Category: Travel

SF.Oh!

On By bratislavIn TravelLeave a comment

Getting a free ride to the West Coast and back was good enough to begin with but an aerial tour of Yosemite National Park in all its winter glory was completely unexpected. A welcome bonus for sure and the best possible way to start a whirlwind visit to the city of San Francisco!

The 7 am flight out of JFK meant a painfully early start for me but the last hour or so out the window made it all worth while. The National Park followed by the very affluent Silicon Valley stretching from San Jose to SF – palatial houses, golf courses and private air strips – we could see them all!

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Windows 2007

On By bratislavIn Trains, TravelLeave a comment

No, this is not a review of Microsoft’s latest product release. Instead, it is about 2 particularly pleasant journeys I made in the latter half of last year. There were two things common to both of them – 1) they were easily accessible from New York and 2) both offered window seats with great views!

To the end of a very ‘long island’

The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is one of 3 commuter railroads that serves the NY Metro area. It is also the busiest commuter railroad in the US. Montauk is the furthest point East the LIRR will take you and like it or not, it is also the very end of Long Island. But given that it is 3 hours and over 100 miles away from Penn Station (including a transfer at Jamaica), it seems unjust to apply the ‘commuter’ tag to Montauk. Fact is, almost no one commutes daily between there and Manhattan – the furthest commuting point East being Babylon.

But the stretch between Babylon and Montauk serves the trendiest part of Long Island – the Hamptons. Best known for its palatial summer homes, private beaches and golf courses, the Hamptons is a summer favourite not only for the rich and famous but also for vacationers seeking a quick get away from the city. And the LIRR gets you there in style.. For a 29 USD return, it also gives you the best bang for your buck!

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Notes from Chicago

On By bratislavIn TravelLeave a comment

I travel back in time a bit, to a different year, and just to warm things up, a different season. And just as well, cause Chicago is a perfectly avoidable city during the winter months! In summer, however, it’s a very different story.

Having already attended the ‘Indian’ version of Utsav’s wedding early in ’07, it was only befitting that I attended the ‘American’ one. Besides, Chicago had long been on my list and this was the perfect opportunity.

A cheap air fare ($139 return all incl) meant a very early start for me as my flight was out of Islip Macarthur Airport in Long Island – essentially the boondocks! That also meant that I would miss out on the much storied Chicago O’Hare! Instead, I had to make do with Chicago Midway and to this day I am unable to discern why it is named so.

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Kick-off in Kesroli

On By bratislavIn India, Travel1 Comment

I’m often asked, on my return from India, what the highlight of my trip was. More often than not the answer is far from easy. But picture this if you will and you’ll realise how effortless the answer was this time around. 19 people spanning 3 generations from 7 cities in 5 countries congregating for 3 fantastic days in 1 amazing location in India – priceless!

The venue: Kesroli. A relatively unknown hamlet in Rajasthan set amongst lush mustard fields and surrounded by the lower reaches of the Aravali range. Its only claim to fame – a charming little fort perched on a hill with commanding views of the tiny village below and fields stretching out for miles on end.

The Neemrana Group runs this heritage hotel and with a 14th century build date to its credit, Kesroli is the oldest of their 12 (on last count!) heritage properties across India. Our first family reunion was held 2 winters ago in their flagship property, the Neemrana Palace Hotel. Our experience at both venues has been more than pleasing and as a result I am determined to visit each and every one of their properties some day.

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Pacific Bytes

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Spring break and it was time for a get away. I was west coast bound this time and all set to fly out on Friday the 16th. The snowstorm had other plans for me however so after a failed attempt to leave on Friday, I was rescheduled to leave on Monday the 19th instead. This meant a slightly curtailed itinerary and a missed weekend in LALA land. What worked in my favour though was the chance to meet a friend who I would have missed on my earlier itinerary (courtesy of him being away to China at the time) and a quicker connection on both legs of my journey. The first such connection was made at Salt Lake City in Utah after an early morning departure from NY’s snow covered Kennedy airport. Unknown to me, a few hours later, the A380 would touch down there on its maiden commercial flight.

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Bear Essentials

On By bratislavIn Trains, TravelLeave a comment

In my college days in Bombay I was often nicknamed ‘Rip Van’ – owing in no small measure to my penchant for an afternoon siesta. While I get little of that luxury these days, I continue to be a late riser or ‘not a morning person’ in politically correct parlance. So what on earth was I doing at a little past 7 on a saturday morning last weekend?

Correction! This photo was taken around 7 but I was up at 6 that same morning. For those of you who know me well enough, you will appreciate that there can only be one motivation to get up that early – to watch a train maybe? Spot on! 🙂

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D5 – Terai Wonder

On By bratislavIn India, TravelLeave a comment

I awoke sunday morning to find that I had a heavy head and nasal congestion. The cold had finally taken it’s toll on me. It was all downhill from here on in more ways than one. I would head for the plains in a bit, descend a steep road and my physical condition would deteriorate as the day unfolded. Worse still Roshan had decided to ditch, sending in a replacement in the form of Sushil Sherpa and a larger vehicle for company! I wouldn’t have minded so much had it been a Land Rover!

9:30 and we were on our way..leaving behind homely Alice Villa and her friendly staff.

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D4 – The Gloom in Ghum

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It looked promising that morning and I hoped it would remain a bright clear day. Going by the luck we had during our monsoon visit – seeing Kanchenjunga in all her glory – I was pretty sure I would have similar luck this time. Batasia had been visited umpteen times by now and today it had to be different – I just had to see that marvelous train set against the backdrop of the Himalayas. So on a hunch I rode the ‘joy train’ to Ghum that morning and was informed by yet another inebriated member of the railway staff that we would have a ten minute stoppage at Batasia. Great! I thought – this would be that elusive dramatic opening shot I was looking for. But my luck had begun to run out by then..

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D3 – The chase begins

On By bratislavIn India, Trains, TravelLeave a comment

My winter production kicked off in full earnest today – at 0530 in the morning to be precise. For a change I was on time while Roshan lay fast asleep in the comforts of his ‘razai’ and just as we were about to leave he realised he couldn’t find the car keys – great start to the day I thought. Made it to Kurseong station minutes before the departure of the 6 am ‘school train’ to Darjeeling. After much hesitation, I set up tripod at the station and to my surprise no one realy gave a shit which is another reason why I love this part of the country – people don’t object to the use of cameras or crowd around someone filming. Anywhere else in the country and I would have instantly been greeted with the all to familiar, “hanji, permit hae aapka?? ” with a good 7000 spectators watching the proceedings by then.

If my computing skills are anything to go by, we stopped at no less than 22 locations en route to shoot the train from and contrary to what I had imagined, we were always playing catch up. Almost lost the chase on more than a few occasions. That steamer was going great guns this morning and was only 20 minutes late at Darjeeling. I say ‘only’ cause it’s no surprise if it turns up a couple of hours late on most mornings. Managed to goof up a lot of my shots but overall the experience was more than gratifying..

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D2 – Darjeeling Delights

On By bratislavIn India, Trains, TravelLeave a comment

Welcome again and thanks to all of you who had a look at day 1 and posted comments. Apologies for short changing you with that lone photo which was incidentally taken from the aircraft itself – look closely and you might even be able to spot good ol’ Everest in that formation!!

A leisurely start on day 2 thanks in no small measure to the cold which kept me from emerging from my many layers of cover. You can be rest assured the morning shower was even more painfull. The mission today was to location scout for day 3’s train chase. First stop was Darjeeling station.

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