Skies come alive....

I was up in the sky, high high above it all.. after ages.. This time, I got upgraded and travelled in plush seats, with wow level leg room. And so I did not have to excuse myself every time I turned or twisted in my seat... That apart, the windows seemed bigger as well and I could see all the way beyond with ease... 

There was a bit of turbulence, but wasn't too bad. I watched a few episodes of downloaded show, read a while, chit chatted with my co-passenger and dozed a bit as well..Here are some shots I clicked during the flight from Bombay to Chennai...  [Psst- haven't edited any of the images]

Skies across Uttarakand to Delhi and beyond...

Some gorgeous images of the sky while up in the air and during the safaris across Corbett & Panna....

Drama in the skies... headed to Bagdogra

That was that, I had decided I was doing the trip to Sikkim. Next came the dilemma of travel, whether I wanted to fly direct to Bagdogra [a town in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal] or maybe to Kolkatta and then take an overnight bus/train.. Ultimately settled on direct flight to Bagdogra [ with stop over of 2.5hrs in Kolkata]. 

Upon landing in Bagdogra, we had to walk across the short distance to the airport.. I then managed to grab my rucksack, got out, found the driver/vehicle and headed out to pick up others. This is when I discovered this airport is located right next to Tea plantations.. :-) It was a pleasant surprise seeing the plantation!!

Sikkim Itinerary  

    The flight I took... 

For those who know me, window seat on a flight is my thing. And so here too I managed to snag window seat on both legs of the onward journey... here are some shots taken during the time I managed to stay awake...

Skywatch Friday... Bhubaneshwar to Chennai I fly....

I love the window seat, and I make sure to grab it at every given opportunity. This time, while flying back from Bhubaneswar, I was allotted the aisle seating on the 2nd leg and well, I kept hoping praying none else would come and I could scoot over to the window. But lo behold, after a bit of juggling and people shifting about, since I was a lone traveller I got to move to the window seat.. Yabadabadooee 

And well, I had a blast clicking pictures, watching the plane do its magic the cities/clouds below pass by slowly...  Here are some shots and video in reverse order.... :-) 

For more beautiful skies, click here

Skywatch Friday- Sky coming alive at the break of dawn near Thailand...

I love travelling as most of you have guessed by now, even though I havent travelled as much as I would love to. And when it comes to flying, then I instantly gravitate towards the window seat. This time too, luckily friend wanted Aisle while I happily chose the window seat and we settled in. From Chennai, the flight took off at the unearthly hour of 1.45am and it was to reach Bangkok around 6.25 which became 6.35am finally. We boarded, got into our seats, got comfy, chit chatted a bit and that is when the stewardess came around asking all to shut the window. I wonder why they do that, there is nothing we can see anyways; it is pitch dark outside… Oh well! 

And then before I knew it, I had knocked off for about 4 hours, to wake up around 6 and see the sun rising above the clouds slowly. What a breath taking sight that was, the orange peeking into the white empty blue sky as we flew high above it all.  It was beautiful, for lack of better word..

A brand new day, a brand new destination awaited us on landing!!

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday ...

SriLanka- The Arrival

The Planning

The Research

The Departure

We were all set to Arrive in Colombo... 

And with a blink of an eye, the one hour flight was over and done with. We had landed in Colombo, where it was drizzling. Got out of the aircraft, into the shuttle and off at the airport. We noticed a line meant for “immigration and transfers” and followed the directions to a bunch of counters. We noticed people around a counter filling out forms and promptly went over there. Picked up a form each, and once again filled out all the info we had filled back in Madurai

Name, passport number, issue & expiry date, address in Colombo and purpose of visit.

We then stood in line, showed the form and our passport to the gentleman behind the counter who chit chatted with us a bit and sent us on our way! After a quick loo stop, we grabbed our bags and made our way out the airport. There were quite a few Cab/taxi/package tour booths, and the 1^st one we approached quoted LKR 2800 to our hotel [ the guy said it was a good 35kms away esp since the airport was quite a distance from main Colombo city]. We also enquired with few others but found this guy cheapest and went ahead with them.

He told us we would get a Hybrid car, and came with us to the car pick up point. The driver then asked if we wanted to go via the Expressway, which would take us to the city faster, but there was a toll for LKR300. We decided against it, esp since we wanted to see a bit of the city and were just getting used to the whole LKR cost funda.

That is us standing in front of our car outside Midky Hotel in Nuwara Elliya

Took us about an hour to reach Welawatta Beach road and to find Lafala Hotel. But it was one beautiful drive, we passed the town, sea side, and open fields along the way! And managed to find a McDonalds where we grabbed a burger and happily dug into it [only then did we realise how hungry we were]

Once we checked into the hotel, we sorted out our bags and packed our handbags with the basic essentials. We were going to be on the road from the next morning again, exploring the country, staying at different places along the way. The one thing we knew we had to pack in our hand bag was that we carry our Passport and cash on hand always!! Here I was carrying both our passports and all the LKR money in a folder :D

Get set to travel the length and breadth of Srilanka with us... 

Skywatch Friday-- Fire in the sky

There I was, sitting in my favorite seat, eyes shining bright and glued to the window.. When we were checking in, my friend wanted an aisle seat, preferably in the 1st few rows, but I wanted a window seat which was available only beyond the 30th row. He gave me a look that said "really?" but I persisted and we finally got our seats done, 34th row. I got my window and he got his aisle..hehe... It was going to be a nice long 2hour 45min flight from Chennai to Delhi. And then we had about half hour in the flight before we resumed our next leg of the journey to Punjab, the land of the Golden temple... 

And the reason I wanted a window seat was just so I could stare out the window at the changing colours of the sky. I have shared few pictures before, but I know I shall never run out of them.. :)

Here are the various hues and the drama that the skies put on for us during our flight... 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday- High up in the sky

There is something about being 30,000 feet up in the air. For some it is scary, but am not one of those. I enjoy travelling and so the mode doesn't really matter as long as it gets me to the destination without too much fuss.  While flying, I love sitting in the window seat and clicking pictures of the sky and clouds. 

This time, my friend was kind enough to let me have the window seat during both legs of our journey towards Jaipur and I was happy there. Looking out through the little window, looking at the buildings and the ground slowly disappear can be unnerving for many. Am not the Meg Ryan from French Kiss who is petrified of flying and is chanting all kinds of prayers. I, on the hand freak out with excitement. And when we are finally up in the air, the clouds engulf me, making me feel all warm and fuzzy. I drift into my own world where there is nothing but me and emptiness around.

Here are a few images of the changing scene around us as we flew from Chennai to Delhi and then from Delhi to Jaipur. It was magical to say the least. 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

Relishing The challenge- Fly like a bird

If you were to ask me- What is that one thing which when done you would say "ah that was what relishing the challenge was all about"?, I wouldn't bat an eyelid before answering. For as long as I can remember, there has been just one wish in my mind. One daredevil act that I want to do before I bid adieu to this beautiful world. One that I have seen being done a million trillion times by others, on TV, in movies and reality shows. 

I want to go to New Zealand. No, that is not the challenge. I want to go to New Zealand and do Bungee jumping. Yes. 

Sounds crazy? Hell no! I have no idea when this desire crept into my soul, but it has been slowly eating its way within me and is now ready to come out bursting like a volcano. Incidentally I have a dear friend in New Zealand who has done this act once, a few years ago. I recall having a conversation with her about how i long to visit her country for this very purpose. She keeps pulling my leg saying "you don't want to come here to spend time with me, you only want to come here so you can complete your wish?"

Image courtesy- google.

Will it happen? I don't know

When will it happen? I got no idea

Why no skydiving? I might do that as well 

Aren't you afraid of heights? Nope

Why do I want to do this? I cant really put a finger on it, but probably just to feel the rush and do it in a place where it is most famous.

What if I die during the act? Well, so be it.. at least I gave it a shot :)

No matter what anybody says or does, this is a wish that will always linger on in my mind. It holds the Numero Uno spot in my Bucket list [yes, I do have one] and shall be ticked off before I complete the journey called Life!!

Wish me luck!! oh and if you want to send me flight tickets, or contribute to the "aarti wants to go bungee jumping fund, please do" :D