Some Must Visit Blogs of fellow travellers

As you know,
I'm one of the finalists for the travel contest.

Still waiting anxiously for the results, in the meanwhile I browsed some blogs of my fellow Contestants and each one of them has some really interesting work posted. Either travel descriptions or breathtaking photographs.

So here go some links to their blogs, in no particular order.

# I've been a fan of Akshay's work since a long time. I've linked to his photo features on my Whazzupmumbai blog very often.

# Harshad runs his own trekking company & has covered a lot of Shivaji's forts around Bombay and Pune. I don't understand most of the technical specs of cameras that he talks about, but his photographs are BRILLIANT. Some of his pictures of butterflies (if you have ever tried to photograph even one, you will know how difficult it is) are going to be published in books written by naturalists Isaac Kehimkar & Krushnamegh Kunte
Browse through Harshads blogs :
Through His ViewFinder
Trek blogs of his various outings in the Sahyadris and Himalayas, along with photographs

# Sahil's picture on the site, doesn't do him justice. He hardly uses any words on his Blog : Myopic Endeavour preferring his pictures to do the talking. He's a really interesting person & so much fun to talk to.

# Mridula has been travelling & blogging about her travels since over a year. On her blog, she says "For me travel is a form of escape, from my daily routine" I think she has put so eloquently, what we all feel. She is a consistent trekker and her blog has lots of stories, tips & pictures which tell the tale. Wish I could have met her, but that will have to wait till I take a trip to Delhi.

# Altaf has a different take on life ...the way he sees it. He's currently in Kaintholi on a Global Xchange program & living like a local so he has some really interesting stories to tell.

# Sheetal blogs on Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax where she blogs about the happenings in the twin cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad. My Ex-City

# Divya blogs at Chronicus Skepticus Currently a Visual Merchandiser, who's also been a copywriter, a visualiser (at the same time), a web-designer, an editor, and a (garment) production manager.

# Rahul is the poetic soul among the finalists. Do visit his blog to read some of his original works of fiction.

# Apurv is the current editor of PaGaLGuY.com, a highly popular website most MBA aspirants would be aware of. Read his take on things at What Blog Men!

Gautam & Simona do not have blogs that I know of.

It was fun meeting 8 of the other contestants. (2 from Delhi & 1 came in later that evening) There were some excellent & passionate photographers amongst the group and when Harshad, Sahil, Akshay & Gautham spoke about lenses it was a foreign language to the rest of us. But we did share a lot of interesting stories about unusual places to travel, great photo ops, where & what to eat & a lot of other stuff like that. Most of us met each other for the first time, but we all had fun because of the kindred fellowship of travellers.

We ended with a fun lunch at Kobe's on Hill Road

Now all fingers crossed for the results. May the best man/woman win.

Ok Tata Bye Bye

I'm so excited.

I've been shortlisted for a travel contest. Which involves travelling
& Blogging. Hardly ever been selected for anything earlier :)

Check out the contest and my profile on
http://www.oktatabyebye.com
http://www.oktatabyebye.com/Krishma.asp
(Yes they have spelt my name wrong in the link, trying to get them to correct it)

The final selection is next week. I'm not sure how they will do it. But have a vague feeling that they may do so based on popularity of the contestant & ability to draw viewers.

Requesting you to please view my profile & drop me a comment, even if its just to say "All the best, Kim" or "Don't think u should go" But please comment.

Hope there's a lot of you looking for something to do on a slow Friday afternoon.

Please, please, pretty please. :)

Kim
http://kimelody.blogspot.com - the XL Blog
http://mbajobsindia.blogspot.com/
http://whazzupmumbai.blogspot.com

I'm desicritic of the day

Hey all loyal readers. I'm desicritics "Desicritic Of The Day" today.

Read all my articles on Desicritics.org

Look out for a post on Alibagh & Murud Janjeera some time soon.

Try a cruise through God’s own country. Published 10 October Deccan Chronicle

Kerala is a much recommended holiday spot, & a Houseboat (Kettuvallam) cruise seemed like an experience worth trying.

Never having spent 24 hours on a boat before, we anxiously asked ‘Experienced’ travelers for feedback. This ranged from “trip of our lives” to “Booooring, once aboard, you are stuck, you can’t even walk out if you want to”. After our holiday, I belong to the “trip of our lives” faction.

Kettuvallams are huge, slow moving, exotic barges designed for sheer leisure trips. Formerly, used to ship rice and spices, a standard boat, can be 100ft long, & hold upto 30 tons. Made of 100’s of fine heavy-duty planks of jack-wood & held together by coir knots (not a single nail is used) this framework is then coated with a caustic black resin extracted from boiled cashew kernels and lasts for generations.

Houseboats are re-worked Kettuvallams, having all modern amenities like western style bathrooms, well equipped kitchens, sun decks and even AC’s in some cases.

So informed, we arrived at Allepy (Venice of the East) where we were introduced to our hosts - 2 boatmen & a cook. Welcomed with fresh coconut water & fruits, we set sail on a blissful journey. We passed through amazing networks of canals, paddy fields, swaying coconut palms, river front houses, coir laden boats & unending shades of green.

We passed through Kuttanad, one of few places in the World where Paddy is grown below sea level, Charava Bhavan – spiritual resort and Vembanad Lake – largest lake in Asia.

The Boat was anchored at noon, overlooking verdant fields. The cook served us a sumptuous lunch with 2 vegetables, sambhar and fish. For dinner, fish was substituted with chicken and for breakfast it was Idiappams with Egg Curry, all prepared onboard. We were told, guests often volunteered to prepare dinner themselves, but we preferred watching him deftly prepare Malyali delicacies.

Boats have to anchor from 7PM to 6AM so locals can cast their fishing nets. We settled down to watch the brilliant hues of sunset, relaxing to gentle lapping of water at the sides, chirping of birds, droning of insects and tantalizing smells wafting from the kitchen. We lit lanterns when darkness fell, rather than use electric lights (solar powered). It gave us the feeling of being the only inhabitants of the planet. The little girl with us, delighted in feeding grains of rice to the fish that swam so close we could have caught them with our bare hands.

In a novel holiday experience, we slept by 9:30 PM and woke at 6:00. Totally relaxed and refreshed, we watched the sun rise over the water. When it started raining on the Lake, the droplets hitting the water surface erupted into little diamonds and we had to agree that Kerala is indeed “God’s Own Country.”

Fact File :
Travel :
Allepy is 2 hours drive from Cochin.
Cruises also originate from Kottayam, Kumarakom, Quilon, Trivandrum, Mallapuram, & Kasargod. It really doesn’t matter where you start or end your cruise from, it’s the unending beauty of the backwaters.
You can spend anywhere from 6 hours to 15 days on a houseboat. Season - October-March
Off Season - April - September

Must Not Miss :
Sunrise and Sunset on the Lake
Bay Island Driftwood museum if alighting at Kumarakom.
Definitely carry Mosquito Repellant for the evenings.

Costs :
Start from 5000 onwards for a single bedroom boat and 6000 onwards for a double bedroom boat per day (approx 22 hours) during off-season. Costs jump by about 2000 during season. Each bedroom has its individual attached bath. Costs include accomodation, welcome drink, 3 meals, tea/coffee. You can either carry your own soft drinks & water and chill it on board or purchase from the chef on board.

Whom to Contact :
For general information - http://www.houseboatskerala.net/ There are more than a 100 houseboats at each location. You can negotiate a good deal at each location if its off-season (monsoons), but if you want to book ahead, you can contact any of the following operators.

Pulickattil Houseboats http://www.pulickattilbackwaters.com/houseboat.htm
Deshadan Operators http://www.deshadan.com/
Soma House Boats http://www.somahouseboats.com/
Marvel Tours http://www.marvelcruise.com/yourcruise.htm
www.keralatraveldesk.com

Genting Highlands, Published in Deccan Chronicle, Sunday Chronicle on 15 Aug 2004

After a whirlwind tour of the Petronas towers, KL tower, Kings palace and a lot of other trekking up and down to see the sites of Kuala Lampur, we decided it was time for some ‘Rest and Recreation. Genting Highlands was the perfect answer to our needs.

An hours drive from Kuala Lampur, it’s a popular weekend destination for the locals too and this is always a good sign. With 2 amusement parks, the world class ‘Casino De Genting’, the ‘Awana Golf and Country Resort’ and numerous hotels to suit every budget, there’s something here for everyone.

The approach into Genting, is via the Skyway cable car from Gohtong Jaya, the longest cable system in SE Asia and the fastest in the world. This 15 min ride covering 4 km, ferries 2000 passengers an hour. It gave us a panoramic view of the green valley below and our first sight of the highlands riddled with hotels and interspersed with roller coasters.

After checking into our rooms, we rushed to the amusement park, a haven for adventure seekers. There are rides to suit every level of risk takers. Our favorites were the Corkscrew which turns you upside down and the coaster which drops you into a water pool at its trough and takes you up again. There are also the more sedate rides for the risk averse.

After the exhilaration of these rides, we wound down at the indoor park which has video games, a space simulator and a 3D dome theatre among others. We purchased memorabilia from the souvenir shops here.

For night entertainment we could choose between the international dinner shows, the disco and the casino. Consensus moved us to the casino where we tried our hand at all the games including blackjack and baccarat. We were lucky enough to leave with more money than we entered with.

The next day we wandered around the ‘Malaysia First World hotel and plaza’ whose lobby is larger than a football field. Someone recommended the horse riding school, but being addicted to the roller coasters, we headed back to the amusement park.

The whole highlands are a maze of escalators and hotels, so it’s quite interesting just to walk around. You never know what you may chance upon: Sweet shops, chairs that massage you, pirates, jugglers or clowns.

There are a lot of Indians living in Malaysia, so don’t be surprised to hear the locals break into Tamil, Telugu or Hindi. Indian food is easily available and the local food tastes familiar. This combines to make Malaysia a good place to take a break.

Fact File :
Travel :
Genting Highlands is 50km away from Kuala Lumpur and can be reached in an hour by road. There are frequent buses that leave every hour from the Puduraya Bus Station. Genting also offers limousines, coaches and helicopter services for charter.

Weather :
At 2,000 meters above sea level, it’s quite cool in the evenings, so do carry a shawl or sweatshirt. Casino entry requires more formal attire than jeans and tees. Take appropriate clothing, unless you want to pay a bomb for a batik shirts.

Must Not Miss :
The Skyway Cable Ride from Gohtong Jaya to the highlands.
The corkscrew ride at the theme park.
The Casino. (Muslims are forbidden from entering, so are children below 18)


Published in Deccan Chronicle, Sunday Chronicle on 15 Aug 2004