Mangalore - Day 2

Trying to catch up with some sleep after a long chat, the alarm goes out of control. Damn, how could it be 5:00 AM so early?

6:00 AM

Danny is woken up by the Auto rickshaw guy!

Danny: Vandan, the auto has come!

Me: Well, I am ready ;)

Sindhur: Shit Man! I don't want to be late for the race!

Danny: Wake me up once he is ready! And tell something to this auto fellow (zzzzzz)

Me: (Called the Auto fellow), 15 minutes bartini!

Danny: ha ha ha ha ha ha!

6:45 AM

Changed from a Delux room to a single occupancy room, since we just wanted a place to keep our luggage. Room no. 412!

7:00 AM

Boarded the Auto!

Danny: Kadri Kambala!

Auto: Hmm!

7:15 AM

Kadri Kambala Venu! And there is not even a sparrow!

Danny: Fuckers, 6 AM you woke me up! I could have slept for some more time.

Me: So where do we go for a shoot now?

Sindhur: I am hungry!

Danny: Ya, lets have some breakfast!

Auto: Sir!

Danny: Sir, take us to some place to eat!

7:30 AM

Some Darshini near to the venue!

Danny: Idli Vada!

Me: Idli Vada!

Sindhur: Idli Vada!

Auto: Idli Vada!

...

Danny: One plate Vada!

Me: One Plate Vada!

8:00 AM

In the Auto!

Danny: What places are there to see here?

Auto: (He spoke a lot of places, mainly temples, something that I heard was the church)

Me: *Sigh! The mass is going on! lets go to some other place!

Auto: (Again a lot of temples suggested and this time i heard something) Fishing Village!

Me: FISHING VILLAGE! We go there!

8:30 AM

At fishing village! Fish everywhere and anywhere!

A Mouth Watering Experience is all I can say!

9:30 AM

Back to the Venu! Kadri Kambala and extremely glad to see some people!

One thing about Mangalore Auto Drivers! This auto driver was with us from 6:00 AM! He waited for us for an hour! He took us to half of Mangalore, to make sure we get something to shoot! And at the venue

Auto: 113 Rs Sir!

Me: Danny give him 200!

Danny: :)

Auto: Thank you very much!

At the venue!

Me: Hey Ashit! Good Morning! Are you on your way to Kadri Kambala!

Ashit: Hi Vandan! I will be there in about 5 minutes!

10:00 AM

Meet Ashit for the first time! Not getting into the details of introductions!

So Kadri Kambala was scheduled to have a Slush water running race, a tug of war and finally the buffalo race!

12:00 PM

The running race gets over...

1:00 PM

Me: Chicken Curry and Neer Dosa

Sindhur: Chicken Curry and Neer Dosa

Danny: Pork Curry and Neer Dosa

Ashit: Pork Curry and Need Dosa

BURP!!!!

Danny: Fuck, I never expected this food to be so tasty!

2:00 PM

(sleeping)

The tug of war gets over...

3:00 PM

(sleeping)

The buffalo team starts coming in!

As long as I have knows these creatures, they are pretty shy and calm animals.

But these guys are different; huge, aggressive, blood shot eyes and that nasty look on their face. We got into conversation with one Shravan (a local of Mangalore) and got decent piece of information about these buffaloes.

Shravan: So you have come to watch the Kambala!

Me: (No, I am hear to fly kites!) Yes :)

Shravan: First Time!

Me: Yup!

Shravan: Good! Its fun to watch these guys! Did you have a look at the buffaloes?

Me: Yes, the one in that corner!

Shravan: Oh they are new ones! You should wait for the champion buffaloes!

Me: O.. K..

3:30 PM

Drumb starts beating up, the traditional trumpet blows real hard and in comes the champion buffaloes. Now thats a grand entry in the battle field. They went on playing for about half an hour until the complete ceremony was over. The buffaloes are decorated, tied hard, so that they don't get loose, cause these guys are capable of killing someone!

Me: So, has anyone been injured seriously by these buffaloes!

Shravan: Injured! One buffalo has claimed 16 lives! He is not tied all the time, doesn't come in the race.

Me: Good!

Me: So the ceremony is done by every team before the race!

Shravan: Yes its a tradition. Because they will be beating up the buffaloes during the race so that they run faster!

Me: No wonder the animal rights are trying to ban this sport.

Shravan: Well these buffaloes are taken care royally!

Me: Meaning?

Shravan: The entire year, they get no beating. They have food for 24 hours, one person is always there to give them. And once in a week they get a complete body massage!

Me: MASSAGE!!!!

4:00 PM

The first trial run happens, and it sends your adrenalin high! You are facing them head on, charging at you, clicking away, and at the last moment, you run to your safety.

The one bad thing about these races; it takes almost half an hour before both the races and their buffaloes are standing with all their feet stationary. With you sitting down to capture shots since morning, my ankles had given away. Tried find Danny, he was sitting in the pavilion! Sindhur was no where to seen.

I station myself right opposite to the race track, and right in front of the pavilion. A good 20 feet away form the finish line! Was that safe! Well I didn't bother. I had the best place to shoot from!

The race happens, I start clicking and don't stop until they cross the finish line. I get my camera down and see not one single soul near me and the buffaloes about 4 feet away! Well thats not bad! :)

Me: Hey Ashit, come along, just sit here, its pretty cool!

Ashit: Are you sure? Is it safe!

Me: Well I trust these guys, the moment the buffaloes cross the finish line they run and catch them.

Ashit: Oh, Good!

...

The next race starts, me and Ashit click away to glory. Ashit managed to click through a pair of legs too!

Ashit: Fuck, the bulls were right next to us!

Me: Yeah, but its safe!

Ashit: Fuck, I am so tired, I am not getting up!

6:00 PM

Danny: Lets go to Liquid Lounge!

Sindhur: No, lets go to the hotel and packup!

Me: I am coming!

Ashit: Where is this place?

6:15 PM

Danny: Ashit and Sindhur, you take this auto and reach Liquid Lounge! We will take the next rick!

6:20 PM

Walking on the streets of Mangalore, tired and hurting legs, heavy gear on the shoulders and the tripod in the hands.

Danny: Fuck! If someone sees me here like this...

Me: LOL

6:30 PM

At Liquid Lounge!

Ashit: Khodays with Coke and Soda

Danny: Old Monk with Coke

Sindhur: Kingfisher Pint!

Me: Lemonade!

6:45 PM

Ashit: Khodays with Coke and Soda

Danny: Old Monk with Coke

Sindhur: Kingfisher Pint!

7:00 PM

Talking about Photography

Ashit: Khodays with Coke and Soda

Danny: Old Monk with Coke

7:15 PM

Talking about Blues :)

Ashit: Khodays with Coke and Soda

Danny: Old Monk with Coke

7:30 PM

Talking about American Music History

Ashit: Khodays with Coke and Soda

Danny: Old Monk with Coke

7:45 PM

Danny, Sindhur & Me: Singing Hotel California!

Ashit: :)

7:55 PM

Danny, Sindhur & Me: Singing Summer of '69!

Ashit: :)

8:00 PM

Me: One Pineapple with Cheese, Ginger Chicken and Prawn Tawa Fry!

Sindhur: I will eat at the hotel!

Danny & Me: :D

8:15 PM

Sindhur: Lets go man, we have a bus to catch!

Danny: See, getting a ticket without booking from Bangalore is easy! To go back its not easy!

Sindhur: No no, we will get!

Danny: We will not get the ticket, I am telling you!

Sindhur: I am telling you na, we will get!

Me & Ashit: Busy eating and talking more on Blues!

8:30 PM

Sindhur: Lets leave man!

Danny: One more shot and we go!

Me & Ashit: Finished eating and talking about cooking!

8:45 PM

Sindhur: Lets leave man!

Me: (Laughing) Danny, lets go!

Danny: (Laughing) Ok!

9:00 PM

Group Picture!

9:15 PM

Outside Liquid Lounge! Raining in Mangalore! And for some reason, we don't like the Auto drivers!

Me: Buggers, no Auto and no one wants to come to Poonja International!

9:30 PM

Me: Poonja International amale KSRTC!

Auto: Sari!

Me: Swalpa munde hogi, yerd jana ede!

Auto: Yelli?

Me: Swalpa munde hogi!

9:45 PM

Me: Swalpa wait madtida! Bag togon bandini!

Auto: Sari Sir!

10:10 PM

Me: Checkout!

Danny: My t-shirt is missing!

Reception: We will check with the room service sir!

Danny: I left it in room 508!

Reception: Checking Sir!

Danny: I want my t-shirt!

Watchman: Sir, your auto left.

Me: WOHA! We didn't even pay him!

Watchman: I paid sir, and I also got one more auto for you!

Me, Danny & Sindhur: Startled!

Danny: I want my t-shirt Vandan!

Me: Ya, they are checking!

Reception: The office staff has left, we might have given it in laundary. Can you check tomorrow.

Danny: (Starring) OK Fuck it! Lets go!

Sindhur: I am hungry!

Me & Danny: (Laughing) Well now you know, why we ordered so much at Liquid Lounge! :)

10:45 PM

At Mangalore KSRTC Bus Stand!

Sindhur: I am hungry man! You people book tickets, I will see if I can get something to eat!

...

For some reason, Me and Danny were only laughing and Sindhur was the only person tensed!

Danny: No tickets available vandan!

Me: LOL

Sindhur: Fuck man! Lets ask the bus driver!

Danny: LOL

11:00 PM

Danny in a brawl with a Bus Conductor!

Conductor: Sir you are drunk!

Danny: Yes I am! What about it?

Conductor: huh?

Danny: I know you had tickets and you gave the tickets to this person because he got influence.

Other Person: Hello!

Danny: #!@#%@#^@#!@E!@$@!%@#$^&%^&*%^&(

11:15 PM

Danny: (Laughing) That was fun man!

Me: What happened?

Danny: I know that the conductor had goofed up something, but he didn't know about it.

Me: LOL

Sindhur: I will go and ask about other bus!

Me & Danny: Ok! (still laughing)

Sindhur Calling!

Sindhur: Vandan, all bus service to Bangalore have left it seems!

Me: Ok!

Sindhur: Now what to do!

Me: Lets ask an auto!

Sindhur: What?

Me: Bangalore KSRTC

Sindhur: Fuck you man!

11:25 PM

Me: There is one Red Bus and tickets are available!

Danny: Are you sure you want to go in that bus!

Me: I don't mind!

Sindhur: Lets board it than!

...

Me, Danny & Sindhur: Lets get out and go tomorrow only!

11:30 PM

Me: Wait let me call Ashit!

Me: Hey Ashit, Vandan here! We didn't get a ride back to Bangalore!

Ashit: LOL

Me: Can you ask the hotel reception to book a room for us, we will be there in 15 mins!

Sindhur: So we are not going?

Me: Yes we are, to the hotel!

11:45 PM

Checked into Shrinivas Hotel

Sindhur: I am hungry!

Danny: Now, even I want to eat!

Me: Ok, lets ask the auto guy!

12:15 PM

At a Kerala Mess!

Me: One parota, and matte curry

Sindhur: Chicken Biryani

Danny: Me too!

12:35 PM

Danny: Raja, One plain Biryani

Raja: One half Biryani!

Danny: No, One Biryani!

Raja: Ok, One half Biryani!

Danny: No, One Biryani!

Raja serves One Half Biryani!

1:00 PM

At Hotel Shrinivas, room no. 124!

Danny: Lets see the photographs!

Me: Nice shot Danny!

Danny: I love my lens!

Sindhur: z Z z z

Danny: Lets download yours!

(downloading)

(reviewing)

Danny: Over?

Me: Yeah!

Danny: Goodnight!

Tiring Sunday

3 hours of sleep, 150 KMs at 4:30 AM on SH17, 95 KMPh, frozen fingers, numb legs, 3 plates of khara bhaat at Kamat Lok Ruchi, Pied King Fisher, Sea Eagle, Model Shoot at Kokkare Bellur, Amazing lunch again at Kamat Lok Ruchi, back home, 150 KMs, 80 KMPh!

Thank you Somnath; for this shot!

Mangalore - Day 1

Splashing water, carrying my tripod in one hand and avoiding people on the way (my tripod can cause serious injuries), reached KSRTC Bus Stand.

Called up Sindhur.

Sindhur: I am the one with a red bag!.

Me: (Yeah... right!)

Sindhur: "Hey Vandan, how are you? So which bus are we boarding!"

Me: (Some questions that I always want to avoid.) Let me check where Danny is?

{SMS Conversation}

Me: dude, you have tickets?

Danny: No!

Me: Moron :)

Me:"Ok, Danny is on his way, he has the bus details!"

Danny: Vandan which bus you want to go in, pick and choose!

Me: Yeah, Right!

Danny: Guru, Mangalore ke ticket beku!

Conductor: Haan, e bus Mangalore hogtini!

3:00 AM

Danny walking towards the driver, turns back and goes back to sleep! (Danny, you were going to be awake all night!!!)

Danny: Bugger is drifting on the Ghats man, and there is no road! I will pee in Mangalore!

6:30 AM

Reached Mangalore, High humidity, beautiful red skies and a strong urge to pee!

Sindhur: So what hotel have we booked!

Danny: Lets check first Poonja International!

7:15 AM at Poonja International Hotel

Danny: I have a booking here, Vinod!

Receptionist: Please fill the form sir!

Me: Danny, you had a booking?

Danny: L O L

7:25 AM hit the bed at room number 508!

(click)

Danny: Dude click a few portraits for my Matrimonial!

Me: (MY PLEASURE!)

After a lot of conversation between Danny & Sindhur (I was sleepy)

Sindhur: So we take a cab and go around Mangalore!

Danny: We will go to Tanir Bavi!

9:30 AM at the taxi stand!

Taxi Driver: 4 hours 500 Rupees!

Danny: OK! What places!

Taxi Driver: (Well I cant remember all the names, but he promised to show us all the temples in Mangalore)

Danny: OK! Lets go!

10:00 AM - Shiva Temple

Sleeping!

Sindhur: Is photography allowed inside?

Me: You click!

Danny: Good shot man!

Sleeping!

11:00 AM - Kadri Temple

Sleeping - Coffee didn't help either

Sindhur: Nice place!

Danny: Ya man, lets get on top of that building!

Me: Dude, here all gods also have Six Packs, forget the poojaris!!!

Danny: What did we do in life Vandan! Every good girl here is with some guy!

(Yes, I agree; Mangalore girls are really good looking!)

Sleeping!

12:00 AM - Some Krishna Temple

Danny: Dude, that was my shot! I was thinking the same!

Me: :)

Danny: fucking, water is too cold!

Me: Danny take some underwater shots!

Danny: Dude, don't miss that shot!

...

Danny: You got the shot!

Danny: Get some land, and build a house like this!

1:00 PM - Kudla Restaurant!

Me: Fish Tawa Fry, Pomfret Curry, Neer Dosa

Danny: Chicken Tawa Fry, Prawn Curry, Neer Dosa

Sindhur: Fish Tawa Fry, Boild Rice

Danny: Man this fish is dipped in Ghee and fried!

Me: One more Fish Tawa Fry!

Danny: 2 Plate Neer dosa!

3:00 PM - Outside Kudla Restaurant

Me: Lets walk to the hotel! Its pretty near!

Sindhur: Yes! It will help us digest!

Danny: hmm!

5 minutes of walking!

Danny: Lets ask this auto fellow man!

3:15 PM - Poonja International!

Me: I'll catch up with sleep for an hour!

Danny: Me too!

Sindhur: ......OK!

5:00 PM - Fuck its late to get at the Beach!

Me: Danny, wake up man!

Danny: You get ready!

5:30 PM - Palumbore Beach!

Sindhur: Did you see her!

Me: Yes, I did!

Danny: Whom did both of you see?

6:00 PM - Palumbore Beach, screwed up Sunset!

Danny: Lets do some candid photography!

Me: OK

Danny: Give me your lens!

Me: What am I going to shoot with!

Danny: Here take my 400mm Prime!

Me: Yeah, Right! I will take macros of people around!

Danny: See!

Sindhur: See, I told you she was awesome!

(Danny, send us the picture!)

Me: Dude! Lets ask her for a photo shoot for i*i*o iFreshFace.

7:00 PM - figuring out a way back to Poonja International

Danny: She is also beautiful man! But she is married?

(Short hair, green dress)

Me: huh?

Sindhur: :))))))

7:30 PM - Bus ride back to Mangalore KSRTC from Pulambore Beach!

(Sunil Stories)

The girl also shared the same bus but not the seat! So a lot of back exercises were being followed on the way back!

8:00 PM - KSRTC Busstand!

Danny: Lets walk!

Me: Lets ask that auto!

Sindhur: Poonja International!

Me: Yeshtu?

Auto: Meter Sir!

Danny & Me: Startled! WOW!

On MG Road, Mangalore

Danny: We should have such buildings in Bangalore. Looks like some kalyan mantapa!

Auto: No Sir! This is ******** (I dont remember) and has an art gallery too!

Danny, Sindhur & Me: Startled!

(At Poonja International Hotel)

Me: Lets ask him to pick us up for the Kadri Kambala!

Danny: Yeah! Sir, can you take us tomorrow to Kadri Kambala for the buffalo race?

Auto: What time?

Sindhur: 6 AM

Auto: Okie! Any contact number!

Me: Yeah, give me yours I will give you a missed call!

Auto: 97********

Me: Cool!

8:30 PM - Poonja International Bar!

Danny: This is the only reason I wanted to stay in the Hotel! They have an amazing BAR!

Sindhur: You guys carry on, I will have dinner and sleep!

Me: I will join you Danny!

Danny: Sindhur, come man, what will you do sleeping!

Sindhur: But, I have ordered Dinner!

Danny: Tell them, to get it when you call them again!

11:45 PM - Back to room no. 508

Danny: I will have curd rice!

Me: Me too!

Sindhur: I will ask them to get my Veg Thali!

Room Service: Sir you Veg Thali... Only the rice has gone cold since we had it prepared earlier only.

Sindhur: Oh! Ok!

Danny: Curd Rice is fucking cold! (5 pegs of Old Monk Rum)

Sindhur: This rice is not Cold, its DRY!

Goodnight!

a typical Bangalore winter morninig

Cold, Gloomy and Overcast



A typical Bangalore Winter Morning!
Cold mornings to start with and as the day passes the humidity levels go high. The sun comes out once in a while out of the clouds (Bliss).

Children's Day!

Wishing all children a very Happy Children's Day!







Hope they keep the smile always on their faces!

Will be back soon!

Finally the Autumns set in!
The leaves are turning their colors and the air is getting cooler.



Will be back soon... drowned with loads of work!

Back to Routine Life

An amazing experience at Kabini was short lived.

23 hours of fun, listening to hilarious experiences, spotting the weirdest of birds and animals.

An elephant is called a Tusker in the wild and wild dogs hunt and eat even when the animal is alive. Turtle, Tusker, Wild dogs, White Breasted Kingfisher and a Woodpecker is something that I could capture with my camera.

The freaking Leopard was a good spotting, only if he would have been near!

March-April - Kabini, here I come once again!

Elaborated report coming up soon, drowned with a lot of work!

Off for the Weekend!

I will be on my way to Kabini in the next 5 hours.

The beautiful roads, the smell of wet soil, the green paddy fields and the hopefully blue skies...

Have a great Weekend!

Courage

Sunday morning, I wake up and pack my gears and I am on my way to Hasseraghatta to visit Nrityagram. Its been a long time since I wanted to capture images here. Well, it turned out to be that the dancers were on a long break and were in no shape and didn't wanted to be photographed.

On my way back home, it started raining and there goes my last chances of any photography. I had a couple of friends with me who were to shoot a drawing competition at a park in Bangalore. I wasn't interested at all, but something kept me waiting with them. The rain stopped and we reached the park and I was taken by surprise.

Well, it sure was a drawing competition held by Association of People with Disability. For a very long time I wasn't responding to anything. I was hit, until a lady asked me to help carry a wheelchair down the steps.

What shook me up was the courage, the enthusiasm and energy each child had. They just went on drawing on sheets after sheets. There was nothing that could stop them.

What I witnessed cannot be described by words, it can only be felt. I leave you with some moments that I captured at APD and these would last as memories forever.

Akash's hands don't function, he gets exhausted extremely fast, but it just didn't stop him what he likes the most; Painting! And he does it with his feet.

What I noticed here was the amount of courage every single person involved with APD had. Teachers drawing on sheets for those who couldnt draw but could color, students from Chitra Kala Parishath making paintings non stop, as much as they could and in all the buzz, excitement... you could also hear parents talking to their son and daughters, tears rolling down looking at their picture and saying "my kid did this drawing"

It takes courage to be anyone of them - be it a teacher, a student or a parent. We all dream, it only takes courage to full fill them.

More photographs from APD on my Photostream

From a passive existence to a meaningful life.

From days and nights of empty hours to an enriching lifestyle.

This is the aspiration of every child and adult living with disability.

THE ASSOCIATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY

Wet September

Looked like Autumn had set it, but the rain gods just wont go away!

It has been a wet September and so does October continue to be.

Waiting for Autumn...!

Autumn! Just round the corner...

Come September, Autumn time... and it brings a smile to my face.

It's the most giving of all the seasons.

The northern breeze that sweeps things up, adds colors, and adds sway to my photography. The leaves that saturate themselves leave me no need for post-processing. The brisk days that make it a joy to be outside all day long, catching festivals, and family gatherings without the oppression of heat and humidity. The foggy mornings... yes those wonderful foggy mornings that make every passing day look beautiful.

I get the feeling it's just around the corner... may be I'll just take a nap and when I wake up, it would have arrived.

*sigh, missing Denver!

Photo Walk

My first time to a Photo walk. A World Wide Photo Walk and some photography after a very long time. Just couldn't wait for the day to come.

Residency Road, now known as Field Marshal Cariappa road, stretches from Mayo Hall to Bangalore Club. Starting from Mayo Hall at 8 AM in the morning, was a very different sight of Residency Road.

From Sweepers cleaning the road, people setting up their flower stores, beauticians waiting to open their beauty store to someone sitting in front of closed shops and lots in thoughts.  What I realized the number of buildings being constructed on this Road and the number of sky scrappers that have come up on this road. I passed by this road every single day for 4 months and never realized them. 

Is it that time flies or we have just got too busy with ourselves?

61 Years of Independence

Wishing everyone a very Happy Independence Day!



"Thinking is progress. Non-thinking is stagnation of the individual, organisation and the country. Thinking leads to action. Knowledge without action is useless and irrelevant. Knowledge with action, converts adversity into prosperity."
- APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President of India

Quick Shoot - Manchanbele

Its been a while since I am back to India, but very little Photography.

A half day trip to Kokkare Bellur and that's it.

Well Manchanbele wasn't far enough and it was a boring Sunday to kill. With very little time for the sun to go down, I was off to Manchanbele with Karthik (CEO at Unplugged India)

I remember my earlier trip to Manchanbele, early morning and what a day it was. Manchanbele, a beautiful place on the outskirts of Bangalore city, about 30 kms. You can find here loads of Kites, Eagle and Brahmini Kite. Some place to capture good action; and by action I mean

Beautiful landscapes around the river and the serene atmosphere makes you feel like staying that extra minute.  A Beautiful evening at Manchanbele makes your day complete.

Kokkare Bellur

An early morning ride to Kokkare Bellur with RTMC India was amazing. The noice of the Enfield echoed for many miles till all settled at the destination Kokkare Bellur. Kokkare Bellur (Village of Storks), a small village off the main highway between Bangalore and , is one of the few nesting sites in India of the spotbilled pelican. In addition, it is also home to hundreds of painted storks. The best time to see the pelicans is in December and January. The place is not a sanctuary, and the storks and pelicans live freely in the trees in the middle of village and are quite used to their human neighbors.

Well it turned out that I didnt visit Kokkare Bellur during the best time, however the green fileds were a beautiful sight in the village of Stoks with spotbilled pelicans flying above your head.

Children of Kokkre Bellur gave me and my camera some hard time, but it was a joy to capture their moments. Energetic, shouting, smiling, acting... :)

Thanks Adarsh for the wonder ful trip!

A mishap on the way back to Bangalore left me with a few bruises!

More pictures from kokkare Bellur

What the Fortune Teller’s Parrot Taught Me?

Fly with your dreams and only then you will achieve them. Ambitions, hobbies, attitude, talent are your tools, use them!


What does it teach you?

June Flowers & a Quick Update

June already? Time files when you are drowned in work or having fun!!

Its been a while since I last posted, and infact I have lots to say once I get around to posting again. Just wanted to give a quick update, since off late havent been a lot of trips but a few short ones to Manchinabele and Nandi Hills (yup once again) and a few pounds lost.

17 Mile Drive

Del Monte Forest, majestic serene and truly a nature's treasure box. A scenic 17 mile drive on Pebble Beach is home to The Lone Cypress, Seals and Birds, Rocks, Fan shell Beach and the amazing colliding currents of the Restless Sea.

One of the most memorable drives I have had for a long time, Black Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, California Sea Otters, Harbor Seals and ideal Sea Lions all in their natural Habitat. Colorful wildflowers dot the scene, adoring the cool, soothing hues of the seashore and well preserved dunes capes.



Along the way, you'll encounter the emerald fairways of such famous golf courses as The Links at Spanish Bay, Spyglass Hill and the world-renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links.

A perfect destination for a one day outing. Aquarium at the City of Monterey Bay (experience the amazing collection of jelly fish), followed by a good tuna fish sandwich on the way to 17 Mile Drive and a good shopping experience at the city of Monterey bay!



Thanks Suchi for the wonderful day!

one visit - 4 time zones

Its been really long since I shared my one of a kind experience. Taking a break after almost 4 years was a breather. December 22nd to January 2nd was a good long break but not enough to visit places in the US of A.

So, I had a look at my itenary one last time at the airport and it read Denver - San Francisco (via Las Vegas) - Tulsa (via Dallas) - San Francisco (via Dallas) - Las Vegas (road trip) - Los Angeles - San Francisco - Denver - Orlando - Ocala (road trip) - Denver (via Chicago). Interesting isnt it? Well out of the 10 days, a one day was being spent waiting at the airport, a day in sitting in an airplane and about a day and a half driving.

San Francisco; I never got a day to stay there, I could only spend 2 nights and the only thing I did was either ate or slept.

I never expected my journey to be eventful, but it turned out to be a one of a kind. Leaving Denver at 6 PM I was supposed to reach San Francisco by about 9 PM with a plane change at Las Vegas. Well the weather at Kansas City made sure my plan was late by 2 hours! At the end, I had about 15 mins to catch my connecting flight form Las Vegas to San Francisco. Well I was put on to a flight from Denver to Oakland where I would get a BART to SF International Airport. No clue what BART is supposed to be I landed at Oakland at about 8:30 PM. Now the task was to find out what BART was. I have got the strangest look when I enquired about BART and I got an answer "Bay Area Rapid Transport". So a journey began from Oakland to SFO - Catch a BART bus from Oakland International Airport to one of the BART stations and I was under the impression BART was a bus service. At BART station I managed to figure out that I need to catch a BART on the D Line. Hmm interesting, now what the hell is a D Line. Well lucky me, BART stations are equipped with Electric signs which displays the time remaining for every BART train and on what Line. So now I had one more journey to cover since, Oakland to SFO is a good 2 hour long distance.

Clueless of whats on the card next, I managed somehow to reach SFO and what a relief when I met my sister, after a good 3 year gap. Well as usual, I lost my baggage and didnt bother to ask more about it, just headed home. 12:30 AM and I was hungry, and the best place at this time of the hour is IHOP - International House of Pancakes.

Trivia - IHOP servers more than 700 million pancakes a year.

Next day, its time for me to go to Tulsa and I have absolutely no clue about my baggage. 2 hours before boarding the flight, we get a call, saying my Baggage arrived at SFO, so a quick peek at the baggage center and than rushed towards boarding our flight to Tulsa via Dallas. 5 minutes before boardin the plan, we realized, the flight is delayed by about 25 mins. So now its time for some food again and it was turn for some Mexican Bean Buritto at Chippotle.

A good 4 hour flight to Tulsa via Dallas, rather an un-eventful journey. A family get togather at Tulsa and we were done in 2 days. And it was back to SFO via Dallas again. Nothing major to shoot in Oklahama, since its a flat state wiht absoutely nothing, but I managed to shoot a few pictures at Keystone Lake, Manford which is right behind my uncle's backyard.

Trivia - Keystone Lake is an artificial lake in northeastern Oklahoma on the Arkansas and Cimarron Rivers

Now it was time for some fun. My next destination on the list was Las Vegas. We rented a Ford Edge (SUV) and were off to Las Vegas on Interstate 5 - with not so happening views. Probably this was the only time I spent at SF and I really feel because I had not captured anything in one of the most beautiful cities in the USA. Well got some off the road trip.

So it was sleeping time and in about 8 hours we were at Las Vegas. A city in itself. A completely different world all togather, where apart from doing drugs almost everything is legal.

Trivia - Las Vegas experiences about 2 million floating population a day. Las Vegas International Airport is the 5th busiest airport in the USA. I will run out of space writing about Las Vegas.

The biggest mistake was not to get warm clothes and forget my shoes. I had been to every part of Las Vegas including hotels, casinos, shows in my very own slip ons. An amazing experience I would say! Well some good memories at Las Vegas though.

 

So now it was back to LA, however via HOOVER DAM. Hoover Dam, also known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada. The dam, located 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, is named after Herbert Hoover, who played an instrumental role in its construction, first as Secretary of Commerce and then later as President of the United States. Construction began in 1931 and was completed in 1935, more than two years ahead of schedule. The dam and the power plant are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, Hoover Dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.



On the way to Hoover Dam, I happen to see something that really excited me. A chopper ride over Lake Mead or Hoover Dam. Now this was my chance to do some kite aerial photography and what a subject - the hoover dam. Well everything comes with a price though. A 2 minute over Lake Mead would cost you $60 and a 5 min ride over Hoover Dam about $150. Well I just had an expereince over Lake Mead.



Now the next destination was LA. Once again, a very unique city, always covered with SMOG but people in LA says aah, what a clear day. Dont understand why they dont see the smog. A good trip to Universal Studio and the Getty Center was an experience. LA has a lot to offer, a lot of places to visit and spend time at. Nt much time and had to cut short the trip.



So it was time to get back to SF and this time on El Camino Real (The Royal road) - Highway 101. One of the most beautiful highways in USA as it runs over the west coast. Well the timing was not good, it was too sunnny, but just managed to get one good snap. Next time I would intend to get more for sure.



Well I did visit Florida and Ocala, but was more of a family trip and covered in 2 days. Dint go anywhere just watched TV, ATE and slept.

It was a fun filled vacation for 10 days, a long one, but a rather short one. And I was lucky enough to be in 4 times zones in a span of 10 days!