Lovely Windows

Sangacholing Monastery, Sikkim

Tourism: Some Quotes from a Journal Article

I have been reading a few journal articles on tourism (when a person like me in academics takes to tourism as a hobby, this was bound to happen). I came across the article 'A Theory of Tourism' from a database. The article has been written in German by Hans Magnus Enzensberger in 1958. It was translated into English in 1996 and published in New German Critique.

Some of the passages in this article are so hard hitting, I thought I have to blog about it. The author of the article quotes two critiques of tourism, I am presenting part of the arguments here.

"Occidental tourism is one of the great nihilistic movements, one of the great western epidemics whose malignant effects barely lag behind the epidemics of the Middle and Far East, surpassing them instead in silent insidiousness. The swarms of these gigantic bacteria, called tourists, have coated the most distinct substances with a uniformly glistening Thomas-Cook slime, making it impossible to distinguish Caior from Honolulu ..."

Nodding your head already? At least I was, when I was reading it. Remember this was written sometime before 1958 but it rings so true even today. Now, I quote part of the second critique as given in the article:

"Forty years ago, there were cozy hotels but no unruly masses ... In those days tourists were comparatively rare, and there were no cheap trippers ..."

Nodding your head again (well, I was shaking it vigoriously)? Well, here goes the response of Hans Magnus Enzensberger (from the same article) to both the criticisms.

"In social terms, both voices are reactions to a threat to their privilaged positiopns. Implicitly, they both demand that travel be exclusive, reserved for them and their like. They never say exactly what it is that distinguishes them from ... the cheap trippers. The luxury they appropriate without a second thought is considered sinful when consumed by the mob." (emphasis mine)

Now what do we say to this one? I think I am guilty of the thought (like the two authors quoted above) that 'travel is my thing' and when many others go to the same spot (like Manali), it looses its charm for me. I have to learn to be less snooty!

There are many more interesting arguments in the article and I will surely write about it in a furure post.

Shringi Vatika, Ghiyagi, Himachal Pradesh

I have already written about our journey to Shringi Vatika. So, I will continue from there.

I remember finding the weather very cold and it was raining lightly almost all the time. We had many cups of tea and sat next to the fire that the owners had got going. It was followed by soup and dinner and we retired early the first day. They did not had any hot water that night (as there was no power) and it was a task to use the freezing cold water for anything.

Shringi Vatika, Himachal Pradesh

Next day, I got up late, around 10, I guess. Sesha was out before me. When I surfaced it was Grey with a fine drizzle in the air. Sesha told me we were taking a small hike. The youngest son of the owners, Raju, was coming along with us as our guide. After I had gobbled my bread and omelet with tea and we started walking along the stream. That is when I noticed the smashed up car for the first time.

After a very short distance, the way started creeping uphill. And it kept on going uphill till we reached our destination, Sojha. I am usually very comfortable walking even if it is uphill. But on this one I was not. Initially, when we started walking, I opened my jacket and later on realized that in spite of the climb I was shivering. Once I zipped it up again, it was a bit better. We had lunch at Sojha and later we started walking toward Jalori Pass.

The Road to Jalori Pass

There was some snow around even on the last stretch to Sojha and at many places Raju literally took my hand and helped me walk on snow. As we were walking on the road to Jalori, I saw light snowfall and it is the first I have ever seen. Sesha once again acted superior and said this was nothing, they had to abandon a trek in Manali (student days, I was not into trekking then) because of excessive snow that came down at night. After some distance, there was too much snow on the road and we decided to turn back. Finally, the road started going downhill.

When we were quite near the Vatika (and we had walked in all for about 5 hours) , Sesha in a big singsong voice told me "If walking all day in the rain is your idea of holiday, please start taking them alone." I laughed my head off, he dragged me all the day in rain (it was raining moderately all the day through this walk) without even asking me if this was what I wanted to do. Anyway, we were soon sitting back in front of a fire and I was drying my wet jacket, sipping tea. This was also the day of Kungis soup (Nettle soup) and Sidu (a Himachali Dish).

Snowfall at Shringi, Himachal Pradesh

The next day, thankfully it was raining hard from the word go and Sesha could not drag me anywhere. For the whole day, we were sitting in front of fire and reading and chatting and eating (I wish I would do this more on my vacations). In the afternoon, three other guests came and one of them started chatting with us. In the meanwhile, many of the surrounding regions that were green before were turning white. For a while, wind was blowing, and making the rain and snow run lightly with it. At this point the guest remarked "aap ke liye tou plasma TV laga hua hai samne hi." (It is like a flat screen plasma TV for you and the images keep changing constantly). I was watching the changing scene with my mouth open and how I agreed with him. That is how the third day passed.

After a nice dinner it was time to turn in and look ahead to get up at 5.30 in the morning to start the journey back to the world of 21 inch TV which I rarely watch.

I am definitely going back there in March to get my cell phone back.

The contact details of Shringi Vatika

Manohar Lal
Phone: 01903 227029

Shringi Vatika
Shringpur Ghiyagi
P.O. Jibhi Teh. Banjar Distt. Kullu HP

Guest Blogging at India Travel Blog II

The second part of writeup for Arun's India Travel Blog is up now. He asked me to write about "my love for mountains." Here is how it begins:

When Arun suggested the topic 'My Love for Mountains,' I thought there are many ways to approach this one. I could say, this is actually an acquired love, my husband simply refuses to go anywhere else but the mountains (and only the Himalayas qualify for him as mountains) so I have to love them. But then it is really not true. I equally love going to the hills. ...

The Bakri Wala (shepherd) at the Markha Valley, Ladakh

Pangong Lake, Ladakh

I somehow feel like blogging about an old incident today. We went to Ladakh in June 2005. The plan was to trek through the Markha Valley. We completed the first day's trek upto Jhinchan successfully but then the trouble began. I developed a thoroughly upset stomach. We continued for small distances for the next two days, and camped at Rumbak and then Ganda-La base. But the stomach showed no sign of improving. On the third day we decided to ditch the trek as I was not getting any better. Actually, it was Sesha who insisted that we have to turn back.

On our way back, there was a tricky spot. We had to cross a river and we had a lot of trouble crossing it while going to Rumbak. The flow of the river was a lot and we were wondering what to do. Our ponyman told us to follow a particular gravel track and he went ahead. It must have been a stretch of not more than 800 meters. Part of the way was quite fine and we had no trouble. Then the gravel became very loose and I started slipping. It was not at all dangerous as I would have gradually gone to the bank of the river but at the moment I was a bit dazed. To break slipping any more I just sat down and both and Sesha and I were wondering what to do next! Suddenly out of nowhere came a Bakri wala (Shepherd), smiled at me and asked "aap ka haath pakad kar nikal dun?" (Shall I take your hand and get you across?) And that is what we exactly did. He got me safely across and then went his way.

I still remember the incident so clearly and whenever I think about it I marvel at the timing of his apperance and feel a lot of gratitude.

Goa Blog at the Indibloggies: Are they Copying?

I am a bit surprised at the Indibloggies nominee for the Best New Indiblog category. The blog is called Goablog. Not sure what to say. Who is copying from whom?

The reason: look at this post on Goa university at Goablog (will it get deleted soon now?)

Goa University,the seat of higher learning in Goa was set up in 1985 and merged with the existing Centre for Post Graduate Instruction and Research (CPIR) of the University of Bombay (now Mumbai) that functioned at state-capital Panaji or Panjim. Goa University offers both graduate and post-graduate studies and research programmes. It is currently (September 2006) accredited to the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) in India with a rating of four stars. It is located on the Taleigao Plateau. Goa University was established under the Goa University Act of 1984 and commenced operations on June 1, 1985. The University provides higher education in the Indian state of Goa.

Now do a copyscape for the particular post

Have a look at the wikipedia link:
Goa University,the seat of higher learning in Goa was set up in 1985 and merged with the existing Centre for Post Graduate Instruction and Research (CPIR) of the University of Bombay (now Mumbai) that functioned at state-capital Panaji or Panjim. Goa University offers both graduate and post-graduate studies and research programmes. It is currently (September 2006) accredited to the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) in India with a rating of four stars. It is located on the Taleigao Plateau. Goa University was established under the Goa University Act of 1984 and commenced operations on June 1, 1985. The University provides higher education in the Indian state of Goa.

Word by word same? And no mention of wikipedia. There are other such posts. Not sure who is copying from whom but

Agonda Beach at Goa blog

Copyscape gives:

1.

2.

3.

Palolem Beach at Goa blog.

Situated just about 2-km West Of Chaudi, Canacona District, South Goa is the Palolem Beach. The major attractions nearby this beach are Agonda and Chaudi. The best time to visit Palolem Beach is November to March.

This stretch of white sand dominates the southern coast of Goa. Until a few years back, it was among the virgin beaches of Goa. However, it couldn’t escape from the eyes of the tourists. Although a few developments have taken place, the beach still has a soothing aura to it. A large area of the beach now accommodates a lot of small shacks that taper off as you move towards the south.

Copyscape match

just about 2-km West Of Chaudi, Canacona District, South Goa is the Palolem Beach. The major attractions nearby this beach are Agonda and Chaudi. The best time to visit Palolem Beach is November to March.

This stretch of white sand dominates the southern coast of Goa. Until a few years back, it was among the virgin beaches of Goa. However, it couldn't escape from the eyes of the tourists. Although a few developments have taken place, the beach still has a soothing aura to it. A large area of the beach now accomodates a lot of small shacks that taper off as you move towards the south.

Update 1: As of now if you click on any of the Goablog links mentioned in this post, you get an error message. Here are two screen shots of the posts that I have talked about above.

I am Amazed!

That I won the best travel blog title at the Indibloggies 2006. I don't even know what the prizes are for the category, I was so confident of not winning.
Thanks a lot to all of you who voted for me. As I have said before, for me the best part of blogging has been the people I have got to interact with, through comments, through emails and the few that I have met. All of you have played a special part in shaping this blog.

Guest Blogging at India Travel Blog

When Arun at India Travel Blog asked me if I would do an email interview and a post at his blog I was quite thrilled. The interview is now up at his blog. Many of his questions made me think hard before I could reply to them. The toughest to answer was this

On the passion of travelling: What is it that draws you to distant places? Why do you travel?

This is a difficult one for me. I often travel with my husband and sometimes my two teen aged nephews come along with us. I think we have a collective philosophy for travel. We are a big fan of Calvin and Hobbes books. Calvin is an impossible six year old and his father loves to drag him and his wife on all kind of wild trips. When they question him, he says "it builds up a lot of character." ...

We exchanged a few emails while doing this interview and the guest post (and even before that). I came to know that Arun has two months of approved leaves, aaahhhh how I envy him. And he helped me a lot with my silly camera purchase related questions and my queries prior to the Sikkim visit. Once again, thank you Arun for the help and for this interview.

Kungis Soup: Himachali Cusine

How many of you recognise this plant? Those who frequent the hills, chances are they know this is the bicchu jari (rough translation: scorpion plant, I do not know its real name). It stings if you touch it. Now this time at Shringi, I realized that they make a soup out of it (a different variety from the one in the picture above) and no, the soup doesn't sting. It was called Kungis soup in the menu of the Shringi Vatika and it tastes quite decent. This time around I tried two more Himachali dishes, Sidu and sweet rajma (now what is rajma called in English?) I am no foodie (ten years of hostel food killed all my taste buds) but I enjoyed all the three dishes mentioned here. If you get a chance, do try it.

PS. The full post on this trip is just not happening, give me some more time.

PPS. I might go to the place again to get my cell phone back sometime in March :)))))))))
I will surely bring back a picture of Sidu and then try to describe it.

Delhi-Attari Samjhauta Express Train Blast: Initial Reactions

Maybe it was not there or maybe I did not notice it for the Mumbai blasts (11/7/2006) but this time around for Delhi-Attari Samjhauta Express Train Blast I noticed two strong, angry and skeptical reactions (cross posted at Blogbharti).

Phaniprasad at Sane and Able says he is sick of rhetoric that follows after such incidents and how I agree with him. He says:

A few predictable ones that came out this time around are..

1. “We condemn this incident.” - PM (achaa?)

2. “It is an act of terrorism.” - HM (ha! no way, kya baat kar raha hai)

3. “It is an act of cowardice.” (heard THAT before)

4. “India will not bow before terrorism.” PM again (he said the same thing after 7/11)

Gowrishankar is angry that event after event happens and almost nothing changes.

I can easily guess what would be reaction for next few days.

1) VIPS visit the spot.
2) Media will be covering the scenes exclusively. Interviewing survivors/victim’s family/politicians.
3) Government/Police suspect X or Y terrorist groups involvement.
4) Opposition blame the government for not being pro-active.
5) A special commission will be formed to investigate the case.

So easy right!!!

What is happennig to the reports submitted to government by these commissions for ealier incidents?

The mind sometimes just feels too numb to react.

Dreams!

I got tagged by my sis, Alka and I need to share three of my dreams. When I thought more about it, it seems I get mild nightmares more than pleasant dreams! But how can I ignore a tag by my sis, so here I go.

3. This is probably the worst of the lot. Sometimes, I dream that I am getting chased by gun totting man/men. What makes it even worse is that many times, I see both Alka and I being chased together. Rarely do I dream that I am hiding/running alone. And this one never ends. I just wake up in the middle, after what seems like ages of running around. And the relief when I realize that it was only a dream is enormous.

2. This one is mildly related to travel. I dream that Sesha and I are going somewhere together. Sometimes, it is a bus and sometimes it is a train. He gets down somewhere and I am left alone. The vehicle starts moving and he is unable to board it in time. There was a time when I used to get this one frequently but now the frequency has gone down.

Yumthang Valley, Sikkim

1. These are the mildest but the most irritating set of dreams. Look at the picture above. Can you ever imagine such a landscape inducing nightmares, even the mild ones? This time when I was in Sikkim, for two days I dreamed that I have to take a class and I knew not what to teach.

And there are various variations to this one, and they come with vengeance when I am in the hills. While I was doing the Kuari Pass trek for two days I was dreaming that I was still a Ph.D. student and I have to submit my thesis and it is just not happening. Then for the next few days the dream was some exam I was taking and I was doing badly. I really hate the fact that these dreams come to me when I am in most beautiful surroundings and really do not have a care in this world. And I hate the 'not able to submit the Ph.D.' one most.

Now that I have been teaching for a few years, I guess it is about time I started dreaming about grading copies rather than writing exams and submitting the Ph.D.

Now it is time to tag five more people. OK, here it goes.

Arun and VJ, it would be interesting to see what fellow travelers dream about.

Teri, for I have interacted with her through the blog for a long time and I am curious.

And finally two people who do not blog but leave comments here, once again I am curious and I wonder if they would be kind enough to do the tag in my comment section.

Nilesh and Manu.

The Journey to Shringi Vatika, Himanchal Pradesh

The Stream at Shringi Vatika, Himanchal Pradesh

We spent two and a half days at Shringi Vatika in Himanchal Pradesh. Reaching there itself was a task. Both of us are not fond of driving and the motion sickness complicates the issue further. So, we reached ISBT (bus station in New Delhi) to take a bus to Manali (we would have to get off before Manali to reach Shringi). But by the time we reached ISBT, the last bus for Manali had left. In fact, outside ISBT we met at least four touts trying to tell us that at this hour (it was 9.30 in the night, not all that late) no buses apart from their's was available. Once we managed to enter the bus station, we found that the best course was to take a bus to Chandigarh and that is what we did. It was a 2X2 decent bus, the only decent bus we took in this entire journey.

We reached Chandigarh at 4.00 in the morning (I was frozen for the part of the journey, it was cold) and then we took a local bus to Mandi. From there we headed towards Aut. We had to get down at that tunnel just before Aut to take a bus for Banjar (which does not go through the tunnel) which might go as far as Jibhi. We did all this and finally around 2.30 reached Jibhi. I was so sleepy for the entire way because of the Avomine that I took no tea anywhere (this is becoming a habit now, almost, bad really bad I must say). At some point, Sesha offered me a laddu (sweet) and that is all I ate for the entire day.

We walked the last two kilometers from Jibhi to Shringi, rather than wait for a bus that was available an hour later. It started raining lightly on the way. Finally, when we saw the board of Shringi Vatika, it was such a relief. It took us 17 hours to reach the place. How we attacked the aloo parathas (stuffed Indian bread) that were served to us a while later.

The weather was damn cold (after all, it snowed there lightly) and after freezing for two days it was time to turn back (the account of these two days will follow soon). We wanted to start really early on Monday, as I had a class to take on Tuesday morning. There were no buses from Shringi to anywhere before 8.45. So we hired a taxi up to the tunnel near Aut to come back. We left at 6.00 am. I took my Avomine really early. I reminded Sesha to do the same but he threw tantrums. On the way, he vomited once! I wonder why he does not learns his lessons soon enough. Thankfully, after that he had no problems.

We stopped at the tunnel and quickly got a bus to Mandi. Our taxi guy waved us off and as soon as the bus started I realized that I have dropped my cell phone somewhere (as my niece would say, gir gaya). I cursed myself like anything, then I thought better to drop the cell phone rather than my camera (colleagues at lunch today gave further insight, better to misplace machines rather than people! Trust them to put things in perspective). From Mandi we took a khatara (uncomfortable) bus to Chandigarh and from there another kharata mercifully directly to Gurgaon. We reached home 12.00 at night and by this time I had caught a good cold (Sesha acquired it Shringi itself). For the first time, I did not load my photos as soon as reaching back. Took the class the next day. Played TT too.

I called the folks at Shringi Vatika today and I indeed dropped my cell phone in the taxi itself. So, the phone is not lost. The cold persists. It was so damn cold at Shringi that I had to take rum like medicine again, neat, in small quantities. The onward journey was 17 hours and the return 18.

So, I just can't imagine how could the trip had been any better. In other words, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip.

PS. If anyone is heading that way, please get my cell phone back. Sesha is just not saying yes to going back the next month.

Drinking and Driving do not Mix Well, More so in the Hills

A Car that Crashed from the Road above on the Shringi Vatika (Himanchal Pradesh) Premises

Apparently it was a case of drunk driving. Happened a few months back. Out of five only one person survided, he was probably born under a lucky star, he got stuck in some bushes and lived. We were walking along the road from where the car fell and the road was not that narrow and the bend not that steep. I wonder why do people take such chances?

The Indibloggies: I am Surprised

Hmm, I got a nomination at The Indibloggies in The Best Travel Blog category. Looking at the other nominations my chances are really slim but I thought I will share this with you all. And to the person/persons who nominated me, thanks a lot. I wish I knew who you are. Still, many thanks for nominating my blog.

I am Back From Shringi (Ghiyagi) in HP

A View from Shringi in Himanchal Pradesh

I am back from my short and wonderful vacation. Saw snowfall for the first time in life. But what I saw I could capture only a fraction in the pictures. And the detailed post definitely has to wait till I can clear up various backlogs.

I am Off Again!

I saw some of the pictures of the place I am about to visit and I must say it looks green. The thought of travel in itself makes me smile. Yesterday, while playing Table Tennis, my colleagues commented that I was laughing a lot about nothing in particular :) The problem is that after coming back, it just takes a week to get back into 'plains mood' again. Now, I am going off to charge my camera batteries. See you all next week, have a great weekend.

Jobs Some People Stumble Upon

Lucky Nicolai. First he gets a hotel job like this:

The staff would smoke throughout the day, around the prepared food, and even while preparing food. And when you've worked for hours without a break, while the majority of the staff are sitting around smoking and talking, it gets on one's nerves. But it wasn't the discrepancy of work. Perhaps it was the work hours which started at a meager 9.5 hours and by the 4th day had reached 13 hours ...

Then he stumbles on this:

Rejoice! Freedom! Escape from a life of setting, serving, clearing, and cleaning 200+ tables twice a day amongst smoke-tinged Swiss jodelling music in a faceless black apron and zipper tie, drowning in incompetence. Kiss the snow. Hug the thin, dry smiling wind that drives from the west. I began work with the ski patrol the following day.

The pictures on his blog are smashing. How did I find him? Through his comment on my Sikkim post:

This may be slightly off topic, but is it possible to trek from Sikkim into Bhutan? or for that matter, into China? I'm currently planning a trek in Sikkim that will span a month, so any information would be helpful. Thanks!

Nicolai, thanks a lot for stopping by my blog. As for your query I am almost sure you can't cross over to Tibet from Nathu-La, here is some more information on Bhutan and again it is not too good. But I am sure you will have a lovely time in Sikkim itself.

And I envy you for your job, and your pictures made me desparately want to visit Japan.

What do you say?

Gonomad friends have been asking me to put my picture, that is at their main page, as my blog profile picture too. Even though I know my picture is there with my name on the internet I still hesitate to put is as my blogger profile picture. What do you say?

Three Cheers for the Comments Too

I have said it before and I am saying it again, one of the biggest reward of blogging are the comments. Raman (unfortunately he doesn't seem to blog as of now) left a comment on my Jeep Skidding post which is as good as a post in itself. I am quoting it below.

Drivers.

We once were on our way to Recong Peo - in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh - in the middle of July of the year 96.. the roads were in a pretty bad shape due to the incessant rain.. and to add to that we reached a makeshift bridge - the original one having been washed away by a cloudburst. Since the bridge was weak the BRO workers made all the passengers get off the bus, except ofcourse the driver.. He was to take the bus across that bridge.

As we were all getting off the bus I heard the driver comment - 'sawarion ki jaan jaan hai aur hamari jaan kuch nahi' and that was something that I couldn't ignore.. ..so even though I was dead scared..I remained seated on the bus alongwith the conductor as the driver drove the thing across that creaky structure.. ..and once we were on the other side I felt good about the whole thing, about my conduct.. wouldn't have felt the same had I gotten off that bus after having heard the comment that the driver had made..

three cheers to all the drivers of the Himachal State Roadways fleet.

Raman

Three cheers indeed for you Raman and the drivers, both.

Another comment that has stayed with me till date has been made by Rajeev. If I ever manage to take even six months off, it would be because I became conscious of the fact only after reading your comment. It goes like this:

... guess it will take some more time for us as a society to reach the point where we will be comfortable with taking a couple of years off to travel :). Thanks to Mridula and her ilk, we are waking up to life.

ISO 9001-2000 Chaat Wala

Attended a wedding the day before yesterday and found this BTW chaatwala proudly displaying this ISO 9001-2000 tag. Also, tell me how should I translate chaat in English?