Wandering and Wondering

"Failure teaches a man how to succeed"  This was a quote hanging on a tree in Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai offered me peace when I really needed it. It gave me opportunity to break away and clear my thoughts. I chose to spend time in temples, visiting the karen tribe, observing the life of monks and making new friends.   Wat Rong Khun : The journey started from Wat Rong Khun, the white coloured temple. As I understand, the concept of temple is walk from hell to heaven. There is a beautiful but scary representation of hell at the beginning of temple. But as one walks, the fairy tale representation of heaven starts to appear. Each and every corner of this temple is beautifully done. It is an amazing feeling to be there.  Reflection of the blessings

 "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

"Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is ideal life" There are very few who would appreciate our definition of bachelor party. It was no hangover, no strippers, no wild party. It was all chitchat and things we haven't managed to talk, four of us knowing each other for more than four years, two of whom getting married to love of their life.     We decided to head to Langkawi with close to no expectation. It is an island off the west coast of Malaysia bordering Thailand. But guess what! enough was there in store to surprise us. The beaches are serene, unspoilt and the roads are so less crowded that one can really enjoy driving. This is one of the first few pics we took, somehow it gave me the memory of Ranchi.  Yaroon dosti badi hi haseen hai - Photo credits: Outline of Photography

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...

Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang to Vientiane. In a little more than 4 days, I managed to move around these three places! Many would say that I haven’t done justice to the beauties to these places and I’ll not disagree with them. But for a leave strived and an average traveller, my intent was to see as much as I can. Sleep was at least one thing that I could suppress. I was lucky to be in Vang Vieng in 3 hours from Vientiane (average travel time ~ 4 hours) and to be in Luang Prabang in 4 hours from Vang Vieng (average travel time ~ 6 hours). We were only 5 and 3 respectively in the Van and the driver was able to pull at high speed. Eventually the law of averages caught up and the journey from Luang Prabang to Vientiane was 12 hours. Vang Vieng

One of the calm, serene and beautiful place in Thailand, Krabi province has plenty of islands to amaze travellers. In fact, it is much better than the nearby and more popular Phuket. The islands of Phi Phi, Koh Lanta and Phang-nga bay are easily accessible. The beaches are much more beautiful than the ones in Phuket! For avid divers, Koh Ha, Koh Bida, Hin Daeng, Hin Muang, Similan islands are also easily accessible. And the limestone cliffs make it mecca of rock climbers in South East Asia. Here are the things travellers can expect in Krabi.  1. Ao Nang Beach: It is the most popular beach in Krabi and very beautiful place for sunset. The nearby streets have wonderful eating places and decent nightlife.

San Francisco and Monterey, a weekend trip! SFO, anyone's dream city! As an engineer and remotely connected to software industry, the charm of SFO is not unknown to me. This is where the biggest dreams come true! but, I did not end up here for career, it was for leisure after my conference in San Diego. It was intended to be a get together planned a bit in advance but as it turns out, friends were busy that weekend and in another city.  I stayed in the youth hostel, the best bunch of strangers I can find, it was HI youth hostel in fisherman's Wharf. I could see the golden gate from there. The golden gate is a good walk from there. Nice breeze, busy cyclists, Leisure walkers, Runners, all share the way. Golden Gate Bridge