Winterland in summer!

Work took me to Leh last week. From a hot and dry Delhi, I found myself in subzero temperatures in Leh, within the space of a couple of hours. Quite the change. The town isn't fully open yet, most of the shops/hotels/restaurants are still shut and expected to start opening from the end of April, with the beginning  of the "season". The first shipment of vegetables had just reached town via the Srinagar - Kargil highway. One of my travelling companions was actually carrying a box of food provisions for friends - things like veggies etc that are worth their weight in gold during the cold weather season, when Leh is cut off from the rest of the world. Locals we knew had to scour the town to come up with a couple of bottles of Coke for an evening get-together.

It was mostly routine work - meeting local partners, carrying out hotel inspections, checking out rooms and facilities etc and sorting them out into "yes we will use", "maybe we could use" and " no way will we use". But I was in one of the most beautiful places on this earth, Ladakh. Every way I looked, I could see magnificent snow peaks. On one particular day in Leh we saw bright sunshine, clouds, snowfall and again sunshine - all within the space of a morning. And the one day that we spent outside Leh more than made up for all the hard work. 

We took a daytrip to Pangong Tso, the lake made so famous by movie 3 Idiots. One of my travel companions had a funny story about how a guest who visited last year insisted his phone HAD to work at the lake, because after all Aamir had taken a call here in the movie....Speaking of the movie, did you know that tourists to Leh often actually ask to visit the "3 idiots school" and pee on the "susu wall"?? I kid you not!

Now I had visited Pangong once before, with family on a trip in the fall of 2011. The lake then was a beautiful blue-green, changing colour every now and then depending on the sunlight. We'd taken a long walk along the shore and I don't think anybody could really get over how pretty it all was. This time, it was a sheet of ice. I was seeing a frozen lake for the first time, and was super excited about it. The ice was almost white, but not quite - there was a beautiful sea-green tinge to it. We walked around on the lake; the ice was slippery and I had to spend a considerable amount of energy keeping myself upright. The temperature was in the -20 to -25 degrees range, but because there was no wind that day it didn't feel as cold. It was definitely a memorable experience, made more unforgettable by the fact that on the way back our car got stuck in snow just short of Changla Pass....

I also managed to find a couple of hours to drive out and visit Gurudwara Patthar Sahib. Had read the legend associated with it and "Nanak Lama" but had never got around to seeing the place for myself. It's a nice, quiet place in the middle of nowhere just next to the highway. Once you have paid your respects, one of the soldiers (it is managed by the army; a different unit each quarter) will smilingly invite you for tea and prasaad. The hot tea and jalebis tasted awesome in the cold weather. There is also a langar on Sundays. What struck me about the place was the silence. It was extremely windy and you could actually hear the sound of all the flags flapping away in the wind. 

It was a good trip on the whole, even though I was sick for the most part of it. We were lucky to get to meet some local Ladakhi families and spend time with them in their homes, having tea and being pressed to eat this, eat that, try this, try that....amazing hospitality. Ladakhis are some of the warmest, friendliest souls one could ever meet. They live mostly in harsh conditions but everybody seems to be happy and smiling always. The children are just too sweet, red cheeks and all.

I know I'll be back again soon! I also know that a longer travelogue, from my two earlier trips, is long overdue and will end up here someday soon!!

Orchha

“Photo? Take my photo?” he says, walking after us as we stroll towards the bridge on the Betwa. I oblige, and the sadhu baba gives me a beatific smile. I wonder if money is now expected, realise I’m not carrying any cash to give him and say something to that effect. He smiles and says, “Beta I will never ask you for that.” I feel ashamed to have suggested it.

This small town has more than its share of saffron-clad men and women, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise because this is after all basically a temple town. Jhansi, the closest big city, is a mere 25 minute drive away – but the difference is dramatic. Orchha is small and still retains the innocence of a place untouched by the hectic nature of modern life. Oh sure you have the Tata Sky dishes and motorbikes and even – so I hear – a local radio station. The market has signboards advertising Italian cuisine, B&B’s and shops selling kitschy souvenirs. But the pace of life here is slower, gentler. The locals in the market all seem to know each other.  Life revolves around the temples and the daily aartis. Nobody hurries, nobody has deadlines. Nearly everybody has a smile on the face.

A group of young boys watches as Christine and I walk across the bridge, get some shots of the Chattris , and walk back – just about managing to escape being pushed into the river by a truck that has rumbled too close past us. When we reach them, one of the boys shyly asks if we’d like to share a soft drink. We smilingly refuse and continue on our way.

Orchha is a medieval town, established in the early 16^th century by a Bundela king (interestingly, he died saving a cow from a lion). The palaces and temples of Orchha are reason enough to visit, especially if you are a history buff like me. The fort here has a number of palaces built during various periods of its history; Jahangir Mahal for example was built as a welcome gift for the Mughal emperior Jahangir when he visited. There is also a Sound and Light show held here every evening which acts as a good introduction to the history of the town. I could have done without the melodramatic death scene though....

There are many famous temples in Orchha but to me perhaps the best sight here were the cenotaphs (Chattris) standing in a row like brooding sentinels; these riverside memorials to former rulers are now in ruins and still starkly beautiful. I stand and watch the sun disappear behind them.

At night, the stars come out. Standing by the river I look up and try to identify constellations. I think I see Orion. I know for sure that it’s been a long time since I saw so many stars in the night sky. The night is quiet, peaceful and I could well be all alone – except for the half-full hotel just behind me.

We decide to attend morning Aarti before leaving Orchha. The Ram Raja temple is the only temple of its kind – Ram is worshipped here not as a deity but as a king. In deference to his royal status, a pair of cannons is posted at the entrance of the temple. Sentries are on guard duty outside and inside. We go in, a few minutes before the morning Aarti is to begin. The temple courtyard is full mostly of locals, who from the looks of it seem to be regulars here. There are of course also a few gawking tourists like us. I have a vague sense of unease, feeling like an intruder – I never visit temples if I can help it – but I soon start feeling better.  Finally the sanctum doors are opened and the Aarti begins; the bhajan being sung is one that I’ve never heard before, but the entire congregation seems to know it well. They sing loudly, unselfconsciously, with all their hearts. A mother picks up her toddler son to allow the priest to touch his forehead in blessing. An old man is getting a wedding card blessed by Ram raja. The bhajan goes on, soothing yet cheering. I look around. I feel tears running down my face that I can’t stop. And finally, after years of declaring I don’t believe in prayers, I find myself saying one....

My English Summer: Day 08

06th June 2010:  Left Skye today and drove to Inverness, crossing the Glenelg Scenic Way. Finally was getting to visit Nessie!! Loch Ness is just this huge, and I mean huge expanse of water. 25 miles long, 1 mile wide, over 700 feet deep. Interestingly it's a mix of salt and fresh water - salt water stays at the bottom and fresh water on top, with some kind of geothermal layer acting as a barrier. Not sure of the technicalities but interesting fact anyway.
Looked around for Nessie but maybe she was sleeping in, it was a Sunday morning after all! Took some pix, picked up some pebbles as I'd promised my sister, and then we left for Inverness.

I'd been lucky with weather so far, in all my time in Scotland there hadn't been a drop of rain and we had some glorious sunny days. Today that changed and the day was dark, gloomy, windy with bouts of rain every now and then. Apparently this is more what Scottish weather is supposed to be.

From Inverness we went on to visit the Culloden battle site. This was the flat patch of moor where the Jacobites led by Bonnie Prince Charles fought a final battle against a much larger, superior, well rested English army under the Duke of Cumberland in the mid 18th century. Danny told us the story and had us spellbound with the way he described the build-up and the battle. It was literally a massacre, over in less than an hour's time for the most part. No prisoners were to be taken, so all survivors including the children were killed, as were the women who had followed in the wake of their Jacobite men. And that isn't all. Once the battle was over, the English set two trained butchers on the field to ensure that none of the dead would be recognisable in any way. As a result, all that marks the dead of this battle is one big common cairn in the middle. There are also numerous small stones scattered around, each bearing the name of a clan that fought and died here. The story was so painfully sad that I suspect not one of us was left dry-eyed. It was a very sad place.

At Culloden I took a coffee break because somehow I found myself very affected by the whole story of the battle and the brave Highlanders. In time we all got back and soon a short drive brought us to Clava Cairns, a prehistoric burial site that is supposed to be three to five thousand years old and the best preserved Bronze Age burial site in Scotland. The cairns of stacked stones were constructed in such a way that on a solstice day the light of the sun would hit the inside wall of the cairn. Nobody knows exactly why the cairns were built but it is supposed that they came up gradually over many years.

From Clava Cairns we drove to this tiny little town called Aviemore, which is mostly a base or jump-off point for people going trekking/skiing/hiking in the mountains. Practically half the town was built around the one High Street. I will remember Aviemore for the awesome hot chocolate I had here :-)

Leaving Aviemore we went past Blair Atholl castle (I realised that this is the place after which the original Scottish owners had named what is now Wallwood Garden in Coonoor) to Pitlochry, a slightly bigger town. It was raining much too hard to look around though, and we continued in the driving rain towards Edinburgh. Crossed the Firth bridge and were at the Mile by 6pm, saying bye to everybody. I left for the bus station with two of the nicer American girls, as we found that all three of us were taking the night bus back to London.
So, midnight saw me bringing in my birthday in a National Express coach somewhere on the highway to London!!

My English Summer: Day 07

Got up early today at 7am, had a quick breakfast, washed up after ourselves. I found time to go take some pix of the lake in the morning.

Eventually we all managed to get into the bus and left for Skye. After crossing the Skye bridge, stopped at the other side (Kyleachin) to photograph the bridge and Saucy Mary's Tower. Spent the entire day on Skye. The beauty of this island cannot be described in words, and even the pictures don't do it justice. I fell in love with this part of the world on that day. Some of the places we stopped to see:

Cuilin Mountains: Said to be created when two giants fought each other

Portree: The main town of Skye, cute as anything. Buildings set around a square, parallel and intersecting streets, tiny and interesting shops. Bought some local crafts here for myself and friends. 

Glenshiel (Gaelic = Gleann sheile) or the Fairy Glen: This is supposed to be the point where our world and that of the fairies meet and the fairies come out to play. If you make a wish here and leave behind something shiny and appropriate, it just might get granted. Danny our guide had given us an hour's break here for lunch, so I climbed up to the top of the rock he had described as the fairies' fort. Spent the hour communing with nature, admiring the views, and making halting conversation with the elder of the Russian brothers. The place did in fact feel magical, and the rest of the world felt too far away to matter.

After passing Uig and some stunning seaviews we stopped at an unknown point that was all cliffs and cliffside paths and great views again. Most of us decided to join Danny on one of his "wee" walks. It began simply enough, but soon the trail got narrower and slippery due to the loose gravel, and I began to fear that I was going to do one of my "Neha fell down" routines..not an easy time at all! The view at the end did seem worth it though. Coming back down, the route seemed to have become longer, naturally. I was quite relieved to be back on flat ground again!!

Also saw the "Old Man of Storr" and stopped to hear the story about it, and visited the Kilt Rock with its waterfall. From here, one can get a view clear across the sea to the island of Raasay and Rona and even the Scottish mainland. Apparently we were very lucky as there are very few days when this place has such good visibility.

I was really tired by the time we drove back to Strome. But this was probably the most beautiful of my days in Scotland. Just thinking about it now makes me want to go back!

My English Summer: Day 06

My great Highland adventure started on the 04th of June. After saying bye to my friends from the hostel, walked down to the Mile to the Wild on Scotland office and paid the remainder of the tour cost. There was a motley group of travellers on this tour - a mother and daughter from France, a couple from Argentina, giggly female students from the US, a handful of Germans, two Russian guys - brothers, one of them a Daniel Craig lookalike, a student from Taiwan, and me bringing in the Indian angle!

We left Edinburgh and drove through a part of the town I handn't seen earlier, coming out into the countryside pretty soon. A drive of about an hour and half brought us to Bannockburn, the site of the famous 14th century battle where Robert the Bruce had defeated the British. It was here that I realised that what had been shown in "Braveheart" was not really the whole truth and nothing but the truth....Leaving Bannockburn we drove further west passing Stirling and making a brief halt to see Doune castle, famous on account of a Monty Python movie being shot here.

Stopped in a small town called Callender and a lunch break was announced. Callender is a cute, small town complete with picturebook houses and pretty lanes line with tiny cafes and sweet shops. A single Main Street runs through the town and most of the town businesses seem to be located on this street. I had an awesome minty ice cream from one of the small shops here.

Just a little ahead of Callender we visited a personage called Hamish. Hamish is a Highland Cow (Hairy Coo!!) and something of a local celebrity. Tourists flock to see this long haired cow, feed him and take pictures of him. Everywhere we went in the Highlands, you couldn't miss all the souvenirs related to this animal - key rings to magnets to biscuit brands to caps to just about anything. The highland cow is a local VIP and an industry in itself!!

Had my first glimpse of a Scottish Loch today, when we stopped at Loch Lubnaig to stretch our legs and take some pix. The Argentinian couple noticing I was alone offered to take my pix for me, and they continued to do this for the rest of the tour. Very nice people. Wish I could say the same for some of the others in the group.

We drove further up into the highlands and stopped to see Glencoe, the valley (glen) where British troops had massacred the entire Macdonald clan after having enjoyed their hospitality for days. It seemed hard to associate this beautiful, peaceful place with so much bloodshed. Glencoe by the way is also where the set for Hagrid's house was set up for the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

After Glencoe we drove on past long lake-shores (Loch Leven, freshwater, and Loch Lhinne, saltwater) to reach the midsized town of Fort William. It is the second largest town in the Highlands and after a long time we saw large supermarkets. I also saw a Thomas cook outlet! This area is also the beginning of the 100km long Caledonian Canal which links Scotland's two seacoasts along with the lochs Lhinne, Lochy, Oich and Ness. The town is the starting base for treks and hikes up to the Ben Nevis, highest peak in the British isles. We kind of passed the Ben and then went up to see the Commando Memorial. This is where a British Commando unit was set up and trained during the Second World War.

Our last stop for the day as the Eileen Donan castle. I recognised this as the castle from the movie Made of Honour. Too bad the light was failing and so I couldn't get my picture taken here. The current castle is actually just about 80 years old. It is an exact replica of the original castle which was used to store gunpowder during the Jacobite rebellions and was blown up by British cannon-fire!

We finally reached Stromeferry (population 17) at around 7.30 pm after a long day. We were staying at a place called the Stationmaster's House, located just opposite the train stop on the Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh line, beside the lake. We are allocated bunks in the different rooms and it was all quite comfortable.

After dinner was done and we had all helped to clear and wash up, everybody scattered to do their own thing - showers, naps,walks...I went out for a walk, took some pictures, saw what I realised were lobster pots....Back inside the American girls had started a board game called Cranium which we played till bedtime. Quite a good ice breaker, and we all ended up talking about where we come from. Overall it was a good day.

My English Summer: Day 05

My last day in Edinburgh, and I'd saved the Castle visit for this one. If nothing else, one should visit Edinburgh Castle for its views. The hill (Castle Hill) was formed millions of years ago by volcanic activity. The castle was built in - if I've got my facts right - the 12th century and went through lots of changes, tearing down, rebuilding, renovation  and all that sort of thing. It really is quite impressive, and it's interesting how whenever you look up from somewhere in the Old Town you can see it brooding high above you on that sheer cliffside.
Entry isn't cheap - tickets cost GBP 14 but if you're going you might as well go for the audio guide, so you'd pay GBP 17. The audio guide is really good, and gives you the option of listening to as much or as little of the history as you want to. I spent a long time going through each and every story and narration, a morning well spent. There are also guided tours by castle staff at fixed times if one is interested. But really, why would you want to traipse around in a huge group being shepherded by a guide when you can do it all on your own and at your own pace, pausing when and where you want to listen to more background and take some pictures?
Margaret's Chapel was stark in its simplicity; the Great Hall felt familiar - been watching too many movies of that time maybe? The war memorial was quite moving. Overall, worth the visit and gave me a much better idea of the history of the country.

Above: 1. View from the Castle. 2. The 1 o'clock gun which is fired at 1pm daily - used earlier to synchronise times with the observatory or harbour or something to that effect. Used to be fired at noon till a canny Scotsman realised that they could save ammo by firing it at one pm!!
Below: Castle as seen from Princes Street Gardens

After the Castle visit I took a bus ride out of town to the Ocean Terminal. Instead of finding a seaside promenade I found out that this was just a big mall, next to which lies the Royal Yacht Britannia. Not my cup of tea so I took another bus back, this one had a pretty nice route and went for a bit past the shore/harbour.
This evening Amanda, Melissa and I met up and went looking for somewhere nice to eat. Finally settled on a pubby kind of place called The Last Drop, in the Grassmarket area. Tried out Irn Bru, veggie haggis and sticky toffee pudding. Nice.

My English Summer: Day 04

Edinburgh rocks. Really there is so much beauty and history in this city, you can spend days getting to know your favourite parts of it. I only had three days though, so had to make the most of these.
Signed on for the free walking tour that leaves at 11am every day from the Starbucks on the Mile. It lasted for about 3 hours and the guide - Mark, a great story teller - picked up a lot of the history and legends connected to Edinburgh. Saw a number of interesting places: passed by the Writers Museum dedicated to Scott, Burns and Stevenson, St Giles church, the Mercat Cross (gory history - thieves used to get nailed to the cross by their ears we were told - ouch), the Elephant Cafe where Rowling wrote the initial Potter books, the Heriot School which is said to have been one of the inspirations behind Hogwarts - a lot of the names of her characters (such as McGonagall) can be found on the plaques around the school, Greyfriar's church and the famous dog Bobby (well we saw the dog's statue anyway), the house of Deacon Brodie (who inspired Stevenson's Jekyll/Hide character), the Princess Street gardens, etc etc. All in all a good way to get an initial idea of the city and its stories.
Did some more walking this time and found that the lower part of the Mile especially Canongate is a nicer area than the upper half, less crowded and touristy. You just have to veer off into any of the narrow lanes leading off the main road and you find yourself in beautiful little residential areas with gardens and flower-boxes in the windows and that kind of thing. As I was really walking quite randomly, didn't know for sure where I was till I found myself at the old Calton cemetery. Spooky and quiet.
At night - well it was night timewise since it was 8.30pm but really it was bright day outside - Amanda, Melissa and I headed out for a drink, before joining this so called Ghost tour. More stories and a guide who loved drama! The walk took us up past the cemetery to Calton Hill. You get some lovely views here of all sides of the town, apart from the Observatory. There is also this Parthenon-style incomplete pillared folly which is formally called the National Monument I think...abandoned after a point.

The tour was going on to a college-crowd pub after this, we figured we'd rather walk back as it was nearly 11pm and nobody was in the mood for that kind of thing particularly. Long day, but what a day!

My English Summer - Day 03

Continuing from where I left off, two posts ago. 01st of June 2010, I took the morning train out of King's Cross to Edinburgh. The journey takes about 4 hours, and the trains are very comfortable. I liked having a power point next to the seat, especially as my cell was low on battery. The train was a great way to see more of the countryside, which was really green. We passed scores and scores of sarson ke khet, which reminded me of home naturally. And yes, all the cliches are true: rolling meadows, cows in pastures, churches, picturebook cottages and houses with sloping shingled roofs...Beautiful.

I was really excited about getting to Scotland, but also just a little bit nervous. This part of the trip was truly a solo trip for me, I didn't know a single soul there and I had no idea what lay in store. So yeah, there were definitely some butterflies in my tummy as the train pulled into Waverley station, Edinburgh. It was overcast and a drizzle started up almost immediately; luckily the hostel I had booked was just a 5 minute walk away. Checked in, got up to the dorm to dump my stuff and met one of my room-mates Amanda, an American who had been studying at nearby Stirling University and was in town for a couple of days before flying back to the US.

My first evening in Edinburgh was also the day I fell in love with the city. Edinburgh's medieval Old Town and the 18th century mostly Georgian New town are both World Heritage Sites and one can spend days just exploring them. I had three days here and spent hours just walking everywhere. On this first evening I just took an exploratory walk up the Royal Mile up till the Caste.  The Royal Mile is a cobblestoned street that connects the Castle with the Holyrood Palace and actually measures about a 100 yards more than a mile. The part of the mile close to the castle is where you will find the highest concentration of souvenir shops, restaurants, T shirt sellers, and all the usual suspects one expects to find in any touristy area. But it is still an interesting walk, with medieval buildings on both sides of you and dozens of narrow alleys (called Wynds or Closes) leading off from it. Go down any of these wynds and you never know what you might find. Also, a part of the Mile is fully pedestrianised. I think I went crazy just taking pictures of everything - every building looked beautiful and there were some great views.

After this I just walked wherever I felt like, and stopped wherever something sparked my interest. Took a turn on to South Bridge road and found myself at the University. They welcome visitors into the Quad, so I went in and walked around. It was very quiet and beautiful, and at one end of the Quad I found a memorial to alumni killed during the World Wars. Then I walked across Waverley bridge to the New Town side of things, and took a look at the Monument, the Royal Academy and its adjacent building the National Gallery, the Mound etc. Old Town and New Town used to be divided by the Nor Loch - the town's water supply cum sewage dump. This was eventually drained and converted into a beautiful green area called the Princes Street Gardens. It's a great place to sit and people-watch. You also get great views of the Castle, and some decent ice cream!

By the time I finished my walk it was around 8pm, and it was still bright and sunny. To somebody used to dusk setting in by 7pm in summer, it was a little strange at first to see that it didn't get dark till past 10pm here. It was a little disorienting, especially since all shops and cafes were shut by 6pm. The only shops open till late night turned out to be stores owned by Punjabi-speaking men from Pakistan!

The first day in Scotland turned out great. I managed the connection Woking - Waterloo - King's Cross - Edinburgh safely, found myself in a beautiful city with three days to spend as I wished, and made friends.My roommates from the hostel, Amanda and Melissa, were to give me company over the next couple of days' explorations of the city. More on that, in the next post!

My English summer - Day 02

31st May'10: It felt like being in a dream, waking up and remembering where I was. After breakfast PC and I walked to the station and I learnt about Travelcards. She saw me off on the train to London Waterloo after ensuring that I was carrying water, warm outerwear and her phone card. Love you PC!

It was all happening so fast, there wasn't a lot of time to think and so a lot of it didn't sink in for days. I began my first day in London with a walk down the South Bank, from the London Eye to Waterloo bridge. Now I love walking around a new place, it is really the best way I can think of to explore the sights, so I had looked up some websites that featured interesting walks and walking tours of London. I got myself a map and well, I just walked and walked!

South Bank is a very lively, colourful side of London. You walk along the Thames, getting views of the iconic Big Ben among other things, and alongside on the promenade you can see street performers, art exhibits, tourists like you...it's a fun way to pass some time.

I crossed the river and took a bus to Hyde Park, because I wanted to join this free walking tour that starts from there every day at 1pm. I reached just in time, found the red-shirted guide and signed up. This walking tour lasted for about 2 hours, and it was a large group so sometimes one missed out on hearing what the guide had said, but it was an interesting way to get an introduction to the city. We covered quite a lot of ground - Green Park, Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square, Horseguards, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

After this tour I found I had some time so took the tube over to Tower Hill. The Tube Map is a wonder, it is so beautifully designed and makes the whole complex network so easy to understand, great job done.

Entrance fee to the Tower of London is frighfully expensive. I shelled out 17 Pounds for my ticket, and then found that I couldn't see the Crown Jewels since there was a mile-long queue and they were about close in an hour - early closing due to Bank Holiday. But walking around the Tower was interesting. I liked the Medieval Palace, saw the ravens (it is said that if the ravens leave the Tower, the English monarchy will fall, so one can imagine how well cared for these birds must be), got my picture taken with a Yeoman Warder (maybe a very touristy thing to do, but good fun anyway). Saw the place where Anne Boleyn was executed. Interestingly Tower Green where a number of executions have been held was on this day hosting a wedding reception party!



After this visit it was time to get back to Waterloo and take the train to PC's place. I'd seen so much in this first day, my head was just full and I had two weeks of my holiday to look forward to. Next stop - Edinburgh!!





My English summer - Day 01

I hate, absolutely hate, having to pack for myself. It takes me ages to decide what I want to carry, then collect it all together, and then go through the whole irritating process of getting everything to fit into the case and still remain unbroken/unbent/uncreased. The longer the trip, the more harried the packing gets. So consider that this was to be a 14 day overseas trip and one gets the idea...So yeah, the day before my departure for London was a chaotic, stressful time that I thankfully do not remember that well.

The flight to Dubai was uneventful, and I loved being able to see the desert from the plane. The T3 terminal at Dubai is great, but it's really huge which means sometimes a loooong walk to make your onward connection. When you are short of time, it can be a bit of a problem. Still, I made the connection and managed to get into Gatwick as scheduled. PC had arranged for a Woking cabbie to pick me up so it was quite easy. By the time I reached Woking it was late evening and I was too tired to think. It was awesome seeing PC after so many years, and there was lots to catch up on once I'd got some rest. I slept like the proverbial log.

My English summer

An earlier post mentioned my summer trip - the big birthday gift I gave to myself this year

http://nomadicdreamz.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-did-it.html

I have lost count of the number of times I abandoned travel plans because I couldn't get someone to travel with and didn't feel able to just go off on my own. Then this year I finally realised what a waste the waiting game was.

It began with a tiny germ of an idea - Kingfisher was launching a new Delhi - London connection and was giving a highly discounted introductory offer to travel agents. I ultimately couldn't manage the Kingfisher flights but by then the idea had taken root and I just couldn't stop my dreaming. So, long hours were spent poring over travel sites and guides till I finally picked up the courage to go ahead and book my Emirates flight to London.

Having a friend who stayed just a 30 minute train ride from London was a safety net - so it was a solo trip but there was someone I had, to stay with for some days and to lean on when..if...the solo-ness got too much for me. And gradually as I surfed and read, my plans took shape and widened in scope. I finally ended up spending a week around London and a week in Scotland. Loved it to bits, came back with a camera full of pictures and of course loads of memories. My next few posts are going to try and put in words the wonder of this trip, and just how special it was for me. So much that one of my favourite pastimes these days is to research other places to travel to. Bitten, well and truly!