Recently I went to Goa, Pune and Bombay during the holidays. It was a different experience and thoroughly enjoyable.
It was the beginning of the off season and so I thought, why not Goa? After dithering for 2 days and failing to convince Jitu, I and VP set off for the fabled land. As train tickets were pretty hard to come by, we took a bus from Anand Rao Circle near Majestic.
As expected, the bus was less than half full. It really seemed to be the off season. After a ride of almost 13 hours, we arrived at Panjim at around 9 in the morning. Unsure of what to do, we sucummed to the lure of a taxi driver’s version of the beaches and decided to base ourselves somewhere near the beaches.
After looking through a couple of places, the driver grew exasperated and finally landed us on Pedro’s Guest House, near Calangute beach. It was not bad for 500 a night though I still felt the rate could have been bargained further.
After freshening up, we hired a Kinetic scooter and started exploring. Although I had a map of Goa, we hardly used it. The roads were pretty much straight forward and there were signs all around. We headed off to Baga, and then Vagator and Morjim. The beaches were good, and there was a hint of rain in the winds. Soon, we were down on fuel and strangely the nearest petrol pump was quite far away and we had to buy petrol from roadside vendors who sold them in 1 litre mineral water bottles.
It rained and it was fun riding the scooter with the drops of rain on my face.
The next days turned out to be pretty much the same. We went off to Vasco and also explored Panjim and Old Goa. And surprisingly everytime I rode, it rained while the moment VP took over, the rain gods eased things. Seemed like he had a secret pact with them!!!
Despite being the off season, there were a lot of Indian tourists; perhaps students like ourselves hoping to get a good deal during the off season. Finally on the 3rd day, I left for Pune from Mapusa around 7 in the evening.
I was in for a rude shock. I had booked a ticket on a sleeper bus. It was only when I boarded the bus did I realise that I had to share the seat with a complete stranger. Believe me, it was not fun. The guy just would not shut up!!!(I know, I am pretty much the same, but you have to take my word for it, he was just way too much.) After an ‘engaing’ discussion on organic chemistry and learning English, he finally decided he wanted to sleep. And the space just was not enough.
After a bumpy ride, and a solemn promise never to board a ‘sleeper’ again, I alighted at Swar Gate station, Pune. Got to my friend’s place at Kothrud. The next two days were spent just lazing around. Rode his Apache 180, which was quite powerful and went to places like the Osho ashram, Kayani bakery; had awesome Biryani and Cad-B.
I liked Pune, especially how it still retained that small town feeling while maintaining itself as a growing city. Besides, the bada pavs were both cheap and tasty!!! Sad, i have not found such an eatery in Bangalore yet. A search for this trimester perhaps!!
Next stop was Bombay. Went to Mihir’s place at Thane. Awesome place, especially the scenery from his apartment. His parents were awesome too and I also got some wonderful home food for the first time.
Bombay was fun. Saw the Taj and all. Most importantly loved the thing called Queen’s necklace; the view from the side of the sea. Listening to the waves; that was peace man. Made me want to live there, work there. But then, the place is expensive as well. Still, some day:)
The local train was also quite an experience, especially taking the last local for the day. The hustle bustle of the day contrasted with the silence of the night.
Finally, I have visited the big 4 Indian cities. Hopefully the remaining 3 years in India will involve a lot more of these travels!!
Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts
Friday, July 9, 2010
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Swine Flu Break
The past weeks have been nothing of a law school trimester; certainly not the forced holidays due to ‘swine flu’ creating a name for itself in areas around law school.
The holidays were good. A welcome offer from Harini led to an early morning ride to the train station with the hope of getting me a ticket to Coimbatore. The line at the ticket counter was long; long enough to warrant me to look at the clock and calculate my chances. With Harini already on the train, I was thinking that I might need to take a bus from the bus stand which was just opposite the train station. Thankfully, the train was 15 minutes later than what I had expected and the man at the counter gave me my ticket as well as the necessary directions and told me to hurry. I caught my train, short of breath but on time.
The journey was uneventful. I fell asleep but awoke every other hour to see whether it was already 1 pm. I DID NOT want to land in an alien place in Tamil Nadu and dutifully, we got off at Coimbatore.
Luckily enough Coimbatore showed me what I wanted to see; hills and that too so close by. Felt a lot like home. And that too with days filled with contemplation and sleep...loads of it and good food. It was like getting some time to be fully re-charged except that law school tends to finish off the charge rather fast:(
Coimbatore city itself was good with strangely long buses, lack of parking spaces but places for good filter coffee and authentic North Indian food. The city also had lots of old houses. I also developed a taste for banana chips and authentic Tamil rasam. The time spent in Coimbatore was memorable especially the interaction with Harini’s family.
Next stop was Chennai. After biding adieu to harini and her family for the great time, I took a night bus to Chennai, I saw my first tamil movie (thankfully it had subtitles) on the bus. Though the songs were peppy and the storyline somewhat different, the lyrics of the song seemed to make no sense in English. The entire journey was spent in silence, as my co-passenger seemed to prefer only Tamil whereas I had to admit my complete ignorance of the language despite some words that I picked up in Coimbatore.
Chennai brought to me a harsh reality that I thought I had left behind in Bangalore; bargaining with the auto-rickshaw drivers. Although Varun had quoted a price of around 150, I had to settle for 180 from a starting price of 250.The auto-rickshaw driver kept on repeating that it was morning and hence the higher price. After a half an hour journey, I arrived at Varun’s place and also had my glimpse of the sea at Eliot Beach along the way.
Even before I could greet his parents and grandma, I was greeted by his huge labrador named Tara. Thankfully she was friendly and I had to make her the exception to my fear of dogs and soon we were good enough to be friends.
After having lunch, me and Varun went to Marina beach but soon we got bored. Then we decided to go on the search for Fort St. George, which Varun said was pretty close by. Thus, the walk started. Then it stretched and finally we tired and had to call for help. And funnily we were just some 100 metres from the fort. After giving some information, we entered the fort premises which also functioned as the Secretariat. Just roaming around, we saw some old walls and gates.
As we left the premises, we were in for another shock. Where had we come out? We were at a train station and could not locate the entrance. Another call for help and finally we were able to have lunch, buy some books and head back home.
Evening brought the arrival of Prateek from Bangalore, who had his own share of arguments with the auto drivers with the reason being that it was evening this time around!!
Two more days of perfect lazing around with football on the beach and dinner at a nice restaurant with Vaun's lovely parents brought to culmination our stay at Chennai. We even managed to get wet in Chennai which changed our perception of Chennai, but only for a day because the next day was again very humid.
Finally returning back to law school, the normalcy seemed to return slowly at first and then faster and within a day or two, it felt like law school again.
Looks like the holidays after the trimester should be devoted to roaming around Karnataka.
The holidays were good. A welcome offer from Harini led to an early morning ride to the train station with the hope of getting me a ticket to Coimbatore. The line at the ticket counter was long; long enough to warrant me to look at the clock and calculate my chances. With Harini already on the train, I was thinking that I might need to take a bus from the bus stand which was just opposite the train station. Thankfully, the train was 15 minutes later than what I had expected and the man at the counter gave me my ticket as well as the necessary directions and told me to hurry. I caught my train, short of breath but on time.
The journey was uneventful. I fell asleep but awoke every other hour to see whether it was already 1 pm. I DID NOT want to land in an alien place in Tamil Nadu and dutifully, we got off at Coimbatore.
Luckily enough Coimbatore showed me what I wanted to see; hills and that too so close by. Felt a lot like home. And that too with days filled with contemplation and sleep...loads of it and good food. It was like getting some time to be fully re-charged except that law school tends to finish off the charge rather fast:(
Coimbatore city itself was good with strangely long buses, lack of parking spaces but places for good filter coffee and authentic North Indian food. The city also had lots of old houses. I also developed a taste for banana chips and authentic Tamil rasam. The time spent in Coimbatore was memorable especially the interaction with Harini’s family.
Next stop was Chennai. After biding adieu to harini and her family for the great time, I took a night bus to Chennai, I saw my first tamil movie (thankfully it had subtitles) on the bus. Though the songs were peppy and the storyline somewhat different, the lyrics of the song seemed to make no sense in English. The entire journey was spent in silence, as my co-passenger seemed to prefer only Tamil whereas I had to admit my complete ignorance of the language despite some words that I picked up in Coimbatore.
Chennai brought to me a harsh reality that I thought I had left behind in Bangalore; bargaining with the auto-rickshaw drivers. Although Varun had quoted a price of around 150, I had to settle for 180 from a starting price of 250.The auto-rickshaw driver kept on repeating that it was morning and hence the higher price. After a half an hour journey, I arrived at Varun’s place and also had my glimpse of the sea at Eliot Beach along the way.
Even before I could greet his parents and grandma, I was greeted by his huge labrador named Tara. Thankfully she was friendly and I had to make her the exception to my fear of dogs and soon we were good enough to be friends.
After having lunch, me and Varun went to Marina beach but soon we got bored. Then we decided to go on the search for Fort St. George, which Varun said was pretty close by. Thus, the walk started. Then it stretched and finally we tired and had to call for help. And funnily we were just some 100 metres from the fort. After giving some information, we entered the fort premises which also functioned as the Secretariat. Just roaming around, we saw some old walls and gates.
As we left the premises, we were in for another shock. Where had we come out? We were at a train station and could not locate the entrance. Another call for help and finally we were able to have lunch, buy some books and head back home.
Evening brought the arrival of Prateek from Bangalore, who had his own share of arguments with the auto drivers with the reason being that it was evening this time around!!
Two more days of perfect lazing around with football on the beach and dinner at a nice restaurant with Vaun's lovely parents brought to culmination our stay at Chennai. We even managed to get wet in Chennai which changed our perception of Chennai, but only for a day because the next day was again very humid.
Finally returning back to law school, the normalcy seemed to return slowly at first and then faster and within a day or two, it felt like law school again.
Looks like the holidays after the trimester should be devoted to roaming around Karnataka.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Dhaka Continuation
Writing again after a long gap...
I must say the gap was a productive one, saw a lot of places , enjoyed a lot, had different experiences and most of all made good use of my time.
After I reached Dhaka, the first thing that struck me was the number of high rise buildings. Comparing the fact that both Bangladesh and Nepal are rougly similiar in size, I expected Dhaka to have pretty much the same kind of buildings as in Kathmandu. I must say I was positively surprised that Dhaka had its share of skyscrapers.
My stay in Dhaka was in Motijheel; which was one of the commercial hubs of the capital. True to its commercial name, Motijheel had an abundance in banks, perhaps even an overabundance one might say. All of this gave me the sort of impression that perhaps we Nepalis are still far behind our neighbours.
Another beautiful aspect of Dhaka was its roads; every circle had a beautiful structure that was very different from one another and certainly much better than the plain statues that are commonly seen in Nepali and Indian cities. Each structure was novel and seemed to depict something or the other.
Like Delhi University, Dhaka University and its grounds also seemed to be a world in itself..quiet grounds, students around a few couples here and there and in fact much free than the rest of Dhaka. It seemed as if the Universityy and its surrounding areas were a different entity from the rest of Dhaka.
To talk about Dhaka without describing its religious places would be incomplete. although I did not go into the mosques, the opulence and brilliance of these beautiful structures could be well seen from the outside.The National Mosque and lots of other mosques along the way were beautiful.
Also beautiful was the Dhakeswori Mandir and much bigger than I imagined it to be. It was a peaceful place and really felt nice to have some calm in the middle of 'busy' Dhaka.
In Dhaka, I also went to the High Court in keeping with my vocation of a law student but for an entirely different reason..its architecture which was so beautiful. Just opposite Curzon Hall, the architechture of the High Court was good enough to rival even Curzon hall.
Dhaka also brings into mind its rickshaws which are almost a lifeline for the denizens and especially for tourists who are either scared to go on the buses or want to have a better view of Dhaka. My Dhaka trip atleast taught me a few bargaining lines in Bengali and gave me the luxury of looking at the Dhaka skyline and roads so that they could be etched onto my memories.
Dhaka was really fun..Lots of it still left to cover and also to talk about the rest of my Bangladesh trip..but I guess all of that will have to wait cause it is already time for the electricity to depart.
What a homecoming for me in Kathmandu..16 hours of load shedding per day!!
I must say the gap was a productive one, saw a lot of places , enjoyed a lot, had different experiences and most of all made good use of my time.
After I reached Dhaka, the first thing that struck me was the number of high rise buildings. Comparing the fact that both Bangladesh and Nepal are rougly similiar in size, I expected Dhaka to have pretty much the same kind of buildings as in Kathmandu. I must say I was positively surprised that Dhaka had its share of skyscrapers.
My stay in Dhaka was in Motijheel; which was one of the commercial hubs of the capital. True to its commercial name, Motijheel had an abundance in banks, perhaps even an overabundance one might say. All of this gave me the sort of impression that perhaps we Nepalis are still far behind our neighbours.
Another beautiful aspect of Dhaka was its roads; every circle had a beautiful structure that was very different from one another and certainly much better than the plain statues that are commonly seen in Nepali and Indian cities. Each structure was novel and seemed to depict something or the other.
Like Delhi University, Dhaka University and its grounds also seemed to be a world in itself..quiet grounds, students around a few couples here and there and in fact much free than the rest of Dhaka. It seemed as if the Universityy and its surrounding areas were a different entity from the rest of Dhaka.
To talk about Dhaka without describing its religious places would be incomplete. although I did not go into the mosques, the opulence and brilliance of these beautiful structures could be well seen from the outside.The National Mosque and lots of other mosques along the way were beautiful.
Also beautiful was the Dhakeswori Mandir and much bigger than I imagined it to be. It was a peaceful place and really felt nice to have some calm in the middle of 'busy' Dhaka.
In Dhaka, I also went to the High Court in keeping with my vocation of a law student but for an entirely different reason..its architecture which was so beautiful. Just opposite Curzon Hall, the architechture of the High Court was good enough to rival even Curzon hall.
Dhaka also brings into mind its rickshaws which are almost a lifeline for the denizens and especially for tourists who are either scared to go on the buses or want to have a better view of Dhaka. My Dhaka trip atleast taught me a few bargaining lines in Bengali and gave me the luxury of looking at the Dhaka skyline and roads so that they could be etched onto my memories.
Dhaka was really fun..Lots of it still left to cover and also to talk about the rest of my Bangladesh trip..but I guess all of that will have to wait cause it is already time for the electricity to depart.
What a homecoming for me in Kathmandu..16 hours of load shedding per day!!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Dhaka
Finally in Dhaka....
Riding from the Korunamoyee bus terminal in Calcutta yesterday, I was still not sure of reaching Dhaka. I dont know why but there was a fear in my mind of what was about to happen, I was a tad nervous as well.
As the bus lumbered along, slowly making its way out of Calcutta, I started to realise that I was perhaps actually getting to Dhaka and was filled with anticipation and joy. Once the bus stopped for breakfast and reached the Indian customs and immigration post at around 10. It was a 84 km ride from Calcutta.
As I left the bus to go complete the immigration procedures, I was swarmped by a horde of agents all offering to change Indian currency for Bangladeshi takas or offering to speed up my path through immigration. I declined and made it to the long line at the counter.
As I had dreaded, my Nepali passport brought with it a more stringent checking and asking o questions as to why I was going to Bangladesh, what was my profession and where I studied and all of that. Thankfully , it all got over soon and it was time for me to clear my baggage through customs.
I was apprehensive because I had around 20 US dollars that I had bought from a money changer and I did not want it to be caught without any proper recipt on my part. So reluctanlty I paid a guy hundred takas to get me through customs. However again upon seeing my Nepali passport, the customs people asked me to open my bags and checked one of them. Thankfully, the bag in which I had the dollars were not checked.
So glad that half the process was over, I went back to the bus which crossed over to the Bangladeshi side. Here, it was customs first and immigration later.And to my dismay, there seemed to be no agents to see me through customs for a price. so with a bit of fear in my mind, I went for the checking.
At first, there seemed to be no cause for my worry.There was a cursory check through my baggage and I was relieved. However the relief was really short lived. Another man, this time a military guy started going through my baggage. And he opened the baggage where I had the dollars. o be specific he took out the book where I had kept the dollars; Avtar Singh's "Indian Contract Act 1872".
As I watched with dread and fear, somehow he managed to not find my dollars despite being right there. As he gave my baggage back, I mut have given him a really big thank you because he looked back at me and smiled warmly too. I was so so relieved. After that the Bangladeshi immigration part was not so difficult and finally I was sure that I was going to Dhaka after all.
After that journey had some other good moments as well. I had proper rice and dal after about a week and the food felt so really good. Then the bus was transported along the Buri ganga river on a ferry. It was my first experience on a ferry, in fact on a boat so it felt really great. especially with the sun setting in the background and the breeze in my face, it all felt too good to be true.
Finally I arrived in Dhaka at around 7 30 in the evening. Looking around I realised that I had travelled on a train, bus and a ferry to reach here and finally I had arrived. It took a while for the feeling to sink in, and when it did, it was such a happy and joyous feeling.
Now looking forward to the next few days in Dhaka and possibly elsewhere too...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Travelling On...
Travelling alone and enjoying along the way...that has been one of my dreams from early on and right now my holidays asre promising to be just the same...
Travelling alone from Bangalore to Calcutta on a train was much easier than I had thought. Fortunately, my bogie was full of young students returning home for the holidas and I did not get the time to be bored. And when they turned quiet, i still had the time to finish the 3rd book in the aragon series " Brisingr".
Coming into Calcutta on the 20th in Howrah station I looked at the Howrah Bridge which I had seen and admired many times before in movies but never had the chance to be this close.It felt grand and awe inspiring and just like the perfect entry point into Calcutta.
Now into the 3rd day of my Calcutta stay and to be frank I have not seen as much as I would have wanted to, partly due to making arrangements to go to Dhaka and partly out of lethargy. Also just cant seem to find any of my Calcutta classmates from law school. However still got the time to look at NUJS and meet people from law school who had come there for the debate. A lot similiar like our own law school with even a corp bank right next to them, the grounds were a lot smaller and the buildings much higher...Not bad really..
Anyway, my journey is yet far from over. Waiting to get to Dhaka next...
Lets see what happens then
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