2010 Travelogue

“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” ~ Paul Theroux

It is true that looking back on ones travels brings back the joys of the simpler past and gives an opportunity to relive the adventures. Twenty years from now I want to be able to relive my travel experiences, whatever little I've been on. Here is an attempt at documenting some of my travels in 2010.

Chicago,IL
Although I lived in Chicago for nearly five years and consider it my second home (next only to Bangalore of course), 'S' had never been here and I wanted to show off my favorite city in the US to her and decided to visit in May. Most of our time on the first day was spent around the museum campus as we managed to visit the Field Museum and Shedd aquarium. The following day, we roamed around downtown, took the architectural river cruise which is one of the best ways to see the downtown and visited the John Hancock towers. No matter how many times I go to Chicago, I never get bored of it. It is absolutely one of the top cities in US, if not the world. Some pictures from our trip below.

'Field Museum'


'Chicago skyline from John Hancock'

Door County, WI
Door county is one of my favorite places in WI and I try to visit it atleast once every year. Traditionally we camp at door county, but this time around, we decided to rent a cabin. The cabin was a lovely three bedroom waterfront cottage in sturgeon bay. Some of our activities included wine tasting, kayaking the lake Michigan and it being the July 4th weekend, we also burst some firecrackers. It was just fun being outdoors in the summer by the water.


'cabin by the lake'


'Kayaking the Lake Michigan'

Colorado
Visiting the rocky mountains of Colorado had always been on my travel list but never had a chance to visit it. However this summer we got an opportunity to visit Colorado with 'C' and his wife. Since our cabin experience in door county was such a hit, we decided to do it again in the rocky mountains. The cabin was an amazing find. It is so secluded, that we had to take a five mile dirt track to enter the cabin area. Although the setting was very rustic, the cabin itself was luxurious and we took advantage of all the amenities available to us, from lighting up camp fires in the evening to barbecuing burgers on the grill and relaxing in the hot tub.
The cabin was the main attraction, but we did venture out on day trips to Aspen and Royal Gorge bridge. Overall, this was one of our best trips in a long time.


'Cabin'


'Maroon Bells'

Cali-Vegas
Las Vegas was this December's winter escape destination. Joining 'Sri' and his wife we decided to fly out to California this Christmas break and headed on to our road trip to cover Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. First stop was LA. Since 'R' lived here, he was kind enough to show us around Hollywood and the 'must see' spots around LA. After our one day stint in LA, we headed out to Las Vegas. With a short four hour drive we arrived at Stratosphere, our hotel for next three days. I guess I don't really have to tell much about Vegas, but couple of highlights of our stay in Vegas were the 'Cirque du Soleil' show (this show is not to be missed!) and dinner atop the revolving restaurant called 'top of the world'.
After an overload of looking at the man made wonders in Las Vegas, we decided it was time to visit the Grand Canyon to take in the nature's wonder. It lives up to its name. It is indeed grand and is a reminder of how small we are in front of such a magnificent creation of nature.


'Bellagio'


'Grand Canyon'

Puerto Rico

I always had the urge to go on an island adventure and this winter got the perfect opportunity to do so. During our get together this Thanksgiving in Madison, 'U' had casually mentioned the idea of hiking the rain forests in Puerto Rico and it had immediately piqued my interest. Puerto Rico being a territory of the U.S. doesnot require a Visa to enter the island and hence is easily accessible. After some research about the travel requirements, we booked the air tickets and hotel. Here's how the itinerary folded out.
Day 1

"Pinones beach"

Quality Inn at Condado Avenue was our hotel of choice since it was cheap and they offered complimentary breakfast. Since we had landed in Puerto Rico the previous night at 1' O clock, the morning did not begin until 9.00 am. After quickly grabbing some breakfast, we headed out to explore the beaches around the area. First stop was at the 'Pinones' beach. The waters were amazingly blue-green in color which gives you the feeling that you are in the Caribbean.


"streets of Old San Juan"

Next stop was at the Condado beach, which was very close to the hotel. The temperature was about 85F and the water was perfect to get in. After spending some time in the waters headed back to the hotel to take a quick shower. Since it was Christmas day, most of the places were shut down, so we decided to head over to Old San Juan. This is the most charming little town that I have been to so far. Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony and all the remnants of the era can still be seen in Old San Juan. The town is a cris-cross of narrow cobbled stone streets and the buildings are all painted with vivid colours.


"Fort El Morro"

Old San Juan also boasts of two 500 year old forts built by the Spanish to protect the port city. Visiting fort "El Morro" gives you an insight into the 500 year old history while also giving you magnificent views of the turquoise waters.


Day2










Hiking the rain forest in Puerto Rico was the goal of the day and we reached the "El Yunque" national forest in the morning after about an hour and a half worth of driving from San Juan. El Yunque is the only rain forest in the US forest system and it lives upto its name as it receives copious amounts of rainfall each year and remains damp through out. It lies in the Loquillo mountains and the hike to the peak is absolutely amazing. The hike takes about 2.5 hours, but you are rewarded with some of the most scenic views you can imagine. Hiking 'El-Yunque' is definite 'must-do' in Puerto Rico.

"Loquilla beach"

A 15 min drive from the El-Yunque forest takes you to Loquilla beach, probably the most well-known beach in Puerto Rico. Diving into the cool blue waters after a tiring hike makes for an amazing experience, or you could just hang by the beach sipping on some authentic puerto rican pina coladas!

Day 3

Puerto Rico is well known for its rums and the trip would not be complete without a tour of the Bacardi Rum factory which is situated about 30 min drive from San Juan. The tour is free and includes free rum drinks of your choice (Got to have the 'Mojito'!). Although you wont actually see the process of rum making or the bottling, its worth taking the tour which gives you a history about the Bacardi family and hey!.. anything for free Mojitos right!

Following the Bacardi rum factory tour we headed out towards the west to visit the Arecibo Observatory. The observatory boasts the world's largest radio telescope and is probably recognized even more so for its appearance in the Jame's Bond movie, 'Golden Eye'. The telescope is situated amidst the mountains and is extremely huge. Although the drive to the observatory is interesting, since you have to drive through the mountains, the hour and a half journey is probably not worth it unless you are a really keen student of science.

The one thing that we did miss-out on doing in Puerto Rico was kayaking the bio-luminescent bays in Fajardo. This is supposed to be a one-of a kind experience as, the kayak tour is in the night and you can see the waters illuminate when you disturb the tiny bacteria which cause the luminescence. Well! I guess that's good enough reason for me to re-visit Puerto Rico!

The Dog incident

Read this article on times of india today about a dog dying after it bit a man in Chandigarh. "Dog dies after biting judge" was the very creative and apt headline that would have caught any reader's attention. Apparently, the man, a judge no less, was performing social service in Chandigarh and this stray dog walked by, bit his leg and died. Being a victim of dog bites myself (twice), I can imagine what the judge must have felt. But the dog's death after the bite is preposterous and warrants a blog entry (Heck!! if this story can make the front page of a leading newspaper, it definitely deserves a blog entry).

To add a twist to this story, it has been reported that, after the incident occurred, a team immediately reached the spot to capture the dog and the dog died in their custody. At first glance, it seems like the dog died after biting what must have been one hell of a toxic human leg. But having followed Indian media during the recent terror attacks in Mumbai and learning to dramatize any incident, here's what I think actually happened. After capturing the dog, the special team established that the dog had links with elements in Pakistan. The dog, whose name has been with held by RAW for security reasons, was taken into custody and interrogated. The experience gained in interrogating the recently captured terrorist, 'Kasab' was ruthlessly applied in this case. Periods of physical abuse accompanied by starvation and psychological torture was used. Apparently the dog denied any links to LeT, ISI or the local municipal dog pound. But the torture continued nonetheless and the dog succumbed to its injuries. The dog was also identified as being of Islamic faith and unconfirmed reports have said that Dayanand Pandey's men were part of the special teams which captured the dog. Clearly, the poor dog has become the victim of a god-man's Dogma!!. Pandey denies any involvement, but in typical George Bush like reaction, the Bush govt has intervened and seeing this as an act of discrimination has denied US visa to Narendra Modi for the next 10 years. Modi was stunned at this move by the Bush govt, but hopes that the Obama govt will revoke this ban.

After learning about the dogs death and leaked reports of the dogs' innocence, people became agitated and held morchas in front of random politicians' house all over Kerala. Medha Patkar has also been informed of the incident and she will soon be holding a hunger strike along the banks of a yet to be identified river, but people suspect it could be Narmada. There have also been reports from Tamil Nadu, that the dog has become a hero and the Tamil Nadu govt is considering building a temple in its name (once the name of the dog is released by RAW). A plot of land has already been identified for the temple and is said to be next to the temple dedicated to Khushboo (for obvious muslim connection).

Amidst all this, the judge who was bitten by the dog, has been completely forgotten and is pissed at the media for not covering his side of story and hence denying him an opportunity for some sympathy money from the Chandigarh govt.

Summer/Fall '08 - Travelouge

When I first moved to Wisconsin, people told me that Wisconsinites are hard core about summer and they take summer seriously and I thought sure they like to brag about their summer activities. But I understood what they meant after witnessing the extreme winter last year. Winters are so severe and force you to stay indoors, that people just cant wait to get out when the sun is out. Summer is a privilege here and people make the most of it indeed. I myself did some traveling this Summer/Fall and I thought this is a good place to recollect some of the travels and ponder over the new places I visited.

Devil's Lake,WI
Did most of the traveling in early summer (thanks to R, who wanted to show some of Wisconsin to his visiting parents with us). First trip of the summer was to Devil's lake, WI. Its only an hour's drive from Madison and is a great get away for adventure and camping. With a beautiful lake surrounded by the cliffs, its a huge attraction in Southern Wisconsin. Although on the day we were there, Sauk county had the biggest thunderstorm causing major flooding and forcing us to take in the scenes from with in the car.










Baraboo,WI
Baraboo is a historic little town in the Sauk county area with lush greenery and also home to the famous Ringling Brothers circus. Watching the circus takes you back to the childhood days and it brought memories of our very own Jumbo Circus in India. Although the circus was not as grand as in India, it was fun to see live performers still performing the 'old style' of circus. Unfortunately, Baraboo was also affected by major floods from a later thunderstorm and is recovering from it still.










Mt. Horeb/Cave of the mounds,WI

Another local visit was to Mt.Horeb. It is a small Norwegien settlement and the Norwegien heritage is seen all over the town with little Troll statues in the front yards of the locals. The town also claims itself to be the Troll capital of the world! There is also a museum dedicated to the Norwegien history in this area and it is quite interesting.

Traveling a few miles west of Mt.Horeb is 'Cave of the mounds', which is a colorful cavern of limestone formations that was accidentally discovered in the 30's. Its one of the national landmarks and worth a visit if you are in this area.

Wisconsin Dells,WI
Dells is a popular vacation destination for Wisconsinites and many mid westerners. Although famous for its water parks, we spent most of the day around the downtown area. We took the Wisconsin ducks tour, which is an amphibious boat tour taking us around the woods and into the Wisconsin river. Although the tour itself was relly good, I defenitley did not like the diesel exhaust fumes in my lungs. The boats are actually from WWII era and they need some serious over hauling. We also got a good look from the boat at the devastation the previous fortnight's flooding had caused in this area. The man made lake Delton which was a popular destination was totally engulfed and just vanished in one night.The pic on the right shows part of the road which was eaten away by the collapsed lake Delton.










Chicago,IL
Made a few trips to Chicago this summer. It was kinda like going back home, back to your nick of the woods so to speak. Again thanks to R and his visiting parents, we had a wonderful time going around Chicago. We took the 'architecture river cruise', visited the John Hancock center and spent sometime roaming the downtown area on a perfect summer day. Some pictures form the 'windy city'.













California

Always love California!! This was my fourth trip there and was a good trip coz I met so many old friends who I hadn't seen in years. Pashya's place in Orange county was my base camp and its a lovely place, close to the PCH and plenty of beaches in the vicinity. Made a one day trip to Santa Barbara. Great little town on the pacific coast.The downtown area is extremely lively and filled with little shops and resturaunts on tree lined streets. Its a magnificent weekend get away in the So-Cal area.

Texas
My first trip to Texas and it was an awesome trip. It was a reunion of sorts with Dudda and Pashya joining me from New York & California and Ranga hosting us in Austin. Ranga had planned a day trip to San Antonio and on our way we stopped at the Guadalupe river for some water tubing. If you have never done it before, all you do is lie on a big rubber tube, drink beer and just float on the flowing river, till you are tired. Trust me, its fun. After a wet and relaxing afternoon, we continued our trip to San Antonio. It is ofcourse well know for its river walks and for a reason. The river walk is lined with resturaunts and shops and is a perfect place to spend a summer evening. The following day took a dip in the 'Barton Springs'. I learnt about this place through Samanth Brown's 'Passport to great weekends' and I just had to visit it. It is a natural spring in the middle of the city and is a popular local recreation spot, especially on a hot summer day.
With so many things to do, Austin will defenitley draw me back and I hope to visit it again sometime.









Lacrosse, WI
Lacrosse was the final trip of the season. It is about two hours drive from Madison towards the west and is a beautiful town on the banks of the Mississippi river. It is also a border town with the state of Minnesota. Since the fall season was at its peak it was the right time to see the foliage in full bloom. Although Central Wisconsin is famous for its fall colors, we were a little disappointed to not see the full colors in Lacrosse. But it was an awesome fall day and hence the trip was not a total let down. We spent most of the day near the river just taking in the scenery and ended the day with a river cruise on the Mississippi river. Some pictures from Lacrosse.















Summer/fall season has come to an end and we are almost into the peak of winter here. Sucks to let go of summer, but like what a wise man/woman once said, 'If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant' , right?

Sourav Ganguly - RIGHT HANDED

Ever wondered what it would look like if Ganguly batted right handed?

Looking back

Its been five years since I came to the United states in the hopes of pursuing my MS. Being just another "Desi", leaving home for the first time, trying to make my mark in the land of opportunities, I vividly remember all the events that led up to my first day in America. I remember my parents sending me off at the airport reminding me at least 8 times to secure my passport in that upper left pocket of the Jacket. I remember my uncle explaining the nuances of air travel including the landing and take-off procedures. I also remember the first breath of air I took as I walked out of O'hare international airport. It was mid January and the peak of winter and the cold air clearly hit my lungs and took me by surprise. I was both scared and excited at the same time to have stepped out of the comfort my home and to have stepped into a whole new country.

As I look back into those five years, I realize how much I have changed and how much more there is to change. Life in the United States has been a great learning experience for me. I have been fortunate enough to have met the people that I have met here. The friendships and bondings that are made when you are away from home are the strongest and the most meaningful ones. Living with plenty of roommates over the course of my Masters', has taught me to accept different kinds of people. I believe it has also helped me open my mind up a little bit more. To be open, and be receptive to ideas and criticisms from people and their actions and probably more importantly how to have fun and live the life. Life as graduate students will probably be one of the most memorable years of all of us who went to school together and suffered the same pains and enjoyed the same pleasures.

Although I have spent most of the five years in Chicago and only recently moved to Madison, I think I'm starting to learn a little bit more about myself only now. Having lived with roommates through those years in Chicago, I never got a chance to reflect and think about myself. This is truly the first time I have lived alone. Living alone sometimes brings boredom and many a lonely days (I'm still a bachelor), But it gives you an opportunity to step back, slow down and think about yourself.

Stepping out of my home has been a big and important step for me and I hope the next five years will give me an opportunity to learn even more and change for the better.

You know you are in Madison, when...

1) Every 'Thank you' is responded with a "You Betcha!!"
2) Bicyclists & Deers fly past you from all directions with no respect towards motorists. If you are not careful, one of them might end up under your vehicle.
3) Every second conversation is about the 'Badgers' and every third is about the 'Packers'.
4) The city is broadly divided into East side and West side. I've yet to come across someone pointing toward the north or the south of the city.
5) The West side mall is conquered and ruled by soccer moms and the East side mall is occupied by the teenage army.