HOTEL HOTEL :)

Every time I fly somewhere other than Thailand in South east Asia, I tend to break up my journey either in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia or Bangkok, Thailand.

So this time in Thailand, I had one whole day to run all my errands before starting my work in Cambodia. But the point is not my errands. I do not even want to talk about errands.

I want to talk about my hotel. Every time I am in Bangkok, I stay in this hotel called Mango Lagoon Place. It is a well equipped property with restaurant and bar. It has rooms for everyone.

I always ask for a small room in the terrace floor for good views. If at the terrace floor you can still see a tiny bit of the Chao Phraya river and the Monasteries in the Kao San Road.

So arrived in the hotel at 4 AM and it was already pre booked for me. I like the room and the hot shower in this hotel. After which I organise my clothes, shoes etc. Every time I am here I organise things in the hotel like its my room in my house.

I play it like a game. A sweet game called HOTEL HOTEL :)

HERE I GO AGAIN!! ANOTHER MARATHON!!

Every time I have fly out of my hometown to some international destination, its the same story.
Its always a combination of flights, trains and taxis.

This time it was to Cambodia. Forget my hometown, Cambodia does not have any direct flights to any of the metros in India.

So I took a train from my hometown Bhubaneswar to Howrah -> then a ferry to cross the river and reach Esplanade in Calcutta -> then took a taxi to Netaji Bose International airport -> then I took a flight to Bangkok -> a taxi to my hotel -> flight to Siem Reap international airport.

But its all worth it once I am in Siem Reap.

MY SNORKELLING EXPERIENCE.

In my last previous post, I shared how I made it into the blue. After finishing the post, I thought of sharing my snorkelling experience in details.

It was the May of 2012 and I was with four friends Jorge, Sachin and Awie in Perhentian Islands, Malaysia for spending some quality time. It was lovely weather and we were walking by the beach. A guy at the beach was shouting for snorkelling and diving lessons. He insisted that he would make us the best package.

Jorge and Awie had already snorkelled there before and they challenged me and Sachin. I jumped into  a boat with them and ended up in the middle of the sea to explore the beauty of it. I was there and my heart was beating very fast. The fearless child in me, who always wanted to see whats inside the sea,  had vanished. Awie jumped into the water like a fish that has to be there. Jorge followed and was encouraging us to join. Sachin had brought himself a life jacket to snorkel and in few minutes he jumped into the water. That very moment, I felt I have taken the biggest risk of my life. Why did I not bring a jacket too.

I have a phobia from deep water. I feel someone always try to pull me down.  I am not a good swimmer either.

But, then I gathered courage and jumped into the sea. In no time, I got very restless. I was sinking. All my swimming skills was gone. I would hardly see inside the water. I was just paddling my feet to keep my head out of the water. Many times I breathed in the sea water into my mouth and nose. I made many reasons to return back to the boat.

My friends really helped. They calmed me. Jorge told me its my first time. I must keep calm and I shall be fine. Awie taught me some tricks to lighten myself.

 Then something told me its now or never. Keep calm. It took me sometime and with help of my friends, I was there to see for myself a whole new horizon. A whole new world. It was like watching National geographic and Discovery channel live. I saw many fishes right in front of my eyes. Many beautiful corals. We went to a turtle point where Jorge and I were lucky to spot a turtle.

Every thing out there is full of colours and made my experience very beautiful.

There is a famous saying my native in Odiya language, "Nije na gale Swarga dekhiparibani".
It conveys to see the heaven, one has to travel himself.
So true!! I witnessed heaven.

MY FIRST TIME # 7 : SNORKELING

May, 2012

The man has desires. The desire list has no end. Every time we do something, immediately our mind ticks to do ten other things. Time and again in my daily life I am tickled to try new things. Every time I want to do this and that.

So the hunger to experience has no end. For an instance I have travelled 32 countries but, I want to go 18 more to make it 50 and sometimes I am greedy to say that I want to travel in 100 countries. If I could, I would not say no to pilot a flight. Then I come here to share as my first time # ** .

Similarly, when I was a child, I used to go to the beach with my parents. I would not wait for their permission. I would get down the car and immediately run towards the sea. I always wanted to know where it ends. What is after when the sea ends. Is there is an end at all. What is beneath the water of the sea. So, for the answer to my vast question bank, I would run towards the sea and sometimes even fast enough to touch the waves. I was a stupid and would always trouble my folks.

My mom would be always scared and dad would try to answer my questions very patiently.
I: what's after the sea?
Dad: Its land again.
I: whats is in the sea?
Dad: Plants and animals. Its a huge world of living organism.
I: Is it a different world than us ?
Dad: No we join together and make one world.
I: How do you know that there is another land after this vast sea?  How do you know about the animals and plants inside the sea?
Dad: We know because, science tells us. We have studied in school. When you grow up you will study too.
I: Have you seen it for yourself?
Dad: Yes, somethings.
I: Then dad please let me go inside. I will come back. Please only for 10 mins.
Dad: No, not now. When you grow up, you will know.

Yes, I was very stupid.
I would cry and dad used to hold me tight. He always told me that I know there is land after this sea and he is sure there are definitely crazy children out there who think like me. One has to wait for the right time to know all these.

Listening to my dad paid off. On one of days in the month of May, I was lucky. I was in company of my very best friends at Perhentian Islands, Malaysia. They were Awie from Malaysia, Sachin from India and Jorge from Portugal. We were there for two nights to lead an island life and celebrate the birth day of our friend Awie.  One of the afternoon the weather was very good to snorkel. One of my long time wish came true.

In the beginning I was very scared and in the end I was snorkelling like an expert. It was my first time and was one of the best experiences of my life.

So, here one of the very old saying turns true,"The more we get, the more we desire".
However the positive of the above saying is that, there will be more of the first time experiences in my life :)

PORTUGAL DAY!

Its 10th of June is celebrated as the day of Portugal.

It is called Dia de Portugal i.e national day of Portugal. The date commemorates the death of national icon of Portugal, Luis de Camoes on 10th of June, 1580

So here are the two pictures which appealed me a lot while I was reading about this day. This post might not be very appealing as I don't know how much the readers would feel for the iconic poet of Portugal. But for me this is my love and respect for my favourite country Portugal.

DAY 1 : COUNTRY 1 : SOUTH AFRICA

Yes! It is true. I was lucky. My first country outside India was not a shopping trip to Thailand or crossing the Nepal border.

It was very grand and I flew not only to another country, it was another continent.

My first country was the beautiful South Africa!

A NEW MISSION : 31 COUNTRIES FOR 31 DAYS

I am excited about something new coming up in my blog.

A new month is on its way and I find a coincidence with the number of countries I have wandered outside my homeland, India.

I was making a schedule for the month of May and I realised that I have traveled in 31 countries outside India. So for the coming 31 days of the Month of May, I will share my experience in those 31 countries in pictures.

HURRRAYYY!! 31 COUNTRIES FOR 31 DAYS

PRAY FOR NEPAL :(

It was last saturday, I received a call from my Mother if I am safe, as I was out of the house and we all felt the tremors.  

We all were quick on Whatsapp, Facebook, SMS, Calls etc to check on our dear ones. It was relief to find everyone is safe. Soon it was in news that it was Earthquake.

Sooner after we learnt what it has done to Nepal. In no time, a beautiful land is turned to rubble and this morning I learnt that more than 3700 people has died already. Also the unofficial number would be around 10000, as many villages are still cut off from any aid. 

Lets pray that its not the case. Lets pray for Nepal and hope that this beautiful land rise soon to smile again. 

A SPECIAL FULL MOON DAY

Agijala Poornima is a full moon day as per lunar calender. The full moon decides the end of the month and on this auspicious day in Orissa the entire neighbourhood gathers to make a fire.

Every family heaps hay around an AGI( A tall bamboo) fixed in the soil. Everyone throws potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplants, mustard seeds, coconuts, rice and all kinds of pulses into it as an offering. Then the priest would offer a prayer to set JALA(Fire) to the heap.

The importance of this festival are believed to be many : 

1. The direction of the fire decides how will be the crop in the next season e.g if the fire is in upward direction then the yield from the harvest will be in abundance.

2. The ashes from this fire is very auspicious and kept in the granary in between the storage of food grains. It is for a healthy year of the family.

3. A pinch of the ash is kept at the house to keep the evil spirits and bad energies away.

4. It's a blessing to spot a burnt vegetable and eat a piece of it.

But for me it was very simple :The last Bonfire with my cousins and friends in this winter.

IF THERE IS WILL THERE IS A WAY

This is amazing. The journey of an Indian couple around the world with a Tea Stall.
It is a must read story for all those, who has travel bugs.

Really I am very impressed, proud and inspired.

Here is the story from http://www.thrillophilia.com/blog/around-world-just-tea-stall/

Around the World with just a Tea-Stall!

HARE

While a million of people around the world give up their passions everyday and adapt to themselves according to the circumstances, a 65 years old couple from Kerala has set a new example of self confidence and passion. Rather than losing in the hands of circumstances, this couple from Kochin, gave up everything to fulfil their passion and travel around the world!

Vijayan, a small-time tea seller from Kochi, Kerala, with his passion and love for travelling has proved everyone wrong! Over the last few decades, this tea seller from Kerala, along with his better half, Mohana, has been to more than 16 countries around the globe. The travel list of this pious traveller couple include popular destinations like Britain, Switzerland, Israel, France, UAE, Austria, Egypt, South Africa and several others.

When asked about his passion, Viajayan mentioned his father as the person who introduced him to the fascinating world of travelling. A kid of 6, he got obsessed with travelling only after his father introduced him to the travel world and took him to places like Madurai, Palini and almost all the temples across Kerala.

Recalling those jovial days of his life, Vijayan says that after the tragic loss of his father, the zeal of travelling however started disappearing as responsibilities started growing around him. But as they say, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’, Vijayan got back to his passion once again. And this time it was his life-partner Mohana, who accompanied him all through.

Carrying on with the passion and love for travelling, the couple has by now travelled to some of the most desirable continents around the globe and is looking forward to explore the whole world.

When asked to his wife, she said, “I was really excited when we first travelled abroad. Belonging to a very poor family, I never dreamt of a life like this. Later along with him I too became obsessed with the journeys. Switzerland is my favourite among the places we visited”. She also recalls her experience when the couple made it to Israel and she witnessed the statue of Jesus. She calls that moment one of the best moments of their voyage and further admits that Switzerland has been her most darling destination.

However, unlike other professional or passionate travellers, this couple had to face a lot of obstacles and difficulties in continuing their passion of travelling! In order to meet up the expenses of travelling, the couple had to take loan from banks and had hard times in repaying them as their sole income source is their small time tea stall in Kochi.

Despite of all the obstacles and the hardship, this pious travel couple didn’t lose to the conditions and has always listened to their inner voice. There were times, when they had to save Rs 300 every day to plan their next trip; they in fact plan their trip only after repaying the previous loans. Unlike other travellers, who spend a lot during their vacations and trips, Vijayan and Mohana spend only $10 in picking up mementos from every destination and lead a very simple life all through.

When Vijayan was asked about what keeps them going, with a childish smile on his face, he replied that it is their love and passion for discovering new places and the urge to breathe free that keeps them motivating. He also added that, it is his wife, without whom it wouldn’t have been possible for him to travel around the world. With the last trip planned to Europe, the couple is now looking forward to visit the United States shortly.

Though with the growing age they are facing to procure loans from the banks, the couple have not stopped living their passion and is planning for their next trip to the United Nations.