Asia

Everest Base Camp & Kalapatthar Expedition

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Many mountains like Thamsekru, Ama Dablam now accompanying is for next 4 -5 days. After lunch again it’s a tough climb till Tengobche. Huffing and puffing are part of life but have only one aim to reach EBC. As we reach Tengobche snowfall starts, kindly note at this height there would always be snowfall no rainfall. Tengboche have a world highest Buddhism monastery in the world. Good palce it was. Now feel some mild headache means altitude plays there game from here.

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Lebanon – Casino, Cedars and Caves !!

Lebanon – Casino, Cedars and Caves !!

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The statue is made of bronze with its hands spread. There are spiral stairs reaching the top of the statue. It is said that the face of the idol, changed direction turning from Beirut towards the christian side, after the civil war where many christians were killed by muslim extremists. Not going into religious faiths, I may still believe it because it is possible due to movement of tectonic plates.

Before, the main statue there is this famous replica of Michelangelo’s celebrated masterpiece, the Pieta sculpture of Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus.

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Lebanon – Baalbek & blue river

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So there was Baal Temple, there was Jupiter, Fire, Moon, Mars and other temples which were there before Romans and before pheonician re-built them ! I was thinking was it some distorted form of Shakta tradition of Sanatan Dharam, which was followed here, because in Shakta tradition, Fire and other planets were worshipped and sacrifices of animals or even humans were present then.

Our guide was a Syrian and he explained so beautifully in perfect English, all the aspects of Baalbeck, quite patiently and in details.

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Lebanon – Paradise lost !!

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Once upon a time… there was Lebanon which was called “Paris of Middle East”…and then something happened and the Paris and Pearl of the Middle East.. changed from heaven to hell…. Let us have a look and see what Lebanon has to offer now for Ghumakkars !

It was 2004 and I boarded Air India flight from New Delhi to Dubai for my journey to Lebanon.

The coastal plain of Lebanon is the historic home of a string of coastal trading cities of Semitic culture, which the Greeks termed Phoenicia, whose maritime culture flourished there for more than 5000 years. Ancient ruins in Byblos, Berytus (Beirut), Sidon, Sarepta(Sarafand), and Tyre show a civilized nation, with urban centres and sophisticated arts. Present-day Lebanon was a cosmopolitan centre for many nations and cultures. Its people roamed the Mediterranean seas, skilled in trade and in art, and founded trading colonies. They were also the creators of the oldest known 24-letter alphabet, a shortening of earlier 30-letter alphabets such as Proto-Sinaitic and Ugaritic.

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A Visit to the Mahazat As-Said Wildlife Reserve

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Time to tell you about the mammals that we saw They include the famous Arabian Oryx, the Reem Gazelle and the Idni Gazelle. The Oryx is a long-horned animal that is feared for its ability to kill with its horns. However, within the reserve, it is remarkably docile as it has been trained to expect food and water at appointed times. At the time of writing this, there are more than 650 of these animals in the As-said reserve. According to Mr. Moayyed, the reserve is already full to above its capacity to hold these animals, and it only because of the controlled conditions that the animals are able to survive, thrive and breed over here.

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On Cloud 9 ! Skydiving in Dubai

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I put on my eye gear, tied my hair tightly and let Ellis attach me to his harness. We were waiting for our pilot to sign us when we would reach the 12,000 ft mark and as he waived a Thumps up….Oh F***, we have to jump now….NOWWWW!!!!!!….we crawled our way to the entrance of the plane, I could see the Palm Jumeira view and he said Jump….I bent my knees, jus couldn’t think anything and I jumped….we both jumped together, the freefall was amazing, the cool air dashing my face. Was I flying?? Have I reached heaven???? Is this really happening??? Am I a bird???? Wait wait wait….I was so shocked by the whole experience, so stunned by the beautiful views of Atlantis and Palm Jumeira and the lovely infinite blue and green ocean…..its just like a different world….Mind blowing !!!!!

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The Land of the Thunder Dragon (BHUTAN) – Day 15 and 16

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The FIAT Linea 1.3 MJD proved what a fantastic car it was by giving us once in a life time experience of long distance drive from Coimbatore to Bhutan & back and brought us back safe. The car was extremely good and proved that it really was a long-distance runner. Brand new car, no breakdown, no puncture, no fatigue only pure pleasure of driving it long distance and excellent build.Its suspension was so good that there was no body pain to any one of us through out the journey and my 2 small kids went to school the next day morning & I was back in Office to work. That speaks it all.

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