Travel Experiences | The Alien World

Apr 03

Roads indicates culture of the nation

Posted in: Did you know, Travel Experiences

“Road indicates culture of the nation” – So true… During my recent road trip from Hyderabad to Bangalore (Bengaluru) I found this sign board at many places. Ironically, at all the places I found this sign board road were in bad condition.

I am sure that was not the intention of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), because the complete 4 lane highway is rebuilt. And believe me I am not being sarcastic. GOI is investing a lot of money on improving the road network, just look at these facts:

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is mandated to implement National Highways Development Project (NHDP) which is

India ‘s Largest ever highways project
World class roads with uninterrupted traffic flow

The National Highways have a total length of 66,590 km (41377 miles) to serve as the arterial network of the country. The development of National Highways is the responsibility of the Government of India. The Government of India has launched major initiatives to upgrade and strengthen National Highways through various phases of National Highways Development project (NHDP), which are briefly as under:

NHDP Phase I : NHDP Phase I was approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in December 2000 at an estimated cost of Rs.30,000 crore (approx. $6000 Million) comprises mostly of GQ (5,846 km) and NS-EW Corridor (981km), port connectivity (356 km) and others (315 km).
NHDP Phase II : NHDP Phase II was approved by CCEA in December 2003 at an estimated cost of Rs.34,339 crore (approx. $6868 Millions) (2002 prices) comprises mostly NS-EW Corridor (6,161 km) and other National Highways of 486 km length, the total length being 6,647 km. The total length of Phase II is 6,647 km.
NHDP Phase-III: Government approved on 5.3.2005 upgradation and 4 laning of 4,035 km of National Highways on BOT basis at an estimated cost of Rs. 22,207 crores (approx. $4441 Millions) (2004 prices). Government approved in April 2007 upgradation and 4 laning at 8074 km at an estimated cost of Rs. 54,339 crore (approx $10867 Millions).
NHDP Phase IV: CCEA has approved on 5.10.2006 six laning of 6,500 km of existing 4 lane highways under NHDP Phase V (on DBFO basis). Six laning of 6,500 km includes 5,700 km of GQ and other stretches.
NHDP Phase V: CCEA has approved on November 2006 for 1000 km of expressways at an estimated cost of Rs. 16680 crore (approx. $3336 Millions).
NHDP Phase VI: CCEA has approved on December 2007 for 700 km of Ring Roads, Bypasses and flyovers and selected stretches at an estimated cost of Rs. 16680 crores (approx. $3336 Millions).

To be continued…

Feb 04

My last train journey

Posted in: Travel Experiences

In our school days we used to write essays on train journey. Most of the time they were not the original account, but one thing that was true is that we get to meet new people.

Due to drop in airfares I did not travel in trains for almost 4 years, but the recent rise in the airfare again made me go back to the old way of traveling. In last couple of months I traveled from Hyderabad to Chennai and Haridwar to Delhi by train, and in both the journeys I had interesting company.

During my last journey I met a French lady who was coming from Rishikesh. Our conversation started because of the book I was reading – Jesus Lived in India. She looked at the book and said jokingly “you have so many Gods we just have one, now you want to take that also”.

She had a connecting train from Delhi to Nasik, where she was heading to attend a Yoga camp for 4 weeks. In the course of 5 hours I got to know more about her & her association with India. She was visiting India since 1992 and in last 16 years she has traveled most of the parts in India. Since her retirement couple of years back, she has been spending almost 6 months in year in India. She knew more about India than I do. During her stays she usually stayed in ashrams, due to which she knew a lot about Hinduism & Vedanta. She has been practicing yoga for last 20 years and that was the reason for her initially few visits, but later she fell in love with the country.

There were lots of things she disliked about India, like the way people cheat or treat a foreigner. In fact she told me couple of incidences, like the one when she was going to Rishikesh from Haridwar in the state transport bus and the conductor asked her Rs. 70/- when the normal fare was Rs. 20/-. Another similar incidence was when in Rishikesh a tempo driver asked her Rs. 50/- where the actual fare was Rs. 5/-. Now these kinds of incidences are common across the world, because last year when I went to US, the cab driver asked $100 against the usual fare of $65 between San Francisco & Redwood City. Something else she disliked was the way people drive. According to her, people in India drive with their heart & emotions. I cannot agree more.

Jun 09

Railway station is a happening place

Posted in: Random Thoughts, Travel Experiences

Yesterday I went to Universal Studio, Los Angeles. LA is 2:30 hour by train from Santa Barbara. I had taken an early morning train, so most of the time I spent sleeping while going. There was a Chinese guy sitting next to me. We didn’t talk with each other, and we both kept listing to our individual ipods. The only thing I remember asking was “How far are we from LA?” He just replied that it was the next station.

Rest of day I spent in Universal City. My return train was at 7 PM, but I reached the station at around 5 PM. Since I was tired, I spent rest of the time in the waiting room.

While waiting and listening to my ipod, I kept watching and observing people crossing by of different shape, sizes, and personalities. A girl passed by, with a warm and delicate smile. I saw her for few seconds and then went back at looking at other travelers. Time passed by and I in the mean time drank one cold coffee and an orangeade (similar to lemonade). Then I walked to sit somewhere else, close to boarding place. A girl came by and sat beside me. She was wearing a pajama and a t-shirt. A weird combination to travel in, but I guess everything works here. She looked liked an Indian but only till she started speaking to someone sitting next to her.

When the time came, I went to stand in the boarding queue. There was a guy standing ahead of me nicely dressed. I think he was not an american (I m yet to see a guy dressed well in US). Behind me was girl on a bicycle in small shorts. After few minutes she just stepped out of the queue and walked somewhere else, I didn’t followed.

Now the girl standing next to me was the same I saw with a warm and gentle smile, we shared a glance and then I kept looking ahead waiting for the announcement of arrival of the train. And she does arrive after couple of minutes on track 9B. Everyone rushed towards the track.

I took my seat in the train, but when the train started moving I realized that I was sitting in the opposite direction of the movement and that makes me dizzy. So I decided to find another seat that faces the direction of the moving train. And I noticed that girl at the end of the train, so I moved to her seat and asked if I can sit with her. She removed the bag from the seat and I then sat there. That smile on her face left a long lasting impression so I choose to sit with her instead of the other good looking passengers.

Her name was Cristina. She was very friendly; we talked a lot for next 2 hours. The time just flew, otherwise which would have been so boring. Then her station came and she left with a warm hug. Sometimes I wonder that we make friends at most unlikely of the places.

This train journey will be remembered for a long time!

Jan 14

Sri Lanka – Pearl of Indian Ocean – Part 2

Posted in: Travel Experiences

I will start from where I left in the first part.

From Pinnawala we went to Sigiriya. It’s around 70 KMS from there. Sigiriya means Lion Rock and its history dates back to over 6000 thousand years. It is one of Sri Lanka’s major attractions and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Well, one has to buy the entry ticket with seems to be slightly expensive. The entry ticket for all the sites is around SRS. 4500/- and fro only palace is SRS. 2500/- (Srilankan Rupee).

King Kasyapa is said to have built a palace, which is 200 mts on the lion rock, at Sigiriya to escape from his brother Mogallana. But it just does not look like a hiding place for a King… It is very beautiful and you just can imagine how beautiful it must have been when it was built. Water gardens are the first architectural marvel that we came across on entering the complex. It had many pools, courtyards, and fountains. I was surprised to found that some of the fountains were still working. We live is the age of science today, but you cannot stop thinking from the marvel of the science used in those days, fountains were designed to work on the principal of gravity, with a tank build in the palace at around 200 mts. I wished, I could have spent more time there sitting and enjoying the sound of flowing water, which gave aesthetic and cooling effect to both body and mind. We also saw some many hoods and caves. The paintings in caves are still well preserved, and are said to be similar to Ajanta & Ellora’s. Reaching on the top was very tiring, with rain making the narrow footsteps very slippery?

By the end of that day, I at least, was almost dead. We moved from Sigiriya to Kandy that night, and none of us had enough energy to speak, the complete route was covered sleeping. We reached Kandy around 9 PM, had a quick hot water bath, which was relaxing and then dinner.The hotel was like a old British bungalow with high ceiling, wooden floor and smell of wood. Next two days we spend roaming around the streets of Kandy, searching for shops with export quality cloths (don’t ask the reason ‘why’, it’s another story). It’s a small town, similar to any hill station in India. We explored some traditional dishes, with names which I do not remember now but most of the dishes were very spicy. So next day we decided to have some pizza, and PizzaHut was there to save us… as always their pizza have some local taste and variety. One of it was pizza biriyani, i.e. biriyany baked inside pizza dough.

Following morning we went to watch ‘Tooth Relic’ temple, which is supposed to have a tooth of Buddha. Tooth Relic temple also have a small but nice museum. The same day we started for Bentota from Kandy. Bentota to Kandy is around 5 hour drive, which will include town and villages on the way. Bentota is on a sea shore and drive in the city along the sea shore is good.

We reached Bentota the same night, took a quick shower and then went straight way to beach. It was a full moon night, and the beach was basking in the glory of the sliver light, with cool breeze going through the hair, it was pure bliss… and adding to that was the effect of wine. We spent next three days on the beach, doing nothing except for the three things – going in the ocean, lying on the beach & eating. Well, we did one more thing and that was snorkeling. It is really fun, as long as you are not afraid of deep sea. To some extent I am afraid so I did not enjoy it to an extent which others did, but even then it was fun.

Jan 03

Sri Lanka – Pearl of the Indian Ocean – Part 1

Posted in: Travel Experiences

After a long time I planned the vacation with few friends. The theme for our holidays was relaxation, and for that we choose our destination as Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka – popularly known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, is a beautiful country. I am not sure if it comes under tropical green forests, but you will find abundance of greenery there, almost every shade of green are here.

Colombo is the only international airport in Sri Lanka; it is small but very well maintained. Indian does not require a visa; it is on the arrival and is usually for the 30 days. There are few well stocked duty free shops on the arrival as well. I was more interested in the liquor, which is 1.5 Liters per person.

As soon as we stepped out of airport, we found ourselves in a fortress as it is heavily guarded by army. We stayed at Hotel Galadhari in Colombo. From airport to hotel, we found that almost every 200 meters were army personnel. The hotel was just few meters away from the sea, and we could see army patrol boats in the sea as well. We spent our evening roaming around the city. Being Sunday market was closed and that resulted in less shopping but my wife still managed to do some.

Sri Lanka as a whole does not have any highways, but traffic still moves fast given the width of roads. I have always considered people following traffic rules are more civilized then people who don’t. If I go by this philosophy, then Lankans are one of the most civilized people in the Indian sub continent. They take traffic rules seriously. Even in remote villages, all bikers and pillion riders wore a helmet. People will stop at zebra crossing, allowing pedestrians to cross the road. Colombo also has good pubs, one of them I saw had a sign board as ‘specially for foreigners’.

Our next destination was Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, which is around 90 km from Colombo. It is one of it’s kind and probably the biggest in Asia. It was the first time I had seen so many elephants at a same place, and it was also the first opportunity to go so close to them. I must tell you, I was quite terrified by the thought of what if the jumbo accidently steps over my foot. We spend couple of hours their watching elephants bathing and playing. It was very pleasent. Something unique you will find here is the elephant dung paper.

Our next destination was Sigiriya. It is an interesting place, its like going back in time. Will continue about this in next part…

Feb 04

My second trip to GOA

Posted in: Travel Experiences

Ok so this was my second trip to Goa. I love this city, a one of its kind in India… really cheap beer & alcohol, gorgeous girls, vast beaches. All-n-all an ideal place to holiday.

One thing good about goa is its food… and specially the sea food. I tried many different kind of preparations for pomfret, king fish, lobster, & crabs… each one of them amazing, difficult to say which one of them was better.