Edinburgh - December 28th to 31st 2011

It's been a long time since I posted anything on my travels. It's not that I've not been anywhere. It's just that I've gotten to be lazy. Perhaps I need someone to crack the whip and make me write something. Unfortunately I have none, if you know what I mean.

So now I've decided to blog on my recent travel to Scotland's capital, Edinburgh.

I've been staying here in the UK since August 21st 2011. Reading is now my official residence till I return India in 2012. As I'm here for a while, thought of exploring the country. So obviously Scotland was right at the top of my must see places. Edinburgh was the first choice, interestingly.

Plan to go to Scotland was in my mind since a  long time now. Booked my hotel tickets sometime in November via an excellent site called www.booking.com This website helps you to books hotels (atleast this is what I use for!) at  acheaper rate if booked in advance. For instance, for 3 nights in Scots I got a good price of $120! for a single bedroom. Now according to some, its still costly, but to the others its a steal!. Booked my self at King's Manor.


TO BE CONTINUED.....

Several Trips taken

After the Kolkota trip, several outing were made. Some of them are Pondicherry (in October 2009), Thailand (January 2010), Mysore (May 2010), Jaladhama Resorts (July 2010), Chitravana Resorts (OCtober 2010) etc etc.

As I later got to be tooo lazy (typical of me) started ignoring this website.

Apologies for not having even completed the Kolkota one :( Will try and complete this at the earliest.

VG
18-Nov-2010
Time: 0135 hrs IST

Kotkata, June 7th to 10th, 2009

With the Goa trip and the wedding being good, it was time for a reception from the Groom's side in Kolkata. Since Kolkata is a place I've often visited as kid, naturally I was also keen to go there again. I was born in Jamshedpur on account of my maternal grandparents being well settled in Jamshedpur. As my grandparents were in Jamshedpur, every year, soon after my school declared the annual results, I would always take the train to Jamshedpur to spend my holidays with them. Its been 8 years since Mamama (Maternal Grandmother) passed away (due to cancer) and 7 years since Ajju (who also passed away in 2004 due to a major heart attack) and Kiran Maam who've now settled in Bangalore, that I haven't been to Kolkata. Was excited at the thought of going to Kolkata. So took the initiate and urged Mummy into coming along with me. With the tickets pre-booked in February/March, We were all set to leave for Kol (from now, it shall be called as Kol instead of Kolkata) on the 7th Afternoon. We're 10 of us visiting Kolkata for the reception. These are Mohandas Maanth (MM), Ramdas Maanth (RM), Pragna (P), Aparna (AP), Archana (AJ), Shwetha (S) Jagadish Maanth (JM), Prabha Maaave (PM), my mummy (M) and self.

June 7th 2009, Day 1

Reached the International Airport in just 30 mins from my place. On reaching the place with Mummy, found that we're the only persons who have reached the place pretty early err….much early. So waited for them for sometime by standing outside in front of the Indigo enquiry counter. The winds were very strong and cool. So strong, perhaps would have carried a light weight person or perhaps a child away with it. Lucky for me being a bit too overweight that I wasn't carried away. It reminded me of the bad wolf who huffed and puffed as much as he could and tried to blow away the 3rd little pig's home. Anyway, the wind blowing pretty strong, made me feel a little hungry. Went across to the Subway, selling the subs and took 2 half sandwiches or subs for me and mummy. We decided to have it in the flight as the flight we're flying with won't be handing the lunch free of cost. Hmm…something to do with the recession, eh!!! Anyway after a couple of minutes, we spotted S, AJ and her parents (JM and PM). After the regular exchange of greetings, a man (who happens to be the PR for the bank that my JM works for) came and took our boarding pass and the also the UDF. In the meantime I'd collected the UDF by paying a cool Rs 520/-. So the PR guy (Santhosh, I think) had to pay for the rest of the 8 of us. In the mean time, the rest of the group (MM, RM, AP & P) were seen to be approaching us. The PR man took all the check-in baggage's from us and ensured that it was all safely checked-in without any hassles.

We then took the stairs to the first floor and then we went through the security check. Took some time for they had to check several more. After some time, we then proceeded towards Gate 8. Here we're sitting for quite some time. Although the scheduled departure is 1155, Even at 1150 the gates had not yet opened for us. This meant that the journey shall be delayed. After a long wait, the gates finally opened and one by one we're asked to head down from the first floor to catch the Indigo bus. Unfortunately we didn't have the aerobridge facility. Imagine a large airport like Bangalore didn't have one or rather didn't provide one. Shame that it's a new airport (around 13 months old) and an international one at that. Hope Bangalore airport now improves in the years to come.

Anyway we boarded the blue bus which then took us to the place where the aeroplane was standing for all of us to board the plane. We soon boarded the plane and then waited for the plane to take off. Finally at around 1230 the plane's door shut closed and the pretty looking air hostess were soon doing their routine job of explaining the way of strapping the seat belt, using the oxygen masks and the ways to the emergency exists.

Soon, the plane finally took off at around 1235-1240 hrs. It was a nice peaceful flight and the scenes outside the aircraft were lovely. The clouds outside were white and looks like cotton wool to me. At some places with the sun's rays falling on it, the centre part was glowing white and the outside of the clouds were looking a bit dull. Looked as though there was some source of light in the centre. It was a real wonderful sight to see and cherish it. Later as the aircraft gained altitude, the ground (earth) was no more visible and all was seen was blue sky at the top and the bottom was filled with white clouds. Sometimes, I imagined walking over the clouds and feeling the coolness of the clouds under my feet. But soon I got bored of it and started reading my book. I was carrying a P G Wodehouse book, titled "Full Money". In between was looking outside the window and falling asleep. Finally at around 1430 we reached Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata. We then landed at the domestic terminal and an aero bridge was connected to the aircraft's door enabling us to enter the terminal directly. Now if an old airport, domestic at that, can have an aerobridge, why can't Bangalore. Never mind now.

We're then greeted by a few guys who are from the bank. Also there to receive us were the newly wedded couple, Meghana (MJ) and Soumya a.k.a Shomu (SG). We then picked up our respective luggage and then we dumped them to the trolleys. We then walked out of the airport and as soon as we were out, we could feel the heat of Kolkata. We're informed that the temperature was around 33 deg C, but to me it looked like around 40 deg C. It was HOT!!!!

Soon we got into the vehicles provided to us and off we were to hit the roads of Kolkata. As we didn't have our lunch in the flight, we'd our lunch at a place called Banana Leaf, Komala Villas, Gariahat. Here we had assorted items such as Mini Meals, Dosas, Khara Bhats Buttermilks etc etc. I'd a Mimi Meal. The meal comprised or a handful of what looked like Lemon Rice (Chitranna), BisiBeleBhat, Curd Rice, Puri, some sabji with it, papad, some sweet dish, which I do not recollect at this time. The taste was okay but was taken aback to see the small size containers that the rice items were served in. Also as horrified to see the amount of oil floating over the puris and the papad. However, being hungry, couldn't leave room for any complaints. Just gulped down the stuff.

Once we were done with the lunch, we then checked into the guest house on Chowranghee Road. This guest house is named - Kolkata Port Trust Guest House. We had 3 rooms booked earlier. Inmates of House number 1 were JM, PM and AJ. House 2 was occupied by M, AP, S and P. The last of the rooms were occupied by MM, RM and me. The guest house has a garden, with hardly any grass on it and a few flowers here and there. There were also a few trees around it. The guest house had a kitchen with a dinning room. The staff was very cordial and took care of us, very well.

After checking into our rooms, we soon refreshed ourselves. We're then ready for the Metro ride. The Metro riders were JM, MM, RM, AJ, AP, MJ, SG, P, S, Bhat Maam (BM) and self. We took the Metro from Rabindra Sadan to Tollygunge. The train is white in colour and is fully 'air conditioned'. The train is badly maintained. As far as I remember from me childhood days, they haven't bothered to change the compartments. This kinda system reminded me of my days in London. Anyway, we somehow managed to hop into the compartments and got into the crowd. It's pretty heavy. Considering the fact that it’s a Sunday, yet we see a lot of metro commuters. People are just about a few inches away from each other. Thankfully, its not a regular weekday. Else SG informed that on weekdays, people are generally so closely standing to each other, that one can hear the other breathing. Don't want to comments on the smells at this point of time, else the train shall be a messy one. Again this reminded me of the tubes in London, but there one gets the smell of perfume which is very suffocating one. Anyway we finally reached our destination….Tollygunge.

At Tolly gunge, we had 3 vehicles waiting for us to be picked up. One vehicle was a Toyota Innova which had 7+1 packed in, another was a Tata Indigo which had 3+1 and the last was a Tata Indica. The plan was now to visit SG's bade mama (Mother's eldest brother). The house is located in <>. To reach this place, one needs to know Kolkata very well and also to know to drive well. Reason : We're going through places, I've never been before. The approach is very very narrow. So narrow that it looks like just single vehicle can pass one at a time. Yet, you see a few vehicles like scooters, cars and even a truck approaching us in the opposite direction. Somehow we managed to cross over and continued our journey. At several points, the vehicles were turning left and right. After trying to map the route in me memory, I finally gave it up. At several points we're joking that we're now lost and even we taking the return route, shall not benefit much. Asked the driver a couple of times if he knows the route he is heading towards or the way back. As expected, he just nodded his head in affirmation. Now, this scared me and removed all my doubts. But, as we were traversing, the roads got lonelier and narrower. After several twists and turns, we finally came to a halt. Reason, shomi informed that from this point onwards, we need to walk a bit as the road is very narrow.

At this point we see a couple of cycle rickshaw walas. We hire them and 4 of them make use of this facility. This is one of the icons of Kolkata. You hardly get to see these anywhere. Till date, whatever I've seen, all the vehicles used are in a poor and bad condition. Its meant for 2 people who are slim enough and if I were to sit on one of them, wonder where is the space for another of them. Anyhow, this mode of transport is one of the oldest ones in India and this is still being used by many others in Kol only. Also this happens to the only source of income for these cycle waalas and these bread winners need to be full of energy and fit to carry loads in terms of 100s of kg (max of 200 kgs). Anyway we didn't have to walk much. After a short walk, we reach mama's place.

We're welcomed by bade mama. He takes us inside this home and we are now greeted by several members of the family, all of whom, I'm unfamiliar with, as obvious. After a small round of talks, we're now served with a thirst quenching, Sprite. Then we're served with the traditional Bengali sweets Rasagulla ans Sandesh. After a while, we then left for Shomi's place which is also very near by. We then dined here on some excellent vegetarian food which comprised of channa ka daal (one of my favourite among the Bengali daals), paneer ki sabji, daal dhokha, suktho, baingan fry, aam ki chutney and papad. All were just lip smacking and tasty. Generally I do not have baigan, but today, I had 3. This was something similar to what dear Meenu mami used to prepare. She used to prepare this with out-of-this-world Khichidi. The daal was fantastic and I ended up having more rice than my usual quota. The meal ended with 2 of my favourite sweets, which I find it very hard to say no to ever. One was the mishti dahi and one of the easily the best ever rasagullas. The rasagullas were very spongy. Even after squuezing the piece several times, you would always find the syrup always flowing out of it. With my stomach being full, I couldn't do justice to the sweets. To me delight/dismay, my dear sister, MJ, served me with 2 pieces of rasagullas. With great difficulty, imanaged to have both the pieces. They were offering me more, but I refused. Finally after a great meal, we finally left for our guestrooms to retire for the day.

The guest room meant for MM, RM and me was very spacious. Spacious enough for 4-5 of us. The room allocated to me mum, S, AP and P was very small and was enough to accommodate only 3. Later we decided to swap our rooms. Finally after all the shifting of the luggge, we then decided to call it a day err…. Night and retired to bed.

June 8th 2009, Day 2

Woke up fresh and a bit early than usual. The sun was shining bringht and almost onto your face. Now, this is onething ihate about being in the Eastern part of the country. The sun always rises very early as expected than the rest of the county. Back in Jamshedpur, even at 5 in the morning, the sun used to be bright and shiny. This caused me to wake up early, much to me grand parents delight and my dismay. Years later, this has now started to haunt me again. Anyway, after a quick bath, RM and me decided to cross the road and have tea. Now, according to me and a few othes. The best tea prepared is not at homes, not even in five star hotels who seem to charge us exhorbitantly for a measly few ml of liquid. Not even the tea prepared in CCD or Barista can match them. We went to one place who seem to be selling hot tea. As we were sipping a good tea in an earthern port, childhood memories cropped up in my mind. Back in 80s and mostly 90s, mummy and me used to travel to Jamshedpur every year. Our usual route was to catch the Howrah Express and travel all the way to Kharaghpur and then catch next connecting train to Jamshedpur, which is just 2 hrs away. Then after a particular station, which I remember to be as Chaybassa, one gets the best tea ever on earth. It was also served in an earthern port a.k.a matka. The tea used to taste great for one could also get the flaovour and smell of the pot. Ask anyone, who has tasted this tea and they too will agree with me. However, the tea was nothing in front of the tea that I'm used to having but still, it was good.

As we were having tea, I saw one of the boys baking Littis in front of me. Now, litti is a typical Bihari food. This is found mostly in all weddings and other get togethers. This is something that needs to be had HOT. Not even a warm one will do or a medium hot one. This is found only in Bihar and the skill of making and baking this lies only with an expert Bihari cook. Was surprised to see him baking in Kolkata. Took one piece for myself and RM had this other piece. Was out-of-this-world yet again. Having this after ages. Last I had was at a wedding in Jamshedpur and this was in early 90s. After that I never had any. Was very excited to have it. After polishing off my tea and litti, took a couple of littis more for mummy, for this is one of her favourites too. Unfortunately he packed the aloo choka along with this littli and he didn't serve me when I had me share. Anyway, mummy was very excited to have this after ages too. Seeing this my sisters wanted to have it. Again went back to this guy and took a couple more and the girls had just bite of it. Looks like the girls didn't enjoy it for they left a good piece of it behind. Anyway the breakfast arrived and it comprised of the famous bengali breakfast and yet another of my favourites, luchi and aloo dum. Often I've had this in the K C Das in St. Marks road, Bangalore. But today, it wasn't so good as K C Das, but was certainly edible. Took 4 oily luchis and my breakfast was completed.

With breakfast being heavy, we then relazed for a short while and waited for all the cars to arrive. The agenda on today's program is to do shopping at Sreeleathers and saree shopping and bangles shopping too. Since most of the shops open at around 11 o' clock only, we had lots of time to kill. We then decided to visit the Botanical gardens in Kolkata. We drove down to the boanical gardens via the new bridge. I think this is called as the Rabindra Sethu. This is a newly constructed bridge, not to be mistaken with the Howrah Bridge which is THE icon of Kolkata. Reached the gardens which contained nothing but trees and trees only. The place looked similar to the Lalbagh Gardens we have back in Bangalore. The only thing that I liked is the Banyan tree. It's located at the centre of the place and it looks majestic. As with all Banyan trees, it was very difficult to know which is the root of the tree and which is the main trunk. It was looking awesome and confusing too. After spending a small amount of time, we then left for Sreeleather on Lindsay Street, New Market.

Sreeleathers is a leather company which was primarily into footware. Later as business developed and became popular, they then started coming out with more leather products like belts, bags, wallets, jackets etc etc. The quality of these footware is very good and most importantly durable. Ever sice, I've started footware, these have always been from Sreeleathers. Tried a couple of times with other brands, but they weren't durable. This shop is a massive one and is newly refurbished. Earlier it was pretty small, around 2001/2. But today its huge. Was here for nearly 2-3 hrs. Main agend was to buy chappals and sandals for ourselves. But in the end, we ended up buying a lot more for others than ourselves. I bought 12 wallets, 2 sandals, 3 chappals and a water prroof shoe. Mummy bought much more than me. We're well prepared with the hassels of getting them packed as this was a regular feature when we were in Jamshedpur. Those days, we used to get like 30 pairs of footware, only to be distributed amongst relatives and friends. Nice gifts, I must say. Wonder what will they do if they don't like the patterns of the sandals. Do they hit us, with it???????

Apart from the footware, purchased a few socks and a huge trolley bag to accommodate the stuff we've just bought. The bill was a massive one. Total was around 7k between the 2 of us only!!!! The shopkeeper who is a client to me JM must have been very pleased. Oh, btw, forgot to add these lines. As they were one of my JM's clients, we were served with a refreshing 'thirst quencher' Sprite and sweets. Now when you are in Bengal, whenver you think of Bengali sweets, Rasagulla is the first one that pops into our mind. And as again, we were once again served with Rasagullas. Was good, but nothing compared to the ones we had yesterday. Anyway, in the midst, MJ and SG also joined us. After completing our Sreeleathers shopping, we then were thinking of lunch. The elders wanted to have a South Indian meal, which tooks afew of the young Indians by surprise. I mean, you've come all the way from South India to Eastern India, and you're still having South Indian Meal???? Later on, I guess, not to disappoint us, we went to a place called Tamrind. This is located on, Triangular park, I think. The food here was good and thankfully, it wasn't pure South Indian. SG, AJ, M and self had a hearty meal which comprised of North Indian meal.

After lunch, it was time for the ladies to do their bit of shopping. What else can ladies think of while shopping? SAREES!!! SG took us to a nice place called Adi Dakeshwari on Triangular Park. This is a 3-4 storeyed building with an AC, thankfully!!!! The ladies and girls did their bit of shopping and we men went to the mens section. Purchased for self a couple of typical bengali kurtas. They had come good choice and also were cheap. Purchased only 2 for I've never worn them before. (Only recently I wore it and then kicked myself for not having purchased more. They were good, comfy and cheap!!!). Also purchased 2 salwar suits for me 2 first cousins, Aruna Kamath and Poornima Pete. Also a third one for a second cousin of mine, Radhika Kamath. After paying the bils, came down to the ladies section, wherein mummy has selceted three sarees for self. She had already selected one of them and wasn't sure of which of the other 2 to buy. All the sarees were good looking and gave her the option of selcting either of them or both. Stupid me, should have kept quiet. Me and my big mouth. She opted for the latter and took all the 3 sarees. Now, there was a family who were also selecting sarees for a wedding, I guess. There a couple of sarees that mummy liked very much. And again she bought another saree, causing me a heart pain and burning a big hole in my pocket. As we were shopping, I got a call from the HDFC Bank, to confirm if I've shopped anything for certain values to which I replied in affirmative. Now, this is the most embarrasing moment in my life. Imagine, you are shopping and suddenly get a call from the bank to confirm, if you've shopped anything just recently. I guess they were doing this call just to confirm if I was shopping and not somebody else. With the shopping completed at Triangular Park, we then hit Garihat Junction for the Bangle shopping. P and mummy wanted to buy the typical and trditional bangles worn by the married Bengali women. These are a pair of red and white bangles. These weren't looking after the simple ones but were after the gold designs engraved in them. But, much to my relief, these shops were closed due to some strike. So my bank balance was still safe.








TO BE CONTINUED.

2 New Trips undertaken

Recently my second cousin, Meghana got married. Attended the marriage in Goa and also the reception in Kolkata. Will soon update the trip details.

Comming Soon.

1. Goa trip details.
2. A trip down to Bengalooru International Airport Ltd.
3. A trip to Kolkata

Please be patient for there could be a lot of details on this one.

VG
10th June 2009

A new name yet again for me blog

The name of me blog has changed yet again to Vinay's Travels.

The URL is now - http://vinaystravels.blogspot.com


VG
10th June '09

New Amblee Resorts, Srirangapatna (May 9th and 10th)

Its been a while since we went out together. Couldn't go out for we had guys like Rishabh and Harsha working over the weekend. May 9th was approaching and the date of our next travel was decided before hand. The only thing left was concreting on the place of visit. Several places were suggested such as Ooty, Black Thunder (near Coimbatore), Shakthi Hills Resort, Jaladhama Resort, New Amblee Resorts. Several conference calls and several exchanges of mail took place and finally it was decided that New Amblee resorts shall have to bear the torture.

May 9th, Saturday

Awoke a bit early today, shaved and dressed. As usual waited for the 2 cars to arrive. The usual Ford Ikon (with Viju (driver) and Harsha) and this time we had a new Hyundai i10 (Rishabh (driver) and Abhilash). Last time Big C caused the delay for the start and this time it was Rishabh. He claimed not to find his wallet in the morning. A likely tale. Anyway at Sheshadripuram end, we had Akhil, Karthik and self waiting for them. Atlast the vehicles arrived at 0800 hrs and we stuffed our baggage into the vehicles. Akhil and Karthik boarded the Ford and I, the i10.

Took the Goods Shed road and then we hit the Mysore Road. On our way, as we were feeling hungry, decided to stop at Kamat Upachar for breakfast. Originally planned to breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi, but again skipped it out. This time it was due to a massive rush outside and inside the restaurant. Last time we skipped it out as we were too early near the place. Next time wonder what's in store for us.

Stopped at Kamat Upachar and had good dosas, vadas, khara bhat etc. Some of us desired to have idlis, but were denied of it. The waiter said they were out of idlis, perhaps he meant the batter. But a few moments later, we saw several idlis coming out of the kitchen area, but alas, to our dismay, they were already reserved. Finally ended our meal over coffee. Harsha was to take 2 glasses of coffee, but he lost the challenge and now I don't remember whether he managed to complete the first glass too. Reason for not having the coffee : the glass size was enormous. Anyway, paid the bill and left for the resort. This time we (i10) had the pleasure of Akhil's company. Talked a lot of silly stuff like, cars, bikes, women etc etc. On our way, we had nearly 2 misses and saved twice from a serious accidents. Wonder what goes into the heads of these 2 wheelers when they are on the highway. Thanking our stars and God, continued our journey till the resort.

Finally we spotted the resort on our left soon after Srirangapatna. Thanks to my dad, who guided us to the spot correctly. Reached the resort and stretched ourselves. Went to the reception area which is actually built into the restaurant area. Paid the advance of 3k and we were allocated a single double AC bedroom for the 7 of us!!! As we approached the place, we came across several ducks and a turkey. A large fishing/boating pond which was absolutely dirty was also a part of the resort. Continuing further, we came across a nice looking 'blue' swimming pool. A look at the water nearly put us off, for it was looking a bit dirty and also I thought I did see several oil like stuff floating on top. Anyway not to be disappointed, we decided to dive into the pool, come what may.

The guy from the resort, Devaraj (I think), took us to our room. It was an okayish room with a large bed and had this duplex kind of design. So as soon as you open the door, you have to climb 3-4 steps, to reach the sitting room kinda of thing. Here you have a sofa which can be converted to a bed, when required. Also contains a large table and a smaller table and a T.V. Then you need to climb yet another 10-12 steps to reach the large bed. Now this is the entire setup of the room. Took some time to settle in the room and then after a short discussion, we decided to dive into the pool. Quickly we buys changed into something suitable for the pool and soon we were all in the pool.

Had a good time in the pool, played a few games like, catching the volleyball by splitting into teams and a few other water games. Played till around 1400 hrs. After that one by one we got out of the pool and dried ourselves. We then headed towards the restaurant. The service was very slow today, Reason being, a staff member passed away in the afternoon and most of them had rushed to the hospital to see him. Also the food we ordered was pretty bad and I for one didn't like the non-veg preparation. Rishabh, Abhi and self swore to eat veg during the rest of the day. :'(

After lunch, we decided to play cricket.

RULES : There's a small playground which happens to be backyard of the rooms we'd just taken for rent. Anyway we had a wall on the leg side off a RHS batsman. On the offside we had this Cauvery river following. The straight drive was like a dense forest. It was decided that there shall be runs conceded for an offside hit, the rooms walls were considered to be 2 runs. And the straight drive was a 4 as per the normal games. No runs on the back of the wicket. We decided to add a bit more fun to the game. It was a single pitch catch out. As there were 7 of us, we split into 2 teams. Team A (Vinay, Harsha and Abhilash), Team B (Vijay, Karthik and Rishabh). Akhil was the joker. Not the character essayed by Late Heath Ledger or the 13 time Oscar nominee Jack Nicholson. Not even the one you see in circuses or in a king's court commonly referred to as the clown. Now this guy generally happens to yield the willow or rather 'bat' for both teams, only. Does not get the opportunity to bowl a single ball :(

Having set the rules and having set the team, it was time for us to start with the game. Played 2 games. Both teams won a game apiece. We lost the ball once. Akhil in his full strength and might hit the ball pretty hard and the ball went towards the dense forests and couldn't find the ball. Using the second ball we completed the match.

Once the match was done, all of us were inclined to hit the pool once again. So off we went to the pool once again at around 5 in the evening and we were in the poll for a long long long time. Realised that the swimming and playing in the water has made us more hungry. Saw the waiter (i.e. Devaraj) walking along the pool carrying some orders for the other inmates of the resorts. Gave our orders of starters and drinks comprising of Cokes. Took the bottles of KF Blue from the room and Karthik, Rishabh and self started having the drinks by the pool and inside the pool too. Rishabh, by this time had called it quits and walked out of the pool and changed to dry clothes. With this attitude, Abhi was lil' pissed off with Rishabh and was refusing to co-operate with us for anything. As we were tired and also as it was pretty dark, we decided to play dumb charades in the water, adding more fun to the game. Again the team was split into 2 - Team A (Harsha, Abhilash and self) and Team B (Vijay, Akhil, Karthik and Rishabh). For the very first time, the Team A being a pretty strong one, lost out in the first round itself. It was a very hard one to guess. I went in first to enact and I lost hope of these 2 guessing it. Later Abhi decided to try and with Harsha being the single person to guess, we soon gave it up. The film was Chronicles of Narina. Anyway after that we had a pretty smooth game and managed to get most of the film titles right.

Most of us were exhausted and tired of the water. One by one again we got out of the pool and changed into our night clothes. In the meantime, Rishabh and Harsha had been to 'town' to get us 3 bottles of Coke and 3 bottles of beer. Once we were in, we were having some good time and recollecting some of the stuff we'd done in the past. So, in short, we were walking down the memory lane. It was quite late into the night and we finally decided to call the waiter/steward and request him to get the dinner for us. Got our dinner and this poor guy got the dinner in the midst of a heavy rain.

Had our dinner and drinks and finally we all slept at around 0030 hrs, Sunday the 10th May.

May 10th, Sunday

Most of us being tired slept like a log till around 0800 hrs. With all of us being awake by 0930 hrs went and had breakfast. Came back and was mostly watching the darned television. Finally at around 1200 hrs suddenly there was a power failure and this was indeed a good thing that happened to all of us as we were now free to finish off our packing. Quickly we finished our packing and by 1230 hrs we paid our bill of nearly 5.5K. We then started off towards Bangalore. In between, near Maddur, we halted at McDonald's. Had a quick bite of French Fries and Coke Floats. Here, Karthik sat down to do all the financials and finally we paid and got what we deserved.

Reached my place around 1530 hrs, much to the shock of me mother. I guess most of our mothers must have been surprised to see us back home early. They must've expected us to reach home not earlier than 2000 hrs but for a change we thought of surprising them. Anyway, after a small chat, we then left for our respective homes.

So this was the entry I've had for the New Amblee resorts. Afraid, I have no much description for the Sunday's events, for we actually didn't do anything on that day.

Belum caves is still in the minds for our next visit. However, there are plans for White Water River Rafting, but that should be in the months of Jul/August.

A trip to Singapore is also being planned but that’s in the month of October. But there are arguments going on. Lets see…

VG
28th May '09

A new name for me blog

Been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. Before I start blogging now, I thought it would be apt to change the name. Since I've started filling up the pages with only my travels, decided that this shall be the only place where I shall update regarding my travels.

Hence the name has changed to Vinay Now Travels and so also the URL has been changed to vinaynowtravels.blogspot.com


VG
17th May '09

Bandipur - Part 2 : The Trip

Its been a while since i added anything about the trip and already I've been abused at not writing anything about the trip. Well, on popular demand (... and to save my skin....err fat) here are the details of the trip.

Saturday, 10th Jan

The day finally dawns on the 10th Jan. The cell phone's alarm clock wakes me up at the appointed hour, 0315 hrs. Usually I've a habit of waking up later that the scheduled time by snoozing the alarm. But, this time, due to the excitement of the trip, I awoke immediately. Brushed my teeth and shaved. Whilst shaving, Akhil (my neighbour) calls me at 0320 hrs to wake me up. Later after completing my bath, call up Abhi and he answers the call with a sleepy tone. On hearing the tone, I guess that they (Abhi and Rishabh) were still sleeping and I was like the alarm clock for them. Called Viju and he answered the call promptly. Thank God, atleast one person was fully awake. He promised to be here by latest 0430 hrs with the entire team (Viju, Harsha, CR, Rishabh and Abhi). Also Chetan was also supposed to be at Viju's place overnight. However, he wasn't. Anyway after a long delay, they were here finally at 0515 hrs. After a long exchanges of greetings, the troop finally left in 2 cars. There was a Ford Ikon Flair with Viju as the driver, Harsha as the co-pilot and Akhil and me as the rear passengers. The other car was Hyundai Getz with Chetan as the driver, Rishabh as the co-pilot and Abhi, CR being the passengers. We then drove towards Mysore and on our way picked up Raghavendra. He was in the Getz. After a long drive, we then decided to halt at Kamat's hotel for breakfast. After a good breakfast of Idlis, Dosas and Coffees, we were now on our way to Bandipur.

After a long drive, we finally reached Bandipur at around 1230 hrs. We then checked into our room which was prebooked by Rishabh at Jungle Resort. This is now located in Gudulur, which is around 15 kms further Bandipur. Bandipur is now almost at the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Actually its in Karnataka. Gudulur is in TN. Anyway, we reached the room and washed and refreshed ourselves. The room/cottage consists of 2 rooms and a huge hall. It was impressive and we all liked it at the first look. This place also had a small park with a small playground for the kids. There were 2 swings, a slide and perhaps a merry-go-around. Also there were a few ducks (which looked like so to me atleast), a turkey and a few love birds. All the camera experts were clicking away each trying to outdo others with their photography skills and also trying to impress the others with the clarity of the camera. After the guys were exhausted, it was time for lunch. We informed the cook that we were now ready for lunch and were informed that it would take sometime. In the meantime, we were informed there was stream nearby. All of us then took the decision to visit the stream and all of us changed into shorts, suitable to play in the water. Some of us even went to the extend of carrying spare clothes to change incase we were wet.

After a long walk in the nature, we came across the 'stream'. All were aghast seeing the 'stream'. It looks more like a trickle of water flowing than a stream. It looked more like the case in Bangalore, whenever we witness a heavy rain, there is a stream of water on the roads near the footpaths. All were highly disappointed. However, since we've walked all the way to this place, we decided to atleast venture into the stream to wet our feet and enjoy of whatever we could. As soon as we put our feet in the water, we could feel the numbness setting into our feet. Yup, the water was very cold unexpectedly. As we waded further, the depth increased somewhere till our calf muscles. Couldn't go any further for the rocks/stones were very slippery. After some time 'playing' in the water (which looked like wading in the water, actually), we then decided to head back to the cottage. On our way to the cottage, we came across a very scenic forest. It contained a lot of bamboo trees on either side, which were very tall and were crossing each other a the top creating a kind of a arch. It looked beautiful and all were enticed by its beauty. Some of us were also prepared to see what lies beyond. But after some discussion, we decided not to venture any further, for perhaps there could be an elephant trap. After sinking its beauty into our minds, we finally headed towards the cottage for lunch.

We had our lunch and were deciding what are the activities that could be covered for the rest of the day and the next day program was also decided. Post lunch, we decided to play a game of Bluff. Played infact 2 games, which lasted for nearly 2 hrs. Had a great time whilst playing this game. All of us knew each one was bluffing but were afraid to call it a bluff. The second round was never completed for we knew that it was impossible to end the game. Finally it was 1700 hrs we decided to end the game abruptly.

It was pre-decided that we shall go for fishing to pond near by. The manager of the resort came and led the way to the pond. We were then taken to the pond by a young lad, who had a good experience with fishing, or so he claims. We all took turns in fishing at the pond, but we all were unsuccessful. We then realised that were was no such thing as beginners luck. After an hour or so a useless fishing, we decided to spare the fish (if there were any) and withdrew the plan to fish further. We headed back towards the cottage after shopping for a couple of coke bottles. Back at the cottage, we had a few snacks and then we had dinner. All I remember of the dinner was the soup, which was unpalatable. Wondered what was in front of us. Somehow, I was the only one who managed to complete the soup, by adding cheeslings to it. At this, the others were threatening me to finish their share too. Threat was that they would not pay their share of the cottage money, if I didn't complete their share too. However, I was stubborn enough and did not have the rest of the soups. The dinner was atlast completed and we were now ready for a night safari.

The driver turned up with a jeep, which was perhaps older than me. There was space enough for just about 7-8 lean people. For people of my size, I guess it would be around 5 people. There were 10 of us, driver included in the jeep. Somehow we managed to fit into the jeep and we were off for the night safari. Managed to see few animals such as a herd of elephants, monkeys, deer, wild bison, boars etc. On our way back, the jeep was experiencing problem, but our expert driver took great care in not letting us know of the impact of the problem and took us back safely to our cottage. The jeep developed an accelerator problem. All through the return journey, the driver was accelerating using a tread, rope which was connected to the accelerator. So the driver was actually using the rope instead of his feet. How wonderful. Had this happened to us, we wouldn't have ever thought of doing this. He must've enough experience in the past for he was very cool throughout the safari ride.

After the ride, we built a nice camp fire with the help of the locals. Or rather the locals started and built the fire for us and we just helped them in keeping the fire alive by feeding it more and more fuel in the form of dried twigs and occasional leaves. Later, we decided to have a game of dumb charades. The team of 9 was later split into 2 teams. Team A consisted of Abhilash, Harsha, Rishabh and me. Team B players were Vijay squared, Akhil, Chetan and Raghvendra. Had a blast with this game for this went on till around 0130 hrs, with Team B getting nearly every movie unguessed and Team A having just a single or perhaps 2 movies left unguessed. Although the team was really imbalanced (Rishabh suddenly left the game without informing anyone), Team A won hands down with just 3 players playing the game. Did we win because we were all too good in guessing the movie name or enacting the movie name pretty well, I'm not too sure on this one. However, Team A had 2 hefty players in size (Abhi and me), so don't think we were imbalanced in terms of weight atleast.

Sunday, 11th Jan

Finally at 0130 hrs of 11th Jan, the game ended with no further movie names entering into our minds. After that we retired to our beds. Earlier it was decided that we shall go for an early morning trek at around 0600 hrs. Now it seemed to be a remote possibility. By the time all were asleep was atleast beyond 0200. At around 0700 hrs, Abhi and self were the only guys who were awake at that time. As all others were sleeping, we also decided to sleep and Abhi, God knows what was in his mind, suddenly started playing some unearthly music, pretty loud. Within less than an hour, all were wide awake and were blaming Abhi for waking them up. No one ever pitied me for the nearest man to be tortured was me!!!

Anyway, all of us were wide awake by around 0830 and breakfasted by around 0930. We had to immediately vacate the place for we were instructed that we could have the room till around 1000 hrs only. After a bit of hurrying up, we finally bid goodbye to the cottage at around 1015 hrs. In this hurriedness, poor Akhil lost the remote control of his brand new camera :'(

Outside, we then started discussing regarding the rest of the day's agenda. Initially thought of going to a lake called as Moyar lake. This was supposed to be a scenic lake where you could boat too. This was then given a boot as the was nearly drying up. Didn't want to repeat the incidence we had y'day I guess. Later, we decided to go to Gopalaswamy Betta (mountain) which is located at Gundalpete, a few kilometers from Mysore. So, with everything in place, we all drove towards Gundalpete. On our way out of Bandipur, we came across our closest cousins, yep, monkleys. Couldn't click any with the camera for there were too many of them. Some were even pleased to see us and started to come very close to greet us. But we decided to move on. A few mins later we came across a herd of elephants with a calf amidst them. A very lovely sight and was delighted to watch them so close by.

Reached Gundalpete, and somehow, I missed out the way to the mountain. When enquired the locals, they replied, we have come a long way from that place and we need to go back by atleast 10 kms to reach the road towards the mountain. Again around round of discussions took place and we decided to drop the idea of visiting the mountain and instead decided to head towards Mysore. Have lunch at Mysore and go to the B.R.Hills which is in the vicinity of Mysore City.

Reached Mysore at around 1330 hrs and headed towards Guruprasad Restaurant. Had a good lunch. Actually, we were dining with a group of celebrities which consisted of the cast and crew of a Kannada soap called "M****". We felt like celebrities having lunch with them. Unfortunately, they didn't offer to pay our bills. Guess recession time has hit them too, for they just had the regular thali meals. Anyway paid the bill and walked out of the restaurant. Again another round of discussions took place and after voting, the majority decided to Bangalore straight.

On our way to Bangalore, somewhere near Madhur thee is a McDonald's. Now, Harsha feasts on these kind of stuff and chicken's his favourite. Stopped there for some French Fries and a round of Pepsi. Sat here and settled the accounts fully and I got my due of the share.

It was around 1800 hrs and then we split up and finally headed back home. Reached home at around 1930 hrs and was totally beat, stinking and a bit cheerful.

So that was the Bandipur trip. This was my first trip or an outing that I've had with my friends. Planning to have many more of such trips in the future. There is a plan for Belum caves. This plan is in its infancy stage. Nothing has been planned as yet.

VG

Bandipur - Part 1 : The Making of the Trip

The year 2009 has just begun. Get a call at around 1030 hrs from my friend, Vijay C R. He then takes me into a conference call with a couple of other guys (Rishabh and Vijay). They plan to meet either for dinner or lunch today. After a small discussion, its finally decided that we shall meet for lunch. Venue is decided that we shall meet at a place called 'Neel'. Now, this place is located in an area called New BEL road. Here, i get to meet C R, Rishabh, Vijay Olety (we shall now call him Viju henceforth) and Chetan (Big C). Meeting Big C after a long time, for he's in the States pursuing his M.S in San Diego.

Here its decided that we need to go to someplace for an outing. Though the date is decided as the 9th to 11th Jan, the place was yet to be decided. After lunch, we depart and I head home to have a nice sleep, for I'd a night shift that day.

Cut to Jan 4th. Time is around 2200 hrs. Rishabh calls as he would to get a few people into conference. As I'm the only person with the conference facility, got Harsha (Viju's cousin), Viju, Big C and Akhil (my neighbour) in the conference. It's now decided that we shall head towards Bandipur. Though there were some other places suggested, it's Bandipur who won the trust vote.

With the place decided, it was time to decide on the dates and the place of stay in Bandipur. We had a look at several options such as staying in huts, tents, proper brick houses etc. With the current recession in mind and with many people facing monetary issues, it's finally decided that Jungle Homes shall be the destination in Bandipur....wait a minute thats not Bandipur, its Gudulur. This is 18 kms from Bandipur.

Anyway, with all required stuff decided, it was time that we all end our conversation, which lasted for more than an hour. 'T was fun with 6 of us in the conference. But, the phone bill will be the spoil sport at the end of this month :'( .

On Jan 6th, I make a payment to book the rooms at Jungle Homes. With all things in place, venue decided, the rooms booked along with the food arrangements, 2 cars decided, 9 people agreed, we thought the going shall be smooth. Now, hasn't this ever happened to anyone in this world, when you think that everything is in its correct place and nothing can go wrong, there is something or someone to spoil the entire thing. Well, in our case too, the petroleum people decided to spoil the plan.

Now you may think, what can these guys do to us? Well, think hard and think again. They decided to go on a strike, resulting in no supply of fuel across the country. With, no petrol being available for a indefinite period of time, people started to panic and thronged to the petrol bunks. Result, many petrol tanks were dry and some of them who were still operational, had the entire city crowd in it waiting to fill their vehicles to the brim. There was utter chaos all around.

We had to fill our 2 cars too in this chaos and decided not to use the car till the date of journey. This was on Thursday, 8th Jan. Earlier, in the conference call, some of them decided to head towards a place called Ramnagar, just for the heck of it. Due to the unavailability of the petrol in many places, this plan was later dropped. Original plan was to go to Ramnagar on the 9th and on the 10th to Bandipur and return to Bangalore o the 11th.

The strike was on till Friday and was later resolved after the intervention of the Army. This meant that the petrol shall now be available in all stations with immediate effect. Hurray for the Army. This meant that now our journey on the 10th shall a wild one in the forests.

The 10th day of the new year finally dawned and we were now off to Bandipur.

VG
17th Jan '09

An Introduction

Created this site a few months back. Never bothered to check or post any in this section.

Was wondering what to put in this section. I'm not such a great writer of any sorts. Though i enjoy reading, but never wielded a pen so far. Hence there are no such entries in this website.

Apologies if you find no regular posts.

VG
14th Jan 2009