Have you ever dreamed of having a date with stars..??
Have you ever felt calm, in spite of being in a crowd..??
Have you ever looked up to a starry sky and wished for an endless night..??
Have you ever imagined of another galaxy far far away, even after existing into your very own Milky Way ..??
Have you ever questioned about the mystery of this vast universe..??
Visiting ASTROPORT could help you with all the above questions & curiosities :)
Trip Duration: 1 Nights and 2 Days (15/02/2020 to 16/02/2020)
Route: Gurgaon-Bhiwadi-Alwar-Rajgarh-Astroport (Sariska)
Gears before planning : DSLR & Tripod (for night astro photography) and anything additional you want to eat (there are no restaurants or shops nearby)
Expense Details:
Hotel Booking: Swiss Tent with two queen size beds and an additional single bed (1 Night) for 4 people – INR 13000 (with all meals included-lunch, evening snacks, dinner & breakfast)
Other food expenses (while travelling) - INR 2000
Off a rural road and surrounded by fields, Astroports are the first concept based astronomy and adventure camp in India, which have been set up at the darkest sites of selected locations. These are self-sustained facilities away from city lights, noise and pollution.
There are five Astroport locations in India- Sariska (Tehla, Rajasthan), Jaipur, Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh), Ranthambore and Jog falls (Karnataka).
Here you can explore the outer space with high quality lenses and telescopes.
So, let us talk about Astroport, Sariska.
Day 1:
We departed at 6:00 AM on 15th February from Gurgaon and enjoyed sunrise throughout the route. We took our breakfast stop at Hotel Grand Ashoka (few miles before Alwar), which was the only decent option serving food at this time.
As we crossed Alwar by-pass, the vegetation became thorny and brown.
While driving, you will find a board of Astroport on the main road and the facility is 500m beyond that.
They have three types of accommodations – Comets (small tents for 2 persons), Galaxia (Swiss tents with 2 queen size beds for 4 persons) and Nebula (Group accommodation for 8 people or more).
We were four, so we booked a Galaxia Swiss tent. It cost us INR 13000 for one night with all the meals included. The tent is like two bedrooms separated with a wardrobe and a dressing (the person on one bed cannot see the one on the other bed). There was also an additional single bed and the washroom was unbelievably big and lit with enormous natural light. There were two AC and no TV (I am sure you won’t need one, as they will have your schedule packed with adventure activities).
We reached Astroport at around 11 AM and relaxed for about an hour. Then we headed for lunch before our jungle safari to Sariska Tiger Reserve (There is a separate blog and video for that).
Just outside the dining hall, we met Mr. Shubham Rai, who was an instructor and a guest experience in-charge at Astroport. He, being a very welcoming person told us all about the upcoming sessions.
The lunch buffet (included in our accommodation tariff) was awesome and they were serving hot and crispy chapatis (breads) on the table without any delay. That meal just made our day.
We pre-booked the jungle safari at 2:00 PM but unknowingly we booked it from a gate which was very far from our facility. Astroport staff was kind and helpful enough to take the pain of contacting the concerned person and asking for the change of boarding gate. Finally we took our safari from the nearest one (Tehla Gate).
We returned to the facility at 6:00PM and headed for evening tea (tea, coffee, fritters, chips and sweets). Then after getting relaxed we went for dinner at 8:30 PM. It was also a buffet and we got to taste the very famous “Lal Maas” (Spicy gravy mutton) of Rajasthan.
We had a two hour Star gazing session in the lawn behind dining hall after dinner. So, everyone walked there. They have two 16-inch and one 18-inch high-end astronomy telescopes installed there and seating arrangement for everyone. Everyday telescope gazing details were already written inside the dining hall.
We were lucky that this session was conducted by Mr. Shubham Rai. He was enthusiastic beyond expectations and everyone was even more energetic after two and half hours of session. This amazing astronomy session could not be included in our YouTube video as no one was allowed to use mobiles or any kind of light (even the slightest of light could disrupt the gazing power of eye).
Now this was the moment one can dream of…As you step into the lawn, everything was dark except millions of twinkling stars in the sky above. This session brought back all the memories of childhood, when we all felt so amazed knowing about this vast universe, galaxy and things beyond that.
Mr. Shubham told us enormous interesting facts about astronomy.
It was like a class, every kid dreams of, with all practicals and no theory. We saw Venus, Pole Star, Andromeda (another galaxy), Pleiades (seven sisters), Orion Nebula, winter Milky Way etc.
We learnt how to find directions with the help of pole star, how to locate important stars, how to derive the vertical angle of any star and many other fun facts. Mr. Shubham also told us stories behind the name of Andromeda and other constellations. These two and half hours passed like minutes and no one felt full with the information and star gazing.
After the session, we all tried our hands on night sky photography and Mr. Shubham helped each and every one, staying back beyond his official session timings. It was so fun and we did capture many memorable pictures.
Day 2:
We woke up at 8:00 AM, got ready and went for breakfast (which was buffet and delicious as usual).
After breakfast we took a walk around the facility. Since it is a self-sustained facility, there were huge farms growing various staples, solar panels, chickens roaming behind a gate and covered organic farming area.
We also had a model-rocket making and launching session scheduled at 10:00 AM, so we went back to the lawn. Mr. Shubham gave a few freebies-awards (like astronaut badge and key chains) to some of us (at least one from each family or group). Then he shared some knowledge about a rocket, science behind its launching and he taught us how to make a model-rocket.
After that, each group or family was given a kit to make their own models and later we had a quiz to decide who will get to launch it first. It was so much fun, like a craft class and we all made and tested our rockets with a string test. Then we launched them with the help of a pump and water. It was for sure, the most entertaining science class one can ever have.
Visiting Astroport was a unique experience and we plan to visit its other locations too. Also, various planets can be observed at various times of the year, so visiting once is not enough. And above all, I think no one can get enough of gazing stars anyways.
NOTE - Please drop us a query in Contact section for any other information required and get a glimpse of the trip on our YouTube Channel.
Love
RovitaS
Penned down wonderfully, Thanks for such a nice & Informative blog!!