Time to Fly ...

Well, not literally but it feels like it. Should be back in two weeks :)

Picture Taken at Bharatput Bird Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India

Vast Open Spaces...

... are calling us again, we (Sesha, Elder Nephew and me) would be off this week to Lahaul and Spiti ... I live for these holidays ...

Hadsar, Himachal Pradesh, India

Lovely Picture

Nomad has clicked an amazing picture of Moon and Venus, you have to take a look. I wonder how much a Sigma 70-300mm F/4-5.6 APO DG Macro costs?

Cross Posted at Blogbharti

Thank You

A Cottage Behind the Prashar Lake Temple

I have to say a big thank you to Paras for all his help in planning my Prashar Lake trip. If you hop over to his blog you will find a picture of the same cottage above. Only he went there in October and the snow capped peaks are in clear view in his shot. In all my three days in May 2007, snow was not visible even once.

I found his pictures of the lake at webshots through a google search. I found his email there too. He answered all my queries with a lot of patience and before I head to the hills again, it is time to say thank you to him.

Lazy Sunday Photo- Flowers

Flowers on the Roadside- Bangalore

The Return Journey from Prashar Lake

The Guest House at Sunset, Prashar Lake, Himachal Pradesh

We used Mandi (Himachal Pradesh, India) as the base for our Prashar Lake trip. For our return journey Sesha booked two tickets in a private Volvo bus through Satluj Travels (located next to the Mandi Government Bus Stand). One can get the tickets in a Manali-Delhi Volvo passing via Mandi. Our past experience with private tour operators have not been too good. And this one too proved to be no exception.

We were given the starting time from Mandi as 9.30 at night and we were promptly there. The bus came up at 10.30, an hour late. But I guess this could be a standard practice by tour operators as they assume that passengers would turn up late according to the Indian sense of time.

The configuration of this Volvo was different from the government operated one, the latter is more spacious. Still, there was ample leg room even in this bus. The driver was a moron of the first order (but then, I think it is luck and you can get morons even on government buses) and would negotiate all the turns on the hill roads at a breakneck speed. I was almost always sliding off my seat and in spite of the good leg room it was very difficult to sleep.

Around 6.00 in the morning the AC of the bus broke down and with a Volvo you can't open the windows. They opened the roof ventilators and the morning weather was pleasant. I would not have given a damn whether the AC worked or not, I would have preferred to reach Delhi on time. But the moron driver wanted to get it repaired. At the first shop they tried, they were unsuccessful after wasting 45 minutes. A short time later, he tried to get it repaired at another shop and around 7.30 in the morning (by the time we should have been in Delhi but we were more than 250 kilometers away yet) we ditched the bus and hopped in an ordinary government bus at a traffic signal.

By 8.30 the day was getting hotter by the minute. We finally reached home around 12 in the noon and both of us had to miss the office that day. We are going to stay away from private bus operators as far as we can.

Taking Some Time Off from Office

And spending it with my sister, brother-in-law and my lovely niece. Hard to think of doing a blogpost, though there are many things to write before we head off to Lahaul and Spiti next week. It is finally happening, yippee!!

Off Topic: Comments on IITK Days

Remember I have an abandoned blog named IITK (PG) Days? Long back I wrote about how I found a baby lizard in my omelet. Well, I have not updated that blog in ages. And now it seems some IITK (Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur) junta have discovered it. I can see hits coming from some IITK newsgroup. I thought I have put enough distance between me and my IITK Ph.D. days. But some of the comments left today remind me the kind of assumptions that can be made.

1. Nit pick when irritated on English language (I didn't do my Ph.D. in English :)

2. Assume women can't manage their affairs even without checking how ancient the blogpost is (It has been a long time I left IITK).

3. Use four letter words and show how manly you are!

4. Accuse people of lying :)

Get a life guys.

What is Humour for You?

Cindy (she is part of the Gonomad blogs) says many editors do not understand her humour. You have to take a look at her post and decide for yourself. I found her stories funny though I would *NOT* like to be caught in any of those situations!

I knocked a soft drink onto the lap of a Rabbi sitting beside me. The flight attendant cleaned up the mess, mopped down the Rabbi, then brought me a replacement drink, which I instantly knocked onto the Rabbi again. Till today I don’t know how I managed to do that. I only recall extending my hand towards my fresh drink and watched helplessly as like some plastic movie prop, it mercilessly swept the plastic cup from my tray onto his lap. The Rabbi looked at me with a stunned expression and voiced a curse

*Not inserted after reading Sanjay's comment. I of course would not like to get caught in any of those situations! Thanks for pointing it out Sanjay.

Lazy Sunday Photo- Another Noida Sunset

May 6 2007, Sunset at Noida

The Paradox of Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal: The Lawns were Being Mowed

The beauty of Taj Mahal is a legend and according to this newspaper report it still remains the biggest draw for the tourists coming to India.

But I wonder why do I have to get to the message boards to get the other side of the story. yes, people love the Taj but also advice to get out of the city after seeing it. As written by a poster at Indiamike:

"And Go On A Tour From Delhi Just To See The Taj And Agra Fort And Then Get The Heck Out Of Agra The Touts Will Kill You There Too. Absolutely Loved Everywhere Else We Visited In India."

Himachal Pradesh Rural Tourism

Avnish of myHimachal forwarded this survey to me. They are interested in promoting rural tourism in Himachal Pradesh. I have filled it. If you have time, please do so. Doesn't take too much of time. After all, Shringi Vatika and Prashar Lake were really nice travel experiences for me.

Lots of Pictures!

I Don't Like it One Bit

Our vacation plans to Lahaul and Spiti are in flux. They have not been canceled but postponed. But the bad part is we do not know when do we exactly start. And Sesha is to be blamed for all this. I don't like it one bit.

Gujjar Unrest and Tourism in Rajasthan

Mangalorean.com reports that the Gujjar unrest is hitting the tourism in Rajasthan.

The situation is grim for tourists who are getting no leads to get out of Jaipur, which remains linked to most of India only by air.

"I came here May 30 with my family. I am trying hard to get out but the situation is hopeless. Even the air fares have gone out of reach of the common people," complains P.R. Rao, a tourist from Hyderabad.

Foreign tourists are faring no better.

"We were to leave for Agra but there are no rail or road links. We are even not getting any airline tickets. The only thing we can do is to stay in the same hotel and wait for the situation to improve. Our entire schedule is disturbed," Felip, who gave only one name and came here from Spain, told IANS.