Just realised now, need to clean the lens/ pray it’s not the sensor. Rushed in the morning to catch the Ma Liu Shui to Tap Mun Kaito (ferry). Tap Mun or Grass Island is located in the north-east of Hong Kong island. The ferry took about 90 minutes, it’s the third stop from Ma Liu Shui. On the weekdays, the service is very limited. A better option would be to catch the ferry from Wong Shek pier where the service is more frequent even on weekdays. Ferry schedule can be checked here.

Grass island offers breathtaking view from many vantage points. Although this is not a Government identified campsite, it’s extremely popular among locals. I met an old man who described the pop up campsite as “a village”, perfect description indeed.

I took the ferry back to Wong Shek pier which took just about 30 minutes I believe, came home via Sai Kung. Bus number 94 runs between Sai Kung bus terminus to Wong Shek pier which is the last stop of the route. It’s actually quite easy to go and given there are restaurants and public toilets available it’s easy to plan for camping without loads of preparation.

Winter is almost here, so is the fourth wave of Covid 19 about to hit beautiful Hong Kong. It seems too tiring at times, if we could simply erase 2020! This week, I’ve taken some leaves and visited the Kowloon Park this morning. Incidentally taken my old 5D along. Weather is rather lovely, it is time to plan for some longer trip.

There are many rumours floating around regarding Covid 19 vaccines and their timelines. Let’s hope that we’ll  get something concrete by another six months. Let’s hope.

This year I got more time to experiment stuff. Started biking few months back. Bought a Dahon foldable bike. It is fun going to different places mostly in New Territories. Even capturing biking videos are nice. I was initially thinking about that and was looking at gadgets like Go Pro or motion cams. Later on thought it might be better to start right away with recording things. As and when I feel the need for a professional gear, will go for that. For now, my iPhone should be decent enough to capture small clips. Let’s see how it goes.

The other day went to Island side to make a short footage. Nothing great so far, not much thought process into it. If I still continue with it; will think about doing some short documentaries. After all, Hong Kong offers quite a bit of photo opportunities. Till then, see my first tries on this page.

So today being Saturday went to Central in the afternoon. Near the Status Square, there was a huge carnival going on. Additionally many antique Cars were on display, organised by Hong Kong Automobile Association. Many Hong Kongers are Car lovers which is very evident when you walk down the road. Naturally the event was pulling a lot of crowd.

The original plan that I had was to check out the Ding Dings (Tram). Hence I moved on towards Queens Road. They have covered the east to west stretch beautifully. Moreover the rides are very affordable, about two dollars and half for all the rides, does not depend on the length of the ride. Boarded one from Bank Street, went all the way till Kennedy Town. The road till Western Market has comparatively newer buildings and kind of high street zone. After Western Market terminus comes Sheung Wan which is typically the market area. Although all kinds of stuff are getting traded, interesting and unique ones are the shops selling dried seafood. So much so, a prominent road which is technically Des Voeux Road (West) had been rechristened by locals as Dried Seafood Road.

I got down at Davis Road stop, and got another one back towards Sheung Wan. My plan was to travel to North Point, got to know trams originating from Kennedy Town route only go to Happy Valley or Shau Kei Wan. The other ones which come from Shek Tong Tsui go to North Point terminus. I had planned North Point for a reason, heard that the last stretch of the journey is actually through a Wet Market where people literally walk on the tram tracks and drivers face a hard time to navigate through. It was pretty late when I actually arrived there and experienced that, true to the word. It was little late to capture the event properly on camera but nevertheless it is so easy to go back again on another afternoon. Surely going back again, may be on a rainy day. Wet Market, more wet and a tram; well I am composing a frame in mind. Lets hope I get a chance soon!

This write-up is after almost 6 years, whoa! Coming alive once again in my domain.

For a long time now photography is on hold; mere occasional clicks sometimes and that was all. Neither a proper photo walk, nor a solo journey. Time I spent mostly on studies; exploring foods and traveling. The first leg of my photography adventures really started in 2006 when I got my first job in Bangalore, India. It was with a Canon 400D or as it was called the Rebel Xti those days. Weekdays in Bangalore mostly were spent on coding software applications. Weekends meant trekking, photo shoots and what not. I met so many people in a rather short span. Left Bangalore after about couple of years and moved towards Eastern part of India, towards my home town Kolkata. Kolkata was a good experience for photography, exploring the nook and corner of the city and beyond was tremendous fun. I could relate more to Street photography than travel. We founded a group called Kolkata Weekend Shoots, the experience was very rich. I made good friends, indulged into weekend food along with shoots. Kolkata was a remarkable experience.

After about five years, we came back to Bangalore again few years back. Second innings in Bangalore was crazy in terms of working hours. It was truly demanding, photography took a back seat. It took time and patience to get adjusted to the crazy work schedule.

Early 2017 after a hectic day at work in Hong Kong, I went to check out a mall which deals exclusively in camera and lenses. Everything related to camera, you get it here. About ninety nine percent of the shops are selling only camera and accessories. They deal in new as well as refurbished ones. I chanced upon a beauty, in mint condition. Something triggered me from inside, got the 5D back to hotel. Someone whispered, it is a fresh start yet again.

There are few places where I go more than once, this circuit is one of them. It is so easy to book accommodation and go to these places. Now probably it has become more like my extended family.

Few tips if you want to go. If you are adding Zuluk to your wishlist, book it via Mr. Sebastian Pradhan of Reshi (Reshi Khola some call it). He will be able to do the bookings for Zuluk and Sillery on behalf of you. Quite hassle free process it is. But if you are planning to drop Zuluk and only want to stay in Reshi and Sillery (if you have less time in case) you can call either Mr. Pradhan or Mr Dilip Tamang of Sillery Gaon. He is quite a nice guy actually. He will again book the rooms for you at Reshi.

We reached Reshi around lunch time. Had an awesome lunch and found a big rock by the riverside. While my friends were busy finding objects and subjects; I slept on the rock for quite a few hours.

Last time identified these rocks but people did not allow me to sleep

Sometimes I love to do nothing, not even photography. Completely soaked in the mood, woke up only when a boy got one plateful of fish fries (caught fresh from flowing river Reshi) for us. Amazing, is not that?

Next day it was Sillery. Our bad luck, it was full of clouds. Just like the last time.

This time, wandered through the village. Old ladies and little kids were chatting by the small fire they lit up. Shot a couple of portraits.

Mingled with kids and had a long walk towards Remiti view point. On a fine clear morning, you can actually see Kanchendzonga, Macha Puchare, Bhutan peaks and Chinese peaks (I did not get to see, this is what Mr Tamang told us). Need to go back again and again till we can validate.

It was really cold at night. We had arranged for Sikkimese rum and mouth watering chilly pork. That made the evening excellent. Then we joined the group of guys on the other room. Eventually it turned out that some of us were colleagues earlier. It was an amazing experience for rest of the night.

Some notes on the places:

Reshi: Riverside. Just relax primarily. Have fresh fish dishes. Get a chilled Hit Beer (local favourite). Shoot some of the frames of the flowing river. Some unknown flowers and insects. Night time, light a candle and start sharing your ghost stories! The place is absolutely safe and free from maddening crowd as of 2011 October.

Zuluk: Hill top. Decent valley view. Really chilled and snowy nights during winter. Pit stop for Jelep La (The old silk route).

Sillery Gaon: A magical hamlet. A very romantic place. They are naming it “New Darjeeling”. Absolutely no crowd here. Safe again to get lost in the jungle. If you get a clear sky, do call me. I am missing it every time. Want to see Kanchendzonga from this side of Bengal!

Some tour plans that you can do on a long weekend:

Plan A

Day 1: Night - start from Kolkata to NJP
Day 2: Morning - reach NJP. Start for Reshi. Reach Reshi by noon (Approx 4 hours). Stay at Reshi.
Day 3: Start at noon for Sillery (Approx 1.5 hours). Stay at Sillery.
Day 4: Start at noon for NJP to catch train OR stay one more day at Sillery.

Plan B

Day 1: Night - start from Kolkata to NJP
Day 2: Morning - reach NJP. Start for Reshi. Reach Reshi by noon (Approx 4 hours). Stay at Reshi.
Day 3: Start at noon for Zuluk (Approx 3.5 hours). Stay at Zuluk.
Day 4 (Bit hectic. Can be broken down): Early morning start for Jelep La, Old and new Baba Mandir, Tsomgo Lake (Changu Lake few Bengalis call it!) and come back to Zuluk at afternoon (Around 14:00). Have your lunch at Zuluk and start for Sillery Gaon. Reach Sillery in the evening.
Day 5: Stay at Sillery.
Day 6: Start at noon for NJP to catch train.

And of course some contacts:

Mr Sebastian Pradhan (Reshi Khola)
+91 9932744407 / +91 9932680170

Mr. Dilip Tamang (Sillery Gaon)
+91 9635005318

http://www.hydeparkphotography.net/issue-n-1/

My original post in flickr is here.

Sadhus in India and photographers always make a great combination. This one I took long back in 2009. This is one of those occasions when at the time of setting the right exposure you know you are about to create a permanent frame in your collection. In fact I was a bit obsessed with this photo sometime back and while visiting a friend’s place (who is a brilliant painter), I took up a pencil and tried to see if I had forgotten the art of painting! The result was this …

What I see is that flickr has really evolved as a great medium for communication between people interested in photography. Probably it is by far the best and easiest user friendly network available now.

Another by Bengali daily Ekdin …. and worst, with some political view points. We got really embarrassed. This should stop. We photographers should form a group and protest. It is difficult fighting it alone given the existing copyright laws.

Got two days extra on Easter eve. There was no second thought. We were eight in the group. I did not know all of the people. Partho Da had planned and made the arrangements this time. It was very smooth for me. Just a cab to Sealdah and board the train on Thursday night.

Padatik Express as the name suggested was very late. After getting down at NJP, it took four hours to reach Rishi … and it was amazing.

Next day we started for Zuluk. It is near Jelep La which is the gateway towards China on the forgotten silk route. Zuluk had many offerings for us - hail, flakes and snow!

It was a new place called Sillery Gaon that was next. Locals are calling the place New Darjeeling to make it popular. It was a nice little hamlet. There is no electricity in this place but we never faced a problem. Instead the home-stay was wonderful. I fell in love with this place, completely.

To be continued…

It really feels great to know somewhere in a distant land people are appreciating Indian works and culture. I was not able to attend physically but I got the charm when I saw snaps of enthusiastic visitors queuing at the venue. The exhibition was held at Durga Puja & Diwali time. Prof. Tushar Ghosh, one of the main organizers, had informed me that the event was attended by 14000 visitors. This is something huge.