-- a "geographical' account of the lands I have covered
My travels have until recently been limited to the borders of India. Though not an extensive traveler, I would have to consider myself lucky to have covered the places that I have, from the North of our great & beautiful country to the South & from the East to the West.
Being born in Kerala (parents are from there) to be being brought up in Bombay (now Mumbai; parents earned their living here) itself established that I have touched 2 states (Kerala & Maharashtra). Studying and growing up in the city of Mumbai and going for summer vacations to Kerala (to see my loving grandparents) in the town of Quilon (now Kollam) was a long train journey then, of 44 hours assuming the trains were not late (rarely were they on time). Crossing the ghats in Maharashtra & racing across the dry arid landscape of Andhra Pradesh to the refreshing greens of Kerala. Passing through tunnels and on bridges that are built over dry river beds, creeks and Kerala's famous backwaters .
An occasional trip to Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) to visit relatives added to the places 'been to' in Kerala. My real break in travels came when one Diwali vaccation we (my family) decided to travel north. We went to Delhi (our capital) and using Delhi as our base camp we covered hill stations like Dehradun & Mussouri, then travelled to the worlds most famous monument of love, the Taj Mahal at Agra. We also visited the pink city, Jaipur. I call it the city of forts & palaces, a short trip to Mathura was also squeezed in. It was a satisfying holiday.
Then on another vacation to Kerala we decided to do more than just meet the relatives. We set a couple of days apart for a trip to the southern most tip of the country ...Kanyakumari.
An occasional trip to Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) to visit relatives added to the places 'been to' in Kerala. My real break in travels came when one Diwali vaccation we (my family) decided to travel north. We went to Delhi (our capital) and using Delhi as our base camp we covered hill stations like Dehradun & Mussouri, then travelled to the worlds most famous monument of love, the Taj Mahal at Agra. We also visited the pink city, Jaipur. I call it the city of forts & palaces, a short trip to Mathura was also squeezed in. It was a satisfying holiday.
Then on another vacation to Kerala we decided to do more than just meet the relatives. We set a couple of days apart for a trip to the southern most tip of the country ...Kanyakumari.
During this course of time one granny moved to Bangalore, my God parents too live there making Bangalore another regular vacation destination. This granny later moved to Cochin, making that the vacation hub besides Kollam. I have done a quick tour of Alleppey, Kayangulum & Clapanna places where my Dad, did his schooling and was the location our former ancestral homes.
Back home in Mumbai ...have been to the neighboring hill station of Lonalvla & Khandala ..places that I have visited quite often since. As I began college I joined the Nature club of my college i.e. The WCNC (Wilson College Nature Club ) and enrolled to go for the annual camp which that year was planned for Gir forest well the plague caused that location to be scrapped and was re-planned for Tadoba Tiger Reserve which is in Maharashtra itself in the district of Chandrapur (near Nagpur). Wow the experience of living within the forest was exciting ....(another blog for experiences). Thus began my camps with the WCNC along with whom I went to Sikkim i.e. Gangtok; Kalingpong & Darjeeling was also on the itinerary. We halted at Siliguri and also at Calcutta (now Kolkatta) where i took a walk to the famous Howrah bridge. One camp was to Annamalai forest in Coimbatore where at one place we were told our one foot was in Kerala & the other in Tamil Nadu. So was in two states at the same time. Yet another camp i was part of was to Kodiakanal. I missed out on trips to Gir forest & Kanha national park among a few others.
Raajmachi fort near Lonavla & Ambernath were a couple of the small trips I took with the NC.
Back home in Mumbai ...have been to the neighboring hill station of Lonalvla & Khandala ..places that I have visited quite often since. As I began college I joined the Nature club of my college i.e. The WCNC (Wilson College Nature Club ) and enrolled to go for the annual camp which that year was planned for Gir forest well the plague caused that location to be scrapped and was re-planned for Tadoba Tiger Reserve which is in Maharashtra itself in the district of Chandrapur (near Nagpur). Wow the experience of living within the forest was exciting ....(another blog for experiences). Thus began my camps with the WCNC along with whom I went to Sikkim i.e. Gangtok; Kalingpong & Darjeeling was also on the itinerary. We halted at Siliguri and also at Calcutta (now Kolkatta) where i took a walk to the famous Howrah bridge. One camp was to Annamalai forest in Coimbatore where at one place we were told our one foot was in Kerala & the other in Tamil Nadu. So was in two states at the same time. Yet another camp i was part of was to Kodiakanal. I missed out on trips to Gir forest & Kanha national park among a few others.
Raajmachi fort near Lonavla & Ambernath were a couple of the small trips I took with the NC.
I finally managed to go to one of the more popular holiday destinations i.e. Goa and have been there on 3 occassions now. Oh did i mention going back to Mathura for a wedding ...what a trip!!
Nashik, Pune, Nagpur & Bhopal are few places that I have stayed at least a day. While Nagpur & Bhopal were official trips Nashik was to visit a religious shrine and Pune to visit a friend.
Now i have finally set foot out of the country and am in the UAE. Within UAE I have been to 5 of the 7 emirates, the 6th one i have only passed through. Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Umm al-Quwain, Fujairah are the emirates that I have been to and have passed through Ajman. Ras al-Khaimah should be my next immediate destination.
To Sum it as a statistic : I have set foot on only 2 countries out of over 200 countries world wide.
Within my own country India I have set foot on just 9 out of the 28 states and 1 Union territory of 7.
In the only other country that I have visited I have been to 5 out of 7 emirates …
Nashik, Pune, Nagpur & Bhopal are few places that I have stayed at least a day. While Nagpur & Bhopal were official trips Nashik was to visit a religious shrine and Pune to visit a friend.
Now i have finally set foot out of the country and am in the UAE. Within UAE I have been to 5 of the 7 emirates, the 6th one i have only passed through. Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Umm al-Quwain, Fujairah are the emirates that I have been to and have passed through Ajman. Ras al-Khaimah should be my next immediate destination.
To Sum it as a statistic : I have set foot on only 2 countries out of over 200 countries world wide.
Within my own country India I have set foot on just 9 out of the 28 states and 1 Union territory of 7.
In the only other country that I have visited I have been to 5 out of 7 emirates …
Lakshwadeep and/or Moonar/Periyar are targets for the end of this year '09
I have a long list of places i wanna visit, see & experience ...and hopefully my plans will materialize. More than the statistic am looking for varied experiences of climate, scenic beauty, food & people. I will share my experiences of places and pics too as time goes by.
Keep tuned for this 'Sinbad' inspired individual’s experiences of travels.