Month: January 2008

Passage to Bhutan

Published by Anita

Bhutan Chronicles, Oct 2007: After getting our permits to enter Bhutan, the road journey from the border town of Phuntsholing to Paro took us around 9 hours. The road is not in a good shape due to frequent landslides and soil erosion. On the way from Paro to Phuntsholing In the small border town of Phuntosholing, we need to halt a full day to get our permits. Since we need both an entry permit for ourselves and our vehicle, we require a whole day to sort out the documents. It is not the easiest task to find the Immigrations Office : there are hardly any signs. Thankfully, it’s a small town and we ask a few people how to get there. One thing we notice is the number of one-ways. For a small town, there are many. So missing the turn once meant we had to go all the way around again. The other thing is that both the rider and the passenger wear helmets. It’s compulsory and people abide by it.

Run on the runway

Published by Anita

When I came across the post on the RFL running group about running on the runway at the new Bangalore airport, I couldn’t not be interested! I mean, how many times will I get the chance to say while looking our of the aircraft window (feeling really cool and all that, might I add), “Oh, do you know that I ran on this runway once?” 🙂 The new Bangalore International Airport is located at Devanhalli, which is on the way to Nandi Hills and around 25kms from Cubbon Park. So if you live in South Bangalore (including me), we have serious reason to worry! Anyway, back to my report. So early morning, on January 13, around 415 am we set out to Cubbon Park and boarded the bus that was to take us to the venue. Braving the cold weather and thick mist cover, about 30 people boarded the bus, the rest choosing to come in their own vehicles.

Wine, women and wanderlust

Published by Anita

Caught up with a bunch of interesting women at Sumitra Senapathy’s WOW get together on Saturday evening in town. I got there late after battling heavy Bangalore traffic (okay, the usual!) but there was still quite a bit of wine left 🙂 I’ve written about WOW before so I won’t go into details again. But if you’re interested, her travel schedule in 2008 looks like this: Feb: EGYPT April: NEW ZEALAND & TURKEY If you want more information on WOW, you can call Sumitra on 09891655054. I met a lady called Poorvi who came up to me and said she had first come across WOW on my blog and that’s how she landed up going on a trip with them. Also caught up with Anuradha, who’s quit work and looking rather happy right now! And a very spunky Radio City producer called Pooja (who said she’s read my blog once 🙂 who regaled us about her Sri Lanka trip in great detail and had us in splits! The theme of the evening was pink and …

Climb every mountain

Published by Anita

Climb every mountain, search high and low Follow every by way, every path you know Climb every mountain, ford every stream Follow every rainbow, till you find your dream A dream that will need, all the love you can give Everyday of your life, for as long as you live From the Sound of Music Spent the new year doing what my mom thinks I should stop doing now – climbing mountains! Went to the Bandaje Abbe falls and camped near the stream, a place I’d been earlier in March so it was nice to go back again.

My year without TV!

Published by Anita

Earlier last year, around March, when I moved house, I didn’t have a television set. My previous owner had one at the flat which I put to good use. When I moved I didn’t immediately buy one and it wasn’t a conscious decision at first, but then I decided that I’d try living without a TV for a while. A few months have passed since (March : December) and I realised I’ve managed ‘une vie sans le télé’ for more than 10 months. These are some of my observations.

Making more time

Published by Anita

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how I wished I could spend more time writing and he replies, “Well, if you can wake up by around 5 am in the morning everyday, you get a good 2 extra hours in a day where you can probably get your best writing done.” Now that makes a lot of sense. I would love to be able to wake up at 5 am in the morning. In fact, a few days last month I even succeeded. But doing it on a regular basis I’ve realised is really much more challenging. And to add to the problem is that fact that mornings are rather chilly in Bangalore so the last thing I want to do is wake up.