Place: London - Geneva - Val D'Isere
Date(s) of Travel: April 6 - April 13, 2013
My Experience:
I heard about skiing from my colleagues for the last two years. I am always up for adventure sports which is more fun than sitting before a computer all day. After getting few suggestions from friends, I decided to go to Val D'Isere resort in the french alps. I booked a ski holiday package through a non-profit french organisation called UCPA which was suggested by my french colleague Xavier. The holiday package includes dorm stay, ski rentals, ski passes, trainer/guide and food for a week. I bought some last minute winter clothes and a ski goggle from sportsdirect shop, since they were cheap and I only need them for a week. On Saturday early morning, I flew to Geneva from Heathrow and took a bus from Geneva airport to Val D'Isere resort which is operated by a coach company called benbus. The bus journey was quite amazing and the views of Alps on both sides were stunning. After a few stopover in different resorts, I reached my resort in the afternoon.
I was little anxious, because I am aware that french people tend not to speak english. But to my surprise every french person in the resort spoke english and were very friendly. Then I realised non-english was more of a Paris thing. After dropping my bag in the room, I went for a stroll round the town and to the resort base. In the evening, I collected my ski equipments from UCPA store which is in the hostel ground floor and put them in the locker room. To my surprise, all my roommates were British guys and as usual they started drinking from the moment they checked-in to the room.
Next day afternoon, I went for my first ski session and I was very excited. Actually, I was enrolled for Beginners course and in my group there were four girls and me and our ski trainer who was a girl too. :). First they taught us how to walk, side walk, applying brakes etc. Skiing looks easy but putting them into practise was tough(at-least for me). I fell down so many times, crashed in high speed into a corner and I got tired of it very quickly. But I was determined to learn the basics as I had paid so much money for the trip. In the dinner, I met some nice people like Mariana, Court, Fran, Anais and started to hangout with them for the whole week.
The Ski pistes are classified by colours like green, blue, red and black with green being the easiest and black being the toughest one. For the first 2 days, we trained in the green pistes and still I couldn't get my turning correct and fell down more frequently than others. But in the third day, suddenly I started picking up things and was able to control my speed in the downslope, able to turn and brake too. In the mid week, most of the people from UCPA including myself went for a night out and it was so much fun in getting to know lot of people. In the last two days, we went to the upper slopes mostly blue pistes and it was stunning to see white snow everywhere. Some of the blue pistes were little steep but over a period of time you get used to it, but I learnt them in a hard way by falling and rolling. :)
The other thing I want to mention is the food in UCPA. The lunch and dinner were so awesome and I ate so much food for the whole week. French people love their food especially dinner along with wine and also they chat a lot while eating. Basically I like french food and in UCPA, I loved the salad with blue cheese, chicken drumsticks, potatoes, baguette, cheese fondue, different types of cheese and deserts. I made so many friends and everyone I know offered me wine during dinner. In the last day of our course, our group decided to have lunch in a restaurant at the top of the resort. It was a sunny day so we went for a barbecue and it was nice but little expensive though. There is a party place called "La Folie Douce" at the top of the resort where you can party during the ski break. In the evening, we all went there to have few beers and the techno music with trumpet was mind blowing. In the night we partied in the resort clubs till wee hours and it was fun. I said bye to all the nice people I met during the trip which is always a little sad feeling.
Next day morning, I had few hours of time before catching the bus back to Geneva and I decided to practise one last time. I did few blue pistes and one small red piste and it was quite a nice feeling. Evening I got back to London with lot of nice memories and a sore bum. I hope I go back next winter and hone my skiing skills.
Thought of Day: To travel is to take a journey into yourself. - Danny Kaye
Place: Amsterdam - Marken - Volendam - Zaanse Schans
Date(s) of Travel: March 29 - April 1, 2013
My Experience:
My friend Dinesh who lives in Amsterdam decided to go for higher studies in USA and in 2 weeks time he leaves for good. I had visited him 'N' times in Amsterdam and I love the place. I decided to visit him one last time and spend the easter weekend with him. I took the Eurostar from London to Amsterdam with a changeover at Brussels. After 4 hour journey I reached Amsterdam and it was bit cold. This time of year it should be warmer but spring was late this year over whole Europe. The whole day we were just listening to music in his Bose speakers and relaxing. In the evening we went for a small party and met some Dinesh friends and colleagues.
Even though I have been to Amsterdam for few times, I never been to nearby country side which is a popular day tour. Finally, we booked the tour and went the next day. Before entering the tour coach, the tour guide(an old lady) asked us where are we from?. We replied, India and she said, she had been to India and lost her shoes near Ganges river. Ha ha, it was funny. The first stop of the tour is a wooden shoe factory in Marken which is a small country side village. In the factory, they demonstrate making shoes and also one can buy wooden shoes in the souvenir shop. Then we walked along the small streets full of wooden houses to reach the river side where a tour boat was waiting for us. The boat took us to a fishing village called Volendam. In Volendam, we went to a cheese factory where they explain how they make cheese and also you can buy different types of cheese. Fish food is very famous in the restaurants but as usual I ate chicken for the lunch.
Then after lunch, we went to a settlement museum which exhibits the traditional people culture and early days of Volendam. Then the tour coach picked up after an hour long wait to Zaanse Schans which is a collection of well-preserved historic windmills and houses. Some of the windmills are still in operation and they have been used for land drainage as some of the places in Netherlands including Amsterdam are below sea level. The place was really beautiful during the evening. Finally we reached Amsterdam and we walked through Dam Square to reach Dinesh's house. There was a little carnival went on at Dam Square and there were some fun rides. I always wanted to do the Booster Maxx ride for a long time and decided to go ahead, but Dinesh wasn't interested or rather scared. The ride was about five minutes and it was so much fun. I could feel my blood pumping through my head when it reaches the top.
Next day on the way to catch my train to London, I smoked some funny ones in the famous Bull dog shop. It transported me mentally to different part of the world and I am still not sure how I reached Amsterdam train station and how I got back to London. Lol.
Thought of Day: A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles. - Tim Cahill
Place: Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza, Frankfurt
Date(s) of Travel: November 2 - November 13, 2012
Barcelona
Madrid
Ibiza
Frankfurt
Some video Links:
My Experience:
It was getting cold and dark early. Signs of winter around the corner. Winter in England is quite dark and dull and you can get into depressive mode unless you gotta a goal to achieve. To motivate myself and face winter, I decided to go for a backpacking trip in Spain which is warm enough during november. There was no planning other than I decided to visit Barcelona first and go forward from there.
So I reached Barcelona on a fine evening. Oh my god, the weather was a bliss and you can roam around in a t-shirt. I boarded a bus from the airport to the city centre and as usual I got down at a different place because I was dreaming. After few hours, reached my hostel called "Hostel BCN" near the metro station called parallel. People in the hostel were helpful and friendly. The hostel is very near the famous "La Rambla" and has lot of restaurants around. The one thing I noticed about Barcelona is, people are so laid back and food is cheaper compared to other european countries.
The hostel organises lot of night out events and it was a way to socialize and get to meet people. I went to quite a few night clubs and especially the trance music in "Razzmatazz" club was mind blowing. The next day, I went to camp nou to watch a Barcelona football la liga match. It was a really big stadium and it was fun. There are quite a few sight seeing places in Barcelona. Since, I was partying all night I had visited only Sagrada Familia which is a church built by famous architect Antoni Gaudi. It was one of its kind and I recommend to everyone.
After three days in Barcelona, I left for madrid which is the capital city of Spain. Madrid is a vibrant and small city compared to Barcelona. I stayed in a hostel called "Hostel One Centro" near the city centre. The city centre was always buzzing with tourists and adding to that, there were loads of Borussia dortmund german football fans. There were so many restaurants and tapas bars around that area and you never feel alone for a moment. The next day, I went for a walking tour. It was one of the best way to experience the history and culture of the city. In the evening I went for the champions league football match between Borussia dortmund and Real madrid. It was one of the thrilling game ended with 2-2 score and I enjoyed every moment in Santiago Bernabeu stadium as a fan of Real madrid because of Rafa Nadal.
I met few people from Germany in the hostel. I hanged out with them for a few drinks and went for two night outs in a row. It was really fun and we became close friends. Hope one day I visit them in Germany. There was one day, I slept whole day because of heavy hangover from the previous night. Gotta hate hangover. After three days in madrid, I decided to go to Ibiza island in the Mediterranean sea.
I reached Ibiza in the late night and I boarded a bus to my hotel. Murphy's law struck again and I am in middle of nowhere. Finally, boarded a taxi to reach my hotel called "Hostal Marino" in San Antonio. It was already near midnight and still there were loads of people in the hotel restaurant eating dinner. It was one of the best hotels I stayed in my life because everyone was so friendly and the room was quite good too. The hotel was very close to famous "San Antonio beach" which is very famous for beach parties and sunset experience. Since I went in an off-season things were very quiet. The next day, I went for a walk around the beach and I got lost. I was looking for people who can speak english and then I bumped into this girl who is from Oregon, America. She was quite friendly and helpful and after few conversations I came to know she stays in the same hotel as mine.
The next day I hired a motorbike to roam around Ibiza to see few more places. I asked this girl, if she would like to join me for the bike trip and she agreed. :). Sometimes its better to have company rather than travel alone when the girl was pretty. We visited Cala D'Hort beach where you can see Es Vedra which is a small rocky island and it was quite beautiful. Then we went to the old city in Ibiza town which is near to the port. I liked the old city which is surrounded by a castle. Another thing I need to mention is, driving in the right hand side was a thrilling experience as I am used to drive in left side.
The next morning, I left Ibiza for Frankfurt, Germany. I couldn't say bye to that girl but I was little sad because beautiful moments got over very soon. On the way to Frankfurt, I have to catch a connecting flight via Palma de Mallorca. This was the first time, I travelled in a small propeller plane and it was fun as it flew over lot of islands. Finally, I reached Frankfurt in the evening and met my travel friends from two years back. I stayed in their house itself. It was really nice and I love Frankfurt city since I have been there often.
It was very cold in Frankfurt and I was less prepared. The city has a quite a few high rise buildings and some of them let people to visit the top floor where you can have a panoramic view of the city. I went to one of them and it was brilliant. In the evening I went to the botanical gardens in the city which was nice and there is a building in the garden which emulates tropical climate and they grow tropical plants for experimentation. Then along with my friends, I went to a music concert by a band called "The Reader" in a church. Yes, a concert in a church and I was surprised too. It was one of the nice bands where all the songs were almost like story telling and soothing to ears. After spending 10 fun filling days in Europe I left for London to face the winter.
Thought of Day: It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. - Ernest Hemingway
Place: Snowdonia, Wales
Route: London Euston - Bangor - Llanberis(Basecamp) - Bangor - London Euston
Date(s) of Travel: August 25 - August 27, 2012
You can read more about the place here: Snowdonia, Wales
My Experience:
The last time I went to Snowdonia, I never had the opportunity to hike the mountain Snowdon. Some of my friends were planning for quite some time to hike snowdon during the long weekend in august. Since, I was in tenerife, spain I wasn't checking mails about this trip. But once I got back to London and got to know about these plans, I decided to join for the hike at the last minute. It was also an opportunity to meet some of my old friends from pune, India.
My friends already left in the morning for Llanberis, wales for the hike. I started in the afternoon and took a train to Bangor from London Euston and the journey was around 3 hours. From Bangor, I took a bus to Llanberis which is the basecamp for the trek. There are two youth hostels, one in Llanberis and another one in Pen-Y-Pass which is 20 minutes away by bus. I was managed to book a place only in Pen-Y-Pass, but all my friends stayed in Llanberis itself since they have planned everything bit earlier. Llanberis is a small tourist city where there are quite a few shops and also you can do some activities like visiting the thermal power station or taking the steam rail to the top of the mountain. Finally I reached my hostel in Pen-Y-Pass by another bus in the late evening.
The next day morning I came to Llanberis to join my friends for the hike. After buying some sandwiches for lunch we started our trek from Llanberis. The trek is quite a easy one from Llanberis route, as it goes along the way of steam railway. It was a sunny day and there were loads of people doing the hike. The mountains and landscapes were beautiful all along the way and you could see them in the above pictures. Due to the variable speed among our group, we missed out lot of people before reaching the summit. We reached the summit around 12.30 PM and it was very foggy at the top. There is a restaurant at the top where you can get food and some drinks. We had our lunch and decided to start back around 1.30 PM.
While walking back, I suggested my friends why don't we take the Pen-Y-Pass route. They call it as miners route as there were quite a few mines operated around that area. It was a little rough route but it was worth it as the landscapes were fantastic. There was a small lake between two mountains and we took some rest to enjoy the nature. Finally around, 6 PM we reached the Pen-Y-Pass area. In the hostel, they serve good food for dinner and breakfast was the best one.
The next day, it was raining all the time. Our train was in the evening and we decided to visit "Swallow Waterfalls" in the nearby village. Around 12 PM we headed back to bangor and took a train back to london. It was a wonderful hike with lot of fun memories.
Thought of Day: Not all those who wander are lost. - JRR Tolkien
Place: Tenerife - Canary Islands, Spain
Route: London Gatwick - Tenerife(Reina-Sofia) - London Gatwick
Date(s) of Travel: August 15 - August 23, 2012
You can read more about the event here: Tenerife, Canary Islands
My Experience:
My friends from Cippenham meadows, UK asked me if I would be interested in joining them for the lads holidays in Tenerife, Spain. I said, I would be more than interested in the trip and I was truly excited. One of our friend Stevie B sorted out everything from airport transfer, flight booking and hotel booking. It was a planned week long holiday in a city called "Las Americas" in the islands. Little I knew about tenerife or lads holidays, I stared the trip along with six other friends.
The flight from Gatwick was delayed for 4 hours, but I wasn't worried a bit as we spent the time in a pub inside airport. The flight journey was around 4.30 hours and finally we reached Tenerife south airport around 8 PM local time. We catched the tour bus and reached our hotel called Marola Portosin in Las americas. It was a nice hotel and it got an awesome swimming pool and good rooms with self cooking options. After refreshing up, we went to the party street around 11 PM. Its day 1 of the holidays and the drinking party started.
The whole party street in Las americas is filled with bars and disco clubs. When you go through the street, there will be loads of PRs from different bars and clubs trying to convince you to come to their bars with their attractive offers. The idea is, every day you start drinking in one bar and keep moving to another one. When it reaches around 3 AM you go to a club and dance till 7 AM. Good god, I had loads of vodka, rum and shots and within 2 hours I was smashed. My friends helped me to get back to the room, thats all I could remember.
I woke up with a bad hangover around 12 PM the next day and it was the case for everyone else. The whole tenerife island is filled with tourists and mostly british people and you get english breakfast all day in every restaurant. I tried the local food called Paela and it was really tasty. After few munches, you hit the swimming pool and spend the whole evening in the pool till the alcohol dries out of your body. There were lot of people near by the pool, just chilling out in the sun for the whole day to get their body tanned. I found it funny, then I came to know that its a fashion thing and you get to show off your tan back home. Anyhow, I am naturally tanned from India, so I wasn't bothered about that.
It was the same routine for all the seven days and it was savage. But it was fun to do once in a while and I got to know more about the friends and english culture. Apart from that, we went to the near by beach just for chilling. I noticed the sand was black in colour and got to know that there is a dormant volcano called Teide in the islands and because of the volcanic ashes and lava the sand in the beaches are black in colour. I was very excited and I decided to visit the volcano. After all the planning, one day morning I went to the bus stop and came to know that I missed the bus by 10 mins. Fuck that. Adding to that, there is only one bus for the whole day from Las americas to the volcano base. I got the timing right the next day and boarded the bus to see the volcano.
The volcano is situated in the middle of the islands. The bus journey was around 3 hours from the city and the whole journey was through loads of mountains. Since, it was peak summer everything was so dry and everything looked like a desert. Finally, reached the base of the volcano and people told me, it will take around 6 hrs to reach the top by trekking and I wasn't prepared very well too for the trek. So, I decided to go by the cable car and it was a thrilling experience where the ride is almost vertical. Once I reached the top, it was way cooler than the base and it was really nice. The people at the top said there are two small treks I can do to reach the crater of the volcano. As always, I did the trek and it took me around an hour to reach the desired point. The view from the top was quite amazing and you can check them in the above photos. I heard during winter seaon, the volcano is completely surrounded by snow. After spending some time in the mountain top, I came down to the base and got the bus back to Las americas.
After partying for seven days, we got back to London with loads of fun filled memories. Some of the pictures that I took in the clubs can't be publicly displayed so I am just putting up the pictures of the volcano trip and a small video made my Stevie B which summarises our partying in tenerife.
Thought of Day: To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. - Aldous Huxley
