[arun_josie]

Shashanka, Thanks a lot for sharing your experience in detail. A very nice write-up.

By the way, do you have any feedback on KMVN guest house in Nainital(The Snowview, The Talital , The ShukhaTal). If so, please let me know as we are planning for a visit there.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by vickzkool

Shashanka

Lovely thread with some awesome pics of the locations , stunning scenery and beautifully encapsulated through your write up , but your canines are the centre stage of the thread , lovely captures of them as I can see them in various moods , we have always had canines in our home since I was a kid and currently have a lab and a hound @ home in Hyderabad , your thread has brought back memories of my buddies since I was a kid and sitting here in London I'm certainly missing them !! Thanks so much for your log.

Hello Vickzkool,
Thank you for your reply - as I just wrote to "Digitalnirvana" in my reply to his post, it is great hearing from other pet lovers. And you are absolutely right, they are indeed the centre stage!

I have this secret yearning that we dog-lovers should have some sort of informal forum where people can post write-ups on anything and everything interesting to do with their pets. I dont mean that one needs to discuss the date of their de-worming, or the colour of their last stool - but you know what I mean. This is one reason I feel that James Herriot should be required reading for all pet-lovers.

Tell us about the lab and the hound - yellow or black ? And which breed is the hound ? Who takes care in your absence?
Look forward to hearing from you,
Shashanka

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Shashanka, Thanks a lot for sharing your experience in detail. A very nice write-up.

By the way, do you have any feedback on KMVN guest house in Nainital(The Snowview, The Talital , The ShukhaTal). If so, please let me know as we are planning for a visit there.

Hello Arun,
It was good hearing from you. Yes, KMVN has their premier hotel in Nainital on Tallital itself and they are just as pet friendly as the one in Naukuchiatal. We have stayed there with Darth and we have no regrets. As you come out on to the bus stand in Nainital (either from the Jolykote road or from Naukuchiatal, since both roads culminate at the bus stand in Nainital at the start of Mall Road) turn left and park around the traffic circle. Ask the cops there - or any of the locals for that matter - and they will point the hotel. It is less than 30 meters away. Just be careful while parking, it is a fairly steep incline up to the hotel parking lot, with a tight curve at the start and there is place only for one vehicle - either going up or coming down! The hotel staff are a helpful lot and you should not have a problem.

[vickzkool]

Originally Posted by shashanka

Hello Vickzkool,
Tell us about the lab and the hound - yellow or black ? And which breed is the hound ? Who takes care in your absence?
Look forward to hearing from you,
Shashanka

Good to hear from you Sir , well the lab is black , both me and my younger brother are football fanatics so named the lab Figo after the Portuguese football legend Luis Figo , he turns 11 this April , the hound is in fact an Indian breed called Rajyapalam , the breed has a good history with it being used as hunting / guard dogs during the erstwhile Nayak dynasty in Tamil Nadu , currently used by the Indian army at the border of Kashmir as Guard dogs , we got ours from an old tamilian couple who bred the dogs at their house in hyderabad and travel to Rajyapalam themselves to replace their dogs over the years , they happened to be good friends of my uncle , believe it or not he is called Rooney after English footballer Wayne Rooney ! courtesy my younger bro.

Rooney will turn 9 this year , both of them have been with my parents since they came to our place as 2 month old pups , both my parents are avid dog lovers and take care of them , infact their lives revolve around them , they have not visited us in UK because they do not like to put them in a kennel or under the care of our maid , my mom is truly dedicated in their upkeep and infact at times make us brothers jealous as they get more attention than us during our visits !, however both Rooney and Figo give the love back multi fold and you should see their guard instincts around my house and parents to believe !!
Feel blessed to have them and known them , truly a privilege to get such love back !!

[Fly8843]

Sir, its fantastic to read someone's experience over 10+ years at one shot. The memories are well captured and beautyfully narrated. Those furry babies look wonderful and I hope them the best. I too have a young Lab named Mac (1.6 years) and he is the center of everything I do when home. Down south, you stil have options for Pets with Pet friendly resorts and home stays within reasonable distance.
Just in case you want to have a informal discussion, there is a group on FB named Bombat Dawgs where we do have wonderful discussion on lot many stuff which might interest you and for sure Hilsa can make any Bengali go week in the knee or make them hit the road to have just that one bite. Absoluetely Delicious!

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by vickzkool

Good to hear from you Sir , well the lab is black , both me and my younger brother are football fanatics so named the lab Figo after the Portuguese football legend Luis Figo , he turns 11 this April.........however both Rooney and Figo give the love back multi fold and you should see their guard instincts around my house and parents to believe !!
Feel blessed to have them and known them , truly a privilege to get such love back !!

Hello again vickzkool,
Your black lab is a very popular pet here too and deservedly so, with its great temperament and affectionate nature. But your Rajapalayam is a true rarity. I remember that we saw one at one of the Mumbai shows a few years back and we thought it was a whippet, till we were informed about the breed and its extraordinary history.

My congratulations to you and your parents for their loyalty to this great and rare breed, which is also endangered today.

Our preference for boxers is mainly due to their temperament and, of course, their clownish looks and nature! The fact that they are not one-man dogs - their loyalty is for the family as a whole and they are fiercely protective of it - played a large part in our opting for the breed.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Fly8843

Sir, its fantastic to read someone's experience over 10+ years at one shot. The memories are well captured and beautyfully narrated. Those furry babies look wonderful and I hope them the best. I too have a young Lab named Mac (1.6 years) and he is the center of everything I do when home. Down south, you stil have options for Pets with Pet friendly resorts and home stays within reasonable distance.
Just in case you want to have a informal discussion, there is a group on FB named Bombat Dawgs where we do have wonderful discussion on lot many stuff which might interest you and for sure Hilsa can make any Bengali go week in the knee or make them hit the road to have just that one bite. Absoluetely Delicious!

Hello Fly8843,
It's great hearing from another dog-lover and I am one with you when you say that your Mac is the centre of everything when you are at home!

And thanks for the info about Bombat Dawgs and yes, we too found a hotel in Madikeri (Hotel Raj Darshan, if I remember correctly - this was in 1998!) during our road trip there. Darth was not yet a year old then and we were hugely relieved to find this place, first try out of the box! We made subsequent enquiries and found that it was the only pet-friendly hotel there at the time. We hope that the establishment is still ticking over in case we decide on a return visit!
We remember our stay there and the hotel staff with affection.

[scarecrow]

@shashanka - nice write-up & place.

My main takeaway was the 2 boxers as i am a pet lover as well. Slightly off-topic, but how do these 2 manage to sit quitely for such long drives.

My lab (woofy) refuses to sit behind alone as has to sit with everyone in the back seat and all the windows need to be open for him

Regards
Ronald

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by scarecrow

@shashanka - nice write-up & place.

My main takeaway was the 2 boxers as i am a pet lover as well. Slightly off-topic, but how do these 2 manage to sit quitely for such long drives.

My lab (woofy) refuses to sit behind alone as has to sit with everyone in the back seat and all the windows need to be open for him

Regards
Ronald

Hello Ronald,
Great hearing from you - and you are right. All dogs are not good travellers. Unlike Pearl and Kluso(our current family), Darth and Daisy could sit & sleep for hours at the back(we have removed the jump seats on the Scorpio to make it easier for them). Also we keep our two bags on the middle row (there are just two of us since our daughter's now settled abroad) so that they have the full floor of the luggage space to themselves.

But despite this, Pearl & Kluso still try to climb over onto the middle row - either to be nearer us(just like Woofy) or to keep momentarily away from each other (if they have had a temporary difference of opinion, which is often!)

So now when on longer trips with them, we have accepted defeat and allowed them the run of the middle row - and have started keeping our luggage at the back. But daft as they are, we cant imagine life without them!
I'm attaching a couple of more shots to say cheers!

Regards,
Shashanka

[swsumit]

hello sir ,
an awesum collection of thoughts and memories and being someone who has been fortunate to receive the love of pets as a part of one family i can relate to what you speak about
regards

[Kandisa]

A different type of travelogue i would say, where more than the place itself, the overall feeling after reading the log is really something soothing. Off course, Naukuchiatal as a place is really a far better option that the crowded nainital or 'not so properly maintained' sattal. 'Parichay' looks like an excellent place to stay, need to check out in future.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by swsumit

hello sir ,
an awesum collection of thoughts and memories and being someone who has been fortunate to receive the love of pets as a part of one family i can relate to what you speak about
regards

Hello Sumit,

It makes our day when we hear from people like you , who also have known the joy of having pets at home and accepted them as extensions of the family.

It is to the credit of people, particularly those living in metros - with their overcrowding and lack of open places (like Mumbai) - that they still take to pets just for the joy of it and discover that the love they get in return is quite unconditional and priceless.

Regards,
Shashanka

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Fly8843

Sir, its fantastic to read someone's experience over 10+ years at one shot. The memories are well captured and beautyfully narrated. Those furry babies look wonderful and I hope them the best. I too have a young Lab named Mac (1.6 years) and he is the center of everything I do when home. Down south, you stil have options for Pets with Pet friendly resorts and home stays within reasonable distance.
Just in case you want to have a informal discussion, there is a group on FB named Bombat Dawgs where we do have wonderful discussion on lot many stuff which might interest you and for sure Hilsa can make any Bengali go week in the knee or make them hit the road to have just that one bite. Absoluetely Delicious!

Hello once again Fly8843,
I had to return to your post because I had overlooked a vital point you had raised - that of the Hilsa!
My dear chap, you have raised the one issue which no dyed-in-the-wool Bengali can resist - that fresh Hilsa as prepared by that doyen of eating houses-'Suruchi'-in Kolkata, is an unparalleled culinary gift to the gastric juices! And I can speak with some assurance. Being a self-confessed foodie and a marine engineer to boot (albeit now on the shelf for the past couple of years), I have tried cuisines as varied as the street food on the Papadang river-front of Bangkok(heavenly!) to the seafood platter on the beach-front of Manzanillo, on Mexico's Pacific coast (an acquired taste) - and places in between.
And at the risk of annoying devout followers of other cuisines, I still humbly submit that the Hilsa is at the pinnacle, without equal!

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Kandisa

A different type of travelogue i would say, where more than the place itself, the overall feeling after reading the log is really something soothing. Off course, Naukuchiatal as a place is really a far better option that the crowded nainital or 'not so properly maintained' sattal. 'Parichay' looks like an excellent place to stay, need to check out in future.

Hello Kandisa,
I feel happy that my log evoked the kind of reaction it did - the aim was to bring out the ambiance of the place, the feelings it evokes in us every time we go there.

You are right of course - Naukuchiatal is the place for soothing jangled nerves. I have always maintained that it is the best soul food for those in need!

[Fly8843]

Originally Posted by shashanka

Hello once again Fly8843,
I had to return to your post because I had overlooked a vital point you had raised - that of the Hilsa!
========
And at the risk of annoying devout followers of other cuisines, I still humbly submit that the Hilsa is at the pinnacle, without equal!

Absolutely bang on Sir ! A few other houses like Kewpies Kitchen or Bohemian which was started by Joy Bannerjee (previously Head Chef at Oh! Calcutta) also have unparallal culinary experiance.