Place: Paris, France
Route: London - Paris - London
Date(s) of Travel: July 20 - July 22, 2012
You can read more about the event here: Le Tour de france
My Experience:
1. I have been to paris already, but I missed out so many places during that trip. So I decided to do another trip and enjoy the city and watch the final stage of tour de france. I have always been a big fan of Lance armstrong and tour de france. So its a lifetime experience to watch it live.
2. I reached paris on a friday night and stayed in a youth hostel in the city centre which is very near to Notre Dame Cathedral. Since it was summer, everything was so beautiful and lot of buzz in the city. After having my dinner, suddenly saw a lot of roller skaters in the city. That was fun.
3. Next day morning, I went to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Spent a quite lot of time inside and around the area. Its one of the finest gothic architectural marvels. Watched a school band performing orchestra near the cathedral. It was really nice, especially I liked the james bond rendition. In the evening met a travel friend in paris. But some of the places in paris, you feel quite uncomfortable. (lot of ghettos, mostly in metro underground you get to see a lot of mugging).
4. Next day, I went to Pantheon. It is a mausoleum which contains remains of notable french people. And also, went to the nearby Luxembourg gardens. It is one of the well maintained garden which has a lot of character. I walked a lot through the city centre. There was a music festival went on and I catched a glimpse of it.
5. In the afternoon, went to Champs Elysees to watch the final stage of tour de france. Champs Elysees is one of the most famous street in the world. Watching the sprint finish of the last stage of tour de france was unbelievably awesome.
6. The one thing which I love about paris is the food. Oh god, parisians have a good sense of taste for food. Baguette, Bagels, cakes, salad with blue cheese, duck pate and red wine are some of that I tasted.
Thought of Day: I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. - Mark Twain
Place: Box Hill - Surrey, England
Route: London Victoria - Box Hill - London Victoria
Date(s) of Travel: March 24, 2012
You can read more about the place(s) here: Box Hill - Surrey, England
My Experience:
1. I was so lazy all the winter and didn't do any trips or trek. Since the spring was just started, I said to my friends, we should go somewhere in the weekend.
2. Myself and my friends decided to go to Box hill in surrey which is an hour away from London. We went by a train from london victoria to box hill station. In UK, train tickets are a rip-off, but group save tickets are always a blessing.
3. From the box hill train station, it took around 10 minutes to reach the foothills of box hill. We walked along a small water stream to reach a place where you actually start climbing up.
4. It took around 15 minutes to climb the hill. The view point was real good where we relaxed for sometime. Its a pretty relaxed place with quiet a lot of kids having fun. On the other side of the hill, we further walked following a trail. It was an easy trek, I would say.
5. I did see a few mountain bikers testing their endurance limits. In the evening we reached the foothills of the other side. There is a coffee shop near the station which is a get together place for motorcyclists. Was quite happy to see loads of motorbikes.
Thought of Day: The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. - Albert Einstein
Place: Pluckley, England
Route: London - Pluckley - London
Date(s) of Travel: October 29, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Pluckley, England
My Experience:
1. I heard about this village called pluckley which is famous for ghosts. Since it was a halloween weekend, I went to the village along with a meetup group. We started from London Bridge station around 9.30 AM and reached pluckley about an hour.
2. The weather was cloudy with sunny intervals. Before starting the trail everybody in the group weared their halloween costumes. I was the odd one out there, but considering myself a devil I was way ahead of them in halloween. While walking our guide was explaining about the different ghosts living in the city. Everybody was so anxious to have a feel of the ghost, but ended with no luck.
3. We walked through nice landscapes, apple farms, old church and some graveyards. Some people trying to scare others by wearing masks and it was fun to watch'em. In the afternoon we stopped at a park for lunch and I talked to the fellow travellers. Most of the people were working in london and some of the girls in the group were quite friendly.
4. Around 6 PM in the evening we reached a village pub and I had my favourite guiness with some chicken and rice. It became very dark and we started walking towards the train station through the woods. Lot of people were screaming because that was the fun part of the trail to experience ghosts. But ended up being questioned by police and they warned us that there are anti-halloween people in the village.
5. Around 7.30 PM we reached the station and catched the train back to London. Got one of the girls number on the way back :)
Thought of Day: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain
Place: Dover, England
Route: London - Dover - Deal - London
Date(s) of Travel: August 06, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Dover, England
My Experience:
1. Last year I went to dover castle along with my friends and I blogged about it here. From the previous visit, I learned that, there is a nice hike along the white cliffs on the coast side to a city called Deal. So this year, I decided to do it at any cost.
2. Myself and my friend kiran started from London Bridge station around 8 AM and reached Dover around 9.45 AM. The weather wasn't very cold but it was cloudy and little windy. We walked through the city to reach the dover port and from where you can see the white cliffs just adjacent to it.
3. After an initial 20 mins climb, we reached the cliff top. Then onwards it was a nice walk for about 15 miles to a city called Deal. There were quite good sign boards everywhere except the last part of thw walk where there are chances for getting lost. We came across a beautiful light house on the top, but they were charging money to get inside. So we ditched it and walked further, but the weather started to turn worser and it began to rain. (yeah...england never disappoints you in a sunny day).
4. We stopped at a beach shop for some sandwiches around 2.30 PM. It was raining quite a bit so we decided to wait for the rain to get lighter. Since we were walking on the sides of coast it was quite beautiful. Suddenly we heard a loud chopper noise and for our surprise, the chopper was flying quite low and the soldiers inside that waved to us. It was one of the hollywood movie experience where you were stranded on a mountain and rescue choppers come to help you.
5. Finally we reached the city named Deal around 6.30 PM. We were quite tired and hungry at the end of the day, but indeed it was a nice experience. We catched a train back to London from Deal.
Thought of Day: Let your memory be your travel bag. - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Place: Kent, England
Route: London - Kent - London
Date(s) of Travel: July 30, 2011
You can read more about the place(s) here: Kent, Surrey, England
My Experience:
1. It has been sometime I have been to a trek or long trail walking. So I decided to go for a small trek on the weekend. Since I don't know much about the countryside walking in england I joined a meetup group called trailblazers. These meetup groups in england, charge money for guided hikes and transportation. But its a nice way to meet new people and infact girls :).
2. There were around 25 people and we all started by train, reached a small village (i forgot the name) near kent. It was a sunny day and quite a pleasant weather to walk. Our group leader/navigator was a professor and he told us that we will follow a trail map.
3. We started walking through villages, abandoned farmhouses, small hills, golf courses. It was quite scenic and beautiful to see the english countryside. Man, the farmhouses are so big and people in countryside lives a king size relaxed life. But local people were quite friendly and happy to see people like us from concrete jungle. After walking and little hiking we stopped at middle of a small forest for lunch. It was nice to meet new people and sharing food with each other.
4. After some rest, we again started walking and reached a small village pub in the evening. They told us that, charles dickens was a regular to that pub during 18th century and wrote some of his best work in the pub. I had a few pints of guiness after a long walk and it felt like heaven.
5. Finally, after walking through lot of apple farms we reached the village where we started in the morning. It was fun experience to learn lot from the guide about the history and the culture of the people.
Thought of Day: To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. - Aldous Huxley
