One week in Scotland

Avi and I made a quick trip to Scotland in July 2014 when I was seconded to London for some time. We arrived in Scotland on a pleasant summer evening and were quickly charmed by the beauty and the quirks of Edinburgh. The narrow streets and old tilting buildings in the old town are a strong reminder of the Diagon Alley. The infamous Scottish weather was kind to us and it did not rain much during our trip. 

We chose to stay in a B&B for the night and headed to the Highlands the next day. Before we left, we enjoyed our first taste of the Scottish cuisine. Black pudding (a dish of pork blood and oatmeal) with goat cheese at a local restaurant was great. Food-wise Scotland turned out to be a land of treasures. During the course of the trip, we also tried square sausages- a Scottish breakfast favourite, beef carpaccio and brilliantly fresh local mussels. Avi tried haggis- a dish made of sheep's offal though I don't think that will enter the list of our favourites.

Our lunch at Ondine in Edinburgh

Anyway, the next day we headed to the Highlands. We had arranged to travel through Rabbie's travel group which turned out to be a great idea. Our driver/guide Ally was interesting, knowledgeable and very humorous. We drove through the hills, stopping at pine forests for walks, waterfalls for a view and some local pubs for a taste of Highland hospitality. Ally added context to various stops with the local legends, including the stories of Clan McGregor and Clan Campbell. 

Forth Bridge on the way out from Edinburgh

A glimpse of the Highlands

Our travel plan included Urquhart castle and Loch Ness. We made more than our fair share of visits to Loch Ness to see Nessie (and the giant eels that the lake is famous for) but that was not to be. The lake itself is the second largest lake in Scotland, nestled in the Highlands. The pebbled beach of the lake makes a beautiful place to walk and to watch the sun set from.

Loch Ness

Loch Ness for Urquhart Castle

No trip to Scotland can be completed without a taste of Scotch and a whisky tour. On the way to Inverness, where we were staying for the night, we did a tour of Tomatin whisky distillery and a tasting. The 12 years old single malt whisky was slightly sweet and went down very smoothly. We chose to buy a 15 years old and an 18 years old single malt, both of which turned out to be good choices. Tomatin's 18 years old single malt has become my favourite whisky though I do not seem to find it in India.

Whisky barrels at Tomatin distillery

On the way back to Edinburgh, we stopped at Caledonian Canal, which connects four major lakes of Scotland, to see the opening of the gates of the canal. It is a tradition from another era and a beautiful sight. 

We spent the next few days in Edinburgh. The Edinburgh castle is an unmissable attraction which provides 360 degrees view of the city and hosts the National War Museum and the Scottish crown jewels. The castle is to Scotland what the Tower of London is to England. The castle stands at the top of an extinct volcano. As you walk in, you are greeted by the statues of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace, guarding the history of Scotland. While it is difficult to summarise the entire castle in this post, the National Museum of War, the Great Hall, the Royal Palace and the Crown Jewels were well worth the walk in the heat.

Edinburgh Castle

We also visited St. Giles Cathedral, Princess Street Gardens and Scottish National Gallery. The cobbled Royal Mile pebbled with old Scottish style pubs and taverns makes for a beautiful walk. 

My fascination with all things supernatural also lead to us joining the City of the Dead group on a haunted graveyard tour to the Greyfriars Kirkyard cemetery, the Covenantor's Prison and the Black Mausoleum looking for the Mackenzie Poltergeist. We did not see any ghosts except for the one supplied by the tour company at the end of the tour. The ghost caused a guy to hide behind his heavily pregnant wife (much to the amusement of everyone). It was a hilarious end to the trip. The next day, we left Scotland with a smile, and a promise to return soon.

Mahabalipuram- Girls' weekend trip

Around Diwali in 2013, Swati and I decided to take a trip. After the usual delays in planning and disagreements over where we want to go, we decided on Mahabalipuram (and Pondicherry, but more on that later). 

Mahabalipuram is an ancient historic town in Tamil Nadu, not too far away from Chennai. We flew to Chennai and then drove to Mahabalipuram in a rented car.

Our first stop was the Crocodile bank which falls on the way from Chennai to Mahabalipuram. It has hundreds of crocodiles, alligators, snakes and turtles. It was great to watch them though the physical differences between a crocodile and an alligator is still difficult for me to figure out (hoping if Swati reads this, she won't scold me for wasting all her efforts in pointing them out). 

The crocodiles lie around in the muddy water for hours, doing nothing, reminding you of a perfect Sunday morning. The migrating birds at the farm seem to treat the crocodiles as a part of the landscape and the crocodiles sleep through pecking, noisy birds.

Photo credits: Swati Agrawal

For me, however, pythons, cobras and anacondas were beautiful, dangerous and fascinating. The farm has two, ten foots long green anacondas which look menacing and capable of eating your arm if you make the mistake of getting too close. Thankfully, they were in a glass cage as the thought was enough to give us goosebumps.

We also saw Aldabra Tortoises, the second biggest tortoises in the world. They looked like huge boulders with beautiful shell like designs. Often wonder how these vegetarian tortoises got to be so big.

Photo credits: Swati Agrawal

Anyway, after spending a good 3 to 4 hours here, we headed to the little seaside town of Mahabalipuram. It is Tamil Nadu, and hence, always hot. However, the architecture from Pallava dynasty can be seen everywhere in the city and therefore, the best way to see the town is to walk. The famous Pancha Pandavas Rathas are a beautiful group of five temples, with intricate carvings and a life size sandstone elephant in the front.

The seashore temple, Arjuna's penance, Krishna Mandapam and many other small and big carvings can be seen all around the city, depicting scenes from Mahabharata and also from daily lives of people in that era. People are friendly and if you ask them, they will point you to slightly lesser known (but beautiful) caves and carvings as well.

Another interesting place to visit is the Indian Seashell Museum. Located slightly far away from the carvings and the temples (you may need to take an auto or taxi to get here), it has a great collection of shells, corals and pearls. The most fascinating among these is a pearl created by a small fish going inside a shell.

By this time, the day was catching up with us and therefore, we headed to the beach for a quiet meal and sound of the sea. It is not Goa or Gokarna but you can find some beach shacks serving seafood (that I liked) and music (that I am ambivalent about).

P.S.: Do try the masala crabs if you are a non-vegetarian. The art of full-on spicy crabs seems to have been perfected here. Do bring tissues for your watering eyes!

Lovanala- an unplanned weekend trip

One random free weekend with no plans saw us in Lonavala. Avi and I left on a Saturday morning with the intention of going to Mahabaleshwar and ended up making a totally unplanned trip to Lonavala (since Mahabaleshwar felt too far to drive once we saw the traffic).

With no planning and no place to stay, the first course of action was to find a place to stay. We found a simple unassuming hotel called Mount View Hotel (simple, basic but good food- I would recommend their Reshmi Kababs, served with coleslaw).

After checking in, we left for the Bhaja caves, a set of Buddhist caves dating to 2nd century BC situated approximately 14 kms from Lonavala. The drive was quite scenic and enjoyable (once we were out of Lonavala traffic). The caves are high up in the mountains and so after parking our car near some shops, we prepared ourselves for a steady climb up the stairs. Half an hour of climbing (combined with multiple stoppages, some to take in the beautiful Western Ghats and some to just take some breaths), got us to the Bhaja caves.

Bhaja caves

First of all, the scenery from the caves is beautiful. It was misty but sunny when we arrived and the view of the peaks is the mist was beautiful. There is a waterfall on the right side of the caves though it was dried out when we visited.

Bhaja caves are very similar in structure to their more well know cousin Karla caves. The chaityagraha is open, horseshoe shaped, with wooden ceilings. The highlight of the caves is 14 stupas built to contain relics of the monks who died in Bhaja caves. This is a rare feature which I have not seen before in Karla caves or in Ajanta-Ellora. Most of the stupas are simply built and bare but some contain carvings on the top. The caves are not astonishingly beautiful, especially for the people who have seen other Buddhist caves, but the location makes it worth the trip.

Stupas at Bhaja caves

We arrived back at the parking lot thirsty and tired. A desperate drink of Frooti later we headed to Lohagarh fort.

Lohagarh fort is approximately 4 to 5 kms from the caves. The drive is stunning, with narrow serpentine roads and greenery around. 

Once parked, we geared up for another climb up, this time to the fort. While we struggled for breaths, kids ran up and down the stairs with frantic parent calling after them. Were kids always this energetic? What would I not give at that moment to have that energy!

However, the walk was so worth it. 20 minutes up and you get the best view of Pawana lake I have ever seen. The lake, nestled in the middle of the hills, with two small islands and motorboats was stunning in the mist. That was my camera crazy moment when I saw the lake on my right and the hills on the left. I had just got a new camera, a Nikon D 5300 and the excitement of hearing the 'snap' sound seemed too much to contain. 10 minutes later I had at least 40 pics from all the angles!

View for Lohagarh fort

Drive back from Lonavala

The guard posts at the fort provide some beautiful viewing points. However, a little later, tired and exhausted, we made the (wise if lazy) decision to climb down.

The sun was setting, so we made our way to the hotel, with memories of another weekend well done.

Phnom Penh- Palaces and Street Food

We arrived in Cambodia sometime in December 2013. I had just got married and was looking to run away from all that an Indian wedding process stands for. Phnom Penh was the first point of escape. It is a great city to relax and stroll around. Cambodians are also very fond of monuments and you would see a number of them in the city. In addition, Phnom Penh has the palace, the pagodas and the riverside (for when you have seen too much and done too much for a day). 

The Royal Palace of Cambodia is a comparatively new construction, built in mid 19th century. It is a beautiful example of Khmer architecture, with a lot of gold, green and white in the colour scheme. While the living quarters of the king are closed to the visitors, the palace grounds are beautiful. The throne room (where the ceremonies are carries out) and the Silver Pagoda (the official worship place of the palace) are specially stunning. The palace is full of treasures, including life-sized gold statute of Buddha, decorated with diamonds. Our guide was quick to point that the size of the diamonds in the palace has caused a number of marital woes among the tourists!

The best thing about the city is its food (being a bit of foodie myself, everything seems to boil down to food). Posh restaurants to street food. Everything was great and everything was cheap. The staple food of the country is rice which will be served to you with everything beef to fish (being the two most common meats in the country).

Snails and Eels, cooked on the street for you and they tasted yumm! Snails were steamed and served with spices and lemon. While it was not the easiest meal to eat (the snails were in their shells and instrument for getting them out was a toothpick), the taste of sea and the lemon was really fresh. It was served with a portion of rice which I have not yet figured out how to eat with snails. This however did not take away from the flavour of the snails.

For a non-vegetarian, it is a heaven of experiences (though we stayed away from the more exotic looking snakes, bugs and crocodiles). Fish amok is a must try for anyone looking to try authentic Cambodian cuisine. This mild coconut cream with fish dish was a treat that we went back for again and again.

We finished the day with a walk on the riverside. Quiet (by Mumbai standards), muted lights and windy- that is the perfect end of the day. The riverside is also lined up with a number of good restaurants for the more discerning. We had surprisingly great pizzas in a little tucked away, unassuming restaurant along the riverside.

On the practical side of the trip, there are numerous boutique hotels in the city that provide awesome accommodation and service. I would recommend Villa Paradiso to anyone staying in Phnom Penh. Tuk-tuks, aka, motorbikes with a cabin for the passengers attached at the back, are the most common mode of transport.

We quickly discovered that we need to live by our negotiation skills as far as local transport is concerned. There is no standard fare and it would serve you well to check the average fare from your hotel before stepping out. It is also a pleasant city to walk. Being fond of walking and used to the heat, we chose to walk around quite a bit of the city. Getting lost turned out to be the best way of discovering the city!

The next day was the trip to Choeung Ek killing fields that evoked the sadness and emotions completely different from this day but more on that later!