It all started with the announcement of shutdown period in my firm. Initially it was for 10 days but due to cost cutting it got increased to 16 days. I am sure I could never ever get such a big break from work, till the time I am employed :) !!! Till now I am.
I read all I could find on all the forums. The best with no doubts is www.indiamike.com It has exhaustive details and lots of answered queries of the avid travelers.
The more I read about the beauty of Andamans the greater became my desire to go. Some of the descriptions I read were so real that I could feel myself standing on the beach # 7 at Havelock.
Getting to Andamans is not easy if you want to make a budget trip. Budget trip clearly implies to and fro journey by ship ( yeah ship !!! ). The ships are the lifelines of Andamans. There is minimum one sailing every week. Most of the consumable come from the mainland. The ships go from Chennai, Kolkata and Vizag. From Vizag, its once a month and rest of the sailings are from Chennai and Kolkata. I want to board the ship from Vizag as the dates suit me. It is supposed to sail on 19th Dec 2008. From Vizag it takes around 56 hours to reach. But mostly it gets extended to 3 days. I read somewhere that, many a times, ships wait for many hours for obtaining clearance to enter the ports. Shit happens !!!
Anyways, this whole thought of traveling by ship for such a long distance is very exciting to me. I have traveled for couple of hours but not for 3 days. I hope not to get sea sick.!!!
Coming back to tickets part, the tickets are sold by Shipping Services, to be precise, by designated agents appointed by the Shipping Services. The sailing dates are only confirmed a month in advance. And over and above this, there is no provision of online booking or mailing the tickets. Tickets have to be collected in person after filling an application form with 2 photographs. The best part, the tickets are sold only 3 days before the sailing. Well, there is a strong reason behind it. They start selling the tickets only when the ship arrives at the port. The ship takes the 3 day break and then sails back.
Buying the tickets on working Wednesday in Vizag was definitely out of question. An uncle of ours came to the rescue. I am deeply grateful to him. Thank you very much. :)
Today only, I have got the confirmation that the tickets are booked. Buying tickets is not easy. The rush is unbelievable, it’s a fish market there. Many thanks again to uncle for this brave work. The trip seems to have started well, I will leave tonight for Vizag. It takes a day to reach there. And then my ship sails to Phoenix Jetty on Friday morning 10AM.
My intention is to make this a very adventurous and as well as a very relaxing trip. If we reach there by 22nd morning, we will have full 7 days to spare. I am planning to stay 3 days in Havelock, 2 days in Neil and last 2 days in Port Blair. During this time, only diving, snorkeling, camping and sleeping under the stars (as I am carrying a tent :))
Lets see how this goes.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Funny Road Signs
It is always amusing and interesting to see the road signs, I am specifically talking about the road signs on hilly roads. These road signs are loaded with sense of humor and have always made me realize that, they have been put up for a real purpose.
Imagine reading this…
Any driver, if by any chance is driving rashly, will think again about his driving style.
Similarly there are host of other signs which I found over the internet, I am making an attempt here to put them in one place.
Whether you are driving or not, reading these signs just lightens you up.
Enjoy!!!
Most of these signs have been put up by Himank. It is the Border-Roads organisation in Ladakh, India, better known as 81HCC(highway corps). They maintain the highest road in the world as well as the Ladakh airport. I heard from somewhere that, the brainchild behind these signs is not some spectacular advertising agency, but rather Himank goes to schools and organizes competitions for the funniest and most sensible slogans. And these school kids are definitely the Slogan Masters. Hats Off to them.
Imagine reading this…
Any driver, if by any chance is driving rashly, will think again about his driving style.
Similarly there are host of other signs which I found over the internet, I am making an attempt here to put them in one place.
Whether you are driving or not, reading these signs just lightens you up.
Enjoy!!!
Most of these signs have been put up by Himank. It is the Border-Roads organisation in Ladakh, India, better known as 81HCC(highway corps). They maintain the highest road in the world as well as the Ladakh airport. I heard from somewhere that, the brainchild behind these signs is not some spectacular advertising agency, but rather Himank goes to schools and organizes competitions for the funniest and most sensible slogans. And these school kids are definitely the Slogan Masters. Hats Off to them.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
New Hobby
How is this notion for a take, we work 5 days a week and then we get the weekend to rest OR we work 5 days a week like fools, we do something which we dont like; then i think during the weekend we should do what we like to do rather than idling at home, rather than watching TV, rather than watching movies at theatres. Anyways these things dont help much to make you feel that you did something good during the weekend.
We have so busy weekdays, that it is very difficult to get anytime for physical workouts or to do some adventurous activities that you want to do. So why not, spend the weekend doing something which you want to do, for which you dont have to force yourself, for which you have a natural craving.
For me, i think i have quite a lot of things on my mind to do. First and foremost go out of bangalore to some place, to any place (any other place would be better than the hustle bustle of bangalore). Do a full body workout, go for a swim, eat light during the nights, may be only fruits + beer. Go for trekking, climb some new hill or a peak. I have found a very interesting activity to be feasible in the city, this is something which i have always wanted to do but never really got a chance to do it. Yeah, it is rock climbing, i mean real rock climbing with rope, carabiners, harness and belay device. As of now i am learning it on a artificial rock in the city. It has been a fortnight since i started.
The experience is exhilirating, you stay very very focussed, you cannot get anything else on your mind during the climb (what a relief!!!).
We have so busy weekdays, that it is very difficult to get anytime for physical workouts or to do some adventurous activities that you want to do. So why not, spend the weekend doing something which you want to do, for which you dont have to force yourself, for which you have a natural craving.
For me, i think i have quite a lot of things on my mind to do. First and foremost go out of bangalore to some place, to any place (any other place would be better than the hustle bustle of bangalore). Do a full body workout, go for a swim, eat light during the nights, may be only fruits + beer. Go for trekking, climb some new hill or a peak. I have found a very interesting activity to be feasible in the city, this is something which i have always wanted to do but never really got a chance to do it. Yeah, it is rock climbing, i mean real rock climbing with rope, carabiners, harness and belay device. As of now i am learning it on a artificial rock in the city. It has been a fortnight since i started.
The experience is exhilirating, you stay very very focussed, you cannot get anything else on your mind during the climb (what a relief!!!).
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