Skywatch Friday... Beyond the planes

Had just landed at Bangalore Airport, walking towards the shuttle I spotted this beautiful sky and cloud formation....

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Skywatch Friday... Up towards the North I go

This year has been good in terms of travelling, have done a trip a month [ almost ] and they have all been to new destinations [some with a stop over at a familiar town/city].. Oct end took me to Mumbai, and then from there managed to do a road trip to Nasik, then a quick stop over in Bangalore before taking the train back to Chennai...

Here are a few shots captured during the 1st leg of the journey to Mumbai... [now you know why I make sure to grab a window seat on all my flights... lol]

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Skywatch Friday... Where to stay in Leh- Lazakar Guest house, Leh

Where did you stay, how was the place, was it comfortable or did you have to rough it out... are some questions thrown at me from the time I have come back ... So, here goes..

We stayed at this awesome place called Lzakar Guest house..  What makes it awesome? Read on to know... 

This was the first time I was doing a trip through a travel group and they had organised everything so well, we did not have to think/worry about anything! First up was the accomodation in Leh. We got off the airport, piled into an Innova and within minutes reached a lane that seemed to be flooded with listing various Guest house names. I wondered which one was ours.. No sooner did I think that, we turned into an alley which led to a gate. Up above I saw a board saying "Lzakar Guest House". 

It looked a lot like a cozy cottage, there was a garden in the front and a small seating area with a room next to it [which I discovered was the kitchen]. There are rooms on the ground and 1st floor, the 2nd floor was just the terrace. Rooms were all spacious, with twin beds, two chairs, a TV, cupboard and a decent bathroom [ more than just clean]. The place came with hot water round the clock, wifi [that worked for most of the time] and enough blankets to keep you warm on cold nights. That apart, there were rooms that opened to the mountains [I managed to snag a room on this side when we came back from Nubra valley..heehaww.. such cheap thrills in life..This was our pitstop when we returned to Leh after a day tour to nearby places. ]

The place is located about 2-3 km from Main Bazaar and so is within walking distance from most shops and restaurants. The market is also strewn with travel agencies in case you are looking for some information or local tours.  

The two ladies who managed the kitchen were super friendly, sweet and always had a smile on their faces. The minute they would see one of us, they would come asking if we wanted anything... Both breakfast and dInner was served piping hot, and every dish was delicious. 

Breakfast was bread toast, omelette, or poha with tea

Dinner was roti, rice, a vegetable, a daal [which was out of the world] and egg curry/chicken [if there was a request]

What more do you need right? We had the run of the place, and it was full of surprises.. There was an apricot tree right next door and we did manage to snag quite a few fresh fruits. The vegetable garden had Cauliflower, cabbage, local saag, onions and tomato. There was also an apple tree, must say the apples were yummm .. 

Here are a few captures from the guest house... [taken during the 8days we were in Leh]

Address:

   Lzakar Guest house

SHEYNAM FORT ROAD
194101 Leh, India

Skywatch Friday... Above the city lines

If you know me, you will know how I love the window seat on an airplane and hog it at every given chance.. This time, during the 4 flights I took, I managed to get window seat at 3 of them. Here are a few shots from the last one, that brought me  back home to Chennai... [in reverse order]

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Skywatch Friday... Garden & art..

Walking along The Mall in Washington D.C, after spending about 7 hours exploring the museums and food trucks, I was ready to head back to the train station at Smithsonian. Along the way, spotted the garden alongside a vintage building and took a stroll through it... 

Here are a few pictures captured from there... 

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Skywatch Friday... Skyscrapers galore..

More from the city that I entered with quite a bit of apprehension but loved just as much as the others... Since I did not have too many days and other plans cropped up, I decided to do a hop on hop off bus tour.. Sitting atop cos I thought that would add to the experience, little did i expect it to be as windy and cold as it was... I was nearly freezing but the sights kept me glued to the seat... Here are more shots from that morning...

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Skywatch Friday... Fire escapes of New york

While in New york, I did a brief tour via the hop on hop off buses and the views were beautiful, especially since I was sitting on the top. But then after a while, the cold winds got a bit too much and I had to rush downstairs to warm myself up... 

I loved clicking shots of the various tall buildings sprouting from the ground, almost felt like I was watching a movie or an animation being put together, where buildings just grow and go all the way to the skies. The one thing that caught my eye were the fire escape stairways in these buildings, having seen them in many a TV show or movie, it was interesting to see them in real.. Here are two shots that I love...

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Skywatch Friday... Windmills

As we pulled out of the pick up point towards the highway and onwards to Yosemite National Park, these mountains and windmills was what we saw. They were all so majestic and beautiful in the morning sun. 

[Sorry for the blurry shots, clicked them through the bus window]

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Skywatch Friday ... Mountains meet the sky

What a feast on the eyes right? This was clicked as we headed out from Yosemite after the hike to see them giant red Sequoia  trees towards the village.. There was a view point from where you could get a glimpse of the entire vista including the beautiful waterfalls. The place was packed with tourists, standing, lying down and doing all kinds of poses, it took me quite a while and a short trek to find a spot to click the vista without any heads bobbing into the frame!! :D 

The one thing that baffles me when I travel is the love people have for clicking pictures. I like to savour the place, enjoy the scene, take it all in before I pull out my camera and more often than not I forget to click a picture of me in the location.  Yes, we all want memories, but then dont you feel we lose the experience cos we are more focused on clicking the right picture, the right angle, the right color, making sure the sun is not around, etc etc...!! 

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Skywatch Friday ... The clouds below

The first flight had me slightly anxious, but thereon I became a domestic flight ninja of sorts. I knew where to go, what to ask or what to look for when walking through the security lines. Infact, towards the end of my trip, it became a game with myself to see how many seconds it took me to put on my shoes after the security check. :-) I started spending lot more time walking around the airport, exploring the shops and not being too worried about departure time or how far the gate was...

 Here are a few photographs I captured when up in air...  The sight below was breathtaking.. Sometimes it was water, other times it was nothing but long stretches of mountains and once i saw snow capped mountains as well.. :-) Reasons why I love the window seat so much... 

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Skywatch... The rolling hills

We were doing with the wedding rehearsal, it was time to go drop off a friend whose daughter was part of the wedding entourage and head over to the Bridal dress store. The venue was quite a distance from their house and the route my aunt took was absolutely breathtaking. 

The day I landed in LA, I realised that people relied completely on GPS/Maps to get them to their destination. Nobody drives based on self knowledge, you would end up in circles I was told. So, this afternoon she had the GPS on, and we went.. Took us about an Hour which is exactly what the Map told us and the route was magical. Along the way, we saw nothing but sprawling mountains, some covered in mustard and others just lush green. One section of the road had Orange trees lined up on one side with the fruit hanging low. The sky was clear blue and not a single cloud in sight...  

Oh and we also spotted a farm that had horses, goats and even llamas enroute...Here are a few photographs taken along the way [some are blurry cos I was clicking from a moving car] :-) 

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