DocDivaTraveller: June 2014

6/26/2014 8 comments

I have written many posts about June being my favourite month of the year. And I have cited reasons for the same too...yes!! its my birth month!! Since the birth of my daughter I could not take a vacation for three months. Therefore my birthday was the perfect excuse for a getaway!!

I am such a freak about birthdays that I love to plan months in advance. This year I was already vacation thirsty. So I had finalised the destination long back and had been waiting eagerly.

Thankfully my daughter has turned three months so I could keep her with my mom to look after.
I have been fond of road trips since childhood. My parents used to take me on road trips once every two months. But since I got married, we had been going to distant places and hence no road trips had been taken. So this was our first road trip in our three year marriage!!

I needed a place that was not too far away but far enough for two days. We did not have the courage to keep our daughter away for more than two days and neither my mom would have agreed for the same. Therefore Rajasthan, the royal state sounded perfect. I have been longing to visit the fort palace in Alwar and we so we booked a room there. Our destination was 150 kms far and it required to cross three states...UP, Delhi and Haryana!! We left in the morning of my birthday and reached there after 4 hours. On the way, we stopped for roadside snacks. The fun started when we entered the state of Rajasthan.

The National Highway no 8 connects the capital with the desert state as well as the land of Rajputs..Rajasthan. The road was blazing hot with the sun shining mercilessly above us. As soon as we saw the Aravallis, the old fold mountain range, my excitement went up by a notch. The road flanked by barren lands on both sides reminded me of driving through Nevada. Its my fantasy to drive from California to Nevada..zipping through the desert.

After an exciting journey, we reached the fort palace. I was simply mesmerised right at the entry itself!! Well, that is going to be my next post!!

the road trip begins at home...

the national highway no.8 zipping through the desert...

taking a break for pictures....

the desert has just started....

all set to embrace the Aravalli hills....

finally reached our destination....at the foot of the Aravallis...

the grand gate of the fort palace...

all set to celebrate my birthday....

6/24/2014 14 comments

6/19/2014 8 comments

The United Arab of Emirates esp read Dubai and Abu Dhabi have embraced high end technology and Western lifestyle to the hilt. That makes Dubai one of the friendliest cosmopolitan cities in the world. When you arrive there, there is not much difference you would notice barring the white clad sheikhs and the bejewelled burqa clad women. Therefore in an attempt to preserve their culture, there is a part of Dubai which still follows the traditional Arabic culture and is called the Bastakiya district.

The Dubai creek divides the whole city into two parts before getting drained into the Gulf sea. The downtown Dubai which is the upcale, posh part and the Deira Dubai is its humble brother. The middle class residents, immigrants, etc who are trying to make and save some money reside in Deira Dubai. While the rich natives and high profile expats occupy the downtown. The eminent Burj Khalifa, Dubai mall and all other interesting landmarks are in downtown.

Coming back to Bastakiya, this old part of town is very interesting. The houses have typical rods protruding from the walls. Usually they belong to cloth merchants and pearl traders. Today this district has art galleries, boutique hotels and restaurants to acquaint the tourists with the traditional Arabic heritage. This place is a picturesque step into Dubai's past.

Now coming to the downside. Dubai usually has 40 to 45 degree Celsius during most of the months. Since Bastakiya is fully paved, the weather there is 5 to 7 degrees more than the rest of the city. Therefore, as you can perceive, its almost impossible to explore this during the day. At night too, it does not cool down that much. We Indians, so much used to the blazing sun could not survive 5 minutes there. I enthusiastically took two photographs and scurried out as fast as possible!! I remember in one cycle of America's next top model, the models were made to pose in the Bastakiya district in the warmest of winter wear. One of the models fainted and she had to be hospitalised!! I could easily understand why!!

The fun part was we crossed the Dubai creek like locals. Yes, by a wooden boat called abra. The water of the creek was calm and serene and we reached downtown Dubai in just 2 dirhams!! I believe that travelling is incomplete unless done with the local people in the local way. I love zooming around in limosines but this kind of experience is priceless!!

the indigenous Arabic wooden boat called Abra...

the local Arabic market...no fancy malls...pure Arabic culture...

at the creek station...

the continuous line up of shades to protect from the scorching sun...

travelling is incomplete if not done with the locals!!

the creek looks so calm and serene... while it was burning hot!!

the beautiful Bastakiya district...

at the entry of Bastakiya district...did not have courage to go further because of the terrifying heat...very obvious from the blazing sun in this picture...

the pigeons are unperturbed by the sweltering heat...

6/16/2014 4 comments

You all must have come to know by now that I am a complete beach babe. I love the sand, sea and sun to that extent that I am usually burnt down to a lobster by the end of the day!! I never care what my acquaintances are going to say about me when I would reach home. When I was in college, my usual group of friends were so obsessed with their complexion that they used to stay indoors a ll the time...literally!! Such a bummer!! But that was a grave concern for me as I used to feel outcast in that untanned group after my sun burnt vacation :)
As time has gone by and I have matured, I began caring less about what others would comment. I am a more secure person now therefore. Anyways, teens are always troublesome!!

When we were honeymooning in Mauritius, one of my best experiences were the innumerable beach activities that we indulged in. Our resort had a huge chunk of the Palmar beach and offered all the canoes, boats etc whenever we wanted!!

Ours was a pretty packed seven day vacation which left just one day to frolic freely around the beach. Now when I look back, I feel those activities were the most fun filled ones!!

The picture in which we are canoeing looks so pretty with the pink and blue oars on the same side!! Silly me, little idea I had that the canoe cannot propel further without oars on alternate side!!

The laser boat had caught my fancy right from the beginning. But being a novice, I approached the local African on the beach. He knew little English and kept on saying that this boat is very easily capsized!! Okay, I got that, so tell me how to sail it. Then he kept on repeating monotonously...tuition is chargeable. Oh fine, give me the instructions and I would pay you, same came the monotonous reply...instructions are chargeable. I was unable to convince him that I was ready to pay for his coaching!! Defeated and scared by the possiblity of getting capsized, I took few pictures on the boat and proceeded towards the next activity :)