Showing posts with label SRI LANKA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SRI LANKA. Show all posts

December 4, 2014

MY TRAVEL MAP !!



Today my friend Laurent Floch shared his travel map in Facebook. I was very curious to see how my travel map looks like. So I immediately started ticking boxes against the countries to get my travel map.

Now I have a travel map and the count of countries I have been is 30.
Oh yes, it is beautiful.


November 27, 2014

I EMBRACE BUDDHA # 3

Love for Buddha was since childhood.
There is a very famous prayer in Sanskrit with my elder sister all through my childhood, 

Buddham Sharanam Gachami 
Dharamam Sharanam Gachami
Shagham Sharanam Gachami

The meaning is as follows : 
I go to Buddha for refuse(wisdom) 
I go to Dharma for refuse(rules of virtue)
I go to Shagha for refuse(religious group)

Back then I little knew the meaning and now even though I know the meaning little I practice it. However everytime I visit a monastery during my travel in India and other asian countries, the very image of Buddha beings me immense peace. 

Today my love for Buddha is from Sri Lanka. A tiny island country which is very much like south India yet studded with varieties of food, culture, groups, tribes etc. 

I was going through the images in my phone and I found this picture of Buddha. Now I miss my days in Sri Lanka a lot :) 






November 26, 2014

GOOD NEWS! YAYYYY!

There are some good news for Indian Travellers.
Not one but in fact two and its not good news but great news.

Firstly e-Visa for Indians traveling to Bahrain. Now Indians traveling to Bahrain can apply visa online and arrive there with pre approved. It is the same for Sri Lanka and it is easier than Visa on Arrival. I hope that one day Schengen, UK, USA visa becomes a cake walk like this.

Secondly, the Russia has opened its Asia's first Embassy in New Delhi, India. Earlier in order to travel in Russia one has to apply with an agent which would apply visa in Russia via travel agent in Russia. Although not very difficult but is a complicated process. Now Visa application can be filed directly in India and the decision would be made by Russian consulate. Soon there would be consulates in Hyderabad, Chennai etc

This step is for the increase in Indian travellers in Russia.

So guys keep traveling. This is the only way we would win trust with various embassies to grant us visas easily :)


November 24, 2014

SHARING IS CARING # 1

Really sharing is caring.

I mean it more as I would be sharing someone's else column, writing, words, posts etc in my blog.  More meaning to it as it would be about traveling. It is because for a very simple reason as this is a travel blog.

No its not because I am out stories, that I do not have more experiences, or because am not traveling for last 8 months. It is because of my mood these days. My mood to read more and more on traveling. I come across these great articles that talk about 1000 things to do before you die, festivals of december, 20 incredible destinations from India etc

It is really nice to read about the ideas of traveling from other travellers. It is motivating to travel more, to travel like them, to do things which is missed, to check on things already done and sometimes to re do things done before.


This one in particular is about 30 things to do before you turn 30. This is from Tripoto.com.


Here are the highlights from the post :
1. Before you turn 30, take a long solo-trip to somewhere you’ve never been. How about Nepal?
2.  Before you turn 30, go to the The Burning Man in Nevada, USA
3. Why not jump-off an Aeroplane in New Zealand before you turn 30
4. Before you turn 30, volunteer your time and spirit to help animals and create a better world for them.
5. Before you turn 30, spend at least one day of reflection and honesty on the mesmerising ghats of Varanasi, watching life along the holy Ganga.
6. Before you turn 30, take a week to live a life of abundant sunshine and scarce internet in a simple hut on a faraway beach.
7. Before you turn 30, experience waking up to the sounds of the gibbons and the horn-bills of the splendid Bornean rainforest
8. Before you turn 30, spend a freezing night chasing the best of the Northern Lights in Iceland
9. Before you turn 30, crash at a stranger’s home during your travels. Chose a homestay or couchsurfing over hotels to add another dimension to your journey.
10. Before you turn 30, make sure you visit a place that has emerged from recent violence and tragedy. Visit Rwanda, Cambodia or Bosnia & Herzegovina to let yourself face the limits of inhumanity and appreciate the spirit of defiance and optimism.
11. Before you turn 30, try going silent and ascetic for 10 days at a Vipassana Meditation Center.
12. Before you turn 30, take a night to camp-out under a moonless sky in the wilderness
13. Before you turn 30, visit the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala
14. Before you turn 30, rent a convertible and take a road trip in the USA
15. Before you turn 30, walk on the otherworldly landscape of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
16. And witness the magnificence of the Argentinian Patagonia
17. Before you turn 30, travel alone, make friends and be moved to a teary goodbye for someone you’ve known only for a few days.
18. Before you turn 30,  go skinny-dipping somewhere pristine and untamed, like Madagascar.
19. Before you turn 30, make sure a witness a truly spectacular sunset and take a truly spectacular picture of it.
20. Before you turn 30, experience infinity in the deserts of Namibia
 21. And at the gargantuan Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
22.  Before you turn 30, hike up an active volcano in Indonesia
23. And trek up the Inca trail to Machu Pichu in Peru along with friendly llamas.
24. Before you turn 30, take part in London’s annual World Naked Bike Ride for a chance to let the sun freely shine down on your paling pudenda.
25. Before you turn 30, do something you will probably be a tad too wise for in a few years, like the full-moon party in Koh Phagnan, Thailand
26. Before you turn 30, visit our friends down under on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
27. Before you turn 30, enjoy a homecooked meal in a foreign land with friendly locals who don’t speak much English. Remember to take gifts.
28. Before you turn 30, travel to a place that challenges your beliefs and popular misconceptions. Visit Myanmar,Iran or Eritrea for a dose of reality vs. fiction.
29. Before you turn 30, spend at least a week with those who have less than you to understand and experience true gratitude.
30. Before everything, above all, discover what you truly care about. Before you turn 30, spend your years and your youth to seek adventure and inspiration. That’s what your 20s are for.


It is interesting that I did 14 out the 30 do's before turning my 30. For example I have done a day trip to Volcano of Mt Bromo, been to one of the seven wonders called Machu Pichu, think about traveling all the time, had meals with non english speaking foreigners in my friend Xay's house in Laos, been to Myanmar, Cambodia, done a 3 day tour in Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia and trekked in the Patagonia in both Argentina and Chile, I have seen some beautiful sunsets in Jordan, Chile, Sri lanka, Portugal etc.  As 14 out of 30 is nearly 50%, I think about other points. I want to do them all. Being 30 does not stop us, we can still move ahead by making inspirations from this post in Tripoto. 

Let's travel. . . .

October 17, 2014

WOW!! IT's 30!!

Today is the day of making lists.

Its a big coincidence as my count of countries to travel is 30 and the countries I have been is 30. So the immediate wish was to make a list of countries I have visited.

1. India
2. South Africa
3. Qatar
4. Thailand
5. Vietnam
6. Cambodia
7. Indonesia
8. Sri Lanka
9. Malaysia
10. Laos
11. France
12. Switzerland
13. Italy
14. Germany
15. Portugal
16. Spain
17. Turkey
18. Jordan
19. UAE
20. Brazil
21. Argentina
22. Chile
23. Uruguay
24. Bolivia
25. Peru
26. Equador
27. Colombia
28. Singapore
29. Philippines
30. Myanmar

So,  Wow!! Its 30!!

January 6, 2013

20 + 12 = 2012

I like numbers. Numbers are magical and there is a meaning to each and every one. We just have to make the connection.

2012, for example. A year full of travels, experiences and so many stories.

During the 12th year of the new century, I stepped into 12 new countries:

01 | Sri Lanka
02 | Malaysia
03 | Laos
04 | France
05 | Switzerland
06 | Italy
07 | Germany
08 | Portugal
09 | Spain
10 | Turkey
11 | Jordan
12 | UAE

Beside the above, I found another fun fact with numbers and countries: if I add everytime I crossed a non-indian border, no matter if its a new country or not... let's see what happens.

1 time into Sri Lanka;
4 times into Malaysia;
1 time into Laos;
1 time into Indonesia;
1 time into France;
3 times into Switzerland;
1 time into Italy;
1 time into Germany;
2 times into Portugal;
1 time into Spain;
1 time into Turkey;
1 time into Jordan;
1 time into UAE;
1 time into Thailand.

Adding all these entries... the number of times I visited another country outside India was 20, this last year.

Hence the title:

20 + 12 = 2012

December 29, 2012

I EMBRACE BUDDHA

Here would be my dedication, prayers, embraces, wishes, likes and love for Buddha.

The more I travel, the more I see Buddha. If I count the number of Buddha statues i visited in 2012, then it would be like counting stars. We always feel may be we can count them but they are countless. Similarly I can never count the visits I did to Buddha statues or saw pictures.

In the beginning of the year I embraced Buddha in Colombo, Sri Lanka and was blessed to travel the entire year. Sooner or later I would bring all my Buddha collection here.


December 15, 2012

BACHKE REHNA RE BABA # 1

Today its about Buddhism and the culture in Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka the monks consider it offensive if you take there pictures without their permission.

However one can have pictures with the Buddha statues and Pictures. But one has to be careful, the country where a big amount of population is Buddhist it is considered highly insulting if one takes offensive pictures, like kissing the Buddha, posing like a Bond or Britney Spears, imitating the posture of Buddha etc.


Many monuments have cameras and the tourists are under observation.
BACHKE REHNA