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DocDivaTraveller

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After the awesome road trip, we finally reached our destination. It was a hot afternoon. We checked into our room (mahal) in this fort palace as the rooms are called. There would be a post on it later. The road trip left us exhausted which compelled us to take a quick nap. I hate sleeping unnecessarily as it kills precious travel time. However this time we did not have a choice if we wanted to spend the evening nicely.

After we woke up, we headed to the poolside. Swimming is my favorite sport and I can remain in the water for ever!! Anyways, after the lifeguards threw me out because of after hours,( hubby was relaxing on the lounger and hence he was not thrown out :D ), we headed back to our tiny suite. Then I got ready for my birthday dinner.

This place, Neemrana fort palace is an ancient palace read 1600 AD which has now been converted to a 5 star heritage hotel. The fort hangs from the Aravalli hills and one has to climb stairs for even moving a meter!! So here one can enjoy heritage with luxury and that is my favourite combination!!
So before we headed to the restaurant for dinner, we took a little tour of the fort. The rest had been left for the next morning. I really had trouble ascending and descending the stairs as I was wearing high heels. Hubby as usual was chiding me for choosing inappropriate footwear. Come on,  how can one expect to wear flats on a birthday!! When will men understand this!! :D 


the city glittering all over...





time to relax...


the all lit up fort...






finally able to take a good picture with self timer :)


birthday dinner...




Dress: Vero Moda
Clutch: Aldo
Accessories : Forever21
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
Since I started with the Dubai creek in my last post, I decided to go along with the flow of its water!! In my last post I had shared my experience of sailing on an Abra, the Arabic wooden boat. Here, I sail on a Dhow, which is also an Arabic wooden boat but completely different.

The Dhow is a huge handmade wooden vessel. The boatmakers take completely one year to finish carving one. Earlier these vessels used to carry cargo in the Middle Eastern countries. Today with the advent of superfast cargo vessels, these kind of things have become obsolete. But instead of discarding them, they have been preserved to showcase heritage.

The Dhow cruise starts from Deira Dubai, sails along the creek showing both sides of the city ( the downtown and old part) simultaneously and then reaches the point where the creek meets the sea. From there it takes a U turn and follows the same old route but this time it sails along the shore of downtown Dubai..The cruise lasts for about two hours. And the best part? We are served gourmet food and drinks. There is a host of other activities too like singing, belly dancing, magic show etc. Those two hours were so eventful that we did not even realise how time flew!! 



this was our Dhow where we were supposed to dine and sail...


with my parents...all set for the ride...


with my mom's handycam...filming the glittering downtown Dubai for her..she never leaves home without her handycam!!


the glittering downtown Dubai from the other side of the creek...


all the Dhows anchored to the creek....just waiting to sail...


in front of the Dhow....all tanned from the sunbathing in the gulf sea!!


Dinner is just about to start!!


the beautifully lit up Dhow....
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 :)  


I love canoeing!!


pedal boating...



the coral reefs through the glass bottom boat...


the laser boat...one of my favourite activities...






the market of Belle Mare...


swinging to and fro...


the all lit up pool...


6/10/2014 11 comments

Doraemon...yes that cute little blue cat. I did not know anything more about this cat until few days back. But a little Twitter contest compelled me to master on this popular cartoon!!

Apparently my husband knew every little detail about this cartoon. Ask him about Charles Dickens or Hemingway, you would see a blank face. But he knows his comics and cartoons!! So when I wanted to take part in the twitter contest, I made him answer all the questions and voila we won!!
We got passes to meet and greet Doraemon but little we knew that we were invited as parents!! When we turned up, we had to register in our two month old daughter's name who was not even present with us!! The organisers kept asking for her :D There were so many kids dancing, singing and doing Zumba that we forgot everything!!

In the meantime, I learnt that Doraemon is not an ordinary cat...but a robotic one!! And I also learnt about Nogita et al!! Not only I had fun but I enhanced my knowledge about a cartoon too :D
mandy in wonderland!!

in front of Doremon's house...

paradise for kids...

every kid's fantasy...

the wishbox..



i want them all!!

i want them all!!

the bus to wonderland!!

with the chief guest..Doraemon!!

In front of Doraemon's house...



6/07/2014 12 comments
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