A journey across 3 countries in a day !

Before you can find faults with the title, let me put my point of view !

The trip I made on the Sunday, 25th of June, 2006 was from Shunde, in China via HongKong to Taipei in Taiwan. Now, your question could be - where are the 3 countries, they are all in China (and the Chinese politburo would love to hear that !). Well, I count the number of immigration counters I needed to pass through and you have the source of my title!

Shunde stay

Let me start by giving you some details about the city of Shunde, because its not a place you hear about in the news or normally visit ! Shunde City is situated in the middle of the fertile Pearl River Delta, between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It is a medium sized city with one 5 star hotel (Hotel Marriott , where I stayed !) and a lot of yellow taxis driven very much like in India, but on broader roads and at higher speeds. The city has a number of parks and you find them filled with people in the evening who are walking, exercising or dancing ! Yes, they keep music playing on speakers and I saw two old ladies doing the jive ! I figured out that it must be something very normal as nobody else other than me was paying attention to them.

I took a day tour of the city on Saturday and visited a Chinese temple (with giant wooden idols of angry looking Gods), a convention centre (the size of maybe 50 football grounds! ) and the huge Mao Bo park (with many gardens and water canals filled with big red fishes and restaurants serving only Chinese cuisine), all on a very hot summer day. Yes, everything related to infrastructure in China is big.

The Mao Bo park is definitely a must visit place and I and my friend Malli, had quite an interesting experience in a restaurant there. We entered a restaurant filled with lively people and found a table for us behind a group of old Chinese men deep in some discussion. The waitress came to take the orders, but she didn't speak a word of English ! The menu was a huge round mat on the table, all written in Chinese and no pictures to even suggest what it could possibly mean. That is when I figured out that a picture speaks a thousand words and all my acting experience is of no use when you had to act out dimsum or fried rice !

An old man in the other table realised our predicament and suggested in pure English (we later learnt that he was from HK) that we order a warm milk dish with ginger which he vouched was good. We did that and what came was something like a pudding, not very sweet, but definitely eatable. Well, that was definitely one of the things that I will remember from my Shunde visit.

The journey

It was the next day, on Sunday, that we commenced on the journey across the 3 countries! We had to leave Shunde for Taipei via HK. The trip started with a 20 minute bus trip, the courtesy service provided by the hotel, to the harbour in Shunde.The next leg was by a ship, called the Shun Jing, which ferried us through the Pearl river delta, to the Kowloon islands in HongKong in under 2 hours. We travelled in the 1st class cabin which was very much like a aeroplane cabin complete with a stewardess and TV screens. However our attempt to make it to the outside of the ship to do a "la Titanic" stunt (without a Kate ofcourse !) was politely refused by the stewardess. The ship journey culminated at the port and it was then the turn of the Airport express, a train that takes you from HK island to the Chek Lap Kok international airport in 30 minutes. A part of the rail route passes under the sea but we couldn't figure out which part ! Finally we took a 2 hour Cathay Pacific flight to Taipei and on reaching the hotel there, hit the bed dead tired !

You might be wondering what tired us as it just meant changing from one mode of transport to the other. But what I missed out in the description till now was the half day detour we took at HK to check out its sights and smells ! Karthik, a colleague of ours from Bangalore, who had since moved to HK was at the harbour to pick us up. The first thing to do was to dump the baggages at the city check-in counter and get our boarding cards. That's quite a facility that should be recommended for any big city. You can be a transit traveller with ease if you don't have to go to the airport hours in advance or keep lugging your baggages around the city.
Baggages dumped, we headed for an Indian restaurant (you get plenty of them in HK, right from fast food types to upscale boutique restaurants). We had a sumptuous Indian lunch, which seemed to be the first Indian food we ate in ages after surviving on Chinese noodles and dim sums in Shunde for a week. Not that they were bad, but a tandoori roti and dal tadka is dearer to my taste buds any day ! Although it was Malli's first visit to HK and he wanted to make most out of it, the heat ouside made both of us wary of venturing out and we were pretty comfortable whiling away our time within the airconditioned confines of the restaurant. HK was celebrating "India Day" that very Sunday and Karthik had the passes for the event and we were game for it.

The event was organised by the HongKong Home Affairs Bureau and was part of a series of events called "Culture in Motion". It aimed at making the big Indian community feel a part of the HK mainstream (which they very much are ! ). There were events covering almost all corners of India - the bhangra troupe from Punjab, the Jhumur dance from Orissa (performed by HK school students !), the Kathakali and Kuchipudi from the South of India. It was quite an entertaining show and we almost lost count of time. Suddenly we realised that we have a flight to catch ! Malli and I bid our goodbyes to Karthik and caught a taxi to the Central station.


We reached the station just in time to catch the Airport Express. It was quite plush inside and was strangely empty. There were just 5 to 6 people in the compartment we were in. We took the seats close to a arc shaped display that showed the current position of the train by lighting up LEDs. Having nothing much to do for the 30 minute ride, I took out my camera and took some self shots of us making various faces (to the amusement of the couple in the next seat !).

The train zoomed into the airport (trains no longer 'chug' into stations these days !) exactly in 30 minutes and we walked out into one of the levels of Chek Lap Kok International Airport of Hong Kong.

The Cathay Pacific flight to Taipei was comfortable but not eventful (fortunately !). We landed at Taipei Taoyuan International airport (also called Taipei CKS airport. There is another international airport at Taipei - Shongshan airport) at 6:30 in the evening and took a cab to the hotel in the centre of the city. The cab took around 40 minutes to reach the hotel and we almost dozed off in the car !

The hotel room was welcoming and the neatly laid out bed very inviting. I couldn't stay awake any further and dozed off for a good night's sleep. That was how an eventful summer day in which I travelled across 3 countries in a single day came to and end. The sights, sounds and smells of that day still lingers on in my mind as a beautiful memory.

The French connection - Pondicherry

A walk down Rue Dumas and then a right turn at the corner would take you to Rue la Cathedral ... On the way you would catch the fragrance of authentic French cuisines wafting through the air from a number of chic cafes .... Ofcourse the French mademoiselles would occasionally catch your eye !

No, you are not treading on the cobbled paths of Paris but taking a walk through the quaint streets of the city of Pondicherry (derived from the Tamil word "Puducheri" -- the new settlement ). Pondicherry has a strong French flavour to it owing to its centuries old relationship with France (even now there is a French Consul office in its capital). The culture and the architecture of Pondicherry is reminiscent of the days when the French lorded over this region.

It is to this place with the French connection that we made our way on the 15th of August ... ofcourse to celebrate Indepenence day ! We started early in the morning (7.00 am is surely early for all of us !!). The road from Bangalore to Pondicherry is supposed to be good but there was a bad stretch of about 40 km. We calculated that it would take us around 6 hrs to cover the 300 km distance on a trusted Maruti 800. So we would be in Pondicherry for lunch and sure we were !

We drove into Pondicherry at 1330 hrs past the gate that proclaimed on a yellow arch in neat letters "Pondicherry" , nothing more nothing less. The first thing you notice on entering Pondicherry is its cleanliness. The roads give you the feeling that a fresh spell of rain has just swept it clean. The JIPMER (Med School) campus is right at this entrance of Pondicherry and is quite a sprawling facility. We crossed this campus and soon entered into the heart of the city, heading for our hotel - Hotel Sairam. It was the only place where we could get a reservation ! All other hotels were booked weeks in advance for this long weekend. It is a decent hotel with the facilities that are normally provided by any other decent hotel (No swimming pools, no spas !)

After freshening up we headed straight for the ocean front. It is a rocky shore with a road similar to Mumbai's Marine drive but of a smaller scale. It was quite a sight, all decked up just for our visit ! Small festive lights were being put up along the road and also on the Govt offices that dot most part of this water front street. There were also 3 ships from the Navy positioned
quite close to the shore. It was only in the evening that these decorations blossomed. The 3 ships with their outline also lit with numerous lights provided a perfect backdrop to offshore festivities. Pondicherry was celebrating India's independence.

We however didn't while away our time waiting for the sun to set and see the lights spring up along the road. After some honest appreciation of the blue sea and some Masala dose at a seaside eatery, we headed for Auroville. It is an offshoot of the famous Aurobindo ashram and is situated about 10 km from the main city. You reach it by taking a deviation from the ECR (East coast road) and driving through some 8 km of dusty road. It is mostly a ashram for foreigners away from the city. The main tourist attraction at Auroville is the "Matri Mandir", a spherical structure which is mounted with a large number of circular brass scales on the outside and is presumed to be lit up by a single ray of sunlight reflected by numerous reflectors on the inside. We scouted around Auroville in circles for the beach road only to find out from a cycle riding, kurta cladden foreigner that its on the other side of the ECR !

The Auroville beach was a regular beach and not very spectacular. It was also pretty crowded and looked dirty. We spent half an hour gazing at the sea and then headed back for the Pondicherry ocean front which was just begining to light up. After spending some time there we returned back to the hotel to get ready for some exclusive French dinner !

Pondicherry has a number of good restaurants which find a mention in the Internet, mostly with rave reviews (http://www.pondichery.com/english/manger.htm and http://www.tourisminpondicherry.com/tourism/restaurant.shtml). Our pick of the day was "Rendezvous", one of the best in Pondicherry. We tried reserving a table, but was politely declined saying it was already full ! So the best we could do was to wait for a table to get free. Waiting was never a problem as it was very close to the sea front and we walked around marveling the majestic Bay of Bengal. We did finally manage to get a table and had some wonderful steaks.

Our idea of a Pondicherry holiday was to whet our appetites with as much French cuisines as we can. So we started our 2nd day in Pondicherry by vising "Cafe Bistro" for breakfast. It is a part of the Le Club group and is reputed for serving the best breakfast in town. The breakfast consisted of French bread with butter and jam, scrambled egg, fruits and juice. The ambience was pleasant and the Pondicherry heat was kept away by a canopy of trees and roof made of dried coconut leaves. After a rejuvinating breakfast, we headed for the Chunnambar beach resort. The beaches of Pondicherry are not as big or famous as there illustrious cousins of Goa ! They however have their own spendour. (http://tourism.pon.nic.in/beaches.html).
"Plage Paradiso" (Paradise beach) is one such beach tucked away from the rest of the world by some beautiful backwaters. The only way of accessing this beach is by a 3 km boat cruise from the Chunnambar resort. The beach itself is heavenly, very much as its name suggests !! With the vast ocean ahead of you and the sparkling blue waters behind, it is like an island of fine grains of golden sand. Not many people were around as the boats were the only means of reaching this place. We had a fabulous time there and returned back by one memorable boat ride. The boats ferry around 15 people at a time, but on our return trip we were only 4 of us. So naturally we had all the boat to ourselves and the boatman was our friend. A handsome tip added to his good humour and he gave us a pleasure cruise ! He even allowed me to handle the rudder and I was a boatman for a few minutes, surfing the waves at full throttle !!

After this exhilarating experience, we retired to our hotel to allow the sun to cool down ! In the evening we went around the French quarters of Pondichery and checked out the Lt Governor's house (from the outside!) and walked around the Aurobindo Ashram area. There was a music and dance festival going on in the ocean front and Pondicherians were celebrating their annexation to the Indian union on the 16th of August. We shopped around for curios and mementos, to bring back a piece of Pondicherry with us.

We had our final dinner at a place called "Satsang", a restaurant run by a French guy (he looks and speaks like one, so he better be one !). The crowd was good and the decor was great. We had all kinds of seafood, with mashed potatoes, authentic french cuisines we presume. We returned to the hotel for the night. The plan was to hit the road the next morning. After a lazy breakfast at a small restaurant on the sea shore and after a couple of snaps, we wound up our Pondicherry visit and headed back for home, Bangalore.

Pondicherry sure wove its spell around us and we were sure that we would return very soon. There were missed items in our agenda but we didn't care. Pondicherry will beckon again. Viva la Pondicherry ...

Conquering Chembra

It was just another day in office, a coffee break and some mundane talk when Aravind and me started discussing on how it was quite a while since we had gone on a trek. Ofcourse that immediately led to a quick plan to go on a trek the following weekend. Aravind suggested trekking to the Chembra peak, the highest peak in the Wayanad region of Kerela. Gathering information about it was not difficult. Google search yields a number of websites, but one neatly written piece is at
http://usandeep.com/trekking/chembra.html

Destination decided! The next step was to get a gang of like-minded people. We made the offer to our immediate group in office and the response was quite overwhelming. Within 2 days, we had 12 nominations! However as the d-day neared, there were the expected dropouts and finally we were left with 6 confirmed participants. Not a bad count for a hearty trek! Aravind, the most avid trekker among all of us, did the planning. The idea was to trek up Chembra on Saturday morning, camp somewhere in the wilderness there and trek back the following morning. We also decided to visit a couple of waterfalls in the nearby region before driving back to Bangalore.

Planning done! Manju, Raghu and me were the early birds and we started off from office on Friday, 16th of Dec 2005 on a Qualis at 10:00 in the night. Malli and his friend Avinash joined us at BHEL circle and finally Aravind at Rajarajeshwari Nagar. The drive itself was quite nice with the Bangalore - Mysore road tarred to perfection. The route to Chembra would take us through Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundlupet - Sultan batheri – Kalpetta – Meppady. This is mainly on NH212, which is a pretty well maintained road.

We reached Kalpetta at 4:00 in the following morning after quite some navigation by Aravind (read as asking strangers for the way in broken Malayalam!). It was too ungodly a time to do anything and we decided to sleep off in the cab till 6:30 in the morning. We awoke to a beautiful morning in the sleepy town of Kalpetta and the immediate need was to get a lodge to freshen up and have breakfast. We found all these within 20m of where we stopped! The breakfast consisted of delicious Valappams while some chose to have the more predictable Idlis.

We headed for Chembra at 8:00 am and our first stop was at Meppady forest office where we needed to take a permit for allowing us to pass through some private tea estate to reach the peak. It was no problem with a perfect gentleman doing the needful in a jiffy. The drive to Chembra from Meppady took us through some real picturesque locales – tea gardens jostled for space in every available slope. It would have definitely been a shutterbugs delight with the morning sun giving the right hue to the serene beauty.

We drove up the Chembra tea estate and reached the summit of the estate from which the trek normally begins. The resident caretakers of the place wouldn’t allow us to pitch tent in the peak and insisted that we come down and pitch the tent only in the estate area! We identified a beautiful spot, bordered by a flowing cascade as the place suitable for our night sojourn and so didn’t have to lug our tents along for the trek.
We left the cab and our camping gear in it and started the challenging trek at 10:30 in the morning. Our driver, Pradeep was equally enthusiastic and decided to accompany us to the top. We took an initial detour to catch a glimpse of the tea estate from a Watch Tower located close to the place where we parked. The sight was majestic!

The trek to Chembra peak was challenging right from the beginning. The steepness of the slope was something we didn’t anticipate and our initial progress was slow. The sun beating down our heads also didn’t help. However, after a while, our legs got accustomed to what was expected of them and we made steady progress. After numerous photo-shoots on the way and glucose gulping, we reached the beautiful heart shaped lake midway to the top. The shape doesn’t dawn on you until you climb further up and have a look back at the lake. A wide rock at the top end of the lake gives it the necessary curve at the top of the heart. It surely was created with love, naturally!

We trudged further along, our legs giving us the necessary signals to rest from time to time. The way to the Chembra peak passes through multiple hilltops and every time we surmounted one cliff, there was another one in front! It required quite some motivation at these preliminary summits to continue the trek. However, the group continued and we made it to the top after a grueling 4 hours of trekking. The experience was exhilarating and the site from the peak, heavenly.

After some rest and some snacking, we started our decent and made quite rapid progress. The trek down was completed in no time and we had to stop ourselves from reaching our base camp too early! This we did by choosing viewpoints to take breaks and contemplate on life’s glory. We finally reached the foothill at 4:30 pm and started setting up the tents. We had carried a 4-man tent and another 2-man tent. Setting up the tent was an eagerly anticipated activity for most of the gang, it being the very first time for them. Aravind and me were the only ones with prior experience. The tents were set up in no time and so was the “kitchen” (a wood burner with 3 stones!). We had tea, started a campfire, cooked the ready-to-eats and had fun around the fire in a moonlit night, surrounded by silent tea shrubs watching the rituals of us city dwellers.

We awoke to a misty morning. Aravind and Manju went about preparing the tea while Malli busied himself preparing Maggi. We all had a hearty breakfast and after some picture sessions and camp dismantling were ready to leave this little piece of heaven at 8:30 on a Sunday morning. We were not finished yet! The next destination was Suchippara falls, some 7 kms from Meppady. No trek is complete without a refreshing bath in a waterfall and we believed in that adage.

Suchippara falls is in a well-marked route and we didn’t have to struggle to find it. It is definitely in the must-visit list of every tourist to Wayanad. The cab needed to be parked almost 500m away from the falls and we had to trek down a well-cobbled path that led right up to the falls. We were the 1st visitors to it on that lovely morning and we wasted no time getting into the water. The falls itself is not very huge, but the rocky surrounding gave it a majestic look. Some of us braved the cold waters and stood below the falls in a show of bravado! However, after the numbing sensation, sense prevailed and we soon climbed back to the rocks, dried ourselves and headed back to the cab as other tourists started trickling in. A small roadside shack selling pickled pineapple, salted nuts and other such goodies near the falls made for a quick stop for some memorable bites.

Finally it was time to head back to Bangalore. We started driving down the gentle slopes dotted with tea shrubs and the Chembra peak gradually started to fade away in the backdrop. However the memories of this refreshing break from the rigors of city life were just getting etched more deeply into our joyous minds. After a lunch stopover at Mysore and some stops to sip coconut water on the roadside, we were back into the bristling evening life of Bangalore at 7:00 pm. It was definitely a memorable weekend that all of us will cherish for some more time to come. Mission accomplished!