A Welcome Escape
Read about our latest trip to Kashid and Murud-Janjira at:
http://lothikakshitiz.blogspot.com/2008/01/welcome-escape.html
About Me
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Farewell to Vishal
This was a long awaited trip to Pune and may be the last one for a very very long time. As Vishal is flying to US in few weeks, there will be no reason to visit the city. Pune is a city that I have liked very much especially because of its climate and food. And since one of my best friend was also that city dweller, it gave me more than one reason to visit the city from time to time. So there I was during my last weekend to bid farewell to him. We decided to celebrate this get-together by visiting a nice getaway point near Pune - Sinhgad Fort.
It all started with a 4 hour Mumbai-Pune drive which I was so much looking forward to test my new Maruti Swift. With Lothika and Gurpreet I reached Pune, picked Vishal and went straight to our fun weekend. It was a rather bumpy ride towards the Fort but the destination was amazing. Away from Mumbai heat it was totally refreshing in that rainy and cloudy weather.
Our main reason was not to visit the Fort but to get into a good resort and start the party. Nobody was tired, so we got straight to the business. Took out our 'Black Dog' and drank till mid-night. It was accompanied by some nostalgic talk about good old college days. Lothika's birthday coincided with the trip and we celebrated it in a grand way.
Next day, it was time for some site-seeing. The drive up to the Sinhgad Fort was made beautiful with some mesmerising view of the valley below. There was nothing much of a Fort remaining. It was almost in ruins. As Shivaji is most revered in Maharashtra, his Fort holds a religious kind of significance among Maharashtrians. Being Sunday, the place was flooded with people. Some came driving, while some took some adventurous route by trekking up to the Fort. May be I'll take that route too some time in future.
Anyways, after absorbing much of the picturesque view in our minds, we headed back to Pune. It was time to say good-bye to our dear friend. No matter he was a few hundred kilometers away, we used to meet often. It was always fun and frolic whether we was here or I was there. I am definitely going to miss him a lot. And I could see that he was also rather sad on leaving Pune and India. I hope the very best for his future in US and wish that he finds his long searched life partner in that country.
Adiós, Vishal Rana.
It all started with a 4 hour Mumbai-Pune drive which I was so much looking forward to test my new Maruti Swift. With Lothika and Gurpreet I reached Pune, picked Vishal and went straight to our fun weekend. It was a rather bumpy ride towards the Fort but the destination was amazing. Away from Mumbai heat it was totally refreshing in that rainy and cloudy weather.
Our main reason was not to visit the Fort but to get into a good resort and start the party. Nobody was tired, so we got straight to the business. Took out our 'Black Dog' and drank till mid-night. It was accompanied by some nostalgic talk about good old college days. Lothika's birthday coincided with the trip and we celebrated it in a grand way.
Next day, it was time for some site-seeing. The drive up to the Sinhgad Fort was made beautiful with some mesmerising view of the valley below. There was nothing much of a Fort remaining. It was almost in ruins. As Shivaji is most revered in Maharashtra, his Fort holds a religious kind of significance among Maharashtrians. Being Sunday, the place was flooded with people. Some came driving, while some took some adventurous route by trekking up to the Fort. May be I'll take that route too some time in future.
Anyways, after absorbing much of the picturesque view in our minds, we headed back to Pune. It was time to say good-bye to our dear friend. No matter he was a few hundred kilometers away, we used to meet often. It was always fun and frolic whether we was here or I was there. I am definitely going to miss him a lot. And I could see that he was also rather sad on leaving Pune and India. I hope the very best for his future in US and wish that he finds his long searched life partner in that country.
Adiós, Vishal Rana.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Trip Within the Clouds
Away from the scorching heat of Mumbai, we decided to get some chill by rising about 4,400 feet above sea level in hills and valleys of Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. So it was me, Dad, Mom, Rikki (my bro) and Moni (my fiancee) driving away on friday evening to enjoy a quite and cool weekend away from the daily hustle-bustle. It was a pleasant experience. We were literally living in middle of clouds. Nobody wanted to come down on Sunday. But we surely captured the scenic beauty and some pleasant moments together in these pictures.
Click here to view album on picasa.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Trip to Doha
On the morning of 12th November I landed, for the first time, in any country in Middle East. This country was Qatar and the city was Doha. The landscape from up above was just like any desert country. I could see one straight single line of road running through a vast, barren and uninhabitated land. Here and there, some structures were visible but it looked like no one has put a step there for years. As we kept descending, the density of those structures kept increasing until it looked like we were flying over a city. Suddenly, there were houses, high-rise buildings and people and vehicles. And then there was runway and we landed.
As soon as I disembarked the plane I could feel and smell the foreign air and the desert heat. Before coming I was told that this will be time for winters in Qatar but I could not find any signs of it. It was hot. Anyways, me and my colleague came out of airport after completing all the necessary emigration check and baggage collection. After some agonizing wait for taxi for an hour, we finally got one and reached at our appartments some two and half hours after landing in Doha. Although, we had to report at Qatar Airways office that day only but neither of us were in mood. But work is work. We took a quick nap, got ready and reached the office.
Qatar Airways is one of the biggest airlines in Middle East and they were our clients. The main purpose of my visit was to do the project launch and give some basic user training. While my colleague flew back in two weeks time, I had to stay for about 30-40 days. During the first week in Doha, I had realised that this will be tough on me.
Doha is not a very big city and its very hard to kill the time there. Whatever places were there worth visiting, we completed those on our first weekend. Then the boring period started. As Qatar is having some absurd working hours of 7 o'clock morning to 3 o'clock afternoon, there was almost half-a-day everyday when we were free and got nothing to do. People had suggested some Desert Safaris and stuff, but it would not have been fun with just two persons. So we dropped that idea too.
There were primarily two main attractions in Doha. First one is Al-Corniche seaface. It has been constructed just like the Marine Drive in Bombay in shape of a necklace facing the Persian Gulf. But it was so neat and clean and the water was in lovely greenish-blue color. Doha also has some
appreciating modern architectures. There are many high-rise buildings along Al-Corniche having corporate offices of many Multi National Companies. Due to the Asian Games during that period, that area was specially decorated.
Then there was this big shopping mall called City Center Mall. It hosted some of the most popular international brands of clothing, accessories and eating joints. And also had a 12 screen multiplex theatre. During my stay in Doha, I visited this place the most, often to catch some movie.
As the Asian Games started, the face of the city changed. Almost every high building had some huge banner of Asian Games suspended on them. Every road and every street had Asian Games advertising. I was able to catch some glimpse of Mixed Doubles Semi-Finals of Tennis in which Indian Team of Sania Mirza and Leander Paes played and won.
Two weeks went by, and my collegue flew back. Next three weeks were most terrible for me. Alone, I got so bored that nobody can imagine. The weather changed and it got cold. I enjoyed that weather. Living in Bombay for last two years I have missed the winters. So, I got a little taste of the cold this winter.
Slowly and slowly, I killed my time in Doha counting my remaining days. The project launch went smoothly. Everybody, onsite as well as offshore, was happy. I was also delighted primarily because my work there was done and I can come back to India soon.
As soon as I disembarked the plane I could feel and smell the foreign air and the desert heat. Before coming I was told that this will be time for winters in Qatar but I could not find any signs of it. It was hot. Anyways, me and my colleague came out of airport after completing all the necessary emigration check and baggage collection. After some agonizing wait for taxi for an hour, we finally got one and reached at our appartments some two and half hours after landing in Doha. Although, we had to report at Qatar Airways office that day only but neither of us were in mood. But work is work. We took a quick nap, got ready and reached the office.
Qatar Airways is one of the biggest airlines in Middle East and they were our clients. The main purpose of my visit was to do the project launch and give some basic user training. While my colleague flew back in two weeks time, I had to stay for about 30-40 days. During the first week in Doha, I had realised that this will be tough on me.
Doha is not a very big city and its very hard to kill the time there. Whatever places were there worth visiting, we completed those on our first weekend. Then the boring period started. As Qatar is having some absurd working hours of 7 o'clock morning to 3 o'clock afternoon, there was almost half-a-day everyday when we were free and got nothing to do. People had suggested some Desert Safaris and stuff, but it would not have been fun with just two persons. So we dropped that idea too.
There were primarily two main attractions in Doha. First one is Al-Corniche seaface. It has been constructed just like the Marine Drive in Bombay in shape of a necklace facing the Persian Gulf. But it was so neat and clean and the water was in lovely greenish-blue color. Doha also has some
appreciating modern architectures. There are many high-rise buildings along Al-Corniche having corporate offices of many Multi National Companies. Due to the Asian Games during that period, that area was specially decorated.
Then there was this big shopping mall called City Center Mall. It hosted some of the most popular international brands of clothing, accessories and eating joints. And also had a 12 screen multiplex theatre. During my stay in Doha, I visited this place the most, often to catch some movie.
As the Asian Games started, the face of the city changed. Almost every high building had some huge banner of Asian Games suspended on them. Every road and every street had Asian Games advertising. I was able to catch some glimpse of Mixed Doubles Semi-Finals of Tennis in which Indian Team of Sania Mirza and Leander Paes played and won.Two weeks went by, and my collegue flew back. Next three weeks were most terrible for me. Alone, I got so bored that nobody can imagine. The weather changed and it got cold. I enjoyed that weather. Living in Bombay for last two years I have missed the winters. So, I got a little taste of the cold this winter.
Slowly and slowly, I killed my time in Doha counting my remaining days. The project launch went smoothly. Everybody, onsite as well as offshore, was happy. I was also delighted primarily because my work there was done and I can come back to India soon.
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