International

Self-Drive trip across Thailand (7 days and 2000 kms) : Part 3 – Bangkok to Bang Saen

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Drive from Bangkok to Bang Saen is over ‘Bangkok – Chonburi Motorway (NH7)’. The motorway passes close to Suvarnabhumi airport exit and reaches Bang Saen after about an hour’s drive. Motorways are elevated toll roads, well maintained offering smooth ride. The motorways/ highways are well marked in English and Thai but the English fonts are smaller in size than Thai.

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Self-Drive trip across Thailand (7 days, 2000 kms): Part-2 Preparing for the trip

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Thailand packages are tediously limited to Bangkok and Pattaya (that’s how they are bundled up by travel agents here); and for the more desirous ones, add-ons are Phuket or Krabi. Ditto, while discussing Thailand with colleagues who have visited it, all they had on offer were superficials limited to these destination. And here is what we observed – Bangkok, where we spent maximum time was the most uninspiring despite all its glitzy malls, tourist spots, shopping centers, et al and Pattaya, which we drove across, did not appear much different. Actually, both the places had ‘TOURISTY – NOT AUTHENTIC’ tag imprinted bolder than the fonts here for any discerning traveler to see. Our best memories of the country extend beyond (and almost exclude) these two places.

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बैशाखी नगर कीर्तन

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पंजाबी दुनिया के हर हिस्से में बसते हैं. भारत के बाद कैनेडा ऐसा देश है जहाँ बहुगिनती पंजाबी रहते हैं. इनकी खास बात है यह अपनी अलग पहचान, रीती रिवाज और धर्म कायम रखते हैं. बैशाखी खालसा पंथ की स्थापना के रूप में मनाया जाता हैं.

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Canberra (Australia) Trip

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Next day was horrible, muggy and cold, suddenly temperature went down below 20C (below 5C at night). So no outdoors and we went to Australian Parliament and to Australia War Memorial which were nice places to visit and are free for public. It is great to see the history of parliament in Australia, how well it was recorded and shown to the public. On the contrary in India, it is so hard to enter the parliament and then how poorly the history is shown, goes on the show what our politicians are. You can see the chronicles of Australian politics, telling one about the constitution in the beginning and how it evolved to include the Aborigines later on. It is fascinating to see that government did apologize to the aborigines. I don’t think in India we have ever apologized to the outcast people of our society.

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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 4

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Day 4 – our last day in the alluring city had to be spent well and the time had to be best utilized. So, we put on our thinking cap and chalked out a plan. We wanted to close the trip with something nice and different as an experience. So, we chose the Heineken Experience !!

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Memorable trip to Virginia Beach

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Roads were descent rather better compared to Myrtle Beach. At some point I was sleepy but pretended to him as if I am wide awake and hooked to every detail. Clear skies, scenic beauty, greenery on every side delighted me . Finally we arrived in our destination , a moment of exhilaration for me. Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its oceanfront. It is also home to several state parks, several long-protected beach areas, three military bases, a number of large corporations, two universities, Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment, and numerous historic sites.

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बैंफ

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भारतवर्ष में हिमालय पर्वत विशाल है इसी तरह से नोर्थ अमेरिका में रोकी पर्वत है. अमेरिका और कैनेडा एक ही कॉंटिनेंट नोर्थ अमेरिका में है. जेसे अपना भारतवर्ष एशिया में है. हम सभी जानते हैं माउन्ट एवेरेस्ट सब से ऊँचा है, उसी तरह सब से ज्यादा लोग हिमालय पर्वत या उसकी तलहटी में निवास करते हैं. आज मैं आपको रोकी पर्वत के एक टूरिस्ट प्लेस पर ले के चलता हूँ. इस जगह का नाम बैंफ है और यह कैनेडा के अलबर्टा प्रान्त में है. यहाँ पहुँचने के लिए वॅनकूवर, कैलगरी या एडमंटन एयरपोर्ट का प्रयोग कर सकते हैं. निकटम हवाई अड्डा कैलगरी है. तब मैं एडमंटन में रहता था इसलिए मैं यह यात्रा एडमंटन से शुरू करूंगा.

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The Al Wabah crater

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I went in a private taxi, to see a natural geographic formation that is located near my place of work in Al Muwayh. This place is called the Al Wabah (Maqla Tamia in Arabic). It is a volcanic crater located on the western edge of the Hafer Kishb basaltic plateau that contains many volcanic cones.

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The Shaikh Zayed Grand Mosque

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While driving along the airport highway, a massive, magnificent, multi-domed edifice springs up, seemingly out of nowhere from the stark desert environs . We are on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and gazing in wondrous disbelief at what is arguably the most beautiful building this side of the Arabian Sea, the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayyan Grand Mosque. It is purportedly the third largest mosque in the world, after the great mosques at Makkah and Madina.

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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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Alluring Amsterdam – Part 3

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Since the weather wasn’t too favorable for cycling, we decided to opt for the guided tour. A 6 hour round trip with a visit to the cheese and clog factory plus walk tour in the fishing village of Amsterdam – cant get any better, can it?

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