A three-nights and four days vacation at Ranikhet, Uttarakhand and these were the highlights.
Below : self-portrait at Giani’s Dhaba / restaurant while on our way from Delhi to Ranikhet by Road. This is at Gajraula and has the best tandoori paranthas ever. We stopped for a meal on our way back as well. He used to serve Chicken and Mutton till the early 1980s but stopped doing so after his father passed away. Pure vegetarian fare now. The “thandi kheer” is also famous although the serving I consumed was sickly sweet.
Below: my incidental muse @akanksharedhu. We photographed her bags and scarves for her lookbook and made flower wreaths and lazed in the sun accompanied with nice wine and a game of Uno.
Below : Decadent colors in the lovely flower blooms at the Jhoola Devi temple at Ranikhet.
Below : When they ran out of Carlo Rossi Red wine, we plundered their white. I believe we finished all their wine supply.
Below: @akanksharedhu lost amidst the pine trees with her camera. We had stopped to view the sunset on Nanda Devi and other mountains in the distance as seen the photograph further below this one.
Below : This view greeted us each night. All we had to do was look up. Even with my fixed lens [ 23mm ] Fuji X100 camera and a handheld long exposure, I got a galaxy! [ See toward the top left quadrant of the image below ].
Here’s hoping for many more such trips – although the distance which used to take 6 hours, now takes 11 to 12 hours driving. It was tiring even though we were three highway and hill-driving members in the car.
