Tag Archive for 'travel'

Hello Bangalore!

Published on April 21, 2009 in Life as it happens, Musings and Wanderlust. 13 Comments Tags: , .

I am happy to be back in Bangalore but I have to say – this place has grown so hot! And now I finally know how bad it is to be stuck in one of its horrific traffic jams. Just yesterday, we were being driven around in town and the driver was so friendly that every time we asked him a question, he would turn right back at us to look at us as we speak!

We decided not to ask him any questions since we would ultimately end up being dead that way. After a while, I see the guy’s eyes dozing off in the rear view mirror while the car moves at full speed! What a temperature and what an incredible driver. I am alive as I write this post, to all concerned enough.

Visited some industries today since this is supposed to be an official tour. My colleague asked some impressive whats-the-spindle-rpm questions to the guy who was escorting us for a manufacturing plant tour.

So I decided that I would ask this question on the next tour, only to be reminded by my colleague to make sure that there was actually a spindle on the machine in the first place. Har har.

No, I am not a mechanical engineer. And yes, I know what a spindle looks like. What else do you think is that lady doing on my header with all that yarn???

My hotel room is the hottest place in Bangalore, I’d have to admit. I try leaving the windows open when I leave in the morning. In return, the housekeeping staff are so diligent that they close the windows once they’re done with the daily cleaning so that the room represents a 100 degree centigrade oven when I get back but other than that, the stay is okay.

We’re supposed to keep the receipts of the expensed incurred so that we can get it reimbursed when we get back to office. I wonder if I can sneak in a few INOX theatre tickets in my bunch when no one is looking.

I’m yet to meet my friends here – most of them dont even know that I’m in their city.

Hello once again, Bangalore! Its nice to be back.

I (heart) Bhutan

Published on January 7, 2009 in Good things and Wanderlust. 18 Comments Tags: , , .

I had wanted to visit Bhutan for a long time and finally set off towards the Land of the Thunder Dragon this December 30th. The journey from Sikkim to the Bhutan border town of Phuntsholing takes about 7 hours by road. A long drive indeed and I believe I slept most of the way. So after traveling for what felt like eternity, we reached Phuntsholing at 3 pm. Now the difference between the two sides of the border is startling. Jaigaon, the last town of India is this bustling, clouds of dust-billowing-in-the-air, crowded place where cows rule. As you cross over to Bhutan (while the Bhutan police looks suspiciously at the back seat of your car – not their fault actually, cause we had piled our luggage in such a manner we appeared to be smuggling something across the border), you feel more clean and the slope uphill made me feel immediately at home.

chorten

Memorial Shrine, Thimpu

No major formality to enter the country, really; just drive through in your car and you’re in a foreign country! Easy as that. Once inside Bhutan, we hunted for a hotel to dump our baggage and in a hurry to eat, ended up choosing a not so great hotel although if we’d just circled the block, we’d have found much nicer hotels. I’d forgotten how it was to be a tourist.

Continue reading ‘I (heart) Bhutan’

We were on a break

Published on October 9, 2008 in Sikkim and Wanderlust. 16 Comments Tags: , , .

I had eleven days off from work, thanks to puja vacations. I decided not to grow roots at home and travel with friends instead. And that is how we headed off into the sunrise, since we started early morning at 7 am.

The exit road from my house till the main road is a steep uphill. Now many may wonder how it is that we actually navigate the vehicles out without getting killed everyday. Those who live here, like me, do the same – but only once a week if you must know.

As my friend sped the vehicle uphill, I yelled BODY WEIGHT agay (front) and not surprisingly, no one understood what to do. Well, you see a few years back, we were on an adventurous horse back riding trip up the steep, slush-filled hill slopes of Kufri, which was some kilometres after Shimla.

The horse guide walking in front screamed: body weight agay – after which we had to lean ahead. The call downhill was – body weight peechay! (back) and we had to lean backwards accordingly.

It was either lean or die laughing at that point of time. I leaned all right. Then felt sorry for the poor horse afterwards.

The day turned out to be quite pleasant. I like this pic here cause the sun had just risen and the whole image has different shades of blue for all contemplation. The bridge leads all the way to The Avenue. This is my favourite spot throughout the journey. 

The moment we reached there, I turned and before I could speak, my fellow passenger says - I know, The Avenue – a road which is lined with trees. I thought the I know part was stressed a bit sarcastically but I was too caught up to respond.

I think I forgot to add the Feel free to click on the pics for a larger view part in the beginning. I know most of you are smart enough to know that without me having to tell you. If nothing else, I know that I run the risk of those people getting pissed and wondering if they should stop visiting my blog for the insult. 

It may come as a surprise but I’ve recently learnt the arts of Changing The Topic When Needed Most. LOOK AT THE PRETTY PIC BELOW!

P.S. All the pics were taken from a moving car so the blur you see (if any) isnt intentional and most certainly is not bad photography, how dare you. Good trip, with Tiger and especially Stan Marsh from South Park behaving extremely well for a change.

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