A new eco-friendly holiday resort

How would you like to live in a tree house sited contiguous to a turtle sanctuary and participate in hands-on community living. This is what the Playa Viva offers for discerning tourists who are particular about sustainability and conscious about the food they eat, the cars they drive, and the clothes they wear.

Playa Viva is one of the latest resort and residence community to be promoted on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The community offers western families the opportunity to continue their purpose-driven lifestyles while away from home, without sacrificing comfort or style. These eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable vacations are aimed at providing a mind and body rejuvenative experience, while simultaneously regenerating the land.

"Every day we make choices about how we live our lives, raise our children, and better connect with the world around us, and travel should be no different. Sustainability principles and features at Playa Viva help create long-lasting connections to family, friends, and the environment that enrich our lives," says David Leventhal, founder of the project who along with his wife Sandra Kahn was instrumental in promoting Rainforest2Reef, a preserve in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula protecting over 350,000 acres of jaguar habitat.

Playa Viva is sited on 200 acres of ocean-front property on the Pacific Coast of Mexico and a mere 30 minutes drive from the Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa International Airport.

By being near the airport, the environment of Playa Viva doesn't look one bit commercial. In fact the landscape, once a coastal forest was cleared to make way for coconut plantations. But now the plantation has been abandoned and the land rapidly regenerating into a forest. The Playa Viva community's efforts in bringing seeds from local native forests and over 7,000 trees have been planted to speed up restoration work. The existing palm trees are being relocated to the beach to stabilize dunes and serve as living piers for the project's casitas or tree house suites. The Playa Viva is one resort where over 80 percent of land has been protected, and only 20 percent developed to house resort accommodations and facilities. All aspects of Playa Viva's operations are designed to be low-impact and restorative to the land and natural systems.

Activities at Playa Viva range from releasing turtles into the ocean to planting trees to playing in the waves. For further information visit the company website http://www.playaviva.com/.

Pictures from the resort website

One more biker rides into oblivion

I recently read about the death of 69-year-old Robert Craig aka Evel Knievel, a daredevil Motorcyclist in New York Times. It is sad to hear of the death of a dare devil biker as Knievel. According to the newsreport his last days were marked by suffering as he ailed from pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition.


It is said that bikers don't die, they just ride into oblivion. This is exactly what happened to Knievel.

Knievel's first brush with fame was on December 31, 1971 when he vaulted his bike 151 ft over the fountains of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Though the vault was glorious, his landing was not so glamourous, he crashed and broke several bones in his body. But the accident didn't deter him, he vroomed on performing one death-defying stunt after another and garnered fame and fortune.

Every performance of his would attract thousands of bike enthusiasts who would virtually worship him as their hero. His popular stunts included flying over 10, 15 or 20 cars parked side by side. Another disastrous jump undertaken by Knievel was an attempt to jump across an Idaho canyon on a rocket-powered motorcyle in 1974.


Performing stunts hundreds of times, Knievel's actions were self destructive. He broke his bones several times and crashed his bikes. He retired in 1980 on advise by medical specialists. As he retired his famous quote about himself was that he was “nothing but scar tissue and surgical steel.”

Knievel was born in a small town and started his career as a petty thief stealing motorcycles and hub caps of cars. But transformed himself after a few jail terms and following his idol Joie Chitwood, an acclaimed stunt-car driver, he began performing dangerous motorcycle stunts.

Knievel has undergone over 15 major operations to relieve severe trauma and repair broken bones. Bone all over his body were broken from the skull to pelvis to ribs, collarbone, shoulders and hips. He had a titanium hip and aluminum plates in his arms and a great many pins holding other bones and joints together. He was in so many accidents that he occasionally broke some of his metal parts, too.

Bikers, especially those who find thrill in racing and performing dare devil stunts need to read more about Knievel and learn a lesson or two so that they will not repeat his mistakes and end up with a skeleton held together by nuts and bolts.


Pictures from NYT, The Age and EvelKnievel.com

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Conference

We are at Austin, the busy and crowded capital city of Texas. It is a wet day, a slight drizzle is spraying the city with tiny water droplets. Just the kind of day when one feels lazy and laidback with little or no interest of stepping out into the street, leave alone travelling 20 miles to attend a conference. But here I am at The Crossings, a location far removed from the hustle and bustle of the capital city and I am glad I came here. The setting is simply awesome and something that makes me feel one with nature. As we started in the morning I was skeptical whether I would enjoy or even be interested in the conference considering the title, I was wondering what would probably keep me from being bored out here.

But yes, the venue itself is enough to make me want to come here. I am quite sure everyone of you would know America and a large majority of you would know about Texas, the largest state in the US and which was formerly a sovereign republic before merging into the US. But I am quite sure very few would know Austin, the capital city of Texas and even fewer would have heard or visited The Crossings, a hilltop property located amdist the hill country outside of Austin. It is one of the few modern but very very eco-friendly properties I have visited. The Crossings positions itself as a boutique hotel, spa and meeting/ conference venue. Sprawling across an entire forested hill, the Crossings has 35-acre of grounds dotted with aromatic trees including juniper, rosemary and jasmine trees.

The view offered by the hilltop property is simply panoramic. I would say an ideal location for non-formal education and learning activities. The property prides in being 100 percent sustainable with only the most necessary human interventions. Buidings are built surrounded by trees and only the motorable roads are of concrete the walking paths are not paved but just metalled with gravel and rock.

I am quite sure we have similar properties in India which I am unaware of. I am aware of one non-profit organisation which has a property like this. Operating under the name of Navadarshanam, it is a eco-friendly community on the outskirts of Bangalore about 45 km from the city. But then the difference between this property and that is its access, here there is wide and easy road access and have convenient walking paths and motoring paths, while at Navadarshanam there are only foot paths and mud trails. It is definitely more rustic, but think of all the big thorns which would pierce through the soles into your legs. With a metalled or gravel pathway, this problem could be more or less eliminated.

One thing I have been quite impressed with the people here. When we enter a shop the sales person wishes us with a cheerful greeting and thanks you for visiting when you leave, irrespective of the fact whether you made a purchase or not. Absolute strangers wish you good morning or evening when you meet their eyes in the park or trail or even on the road. This kind of etiquette and courtesy goes a long way in developing business relationships and a positive image.

Shell petrol bunks in Bangalore have tried to inculcate this kind of culture. But the result has not been as good. The "Namaskara" they say is far from cheerful or friendly, it is more mechanical and just uttered. Just imagine if everyone in India were to smile and wish everyone else with whom they interact, how better our living experience would be. It will be difficult and people suspect initially, most or perhaps everyone will think that you have ulterior motives and that is why you are being extra courteous, but I believe in the ripple effect. It may take time but it will happen, the warmth you generate will only multiply exponentially.

I don't want to sound like a prude. I believe that "it is more important to be nice than to be important". This I heard from Swami Sukhabodananda when I attended a transformatory LIFE programme a few years ago. I learnt a few things but I need to learn a lot more.

Dinosaur foot prints in a beautiful river valley

Last weekend me, Padma and Srinivas (my elder brother) visited Glen Rose a beautiful river valley about 100 miles from Dallas. The town per se is not so interesting it is in fact a small settlement with about 2,200 people but what is attractive is the Dinosaur Valley Fossil Park on the outskirts of the town. But what's great about how this country has developed even small places and provided facilities. For such a small population there is a fully fledged court, hospital, excellent schools, a state-of-the-art athletic center, a police station, petrol bunks, super markets and businesses. Contrasting the same with Indian scenario, a place with even 20,000 population would probably not have a court or a police station. Even if there are then, there would not be any staff working there.

Anyway Glen Rose is a pleasant aberration from the flat as pancake Texan landscape. It is mountainous, there are hills, valleys and a crystal clear river running through the valley. It is in this valley that Dinosaurs raomed arond 250 million years ago. The place is amazingly beautiful, I mean it is like our himalayan tourist/ trekking areas, sans the population, noise and trash. There are well marked trails so people wont get lost. As one enters the park the authorities provide a highly informative and easy to read and follow map, so that visitors can explore the park on their own. There are adequate parking places in the park which are safe and clean.

We just parked our car in one location and walked the first location in the map which said Track one. There is an explanation signage which explained how to identify dinosaur footprints and we followed the track downhill into the valley. We walked through the foliage and under tall trees and soon came to the river... the scene was simply awe inspiring. The beautiful river, with clear water was in front of us. We could stand on the big rocks on the banks and look on either sides to see tall mountains flanking the river and the water snaking through lush green vegetation.


As we explored further we came across the dinosaur tracks, these three toed gigantic creatures which once lived and dominated the animal life on planet earth have imprinted their foot prints on soft soil, which ultimately became fossilised due to various changes in the earths climate and now after 250 million years they are available for us to explore, enjoy and feel awed. Comparing our feet with the size of footprints is a humbling experience, my feet felt as if it would fit into one flange of the dinosaur's footprint. It is about 2ft in length and 1.5 ft width. The three sharp ends reveal the kind of razor sharp claws that these creatures might have had.

"What if a Dinosaur were to be present now?" I wondered and immediately felt scared because if it were alive, I would have been its evening snack... and I definitely don't want that to happen... yikes...
Further we walked along the river enjoying the scenery and the weather and wished we had brought our swimming costumes, so we could have had a nice and cool dip in the river Plauxy's inviting and clear waters. We finished the walk and returned to the car and drove to the other end of the park where there is a river crossing opportunity. I mean the river is shallow here, only about a 2-3 ft deep, and park arthorities have placed huge boulders along the shallowest part of the river so that hikers can walk across and climb mountains on the other side. We gingerly stepped from one boulder to the other and crossed over and began walking through the forest.

One thing is amazing about the society here. There may be no close family ties, no kinship but one thing is certainly there, common courtesy. Anybody who crossed our path, even outright strangers, wish good morning, ask, how are you today? and such pleasantaries are exchanged. If they sneeze, they say "excuse me!" and if someone sneezes, they are immediate to utter "god bless you!". These are things that shape a society. I wish we could inculcate the same culture in our country. We saw several people returning in the path we were headed and everyone was quick to flash a smile and say "hello! how are you doing?". We returned the same greeting and trudged along the forest path to reach a small creek, where we turned east towards the main river.

This was a unique experience too, it made us feel as if we were part of some hollywood film set, walking on a semi-dry river bed flanked by two tall mountains. After walking about 10 mins we reached the river and noting that it was shallow, we decided to cross the river and head on the mountain bike trail back to the camping area where our car was parked. That was a dicey proposition, which proved very useful for us. The rocky river bed was fully covered by algae and we had to be extra careful as we put one step after another towards the other bank. But as we neared the opposite bank we were surprised to see several giant dinosaur foot prints. This time there were two varieties of them... one belonging to the 45-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex and another to the 70-foot Apatosaurus.



We just revelled in the scene and then slowly walked back to the car promising that we would return back another weekend and explore all the trails and the entire river bed. This time we will come with swimming and camping gear, so we can start the day swimming and end it in the tent on the river bed.

Anybody interested to participate in this unique adventure travel contest??





GreatEscape2008, the around-the-world travel competition is looking for fifty globetrotting adventurers to take A Blind Date With The World™ and compete for the annual title of The World’s Greatest Travelers™.

The Global Scavenger Hunt™, scheduled for next spring can be your ticket to fulfilling a dream adventure by offering the most intrepid of global travelers a three-week around-the-world travel adventure. Travelers will race from Los Angeles to New York—the long way!

Outside magazine calls The Global Scavenger Hunt, "…one of the most amazing trips in the world."

A former participant said,"It is like Survivor, The Amazing Race and the Eco-Challenge all rolled into one except with MUCH more cultural interaction!"

A recent travel poll conducted by National Geographic Traveler/Yahoo!, found that for 2 of 3 travelers, the circumnavigation of the globe is the greatest journey left and called it the ultimate travel experience.

GreatEscape2008 offers real travelers that chance. A real adventure restricted to 50 savvy travelers who will compete in this annual travel adventure competition and international charity event that takes place between April 11 and May 4, 2008. The winning Team will be crowned The World’s Greatest Travelers in this remarkable one-of-a-kind travel event.

"GreatEscape is all about allowing real travelers to compete in a real travel adventure competition, for all the right reasons—the love of travel, trusting strangers in strange lands and giving something back to the planet," said Event Director William Chalmers announcing this years competition dates.

For three weeks, 25 Teams of two will travel the globe visiting at least 10 countries scattered across 4 continents seeking advnture and hot on the path towards victory. Teams earn points by completing a series of cultural-oriented scavenges (finding Buddha’s tooth in Sri Lanka; explaining Thai cooking flavors; visiting King Tut) and challenges (take a photo of a wild orangutan in Indonesia; enter a camel race in India; learn to belly dance in Turkey) in exotic destinations.

The event is designed to be a rally rather than a flat out race. The object is to test each Team’s ability to combat not only the inevitable jetlag, but language difficulties, cultural differences, their appetite for strange foods, logistical snafus and Team dynamics in the milieu of a well organized competition.

Aspiring contestants can be two-member teams or single travelers, should The Global Scavenger Hunt’s official website http://www.globalscavengerhunt.com/ and enter online or call 1-310-281-7809.

Travelers will be interviewed for suitability and asked to help in the events fundraising goal of raising a million dollars for charities like: KIVA, CARE, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF and Partners in Health, among others.

An entry fee of US$9,900 is payable and includes all international airfare and hotels over the 23-day event. Winners of the event will defend their The World’s Greatest Travelers™ title in the next event for free.

For further information and how to participate, please contact: Event Director: William D. Chalmers on Tel: 310.281.7809 or e-mail: 2008eventdirector@GlobalScavengerHunt.com

Working and Working out

You must be wondering what I mean by the strange title. Well I haven't done anything much except sit in the library and work on the computer, read books and browse through magazines. Yes the same library I blogged about yesterday.

What am I doing so much on the computer, you might wonder... well I blog on this and also on another site known as Instablogs Network. This is where they are trying to bring bloggers and readers together and it has an editorial policy which limits important (what they feel is important) news can be posted along with the bloggers opinion. I have been able to successfully file about 30 stories a month to the instablogs network. There have been quite a few readers, responses to the site there too. I call it my news blog and this as my personal blog. You could check it out too if you feel like it http://srinidhi.instablogs.com.

It may be a little slow in loading but, it will load nevertheless. Sometimes it just goes down and I get a message saying "Instablogs is not available at the moment, please try later". Isn't it rather strange?? I find it rather strange.

Apart from that I have been generally having a good time. Came home in the evening and hit the gym. Our apartment has a superb gym. Worked out on the treadmill, weights et al for about one hour and then went to Mary's home for the usual south Indian dinner and returned home. Not feeling sleepy I am just tinkering around on the comp, it is 12.30 am and now I think I will go to sleep.

Gotta think about doing something tomorrow.... maybe I will go to the indoor wall climbing club nearby or even better go downtown and oogle at the bikes on the road. Or maybe sit at home and read the books I have borrowed from the library. Let us see, let me sleep and wake up in the morning.

Adios amigos! see you soon.

Getting Library Membership


Yesterday I confirmed my temporary membership at the Carrollton Public Library, Texas. I am simply floored by this wonderful county library and the simplicity with which one can become a member and borrow learning resources from here.


Before I go on I would like to write a little about Carrollton, a little suburb of Dallas which sprawls across an area of 37 sq. miles and hosts a population of 120,150 (January 2007). It has about 1,200 acres of officially notified green spaces and parks. One thing impressive about the city is its vast open spaces and its sustainable development. The natural landscape and formations have been preserved very well... the creeks and springs still flow (some have drainage flowing into them), almost all roads are lined by green lawns. Minimum width of the road would be approximately about 60'. There are two public libraries and membership to one automatically provides acess to resources in the other.

Now coming back to the membership process to the Carrollton Public Library. About two weeks ago I walked in to check out some magazines and also to verify the claim of several people who had said that internet browsing is free in public libraries in US and most EU countries. Yes this library and several others in the country provide free internet access (1 hr at a time) to members. And how does one become a member? No lengthy forms to fill up, no need to get your character and identity attested or endorsed by a gazetted officer of the federal government... nothing of that sort.


Just fill in a simple form and provide an identity and local address proof and bingo, you will get an impressive looking barcoded plastic card which will give you access to the phenomenal amount of resources the library offers. Since I didn't have a local address proof on my first visit they gave me a temporary membership which allowed me internet access and reading books and other resources in the library. The library also organises regular book reading sessions, book club meetings and other activities to promote reading and learning activities among students and youth. These activities are open for general public too.


The library has a collection of 250,000 books and other resources including magazines, journals, project reports, CD-ROMs, DVDs, VHS tapes, audio tapes. A member can borrow upto 45 resources at a time and keep it for over 2 weeks without having to pay a penny. Apart from these, the library offers private study rooms which have to be booked in advance, a childrens play room, a reference section, a research center and mentoring section. Awesome, this library is free, but it is better than even the British Trade Office library in Bangalore. I don't know whether India has even one library of this standard and which offers all these facilities yet.


In India getting a library membership is a herculean task, one has to fill in forms and then get it attested by a Gazetted officer of the state or central government and then wait for our identity and antecedents to be verified before we are granted membership. And after that one can borrow only 2-3 books only from the library. The other concepts, like private study, a children's play area, etc are unheard of in India. Internet access is still alien in most government offices, and 99% of the public libraries are owned and managed by the government. When will India become like here, with over 450 million youth in the country if we don't give them access to knowlege which is available in books, we are doing them a great disservice. If you want to do charity, don't give money to poor people, buy them books.


Think about it.

Hiking Trails and a Mustang museum

Last week we were scouting where to go in flat as pancake Dallas. Wondering what to do. We decided to check out some hiking trail in Las Colinas town about 15 miles from Lewisville. Thinking it would be some interesting wilderness and tough hiking we started driving towards Las Colinas.

The Mustangs of Las Colinas is nothing but a large courtyard in front of a building where life like bronze sculptures of mustand horses have been installed. These mustangs appear as if they are running through a stream of water (fountain) and are pretty interesting. The sculptures are executed well and look realistic.

The hiking trail was nothing but a paved path through some countryside. Dallas has a lot of creeks and springs which flow throughout the year. Some of them are also fed by the city's drainage while the others are fairly clean. But the one good thing about these creeks is that there is no trash visible, there maybe drainage but it is only water, not plastics, paper or anything else. Moreover on both sides of the creek, the are is landscaped with good lawns and these are maintained pretty well. I don't know how the city's administration raises budgets for this, especially when the state government does't levy any income tax on its 4 million citizens (a few millions lesser than Bangalore's population) but Texas is several times larger than Bangalore. That perhaps explains the low real estate value and sparse population in the state. One can buy an excellent, fully furnished home for about $250,000 (Rs.1 crore) with a nice garden, sited in one of the better residential localities in suburban Dallas. But in Bangalore getting a piece of land for that price is difficult.

Coming back to the hiking trail it is just a paved path for people to walk/ bike (bicycle) and children to skate. The path passes through a nice green forest and grassland, this is what it is all about. We opted out of walking the trail and just drove back to Mary's home.

Roaming in Dallas

Have been leading quite a stagnant life since the past nearly two weeks. In Dallas, the flat-as-pancake state of US. Have been browsing about various places around here and visiting the city's main and interesting localities. There are hoardes of Spanish speaking people here. Many a time I have been mistaken to be Hispanic and addressed to in Spanish :).


One thing in the cities I have visited, I haven't seen any newspaper shops. The little shop selling odds and ends along with newspapers and magazines which is so common in Indian towns and cities is absent here. Magazines sell in all super markets while daily newspapers are sold through machines. Yes machines sell newspapers, much like the coin telephones in India. There are machines to sell water, coke and newspaper too. Here is the picture of couple of vending machines installed on pavement in a strategic location in downtown Dallas.



Last week my good friend George Dailey took me aroud downtown Dallas showing me how spaces have changed and are being managed by the city administration. George also treated me to a nice Tex-Mex lunch of cheese enchilada and rice at a cool restaurant in downtown known as Meanies. After the meal we made a beeline to Dallas downtown. Among the several landmarks we breezed past was the Dallas Museum of Art.



For the first time since entering US, I saw a railway level crossing where a train was passing through. Surprising thing is that though there is no gates like in India, fast cars, super fast bikes and even walkers and cyclists waited patiently for about 15 minutes before the train actually arrived and crossed over after it had passed. And another surprise, the train didn't blow any whistle. This was a great experience of the discipline that is followed here.




George showed me the major landmarks of Dallas including the place where former US president the flamboyant Kennedy was assasinated, the old museum, the 6th floor museum, the neighbourhood where Dick Cheney lived etc etc. One thing I noticed in US which is very similar to India, polluting creeks and rivers with drainage. There is this water stream known as Turtle Creek which flows right through the town. Authorities have made the surrounding landscape beautiful by planting lawns and builiding walkaways on either sides of the creek but then there are places where I saw huge drain pipes emptying all kinds of water into the creek. I expected better here. At leasts the water should have been treated before being let into the creek....

Anyway a unique feature of this creek is the round dam.. what is this? George said that he would show me a dam that I would have never seen anything similar in my life. I was intrigued and curious. Then he pulled over and showed me this unique well-like round shaped dam. What they have done is to make the creek accumulate at one point and then flow under a bridge they have built a wall and made a lake kind of feature. Then in the middle is a round well like contruction which leads across the bridge into the creek. A unique dam never seen such a feature anywhere during my travels.


Then we went back to downtown where we visited the giant cowboy sculpture. In the middle of a park near the Dallas Convention Center, is installed a life size bronze sculpture series of a herd of cattle being herded by two horse borne cowboys. The sculptures are so well executed and life like it makes a pleasant picture of how life in Texas was before development and industry came into fore.


Here are some pictures of the cowboy memorial.

Pictures of the Boss Hoss demo
Some network problems I couldn't upload the pictures. Here are the pictures I have been able to upload. Enjoy and feel envious... I am one of the few Indians who have ridden this monster on two wheels or rather on three wheels... :).

Riding the Boss

Yesterday I had one of the best experiences in relation with motorcycles in the US. I not only rode my dream machine, the legendary Harley Davidson, but also the biggest motorcycle ever made in the world - a Boss Hoss. This is a 5700 cc, V-8 motorcycle which churns out 400 HP of sheer power and can go from 0 - 60 miles in just 2 seconds.

Boss Hoss specifications
V8, 355 HorsePower @ 5250 rpm,
103" long and 28" wide

Transmission:
Floor gear 5 speed automatic that can be switched to Manual.

Participating in the Boss Hoss demo was a unique experience. I read about the demonstration and availability of the bike for trial runs in the local newspaper Dallas Times last weekend. I immediately decided that I would go for the demo ride and if they allow me would take a spin on the machine.

More information about the demo ride

Afteer a chain of mails, Keerthi Jayasimha of Cramster Club put me in touch with Avatar Singh a Dallas-based member of the club who owned a Harley Davidson. I proposed to Avatar the idea of going to the demo and he agreed. Further Avatar also agreed to let me take a spin on his Anniversary specialedition HD.

Me and Padma drove to Avatar's home in Plano on Saturday morning and after introductions I went down to the garage and took a look at his gleaming bike which was being further shined by Avtar. Once we got ready I took a spin on the HD and then we took directions from Google Maps.

I must say here that it is impossible to get around without the software map powered directions in the US. There are so many roads, exits, entries, turnpikes (mega fly over), bridges, interstates, toll ways, etc etc. Miss a turn/ exit and you will be forced to drive another 50 miles to come back to the point where you missed the turn.

Armed with directions to the Boss Hoss showroom in Grand Prairie where where the demo was happening, we started off Avatar and me, two-up on the Harley while Padma followed us in the car. It was a noisy and swift 25 minute ride to Grand Prairie during which we touched speeds of 70 miles per hour on the Harley. Anyway as we pulled in front of the Boss Hoss showroom I was amazed to the see the size of the bikes and the engine's deep-throated drone.

The first demo ride of ten bikes and three trikes was just starting and the pilot gave an indication and all the automotives started with their deep throated roars. With every rev the sound sent shivers of thrill down my spine. I wanted to be there sitting on the bike and revving it and not just stand and watch. Anyway soon Padma pulled in and parked the car. We went into the showroom and I checked whether my India-issued international driving permit was accepted. The showroom people just said "As long as you are above 30 years of age and don't have a Canadian license you can ride the bike". We both filled in the forms which was basically an indemnity bond and took Trike card and helmets and went out to get onto the Trikes. Weighing 650 lbs (300 kg) the Boss is heavy.... so we decided to ride the trike aka the three wheeled Boss Hoss which is built like the old Delhi Phat Phatiya, front like a motorcycle and rear like a car.

Anyway we took our positions on the bike me riding and Padma seated on the wide seat constantly warning me to be careful. The pilots came and gave me a quick run through on the controls of the trike. It is an automatic with a reverse gear, can be converted to manual with 5 speed. "Ride this like an ATV. Take long turns" said the pilot. I turned the ignition and the Boss roared to life. The sound was mesmerising, as I revved once with foot firmly on the brakes, I realised the awesome power I had at my fingertips.

We rolled out in a single file formation onto the road and then the bikes just vroomed off into oblivion... a few seconds later I see only the taillights of Avatar's trike and the bikes had virtually disappeared. Then I revved and caught up with Avatar and the others who, seemed as if were miles ahead of me. Not used to riding on the right side of the road and sticking to lane driving was a definite disadvantage. So I decided not to speed up too much and stick to comfortable speeds around 30-40 mph. The first turn came and it seemed as if I was coaxing a reluctant elephant to change direction of motion.

After clearing the first turn the pilot rider behind me rode up and told me to take long turns and rev up to catch up with others. But at the next red light, everyone else cleared but me and another rider. So we waited and then revved up again and after couple of more turns we reached back to the Boss Hoss showroom. Whew... was I relieved to get off the bike... you bet I was... Next time once I get used to riding in the American way I will participate again and it will be a bike then...

On retrospect I was thinking how little I knew about bikes. I had always thought HD was a big bike ... but HD looked puny in front of the Boss Hoss. Truly Boss Hoss is the Boss... it has amazing power... 400 HP... and other tech specs are equally awe inspiring. Powered by 8 cylinder V style engines these bikes available in two categories (Bike and Trike) and several variants, possess raw power and to ride one on a regular basis is as good as inviting death. The power gives a rush of adrenaline... which isequvivalent to none... the pickup of the bike issimply great... 0-60 miles in 2 secs...

Here are some pictures of the bike and me riding the Boss Hoss Trike - a three wheeled version of the same. Avatar and me are perhaps the only Indians who have ever ridden a Boss Hoss.

12 days and 2500 miles in the US

You all know about my travels upto Flagstaff, the base point for several interesting places in Arizona state of US. This is one of the desert states and there are national parks, canyons, American-Indian reservations, ruins of old (10,000 years plus) habitations. Large numbers of the original inhabitants the red-Indians aka American-Indians very virtually massacred and killed by the whites as they started settling in this continent.

But today American establishment and society is slowly, reluctantly and grudgingly recognising the fact that there were original residents and societies in the continent which were destroyed by the invasion of whites. In a bid to make up for their old mistakes the government is doing quite a bit in the form of perservation of old ruins, establishing reservations and offering special privileges to American-Indians.

Anyway let us come back to where we went and what we saw. We stayed three days in Flagstaff going in and out and north and south of the city visiting various places of interest. Our first stop was the Grand Canyo, one of the natural wonders of the world. The drive to Grand Canyon was through vast expanses of pine forests, we saw several signs warning us to drive slow and not to hit wild life such as deer, elks etc but didn't see any wildlife at all. The drive was highly soothing, it was the first time in America that I had passed through such long distances of desolate, uninhabited and quiet regions. It is quite unlike India where finding a 5 km stretch of road without any human intervention is rare.

We passed about 80 miles of forest and reached the entrance of Grand Canyon National Park, sited at the Grand Canyon village. Entry fee per vehicle is $25, the pass is valid for one week (7 days) and the fee remains the same irrespective of the number of passengers inside. It is amazing how much value the National Parks Service, wing of US government has created for visitors inside the park. Every cent of the $25 is worth it when we consider the facilities and features of the park. Once we pay the entry fee there is no further fee, yes expenses will be there like if you wish to buy stuff, there are several souvenir shops which sell Chinese made Grand Canyon souvenirs such as pictures, fridge magnets, key chains, crystal desk pieces, and what not, the array is simply amazing. One can easily blow up $500 on these trinkets and souvenirs. There are shops selling food, cafetarias for food and water, swank hotels and restaurants and virtually everything a tourist could ask for.

One major difference I noticed between Indian tourist attractions say Jog Falls and Grand Canyon is the cleanliness and the courtesy of the staff. In India the noise and clutter and ubiquitous trash gets to our heads. On other hand the ultra polite NPS staff; squeaky clean trails, paths, roads; quiet ambiance enables us to spend a quite moment amidst nature.

We went to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and walked the Rim Trail which took us along the rim for about 3 miles. The views of the canyon is simply fantastic. The Yavapai Museum is sited bang on the trail and it contains some interesting information about how the canyon was formed. Telescopes placed in the museum help visitors to view within and across the canyon, which is about 477 miles long and average width is about 10 miles. I was surprised to know the width was 10 miles, when we stand and look from south rim, the north rim appears as if one can just reach out and touch it. Definitely not 10 miles wide, but the fact is that it is.

Grand Canyon is best enjoyed hiking the numerous trails, we were not prepared and time was not on our side, hence we decided to just look around and return another day to hike the canyon. Camp at the Phantom ranch in the heart of the canyon, visit the Yavapai falls, walk on the 442 ft hanging rope bridge builit across the river Colorado, take a boat ride down the river etc... so many things to do and so little time...

The Grand Canyon
The Canyon Beckons with open arms
I want to go there and roam and explore its charms
Walk on trails,
Explore the thrills
examine the unique formations
marvel at the intricate undulations.

Oh the grand canyon's grandeur,
Is a wonder to every wanderer
who seeks adventure
and is willing to risk going yonder
Take your bags and come hither
to escape the mundane office theatre

For here is something
which makes life worth living
and career worth making
for without money
nothing is possible honey!

I sign off with this for now... will talk about other things I saw around Grand Canyon before we returned to Flagstaff in my next post.

For now help me get better by leaving your comments here!

Grand Canyon Picture Gallery

First Long drive on American Highways

We started off yesterday morning from Pasadena towards Grand Canyon, speeding in the overloaded Saturn on I-210 (interstate highway 210). The traffic was pretty high but the wind was higher. We had barely crossed 50 miles when we saw the sky overcast with dark clouds and the wind pushing the car towards right. Wondering what was happening we forged ahead and before we reached Barstow (70 miles) we had seen three large long haul trucks toppled beside the road. Reason: heavy winds.

Apprehensive we stopped at a fuel station for refilling and enquired about the conditions ahead. The lady said it was ok up the mountain but bad in the valley, since we were headed out onto the mountains, it was ok for us. We just surged ahead switching to I-40 and heading towards Kingman, Williams where we were supposed to take a detour on I-86 towards Grand Canyon.

At Kingman we stopped for lunch and visited a quaint museum (entry $ 4) which displayed exhibits about old Indian settlements in the region. The museum was undergoing renovation and hence a small area was closed but otherwise the maintenance is impeccable. Clean carpeted floors, airconditioned interiors, well lit exhibits and more than everything very very courteous staff.

We conversed with the staff who were too willing to give us more information about exhibits and the American-Indian settlements, reservations and how things worked way back a 100 years ago and how they work now. It is amazing... I had always wondered about how such a young country had grown so well and achieved economic prosperity so quickly. It is primarily due to the attitude of its people. They want to please every client. We were one of the few visitors to the museum and the staff were only too happy to talk to us and explain about the various facets of the exhibits and the history of the small town. Kingman is a town which is not even as big as a C class city in India, but the people are well educated (I don't mean academic degrees but have received a solid foundation in their primary and secondary schooling), speak good English, are very courteous.

I could write a lot more about what we saw and how we missed an exit and ended up in Flagstaff instead of Williams. An experience of buying a car in US and the foot massage in Singapore Airport etc etc. Unique experiences just working in my mind. Will write them up soon. For now see these pictures and enjoy.

Two days in America

It is over 48 hrs since I set foot in this continent sized country which comprises of 52 states and is 5 times the size of India. I am truly amazed by the sheer size of everything in this country. Everything is big here except perhaps the population (about 301 million). Big roads have big cars, buses, trucks and bikes travelling at high speeds on them. For example one can buy small, regular or big coffee and a small coffee is about 250 ml. I wonder what a big coffee will be like. It is sheer indulence and consumerism that drives USA. When the whole world is reeling under oil shortage and oil price increases, Americans drive around in big cars and super big SUVs. It is amazing how the economy is managed.

Super markets and their parking lots are bigger than airports in India and everything is maintained clean. Though for the nit-picking one can find traces of dirt, litter on the lawns and sidewalks. Though enormous amounts of trash... both bio-degradable and non-biodegradable is generated in this country (perhaps 10 time the volume that is generated in India) the waste management is impeccable and we don't get to see trash on the road. If this management were to be introduced India, our country would be cleaner than US but are we interested? we are not, we Indians seem to have an ideological objection about keeping our country clean.

Anyway, I have gone around Pasadena city and yesterday we drove to El Monte, a predominantly Hispanic and South-East Asian population dominated neighbourhood full of used car markets and not-so-prosperous blocks. As I walked in and looked around at couple of used car markets, the sales men there thought I was a Mexican and addressed me in Spanish. One of the sales guys was so aggressive, he said 'No license, no social seurity number, Buy the car I will give it to you' it was difficult to extricate myself from there anyway finally I thanked him for showing me the cars and walked out.

As we drove towards El Monte we passed a procession of vintage cars, these Fords, Morris, and other brands were lovingly maintained and restored, seemed as if they were rolling out of the showroom. Their gleaming bodies and strange but beautiful shapes was a treat to the eye. I have seen vintage car rallies in Bangalore, India. But the cars are not as well restored and maintained as the ones I saw yesterday. These are just like showroom cars. But the cars in rallies in India are just not that well maintained. Everything these people do has a distinct quality conciousness around it, a quest for perfection, a striving to achieving excellence, which is one thing I think most Indians lack. We have this "Chalta Hai" attitude which is good in some ways but bad in most others.

One thing that strikes me here is the absence of traffic cops in any of the traffic intersections/ lights but I am yet to see someone break the rule, jump the signal or commit any violation. As I waited in the car in one of the red lights I remembered my motorcycle tour of South Asia earlier this year when in Lucknow (UP) we had stopped at a redlight and people behind us were honking badly asking us to go. When we pointed out that there was a red light they just abused us and overtook us and went off jumping the signal while the cops beside the road looked on disinterested and unconcerned. This is the difference between the attitudes of the two populations. Another thing in the past two days I have heard only one or two people honking otherwise, drivers here just drive on without a squeak.

I wonder when we will become law abiding and make things easy for ourselves.

Finally in USA

After a long and arduous journey on Cathay Pacific's air bus we landed in Los Angeles airport at 9.00 pm. The immigration officials were very courteous, helpful and friendly. Though I was one of the last visitors in the serpentine queue, the visa officer spoke to me patiently and joked about how every visitor from India is an expert in computers. On knowing that I am a travel writer he said "You need time to stay in America if you have to write about our country. I will give you six months visa so you can see the entire country. Enjoy your stay."

All the sordid stories I had heard about the visa process, getting immigration clearances etc were repeatedly proved false. American visa officials are sticky about rules, documents etc but I have found them to be very friendly and well mannered. This basic courtesy is absent in most government officials who interact with public back home in India.

Once out of the airport, the superwide roads, big cars etc flabbergasted me. This city is really big and has been planned well. Though the government can sit back and enjoy the setting, they are continuously working/ commissioning new works to improve road and other infrastructure. I noticed at least three places where one or two lanes had been closed and work going on in a hectic pace. This is what I admire about western societies and culture. It is high time our politicians learn about sharing wealth and making life easier for people and not themselves.

I am going to sign off now... will try to update the blog as frequently as possible. Meanwhile you guys enjoy yourselves wherever you are.

Hi everybody,
This is me in Singapore's Changi airport sitting around without anything to do.
We went on a FREE (yes free) but and boat tour of Singapore. The super short (3 hrs) tour conducted for transit passengers by the Singapore Tourism Board is pretty occupying. They offer three different types of tours "Cultural tour", "Colonial tour" and the "City tour". Basically to entice air travellers transiting the city state to return to the city and spend money in the swank hotels, shopping malls etc.

We took the 'Colonial Tour' which introduced to the Singapore built by the British. The victorian style buildings including the Asian Museum, Victoria Memorial Hall, Old Church, The City Hall etc, capped by a boat ride on the Serene but very very dirty Singapore river. I had heard about Singapore being a clean and green city which prides itself in maintaining clean water bodies, parks and roads etc. But the river was a disappointment. It was greenish in colour like our very own Ulsoor lake. The boats which are used on the river are old kerosene engine boats which create lots of noise and air and water pollution. I wish the tourism board and government takes cognisance of this and changes systems.

But coming back to the tour per se, it was capped by a boat ride/ cruise on the Singapore river which was a good thing. It gave us a birds or should I say fish eye view of the colonial part of the city. There is another tour which will take visitors through 'little India', 'China Town' and another area I don't remember... reportedly older parts of the city state.

Interestning city and highly developed thanks to the patriotic politicians and highly conforming citizenery who love their country and want to keep it neat and clean. I wish Indians could become like that.

Changi airport is a city in itself, large and fully airconditioned, carpeted and what not. No Indian airport will come anywhere near this. I wonder if India will ever have an airport like the Changi or at least 50 percent of the standards..... :) Think about it friends.

I am starting the day in front of the computer. This is how I have been starting my new days over the past couple of months. I won't go into poetics today like couple of days ago when I was.

My first book is more or less ready. Tentatively titled "Concise Guide to Educative Holidays", the book will be released by early December. The 468 page full-colour volume contains 43 essays on destinations in India, neighbouring countries and four travelogues. Once it is out you could place orders with EducationWorld Books for the same. Watch this space for updates on the book launch. If you want more details about the book feel free to e-mail me. The title and the cover page of the book will be modified/ redesigned to suit the theme better.


Well that is all for today. I need to get cracking and working. Check this space for more updates.