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Traveller's Diary

A Voyage on a Modern-day Noah’s Ark

Our member, Ms Flower Silliman, shares a story about one of her exciting voyages on a cargo ship from Kolkata (then Calcutta) to the UK with her husband, mother and three children around 50 years ago, with Mousumi Gupta.
“My husband was attached to a foreign currency exchange and import-export business, which entailed travel across the world,” said Ms Silliman. “So, I consider myself lucky to have embarked on some wonderful journeys with my family and to have gathered unique travel experiences.”
The Silliman family embarked on a particular voyage on a cargo ship, which was carrying tea and jute from Calcutta to the UK. “Ahead of the journey, the captain of the ship told me that he had arranged for a floating zoo for our kids!”
“At first, I couldn’t understand what that meant and took it as a joke.”
Then, Ms Silliman, describing her pleasant shock, said: “Soon after we boarded the ship, which only had the captain’s cabin and two guest cabins on the deck, we discovered that the captain wasn’t quite joking. There were 11 elephant cubs, around four huge cages of birds of different exotic species and few monkeys welcoming us. It was almost like Noah’s ark!”
“The children were thrilled to be sailing on a ship full of animals as their co-passengers in the midst of an ocean. The animals were travelling from Calcutta to a zoo in the UK. The kids used to help the animals bathe on the deck and play with them the whole day except when their grandmother forced them to sit for studies,” recollected Ms Silliman.
“The ship harboured once at Madras (now Chennai) and then at Cochin (now Kochi) to load all the food supplies before heading for Suez Canal. Everyday my son, who was very fond of banana and milk, managed to steal one or two from bunches of bananas kept for the elephant cubs. To stop him, the captain would jokingly say: ‘Those bananas are for the elephants. If you eat all of those, I will offer you to the cubs for meal’,” said Ms Silliman from her sharp memory.
“When the ship crossed Suez Canal and entered Sudan, a herd of cows joined the floating zoo. My son was extremely happy that he could have fresh milk too! The ship sailed through Alexandria and reached the UK after five weeks. The voyage was so fun that we felt as time had flown past,” she said.
“For the children, it was school away from school, as they learnt several things beyond bookish knowledge during their voyage,” concluded Ms Silliman.
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Traveller's Diary

Gomukh-A Walk to Paradise

Our member, Mr Sachchidananda Banerjee, narrates his relentless desire and ethereal feeling of being surrounded by majestic mountains and setting feet on one of the most inaccessible places in India, with Mousumi Gupta.
“Mountains have always captivated and lured me with their utter charm and to me, trekking acts like a stress buster. So, whenever I used to manage few days off from my office, I, along with my fellow trekkers, used to plan our dose of adventure,” said Mr Banerjee.
“Once we decided to go to Gomukh or Gaumukh. The name probably was derived from the cow’s mouth shape of the mountain. With full zeal, we prepared ourselves for our trekking, got the equipment from Kolkata and started our journey.”
“The astounding trek started from Gangotri, a prominent Hindu pilgrimage destination and well known for being one of the Char Dham sites. The trek is quite hard, and only a handful of people dare to reach there, so, the whole area is the best for nature lovers.”
Detailing his trip, Mr Banerjee said: “We hired a local trekking guide from Gangotri, who knew the route well and helped us keep on track and also served us like a porter. The Gangotri to Gomukh trek, which is one of the moderate treks in the Garhwal Himalayan region, extends 19km approximately. The makeshift camps on our way made us acclimatise with the altitude. Our trek normally used to start very early in the morning provided the guide suggests that the weather is favourable for it.”
Even as he reminisced, he didn’t miss out the minutest details or even the feelings at that particular period of time: “The mystical trails through the line of trees and wilderness of cedar, poplar and pine, the course of river Bhagirathi cutting and running through the forest, everything was just overwhelming. At some point of time, our legs started screaming at us to stop the persistent uphill slog, so we paused intermittently for a little rest and to capture the beauty of the landscape around.”
“Our destination at an elevation of little more than 13000ft was spectacular with tranquil valleys and handsome mountains, all seemed to me as if I was in seventh heaven. The panoramic view of the mighty Ganges gushing out of a snout-like opening from the glacier cast a spell on us and we didn’t miss the opportunity to take a dip in the bone-chilling water,” said the member.
“The impressive backdrop of the source of Ganges in the barren and desolate landscape, the herd of blue mountain goats, constant chirping of unknown birds made our strenuous trekking a walk to paradise.”
“It was one of my best-ever trekking experiences and after many years, when I am describing the place to you, it seems that I am revisiting this abode of gods all over again,” concluded Mr Banerjee.