Sunday Sunset in Palamoor

As a passionate traveler, I love to explore many sunsets across the world and capture those Sunsets, as they always evoke good memories. But I never imagined that viewing sunset from Devungutta hill, Mahubnagar will be this magical. I indulged myself into this irradiating surrounding. Almost as if the sky has wrapped itself around the world, like a comforting blanket. Nothing could replicate this feeling.

Every sunset, puncturing feelings I’ve never felt before. Feelings and sights that put even the most beautiful sunsets to shame.

Happy World Photography Day: With Inspiring Quotes

The World Photography Day originates from the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic processes developed by Joseph Nicèphore Nièpce and Louis Daguerre in 1837. On August 19, 1839, the French government purchased the patent and announced the invention as a gift “Free to the World”.

Photography has the ability to tell stories and inspire people. It has changed the way we see the world and gave us the ability to share our perception on the world around us. The moment might be fleeting, but once photographed it gets frozen for a lifetime. Photographs have the potential to evoke memories and take us back to the past.The day also serves as an inspiration for many to take up photography as a profession or to pursue it as a zealous hobby.

“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” — Destin Sparks

Some of my Favourite & Inspirational Quotes for Photographers:

1. “Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”— Aaron Siskind

2. “We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.” — Ralph Hattersley

3. “Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” — Don McCullin

4. “The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” – Andy Warhol

5. “The picture that you took with your camera is the imagination you want to create with reality.” — Scott Lorenzo

6. “I don’t trust words. I trust pictures.” — Gilles Peress

7. “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” — Ansel Adams

8. “The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” — Elliott Erwitt

9. “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”— Karl Lagerfeld

10. “When people ask me what equipment I use – I tell them my eyes.” — Anonymous

    

    “A photograph is a moment – when you press the button, it will never come back,” -René Burri.

11. “Today everything exists to end in a photograph.”— Susan Sontag

12. “Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.” — Tony Benn

13. “When I photograph, what I’m really doing is seeking answers to things.” — Wynn Bullock

14. “Once photography enters your bloodstream, it is like a disease.” — Anonymous

15. “Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.” — Imogen Cunningham

Thank you WordPress for being the best medium to share our creativity. And Thank you photography for helping me in getting hundreds of friends across the world without any barriers..

Fantastic Friday: Sunset before Super Blue Moon

Every sunset brings promise to the new Dawn..

My joy is the golden sunset giving thanks for another day. Gratitude itself is a source of joy.
– Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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Monday Macros: Cactus Garden

Echinocactus grusonii, popularly known as the golden barrel cactus, golden ball or, amusingly, mother-in-law’s cushion, is a well known species of cactus, and is endemic to east-central Mexico.

Cereus repandus (syn. Cereus peruvianus), the Peruvian apple cactus, is a large, erect, thorny columnar cactus found in South America

Cactus Echinopsis tarijensis

Mammillaria hahniana (Old Lady Cactus) is a sun-loving cactus that forms large groups. It grows up to 10 inches (25 cm) tall and up to 20 inches (50 cm) broad.

Parodia leninghausii’ Parodia leninghausii is a species of South American cactus commonly found as a houseplant. 

Echinopsis is a large genus of cacti native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus

Ephalocereus senilis is a tall, columnar species with clusters of stem. The individual stems are usually unbranched, being unable to withstand the weight of a side branches adequately. Cephalocereus senilis is not expected to flower until 10-20 years old.

Mammillaria bombycina (Silken Pincushion) Golden Eastern Lily Cactus Echinopsis aurea ‘Leucomalla’

Euphorbia ritchiei is a perennial succulent plant up to 2 feet (60 cm) tall. It forms short, thick, succulent stems, up to 1.2 inches wide, with small spines, and it offsets freely and produces large, beautifully green leaves.

Echeveria macdougallii is an indoor succulent plant belongs to the genus Crassulaceae family
 

P.S: Correct me if I am wrong 🙂 Have a nice day!!

Mystic Meghalaya: Faces

Dude why are you clicking me?

I told you not to click me, now go away!!

 you’ll get this for clicking me..

Click me again.. I’m posing already..;)

I don’t know how to pose,  let’s try this angle..

I don’t know why this fellow is behind us.. Anyways let’s just ignore . 😉 

I like getting clicked in different poses..

While the kids had so many different expressions.. Their mother was busy with the routine chores.

Happy Photography Day: History of Photography

The World Photography Day originates from the invention of the Daguerreotype, a photographic processes developed by Joseph Nicèphore Nièpce and Louis Daguerre in 1837. On August 19, 1839, the French government purchased the patent and announced the invention as a gift “Free to the World”. Photography has the ability to tell stories and inspire people. It has changed the way we see the world and gave us the ability to share our perception on the world around us. Thank you WordPress for being the best medium to share our creativity. And Thank you photography for helping me in getting hundreds of friends across the world without any barriers..

Thats my first love & my first camera ..can’t share any better than this click!!

Silent Sunday: Journey from India to Bhutan

Pictures from my journey from Jaigaon to Thimphu via Phuentsholing..

North Sikkim: An Incredible Journey

On 3rd of April, 2015, after a big party a day before in Gangtok, it was pretty hard for us to wake up the next morning. With great struggle, we finally woke up at around 7AM and got ready for the most exciting trip. We got ready and after having breakfast we headed for the taxi stand, (where the actual trip to North Sikkim starts) taking a taxi from our hotel in MG Marg for INR 150. Mr.Lahiri Ji was waiting for us at the taxi stand. We were supposed to start by 8:00 AM but we reached late. On reaching the stand he guided us to our car. The car driver was furious and started howling at us for being late. We planned to even the score during the journey :P. All were waiting for us. There was a Bengali couple along with us, waiting to start the most incredible journey to North Sikkim.

That’s Me and GK

We departed at around 9:30 am in a Mahindra Bolero from Gangtok Taxi stand. Lachung is a very small town around 120 kms from Gangtok. It’s at an altitude of 9600ft. We were informed, that we will get to see 3-4 view points during our journey from Gangtok to Lachung, however our driver Kanniah was nice enough to stop wherever we asked him to stop for sightseeing.

This is my Favorite capture in North Sikkim..

Our first stop of the day was at Seven Sister’s waterfalls. These falls were adjacent to the road with a stream of water flowing down from the mountain top.

One of the 7sister waterfalls enroute to Lachen

One of the 7sister waterfalls

We almost skipped many stops. We’ve seen many tourists who are being hurried by their drivers. But our driver was very patient and he never rushed us. So we had an amazing time. Because of his patience he made our journey itself, a destination.

North Sikkim is photographer’s paradise..

Enroute Lachung

We had a quick stopover at Phodong for lunch. The food we had was delicious, with a backdrop of the beautiful and mighty Himalayas. We were served rice, Chicken, Pickles, Daal, Potato, some kind of beans and a piece of egg. We’ve never seen our friend Prashant eating like that before. He was going on eating,  he was unstoppable.

Restaurant with a backdrop of Himalayas enroute Lachung.

After lunch, we headed towards Mangan (district headquarters) a few kms further to Mangan is Singhik viewpoint which offers a panoramic view of Mt.Kanchenjunga and Teestha Valley.

Sikkim never ceases to amaze you with stunning landscapes..

Due to heavy fog, we didn’t get a view of Kanchenjunga but the view of Teestha was priceless.  Moving ahead and we kept on gaining altitude and the sun rays were getting weaker and weaker, the temperature dipped rapidly.

 

Roads are not drive friendly..Hope they’ll be get better…

We reached Chungthang around 3:30 P.M. From Chungthang the road for Lachen and Lachung bifurcates. Lachen is approximately 30 kms from Chungthang and Lachung is around 23km. Our next stop was at Lachung for an overnight stay. We reached Lachung at around 4:30 PM, then we checked in at a hotel. It was pretty cold in Lachung village, the temperature was below zero degrees Celsius.

Sikkim is a Land of Highpasses and stunning Landscapes

We could hear the icy winds roaring across the mountains. We were given a couple of rooms on the first floor of our hotel. Later on we went to capture the beauty of this Magnificent tiny village. We finished exploring the whole village in about an hour. After shooting some footages for our Video, we got back to the hotel.

 

Lachung village

Horses..

Gk in front of our hotel

Our driver Kanniah took us to the Army Base. We never knew that going with him will be such a memorable experience. He almost knew every person in the village and even in the army. He took us to the Military Canteen. We bought some snacks and had a chat with the army men at the canteen. Luckily we met a soldier who could speak Telugu, who shared his life experiences and his love towards our nation. Photography is strictly prohibited so we couldn’t click any pictures with him!! Soon after Kanniah was done with his work , we started from there, while returning we had a quick stopover at a small home, there we had local wine and chai !! After a while we got back to our hotel and had dinner. Back to bed!

Day 02:

We were supposed to start at 5:00am to see Yumthang valley. Unfortunately there is no geyser or hot water in the hotel. So had to freshen up with cold water. We were amazed to see the snow rugged mountains around our hotel. We didn’t notice anything the day before because of the intense fog around us. It was our first sight of snow rugged mountains in Sikkim. Quite fascinating it was. Now I believe in ‘Love at first sight.”

The Yumthang Valley is at an elevation of 3,564 metres and is a grazing pasture surrounded by the Himalayan mountains in the North Sikkim. It is popularly known as ‘Valley of Flowers’. During the spring months(April-September), the area blooms with rhododendrons, primulas, poppies, iris and other flora. Even though we took this trip in April, we hardly found any flowers there. We missed seeing the real beauty of Yumthang. No one in our group was interested in visiting the hot springs in Yumthang. So we skipped it.

 

It was around 7 AM, we thought of extending our trip to Katao border and Zero Point. Generally both Katao border & Zero Point are not covered in the tour, but we negotiated with the driver to take us there. He charged 500 bucks per head and agreed to take us to those places. We reached Katao border at around 8:30 AM. We were warned by the Soldiers about the ferocious dogs. I am always afraid of dogs, so I was very cautious while going there.  On the other side of the gate, Photography is strictly prohibited. Finally, a quick hike on a cliff, we found a good place to capture the beauty of the peaks. Here we had a good conversation with Telugu speaking Aunties whom we met in Gangtok before. After enjoying and playing a lot with Snow, we left for Zeropoint at around 9:30 AM.

“He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.” (Friedrich Neitszche)

“Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.” -John Ruskin

“Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.” -Nemann Buhl

“Keep close to Nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” -John Muir

Live to travel..Travel to live..

 

We arrived Yumesdeong famously known as zero-point, It wasn’t so cold eventhough we were at an elevation of 13700 feet . And the view from here is breath taking and the joy we had while playing with the snow and making the snowman and snowwoman was priceless. Sunrays cascading on the Snowcapped mountains made it look like, as if it were made of gold. All those beautiful Mountains, lovely Snow, striking Sunlight and clear blue Skies..

At Yumesamdong

RoRboyz

Rorboyz

We making Snowman

Best buddies

Me and Prashant

Me, GK and karthik

Krishna

While having breakfast enroute Yumesamdong..We had Maggi noodles and Breadtoast..

Oh God, this is what I am looking for. Going to Mountains is not an adventure, Going to Mountains is finding Happiness. Thank you god for making my life more meaningful by taking me to these mountains. Then we headed back to Lachung. At around 1:00PM, we reached our Hotel in Lachung again, after having lunch and freshening up, we departed to Gangtok at around 2:30 PM and reached back at 8:00pm.

Snow capped mountains

My White Yaak..

…We…

The Lake and the Mountains have become my landscape, my real world. -George Simenon

Tips from my perspective:

• Initially we paid for  3D/2N – Lachen – Gurudongmar Lake & Lachung – Yumthung Valley. But due to heavy rains and landslides the road to Gurdongmar lake was blocked. So we got our money refunded. Then we changed it to a 2D/1N – Lachung with Yumthung Valley.
• It is mandatory to take a Travel Agency to visit North Sikkim.
• Permits, Food and accommodation everything will be taken care by the travel agents.
• If you are planning a trip to Sikkim, Don’t miss North Sikkim..

Checkout our Video Travel diaries of RoRboyz