Ø Blogged by Priyank
República del Perú (गणराज्य पेरु) - is where I will be going next. Among other things, I am most excited about hiking on Inca trails in the Andes and getting a feel of being ‘completely lost’ in a country where nobody speaks English (umm.. or Marathi or Hindi 
). I’m looking forward to all the trouble 
Peru and its South American neighbours
Peru, as you might know, is a South American country surrounded by Pacific ocean to its west and Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile from north to south in that order. It was a Spanish colony until 1821 and had a turbulent democratic history. The coastal areas in Peru look geographically much like India’s coastal strip from Konkan to Kerala, because just like India’s Western Ghats (Sahyadris) along the Arabian Sea, Peru has the Andes along the Pacific Ocean. The Andes rise much taller than Sahyadris though, often having snow covered peaks.
I’ve initiated contacts with people in Peru, although 2 weeks is not a time long enough to network. In case you (readers) have any contacts, I’d be glad to get in touch. I still have to research, reserve, get visa, insurance etc.
And this also prompts me to expedite my Israel Travelogs (Scrolls from the Holy Land) which, I admit, have not kept up well lately.
Related posts
¶ Tags: Peru, Travel
- [Third party Advertisement] _________________
Ø Blogged by Priyank
I got off from my bus today evening and was walking along the pond to my way home. Its a virtually dead place during winter but today I was in for a surprise! I saw new inhabitants near the freshly melted water! I jumped with joy:
“Yay! the Geese are back!”
Canadian Geese swimming in water. On the top is a pair of ducks. Photo: April 28, 2007
It’s not that I love the Canada Goose a lot. They make the whole place crappy after a while and can be quite aggressive when in large groups, making it quite annoying (and sometimes risky) to walk on the grass.
But I was happy, because the arrival of the Geese signaled the arrival of…. wait for it… here it comes… Spring!
During winter, these birds migrate to warmer regions towards the south (i.e. USA). Only a couple of weeks back I was in New York and it looked like the Geese had taken over the city.
Canadian Geese in New York. Photo: March 24, 2008
There are still large chunks of steadily melting snow on the open areas. It’s about 0°C today and I hope it gets warmer soon. Nevertheless I suddenly feel that Toronto is alive again… Welcome Spring
Related posts
¶ Tags: Toronto, Weather
- [Third party Advertisement] _________________
Ø Blogged by Priyank
The grass forest
Wet and dry spells of rain pound Mumbai during the monsoon season (June-September). After a couple of months of rains, most of the empty grounds, waste lands and hitherto barren soils, get covered by wild grass that is almost a foot tall. When you are kid that swamp is named “the grass forest” or even “the secret forest.”
I have fond memories of the grass forest on the outskirts of my little suburban town (Dombivli). Many evenings were spent there – playing amidst itchy vegetation, mud, dirt, all varieties of insects, bugs and other yucky stuff. I’ll write about my adventures with bugs, earthworms, frogs, wild flowers and such other amazing creations of nature in some other post because this post is dedicated to the one and only चतुर (Chatur, meaning ‘clever’).
Chatur
Photo: Dhanashri Avalaskar
Chatur is called Dragonfly in English. Wikipedia says this: “Dragonflies typically eat mosquitoes, midges, and other small insects like flies, bees, and butterflies. They are therefore valued as predators, since they help control populations of harmful insects. Dragonflies do not normally bite or sting humans, though they will bite in order to escape, if grasped by the abdomen.”
The sport
One of our favorite ’sports’ during monsoon was catching the Chatur. We usually caught the chatur and released it after displaying our conquest to mates. It was the coolest thing to do and scores were discussed next day at school. Catching a chatur is an art that requires an amazing combination of patience, precision, alertness and timing. A chatur will typically hover over a blade of grass for barely a second and then move on to the next. At the same time the chatur is quite sensitive to any motion in the surroundings, so an extraordinary amount of patience and steadiness is required while approaching it.
There are two ways to catch a chatur. The most common method is to grab the end of the chatur’s long and tiny tail. The tail is used as a rudder so the chatur vibrates and turns it unexpectedly. After studying these movements for a while it becomes easy to read patterns. The other method – the one that I strongly disapprove – is to catch the chatur by its wings. I think this method is easy but barbaric because it could potentially break the little guy’s wings, render them useless and thus lead to the chatur’s death. As a rule, we never could let any chatur die.
The Blue Chatur
On one such evening I was chasing a particular chatur when my attention was distracted by something blue and brilliant, fluttering inches away from my hand. It was possibly the most beautiful chatur I had seen lately. I left my current perusal and went after this little blue guy instead. After a bit of chasing I finally caught my prize!
I was holding the blue chatur’s tail between my thumb and index finger while placing it gently on the palm of my other hand. It made some attempts in vain to flutter away. My friends gathered around excitedly and I narrated them a long (and probably fake) tale about how I caught it.
I was going to violate an unwritten rule of the grass forest –
“what comes from the forest stays in the forest.”
“मी घरी घेउन जाणार आणि ह्याला पाळणार” (I will take it home and keep it as a pet), I announced.
My buddies didn’t care. In fact, they agreed because suddenly it was a treasured possession of our gang and it would be good to display the blue chatur at school tomorrow. The other gang at school has been bragging about their catch in some other secret grass forest lately and we had to beat them.
Suggestions poured in about how to keep the chatur safe overnight. I could either tie its tail to a string and fasten it to a window railing or put it in a box. I chose to put it in a large match box since I thought that was less brutal. Then I inserted a twig of tender grass for the insect’s dinner (I didn’t know that it was a non-vegetarian). Content with the hospitality, I put the box away in my school bag and went to bed looking forward eagerly to the next day. I was soooo excited about my new pet that I woke up in the middle of the night to check if it was doing okay. It was, I loved my new pet!
I rushed to the school after checking that the chatur was still safe inside the box. I and my buddies decided to talk this thing up and create suspense among the classmates before we showed them the real thing. The plan was working well so far – everyone in the class was looking forward to seeing the mysterious blue dragon fly. Dude this was going to be awesome!!
No sooner than the recess bell rang, everyone gathered around me. Very ceremoniously and taking extra extra extra care I started opening the box gently while telling everyone how it was impossible to catch this rare species, how it bit me, blah blah (ah, I am was such a drama queen). I finally opened the box… viola!!
There were screams of excitement from my peers! Lots of wow’s, compliments and admiration. My buddies were proud of ‘our’ catch but…
….but I was choking; I felt like someone ripped my heart out of my body and there was just a void there. My eyes were wet and I started shivering…
My beautiful new pet was lying in the box, lifeless.
And that was the last time I caught a चतुर.
Related posts
¶ Tags: Memories, Personal, Stories
- [Third party Advertisement] _________________
Ø Blogged by Priyank
I laid my hands upon her within three months of arriving in Canada. She thus qualifies to be my first Canadian girl-friend and I rode her traveled with her all over the nature trails in Toronto. She’s perfect, faithful and extremely dependable. When I’m with her, I feel this amazing energy and excitement all over.
Before you start wondering what the hell is wrong, let me clarify that I am talking about my BIKE I got my bike on this day last year.
In the past one year I haven’t biked much - maybe because there are so few months when cycling is possible (excuses excuses). My last trip was to Kortright Center some 35 km away on 28-October-2007 almost the beginning of winter. That was already stretching it because the freezing winds gave me flu and headache the next day.
This weekend, to welcome the spring, I’m going for a bike ride again. Unfortunately temperature will still be around -2 deg C. I am desperately waiting for spring / summer now.
Happy Birthday to my bike.
Related posts
¶ Tags: Bike
- [Third party Advertisement] _________________
Ø Blogged by Priyank
New York City - Manhattan skyline
Thats right. What did I do this long weekend? I went to New York City. Got soaked in the NY spirit for three-and-half days straight and that left me thirsty for more. It was too crowded due to the Easter Holiday. But that made it excitinger.
I’ll post some pictures of touristy places such as the Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, WTC, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square and, the Broadway ofcourse
cheers.
Related posts
¶ Tags: Photo, Travel, USA
- [Third party Advertisement] _________________
Ø Blogged by Priyank
This travelblog post is part of my Israel travelog series. I spent 3 weeks in Israel during Dec’07-Jan’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the
Index page by
clicking here to get complete Israel travelogues. Thanks
Akko (Acre): an ancient gateway to the middle east.
Old city
About 23km north of Haifa almost to the northernmost tip of Haifa bay is the city of Akko (आक्को) or Acre (आक्रे). 
It is connected on the Israel Railways and thats the most convenient way to travel. It is possible to see all of Akko in half-a-day as the old city is quite tiny indeed. I went there early in the morning and was back to Haifa by sunset.
History:
Acre has a very old history. It was mentioned by the Egyptians (1500 BCE), Hebrews, Cannanites, and had a stormy history in pre-christian days. 
Alexander (Greeks) conquered this city, Persians used it as a gateway against Egyptians, while there were murky controls from Syrians, Israelis, Maccabees and the Romans over the town. Arabs captured the city in 638 CE and the Crusaders arrived in 1104 CE. This town was their chief port in Palestine until Saladin captured it. Crusaders re took the city after several battles and in 1229 placed it under the control of the Knights Hospitaller. It was the final stronghold of the Crusader state, and fell to the Mameluks in a bloody siege in 1291. The Ottomans held the city from 1517 CE after which it was in a state of decay. 
The Turkish rejuvenated the city in 18th century CE and held it against attacks from Napoleon. Jewish groups captured Akko after Israeli independence and most of the town’s Arab inhabitants fled the town.
Walls:
Acre is a walled city. In 1750, Daher El-Omar, the ruler of Acre, utilized the remnants of the Crusader walls and built fortification around the port city. The walls were reinforced between 1775 and 1799 by Jezzar Pasha and survived Napoleon’s siege.
Jezzar Pasha Masjid:
Jezzar Pasha Mosque
he Mosque of Jezzar Pasha was built by Jezzar Pasha in 1781. The mosque is Caesarea Maritima: Jezzar Pasha and his successor Suleiman Pasha are both buried in a small graveyard adjacent to the mosque. The mosque is an excellent example of Ottoman architecture, which incorporated both Byzantine and Persian styles. Some of its fine features include the green dome and minaret, a green-domed sabil next to its steps, and a large courtyard. Tourists are required to pay an entrance fees and it is NOT worth spending money to go inside, because there isn’t much to see. Muslim believers can go inside and pray.
Citadel:
The Citadel
The current building which consists the citadel of Acre is an Ottoman fortification, built on the foundation of the Hospitallerian citadel. The citadel was part of the city’s defensive formation, reinforcing the northern wall. During the 20th century the citadel was used mainly as a prison and as the site for a gallows.
Knights Halls:
Under the citadel and prison of Acre, archeological excavations revealed a complex of halls, which was built and used by the Hospitallers Knights. This complex was a part of the Hospitallers’ citadel, which was combined in the northern wall of Acre.
During the second half of the 12th century the members of the Templar Order began building their quarter in the south-western part of Acre. A writer who lived in the city at the end of the 13th century describes their fortress as follows:
The Templar Fortress was the strongest one in the city and, in the main, abutted the sea line. Its entrance was protected by two strong towers with walls 28 feet thick. On either side of the towers two smaller towers were built and each tower was topped by a gilded lion.
Templar Tunnels:
The tunnels were discovered in 1994 and opened to the public in 1999. Even now, excavations and restoration work is being carried out as some parts of the tunnel are buried under the sea.
Walking through the tunnels brought a rush of mixed feelings. I felt like I was transported back in history and spearmen and archers would walk past me. The tunnels have a peculiar smell that weans the enthusiasm out of you, but, at the same time, i was quite excited to walk on this path.
A single ticket purchased at the Citadel will give access to various excavation sites around the town. Audio self-guided tapes are included in the price and are definitely recommended. Lots of the places were closed as restoration work was in progress. The modest visitor center runs a nice film about the history of Akko.
I was sitting in the theatre watching the film with my buddy. Since there were barely 10 people in the hall and we (youngsters) were tired (hahaha), so we put our feet on the seats. A guard promptly arrived and gave us a brief lecture about good manners. At the end of it my Israeli friend remarked - ‘Wow, an Israeli guy talking about politeness.’ That was funny (and embarrassing)!
More:
The Turkish markets (shuk शुक्) inside narrow alleys of the old city were pretty busy. This part of Akko reminded me a lot about the old city of Jerusalem. But the people here looked quite different as they were mostly Israeli Arabs. Lunch was at a traditional Turkish restaurant outside the mosque and surprisingly they had several pita bread, rice, vegetables and lentil (दाल). 
It became a habit to gulp down 2-3 cups of mint tea while relaxing under the cool breeze.
It is prohibited to walk on the wall’s periphery but it is still possible to sneak in. The walls are thin and very tall but balancing a walk on them is bound to send a chill down your spine.
Mediterranean Sea
This travelblog post is part of my Israel travelog series. I spent 3 weeks in Israel during Dec’07-Jan’08 and all my travel stories and pictures are recorded on this website. Please visit the
Index page by
clicking here to get complete Israel travelogues. Thanks
¶ Tags: Israel, Photo, Travel
- [Third party Advertisement] _________________
India
Israel
Subscribe