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Lonar

My article in Hindi on a national daily

Do you remember last year I went abroad in November sometime and was back in India around 20th December?
Well, before going out I had submitted an article to a Hindi national daily called Dainik Jagran.

The article was published early this month after much wait. My English work has been published many times but this was a first for me for a Hindi national daily!

I thought of sharing this with you before I forget. 🙂
Here is a small part from the article ज़मीन पर चाँद.

अरे ओ पंडितजी, ज़रा सुनिए तो सही! मैंने जोर से गुहार लगाई पर पंडितजी तो मानो किसी घोड़े पर सवार थे। ऐसा लग रहा था जैसे उन्होंने कोई भूत देख लिया हो।
……………….
हमें समझ आ गया था कि पंडितजी क्यों चले गए। वहां बिजली तो है नहीं, और ज्यादा लोग भी आते-जाते नहीं। झील के किनारे घने जंगल में कई जानवर पाए जाते हैं। दोपहर बाद ये जानवर, खासकर भेडि़ये अपने भोजन का प्रबंध करने निकल पड़ते हैं। फिर किसी इंसान की क्या मजाल कि यहां टिकना पसंद करे। सबको अपनी जान प्यारी होती है। हमें भी थी।

If you can read Hindi, please head over to read the full article.

Year 2010 in travel

Warning: This is a colorful post. 🙂
Before I start writing about my recent trip of Philippines and Malaysia, I thought it better to recollect how was the year 2010 for me in terms of travel.
I think I will skip some of domestic travels since a few of them happened in a jiffy and I do not remember the details now. Also, I am not counting the local exploration of lesser known places of my town such as watching Flamingos at Sewri fort.

@lemonicks.com

Flamingos enjoying their meals.

The year started with a trip to

Hiking tips to Lonar lake

Before reading this article, it is suggested that you go through these articles on how to reach there & where to stay and a photo feature for a better picture of the place.

Though I did not find it difficult, hiking to Lonar lake can be a daunting experience for some of us. The crater walls are steep and if you are living just a city life or are not very young, you might find it difficult to climb down or up, let alone doing a full round of the lake. Many people have returned back after trying to get down.

Some statistics of the crater lake:-
The meteoric lake is around 50 thousand years old.
The outer diameter of the lake is 1.83 kilometers.
The circumference is around 6-7 Kms.
Descent to lake i.e. distance from the rim to ground level = about 140 meters.

The water is saline in nature; my guide mentioned it has substantial quantity of sulphur and phosphorus too. How correct is this information, I have no idea.

Tips for hiking:-
Try this activity only if you are physically fit, into some hiking and do not have any kind of breathing problem. Remember, once you are down there, you need to

Visiting Lonar lake

I had always wanted to visit the Lonar crater in Maharashtra; it never failed to fascinate me through photos and whatever information I had. So when I got an opportunity to visit Aurangabad, I made a point to make a dash to this place as well. How I reached there or returned back, is another interesting adventurous story but this post is about Lonar lake.

Although Lonar lake is third largest meteorite crater in the world, there is no commercialization of the place. Travel information on the net regarding this place is very sparse and though people are aware of this lake, not many of them have visited it. It is neither a touristy place nor been taken care of, to make one. There are no signboards and one has to depend on the local people for everything. Not that I mind it one bit… it lets me interact with them. 🙂

Besides countable no. of tourists, this place is visited by researchers, geologists and scientists from all over the world as well as by the serious nature lovers or adventure seekers.

The lake is around 50 thousand years old. The water is saline in nature; my guide mentioned it has substantial quantity of sulphur and phosphorus too. The outer diameter of the lake is 1.83 kilometers and the circumference is around 6-7 Kms. Descent to lake i.e. distance from the rim to ground level is about 140 meters.
basalt rock Lonar@lemonicks.com

Me holding a piece of basalt rock. It is porous and very light in weight.

It was August end and