Embarking on a solo journey to Bali wasn't just a vacation; it was an odyssey of self-discovery, cultural immersion, and boundless exploration. As a solo traveler, every moment became an opportunity to delve into the intricacies of this enchanting island. From the vibrant markets of Ubud to the serene beaches of Nusa Penida, each location unfolded its unique story.
Matters That Mind...
What matters most? Something that pleases you or hurts you matters most. Thank you friends, for sharing your experiences and giving me the grain of thought, to start writing new stories...
About Me
- Sups
- Mumbai, Maharastra, India
- Born in Mumbai, my earliest memory in life is a story. A story that said – perhaps I was adopted. Every person has a story to tell. I like to listen and most of them form the base for the stories I write. I also teach creative writing to students and professionals from all walks of life. Many have a story to tell...I help them to pen it down. I also edit, guide and help students create Statement of Purposes, LORs, Resumes and Personal Essays for their Study Abroad documentations. Please go through the samples of the SOPs done by me...I work via the electronic media with students at a global level. I also help corporates as well as individuals in regards to handling all their communication needs. Brochures, newsletters, pamphlets or press releases are delivered under strict time-lines and as per international quality.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Enchanting Bali Escapade: A Journey to Tropical Serenity
Thursday, November 23, 2023
The Rollercoaster of Perils and Thrills
In the vast and ever-evolving landscape of modern romance, dating apps stand out as both the saviors and pranksters of Cupid's realm. While matrimonial sites are still playing matchmaker for Auntie Ji's distant cousin's nephew, the younger generation has taken matters into their own hands, quite literally, with a swift right swipe.
Enter Bumble, the app where women make the first move – a revolutionary concept in a world where decisive decisions are usually left to the toss of a coin. It's like a virtual dance floor where the ladies choose their partners, and the guys nervously wait for the music to start. It's a thrilling game of 'who blinks first,' and the prize is the possibility of a connection that might just lead to something more.
Tinder, on the other hand, is the wild, wild west of dating apps. It's a place where bios are short, intentions are vague, and the only requirement is a strong thumb for endless swiping. It's the app that brought the term 'swipe right for yes, swipe left for no' into the dating lexicon. With a seemingly infinite pool of potential matches, Tinder is a buffet of options where everyone's a potential catch until proven otherwise.
Now, let's talk about Aisle – the app for those who prefer their love stories served with a side of sophistication. No swiping here; it's all about making a choice after some thoughtful consideration. It's like entering a quaint bookstore where you explore the titles, read a few synopsis, and then decide which story you want to dive into. Aisle users are not in a rush; they appreciate the slow burn of a good connection.
And then there's Happn – the app that turns your daily commute into a potential romantic encounter. It's the serendipity of meeting someone whose path you've crossed, quite literally. A missed connection becomes a second chance as Happn tracks your encounters and gives you the opportunity to turn that 'what if' into a 'maybe.' It's like a romantic comedy set in the real world, with your favorite coffee shop or subway station playing a supporting role in your love story.
Now, let's take a moment to appreciate the stark contrast with matrimonial sites – the virtual meeting ground for anxious parents armed with bio-data and a checklist longer than the Great Wall of China.
While youngsters are busy swiping right, old parents are navigating the maze of traditional matchmaking. It's a world where compatibility isn't determined by shared interests and witty banter but by horoscopes, family background, and the number of weddings attended in the past year.
In this chaotic dance of love and companionship, dating apps offer a unique blend of perils and thrills. The perils? Well, the occasional awkward encounter, the ghosting phenomenon, and the undeniable pressure of crafting the perfect bio that encapsulates your entire existence in 300 characters. The thrills? The anticipation of a new match, the excitement of a potential connection, and the hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be the beginning of something beautiful.
So here's to the digital age of romance, where swipes and super likes have become the currency of connection. In a world where love is just a tap away, may your matches be plenty, your conversations be intriguing, and your dating adventures be filled with both perils and thrills. Happy swiping!
Monday, April 22, 2019
A 6-Day Blank Page Agenda with Bhutan
I could have dragged my luggage out of the plane to the waiting car,it was that close. Instead, I and Sneha, my travel buddy stood there and soaked in the coolness and gulped in lungful of fresh sweet air. Far away, the snow laden mountains seemed stripped of all their snow but some still glistened in the hot sun, which for some reason seemed welcome and not hot. We walked a few steps to enter the airport and wait for our luggage. We got it exactly within 15 minutes of landing. And why not? There wasn't a fleet arriving into Bhutan at that hour of the day. I dragged my luggage from the conveyor belt and wheeled it through the exit gate.
Kinley |
Rabgay |
I presumed he did not understand English and thus did not speak to me. That was a delusion which I realized soon after.
I settled myself comfortably in the car and off we went towards Thimpu, the capital city of Bhutan. Thus, began my journey – one of the most beautiful road travel I have ever done.
After lunch, we explored few places of interest which included the textile mills, art school, library, museums. Every place had an entry ticket and I chose to enter only a few of them. Sneha visited most of it. The Takin reserve is a must-see. One needs to trek on a moderately steep slope. I was breathless and the air tightened around my chest as I climbed up to the entry point. I decided not to go further up. That was a painful decision and I went through this pain twice again during the rest of my stay in Bhutan.
Throughout my stay I enjoyed the low temperatures ranging from 5◦C to 12◦C. The best time to visit Bhutan is October to December. I was lucky to be here in April between the 1st and the 7th. I heard The temperature rose drastically after I left. Weather is unpredictable in Bhutan, like in any other hilly regions. Rains, thunder storm, sudden drop in temperatures can be expected at any point of time. I kept checking my weather app while Kinley chuckled and said – this does not work in Bhutan. The mountains decide. I smiled back – though I trusted the app, in my next seven days, I had to acknowledge that he was right.
We pleaded with our hostess for some Indian food and she brought us some Rajma which helped us gulp down some rice. I made a mental note to inform Kinley that we would like to have Indian/ continental meals for the rest of the trip.
I was not tired though I have been travelling the whole day. It was perhaps the weather that put me to sleep that night.
Observations on Day 1:
Bhutanese are lovely kind-hearted people
Most of them have completed school and graduated (in Bhutan or East India) and can speak excellent English. Rabgay and Kinley loved English songs as much as they loved their local ones.
I did not like Bhutanese food; lessons learnt for me. I won’t elaborate but would like you to carry some basic snacks. Stock yourself with fruits bought locally (they are expensive but organic and tasty). Add biscuits. If you are someone who could adapt yourselves to the local cuisines of Japan, China, etc. you may not face a problem here.
Tip generously. Indian currency is accepted here and the 1 NU = 1 INR. The Bhutanese girls are very strong and can carry two heavy bags at same time, effortlessly going up and down the stairs. No lifts here. No hotel is more than 2 floors. Rooms are huge and space is never an issue here.
Never lose your temper here. If anything goes wrong, tell your guide, he will sort it out. The guides and drivers follow the guidelines laid down by the tourism industry seriously. They are bound to be respectful at all times and maintain professionalism during their duty hours.
No one honks here. They wait. They let pass.
Then I set out to see more places of interest between Thimpu and Punakha where I would spend another night – this time it was a Farmhouse named Kinley farmhouse. I asked Kinley if it belonged to him and he said – every second person in Bhutan would be a Kinley as a result of a new born child being taken to the Fertility temple in Punakha. I will come to this story soon. Thimpu to Punakha is 2.5 hours and we visited a few places enroute.
After spending an hour, admiring the beauty of the structure plus the surroundings, Kinley suggested it was time to leave and so I had to leave reluctantly. Since we were one of the first visitors to come here, I could see hordes of tourist pouring in and I was glad I came early.
Next Kinley took me to Dochu-La Pass. In Bhutan all forts, monasteries, temples are built in memory of their kings, queens, religious saints, etc. Dochula pass has a similar story. Kinley would never tire of reciting these stories. Whenever we would reach a place, he would start with – “This is the …..it was built in memory of ……” and on and on he would go. Images of kings, queen mothers and gurus/saints can be seen in all monuments. At times, I would nod my head in acknowledgement to his stories but most times my mind would wander into the makings of these beautiful monuments.
It’s a must visit place and no one should miss it. The Saptagiri mountain peaks can be seen from here, though some of it were covered by clouds, and a few others glistened with snow. The temperature was around 12 and I chose not to wear my jacket. I soaked in the beautiful climate and reminded myself – this is what you came in here for. I wanted the world to stop moving. Freeze the moment for eternity. At the Dochula pass, I also got to see the mountain dogs, huge, furry, they roamed around with an air of authority…some basked in the sunlight. Lucky Bhutanese dogs….
Bhutan has never been colonised in history! A small country who could have been easily overpowered by the big countries surrounding it, this never happened to them. Ruled by kings since its origin, only in 2008 did the 4th king foresee the need to have a constitutional monarchy. I found the story as recited to me by Kinley very interesting though I am not fond of history. It's heartening to know that the monarchy would like to dilute his power by heralding in democracy. And in a rightful manner too. In a country where the citizens worship their kings and are skeptical of heralding in democracy the kings relentlessly educates them on the advantages of democracy. I have fallen in love with the 4th King and the current present king too. I was lucky to see one of the Queen mothers pass by during one of my road trips. The locals stood still and kept their heads bowed down in respect. So did I but kept my head slightly tilted to catch a glimpse of her. I barely succeeded.
After Dochula Pass, we drove to the Punakha. Punakha is one of the warmer places in Bhutan and temperature would be around 10 degrees late night and around 12 to 14 in day time. Kinley warned me that there would be no heaters in the Punakha home but assured me I won’t need one and he was right. I warned Kinley that I need to have lunch at a place offering Indian food. He was kind enough to find that for me. Post lunch as we continued on our journey and we passed by Punakha Dzong. Dzong means Fort and there are a few majestic Dzongs in Bhutan. This is the second largest Dzong, elegantly designed and currently the administrative centre in Punakha district. Even the 4th and 5th King got married in this Dzong . For me, this is the first time I saw something this royal. I could not wait for the next day when I would be inside the Dzong . This Dzong is built on the confluence of 2 rivers - The Po Chu and Mo Chu rivers.
These rivers flow into Punakha, converge with another river and finally flow into Assam, from where it flows into the Brahmaputra. Chu meant river and Po stood for father and Mo stood for Mother. I asked Kinley– how do you define the gender of a river? Kinley explained – the Po Chu is wild and flows fiercely and Mo Chu is calm and flows gently. True or False – I loved his version. In fact. I loved all of his stories. There is also a suspension bridge here that’s a must visit.
They offered rice and cheese chilli paste for dinner but knowing that Indian dinner was available around the corner, I opted for Indian food. That night, again I had Indian food. Though I have mentioned I had Indian food, I must add that all of it tasted close to Indian. Just like sambhar made by the Gujratis where they add a little bit of sugar to delight their palate. So it was Bhutan style Indian food but I still preferred it over Bhutanese food. For all of you who are like me, picky about Indian food, you can survive or scrambled eggs, toast butter, biscuits and fruits. Their staple diet is rice (white and red both are available) and cheese chilli paste. The cheese, oil and butter had a different odour and this prevented me from embracing any of their dishes
Next morning, when I stepped into their kitchen and offered to make French toast for all, the lady of the house seemed eager. I gestured for everything I needed and got all of it except for pepper. Image of pepper via google search did not help either as the lady of the house shook her head gesturing she did not know what it meant.
Later I got Kinley to explain to her and she giggled and got pepper from the pantry. Language issues. We all had a hearty laugh and that morning I prepared French toast and scrambled eggs without pepper to all. The family had 5 children, ages ranging from 25 to 10. One of their elder son was working in Australia in the hotel industry. Three of the elder children were working in hotels as housekeeping and as tourist guides. Tourism is the largest income generator for these families and the average salary of most of them would be approximately 3 to 4 lakhs if they were working in Bhutan. Hence, a lot of youngsters have migrated in search of work abroad including India.
After breakfast, I went for a stroll in the village – of course with Kinley. The village was dotted by small shops selling artefacts, fabrics and some unmentionable things that were offerings of the fertility temple. I ignored the entire section though I took some pictures to show back home.
From the other sections, I picked up various souvenirs. I also picked up a Bhutanese skirt the Kira – the national dress for women and girls. I had the option to shop in Paro which would be on my last day here but I so much fell in love with the kira here that I bought it then and there.
Post that, I went back to the farmhouse, freshened up with my kaka-culi and paid a visit to the fertility temple. I won’t write another word about it because to me – it’s a temple for fools. Apologies in advance if I am hurting anyone’s religious sentiments. I also would like to mention that all homes in Punakha and most parts of Bhutan adorn the walls of their homes with paintings that symbolises the beliefs of the fertility temple. And it’s an extremely gory sight- amidst the beautiful colours and drawings - the fertility temple symbols standout like a thorny cactus – pun intended.
Gangtey Farmhouse |
Its better known as the Phobjika valley and Gangtey is a small town in this district. The best time to visit this place is October, November and December. The black necked crane flocks here to roost and they even have a national festival to celebrate their visit. A photographer’s delight assure you visit Gangtey.
As I walked further, I noticed I was following a path of running stream water, crystal clear water. I had noticed such stream all over Bhutan. At first, I thought it was drainage but the clarity of the water demonstrated it was not. I also noticed prayer wheels on the sides of roads and the water from these streams churned the prayer wheels continuously. Rabgay told me that these hydro prayer wheels are built by certain families or communities when their chief priests ask them to do so to ward off evil and bring in good luck for the entire family. The location is chosen by the priests and these are usually built across the length of these flowing streams.
Bukhari |
Homes are scattered far and wide and daily amenities needs to be stocked. It’s not only a primitive village (though everyone has internet and television) but in case of health emergencies, help would be at least an hour away. These are my assumptions as I did not see clinics, medical stores or hospitals all over the place. They were far away in the main townships. In the villages there would be one or two general shops and they have everything that is required locally. I saw grocery packets, confectionaries, clothes and sim cards being sold in the same shop.
They did come to me for scraps and I shared some momos with them. Surprisingly, the dogs are also peaceful – they did not growl at each other for the scraps. Each one ate what they got and the rest just moved away.
Google out for more information but this is any trekkers dream route. An average trekker takes up to 7 hours. The earlier you start, the better. I and Rabgay dropped them at the base of the Tier’s Nest. We came back to the farmhouse and waited until 9 to shift to another hotel nearby – Deewanchen Resort.
Deewanchen means peace and the resort was one of the most beautiful properties I stayed in. I would advise all of you to book into hotels and not farmhouses. Deewanchen had Indian food and they were ready to take my order of Chicken Biryani around 10. I was not expecting Sneha until 2pm and I asked the kitchen staff to deliver my food as soon as it was ready. I had not eaten well the previous night and I felt ravenous. I decided to shower – it was the same story everytime. Except for the water, anything you touch was super chilled. Somehow, I showered and got ready to eat.
By the end of the trip, I was eager to get back home to my adrak waali chai and my curd rice and sambhar but I was equally dismayed to leave. The visa clearly mentioned 7th April exit Bhutan and that’s what I did.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Andamans and Me
There were 6 of us – Divya and Rajiv, Jayston and Devina, myself and 10 year old Advait. We decided to take independent cabs to the airport. I reached first and waited for others near the boarding gate. The others reached after me but unlike me they spent an hour window shopping and enjoying scrumptious cuisines at T2.Glad they did because they bought Cluedo – a board game that thrilled us as much as the outdoor thrills but more on that later.
A typical scenario at any reception counter was as under:
Guest: Hello, we have a room booked under the name….(the usual stuff)
Host: Welcome sir/madam. Can you kindly take a seat while we complete the check in process? Please hand me your IDs.
Guest: Here are our IDs. Can you please give me the Wi-Fi password?
While the above conversation is going on, you can see the entire brood including spouse, kids, and grandparents fiddling with their cell phones trying to infuse life into it.
The outcome of all the drama is the same. Its either NO NETWORK or HAVING NETWORK as described above. And sometimes, its restricted to the lobby area as mentioned earlier but then that’s just fine because the entire island is beautiful, every property is beautiful and aesthetically done up in décor – indoors as well as outdoors. The gardens are neat, clean and well-manicured, the pools are open and lovely and not a single leaf floating given the foliage and breeze around.
So we checked in with speed and rushed out precisely in that manner as we planned to visit the cellular jail where countless freedom fighters were imprisoned and tortured. Veer Savarkar being one of them. I won’t write much about him nor the cellular jail because all of you can google the same, if interested.
Must read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_Jail
I will write about what happened to me there. It was drizzling intermittently and all of us were enjoying the first drizzle of the season. We walked all over the property fooling by locking ourselves in the open cells, taking pictures of the never ending corridors, visiting the hangman’s chambers, etc. I was mesmerised by the idea of a jail being constructed just for torturing freedom fighters. Ten years to build a torture cell with bricks brought from Burma on an island that took days to reach from the nearest port!!! One must applaud the government for having done a good job at maintaining the heritage structure and even organising a light and sound show where an audio plays out several acts that happened within the jail in those times. It’s a beautiful sight and the story-telling is amazing. As the story was being told, I felt goose bumps. I must add that I was depressed at that moment and though I am proud of our freedom fighters I wanted to leave the show mid-way but my friends insisted we stay put. Am glad we stayed till the end. It was the most patriotic moment of my life, I wanted to be a part of them or hide somewhere and bomb the Britishers and save our people and this was something that not even singing the National Anthem or reading out the pledge ever evoked in me.
What goes round comes around – the island was invaded by the Japanese in 1942 and became home for the British prisoners until 1945 when the British reclaimed what was theirs. And then we reclaimed what was ours in 1947 and the rest is history.
I must add a handful of people in the crowd did say they got bored. I attribute this to the fact that they were comparing it to the Sci-Fi shows that they were so used to watching in the multiplexes around them. So I will let them be there and say that but that’s not what it is.
Thankfully, it was the only visit scheduled for the day and we were back in our rooms, to freshen up, have a sumptuous dinner and sleep early. Day 2 was going to be at Havelock – paradise on Earth.
My observations on Day 1: Local-ites are down to earth, honest to the core, extremely safe for single women travellers. Food is multi-cuisine and they do not have any local dishes to boast of. I will mention places to eat at the end of the blog and trust me you will have a wonderful stay. I think these are the basics that makes travel to any part of the world delightful.
I would list down our entire itinerary, along with hotel details at the end of this blog so that you can schedule a trip for yourself and enjoy the virgin beauty of the island before they get commercialised and become another tourist hotspot.
Once again we shoved inside whatever we had taken out the previous day, repacked our bags and checked out. Today our destination was Havelock, nearly 70kms from Port Blair. The only way to get there is through jetty. We were booked to travel via Makruzz. I fell in love with the majestic white catamaran ferry. We all lined up for selfies – I managed to get a few good ones. A trillion thanks to Jayston D'souza who is any girl’s bestie (sorryDevina Dsouza) when it comes to taking pics. This man never tires of clicking pics of himself, others, nature, anything and everything. He is a walking talking photo studio. Thank you Jayston – next trip I promise to share some of the camera bag load…sacchi mucchi wala promise.
Our seats were amazing, the water outside was calm and the waves looked tiny to even ruffle the majestic beast. I felt so powerful. As mentioned earlier, I love the sea as much as I fear it. But Makruzz made me feel potent. It was a 90 minute ride and we settled comfortably in our seats. I wished the catamaran was not air conditioned but considering the speed of around 20 odd nautical miles at which it was travelling, it would be impossible to allow passengers on deck. Am sure small kids and zero size individuals would find it difficult to hold onto the catamaran. This was also the downside as I would have loved to be on deck, perhaps in a slower cruise liner, soaking in the breeze and sunlight…but alas for now it remains a desire unfulfilled.
I did say that the local people are honest and simple folks, didn’t I? But I had zero trust on my fellow passengers and was worried about my baggage. I have never understood how the authorities handle the baggage transport. Unlike airports where your baggage gets tagged with your name, here you just shove it to a Makruzz employee’s hand who further dumps it into their luggage compartment. On docking, they shove out everything and assemble it within a certain circumference on the platform. Every passenger goes and picks up their individual bags. What if someone took my bag?? I and Jayston rushed out as only we two seemed to be concerned with this issue!!! We managed to salvage some of our baggage and the others sauntered out leisurely to salvage the rest. Again, Divya Jagannath coordinated (she had to – she was a privileged Vodafone client whose cell worked!!!) and got us in touch with our tour manager at Havelock and again we all ambled into another beautiful property. The same routine followed – check into rooms – procure WiFi passwords!!! We were famished so after a shower we all had lunch. A visit to Radhanagar beach was planned around 4pm. Andamans has an early sunrise (around 4.30am) and an early sunset (around 4.30pm) so we planned to catch the sunset. You can google Radhanagar beach to know more about this place.
As far as you can see it’s only the sea…frothy waves inviting you to touch them as they start and swim with them till they collapse. I wish I was a fish
Wow, that rhymed!
I think I have enough bank balance to build a hut and stay here forever. Since that may not be allowed I decided to enjoy the moment. If you have fellow travellers the way I had, there is nothing else you could ask for. Not only did I have a great time playing and teasing the waves but Jayston has captured all of it for posterity. And I am going to relive the moments again and again.
Unfortunately, we could not see the sunset as it was cloudy and by 6pm it was pitch dark. We were wet as much with salty water as from the rain. Our driver had warned us that he would not allow us to sit in the car if we were wet so we had to change. We would have preferred changing at the hotel as the changing and shower rooms here was pathetic. The men went behind the tress to change and we managed to find pathetic cubicles (read stinking shower rooms/toilets with no water) with a door to slide out of our swim wear and change into dry clothes. There was sand all over me and I left the hotel shower with small mound of it which eventually went back to Earth.
This was followed by dinner. We decided to skip the hotel dinner and went to a local restaurant (names of all hotels I recommend would be the last on this blog – for easy reference). The ambience floored us, the courteous owner, the staff and finally the food made us happy souls. This was our second a la carte ordering event and we realized something which stayed with us till we left the island. The menu may have a list of 20 odd things under various categories. It’s a waste of time to go through all of it, build an appetite around it and then get to know that the dish is not available as some of the ingredients have not reached the island due to ferries being cancelled due to unpleasant weather. Just ask whats available and order...easy peasy. So the weather rules everything here. Most of things are ferried from Port Blair which in turn gets things from major cities all around India. I saw a Havells fan in one of the restaurant and made a note to tell this to one of my friends in Mumbai. Havells should be having a great sales person to sell fans to breezy restaurants!!!
Post dinner we returned to our rooms (me was in lobby area) and then we all slept. We were all excited about day 3…it was Scuba diving early morning at 6 and evening it would be Elephant beach – the epicentre of water sports. (google it for more info please). Advait (Aadi) Rajiv Pillaiwas super excited but there was also the fear of salt water crocodiles haunting him. He tried to mask it but I could see through him…