A weekend called Wayanad

"Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall - it's great when you stop"-Chris Darwin

We had reached the peak ,2100 m above sea level and the highest point of Wayanad. A panorama of peaks and valleys of deep forests surrounded us, receeding gradually into the carpet of lush green plantations way below.The trek had started late, almost near noon. The sun was beating down upon as harshly as we started the climb. The ascent to Chembra peak is interspersed with flat stretches of lowlands till the heart shaped lake- a natural lake shaped in the form of a heart, believed never to have dried up (“Because love never dies”;) - as a fellow trekker smartly quipped). The hardest part of the ascent began after the lake, not only because it was steep,but because everytime we climbed and reached a peak we could see another one towering infront of us. The terrain was rocky, and the sun flashed directly at us, dehydrating us frequently.To make things worse, a frolicking bunch of Wayanad school kids crossed us on the way, reached the top and met us on their way back while we were still some distance away! The last frontier to the peak is near vertical rock formations. But once atop the peak, the view is simply captivating. Chembra stands imperiously gazing upon the Wayanad landscape...well..almost imperiously! In the backyard of Chembra,lies Vellarimala , taller than Chembra at 2240 m above sea level,but geographically in the Kozhikode district. Discounting for the slight heartbreak caused by the sight of a taller peak after a tedious trek , climbing Chembra is an exhilarating experience.

Wayanad lies on the southern top of the Deccan plateau lined by the Western ghats ,interspersed with dense forest and valleys. The region was known as Mayakshetra (Maya's land) in the earliest records. Mayakshetra evolved into Mayanad and finally to Wayanad. The Folk etymology of the word says it is a combination of Vayal (paddy) and Naad (land), making it 'The Land of Paddy Fields'.

An overnight journey from Bangalore through Bandipur forest brought us to Mepaddy where we were met by our guide, Santosh. We were a large group divided into two tempo travellers.The journey was pretty uneventful except for minor glitches: The music CDs I wrote failed to work . So while people hurled abuses at me , I blissfully went off to sleep in my cosy tempo traveller seat (a divine art I have mastered to near perfection).

Our weekend itinerary included a trek to Chembra and back on Saturday, a tour to Meenmutty falls and Edakkal caves (the only known caves with neolithic stone carvings in South India) on Sunday before heading back to Bangalore. The trek to Chembra was accomplished without any major disruptions this time (much to Santosh's relief , who had accompanied us before on our now infamous Kudremukh trek). As the temperatures dipped after sunset and the shadows of the Wayanad peaks loomed around,we gathered around a bonfire over dinner,drinks and a game of dumbcharade with some thought provoking performances.

Next morning ,we headed over to Meenmutty, albeit later than planned. The drive to the starting point of the waterfall is beautiful , through undulating roads with tea plantations on either side. A steep downward jungle trek begins some distance from this point ,mostly over loose pebbles and rocks. Meenmutty is the largest waterfall in Wayanad. The first sight of the waterfall is spectacular - a three tiered waterfall with a height of 300 metres in an unspoilt natural setting. We climbed our way back after spending sometime near the waterfall.

By the time we reached back , we realised it was too late to visit Edakkal and decided to head back straight to Bangalore instead. Our hopes of sighting some tuskers as we crossed Bandipur forest around sunset were dashed. A stop by at Mysore for dinner later , we reached Bangalore late night,back to the humdrum of our daily lives.

Footnotes:

1. My google search reveals interesting facts about the name – 'Meenmutty' which literally means fishes can come downstream but can not retrace their path back through this waterfall. Why would a fish ever want to retrace it's way back through ANY waterfall remains a semantic mystery to me!

2. The climb back in the heat from Meenmutty leads one straight to a small shop selling buttermilk strategically placed at the starting point of the trek. Two important tips for visitors (based on fellow travellers' experiences):

  - Do not gulp bottles of buttermilk like magic potion (even if you are dehydrated to the hilt or someone volunteers to pay)

 - Do not mix buttermilk with lemon soda ( you better believe this!)

3. Instances of dumbcharade inspiring lateral thinking among enthusiastic, first time trekkers:

a. "Pratighat" - Desperate climbing acts to express trekking on Western "ghats".Commendable lateral  thinking despite failure to communicate.

b. "Reshma ki Chadti Jawani" (yes,we are nasty people:P) - Highly random,adrenaline packed gestures including running around to express “race”(and hence Reshma). Sucessful communication by protagonist.

The new year camping adventure

The sun was setting behind the western Ghats.The four of us watched in silence, perched on the edge of the valley.As the saffron hues of the sky unfolded,our conversations slowly died down. Beneath way below, we could see the flickering lights of the town.The whispering wind grew stronger by every passing minute and the silence was getting eerie. The other groups of trekkers had left long back and we were the only group of four camping in the valley beneath the peak.

Earlier during the day when we had reached the valley just below the peak , we were still unsure of our camping plans. The only source of water in the valley was a small,stagnant waterhole with floating mosquito larvae, quite contrary to the "drinkable water' that we had heard earlier. A guide with another group of trekkers we met had also informed us that the valley was the transit route for elephants and that the wind gets very strong at night.Camping for the night already had some cons - there was too little water for the four of us and the not-so-interesting-idea of an inquisitive elephant toying with the tent in the night. Add to the fact that none of us had ever pitched a tent before. So we decided,well,almost decided to trek back instead of camping. But the futility of carrying camping equipment to 1600m was difficult to ignore. Someone suggested a dry run. So there we were,trying to figure out how to erect a tent for the first time ever!(with ideas as diverse as climbing to the top of the peak to see if we can get GPRS to watch a you tube video on how to pitch a tent:)). Finally , the tent was erected ..or atleast it looked like one:). But the decision was still not to camp. So we packed up , left our backpacks and camping gear in the valley and climbed the 100 odd metres up to the final peak. By the time we came back to the valley , it was already 4. The harsh daylight was fading away slowly and we realised it would get dark very soon.

“Guys,we can just camp , we will go back tomorrow” , like a bolt from the blue Soumyajit suggested as he plopped himself down on the grass.
“Yea,I am cool”- Varun was thrilled (he probably wanted to do a somersault but restrained with great effort)
“Okay didnt we decide just now not to camp? And it's getting late , so camp or no camp we need to decide fast ” - I looked at the three of them.
“Shireen is getting pissed , let's decide” (how I love pressure tactics!) and all eyes turned towards Ayan who had no clue why he was chosen to decide. “Umm..okay..let's camp” , said Ayan. And so , in exactly the way all truly momentous decisions are made,we decided to camp the night in the valley.

We had pitched the tent a little distance away from the waterhole , near a concrete hut (which probably is a storehouse for a Shiva temple also located on the valley) , to get some protection from the wind. There was some firewood we had managed to collect just before it got dark. The plantation owner we had met on our way when we started the trek had given us some kerosene. But the wood was wet , and the wind was now a ferocious roar.The fire flickered for a while and went off. Darkness had fallen and the night sky was bombarded with a million stars,the sky so clear we could even see the milky way.

As it got colder, we decided to move inside the tent and slipped into our sleeping bags. The night went by uneventfully,except for Varun waking up in the middle of the night to declare that our tent has “moved”!!?? I slept like a log (much to the surprise of my fellow trekkers) only to wake up intermittently to the sound of the wind raging throughout the night. Our tent miraculously survived the night despite a missing peg which we discovered in the morning the next day:)

Travel trivia: The trek was to Kotebetta  (literally meaning the fort mountain as it looks like a fort in distance), the third highest mountain in Coorg at 1620 m.Trekking distance is 10 kms each way.

How to get there: Take a bus from Bangalore to Madikeri and from there onwards to Hattihole.The trekking trail starts through plantations and is quite broad throughout except for a rocky ascent for the last part of the trek.

Camping facts: The camping site lies on the way to the waterhole in the valley.Do not camp very close to either the temple or the waterhole.Carry adequate water and make sure you do not leave any trash (plastic bottles,polythenes) after camping. Although we were warned about wild animals (especially because of the waterhole) , we never encountered any , the only signs we came across were elephant footprints in plenty and some pug marks.

Attitudinal segmentation – the game of Chinese whispers in consumer decision making

A couple of days back we were at a team dinner , a whole bunch of 20 of us from the marketing analytics team. Someone came up with the idea of playing a game of Chinese whispers – a commonly known game where one person starts with whispering a sentence. The fun lies in the unintended distortion of the information as it is passed from one person to another - larger the group , higher are the chances of distortion. In one particular round , a colleague started off with a sentence which said ”Heaven is an American salary , a British house, an Indian wife and Chinese food”. By the time it had reached the last person , the final piece of information had an Indian salary , a motley group of British ,Italian and Japanese wives and a Chinese daughter thrown in for company.

So what was happening in this innocous game of whispers? Every single person was responding to an information signal differently (One of my team mates said he thought the information piece consisted of a Chinese wife because Chinese wives were pretty:)). Marketing space today is experiencing a similar game of Chinese whispers. In a digital world , the explosion of channels and information has put the balance of power in the consumers' hands. Marketers can no longer differentiate or control the information stimuli they want to use to influence different segments of consumers. And every single person will choose to react to the same stimuli in a different way.

Traditional marketing thought has revolved around the idea of consumer decision making occuring through a funnel process. In a world where information channels were limited, marketers constantly tried to reduce the number of potential brands that the consumer has in mind till they emerge with one brand that they choose to purchase. In the process what they built on is who to target , how to target and what to target through an understanding of segments based on an intersection of factors – mainly demographic and financial in nature.

Well, why doesn't the “funnel” hold today? Here is why:

a. The consumer is much more informed and has access to unlimited information. The “touch points” of marketing are virtually present everywhere for everyone – from a 5 second TV ad to a pop up on your facebook account. The process of selection of relevant information is no longer linear.

b. Segments are not defined by conventional demographics anymore. I relate much more to my 50 year old academician aunt who travels to a different country every two years than my 27 year old cousin who is a working female , lives in a metro and hates the idea of travel . In short , attitude or behavior now transcends age, geography , income and other conventional demographics . And attitude is almost impossible to predict.

So consumers now scan their environments for personally relevant information and self select themselves into responding to relevant stimuli. Marketers will need to understand how this process of self selection works and create stimuli which bring them into the initial consideration set and keep them in that set as their target consumers move ahead in their decision making while constantly being bombarded with new information. Some of the most important questions in marketing analytics/research now revolve around how this process may be captured through attitudinal segmentation – which creates actionable segments for marketers to work on.

The game of chinese whispers is on and marketing thought should change to discover consumer segments that recognize variance in consumer behavior by itself as the driving force behind consumer decision making.



References: David W. Stewart (1991):”Consumer self Selection and segments of one : The growing role of consumers in segmentation” (Advances in Consumer research Volume 18,1991)

David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik:” The consumer decision journey” (Mckinsey Quarterly,June 2009)

Lost in the moonlight

Darkness had fallen all around like a silent blanket. The full moon lent an ethereal beauty to the Kudremukh forest and the air was thick with the sound of the crickets. Vamsi and I were trying hard to walk as fast as we could in the feeble light of the one torch we had. My shoes were wet and my feet felt heavy , slipping at every instance. I followed Vamsi blindly , using my hands to save myself from slipping down as we stepped on the wet stones and boulders . How far were we from Rajappa's house? We could only guess. We had lost the other four in our group a while after we climbed down the second peak into the grasslands. “ I hope they did not take the other way around the stream” - I told Vamsi. The forest was a maze in the dark , like an unmapped territory with a blind turn around every corner. We were crossing one stream after the other , hoping this was the last one. Finally , it was the last one. We stepped into the water to cross it.The leeches were the last thing on my mind. I could not risk falling on a stone again. My cheek was already swollen and bleeding from my last fall. And I knew this stream perfectly well, it was here when I fell the first when we started the trek:).

Outside,a man from Rajappa's house was waiting with a torch . We trudged back to the farmer's house as fast we could.“ You are late!” - Rajappa said disapprovingly. We had already opened our shoes trying to wash away the leeches with salt. Damn these leeches! Vamsi tried calling up one of the others' cell phones - “No use , no network!” he said. We checked with Rajappa if he could send someone for help, and he immediately sent two men to look for the rest of the trekkers.

We had split into three groups on our way back – Varun, Mansi, Neeraj,Soumyajit , Balaji and Santosh (our guide); Avisek,Ambika,Puneet and Rohan – the other four from whom we split unintentionally as we had walked fast ahead and lost them. Mansi had sprained her ankle and we wondered how far the first group had been able to come , but atleast our guide Santosh was with them. “The other four should have reached by now,I hope they have not lost their way”- I said. “ I guess we can only wait “ - said Vamsi as we sat down silently in the moonlight. Out in the forest then, my prophecies were turning out to be true.

“ Aren't we crossing stream after stream?” one of the four asked. It had been two hours since they lost sight of Vamsi and me and they were nowhere near the final stretch to the farmer's house. As they looked around they suddenly saw something familiar – a peak which looked like the one we had climbed during the day. Had they simply encircled the summit and come back to the same place? A sinking feeling began to creep in – they were probably completely lost. They walked ahead , clueless, untill one of them spotted the tree -”Hey,isnt this the tree where Mansi had clicked a photo. Check your cameras!”. Yes, it was - the tree where Mansi had stopped to get a photo clicked when we started the trek. So, they werent close to the peak , they were somewhere near the final destination , but which was the way?? They looked around desperately for help, running around till they saw a hut. But how do they tell them where they wanted to reach? They fished around in their cameras – someone may just have clicked a photo of Rajappa's house. Luckily Ambika had; the photo was shown to one of the boys who quickly identified it and the lost trekkers were finally led through a maze of paddy fields back to the farmer's house.

Mansi was in pain. Her ankle had now twisted and sprained again. How was she to walk back with the rest of the group? They had managed to cover the steep descent from the second peak. The others had been asked to go ahead and not to wait for them. She had been taking small steps helped around with the rest of the guys. But this time around , the sprain was bad. And she could not move an inch. There was still some distance to be covered inside the forest at night. Luckily , help from Rajappa's house was on it's way and they reached just in time. Mansi was carried by one of them for the final stretch through the forest.

The wait finally ended ,and the last group of the disbanded trekkers reached home. We sat around the bonfire, beneath the moonlit sky to share our tales of the night in the forest. As they say,all's well that ends well:)!

Lessons from the trek:

Shoes, shoes and shoes!: Carry the right set of shoes. Even if you have trekked in the north , remember forest treks in south india are a completely different terrain .Your shoes need to have a very good grip on wet land/stones ( Unless you are like our experienced guide who kept hopping around like a rabbit in his pair of chappals). I personally had a very bad experience with Woodland shoes , so did two of my fellow trekkers , and would highly recommend against them.

Leeches: You cannot avoid them. You will inevitably get a couple of leech bites through the trek. In case they like you (or your blood as the case maybe), you will end up with more (10-12 in my case).It helps to walk fast,especially through highly leech infested areas. Sometimes sprinkling tobacco or snuff powder around your shoes may help.Dont stop everywhere trying to remove them, you will end up with more! If you choose a monsoon trek , God bless you;).

Sense of direction: Very difficult to build a sense of direction inside a forest , even if you do , post sunset is a different story all together. A lot of us built a sense of direction in the forest connecting it to events which happened around places. Best tip is to complete the trek in daylight to the extent possible.

Local language: At least learn the basics for survival. You may not have cameras and photos of the right places clicked everytime for pictographic communication.

Super quotes of the trek:

A highly guilty Mansi inside the Kudremukh forest at night :“Guys, I think I am impending your pace. I will stop and camp here,you can pick me up in the morning” (Sure Mansi , you can have a pyjama party too)

Rohan, hallucinating after the four lost their way in the forest :“Dude, I think I just heard a tiger roar” (it was the sound of a plane flying overhead)

Puneet, to the group when they were trying to figure out if they had lost their way:“ I am confident we have lost our way”. (Optimism redefined)

Santosh, to the group while they were inching closer to the first stream :“ Three more and we will reach Shireen's stream "( If you are trekking inside Kudremukh forest, and you want a stream named after you, just make sure you fall down into it.)

*Photo credits to Avisek

[More information on Kudremukh national park : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudremukh.

I also discovered a photo of a vine snake taken inside the forest , check this out on Kalyan Varma's blog here: http://kalyan.livejournal.com/191352.html]

Into the ruins of a lost empire

“..Two brothers -Hindus of the Kuruba caste , who were men of strong religious feeling serving in the treasury of the king of Warangal fled from that place on its sack and destruction in 1323 and took service under the petty Rajah of Anegundi. The brothers rose to be the minister and the treasurer respectively at Anegundi. In 1334, the chief gave shelter to Baha ud din – the nephew of Muhammad of Delhi and was attacked by the Sultan. Anegundi fell , as narrated by Ibn Batuta and the sultan retired leaving Mallik as his deputy to rule the state. Mallik found the people too strong for him and eventually the Sultan restored the country to the Hindus, raising to be rajah and minister respectively the two brothers -Harihara I and Bukka, who founded the great city of Vijayanagar in 1335.*”

And thus starts the story of Hampi – the capital of the grand Vijayanagar empire. Situated among giant boulder strewn hills and criss crossed by the Tungabhadra, the ruins of Hampi today stand as the last testimony to the architecture, history and religion of the great Vijayanagar empire.Another set of folklore associate Hampi with the Ramayana – Kishkinda is potrayed as the region around Hampi. It is here that Ram and Lakshman meet Hanuman in their search for the lost Sita.

A trip to Hampi was recommended by many when I moved to Bangalore. A long weekend on the Gandhi Jayanti and quick planning with 'travelaholic' friends from Mumbai -Rathi and Vinay (who also got my new Canon DSLR..yippee!) was the perfect set up for a journey to Hampi. We started off early Friday morning. The scheduled 8 hour journey by road from Bangalore, however,extended to a painful 10 hours drive thanks to the rains which wrecked havoc and the dismal state of the NH 13 (so much for the tourism infrastructure for a UNESCO world heritage site).

Day1: Vijayanagar architecure- Tungabhadra- Hampi bazaar- food!

Hampi presents a bizarre but brilliant combination of the rocky , peninsular landscape interspersed with man made architecture. We started with the Saraswati temple dedicated to the Goddess Saraswati. The temple is mostly in ruins but the terracota made stucco figures can still be seen. Behind the Saraswati temple, the road leads to the Octagonal Bath – a gigantic bathing area shaped as an octagon. Our next stop was the Virupakhsa temple located in the Hampi bazaar. Dedicated to Lord Shiva , this temple is a crash course in typical Vijayanagar architecture.
For most of the temples , Vijayanagar architecuture  is apparently similar to the Cholas  for making its towers. The top portion of the tower is made of brick and mortar , the outside of which is packed with terracota images. Usually , a large open hall stands between the tower and the main shrine. Another typical feature of Vijayanagar architecture is the use of Yalis – giant mythical creatures carved on pillars situated around the porch in these open halls.

Behind the Virupaksha temple , flows the Tungabhadra – coloured as red as the laterite soil all over in Hampi. The monsoon lends this river an intimidating fury and force as it rages through the gorge. Southwards from the temple , the path leads to the Hemkut hills scattered with Jain temples and an incredible canvas of rock structures. My personal favourite was the double storeyed temple – a Greek acropolis like double storeyed structure on the rocks. Hemkut hills also provides a panoramic view of Hampi – a perfect place to get sunset shots. As you climb down from the Hemkut hills, you can walk down to see monolithic statues of Lord Ganesha ( Sasvikalu and Dodda Ganesha) and the Ugra Narasimha located a little ahead. Another must see site is the Krishna temple built by Krishnadevaraya to celebrate the conquest of Udaygiri ( present day Orissa).

Our next  important agenda of the day was discovering food in Hampi. Most of the eateries are located around the Hampi Bazaar dotted with shops selling clothes, artefacts and antiques. It is interesting to observe the standardisation of the flea market – from Janpath and Sarojini nagar in New Delhi to Hampi Bazaar and Jew town in Kochi, flea market products (be it the colour,the fabric or the style and cuts of the clothes) are now pretty much uniform. A must go eating place is the Mango tree restaurant located on the banks of the Tungabhadra with terraced floor seating facing the river. A giant mango tree stands right in the middle of the restaurant. A great place to relax and chill out with sumptous food – from traditional Thalis to assorted dishes. Another favourite was the Shanthi restaurant – just a small walk away from Virupaksha. An exotic menu serves everything from Israeli to Italian food , a predictable hit with the foreign tourists who flock here everyday.

Day 2: Vittala -Achyuta Raya –attack of the Xenophobic Hampi Buffalo – last glimpses of Hampi

The Vittala temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu is one of the most sprawling temple complexes in Hampi with the iconic stone chariot inside it. The temple built in the 15th century has been enhanced by many kings in successive regimes. Around the temple complex, are the remains of a township called Vittalapura. From the Vittala temple , one can walk to the Achyuta raya temple. The road is interspersed with ruins and runs across the Tungabhadra. Like the Virupaksha , the Achyuta Raya temple also has a bazaar leading to the doorstep of the temple. This street known as the Courtesan's street was once a flourishing centre of trade. From here, a trekking trail leads through the Matunga hill to the Hampi bazaar , and it was here that occured the “landmark” event of the trip.

As we made our way through the boulders , a herd of seemingly harmless buffalo passed by. Vinay decided to crack a joke on the red cap I was wearing which he said would enrage the buffaloes. Very prophetic! A split second later , one of the buffaloes suddenly came charging , but surprisingly at Rathi ( who by the way was wearing a yellow cap, colour blind buffalo maybe!). The brave woman made a kung fu style gesture faced with the buffalo's horns few cms away, I , in my attempt to pass by fell in the bushes on the side , while chivalrous Vinay kept watching on the side (our ex post analysis since he could not provide any feasible explanation to what he was doing at that exact moment). Colour blind-aka-xenophobic buffalo however , simply walked by lazily, after having achieved the desired impact – three stunned travellers , a moderately bruised one (i.e me) and a Nokia phone with a splintered screen ( I now need to check with Nokia if their warranty covers buffalo attacks).

We trekked back to Hampi Bazaar trying to recover from the hilarious incident and keeping our distance away from suspicious looking cattle (including goats). We decided to spend the afternoon at the Mango tree , gorging on food and reading up on Hampi. Post lunch we headed to the Queen's bath and the Zenana enclosure- a blend of Indo Islamic architecture built when the sultanates of the Deccan managed to percolate down south and squashed the Vijaynagar regime thus ending the grand empire.Sunset was spent at the Hemkut hills , where we managed to get some shots of the double storeyed temple . As darkness fell ,we walked back to Hampi bazaar, had a quick dinner and headed back to the hotel.

Early next morning we drove back to Bangalore to resume the humdrum of our daily lives.The ruins of the ancient metropolis lay behind ,where time it seems...has forgotten to move on.

* Excerpt from the book 'A Forgotten Empire (Vijayanagar) - Robert Sewell'

Around the world in two..well three plates!

I always thought Bangalore had great places to eat out..the opinion being partly created out of a short stint during my internship when I stayed in the city for two months. The night curfew thing is a tad (or more !) sad though and completely rules out any hopes of spending a good weekend with friends over a couple of drinks and good music. So when a friend from Mumbai was visiting over the weekend , I decided to explore eating out in Bangalore (selling the idea of night life in Bangalore to a Mumbaiite is a complete no no:)). Here are our three picks over the weekend:

Fiorano Ristorante, Koramangala:

This quaint Italian restaurant gives a very Mediterranean feel the moment you enter it with a chic yet soothing ambience. The black furniture contrasts stylishly with the whitewashed walls. The highlight of the restaurant is the complementary plate of bruschetta which you are supposed to put together on your own. If you do not know how ( like the two of us who kept giggling at the loaves and ended up eating all the tomatoes till the friendly chef offered to enlighten us) , just ask the waiters around , or better still , scroll down to read ' how to make your own bruschetta':). The starters are good , especially the minestrone soup. Try the Gnocchi Cream and Mushroom sinfully dipped in cheese for your main course if you prefer vegetarian. The non vegetarian is good too , but the vegetarian options on the menu are truly extensive.The mocktails are passable. Sadly enough, this otherwise authentic Italian restaurant does not serve wine ( I wonder what an Italian would say to that!). All in all – highly recommended for the food , ambience and the very friendly staff!

MTR, Lalbagh:

If you want some great south Indian food in Bangalore, head to the Mavalli Tiffin rooms in Lalbagh. Housed in a small building, MTR does not have the ambience of today's restaurants but the food more than speaks for itself. Our initial plan was for lunch , but we reached late only in time for the afternoon snacks. A marathon run of idli , dosas, upma and filter coffee later , we had turned into complete MTR loyalists. In case you want to get lunch here , you would need to register and wait for your turn. An absolute must go for anyone visiting Bangalore and totally worth the wait!!

The Zen, Leela Palace Kempinski:

The Zen is the pan Asian restaurant at the Leela serving a range of cuisines – Chinese, Korean , Japanese and Thai. Options are not too extensive , especially for the Korean. The Chinese here is your best bet. Food is reasonably good , but I am sure Bangalore has better options for Pan Asian food. The dessert was the high point of the evening. In case you are looking for South east asian cuisine, this would definitely not be the most preferred place.

*How to make your own bruschetta?

Here is what you need: Warm, fresh bread, roasted garlic pods, basil leaves,cherry tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Rub the garlic pods on the bread and spread evenly. Follow this up with rolled basil leaves and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil and then rub the cherry tomatoes. Your fresh bruschetta is ready. Deliziosa!!

Cairo Diary

[This is actually an old post written during my Cairo visit in February as a note on fb, I did not have this blog then. Just thought it would be a good idea to have all the travel notes on the blog.]

28th February,2009

I thought I would write down a diary on my Cairo visit since I had nothing better to do sitting in my hotel room on a rainy Saturday afternoon. The Cairo trip was on the cards since December ever since our client in Cairo wanted us to come down on a project but kept postponing till February end when he finally told me “we are ready for you now”(err???) . So I got my visa and tickets done and flew down to Cairo (the only sad part -I miss my flatmate’s most awaited big fat wedding in Delhi which is today).

My initial itinerary was to cover the pyramids and as much as I could of Cairo on the weekend since I was flying to Dubai the week after. But I would now probably be in Cairo longer , which means I can even hopefully try and plug in Alexandria/Luxor as well.For the trip to the pyramids I decided to use the hotel concierge services, something I normally do not do when I am traveling since I prefer working out the logistics myself using the public transportation system as it lends a lot of flexibility and I normally avoid guides. But a language barrier (now I regret not being more diligent about learning Arabic as a kid) and the fact that the pyramids were away from the city made it a good idea to use the hotel services for transportation.

My first halt was at Saqqara, the site for Egypt’s oldest pyramids, which lies south of Cairo. The most famous feature here is the Step pyramid for King Djoser which was overseen by his architect Imhotep. A lot of the site is still under excavation. Although Egyptians are, genuinely very friendly and hospitable people, it helps to be a be a tad careful of the friendly smiles in these tourist spots which may be mostly motivated by prospects of money (almost in the same way that foreign tourists are fleeced in India). Near Saqqara,, there are also a lot of carpet weaving schools which teach the children staying in the villages to weave Egyptian wool and silk carpets. It makes for an interesting visit and the carpets woven are truly beautiful although very very expensive. The proprietor tried hard to convince me to buy one (with a 30% discount especially for special Indian “friends”) , unfortunately without any success.After the carpet weaving school , I noticed my guide would non chalantly drop every now and then into a series of shops selling papyrus paintings , Egyptian essences , Egyptian cotton on the way. Sadly for him, I was an Indian , and no amount of convincing would help (although I did buy a papyrus painting for my parents, one of the few things which I thought was worth a purchase:)).

My guide and I also had several intellectually stimulating conversations on the way to Giza:
Conversation Sample 1 (note high level of deductive reasoning):
Guide:” You know why India and Egypt are friends…you know?”
Me: “ Umm..no well.. why?”
Guide: “Because Egypt has camels and India has elephants. Camel and elephant – friends ,so Egypt and India – friends”
Me: “I see “

Conversation Sample 2 (note high level of cultural awareness and guide’s never ending curiosity for elephants):
Guide: "Are elephants expensive in India?"
Me: "Not sure, I have never bought one."
Guide: "But will they be more expensive than camels?"
Me: "Yea, maybe"
Guide: "So elephants are roaming around on the roads?"
Me: "Yea , part of the traffic problem is because of them."

Giza is magnificent , especially when you are driving down the roads with the pyramids on the sides. I was not awed in the same way as I remember when I had first seen the Taj , but there is something about the fact of so much history being buried all around in the sands that makes it very thrilling. I would love to go to Giza after sundown, maybe I will catch the light and sound show if I am here longer. The sphinx on the other hand is disappointing , much less magnificent than what I imagined.

Today I decided to see old Cairo. Cairo is a chaotic city , especially the traffic. There are also areas of downtown Cairo which reminded me of North Calcutta:). Old Cairo is well…very very old! It has some of the oldest mosques, churches and also a very old Jewish synagogue. If you want to see old Cairo, take along someone who knows about the history of the area. I managed to get a very interesting guide , a bright, young lady named Maie , who is an Egyptologist currently doing her Phd at the Cairo university. Thanks to Maie, I would rate my Old Cairo visit one of my most interesting tours.

If you are interested in history/architecture/religion/symobology, do make a trip to this area. The hitch here is you cannot shoot much since photography is not allowed inside most of the oldest buildings in the interest of preservation. The area is a hotpot of culture and religion - Ottoman mosques built around 1400 A.D, Coptic Churches , ruins of Roman fortifications and one of the oldest synagogues. Coptic Cairo was the stronghold of Christianity in Egypt till the Islamic era. A must visit here is Abu Serga – the church built on the spot where Mary and Jesus were hiding from the Romans, the hanging Church and the Coptic museum – relatively lesser known compared to the more famous Egyptian museum but worth a visit. You can also stop by for breakfast at one of the street shops selling falafel:).
My trip to old Cairo in the morning made me realize I need a refresher in Egyptian history. So I ditched my intial plans of going to the Egyptian museum to see King Tut’s antiquities and got down to read up on Egyptian history instead. So my rest of the day will be spent reading Egyptian history (any references on the net would be very helpful:)) , and a walk down the Nile in front of the hotel around sunset. Maybe I will get some good shots unless it stays as cloudy!