Kauri Pass Trek and Rishikesh trip

We went on a 6 days Kauri Pass trek from 24-30th of April followed by few days spent in Rishikesh, Haridwar and Delhi.

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

Kauri Pass Trek:
It was my first overnight trekking experience, the lack to time to figure out the details of what to expect there made it even more interesting. I started from Hyderabad, took a flight to Delhi and an overnight train to Haridwar. All of us were to meet at Har-ki-pauri but instead we met at the Train station itself at around 7:30 AM and took a bus to Nanda-Prayag right away.

From Kauri Pass trek

The bus journey wasn't a very good start for the trip as most people felt uneasy due to the motion sickeness of that rough drive on the winding roads. We arrive at the NandaPrayag by 4 PM, here we dropped of some of the extra luggage at the "Siddhart Lodge", taking one room for 6 days for 400 Rs. We continued to Ghat by a couple of Jeeps. We arrived there by 6:00 PM or so.

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

Now the surpises started for those of us trekking for the first time. I soon realized that it was not like those organized camping sites I saw at few national parks in the US. It was plain jungle with 4 tents belonging to us, no maps, no toiletts, nothing :). I haven't really stayed overnight in a national park either so no idea if the experience is any different.

From Kauri Pass trek

Soon there after we got our welcome drinks and then spent some time refreshing up on the fresh/running water stream. The day ended quickly after a good dinner and a tea. There isn't much to do in such an environment and all of us were tired too.

From Kauri Pass trek

The next few stays were pretty much spend in a constant manner, we walked for somewhere between 7-16 KMs per day mostly stopping near a village so we can like the villagers make use of the water stream nearby. I will try to add the itinerary here.
One thing that astonished me when visiting these villages was that almost every kid in the village went to school. One village of about 300 family actually had 2 different schools. Also unexpected thing at a village named Guni was how a single person named Mr Negi owned almost everything there, lots of farms, the only Telephone booth, a big lodge, a shop and being a school teacher earning 18 K per month. Somewhere later the potters told us how most ppl in the village were actually much more rich than someone would expect. For e.g many villagers would own up to 100 goats each costing 300o -4000 Rs. Some of them actually owned 300-400 goats, can you believe that ?

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

From Kauri Pass trek

After we finished trek at Auli we stopped over for a night at Jyotimath, the food at the Badri Kedar restaurant was a great treat to the mouth and the stomach. The next day we rented a car to Rishikesh. Yes renting for oneway wasn't that bad a idea it costed us around 500 per head. They charge 300 per seat and take 10 ppl in a 7 seater, so can pay them 3000 and rent the jeep for yourself.

From Kauri Pass trek

Rishikesh is famous for its Rafting offerings. We were able to get a rafting deal paying them mere 400 Rs per head for a 16-21 KM rafting (there were varying responses when we asked them the distance). The category would be 3+. As there are atleast 2 rapids of that category though there are others of Cat 1+ and Cat 2+ too. The surprise in the package (or atleast I didn't know) was them allowing people to dive in to water from a 20 ft high cliff in the middle of the rafting. We cudn't get to swim as we were pretty late. Do note that you should try to start from Rishikesh by 3 PM to make sure you are available to start rafting by 4 PM (starting point is about 20 KMs away from Rishikesh). We stayed overnight at a dharmsala for mere 400 Rs per room. (yep good dirt cheap accomodation is available in most ashrams, dharmsalas).

There are quite a few temples in Rishikesh. As I took a stride in the city, I did feel it was probably the calmest city I have been too. There isn't much traffic or pollution. All you hear anywhere is the bells or enchanting of prayers from the temples. The Lakshman Jhula and Ram Jhula suspension bridges in the city are also beautiful peace of civil engineering worth a visit. I didn't find the Chotiwala restaurant that people spoke so much about worth the hype.

From Kauri Pass trek

The next day we stopped over at Haridwar. The most famous spot here is the Hari Ki Pauri and the maha aarti 6:30-7:00 PM seems to be a event you can't miss. Well I didn't find it that great. The whole thing lasted for mere 10 minutes but the wait was more than 45 minutes. The donation collection at the spot reminded me of the emotional blackmailing technique used in the insurance ads. That guy would keep pursauding ppl to donate saying that since they have come all the way so they must spend money otherwise they will repent later :D

Waynad, Kerala Trip

On the long weekend of Good Friday we had a trip to Waynad. The trip was rather impromptu to the extent that we only booked tickets to/from Bangalore and talked to a cab driver to pick us up from Yashwantpur station. On the Wednesday evening we kinda finalized that Waynad is going to be a good option in this season compared to Humpi or Mysore and around. We rented a tempo traveller from Bangalore as we were 7 in number and a car would be uncomfortable.

Waynad's wikipedia/wikitravel article gave enough information to help us decide. The place is pretty cool throughout the year with peak temperature of 35 and min of 20 degrees celcius. On arriving we did find it true.

From Waynad, Kerala trip

The distance from Bangalore to Waynad is around 240 KM and should have taken 5 hours or so but the calculations didn't work good enough :). Starting at around 8:30 AM from the station we finally arrived in Waynad at around 6:30 or later. Yeah couple of things went wrong. Based on experience of my last trip to Ooty, Mysore etc. I suggested stopping over at Kamat restaurant on Bangalore-Mysore road. This time the restaurant was too busy. It took us around 1.5 hours to get basic breakfast down and it sucked because of poor service.

From Waynad, Kerala trip

From Waynad, Kerala trip

Then we stopped at McD which was just 10-15 KMs away from Kamat for some good food. Like all McD's there isn't much that can go wrong, they were fast and efficient in providing us food even though we had to wait for getting seated. Another 1.5 hours gone. Post this the stops weren't too big until we came at the Kerala border. The driver was trying to be extra smart making us pay 1000 Rs to him when the fees was just 380 Rs for 7 days visit. Lots of time was wasted here because of improper papers our driver had or something else, the police official did want to clarify that everything done was as per rules and "Of course I will give you a reciept this is not Karnataka boss, this is Kerala".



Before/After(?) the checkpost came we were able to see some wildlife as the road goes through the forest, We saw Elephants quite a few of them around 3 groups probably all of them were about to cross the road when we saw them. Later during our actual safari in the Waynad wildlife sanctuary we saw one additional animal species the deers and nothing else. As they said if you are luck you can see leopard, bison, tiger etc. but my experience with most safaris say you hardly get lucky ever :D

From Waynad, Kerala trip

Our stay was in Sultan Bathery the first city that comes on our route, around 12 KMs before the more famous Kalpetta city. Later in the evening when we went out for dinner most shops were closed by 9 PM, someone suggested that it was because of Good Friday. As I said in my other post about Kerala festivals aren't the best time to be in Kerala as tourists. We at the Sagar restaurant where we could get Kerala specialities, the Parantha and the Fish curry and other non-veg stuff. The later part of the evening was spent playing "Bang".

From Waynad, Kerala trip

From Waynad, Kerala trip

The next day we went to the Eddakal caves, much more than the cave part we enjoyed treking towards the cave and then hiking on the hill across the cave. As we kept climbing we could see clear panormic view of the surroundings and as is well know Kerala's mesmerizing beauty made up keep going despite the improper and uneasy route upwards and downwards.

From Waynad, Kerala trip

From Waynad, Kerala trip

From Waynad, Kerala trip

Post this we went to the Soochipura Waterfalls where we spent lot of time treking and then sitting right under the water falls posing for photos and fighting for the right spot to sit or stand. Not to mention before we started the trek for the fall we at a the proper lunch in form of Maggi noddles and omelets for some. Like at all other places the concept was to eat enough to make sure you "vasule" you contributions to the pool :P

That was it it was around dark and we headed back to Hotel after having our dinner at another restaurant in Sultan Bathery very close to our hotel. Again we couldn't get the veg specialities like Apam and Iddiapam and had to eat the regular north Indian kind of food except for the Laccha parantha.

From Waynad, Kerala trip

From Waynad, Kerala trip

Next day we took safari at the Waynad wildlife sanctuary. There isn't much we saw there as I already mentioned. Post this we headed on to Mysore where we spent time at Srirangpathnam visiting the Tipu Sultan's summer fort which is now made a museum, It liked it quite a bit though it was small the painting were quite well documented and informative. We also went to see the placed where Tipu's body was found in his last war. Soon we were on our way to Bangalore and then back to Hyderabad.

Hong Kong and Macau Visit (When, What and How)

Many may not be aware of the Hong Kong's tourist friendly Visa on Arrival policy. In short you can arrive in Hong Kong with your return ticket within next 14 days and you will get a visa. This makes hong kong a top choice for transit from traveling from India to US.

From Hong Kong and Macau

My visit to Hong Kong was piggybacked on my US trip which I decided to do with Cathy Pacific airlines for visiting HKG. The HKG visit was a 3 day long trip and I found it pretty much enough to travel around. I also found enough time to visit Macau which also has similar immigration policy.

From Hong Kong and Macau

What is there to see in HKG ?
HKG has the image of being one of the financial centers of the world. The city is characterized by the sky scrappers which are lit in fashion. The buildings are indeed beautiful and their lighting does impress as much. Another thing to notice is how the buildings are so well connected to each other via overbridges wherever possible so as to make it easy for people to walk conviniently across long distance without ever needing to hit the road.
Coming to points of interest, Victoria peak is arguably the best point to overlook the city. It makes for a scenic treat in the bright light of the day or the darkness of the evening. Mind you its pretty windy and its one of the places in HKG where you would miss you jacket or sweater :)

From Hong Kong and Macau

The other famous things to do include the skytrain from Airport to Lantau Island (didn't try), the ferry to go to various Islands across, visiting the 10000 Buddhas Monastry and enjoying the free cultural shows organized by Hong Kong Tourishm daily (for e.g we saw the Kung Fu Performance by Kung Fu Corner in Kowloon park).

Macau which is just 1 hour oneway on a ferry is considered a place to visit when you are in HKG. Macau is considered Vegas of the east for its numerous Casinos. The more interesting fact however is that it was a Portuguese colony. Though I didn't spent enough time to notice the difference from HKG which was occupied by the English but people say they are worth noticing. The casinos themselves are grand and their interior pretty well decorated comparing them to those in Las Vegas wasn't easy for me.

From Hong Kong and Macau

From Hong Kong and Macau

Tips for traveling in HKG
1) You can buy the Octopus card available from the Airport for 220 or 300 HKD, they are pretty useful if you are considering taking the Airport express shuttle to the city (100 HKG oneway). The first gives one ride the second a round trip. + Unlimited Metro train travel for 3 days, 50 HKD is refunded on return. Amazingly this card works for paying almost anywhere including most public modes of transport, the shops etc.
2) Traveling within the city could be done with Metro trains or the local buses both of which are pretty cost effective the trains being cheaper. Bus are good to get a good view of the city while traveling. Taking E11 from airport to city center turned out to be wise advice I got from someone on the internet. The bus stop are pretty well documented in english, grab a map from the tourist desk for convenience. (Airport express takes 20 min, A21 takes around 1 hr, E11 takes more than that but goes through about a full trip of the city).
3) City cabs are pretty good too, note that their isn't much concept of tipping in HKG the money is just rounded to the next dollar mostly.
4) Nearby Islands are connective by quite fast and cheap ferry services.

Traveling within Macau:
1) The casinos arrange free pickups/drops from/to Ferry terminals.
2) Cabs and busses are other way of going around in the city.
Note that the Ferry from HKG Island to Macau are pretty regular during the day time almost 1 per hour but between 2 AM - 6 AM they don't operate that frequently.

From Hong Kong and Macau

Spanish Movie Festival at Hyderabad

Just wanted to mention how much fun it was going to Spanish Film Festival hosted at Prasads multiplex by Moving Image and Casa De La India among others. It was a 3 day film festival started with Friday night showing Miguel and William, pretty nice romantic comedy.
Saturday morning they screen the 13 Roses, which probably tops on my list of most tragic and yet interesting delivered stories along with another one which I missed and have no idea about.
Sunday morning the movies screen were again amazing, The Habition de Fermat (Fermat's room), Siete mesas de billar frances (7 billiards tables) and The Oxford Murders. [ A more detailed post here.

The response was amazing with the normal hall being almost full and requiring them to screen the last movie in IMAX hall. The music between the movies was amazing, I am glad I was able to find it by email-ing to the organizers :) The music I liked the most was Ay! de mi by Antonio carmonas and Mala Rodrigue. Seems like other music tracks were also by Antonio Carmonas.

Thank you all the organizers and sponsors, hope to see another movie festival soon.

BTW, the publicity of the event was not up to the marks, I wonder how we got to know of it only by chance. Would be nice to popularize such events online by going to social networks.

San Diego trip

The blog post comes 6 weeks after the trip but its been one great trip that I must write about.

San Diego(SD) is around 8 hrs away from Mountain View, CA. I didn't find enough interest amount friends to drive all the way, but for me SD was one places waiting to be visiting since long. My previous attempt last year failed as friends decided to spend both days of weekend at Los Angeles instead of driving further to SD. In terms of drivers I was the only one luckily we figured out that Vatsa was in Santa Monica and was willing to drive to and fro SD from there and so we started.

From San Diego trip

From San Diego trip

After getting some expert advice about saving driving time and trouble with traffic we decided to leave just after dinner on Friday, which with some delay ended up being 10:30 PM. Luckily we got a GPS for the trip. Santa Monica our first destination was 5 hrs and 30 minutes away. With some irresistible stops at rest areas because of drowiness we finally reached SM by 4:30 AM. SM to SD is just a 2hrs and 30 minutes distance and we left from SM by 9:00 to reach the Sea World by around 11:30 AM.

From San Diego trip

Sea world at San Diego is amoung the most famour theme parks. Mostly because of the Dolphin shows there. Shamu is the name of the most famous Dolphon there and probably in the world too. There were around 7 shows on the schedule most of them repeat every one hour. The rides are pretty much continuous but close by 7:00 PM. We were able to catch almost all the shows. The dolphin show was the major attraction and was amoung the best performances I have seen and of course the Dolphin performed the most of it but their trainers were also a major part of the wonderful show. Other great things to see include Sea World aquarium, the 4 D show. We also had a couple of rides. There is a kinda conclusive show at 7:00 PM which is called "Shamu takes you around the world or something" which is a beautiful light and sound show along with the Dolphin stunts :)

From San Diego trip

From San Diego trip

From San Diego trip

From San Diego trip

The plan to walk around the downtown in the evening didn't work as it was raining quite heavily and findind parking in SD turned out to be as hard as it is in San Francisco. We went to a restaurant Maxican near North SD. The complimentory nachos were mouth watering tasty and so was the Quesidilla, but the most interesting thing was the "Grande Margarita" drink which they say was originated here and became famous all over the world.

The next day we head a couple of things to do. The SD zoo, the beaches (surfing) and the La Jolla. It turned out the rain has turned off the option for surfing. We decided to go the zoo and I it was pretty mch worth spending the 4-5 hrs there. Among the rare animals to see there are Kangaroes, Kwalas, Hippos, Penguins and Bears. The place also hosts variety of birds and other typicall animals like buffaloes, zebras, jiraffes, tigers and so on. What I found different in this zoo was that most animal weren't kept in completely closed cabins, instead they were kept in mostly open ones. I remember reading somewhere in the zoo that they keep the animal in completely close cabins only for sometime in the begining till they get used to the new environment, interesting!

From San Diego trip

After this we went to see La Jolla, which is a very scenic place famous for the sunset view. The beach at La Jolla indeed gives a very beautiful view at sunset. The waves at SD were also pretty big compared to those I have seen around Santa Cruz, It was clear that SD happens to be a big surfing spot.

From San Diego trip

The return jouney was also done in the same split manner and it turned out pretty well in the end but for the last 60 miles where it became almost impossible to drive and we had to pull over almost 3 times. It all turned was all good. A big long 1100 miles on a 2 day fun filled weekend.