Bikini & Boots

Should I say I am back with a vengence 🙂 ‘Coz I am ! I have lots to share but will continue with where I left off first. i.e. my trip to India. So, quite as I had expected, it was hot! What I did was to push off to the Himalayas – no, not the top, but the lower hills. A 1.5 hour drive from Roorkee brings us to the foothills. We made two separate excursions. First weekend, we went to Mussorie – the queen of hillstations in India. Next weekend, we went to upper Ganges, where adventure becons.

The highpoints of the first Mussorie excursion were-

1. The beautiful beautiful drive. Even before starting with the hills, the drive was beautiful, almost canopy roads through rural areas, with some colorful vendors in every small city we passed. Once we crossed Dehradun, we started with the steeper drives. We ascended 7,000 feet in 2.5 hours. Winding rickety roads. There was a mild traffic jam in Dehradun, but we made it through Mussorie by sunset. Sunset as we arrived in Mussorie was beautiful and has been recorded for posterity in a photograph ! Click on the pic for photos from the entire trip to Mussorie from Roorkee :

2. Glitzy Indian Wedding: We had to attend a wedding – held at Jaypee Resorts – the wedding was a lavish glittering affair. All the women glittered and dazzled. The resort had a beautiful view , a nighttime glittering view of the hills surrounding the hill we were on. I have some pictures here. Taken from my cell phone camera so pictures are grainy.

3. Hotel Kasmanda Palace – this boutique hotel was once the royal summer retreat for the Kasmanda Royal Family.

Our stay there was simply memorable. I could feel the idyllic haze of childhood summers catching up with me. Our weekend was spent in crisp moutain air, redolent with reading and heart to heart talks. The summr palace has a live past. Photographs of the family adorns the walls. One in particular has the Queen grandmother sitting in a royal chair clutching on either sides of her chair, small hands of her precocious grandchildren. I couldn’t resist – I took a picture of this framed photo ! Some of the refurbished chairs that we sat on I recognized from the hundred year old photos as the original royal chairs. Being the summer palace, Kasmanda Palace has lots of stuffed heads on the wall facing the royal stairs. The view from the gardens is spectacular. Overall, the palace is on a small hill overlooking the busy Mall Road, the hub of Mussorie but isolates itself by a steep climb. The waiters, whose behaviour indicates that they may still loyal to the royal family, hover around with patience, providing with water, tea, or sumptous meals from the Chef.

The sudden mists that would cloud up the hills were a bonus I had not counted on. I was so moved by this trip that even my skeptical self took pictures – ofcourse aided by my enthusiastic mother !! Enjoy ! I will be back soon with my final post on this series.

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Bed & Breakfast and custom travel packages for white water rafting, hiking, parasailing, in Shivpuri/Rishikesh/Mussorie, as well as Ashram visits and Maha Arti visits to Haridwar/Rishikesh/Mussoorie, Art of Living Classes, Yoga, Meditation Classes, Sanskrit classes.
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I have some pictures this time. Everything in India is very colorful, loud and festive – weddings, national holidays, religious holidays, vacations, birthday parties, etc. Places of spiritual importance are no exceptions. So, sacred Haridwar, since its an important religious site, will not be, quiet and solem, as most people might imagine. No, it is colorful, loud, and festive – true to the Indian spirit. While the wait for the Maha Arti is on, people are busy buying colorful toys, diyas, temple offerings, eating vendor food, talking loudly, laughing, haggling ! Not to mention the loudspeakers that keep announcing lost children, lost umbrellas, meeting points, Arti details 🙂

I have some pictures of the Holy Ghat and the Maha Arti. The Ghat is on the Holy Ganges, between two hillocks (each hillock has a temple accessible though cable cars-ropeways). 

a)   b) c)

Pictures – Holy Ganga, Harki Paudi Ghat – (a) Waiting for Maha Arti (b) Maha Arti at Sun Set (c) Extra Exposure Photo of Maha Arti ( downloaded)

More Photos at: http://www.msnusers.com/BikiniBootsPhotos/shoebox.msnw

As I mentioned earlier, Roorkee is a very central location to most places in Uttranchal. Haridwar is just 30 minutes ( 22 miles). We got there just in time for the Maha Arti, successfully avoiding the afternoon heat and crowd. The Maha Arti was to start at 7:30 but we had to get there by 6:30 to get central sitting spots on the ghat steps, so we had a close up clear view of the Arti. To really experience the incense laden, heavy singing, lighted moment on the river bank, it is important that you sit right in front. Read the rest of this entry »

Newark to Delhi was for the first time a 14 hr flight. Continental Airlines now has a direct non-stop flight. However, the experience of flying with Continental Airlines was average because I always benchmark with Singapore Airlines, which is luxurious even in economy class with excellent excellent service. I was also irritated with the Air Hostesses on Continental Airlines. They checked in my overnight bag Read the rest of this entry »

I will be leaving for Delhi this afternoon. So, next update will be from India ! I know Delhi Airport is not considered the sexiest of the airports – plus the crowd of cab wallas jostling with other uncouth road romeo’s is not the most welcome sight. However, I will be recieved by loved ones and taken immediately to a relatives home. Delhi/UP is not one of my most favorite places in India – people on the road are mostly more corrupt, cunning and uncouth than any other place that I have seen in India. Also, UP and MP have most of the dirtiest towns in India Read the rest of this entry »

Alright ! I have bought my tickets. Also, anybody flying to India from the West coast should consider this Travel Agency: NOVA Travels.
http://www.novatravel.com/

MANY REASONS:

1.They issue e-tickets. Instantly. And they are real Troopers. I will tell you why. I once had a horrible experience at an airport where a ticket I had bought from a travel agent (paper ticket) was not honored. And I was traveling to India to get married! In 3 days! In extreme panic, Read the rest of this entry »

You know, I think I will be making a mad dash to India for 3 weeks to see my parents. And this is the monsoon time. The first thing I got to know while looking at available bookings is that Mumbai Airport is flooded by rains aka entire Mumbai is enduring heavy rains. Well, time to give monsoons a warm welcome. Torrents of rain. Spectacular. Do you know how monsoons can be celebrated? Read the rest of this entry »

Why is Ft. Lauderdale so beautiful? I will tell you why – because its picture perfect. A nice posh city with a beautiful boardwalk and some really picturesque beaches. There are many things to be done in Ft. Lauderdale.

1. Beaches – Read the rest of this entry »

Oooh la la 🙂 Time for some celebrity spotting? Maybe in Santa Monica but you won’t find any celebrities on Venice beach – just gawkers like me who are astonished and piqued by the scene.

There are several things not to miss on/near Venice Beach including Santa Monica Area.
Read the rest of this entry »

There is not much that I feel like writing about today. I want to write about Venice Beach but I have to track down Madame Butterfly before I do that. For now, I am going to go to the Central Library, Downtown. I have to pick up some books and then go the Northern part of Downtown, where I discovered the blue collar live, dominated by Asian/Hispanic groups. Its quite an interesting change in landscape. While its nice and sunny this part of the town, the minute I am in the Northside of the town, the place somehow looks bleak. Maybe it has to do with all the train lines and the soot. And aging buildings. The city is not spending its money on projects out there. You would think the city wants to spend money here rather than in places that are already very beautiful !! Hmmmn, its interesting to see such dichotomy, like also Central Park area in New York. 

Anyhoo, I am here to visit the Indian Store and maybe grab an enchilada in the enchantingly bare Mexican Restaurant. This would be my second trip to this Indian Store as I have to return a movie. This is a good resource to locate stores: Read the rest of this entry »

You know, I have heard these questions before. So, I will dedicate this blog posting to summarizing my thoughts instead of writing about another spectacular beach :). I have some commonly asked questions listed below, like why travel to India, what is India like, why do Indians have arranged marriges, does the red dot mean married, why is food spicy?  As I mentioned earlier, I am not touting as an expert, but these are my thoughts. And in the grand scheme of things – they matter 🙂

a) What are the places to see in India? and my answer is always the same. Read the rest of this entry »