International

Iceland – (the moving continents) part 2

Iceland – (the moving continents) part 2

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The first tour is called “Golden Tour” and it consists of  pingvellir (spoken as thing – vetlir), Geysir and Gulfoss.  This Golden circle is a 5/ 6 hours journey by tourist buses, but it can actually take the whole day, if you are driving on your own, because tourist buses only stop at fixed places, but there are so many view points in the way that you need a full day to complete this circle.

So on a beautiful morning, after killing the cloud demon and freeing the Sun, we started our journey from Reykjavik and reached pingvellir… a distance of 40 Kms covered in one hour.  Pingvellir is the biggest valley in Europe and is on the banks of ping lake, again the biggest lake in Europe.

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Hello Wembley, Hi Freddie – Day 7

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The moment we reached the station I zipped out, making a run for the stadium, dodging people left & right, while mom followed closely panting behind. The stadium could clearly be seen from the station, but the speed with which I was sprinting did not exactly allow me to take my eyes off the road and the people on it – yes, the ones I was dodging – and so I couldn’t soak in its beauty, magnificence and all at that time.

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Alexandria, the pearl of the Mediterranean

Alexandria, the pearl of the Mediterranean

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Alexandria was home to Egypt’s second wonder of the Ancient World: the famous Lighthouse built by the Ptolemies in the 3rd Century AD. Soaring to a height of 140 metres, its beacon was visible to seamen over 50 km away. It was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world for centuries till a powerful earthquake destroyed it in the 14th century.

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Iceland – the forgotten heaven !!

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When Indian travelers go to Europe, the prime target is always Eiffel Tower of Paris, alpine meadows of Swiss or Rome or Venice or London or  Keukenhof at the farthest.  


Iceland is not even known to many Indians.  It came to news mainly when its volcano erupted during summer of 2010, causing major disruption in air traffic across Europe, bringing many  airlines to the brink of bankrupcy.


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Tynemouth: Sand, Sea, Castle & More

Tynemouth: Sand, Sea, Castle & More

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Just two or three stations before Tynemouth, through the metro window itself, I got the first glance of the sea, the great North sea, blue as sapphire. And when a person, who has spent most of his life in Delhi, which is 1100 km away from the nearest sea, gets a glance of the sea – He has every right to open his eyes wide.

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Trip to Harrods

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It being a Sunday, the place was kinda full, but the fullness of it did not take away the splendour, grace, elegance & overall beauty of the place. There were beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, antique looking furniture was scattered everywhere and there were, of course, beautiful mannequins in windows. The décor of the place somewhat varied from section to section. The toys section was done in tones of cheer, with streams of holly adding to the gaiety, while the fragrance section was done up in subtle tones, so that the focus was totally on the brands displayed.

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Pyramids: sepulchres of the Pharaohs

Pyramids: sepulchres of the Pharaohs

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The sides of the Pyramids were originally clad with highly polished white limestone slabs and were topped by gold-plated capstones called pyramidions which picked up the first rays of the sun and these rays reflected off the cladding to make the entire pyramid glow with solar luminescence.

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Discovering Fried Eggs at Luray Caverns

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The caves resulted from the accumulation of layers of limestone over millions of years. The caves are confined to a 100 feet thick zone. Rain water trickles, dissolving the carbon dioxide to make a mildly acidic solution of carbonic acid (secondary school chemistry, people). The acidic water percolates through the limestone, eroding layers and carving out shapes in the cave. A precipitate of lime forms, making stalactites from the ceiling and stalagmites from the ground join together to form limestone pillars. It is like witnessing a chapter out of a Geography textbook right in front of you. This is an active cave and new deposits are formed @ one cubic inch in 120 years.

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Cairo, the city of a thousand minarets

Cairo, the city of a thousand minarets

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ghumakkar loves serendipitous moments, when one comes across something remarkable but totally unexpected. I had such an experience a few minutes after landing in Cairo. The drive to the hotel from the airport was rather uninteresting as the architecture was pretty drab, just row after boring row of grey, rectangular concrete blocks . All of a sudden, I saw a building which looked like a Hindu temple…

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Ghumakkar Insights – What is on your mind and what goes into your bag?

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But surely, there is one thing in common in all our expeditions. It is the seed of thought on our mind which grows and matures into a fully well planned and executed trip. A thought about where to go next is the seed I am talking about. While some of us get inspired by learning about places from friends, the new trend I see is the trend to explore the unexplored virgin places. Not bad at all, isnt it?

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