Fun during the long christamas weekend

Did nothing much for 3 days but watched movies, ate food, slept, watched movies, ate food, slept and so on.....

I think New year would also be this interesting.

New Year Plan

Any suggestions for new years.... i cant think of anything and a weekend at home looks like the best option. Kinda reminds me of the days in school, when i used to spend the nights watching new year shows on DD1.

It was a family reunion of sorts...

Leh Trip - Day 7

The day began with some hot tea and the view of the sun rise. The golden drops of warmth were more than inviting. A quick shower and we hit the road to visit the only Monastery where in the statue of Lord Buddha is in the outside. Lukhil monastery, as it was called in the old days, today has been given a more more acceptable to our palate, Likhir Monastery. This was the only place where we could see many young monks running around the compound of the monastery, many adolescent ones prioritizing their work for the day ahead and the elderly yelling out the days chores to all in their vicinity.

We had packed a crate full of food for our lunch by the Indus. The trickling of water around the rock edges and the steady flow of blue water was truly mesmerizing. A few snaps of us by the river and i was ready to grab a bite from my lunch box. Bioled eggs, Boiled Potatoes, Cheese sandwich, juice and some cookies. Mouth watering!!!! considering the fact that food is difficult to find in this intolerable conditions. Without thinking much about our next agenda and after munching on a hearty meal, we hit the road to Leh town and visit one final monastery, the Spituk Monastery. This Gonpa is perched on a high hill overlooking the Indus river.

The monastery dictates a panoramic view of the valley for miles. Numerous images of Lord Buddha and five 'Thankas' (Scroll painting on silk and brocade) in this 11th century built monastery. Spituk also houses a prized collection of masks, antique arms and an admiring idol of Mahakaal. Although taking pictures of the Airport is strictly prohibited, i did manage to take some that may not be too revealing to the outside world. Few good photos of an Air Force cargo place and the day was closing in on us. A short drive to our hotel and it was already dark. A good dinner and we were of to a good nights sleep before flying out of Leh back to our 'Real' world.

I don't know if this was the real world or the one i was going back to was the one, but i was surely a guest to heaven for the last few days.

Leh Trip - Day 6

Agenda for the day: To drive to Lamayuru Monastery, visit Alchi, visit the village (Which was not planned initially), Have a borne fire, great dinner and stay the night at a motel at Alchi village. Sounds like a lot but we added a few more things to our plan as the day went by.

We drove around 140 kms to visit the Lamayuru. Most places en-route, like the magnetic hill, the Sangam and the gurudwara, we had visited on an earlier day. So i caught up a long argument with my driver regarding Buddhism, as taught today and to what would have actually been taught by the Buddha himself. Although our thoughts were similar in the matter of fact that todays teachings are more orderly, which is not right, we still argued on the true reasons of re-birth, purpose of being born and many trivial things that we really dont think about in our daily being. It was a great experience to have chatted with him as time flew and we reached moonland. Apparently, many travelers visit this place to admire this view. Their is no other place in the world that looks like this and some say, it looks like a piece of the moon on earth, hence the name.

Next stop, Lamayuru monastery. A nice place with hardly any monks around. when asked, we were informed that most monks were visiting villages and spreading the teachings. Nice place with a beatiful view of the Indus below. We left taking a route that was under construction and it was an amazing road. A good 30 kms stretch ride beside the Indus with the mighty Himalayas giving us a very intimidating feeling.

Lunch bu the Indus and after travelling another few kilometers, we reached Alchi village and we were just in time for evening tea. An amazing masala chai awaited us and sipping it with a smoke was a bliss. We heard some local music playing close by and decided to scan the village. It was a wedding and we walking in. We were greeted by some very friendly people and were offered some local brew called "Chaang". I decided to pass that and opted for some Ladakhi Butter tea. I enjoyed every bit of it and left with some good memories of attending a wedding here.

A few photos from the top of the motel and the wind was getting chill. We hit the comfort of our room and decided to have a fire. A fire place at any altitude just brings out the best of the trip. One hour in sub zero temperatures by the fire and my gloves were out, shoes were off a smoke to bring things back to life. Early dinner and the sack was all that was visible. Slept better then most days. She was much better than the previous day. Maybe thats why...

Leh Trip - Day 5 : Pangong Tso

This was one of the days i was looking forward to all my life. Somewhere, subconsciously, There was always a thought that i need to visit Pangong Tso. The place where my father took me 20 years back and it was awe inspiring from then on for me. I always wanted to be here when i am older, to remember the place till my last breadth, And today is the day.

It was a little over 130 kms from Leh and we started around 8.30. we started late since we were planning to camp by the lake. If it was to be a day trip, it is advisable to leave much earlier if you want to spend at least 2 hours in heaven. First stop, Karu military station for some breakfast. Next break was to be at Chang la, the Worlds third highest pass. The drive to Chang La was filled with snake like roads, thinner than a street. Ice had hardened on the road and had become dangerous to drive on. Reaching Chang La was an achievement in itself. With only a few Army guards bitting the cold, the place was surrounded with snow and the whisper of winds from the valleys below. A lot of things were running in my head and the most prominent was, 8 out of 10 people cant stand here and be normal. I was perfectly normal. Just like i was born here. That gave me a lot of confidence.

By now my better half was showing signs of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). As usual of her, she would not listen to me and stay awake. She does not listen, at least you try, never sleep when your head feels heavy and you feel like throwing up. Sleep is one way of taking over your body. After coming so far, it was a matter of another 2 hours to Pangong and why not try to reach their even if we could not stay overnight. Next stop, the last village before the chinese border, Tangste. It was a twin village with Durbuk covering the Last and most prominent Army Units to defend our nation.

We stopped for Tea and a smoke. Lush green valleys with Olive green of the Army ever where. My recent haircut left a lot of them in doubt about my shade of Olive green. The next on our map was Pagal Naala (Mad Stream). I could never really understand why would anyone give such a name to a stream.

The first glimpse of the sky blue lake between the hills was from not far away. As we crossed the Army camp that was right up at the beginning of the lake, time just stopped for a while. The Army camp had a souvenir shop and an army run canteen. They also had speed boats and multiple helipads. We were cruising at snail speed as their were no roads to our camp site.

The view of the lake was more than anything i could ever have asked for. I never spoke a word and just captured every inch of the lake in my mind. Their is no other lake in the word so blue. As you go closer to the lake, the colour disappears and becomes the most clear lake you would have ever seen. Wonder where the colour comes from. We parked our car at the camp. My better half was getting bad to worse with her AMS and she decided to sleep for a while. I saw my watch and it was 1.30PM. If we had to leave back to Leh, 2PM is the last option. It is not advisavle to start after that due to multiple reasons. One, "Pagal Naala" lives up to its name. Secondly, the snow on Chang La becomes a skaters paradise and the car does not run on blades.

This was the only place in the world where the lake was much more blue than the sky. I wish i had carried my 100-400 to capture the Bar-Headed Goose. There were plenty of them around. They are solitary hunters and prefer to be swimming alone in the shores of the salted lake.Patience is something that i would love to have had, but when the air around is a little below -10 degrees and there is a subtle breeze blowing across the silent shores of the lake, it is a little too much to ask for. Also, the failing condition of my better half kept my mind half present at the lake.

After spending a good one hour by the lake, i left heaven to get back to check on her condition. And she was not doing very well. I decided at 3.30PM to leave Pangong back to Leh. I am not sure if many people had the courage to take this decision. My driver, with all his experience, was hesitating to take us till Leh. But i convinced him that nothing would happen. A hot tea and we were on the way out of the most beautiful place in the world. 20 kms into our journey back to to Leh, we reached "Paagal Naala".

Now, i will tell you why the name. History says that during summer, after 2PM, one cannot cross the stream as it runs fast and deep. It was a bad strip of road with big rocks and a thin stream of water running over when we crossed around 1PM. By 4PM, the stream was a mini river with strong under currents and our vehicle was more like a canoe up for rafting. Fingers crossed, we were slowly maneuvering over the rocks and the fast stream of sub zero water. My mind was racing with many things. She is not keeping well, the air is getting colder, the sun is setting and the last few rays were visible on the top of mountains the water is getting faster by the minute and we have not even reached half way across the stream. As we reached the end of the stream, the mind, body and muscles relaxed. But i guess that was a bit too early since our prayers had stopped and the "Mental Lake" was not pleased by any chance. The rear right tyre found a sweet spot between two big rocks in the stream and we could not move either ways. My driver and I gave our best shot to try various things, with no luck. In this wilderness, we could not turn back or hope for help, that was the only thing running in my head at this minute. After spending 15 minutes, i heard a Yamaha RX100. At 14,500ft, the sound of an RX100 was pleasing and at the same time i thought i was running nuts. But then, it was really a YAM. The rider was a seasoned guy to these roads and offered a helping hand. We collected small rocks and dug out the large ones from around the tyre. Within minutes, my hands were harder than the stones around and i had lost all sensation in my hands. The water was well below sub zero and would freeze instantly when not in motion. After an hour of struggle, the car finally pulled out of the stream. The rocks settled into the hole and the stream covered the whole struggle up, as though nothing had happened. Paagal Naala, lived up to its name for us.We reached back home at around 8PM without any more problems. She was already feeling better as Leh was lower in altitude. I was feeling a bit upset about not being able to see the sun rising and no being able to go to Khardungla the next day. But i slept with the thought that, I will come one more day top see these places again. For now, it was her health that was of number one priority. The thing that kept me calm was the lovely view of crystal clear waters and the colour blue of the Lake.

I will be back one more day to see the Great Pangong Tso...

Leh Trip - Day 4

A long drive of close to 120km to Alchi at 8.30 AM was planned and on our ride to Alchi, we witnessed some lovely low level flying by the Sukhoi's among the hills. A bit further and 2 ALH's were also patrolling the skies. Nice to know that at least there is someone apart from you in these dry cold deserts.

Alchi monastery, one of the oldest shrines in Ladakh dating back to the 11th century. The monastery is owned by the Likir monastery a little distance away. The numerous 11 century books line in the inside walls of the monastery around the gold Maitreya Buddha. The place outside the shrine is famous for its massive Stupa's, ranging almost 2 storeys in height. A stupa is a place where ancient Buddhist teachings along with Buddhist statues and rituals are buried for future generations.

On our way back to Leh, we were to visit Sangam, that's the place where two rivers meet to become the giant Indus. In summer, this place is flooded with water and is one of the favourite spots for the starting point of Rafting. The rapids down hill get crazy and call for some serious business. One of the bad things coming off season, cant go rafting. Anyway, I have planned a bike trip sometime next year. I will surely raft in Leh.

Magnetic Hill was our next on the agenda and it surely disappointed us. Although, when viewed in the naked eye from close inspecton, the hill seemed to pull the vehicle uphill, but when I walked to a distance of 100 mtr plus, i notices that its as good as an optical illusion. The land around makes us feel that it is an uphill, actually, its the end to a steep downhill and a down hill will have slope and thus move a vehicle. Hence Proved!!!

Next stop, Gurduwara Pathar Sahib. An amazing Gurduwara built with quite a history to it. Built managed and maintained by the Indian Army, the legend says that the depression in the rocks was caused when the rock fell on Guru Nanak and melted upon touching his body to take his shape. A couple of Army jawans manned the premise and we were overwhelmed to have been offered Langar even at these heights. The true spirit of the lord lives everywhere.






A short drive into Leh town and we were heading to the Leh Palace. This place is a beauty during the September Leh festival. With lights illuminating the entire 14th century structure, the magnificent Palace stands tall with the mountains surrounding it. A 9 storied structure, with huge rooms inside. The only place today used by the descendants of the royal family is the chapel inside for religious purposes. The view of Leh town from the top of the Palace is a dream. The town below, River Indus reflecting the sun and the tall snow capped mountains is a treat to the eyes. We left with fond memories of how the kings lived, some mantras that we picked from the evening prayers at the chapel in the palace and a sense of thought that we are heading to Shanti Stupa.

The place was gigantic. It was built not long into the past, but with an intent to be there for centuries. Shanti Stupa is the largest single place in the world where all of Buddha's relics, holy dharma books and Buddha statues are sealed inside for future generations. A stupa is a symbol of Buddha's teachings. The place itself was divine. It carried a lot of silence and sense of relief. When we were there, the mind suddenly became calm and body rejuvenated. The temple below the Stupa was in itself a marvel. Built in pure gold, Buddha's statue was surrounded by his two disciples and a lot of intricate artistry. After visiting so many monasteries and temples in Leh, it was a treat to finish it with the best of the temples with so much of colour and purity. I felt that i was one more step closer to understanding Buddha!!!

Leh Trip - Day 3: A visit to the Monasteries

Woke up early, it was a spine chilling 2 degrees at 9 AM. Had some hot soup, cheese sandwiches for breakfast, packed more sandwiches for lunch and hit the road.

Agenda: visit monasteries and palaces around Leh.

First up, the Stok palace. A lovely palace overlooking Leh city from the southern side. Although the sun would give us some respite from the otherwise chill breeze, we had to enter the palace and boy was it cold. we had to take of our shoes at the more holy places within the palace. The inside temperature would surely have been well in the sub zero region. there were many artifacts from the 16th century inside. the silver cups and tea kettles, the gold ornaments and the queens turquoise stone studded crown. There was a 300 year old Yak skin wine maker. Many stuffed mountain goat heads lined the Kings chamber. It was a spooky place with a holy fragrance filling the air. A step outside gave us the much awaited heat from the sun and respite from all the spookiness. We took some lovely shots of the resident birds, the Magpie, and the view of Leh city from the grand balconies of the palace before we hit the road to our next destination.

Up next, we visited the Hemis Gonpa, the biggest Gonpa in Ladakh. It was built in the early 17th century. The entrance was lined up with long queues of Prayer wheels which were a great sight. it is a must only to rotate the prayer wheels in the clock wise direction to spread a holy message to the world across. I religiously did that on every prayer wheel around. The Hemis is house to the giant statue of 'Guru Padmasambhava'. He was one of the greatest followers of Buddhist teachings and widespread awareness programmes in the 8th century. There were close 500 resident monks in the promise and it was a lovely sight to see all chanting some mantras but still carrying out there day to day activities in rhythm. I left the place with a big smile on my face as it was one step closer the understanding of Buddhism for me.

We visited Thiksey Gonpa next. It was a sight to the giant Gonpa from a distance. as we walked through the doors of the monastery, we could hear chanting of many monks and some kind of ritual going on. The eagerness to see the ritual was growing but so were the number of steps to reach the top. Once on top, we saw many old monks chanting some mantras, playing there holy drums and a long 8 feet long flute. Inside was the massive statue of "Maitreya Buddha", the future Buddha. It was an awe inspiring statue. It was as though the Buddha was overlooking the entire valley and waiting for his arrival to cleans it of its dirt.

On our Agenda next was to visit the Shey palace. This is where the royal family resided before moving to the Stok palace during the mid 18 century. This palace was built around mid 16th century. The shrine inside houses the copper glided statue of Lord Buddha rising to a height of 3 storeys. There is no other statue of this kind anywhere in Ladakh.

On the way back I insisted on visiting my school where I had studied 20 years back. Kendriya Vidyalaya, Leh. Although many people did not recognise my school today, I remembered the way to the place and gave directions to the driver. He was amazed. A visit to the principal said that the building had changed in 2001 and the one I studied in has been donated to the government for a boys higher secondary school. I was introduced to the school attendant by the principal who joined in 1989 and remembers a bit from the old days. when I asked about my Math teacher who I dreaded back in the days, he clearly remembered him to be Mr. Narendra.

Generally a good day visiting monasteries and my school. Ate early and slept peacefully.

Leh Trip - Day 2

With only 2 hours of sleep and a major hangover, i reached the airport at 4.30AM to take the 5.45AM flight to Leh. Air India sucks and so does every hostess. They don't have manners and courtesy. I am sad i pay taxes for these people to give such a pathetic service.

Anyway, Landed in Leh at 7.30AM. the cabin temperature was set to a normal 25 Deg. As we got out after landing, we were informed that the outside temperature was -4 deg. Stepped out of the plane to witness the first snowfall of the season. It was an enthralling feeling. I saw snow after 20 years. The tiny flakes of snow touching your skin with a painless prick and melting into an invisible tiny droplet before even your eyes wink. Everyone were appraising the flight commander, Capt. Ajit Singh's flying capabilities as very few have landed in Leh in such extreme conditions.

We waited at the airport for a while before we were picked up to our hotel, a few minutes drive from the airport. We met the owner of the hotel and we realized that he had traveled with us on the same flight here. Mr. Tashi Motup was a very nice man and extended his warm welcome to us. A hot cup of tea and the rest of the day would be spent acclimatising to the weather and thin air. Although, Anu did play a while in the Snow before hitting the sack.

Sleep is all what we did... A good trip lay ahead!!!

Leh Trip - Day 1 @ Delhi

Reached Delhi at 9.30. A good friend picked me up from the airport and we drove to his house. I witnessed a new generation of roads. 10 lanes and 34 level toll gates, which on a weekday would be packed for hours. Within 20 min we reached DLF phase 1. I could not stop looking at each house. Massive is an understatement. I really wonder where does so much money come from. it was the next day to Diwali and most shops and people were still waking up with a strong hangover.

10.30AM and we hit the 1st wine shop open. The dude at the counter was counting all the money he had raked in the previous night. Picked a few bottles of beer and hit the road to his house. Shoes off, beer opens, hit the bean bags - All this to start a lovely Sunday morning, the way it is supposed to be.

Drank till night and slept very late. This must have been the best Sunday in a long time.

Leh - A journey through time

I'm back from one of the most craziest adventure trips one can ask for... you have to see the photos to believe the place and have to go there at least once in your lifetime. I have been lucky to be there twice and the third time, it will surely be on a bike...

I'm talking about Leh, Ladakh.

The link to the photos is http://www.flickr.com/photos/arvind_king/

my detailed blog will be up shortly... !!!

Leh Calling

It happened over a night of confusion and 10 days of leave at bay... couldn't decide where to go and finally, after hours of thought, Leh/Ladakh came to our minds.

It will be cold, most hotels will be closed and many passes would be frozen; but still i like the idea of wilderness. The serene layout of nature and myriad thoughts of connecting with the supreme being.

From the breadth taking monasteries to the never ending lakes, its just what a tired mind wants right now. Dates have been fixed, tickets booked and bags almost packed, Its just the day a I am waiting for.

By the way, I'm currently reading "Buddhism - A short story" by Edward Conze and it is setting the mood for the journey.

So long Bangalore....

My Friends Church wedding

I just got back after a friend of mine finished all his formalities in the church to be socially accepted as a married man.

The ceremony was right out of a lovely movie with the choir playing lovely notes and the priest reminding us of the foundation of marriage. He was so right about the fact that we marry after knowing each others positives and negatives and then forget the same after marriage.

Will write more after attending his reception tomorrow...

My Friends Wedding Registration

One of my closest friends got legally married today and it was such a happy occasion. Although it was just a registration of his marriage, before the marriage, it was another one of those rare days when the 5 of us met.

The 5 of us were barely looking at each other, smiling as though it is a formality and cracking jokes that make sense to no one. Just getting old i guess or maybe plain stupid.

Anyway, i am extremely excited and looking forward to a week full of fun and memories clubbed with a wedding that has been anticipated by many for a long time.

Plan for October

I have been breaking my head as to planning for October holidays. With nearly 10 days off, still unclear about which places to visit...And its getting frustrating.

Looks likely that i cancel the leaves and look forward to working through the month :(

Pure Bliss

Chikmagalur - A weekend of surprise for my better half clubbed with memories lasting a lifetime, thats what both of us would carry with us forever.

A very relaxed drive took us just under five hours to reach a place we had never been to before. Nestled in the foot hills of Baba Budan hills, Chikmagalur is a calm, serene town full of scenic surprises, hills, valleys, streams and snow-white coffee blossoms. Situated 251 kms from Bangalore, Chikmagalur is a trekker's delight, with its rugged mountain trails.

I kept the surprise of the place we were to stay till our car crept into our refuge at the end of a long and winding road, snaking between forests of tall trees, cloaked in pepper wines, shading the burgeoning bushes of coffee called 'The Serai'.

Serai, the Turkish interpretation is ‘a palace of the Sultan’, the Persian version means a comfortable, accommodative place where intrepid travellers and battle-weary soldiers rested and recuperated from their rigours and travels across inhospitable terrain. And the life we lead today is no different from the description above. The place is "Pure Bliss". If you have a plan, Serai is not the place for you. Go there to do nothing. Just relax and unwind.

After checking-in to the pool side estate villa at 5 star delight by the Amalgamated Beans & Coffee, i hit the comfy chair by the pool and Anu took a dip into the chilly waters of the pool. She played like a 6 year old in the water for the first time. Swirling in the shallow pool, Splashing water all around & trying to see how far she could float... She was a kid exploring newer grounds like never. The day was just perfect.

The idea was to laze and this was the perfect place to do just that. We took an early evening stroll on the estate and decided to see around the property. A look in each direction is an image to be stored in your hearts. The thick pepper wines, swaying on the stem of tall trees, warned us to stand back and admire only. We just relaxed till our eyes shut on the first day at Serai.

Our eyes woke up to the most breadth taking view one could get from his bed. A large French window across our living was like a wall paper. The trees, the birds chirping and the fog was just picture perfect. While sipping over our morning coffee, we had seen the mist rising out of the forests, wreathing the wooded mountains beyond and noosing a high peak with light. We were told it was the highest peak in Karnataka with the mellifluous name of Mullahnagiri. We decided to drive up to the top of the mountain.

From the heights of Mullahnagiri, the green ridges of the western ghats stretched down to the densely wooded plantations, and then on to the flatlands, patched with fields and highlighted with the glisten of blue lakes and wetlands. Tattered veils of mist drifted over the mountains trailing shape-shifting shadows in their wake. It was very beautiful in an untamed, Lord of the Rings sort of way.

Lunch awaited us post our eventful trip into the woods. The irony was, a while ago we were lunch for some tigers in the hills of Baba Budan hills. After feasting on a well spread out lunch, we decided to hit the bed for a while.

We woke up to another spectacle, the moon rise. It was a full moon night and the gleaming milk laden view of the mountains made us gaze in awe for a good 15 minutes. The moon was playing hide and seek with the mountains and us as we strolled around Serai to enjoy the peace and sanctity of this place. The mornings were full of wonderful songs sung by some wonderful birds and the evenings were like a jazz concert with many insects adding a tone for the audience. A light dinner ensured a smooth sleep in the valleys of Chikmagalur.

Day 3 started a walk deep in to the estates. The birds giving us company and the monkeys letting us know that we were in their territory. The tall trees made us look puny and thick vegetation seemed to be never ending. All tired after an early morning walk, we headed back to a swim in the chill waters of the pool, a nice warm hour long dip in the tub and a lazy hot water shower to compliment the chill weather outside. after a late breakfast, we decided to hit the library. The library was well stocked with a collection of large books that were a delight to the eyes. They were a collection of pictures around the western ghats and they were work of some very good pair of hands on a camera. A heavy lunch meant some sleep and to laze in the evening.

The next day was when we were to leave and believe me, it was one of the most difficult things to do. Leaving so many wonderful things behind was like asking an old man to walk on the street without his stick and glasses. He would feel weak more than anything. We felt very weak...

In a frazzled world, absorbing the serenity could be a major gain for many opting for a stay at "The Serai".



Snaps at http://www.flickr.com/photos/arvind_king

We didn't make it to the Top 12

From all the excitement in the previous blog to all low today....

We could not make it to the top 12. It was heart-breaking, disappointing, shattering and the entire painful words one can describe. Not that we have one so many challenges in the past that we should be disheartened. In fact, coming to think of it, i have never one a challenge/prizes/event apart from the school level 100 meter sprint.

I had set so many things on this and now we are back to square one. I am planning to take the day off as i have a bad head-ache since the results are out.

Anyway, I will be doing something soon just to take this off my mind. Somewhere deep inside I have given hopes of ever competing again. Our daily routine is enough to survive I think....

On a sad note, see you all soon...

We are in the TOP 100

Wuuuuuuu... Huuuuuuuuuu

Yipee.....

We are in. Guess all the fingers crossing has done its job for us. We are in and it feels good. This is the first time that i am selected (Even if its the first round) for any event. So many messages, mails, calls to so many events.... and this one worked.... I am happy.

Now its down to working on the paper work.... documents, etc....

Hmmmmm, let me cross my fingers for the next process of selection.

The wait is over

After pondering on the website of the driving challenge for weeks, the wait is finally over. Today, being the last day for people to do something with their profiles. It’s quite weird as it feels that we have nothing to do in the evenings anymore. No more pushing friends to vote, no more running behind office mates to write a testimonial and no more comparing our votes with other to see if anything new has been happening.

Must say, a couple of guys have a good profile and deserve to win. But the fact that we have been there from 22nd June morning post reading the add in the newspaper, makes me believe that we should make it to the top 100. For whatever reason, if I don’t get this, i will feel that the real people, who try things the better way, get nothing.

So lets see, hope for the best and keep your fingers crossed.

The Challenge and the Honey moon trip

Forgot to mention 300 but 400 looks good. It is a humongous challenge to push your friends to Vote and then the stupid website does not send the mail. I have lost over 50 votes just because the mails did not go from the website to my friends. I wish there was a way out....

The good thing is, if i am facing this problem, everyone are.. :)

I will surely push people to get me till 500. i still have not asked my office team to vote, keeping for the last day. 500 votes at least 50 testimonials and in the top 100 would give me satisfaction that i at least stand a chance.

17th is the D day, lets see how things go.

Amidst all this chaos, Anu and i were planning our honey moon and we could not think of many places. Although we have an idea of what we want. something like a beach is for sure (The snow idea has been put on hold), Out of the country is for sure (We can always visit places in India right) and the budget should not be more than a Lakh.... does that sound like a plan????

Milestone 200

Its amazing that we crossed 200 votes at 4 pm today. What a feeling i had. I thought, ok, now we are getting somewhere. It took a lot of courage to check the names list by popularity. We needed it coz i saw that a lot of people were demonstrating last few days of aggresive voting. And boy were we in for a surprise, almost everyone were getting 20-30 votes every day. We needed to do something... Give me an idea fast.... somebody give me an idea!!!

A daily routine

1. Wake up in morning and log in to ee if you got votes

2. Check mail for anything important

3. head to office and think about all the activities for the day

4. Time flies doing something or the other.

5. Check for votes sometime during the day and crib that nothing has happened

6. get back in the evening listening to some hit numbers on the Radio

7. Do something for dinner

8. Hit the bed...

...Such a monotonous life... What can be done to bring a change???

Im sure this question keeps bugging us all. Does anyone have an answer, i would not know. But one thing is for sure, that day is not far when we would brake loose and just do what we have to...

Trying hard to remain in the 3rd Page

It took Anita 2 days, a lot of patience and even lot of calls to friends in order to increase our votes and come back in to the 3rd Page. The top guys are battleling it out by trying to reach 1000 votes and here we are struggling to reach 150. I am note sure where this is going and i am slowly loosing patience.

Give me some hope guys. We are trying our best. I guess its just not enough and surely, such a challenge is just a dream for a 9 to 5 working class member like us.

It has been 2 agonizing weeks to reach 100 votes as of today at the The Great Driving Challenge. Its weird that some contestants have reached 500 to 600 votes. I just don’t seem to attract that many friends or people. Guess there networking must be really good.

I am not quite sure how the top 100 members would be shortlisted. Would it purely be on votes or the content or just the story you place in your travelogue. Either ways, this is one hell of a place to be in right now.

Let me thank you in advance for taking the trouble to vote for us, can't tell you how much Anu and I appreciate it.

My last trip as a bachelor!!!!

Atleast thats the way the boys around me put it across as. A long pending trip and a long pending trip with only the boys. It was fun. We all finished a long day at work and hit the road in a friends car. With all 4 of us having good driving experience under our belt, we decided to take turns to sleep and drive. We left by 8 p.m. and started the journey with a long traffic jam that kept us in the city well beyond 11 p.m. Once on the highway, things were smooth with a couple of beers cooling our heals of. With stops every 100kms our journey was the least tiring. We were greeted for a chill early morning amidst the lush green hills of Karwar and i took over the wheel. The drive was more than fun as the weather was holding good, atleast for the early part of the day, during mid summer. We hit south Goa at 9 a.m. and decided to grab ourselves a good English Breakfast. Boy was that the best breakfast i had tasted in recent times.

Believe it or not, we just ate the whole trip thereafter. We decided to hit Baga and find a place by the beach to relax. We reached Baga by 12 p.m. and found our old friend Francis who owns a nice li'll place opposite Tito's in Baga. After taking a shower, we hit the shacks and boy were we in for a party. The view was nice, the food was good, the weather was pleasant and best of all, the indian girls on the beach were rocking. Give me a break guys, its my last trip as a bachelor, I will be mentioning a lot of girls in this blog...

Amidst all the food and Beer, i spotted 2 pairs of the loveliest legs a had seen in a long time. Their they were swaying from left to right and back. One was in a yellow top and the other in a green top. My wingman took over the reins and suggested that the yellow one was his visual pleasure for the trip, so i had to settle with the green one. After all the food, beer and drowning in our own saliva, we were so dead that we decided to hit the bed early.

We woke up early to plan for some water sports. We struck a deal with one of the beach boys and got a package kinda thing done for all of us for all the sports in the water. The first one was a killer. It was called the bladder ride for some unknown reason. Maybe because you may pee in your jogs during the ride. We were holding on to a mat like contraption which had some air in it. My wingman and i, holding on to the mat, were dragged across the rough beaches of Baga. We were thorwn around from left to right everytime the boat swered in different directions. One giant wave awaited us and we were all over the beach. Arguably the best water sport i have done in a long time.

This followed with the much calmer Banan ride and then the Bumpy Water scooter. Finally we hit the Parasailing and that was cool. the ride on the small boat and the ride in the air was all fun to finish of with.

Hungry like a pack of wolves after finishing a long days work, we hit our Fav shack, Zanzi Bar. To our surprise, the same set of legs had occupied the bench in front of us and boy did they look better today. I guess its the mood that triggers the sensation. Today the colours were even better. Like my friend described them, "they are like the myriad hues of the rainbow". Like before it was food, beer and the lazy feeling doing its bit till late evening. We did some shopping in the evening for the women back home and hit the bed early. The third day was no less than the other days, wonderfull morning and some wonderfull food.

We packed ourselves for the drive back and left by noon on sunday. The trip back was so unrestful and it brought about a feeling of monotony. We reached back home late at night with a lot of memories that will keep us going on for a long time. Especially those wonderful legs...

Indeed it would be the last all boys party before one of us gets married.

A trip to Wayanad

Had been to God's own country over the weekend. One might need a week's time to see enough of Wayanad. We had only 2 days, but we did not rush to squeeze in many places.

Kalpetta seems to be the prominent town in Wayanad district and other places of interest are easily accessible from there. One cannot afford to sleep along the route from Calicut to Kalpetta, unless he/she is colour blind.

Although this place is second to none of the hill stations in Tamil Nadu, I could barely see a queue in any of the places. Thanks to lack of commercialisation.

Pookot Lake:
Situated some 20kms from Kalpetta, this lake is ideal to visit in the evenings just when the Sun falls behind the adjoining mountains. It is advisable to wear shorts or three-fourths, a good pair of sandals and have a watchful eye unless you want to donate blood involuntarily to the leeches surrounding the lake. Probably one of the fewest lakes, where I didnt see couples lost in love on the boats.

Edakkal Caves:
Takes about an hour's drive to reach there. There's steep concrete path stretching for about 1.5km between the parking lot and the mouth of the cave. The main cave is another 200 metres climb from there. After all the pains one can witness the cave that recaptures the days of cavemen.There is another small peak to be scaled from there. Worth every bit of effort to reach the top.

Soochipara falls:
Easily the pick of our trip. There can be no better camera than the human eye, to capture all that the falls offered. We were welcomed by a gorgeous arc of rainbow. There was no way one could go near the torrents. We were lucky to find a small bed of rocks that was shallow enough to let us have a dip. The water was so pure and fresh, that we never felt like stepping out of the water if not for the darkness.

Except for the local food, it was a very memorable trip and a nice retreat.