall Road of Nainital, third day we will be visiting Ranikhet to see natural beauty and the Himalayan Range and night halt at Mukteshwar to relax and celebrate Christmas. We hired a taxi for our trip and began our journey on 23^rd Dec at 7 AM leaving the concrete jungle - Gurgaon (Haryana) towards the natural jungle at Jim Corbett National Park which is India’s first National Park and first Tiger Reserve of the country. This park was established in the year 1936, named after famous British Colonel Edward James Corbett, located in Nainital district near the bank of river Ramganga. We reached Jim Corbett National Park around 1 pm and we decided to take a break for lunch, the place we halted was surrounded by the Jungle and a few restaurants were also present on the roadside. We entered one of them and burned our hunger with yummy ‘Aloo Parathas’, ‘Noodles’, and ‘Ice Cream’, and we were all set for our first adventure the Safari “Jungle Safari”. I have pre-booked our safari tour from the Gov. official website; as it was mandatory to book a safari online through the official Gov. site only. However, it was a little struggle to book a slot but I found it a very convenient and easiest way to book a safari. The Charges include Jeep costs along with tour guide fees. Contact numbers are also available on the website for any kind of assistance or help for tourists. I coordinated with the allotted tour guide and we reached the Garjiya zone gate to enter the park. After showing the permit ticket at the entrance, we all sat in an open Jeep. We all were very excited and thrilled for the safari. We clicked several photographs while sitting on an open Jeep before the beginning of the safari. The park is divided into six zones called - Bijrani, Jhirna, Durgadevi, Garjiya, Sitabani (Dhikala Ecotourism Zone), and Dhela Zone. As per availability, one case can be chosen among these zones for morning or day tours. Dhikala zone is one of the core zones and only a day tour is available for this zone. If someone wants a morning tour then one has to book for night stay at Dhikala which includes a stay in an old government Forest Guest House. I was not sure about the facilities and comfort, so I didn’t book this zone. Anyways our tour began at 1:40 PM along with the tour guide and driver we finally entered the Jungle. Despite it was mid of the day, we all were experiencing a cold breeze and even started shivering once the Jeep headed toward the dense part of the jungle. The jungle was very dense and untouched by humans. The moment we entered, from a long distance we saw a group of wild elephants also known as Tusker, who were eating Bamboo leaves, we also spotted deer and Nilgai as well. As a photographer, I was busy in capturing all of these along with the Flora and Fauna of the jungle. Later we reached the bank of the river Ramganga which was an open area. Our tour guide said that that Tiger usually get spotted here in the summer season but not in winter. We also spotted a wild Eagle who was sitting on a tree at a far distance. I completely zoomed my mobile camera and attempted to capture a clear image but no luck. It was nearly a four-hour safari which ended with another unluck without spotting a Tiger. Later at the end of the safari tour, my sisters-in-law complained that I was only keen to capture nature and not the nature beauties i.e., my sisters-in-law and my wife; honestly, I admitted my mistake, as it was true. Even today they used to tease me highlighting that I was more interested in capturing trees, clouds, bushes, leaves, etc., but not my wife and her sisters. After completing the jungle safari, we stayed in our pre-booked boutique resort, which was recently built. It was a big two-room Suit with a jacuzzi bathtub, interiors were pleasant. After getting in the room, we all took some rest and got refreshed ourselves. As the resort was located near the forest it was quite cold, so we asked our hotel to arrange a bonfire on the terrace of the resort.  I ask all the ladies to get ready and wear warm clothes as we are going to the terrace to have a bonfire party. The seating arrangement on the terrace was very nice; On one side, a Khatiya (a bed made up of wooden legs and Jute strings) was placed, and opposite was two sofa chairs which were made up of old tin round containers on which flat wooden plate was set so that one can sit without any discomfort and in the middle was bonfire which was fired and giving all of us enough heat to make us cosy and warm. I powered on my Bluetooth speaker which connected to my mobile phone and party was on. We ordered few snacks and drinks and we danced, eat, drink and we repeated the whole stuff again and again. That night was one of our most amazing as together, in the middle of the forest, on the terrace of the resort…it was an amazing experience and we all enjoyed it a lot.

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Nainital Lake

The next day our main target was to reach Nainital City but before that, I would like to show my sisters one of the most beautiful and lesser-known waterfalls called Jim Corbett waterfall and a Museum. Both these places were on the way to Nainital. If you are visiting this national park and have not seen this waterfall, you have lost one of the area's main attractions. It was beautifully created by Mother Nature and it is surrounded by several trees and a green belt. Although it's not a big waterfall, anyone who sees it will immediately fall in love with it. We also visited the Jim Corbett Museum which is also located near the waterfall. It is an old British-era building where Colonel Edward James Corbett used to live along with her sister and spend most of his life. This whole place is now converted into a museum for the public. There is a souvenir shop also present on the same campus which has several stuffs to buy including books written by Jim and other books on wildlife and places. We reached Nainital at noon time and checked in at our hotel. Our hotel was located near the lake and the view was perfect. We booked a family room which contains two rooms. Immediately after check-in we left our hotel and headed towards the lakeside for boating. A person we visited Nainital and didn’t ride a boat didn’t see Nainital. First thing first, we hired two boats, on one my wife’s sister sat, and on another I along with my lovely wife Nupur. It was a 30-minute ride and we took several snaps and clips and enjoyed and experienced the beautiful boat ride along admiring the view. It was 2 PM and after an adoring boat ride, we headed toward the rope car to reach Nainital’s top. There is a wonderful market out here, with several shops selling different items like winter clothes, home decor, and toys. There was a small kids' pay ground as well also a horse ride facility was also available. We spent almost 2 hours out here and finally reached downtown. We all were feeling hungry now and we decided to visit my favourite eating place ‘Anupam Restaurant’ which is famous for serving authentic Kumau recipes and combo meals called Thali, they also serve north Indian foods. I ordered my favourite Kumau Thali which includes all traditional recipes of the Kumau region including Bhang (Hemp) ki Chutney, which is made from Hemp seeds that have no psychoactive properties unlike its leaves. My wife and her sisters ordered north Indian food like Dal, Chawal, Roti, and Sabzi; I enjoyed my Kumau Thali.  After enjoying our meals, it was time to digest it, I mean walking at Nainital's famous market the Mall Road. How can a female live without a love of shopping? With loving siblings together, who will not enjoy shopping at a destination like Nainital's Mall Road? So we all entered the Mall Road one of the best shopping destinations at Hills My along with my wife and her two sisters. I was carrying my camera with me and I enjoyed a lot doing my all-time favourite thing ‘Street Photography’. We also got a chance to ride on twin bicycles, one by one I sat along with my wife and later with both of my sisters-in-law Jyoti and Meenu I rode these twin bicycles and we all enjoyed and created beautiful memories of the trip. We did lots of shopping A perfect day to enjoy pre-Christmas Eve.

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Sun rise at Mutkeshware 

After enjoying our breakfast and photo session we left Nainital city and headed towards Raniketh. Ranikhet is a small hill station and cantonment town near Almora Town in Almora district. We plan to just roam in the outskirts of the city and enjoy the sightseeing. We did exactly like this, we entered the city and halted at a few places, took photographs, and created a few short clips in slow-motion mode, especially of flying dry yellow leaves of trees in the air. The output of these slow-motion clips came very well; we all enjoyed these tiny, beautiful moments and had a light lunch on the way and finally reached Mukteshwar. Mukteshwar is a small village and tourist destination in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand, India. Since it is located high in the Kumaon hills, it is surrounded by several hills, and on each such hill one can see a small bunch of homes, and huts are built where village people live, one can easily see such a bunch of homes from any of the mountain top. We reached Mukteshwar at 5 PM and checked in at our hotel Shri Shail Inn which is located on Bhatelia-Mukteshwar road. We all love the location of the hotel as it is built on the hilltop. When we entered our room, there were two separate beds and one washroom, the most exciting thing was a big window, and the feather on the cap was its breathtaking view. The view was so amazing that rather than getting settled in the room we gave priority to taking some wonderful shots of sunset and certainly of adorable ladies. We spent almost an hour enjoying its view. It was a special Christmas Eve for me as I was accompanied by my cute and beautiful wife along with my two cutest sisters-in-law. After getting settled in our room we all quickly got ready and came out of the hotel to enjoy Christmas Eve. Since it’s a village and that too on a hill, we must walk to see the village's beauty. We all started our walk and soon we found a beautiful cozy small restaurant called Cafe Chandi Mati. From the outside, it looked like a small hill cottage due to its rocky walls, and from the inside, it was completely white with wooden work painted in dark brown which made the entire place like an old heritage house where people could sit either inside or outside as per their choice. When we were at the entrance, we saw that all outside seats were empty due to the cold outside and a few people were standing outside near the entrance gate as they were waiting for their chance to get inside the cafe. I looked at all three and it was clear on their face that none of them was interested in sitting outside, especially my wife Nupur. One of my sisters-in-law asked me to check temperate on my mobile. Since I was wearing gloves, I first took off one of them and pulled out my mobile phone from the jacket. While I was checking the current location temperature on my mobile, my hand suddenly started shivering, seeing this, she started laughing and commented “See Jiju is not even able to hold his mobile due to cold, common Jiju tell us the temperature”. What I could say about this, it’s a cold climate out here, anyway, I checked the temperature and shouted “Ooh my god, it's -1 Degree Celsius”; when I announced this, all my three companions screamed, other people standing around us starting staring on us with a question face what went wrong with these guys. We all started laughing, it was a very natural reaction for us as none of us had ever seen or experienced negative temperatures in our lives. After a while we got to the table and ordered our meal one of the special dishes was apple pie which was deep-fried slices of apples coated with sugar-mixed flour, it was too yummy. Later we walked on the lonely streets of Mukteshwar, the sky was completely dark and we were able to view several stars, although due to festivities there was enough lightning which was disturbing the view. We all reached back to our hotel around 8:30 PM. Since we left our hotel at dusk, we didn’t notice the decorations and lighting which were decorated on the occasion of Christmas. When we reached the hotel location, we couldn’t even identify it as it was beautifully decorated with several colorful lights and since there was a big lawn on which several trees were grown, the hotel owner had taken full advantage of this and it was stunning. We took several photographs and headed towards our room. Although the hotel owner had also arranged a bonfire and invited us as well, we didn’t participate as the entire hotel people were gathered over there so we preferred to stay in the room it was freezing temperature outside. Since we already had our dinner, we only ended up with a few drinks along with a few snacks and slept quite late.

Breathtaking view of Mukteshwar from our hotel room window

·        

It was our last day, as usual, I woke first, it was quite dark in the room, I came close to the window and pep in the curtains and saw outside the window, it was the crack of dawn and the sky was light orange, I immediately realized that sun was about to rise. I straightway grabbed my camera and went outside, thank God! Sun was not raised and it was about to come up. I set up my camera settings and started capturing the moment. Sun came up and it was one of the most beautiful sunrises I had ever seen. After some time, I realized my girls must not miss this moment, I went into the room and woke them all up. After seeing the sunrise, the only word that came out was “Wow…what a beauty!!!” together we admired the sunrise and its beauty and after having some good times we went back to the room. After having our breakfast we checked out from our hotel and headed to visit 350-year-old Mukteshware Dham Temple, which was 7 KM from our hotel. Since it is a very old temple hence it is well-recognized among the people in this part of the country. After visiting the temple we met a guide who told us that he would take us on a nature walk and also show us some beautiful spots from we could take our photographs. So we hired him on nominal charges and we all started our short yet good experience nature walk. Since the temple was located on the peak of a mountain we started going down and soon we reached a place where lots of tourists were gathered. It was the other side of the mountain where some big rock structure was satiated on which people were climbing and taking snaps. We all took advantage of this spot and quickly took our individual, group, and couple photographs. The best part of this location was the breathtaking view of the valley. But the best was yet to come. Our guide told us that there is a government hotel which is located around 2-3 KM from here which is the best location to view snow peaks, the Himalayas range. So, we quickly decided to go to that spot to explore and we didn’t regret our decision. Although cars cannot go exact location as one has to walk around a kilometre to reach the spot. At a certain point, we left our car and again we all were on our foot to reach our destination. This is a very old government hotel which was built in the English era by the Britishers. Due to a partially clouded day, we couldn’t spot all the snow peaks but trust me, it was worth reaching this place. We all admired the view took several photographs and enjoyed this movement.

This was the last location of our trip, we all were very happy and almost satisfied as we didn’t spot Tiger at Jim Corbett National Park and didn’t see snowfall. We are now planning for a similar kind of new trip in this year 2024.