A couple of holidays declared in the middle of last week afforded one of those rare opportunities where you apply for just three days' leave and end up with a nine-day vacation. We spent most of this vacation on the beautiful island of Mauritius. Clean beaches with white sand next to a turquoise-blue sea - what more does one need for a perfect vacation? Nothing much, it turns out.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
2011-09-05
2011-01-05
Year-End Breaks
Towards the end of the year 2010, Anusha and I went for a couple of day-trips to places near Bangalore. The first trip was to Balmuri and Yedmuri falls, along with a visit to Brindavan Gardens. The second trip was to Belur and Haalebidu along with Shravanabelagola. While we drove to the former set of destinations ourselves, we opted for a KSTDC bus-tour for the latter.
2009-01-01
Hampi
Anusha and I recently visited Hampi to take a short break. Hampi is what remains of Vijayanagara, the capital of the Vijayanagara empire. It is about 350 kms north of Bangalore and is famous for its splendid ruins. Many of these ruins are very well-preserved and are made of granite that is found in abundance in the surrounding hills.
2007-12-22
IIT Kanpur
I had a chance recently to visit my alma mater IIT Kanpur. It has been over 11 years since I graduated from that place. This is the first time in all these years that I got to visit the place, though I had been yearning to do so all the while. It turned out to be a mixed experience - I found IIT Kanpur to be familiar and estranging at the same time.
2007-11-15
New Delhi
In a quirk of modern air-travel, it is usually cheaper to travel from Bhopal to Bangalore via New Delhi, which is about 750 kilometres in the opposite direction, than via Mumbai which would appear to be a much shorter route. This time Anusha and I decided to use the opportunity thus afforded to stay over in New Delhi for a little over a day and see some of the main tourist attractions.
As I have noted before, to someone coming from a place like Bangalore where traffic is always slowed down by congestion and potholes, the fast traffic on the smooth and wide roads of New Delhi comes as a bit of a shock. Taxi drivers drive even faster than the other folks, not bothering to slow down for junctions or turns. Everyone snakes in and out of traffic lanes with abandon and freely exchanges expletives at the slightest provocation.
Despite the presence of so much traffic, the air-pollution seems to be manageable, no doubt helped by the mandatory installation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) systems in public vehicles. New Delhi also has a lot of green trees, quite unlike that jungle of concrete, Mumbai. One of the more surprising sights for me in New Delhi was the row of toll booths at the entry to the DND Flyway, something that you rarely see in a developing country like India.
Among the standard tourist attractions, some of the places were either only mildly interesting or particularly underwhelming. However, I was particularly fascinated by Humayun's Tomb, the Qutub Minar complex and the Red Fort.
I had not expected Humayun's Tomb to be such a big, peaceful and beautiful complex. It was restored and beautified only as recently as 2003. The main mausoleum is particularly remarkable since it looks so similar to the Taj Mahal, although it was constructed almost 100 years before the latter. Some of the other buildings in the complex are also nice, although many of the places reek very strongly of bat droppings.
Even the Qutub Minar surprised me with its height and beauty. It has beautiful carvings on its walls and a nice pattern to the first three storeys. Sadly however, the last two storeys, which were later additions, are quite discordant with the rest of the tower. While the Qutub Minar is quite impressive by itself, one can only imagine the magnificence of the entire complex in its prime by looking at its sad remains. Some of the walls still retain bits of intricate carvings.
The Red Fort was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a palace for his eponymous new capital Shahjahanabad. It is a splendid structure and seems fairly well-preserved. Of particular note are the royal residence, the "deewan-e-aam" (where the emperor met the common people), the "deewan-e-khaas" (where the emperor met his ministers and important guests) and the museum housing some interesting artefacts of that era. The "deewan-e-khaas", the emperor's seat in the "deewan-e-aam" and the royal residence are lavishly decorated and are a must-see.
I have created a Picasa web-album that has some more pictures from New Delhi.
As I have noted before, to someone coming from a place like Bangalore where traffic is always slowed down by congestion and potholes, the fast traffic on the smooth and wide roads of New Delhi comes as a bit of a shock. Taxi drivers drive even faster than the other folks, not bothering to slow down for junctions or turns. Everyone snakes in and out of traffic lanes with abandon and freely exchanges expletives at the slightest provocation.
Despite the presence of so much traffic, the air-pollution seems to be manageable, no doubt helped by the mandatory installation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) systems in public vehicles. New Delhi also has a lot of green trees, quite unlike that jungle of concrete, Mumbai. One of the more surprising sights for me in New Delhi was the row of toll booths at the entry to the DND Flyway, something that you rarely see in a developing country like India.
Among the standard tourist attractions, some of the places were either only mildly interesting or particularly underwhelming. However, I was particularly fascinated by Humayun's Tomb, the Qutub Minar complex and the Red Fort.
I had not expected Humayun's Tomb to be such a big, peaceful and beautiful complex. It was restored and beautified only as recently as 2003. The main mausoleum is particularly remarkable since it looks so similar to the Taj Mahal, although it was constructed almost 100 years before the latter. Some of the other buildings in the complex are also nice, although many of the places reek very strongly of bat droppings.
Even the Qutub Minar surprised me with its height and beauty. It has beautiful carvings on its walls and a nice pattern to the first three storeys. Sadly however, the last two storeys, which were later additions, are quite discordant with the rest of the tower. While the Qutub Minar is quite impressive by itself, one can only imagine the magnificence of the entire complex in its prime by looking at its sad remains. Some of the walls still retain bits of intricate carvings.
The Red Fort was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a palace for his eponymous new capital Shahjahanabad. It is a splendid structure and seems fairly well-preserved. Of particular note are the royal residence, the "deewan-e-aam" (where the emperor met the common people), the "deewan-e-khaas" (where the emperor met his ministers and important guests) and the museum housing some interesting artefacts of that era. The "deewan-e-khaas", the emperor's seat in the "deewan-e-aam" and the royal residence are lavishly decorated and are a must-see.
I have created a Picasa web-album that has some more pictures from New Delhi.
2007-11-13
Pachmarhi
On a recent trip to Bhopal, Anusha and I visited Pachmarhi. Pachmarhi is a little-known, but very beautiful, hill-station in Madhya Pradesh that deserves to be more popular. It is the highest town on the Satpura range of hills, situated about 900 metres (3,000 feet) above the sea-level. It is surrounded by the Satpura National Park.
Pachmarhi gets its name from a set of five caves carved into a big rock. These caves are called Pandava Caves because it was believed that the Pandavas stayed here for some time during their exile from their kingdom. However, it turns out that these caves were really carved out by Buddhist monks who used them as shelters.
Most of the rocks in Pachmarhi are made of soft sandstone. These rocks soak up water during the rains and then slowly release it throughout the rest of the year. This water feeds the many streams that flow through Pachmarhi and provide its beautiful waterfalls. A remarkable thing about these rocks is that some of them clearly show layers of embedded round pebbles. Though it is at a high altitude now, Pachmarhi must have been under water a long time ago.
We decided to stay in Glen View, a hotel developed by Madhya Pradesh Tourism. We also took their bus from Bhopal to reach Pachmarhi. The bus usually takes around five hours for the journey. As luck would have it, we ran into a chakka jam (road blockade) organised by the BJP that day to protest against the Sethusamudram project. This delayed us by three hours.
Pachmarhi is a very small town, most of which is occupied by the Indian army. It has a very unhurried and quiet feel to it. The local people are very friendly and helpful. It is surrounded by stunningly beautiful forests, valleys, waterfalls and caves. There are several trekking trails for enthusiasts. Some of the caves have pre-historic rock paintings. It also has several Shiva temples, each one associated with a myth relating to his fight against Bhashmasura. There are so many places to see that it can easily take about five days to explore everything properly.
It is not easy reaching these beautiful spots though. You have to have a car with a four-wheel drive and an expert driver to drive it. You should also have a bit of stamina because the car would not be able to take you all the way everywhere and you would have to go about 200 to 400 metres up and down a hill to reach many a spot.
I had an especially tough time reaching these spots because I found it hard to breathe. That was because I had a very bad cold. That in turn was because the air-conditioner in our room could only be run at its full strength. The ceiling fan was not enough for the hot and humid weather at the time. This was one of the worst colds I have ever suffered. It took a full two weeks for me to recover completely from it.
This was not the only problem with our room though. The water from the taps was always reddish-brown from the rust in the pipes for a while in the beginning and you had to leave it on for some time for it to approach something close to transparency. Even then it had an unpleasant iron flavour to it. The hotel staff was extremely nonchalant about it, informing us that it was quite normal for all the rooms in the hotel.
Pachmarhi does not have good options for accommodation at this time. None of the well-known hotel chains have their presence here, so you tend to err on the side of caution by opting for what is touted as a luxury hotel. Glen View is promoted as a luxury hotel by MP Tourism. Judging by our experience, they seem to have a rather peculiar definition of "luxury". To add insult to injury, they insist on collecting 100% of the hotel tariff for all the days you plan to stay there, in advance at the time of booking, with no scope for refunds. The hotel also does not accept credit cards, so you better carry some good cash to pay for the ridiculous amount it charges for its unremarkable food.
We were so disappointed by our hotel and the lack of other options that we cut our visit short by a day, losing some money in the process. We took some solace in the fact that we had saved almost 30% by booking it during the off-season. We would love to go back and see Pachmarhi again and explore the sites we could not visit, but not until there are better options for accommodation there.
I have created a Picasa web-album that has some more pictures from Pachmarhi.
Pachmarhi gets its name from a set of five caves carved into a big rock. These caves are called Pandava Caves because it was believed that the Pandavas stayed here for some time during their exile from their kingdom. However, it turns out that these caves were really carved out by Buddhist monks who used them as shelters.
Most of the rocks in Pachmarhi are made of soft sandstone. These rocks soak up water during the rains and then slowly release it throughout the rest of the year. This water feeds the many streams that flow through Pachmarhi and provide its beautiful waterfalls. A remarkable thing about these rocks is that some of them clearly show layers of embedded round pebbles. Though it is at a high altitude now, Pachmarhi must have been under water a long time ago.
We decided to stay in Glen View, a hotel developed by Madhya Pradesh Tourism. We also took their bus from Bhopal to reach Pachmarhi. The bus usually takes around five hours for the journey. As luck would have it, we ran into a chakka jam (road blockade) organised by the BJP that day to protest against the Sethusamudram project. This delayed us by three hours.
Pachmarhi is a very small town, most of which is occupied by the Indian army. It has a very unhurried and quiet feel to it. The local people are very friendly and helpful. It is surrounded by stunningly beautiful forests, valleys, waterfalls and caves. There are several trekking trails for enthusiasts. Some of the caves have pre-historic rock paintings. It also has several Shiva temples, each one associated with a myth relating to his fight against Bhashmasura. There are so many places to see that it can easily take about five days to explore everything properly.
It is not easy reaching these beautiful spots though. You have to have a car with a four-wheel drive and an expert driver to drive it. You should also have a bit of stamina because the car would not be able to take you all the way everywhere and you would have to go about 200 to 400 metres up and down a hill to reach many a spot.
I had an especially tough time reaching these spots because I found it hard to breathe. That was because I had a very bad cold. That in turn was because the air-conditioner in our room could only be run at its full strength. The ceiling fan was not enough for the hot and humid weather at the time. This was one of the worst colds I have ever suffered. It took a full two weeks for me to recover completely from it.
This was not the only problem with our room though. The water from the taps was always reddish-brown from the rust in the pipes for a while in the beginning and you had to leave it on for some time for it to approach something close to transparency. Even then it had an unpleasant iron flavour to it. The hotel staff was extremely nonchalant about it, informing us that it was quite normal for all the rooms in the hotel.
Pachmarhi does not have good options for accommodation at this time. None of the well-known hotel chains have their presence here, so you tend to err on the side of caution by opting for what is touted as a luxury hotel. Glen View is promoted as a luxury hotel by MP Tourism. Judging by our experience, they seem to have a rather peculiar definition of "luxury". To add insult to injury, they insist on collecting 100% of the hotel tariff for all the days you plan to stay there, in advance at the time of booking, with no scope for refunds. The hotel also does not accept credit cards, so you better carry some good cash to pay for the ridiculous amount it charges for its unremarkable food.
We were so disappointed by our hotel and the lack of other options that we cut our visit short by a day, losing some money in the process. We took some solace in the fact that we had saved almost 30% by booking it during the off-season. We would love to go back and see Pachmarhi again and explore the sites we could not visit, but not until there are better options for accommodation there.
I have created a Picasa web-album that has some more pictures from Pachmarhi.
2007-05-09
Wayanad
The Labour Day holiday last Tuesday, combined with a day's leave off work on Monday, offered us a four day long weekend that Anusha and I used for a mini vacation in Wayanad in Kerala.
A couple of Anusha's friends, along with their spouses, also joined us on this trip. We drove from Bangalore to Wayanad via Mysore, Nanjangud, Gundlupet and Sultan Battery, taking SH-17 and NH-212 and passing through the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary. The roads were quite good in general and the road from Bangalore to Mysore was excellent in particular. We covered the distance in about 5.5 hours, including a couple of short breaks. We stayed in Edakkal Hermitage, a resort quite close to the Edakkal Caves.
Pre-historic Carvings of the Edakkal Caves
Kerala is one of the most beautiful states in India. Even for someone from a generally green city like Bangalore, the lush and pervasive greenery of Kerala is an exhilarating change. As with The Tall Trees Resorts in Munnar that we had visited earlier, the cottages of Edakkal Hermitage were located on the quiet slopes of a mountain in a way that allows one to soak in the beauty of nature in relative privacy while affording a fantastic view of the valley below. The two resorts were also very similar in the amazing service provided by the respective staff and the delicious food that were served by them.
Our Cottage
On the first day, after having refreshed ourselves and having had lunch at the resort, we drove down to the Pookote Lake. This lake turned out to be a disappointment. It was small, filthy and full of tourists. We didn't stay there long, moving on to a view-point and then returning to our resort. Later in the evening, we had our dinner in a cave in the resort that was beautifully lit by more than a hundred candles.
The next morning, we visited the Edakkal Caves and admired the pre-historic carvings on the walls of the caves. The climb to the caves is a bit difficult and is not everyone's cup of tea. Three of our party, including me, wanted to climb further up the mountain and on to the summit, while the others preferred to stay back on a landing waiting for us to come back. We kept climbing up till we reached a rock-face that was a bit steep. There was a single rope for support and not many footholds. Not being experienced climbers and only having our ordinary shoes for support, we chickened out. We tried to find an alternate route to the summit and turned back on not finding any. I regret this now and wish I had mustered the courage.
Our only consolation was spotting a huge butterfly on the way back. It was the biggest butterfly I had ever seen and must have been about 20 to 25 centimetres (8 to 10 inches) across. We were able to get very close to the butterfly and even touch it - it just moved its wings and continued to sit on its tree.
The Butterfly
Tired from our trek, Anusha and I chose to relax in our cottage that afternoon while the rest of the party drove to the Suchipara waterfalls. In the evening we had our dinner in an amphitheatre in the resort.
The next morning we went for a safari through the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary. The safari was utterly disappointing for the most part with not many animals in sight (as has been our luck on all such occasions), when it suddenly turned rather interesting towards the end. Our way was blocked by a herd of at least seven elephants, one of which was a baby elephant. The driver of the Jeep was evidently quite scared and was ready to scoot at the slightest hint of trouble. Retreating was a bit difficult since the path was rather narrow (you had to either retreat in reverse gear or find a clearing large enough to turn the Jeep around) and there were other Jeeps behind us. We had to wait for about half an hour before the herd moved away and we could proceed. Other than the elephants, we were able to spot a Malabar Squirrel, different types of deer, langurs and peacocks.
The Elephants
That afternoon we headed back to Bangalore, regretting that we could not stay longer and dreading the plunge back into the daily grind of our lives.
A couple of Anusha's friends, along with their spouses, also joined us on this trip. We drove from Bangalore to Wayanad via Mysore, Nanjangud, Gundlupet and Sultan Battery, taking SH-17 and NH-212 and passing through the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary. The roads were quite good in general and the road from Bangalore to Mysore was excellent in particular. We covered the distance in about 5.5 hours, including a couple of short breaks. We stayed in Edakkal Hermitage, a resort quite close to the Edakkal Caves.
Pre-historic Carvings of the Edakkal CavesKerala is one of the most beautiful states in India. Even for someone from a generally green city like Bangalore, the lush and pervasive greenery of Kerala is an exhilarating change. As with The Tall Trees Resorts in Munnar that we had visited earlier, the cottages of Edakkal Hermitage were located on the quiet slopes of a mountain in a way that allows one to soak in the beauty of nature in relative privacy while affording a fantastic view of the valley below. The two resorts were also very similar in the amazing service provided by the respective staff and the delicious food that were served by them.
Our CottageOn the first day, after having refreshed ourselves and having had lunch at the resort, we drove down to the Pookote Lake. This lake turned out to be a disappointment. It was small, filthy and full of tourists. We didn't stay there long, moving on to a view-point and then returning to our resort. Later in the evening, we had our dinner in a cave in the resort that was beautifully lit by more than a hundred candles.
The next morning, we visited the Edakkal Caves and admired the pre-historic carvings on the walls of the caves. The climb to the caves is a bit difficult and is not everyone's cup of tea. Three of our party, including me, wanted to climb further up the mountain and on to the summit, while the others preferred to stay back on a landing waiting for us to come back. We kept climbing up till we reached a rock-face that was a bit steep. There was a single rope for support and not many footholds. Not being experienced climbers and only having our ordinary shoes for support, we chickened out. We tried to find an alternate route to the summit and turned back on not finding any. I regret this now and wish I had mustered the courage.
Our only consolation was spotting a huge butterfly on the way back. It was the biggest butterfly I had ever seen and must have been about 20 to 25 centimetres (8 to 10 inches) across. We were able to get very close to the butterfly and even touch it - it just moved its wings and continued to sit on its tree.
The ButterflyTired from our trek, Anusha and I chose to relax in our cottage that afternoon while the rest of the party drove to the Suchipara waterfalls. In the evening we had our dinner in an amphitheatre in the resort.
The next morning we went for a safari through the Muthanga wildlife sanctuary. The safari was utterly disappointing for the most part with not many animals in sight (as has been our luck on all such occasions), when it suddenly turned rather interesting towards the end. Our way was blocked by a herd of at least seven elephants, one of which was a baby elephant. The driver of the Jeep was evidently quite scared and was ready to scoot at the slightest hint of trouble. Retreating was a bit difficult since the path was rather narrow (you had to either retreat in reverse gear or find a clearing large enough to turn the Jeep around) and there were other Jeeps behind us. We had to wait for about half an hour before the herd moved away and we could proceed. Other than the elephants, we were able to spot a Malabar Squirrel, different types of deer, langurs and peacocks.
The ElephantsThat afternoon we headed back to Bangalore, regretting that we could not stay longer and dreading the plunge back into the daily grind of our lives.
2006-11-17
New York, Philadelphia and Boston
In the last week of my recent US trip, Anusha and I tried to cover the cities of Philadelphia, New York and Boston. When the time for travelling between these cities is factored in, we had almost no time to see any of these cities properly. The weird policy of the hotels in the US to have check-in after 4 PM and check-out by 12 noon made the problem worse. It also didn't help that the sun used to set around 5 PM.
We spent about 2 and a half days in New York while staying in New Jersey and we still managed to visit five families of our relatives, meet Saikat and Kalpana and see some of the most famous tourist attractions in New York.
Hotel accommodation in New York, especially Manhattan, seems insanely expensive, even for the hotels with only the most basic of amenities. Ditto for car rentals and parking charges. Fortunately for us, decent hotels in New Jersey are somewhat more affordable and there are excellent public transportation options for shuttling between NJ and NYC. As a matter of fact, we stayed in a hotel in Jersey City that was a five minute walk from the Journal Square PATH train station. PATH trains were numerous and frequent throughout the day and took us into the heart of Manhattan in 20 minutes. Within New York, the excellent subway system made travelling within the city relatively painless.
Visiting the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building took half a day each because of the number of tourists and the elaborate security procedures. The view of New York City from atop the Empire State Building was very nice and the audio tour by "Tony, the cab driver" was quite useful for an utter newbie to the city. By the way, I didn't know that the Statue of Liberty was made out of copper sheets and the green colour was due to the usual patination of copper.
12x Optical Zoom is Cool
Central Park was quite impressive with its lush greenery and peace right in the middle of Manhattan. Actually it was amazing just how many parks there were in Manhattan itself. The Grand Central Station was simply awesome for a train station. The New York Public Library was fairly impressive as well. Times Square in the night was just as they show on TV and in the movies but for some reason it had just a lukewarm effect on me. The site where the twin towers of the WTC stood seemed big and eerily empty. Walking on the Brooklyn Bridge was a charming experience. It was nice walking around in Manhattan soaking in the sights of the city and gaping at the numerous skyscrapers.
We didn't get time to watch a Broadway show or visit any of the famous museums. In a city with more than 13,000 restaurants offering the most varied cuisines in the world, we were mostly so pressed for time that we used to just grab a quick bite in a fast food joint. Some day I hope to come back to this city and stay for at least a week or more.
We were not able to see much in Philadelphia due to a lack of time and Boston was only slightly better. In Boston, our misfortune was compounded by the long-term renovations being carried out at the sites of the Boston Tea Party and the Bunker Hill Monument. As if that was not enough, it was also raining persistently throughout the first half of the day we had set aside to see the city. We still managed to follow some of the Freedom Trail, see the USS Constitution and explore Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, etc.
We spent about 2 and a half days in New York while staying in New Jersey and we still managed to visit five families of our relatives, meet Saikat and Kalpana and see some of the most famous tourist attractions in New York.
Hotel accommodation in New York, especially Manhattan, seems insanely expensive, even for the hotels with only the most basic of amenities. Ditto for car rentals and parking charges. Fortunately for us, decent hotels in New Jersey are somewhat more affordable and there are excellent public transportation options for shuttling between NJ and NYC. As a matter of fact, we stayed in a hotel in Jersey City that was a five minute walk from the Journal Square PATH train station. PATH trains were numerous and frequent throughout the day and took us into the heart of Manhattan in 20 minutes. Within New York, the excellent subway system made travelling within the city relatively painless.
Visiting the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building took half a day each because of the number of tourists and the elaborate security procedures. The view of New York City from atop the Empire State Building was very nice and the audio tour by "Tony, the cab driver" was quite useful for an utter newbie to the city. By the way, I didn't know that the Statue of Liberty was made out of copper sheets and the green colour was due to the usual patination of copper.
12x Optical Zoom is CoolCentral Park was quite impressive with its lush greenery and peace right in the middle of Manhattan. Actually it was amazing just how many parks there were in Manhattan itself. The Grand Central Station was simply awesome for a train station. The New York Public Library was fairly impressive as well. Times Square in the night was just as they show on TV and in the movies but for some reason it had just a lukewarm effect on me. The site where the twin towers of the WTC stood seemed big and eerily empty. Walking on the Brooklyn Bridge was a charming experience. It was nice walking around in Manhattan soaking in the sights of the city and gaping at the numerous skyscrapers.
We didn't get time to watch a Broadway show or visit any of the famous museums. In a city with more than 13,000 restaurants offering the most varied cuisines in the world, we were mostly so pressed for time that we used to just grab a quick bite in a fast food joint. Some day I hope to come back to this city and stay for at least a week or more.
We were not able to see much in Philadelphia due to a lack of time and Boston was only slightly better. In Boston, our misfortune was compounded by the long-term renovations being carried out at the sites of the Boston Tea Party and the Bunker Hill Monument. As if that was not enough, it was also raining persistently throughout the first half of the day we had set aside to see the city. We still managed to follow some of the Freedom Trail, see the USS Constitution and explore Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall, etc.
2006-11-15
Las Vegas
Anusha joined me on the second weekend of my recent US trip for a visit to Las Vegas along with VikGup and Pooja, who took turns to drive all the way. It took us about 10 hours each way with a break or two and that meant that we had just a little over 24 hours to spend in Vegas.
The glitz and glamour of Vegas was unlike anything I had seen before. It was particularly striking after having driven through hours of arid and dreary landscape. The sheer display of wealth and beauty has to be seen to be appreciated. It also becomes very obvious, very fast, how this city earned the moniker "Sin City".
We hopped from hotel to hotel checking out the attractions on display. It was amazing to see so much money and effort spent on recreating the landmarks of Paris, New York, Venice, etc. We didn't gamble much and I even managed to make a tiny profit. One of the most memorable part of this trip for me was watching the show "O" by Cirque du Soleil at The Bellagio.
Anusha checking out a slot machine
The glitz and glamour of Vegas was unlike anything I had seen before. It was particularly striking after having driven through hours of arid and dreary landscape. The sheer display of wealth and beauty has to be seen to be appreciated. It also becomes very obvious, very fast, how this city earned the moniker "Sin City".
We hopped from hotel to hotel checking out the attractions on display. It was amazing to see so much money and effort spent on recreating the landmarks of Paris, New York, Venice, etc. We didn't gamble much and I even managed to make a tiny profit. One of the most memorable part of this trip for me was watching the show "O" by Cirque du Soleil at The Bellagio.
Anusha checking out a slot machine2006-10-23
Fry's
Ryan and I went to the Fry's store in Sunnyvale yesterday. Our original plan was to spend about half an hour there, move on to the DSW store in Milpitas and then to San Francisco - we ended up spending about 6 hours just in Fry's!
To a bumpkin coming from India, Fry's is just incredibly big and has an amazing variety of items. The very idea of being able to take a shopping cart through aisles upon aisles of hardware components and picking up just the right components to build my dream computer would have been enough to make me wet my pants in my days as an avid gamer. I am sure that electronics enthusiasts back home would have a similar feeling if they see how easily they can get all sorts of electronic components and related hardware in this store. Awesome!
If I were younger, I would have filled my cart with all sorts of cool stuff, including the Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics kit. I did not because I realise that I would simply not have the time to play with all that cool stuff and it would therefore just be a waste of money. Sad.
To a bumpkin coming from India, Fry's is just incredibly big and has an amazing variety of items. The very idea of being able to take a shopping cart through aisles upon aisles of hardware components and picking up just the right components to build my dream computer would have been enough to make me wet my pants in my days as an avid gamer. I am sure that electronics enthusiasts back home would have a similar feeling if they see how easily they can get all sorts of electronic components and related hardware in this store. Awesome!
If I were younger, I would have filled my cart with all sorts of cool stuff, including the Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics kit. I did not because I realise that I would simply not have the time to play with all that cool stuff and it would therefore just be a waste of money. Sad.
2006-10-22
San Francisco
I spent the first weekend of my current trip exploring the city of San Francisco, first with VikGup and Pooja and then with Ananth and Surabhi. I will also be going to the city almost every day this weekend and the whole of next week, but I do not expect to have much time that I can spend exploring the city (which is a shame since I have really liked what I have seen of this city so far).
One of the first things that I noticed about this city was its diversity - there are so many people of so many ethnicities that it seems to be about as cosmopolitan as any city can possibly get. The next thing I noticed was the ruckus created by motorcycle riders (mostly riding Harley-Davidsons) almost everywhere. Finally, I really didn't expect the city to be so small!
I was with VikGup and Pooja for some time on the first day and then I walked around The Embarcadero, visited Fisherman's Wharf, Market Street, Chinatown, etc.
The next day with Ananth and Surabhi, I saw the Golden Gate bridge, visited Haight-Ashbury and the Amoeba store, ate at Massawa (an Ethiopian restaurant) on Haight street, indulged in the creations of Ghiradelli, went up the steep roads of Russian Hill and down the hairpin bends of Lombard Street, etc.
A charming city. I wish I were able to explore it properly.
One of the first things that I noticed about this city was its diversity - there are so many people of so many ethnicities that it seems to be about as cosmopolitan as any city can possibly get. The next thing I noticed was the ruckus created by motorcycle riders (mostly riding Harley-Davidsons) almost everywhere. Finally, I really didn't expect the city to be so small!
I was with VikGup and Pooja for some time on the first day and then I walked around The Embarcadero, visited Fisherman's Wharf, Market Street, Chinatown, etc.
The next day with Ananth and Surabhi, I saw the Golden Gate bridge, visited Haight-Ashbury and the Amoeba store, ate at Massawa (an Ethiopian restaurant) on Haight street, indulged in the creations of Ghiradelli, went up the steep roads of Russian Hill and down the hairpin bends of Lombard Street, etc.
A charming city. I wish I were able to explore it properly.
US of A
I have been in the US of A (Redwood City, California) for a little over two weeks now.
This is only my second visit to the US. I was in Edison (New Jersey) for a week about five years ago. For a number of reasons, I was miserable during my stay the last time around. I was suffering from jet lag for much of my stay - I wasn't able to sleep till about 4AM every day, but then had to get up by 7AM to get ready and go to work only to find myself groggy throughout the day. I used to accumulate so much static electricity so rapidly that I used to be shocked by touching almost anything - door knobs, car doors, coffee machines, humans, etc. - and would remain jumpy throughout the day. Even though the hotel that I stayed in was close to my workplace, I couldn't actually walk there and had to always depend on someone to pick me up, take me out for lunch and dinner and drop me back. But for some of my extremely helpful and accommodating colleagues, I would have had a terrible time. Since I stayed for such a short time, I also didn't get to go around and see places.
This time it's much better. My jet lag was less severe and I got over it pretty quickly. The weather is warm and really pleasant most of the time. The hotel that I stay in is a bit further from my workplace compared to the last visit, but there are very nice pedestrian sidewalks and
the path is surrounded by beautiful grass, trees and lakes. There is a supermarket, a bunch of restaurants and other shops very close to the hotel (but for some strange reason, every restaurant and shop in this area closes by 8:30PM - only the supermarket remains open till 11PM). There is good public transportation available here and the nearest Caltrain station (San Carlos) is just about a mile from my hotel. Finally, many of my friends live in this nook of the world, though I've only been able to meet Ananth, Yumpee and VikGup so far.
On the weekends, I've been able to see San Francisco and Las Vegas but both of them merit separate posts.
This is only my second visit to the US. I was in Edison (New Jersey) for a week about five years ago. For a number of reasons, I was miserable during my stay the last time around. I was suffering from jet lag for much of my stay - I wasn't able to sleep till about 4AM every day, but then had to get up by 7AM to get ready and go to work only to find myself groggy throughout the day. I used to accumulate so much static electricity so rapidly that I used to be shocked by touching almost anything - door knobs, car doors, coffee machines, humans, etc. - and would remain jumpy throughout the day. Even though the hotel that I stayed in was close to my workplace, I couldn't actually walk there and had to always depend on someone to pick me up, take me out for lunch and dinner and drop me back. But for some of my extremely helpful and accommodating colleagues, I would have had a terrible time. Since I stayed for such a short time, I also didn't get to go around and see places.
This time it's much better. My jet lag was less severe and I got over it pretty quickly. The weather is warm and really pleasant most of the time. The hotel that I stay in is a bit further from my workplace compared to the last visit, but there are very nice pedestrian sidewalks and
the path is surrounded by beautiful grass, trees and lakes. There is a supermarket, a bunch of restaurants and other shops very close to the hotel (but for some strange reason, every restaurant and shop in this area closes by 8:30PM - only the supermarket remains open till 11PM). There is good public transportation available here and the nearest Caltrain station (San Carlos) is just about a mile from my hotel. Finally, many of my friends live in this nook of the world, though I've only been able to meet Ananth, Yumpee and VikGup so far.
On the weekends, I've been able to see San Francisco and Las Vegas but both of them merit separate posts.
2006-07-21
New Delhi, US Visa and Kingfisher Airlines
I was in New Delhi at the beginning of this week to appear for an interview at the US embassy for a visa application for a business trip to the US in the near future.
This was my very first visit to New Delhi. I have finally fulfilled a long-held desire to see all the four metropolitan cities of India, viz. Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). I was there for just a little over 24 hours, but I was still quite impressed with what I saw - wide, pothole-free roads with traffic zipping along at 50-60 kmph, lots of trees, everything spread out instead of congested together, etc. It did not feel like an Indian city at all. I am told that what I saw was just "New" Delhi and that Old Delhi is just like any other Indian city in terms of congestion and chaos. It's also rather myopic of me to judge a city by what I saw on my trips back and forth between my hotel in Connaught Place , the domestic and international airport terminals (a distance of about 20-25 kms) and the US Embassy.
However, others who have stayed in Delhi as well as Bangalore also insist that Delhi is a far cleaner city, has much less of traffic congestion and is a much larger city than Bangalore. I tend to agree based on what I have seen. I did not find Bombay, Madras and Calcutta much better than Bangalore - the awful amount of time you spend commuting in Bombay, the utter lifelessness of Madras for a youngster and the insanely congested traffic in Calcutta made me realise how much better off I was being in Bangalore than in any of these cities. With Delhi, I wasn't so sure.
While applying for a non-immigrant US visa, you have to fill out DS-156. One of the queries in this form that never fails to amuse me is:
Do they really expect anyone to answer "Yes" to that query?
My flights for this trip were with the new Kingfisher Airlines. I was quite impressed by them and would rank them higher than Jet Airways, the only other domestic airlines that I think has a reasonably good service. (My sister says that Paramount Airways is also quite good, but I am yet to travel with them.) Kingfisher has these little touches everywhere that score over Jet - the tickets are generally priced lower, you can select your seat over the Internet before checking in, when you arrive at the airport a valet takes your luggage, tags it, puts it through the security check and takes it to the check-in counter for you (no, I was not travelling Business Class but "Kingfisher Class", which is what they like to call Economy Class), there is an in-flight entertainment system to keep you occupied, the seats have slightly more leg room, etc. Oh yes, the air hostesses are really pretty too (with a bit too much of make-up I think, but quite pretty nonetheless). Wonderful.
This was my very first visit to New Delhi. I have finally fulfilled a long-held desire to see all the four metropolitan cities of India, viz. Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). I was there for just a little over 24 hours, but I was still quite impressed with what I saw - wide, pothole-free roads with traffic zipping along at 50-60 kmph, lots of trees, everything spread out instead of congested together, etc. It did not feel like an Indian city at all. I am told that what I saw was just "New" Delhi and that Old Delhi is just like any other Indian city in terms of congestion and chaos. It's also rather myopic of me to judge a city by what I saw on my trips back and forth between my hotel in Connaught Place , the domestic and international airport terminals (a distance of about 20-25 kms) and the US Embassy.
However, others who have stayed in Delhi as well as Bangalore also insist that Delhi is a far cleaner city, has much less of traffic congestion and is a much larger city than Bangalore. I tend to agree based on what I have seen. I did not find Bombay, Madras and Calcutta much better than Bangalore - the awful amount of time you spend commuting in Bombay, the utter lifelessness of Madras for a youngster and the insanely congested traffic in Calcutta made me realise how much better off I was being in Bangalore than in any of these cities. With Delhi, I wasn't so sure.
While applying for a non-immigrant US visa, you have to fill out DS-156. One of the queries in this form that never fails to amuse me is:
Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide? [Yes/No]
Do they really expect anyone to answer "Yes" to that query?
My flights for this trip were with the new Kingfisher Airlines. I was quite impressed by them and would rank them higher than Jet Airways, the only other domestic airlines that I think has a reasonably good service. (My sister says that Paramount Airways is also quite good, but I am yet to travel with them.) Kingfisher has these little touches everywhere that score over Jet - the tickets are generally priced lower, you can select your seat over the Internet before checking in, when you arrive at the airport a valet takes your luggage, tags it, puts it through the security check and takes it to the check-in counter for you (no, I was not travelling Business Class but "Kingfisher Class", which is what they like to call Economy Class), there is an in-flight entertainment system to keep you occupied, the seats have slightly more leg room, etc. Oh yes, the air hostesses are really pretty too (with a bit too much of make-up I think, but quite pretty nonetheless). Wonderful.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
