Wandering and Wondering

 "We shape our buildings thereafter they shape us" Humayun tomb, the monument that inspired the construction of Taj Mahal a century later!! It was constructed in 1572 by Bega Begum in memory of her husband, Humayun, the great emperor of Mughal era.It is fascinating to see the contrast from Taj Mahal, which was constructed by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife.   This magnificent piece of architecture is made from contrasting red sandstone and marble. The whole architecture of Humayun tomb is inspired by Quranic description of paradise, the beautiful garden beneath which a river flows at the final resting place. Humayun tombs has more than 100 graves from mughal era. It was also one of the refugee camp at the time of partition of India.  Early morning at Humayun tomb

Rinjani had been lingering in our minds since quite a while, ever since we came back from Merbabu in Java. We booked the trip three months in advance and we put honest effort in training for this trip. (Running 5 km, 3 times a week and 100 km cycling on Saturdays ).    Situated in the center of Lombok in Indonesia, Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano. It is considered as one of the challenging treks in South East Asia. A 3 day 2 night trek is quite popular and gives just enough time to explore the crater rim and summit. A relatively comfortable trek would be 4 day 3 night one.  For the ones interested in summit attempt, Sembalun route is the way to go. We found Sembalun route as more comfortable and scenic also. Sembalun itself is 2 and half hour from Lombok Airport.  The other route starts at Semaru (3.5 hrs from airport) but it ends at crater rim. One will have to do an additional day trek to reach Sembalu...

My first Live-On-Board, spending 4 days and 4 night with complete strangers as if they were the best buddies. We were completely diverse but there was at least one thing common, our passion for diving. Each one, whether young or old, novice or experienced talked about the diving with same enthusiasm. Cheers to the team. Dived with : ScubaDivingPhuket, the pickup was arranged at the hotel in Patong, Phuket. We were transferred by road to Khao Lak. And the Live on Board begins there.  Dive Sites: Similan Islands (numerous dive sites) , Koh Bon, Koh Tachai, Richelieu Rock (Bad weather prohibited our dive there), Some wrecks near Khao Lak (Visibility not so great) Dive Experience: Currents are strong at few dive sites, so some experience and good buoyancy control will make dives enjoyable.  Budget: There are Live On Board starting from 3 Days (10 dives), price starting ~15000 THB (2013). I did 4 days one and paid 22900 THB (2013) for dual accommodation. Ther...

First things are always special... First love, first scuba dive and similarly it was for first skydiving. It has left a long lasting impression that could last for a lifetime.  Tandem skydive! It is a popular bucket list stuff and I chose my Oceans'13 conference trip for the dive. For a first time jump, there are three options i.e. a tandem jump where one is strapped to the instructor, a solo jump with 2 instructor holding on to you (requires 4-5 hours of ground training) and a static line jump (least popular) where a rope is attached to you to deploy the parachute.  The tandem jump is by far the most common and popular method for first skydive. The reason i chose tandem and not Solo was simple, I was a bit scared. I wanted to get a feel for the complexities. But now I am etching find a window for another jump :).  I chose San Diego Skydive for my first skydive and it will always remain my first. The skydiving with these guys was awesome. They were a good com...

Mount Merbabu, standing tall at 3142 meter, is a dormant stratovolcano and the perfect place to view skyline of east java filled with volcanos. Mount Merapi, only few hundred meters from here, stands out among those. This mesmerizing view from the top of Mount Merbabu is perhaps only a stroll away for the fits trekkers but for a lazy occasional walker, this was some effort but a worthy one.