Category Archives: travel

In search of immortality

2009-07-23

We were watching ‘The Fountain’ by Darren Aronofsky the other day and my mom remarked how it reminded her of our first digital feature called Turjya. We made it in 2003 and it was about this guy with a map seeking immortality. Check out the trailer. We knew nothing about constructing a scene or blocking or editing. We just took the camera and began filming. Thanks to Pramida without whose support we could never have started or finished the project. The adventure started in Hyderabad where we did a lot of indoor shooting and a bit of the outdoors at the Kapra lake and then we went on a whirlwind tour of the country to shoot the remaining scenes. The team was Nishant Pant-line producer, Dev-DP, Asheesh-Lead Actor and Art -Director and I directed the film.

Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore-Metrupalyam-Ooty-Burliyar-Coimbatore

Our first destination was Silent valley national park. We didn’t go all the way but stopped about 40 km from Ooty at a forest guest house and decided to finish shooting the forest scenes there. We first went to Metrupalyam and took a bus up to Ooty where we hired a couple of motorbikes and spent the day in Ooty. The next day we started for the forest guest house and On our way we saw Nizam of Hyderabad’s summer Palace. We wanted to shoot the hospital scene there, but we were chased out of there by ferocious dogs. With our tails between our legs we carried on. The guest house was eerie. There was this guy called David who was the caretaker of the bungalow and he was also the cook. We got a lot of supplies from a neighboring village and gave it all to David who would whip up delicious dishes with potatoes and eggs and have a feast ready for us by the time we went back after a hard days shoot. The shoot itself was full of surprises. The Emerald lake, the Todas, the wild buffaloes and our encounter with a sambar on a deserted road, the leopards growling at night. It was one of my first experiences being in the wild. We wrapped up and headed to Burliyar from there. We took the toy train from Ooty and we wanted to film a shot there. But the conductor didn’t let us shoot and threw us out at Lovedale station. We then took a shared jeep and got off at this hotel in Burliyar where we planned our next steps. There was this stream right by our hotel and we hitched a couple of miles upstream and found a waterfall where we decided to do a little more shooting. We shot the wrist slitting from the climax here and after getting enough coverage we decided to take a dip. I had a terrible back ache throughout the shoot and this was the only place where I felt a little better after treating my back by sitting under the waterfall. Our next destination-Sikkim. It felt like we were on the train for a few years.

Sikkim, Metrupalyam-Coimbatore-Chennai-Howrah-New Jalpaiguri-Kalimpong-Jorthang-Yoksum-Tchoka-Dzongri-Delhi.

With numerous delays we finally reached New Jalpaiguri. In between we got off at Shantiniketan like Michael Palin got off in Pune because his dad had served there. I don’t know why I got off there. Maybe because of Tagore. Maybe because of Nandlal Bose. we reached new Jalpaiguri late at night and took a jeep. The driver was drunk as expected and after a near death accident and a fight with with the driver we decided to hitch. We walked to the nearby police station and the guys there kindly stopped a truck for us. We took the truck all the way to Jorthang. As soon as we got off at Jorthang the police there stopped us because we looked shady and interrogated us for over an hour, they looked at our equipment, our id‚Äôs and just wouldn’t buy our story that we were students. They eventually let us off but only later came to know that the information bureau was after us. More about that later. We took another Jeep to Yoksum which had one street with small guest houses and an eatery. This was our base from where we trekked to a camp from where we could capture the Kanchenjunga. It was a 2 day trek and we spent a night at a remote mountain village called Tchoka, with no electricity and two or three huts. We had a lot of tchang here. Tchang is fermented millet beer served in a bamboo mug. Fermented millet is first put in a mug and then hot water poured over it and then is drunk using a bamboo straw. It quickly gives you a high and you need to be very careful. The next morning we finally reached the deserted camp called Dzongri. Our DP, Dev got diarrhea so Asheesh and I went up the mountain to get the required shots. The rest of the day we just stayed there looking at the mountain in utter silence and awe. When we went back to our base we found out from our hosts that the Information Bureau was making inquiries about us. We got really scared and wanted to leave immediately but couldn’t since it was raining and we had to wait for an extra day. Since Sikkim is a sensitive area, not everyone gets permission to shoot there. And the permits were really expensive and since we were poor students we really didn’t have money to even think about paying the fee. To cut a long story short, we smuggled our camera in. So the news of the IB made us rethink our strategy and we hid the tapes in our underwear and all evening stayed in bed and avoided going out. The next morning we took the first jeep out to Jorthang. That was a close one! There was a landslide on our way to Siluguri and finally reached a day late. As expected our train tickets were on waiting list and we couldn’t get confirmed tickets because there was this huge group of school girls going to Delhi by the same train. We got on the train nevertheless and after bribing the TT, we got 2 seats in an already packed military compartment. We put all the equipment on the top birth and took turns sleeping. The train went through Bihar and UP and it was late and the boogie was dirty and several people got on with no ticket. Basically it was a circus and never again with a waitlisted ticket. When we got off at the New Delhi station, we were already tired and had several days of growth on our faces and our clothes were dirty. We were walking to a friend’s house to clean up when a cop stopped Asheesh and me and took us to the police station at Gulmohar Park because we looked suspicious. No amount of pleading helped. They finally took out our expired id cards and called our faculty at NIFT to verify whether we were students. It so happened that the faculty did not like us because we were rabble-rousers. They refused to identify us and even today I don‚Äôt know whether they were playing a prank or if they really wanted us in jail. One of them took pity and told the cops she knew us. They let us go and asked us to get a shave. The same evening we left for Jaisalmer.

Rajasthan, Delhi-Jaisalmer-Delhi

By the time we reached Jaisalmer, the train bogies were covered in an inch of sand. There was sand everywhere. Just like Shantiniketan, we got off at Pokhran, the site of the underground nuclear testing. We bought hot mirchi pakodas here to commemorate our arrival. The city was out of a fairy tale. Out of nowhere we saw this huge structure in the distant desert, beatiful in the glaring harsh afternoon light, We stayed in a haveli within the fort and that evening allowed ourselves the pleasure of chilled beers. It was brilliant.The next morning we took camels out into the desert. There were a couple of other tourists with us and whenever we made stops, we rushed off to get coverage. That night we slept on a dune, after listening to the camel riders sing. the food was tasteless and full of sand. But we didn’t mind knowing that there were only about 2 pages to be shot. Rajasthan was the only place in our shoot where we didn’t face problems. It could have all gone wrong when Asheesh with his long hair and a beard asked our hotel manager where the Air force base was. If the guy had raised an alarm we would have been sitting in jail today for looking suspicious!

Delhi

After coming back to Delhi we did the remaining shoot. our professor at NIFT, Mr. Chand Gupta gave us a helping hand by acting in the film and also giving us a lot of encouragement. There were several people who helped us and like most student films, the list of people we thanked was longer than the production crew. In Hyderabad, we got to shoot at Outswinger, the pub and Andy made it happen because he knew Shane, the then manager of Outswinger who is no longer with us today.

India

2009-03-25

I am going to do again what most blogs with a lot of following seldom do. Write a long ass post. Please bear with me.

Delhi
we got out of the airport at 2AM and it was foggy. I felt like kababs and we decided to drive down to kumsum at Nizamuddin. Munish drove expertly in near zero visibility conditions with dada navigating. It was a harrowing experience and Pramida kept reprimanding me for making them drive to Nizamuddin. But the kababs were worth it.
The same morning we left for Agra. For an international destination, the Taj has one of the worst approach roads. Dirty with trash and dung all over. It was a Saturday and it was like a bloody circus. As soon as we got out of the car the touts started harassing us. The luggage check was a small room with hundreds of people jostling to get in to retrieve their wires etc. A small fight broke and there could have been a stampede if not for the cop who kept taking aim at people with his long staff. Because of the fog we had to wait for a while to be able to see the Grand structure.No doubt it is beautiful but I would not recommend it to anyone. Please go to Humayun’s tomb which has the same design but is built with red sandstone. when we finally got out of the Taj people started harassing us to get into the meena bazaar to buy crap. We escaped and quickly went on our way to Fatehpur Sikri.
The Buland Darwaza is an imposing gate and delivers what it promises from the outside. A peaceful courtyard with Salim Chisti’s dargah and the mosque, all very unreal in the evening winter light. Come here with some time in your hands so you can sit and enjoy the beautiful space.
We spent the next few days hanging with friends. The first stop was Delhi Haat where we ate momos and kashmiri khana which included goshtaba, rishta and rogan josh. Then we went to Sarojini and had badam milk and jalebis while the girls shopped. Dinner was at Karims where we ate excellent barra kababs and also picked up boti kababs for later from a kababwalah in the street outside the mosque. I recommend Nizamuddin to all you foodies out there. We used to bring kababs from here and biryani from tefla’s canteen (JNU) for most of our college parties.
The next day we started for Ranthambore in Rajasthan. On our way, dada and Dev narrated the story of a movie called Khooni Darinda, From what I hear, it is worth a rent!

Ranthambore conjures up images of jungles, lost treasures in dilapidated forts and adventure. They place lived up to its hype but the tigers decided to sleep in. We did see plenty of monkeys, Sambars, Neelgais(antelopes), T-bills and other birds. We saw the pug marks as expected but not the tiger. Went to the fort later that evening which is right by the national park and from the top could see the cantors and jeeps going around. We left for Bundi the same evening and made a pit stop at Indragarh. The samosas were delicious with the samosas smashed and chutneys poured into them. We also tried the sev curry which supposedly is a specialty from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Picked up a few guavas which were a little raw but sweet. On our way to Bundi from Indragarh we saw a few wild animals on the road. One point we slowed down for a neelgai but the poor thing got scared when Pramida let out a yelp not realizing that the animal was so close.
Our first stop was at a guesthouse which was run by an old guy. His living quarters was full of old pictures of men in royal uniforms. They are probably aristocrats. We decided not to stay there because the pots didn’t have seats and the girls were uncomfortable. Instead we went to the neighboring guest house run by a family. The kids were very agreeable and helped their parents with cooking, serving us food etc. all while studying for tests. We were not really easy guests making demands on the poor folk. But they really looked after us well. Make sure you stay here if you go to Bundi.
The palace in Bundi is really beautiful. It is still owned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji and a huge section of the palace is closed for public. But the diwan-e aam and the offices and a few sections presumably the apartments for minor queens were enough to get a general idea of the architecture and the interiors of the palace. The toilets were awesome. We were trying hard to figure out what the holes were for!
The Palace was empty apart from the monkeys who sat on the throne which for humans was off-limits. Then we went up to see the Taragarh fort.
The fort is beautiful and there were hardly any people. Just another couple apart from our gang. The whole place was covered with shrubbery and the light was fading. There are old palaces and the traditional Rajasthani wells inside. The interiors were all very intricate. It was a maze and there were places where I thought I was lost. Stuff my childhood dreams were made of. Just needed the treasure map.
That evening we went to this place which looked like the lounges in Goa, Pushkar and other places where tourists get trashed and trip on weird looking psychedelic art on the walls and lay down on the deewans and listen to techno. We were not trashed so we really didn’t like it because they took about 2 hours to get our food. Mind you, it is extremely difficult getting non-vegetarian food in the town and only a few places serve alcohol. The food was lousy and we ended up disturbing our hosts and made them cook for us again.

The Rock Art of the ancients
Mr. Kukki, the unofficial Resident archaeologist of Bundi who discovered all the rock paintings took us on a tour of one section of his discoveries. There were scenes of men hunting, animals, people and other weird stuff like a man flying on a bird all drawn using locally available volcanic rock. There are about 55 sites that he discovered in the last 14 years and makes a living by taking people to these sites. There are others in the town who have caught on and have similar tours but this guy has dedicated his life to this. If you ever go, please make sure you use his services. He is interesting, a little rigid. He will take you to places that he thinks you might enjoy like waterfalls, small temples when all you want to do is look at the art. Make sure you tell him that you just want to see the rock art if you want to make the most of your time there.
On our way there, a bunch of scamsters on bikes tried their level best to sell us some fake gold. Don’t stop for these people. There have been instances of grand theft. The region has a tribe which prides itself for producing great tricksters and even have a roadside eatery named after ‘scam’.
Mr. Kukki has an awesome collection of pre-historic artifacts. He has stuff from paleolithic, chalcolithic, microlithic and mesolithic eras. He has arrow heads, stone tools, jewellery, coins and weapons. He lets you touch them and it is an entirely different feeling when you are not just peering at them from behind a glass pane.
For all you Pre-Independence Raj time literature enthusiasts , Bundi is where Rudyard Kipling stayed and wrote parts of KIM and it is believed that the Taragarh fort served as an inspiration for the monkey king’s fort in the Jungle Book.

Delhi
Back in Delhi we spent a lot of time hanging out with friends. We went to a place in GK for dinner and drinks and had a great time. The next day we went to Chandni Chowk since Pramida wanted to go back for Jalebis there. We went on a binge and ate whatever we could lay our hands on. Then went to Ballimaran to eat kababs and ate at Karims and then at different stalls that line up Jama Masjid’s Gate number 1. After stuffing ourselves with kabab we took a quick tour of Meena bazar, my first time here and I was quite surprised by the deals. There were suitcases going for pennies.
On that note let me give this a rest.

Blues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2009-02-12

I am changing my tires and I am changing my gym. Updike is dead and so is Hazel.
I lived with my tires for 4 years and now it is time for them to go. Most probably I am going to get my battery replaced and change the oil and filters when I am at it. My gym membership is coming to an end. I enjoyed climbing but now I am looking for something more economical. I am getting an unbeatable deal at another gym which has an indoor pool, racket ball courts and a regular gym. Updike died a few weeks ago and it reminded me of college when I used to read his books while drinking Golden Eagle. I feel sad. I was also devastated when I got a message this morning about Hazel. She was a great dog. It is tough to lose a pet. I don’t know how Toton is taking it. I don’t know what to say to him.
Let me try and beat my blues.
Deliverance–
I saw this movie a few weeks back. It was very honest and poetic. It felt like I was reading back issues of Nat Geo and when I think of back issues of Nat Geo, I am reminded of the endless days of trying to build the perfect boomerang. The damn things never worked; probably because I used cheap plywood to make my boomerangs. During my boomerang days, there used to be this buffalo near my house. The buffalo would come and stand outside our gate every afternoon to get a shower from our garden hose and I would oblige. We became good friends and the buffalo even gave me a ride now and then to the neighborhood shop. Another animal I became friends with and had the pleasure of riding on, was a camel called Kalu, in Rajasthan. We were filming ‘Turjya’ and took the camels from Jaisalmer to Sam sand dunes. There were a couple of French tourists who were riding with us and I was amused when I saw them change into silk pajamas when they retired for the evening. The only other person I saw in silk in the middle of the desert was Prince Feisal in ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

Talking about the French, I was pleasantly surprised when I was in Paris last month. I had heard a lot of horror stories and was not really expecting much but I enjoyed Paris as much as I enjoyed Madrid in ’05. We were at a hostel in the Latin quarter with its small eateries and pubs and lot of backpackers. We stayed very close to Ernest Hemingway’s first apartment in Paris. Just before our trip I had the pleasure of watching “Quiet Days in Clichy based on Henry Miller’s book by the same name. I wanted to check out the neighborhood and it came about in an unexpected way. Pramida fell sick early one morning and I rushed out looking for a pharmacy. I was in my pajamas and flip flops 🙂 and it is not really nice when it is zero degrees outside. The neighborhood pharmacy was closed so I walked to the main street and took a cab.
The cabbie was this friendly Moroccan guy who went out of his way to be helpful. After several closed pharmacies, we decided to ask for help and asked a cop who directed us to an all night pharmacy in Clichy and that’s how I finally got to see Clichy! When the cabbie dropped me back, he refused to take the tip and asked me to enjoy the rest of my stay in Paris. The food, the beer and the people. All very refreshing.
Just being at the Arc de Triomphe brought back memories of hundreds of films from the 70’s most notably of Alain Delon driving on Champs Elysees. Paris is just that. A cinematic place. A place full of stories. I won’t bore you with the details but you must go to Paris.
It was a cathartic experience and talking about catharsis you should check out Liam Neeson’s Taken. Written by Luc Besson, the film is one roller coaster ride. Like we say in Hyderabad, “kya khatti tha!”
Brussels and Luxembourg were pleasant. I enjoyed myself at the Belgian Centre of Comic Strip Art in Brussels. I asked Pramida to take silly pics of me pretending to walk with TinTin and Haddock. I had waited to see this for over 20 years. I was so overcome with emotion that I decided to get a tattoo of the fetish with the broken ear from ‘Tintin and the broken ear’. I am still trying to figure if it is a good idea. I will probably get it one drunken night. The main square in Luxembourg is very cinematic. I could almost picture a dictator walking out and giving a fiery speech from the balcony!
A trip to Western Europe is like time traveling. The great wars, the artists, the writers, the imperial colonizers. It is too much to absorb, but the feeling is like chasing the dragon.
This was our first couch surfing experience and our hosts in Amsterdam were such great people. We spent the New Years with them talking politics and philosophy (they are students of philosophy) and drinking vodka. My one-off indiscretion while I remain faithful to beer, rum and my new mistress the single malt! We plan to go to Africa this year with Toton and Preeti and I have invited our hosts to come along. Hope we get a chance to host them and make them feel as welcome as they made us feel. Same with Dada and Lena who opened up their home in Delhi to us. More about that in my next post.

Mendocino

2008-09-04

It has already been a week since our trip to Mendocino. I wanted to do a video blog but decided to just write about it this time. Maybe our next trip will be more like a travel show.We started very late on Friday and reached Dennen’s victorian farm house a few minutes after midnight. The cottage sits on a 2 acre land overlooking the pacific and also served as a model for a series of paintings done by Thomas Kinkade. The innkeeper Jo complained that a lot of his fans trespass and give themselves a walking tour. The breakfast the next morning was a feast. There was quiche and fruit with home baked flat bread and the usual orange juice and coffee. Pramida vows that we are really going to make use of our breakfast nook now. We went to the village after breakfast and I was pleasantly surprised. All the buildings here are Victorian, It was like walking in Universal’s studio lot and perhaps thats the reason why a lot of films have been shot here.The latest being Jim Carrey’s ‘The Majestic’.The main street runs along the pacific and there is a path leading to the Portuguese beach where there is a lot of drift wood.There were happy dogs chasing the waves and a few people lounging on the beach. We checked out most of the galleries and Pramida was thrilled when she discovered that her favorite photographer Lisa Kristine had a gallery here. We spent close to an hour here then checked out the Mendocino art center up the road, where there were people sculpting and a few people playing music. The exhibits were interesting but I really liked the papier mache dogs. There is a theater right next door and there we bought tickets for Rabbit Hole– a Pulitzer prize winning play for Sunday’s matinee.Later went to the beach were the Big river meets the pacific and spent some time looking at the waves and taking pictures. Then drove to Fort Bragg. The town is straight out of Bonanza. Lunch was alright, we had local rock fish with french fries at the garden bar of Mendocino hotel. We left for our B&B soon after and I spent the rest of the evening working while Pramida listened to Def Leppard and I also think I heard her listen to Scroobius Pip and Dan le Sac. Her latest obsession. We went to eat at the Albion river inn for dinner and for the first time in her life Pramida finished an entire entr√©e by herself. She got Ahi tuna and I got Mediterranean strudels. The pan seared scallops was really well done and I think I know why most good restaurants make it a point to serve these.The wine was from a local vineyard. All in all a splendid experience. Sunday’s breakfast was pancakes and melons. The syrup smelled of wild flowers or probably it was my over active imagination. Sitting right by the window looking at the woods probably alters the effect food has on you. probably even artery clogging burgers would seem like wholesome food when you are in the woods. Pramida got a massage after breakfast and I got reflexology treatment. Willow, our masseuse, was a great listener and Pramida wants to make Willow her personal therapist. The rest of the day she felt like a load was lifted off of her shoulders. The Rabbit hole was such a great play. It is about loss and how people deal with loss. After Hari passed away, we tried hard to forget the gory incident. It is impossible to forget and the play put loss into perspective for us because it was so immediate and so intense. It was really cathartic. The pain never goes away, but you learn to deal with it. I wanted to get away…forget about it and here I was right in the middle of people who made it very real for me. Spent the rest of the evening just walking along the coast. Got some food from the local grocers and took it home to eat. Pramida went overboard with wines and bought half a dozen bottles and she threatened to buy more. We spent the evening eating, drinking, talking about Willow and the play. Pramida also spent the evening obsessively stoking the fire at the fireplace which drove me crazy. We started early on Monday because Jo suggested we stop at Navarro vineyards. We took the tour of the estate and saw farm animals and I saw a llama for the first time. I will probably get to see more of them when we go to South America next year. The first time I came across this glorious animal was in a TinTin comic. The llama was in an enclosure so it didn’t get a chance to spit at me. But I am so sure he was dying to. We ate a picnic lunch at the vineyards and Pramida bought another half a dozen bottles of wine. The drive to Navarro was beautiful with red wood tree canopies, rivers and the ocean. Our long week-end came to an end I am looking forward to our next trip in December. Don’t know where yet but will keep you updated. A review of Rabbit Hole by NYT– This is a different production

La Paz

2007-12-31

I Just got back from La Paz and I am very tired and fished out. For over a week I have been eating fish for every meal. The trip was brilliant. It was beyond my expectations and some more. Did everything that I had planned to. Here is a brief summary-
Day 1– we arrived in La Paz. The airport is small and the weather seems to be perfect. Took a taxi into town to the hotel. The hotel is right in front of Malecon (Bahia de La Paz). The water is so green, just like the photographs. Went for lunch to Bismarckcito, a place highly recommended by the guidebooks. We got the house special (Lobster, shrimp and sea bass) and were shocked when we finally got the check. It was 720 Pesos‚ approximately 72 USD. Pramida complained to everybody after that about the overpriced restaurant. But the food was good. Explored the city a bit after that. Went to the cathedral, checked out the local architecture and on our walk back from the inroads chanced upon the most brilliant sunset. The water turned red and the boats on the water looked liked they were planted silhouettes on a Monet seascape. Went for a drink at the La Perla after that and after a few basic Spanish lessons from the friendly waiter we ordered a few drinks. There were a few passing mariachis who sang and I felt obligated to pay up. Hell it is just a few bucks! The song was good‚ aayayayaaaaa. Found a clip on youtube but don’t know the name of the song. Will do a little more research on it but for now check out the song on youtube

Day2– Ate at La Boheme. The interiors were decorated in Toulouse-Lautrec’s reproductions. It had a courtyard restaurant with local crafts. The food wasn’t that great. I ate the sea bass and Pramida got pollo fajitas. Later walked to the museum. The top floor was under renovation and the bottom floor had paintings of saints. The one floor that did have exhibits looked like a room full of school science projects. Not impressive but the fossils were great and the skull of a Saber tooth. Walked back to the Malecon and checked with a few tour operators about the kayaking and the snorkeling trip to the Espiritu Santos island
but the wind conditions have been bad and forecast is also bad for the next two days. So it will be only after Christmas. Spent the evening exploring the town. The markets reminded me of General Bazaar in India. Electronic, hardware, luggage and clothes stores all lined up utilizing the storefronts to grab our attentions. The smell of leather from a shoe store was comforting. Reminded me of a lost memory which was just beyond the reach of my consciousness. There were a few small stands selling hotdogs with fried onions and jalapenos. Very appetizing but some other day. Went to this place called Rancho Vallejo for dinner and had tacos de pescado (fish tacos) with fingerlicking good sauces. The wind blowing from the sea and the smoke from the grill, I am coming back here. Down the road there is a restaurant called El Patron where John Turturo and Adam Sandler were shooting a dance scene recently. Good to know. Lappywood!

Day3– Took the bus to the beach at El Tecalote. Went back to Bismarckcito after getting ripped off the other day but the fish tacos were good. Especially with sour cream and some kind of fish sauce. Took the tacos to the bus stop and finished them there. Still had time for the bus so sat on a bench people watching. There were fascinating bunch of travelers taking a connection to the port at Pichilingue. Pramida wondered where the travelers got their pants. She wanted one. Finally the bus arrived and we rode in silence looking at the cobalt waters of the Sea of Cortez longing for a dip.
The beach at Tecalote was deserted. The only people were the ones on the bus and the few people who manned the bar shacks and a few locals. I went for a swim with my swimming goggles on but couldn’t see anything down there not clear enough. Walked a bit after that and Pramida collected shells. Stopped for a beer at the shack and ended up drinking a case full of beers. There were a few people playing dominoes. Met Frank and Evans there. Evans is a student of languages, studies English and German at the local university and works Sundays at the bar shack at Tecalote. Frank owns a Pizzeria in the town called Bambino. If you visit La Paz please do look them up. It was a full moon that night and the last of the visitors gone the beach looked like a line from Robinson Crusoe. As we were leaving a bunch of people came in to camp at the beach. Interesting travelers. One of them had dreads and said people in India call him Sadhu Baba, his next trip is to Israel. After exchanging stories Frank dropped us back into town. After a wash we went out to eat at Rancho Vallejo again for more taco de pescado.

Day 4– Rented a car. Renault Clio. Cute little car. Pramida wanted to drive it all the way and she did. Stopped at Todos Santos. The town is a small artists colony with interesting architecture. And then the Hotel California from the Eagles song, of course the story has no basis but still there were people buying T-shirts and souvenirs from the plaza at the hotel. Such a lovely place! Stopped at a roadside taqueria and got shrimp tacos. There was good grilled beef too. Very appetizing. Damn. Some day. The rest of the drive was uneventful with cacti dotting the landscape. The pacific was to our right and the desert to the left. Not too different from California. Reached Cabo San Lucas at about 4 and after getting directions from a friendly gas station attendant who described as well as he could that taking the road under the bridge would be the best way to get to Riu(the resort hotel), we reached Dr. No’s lair. There were a bunch of people checking in and we made it inside without attracting too much attention. We went into town that night and had very good drinks. The best Pina Colada there. Don’t remember the name of the place but it was right next to the marina. Got lost on our way back to Riu palace and finally reached the hotel after getting directions from another friendly local.
Day 5– Pramida finally got to do some para-sailing this morning and I took photographs from the boat. I didn’t go up. The last time I did was in Jamnagar with Toton. That trip was good fun. About the same time in the year 2000 and just this morning I was reminded of the Greek tragedy story of our train ride back to Hyderabad from Mumbai while watching Anthony Bourdain doing a similar trip on travel channel. It is a long story. Another post maybe.
Stopped at San Jose del Cabo. It was Goa of my imagination. Small time town, palm trees, lazy afternoon, great deep fried snapper fish and the afternoon Christmas mass at the local cathedral. The air had a strong smell of the sea. Read the story of the Padre who started the mission there, who was killed by the local Indians during a rebellion. The Mexican flag flew high. There, my impressions of the afternoon! Crossed the Tropic of cancer somewhere along the way to San Antonio. My first time on the road. Otherwise it has always been on the train in India. Stopped at San Antonio and El Triunfo. A lady dressed in all blue with a lollypop in her mouth filled up our car in San Antonio. She has been the most interesting gas station owner/attendant I have ever come across. El Triunfo was deserted. A ghost town from the wild west. A chimney designed by Gustavo Eiffel, cobbled roads and a brick bridge. The houses and the church were dilapidated. There was an old lady sitting outside one of the houses and there was a horse roaming about. It was eerie. The church was open and it was like a provincial place of worship replete with the nativity scene built with cardboard boxes and dolls.
Were stopped by cops at the junction of route 19 and route 1. Explained to him in our broken Spanish that we were on our way back to La Paz and he let us go. My cousin had warned us about corrupt policemen on the highways but we didn’t have any encounters with the cops of the other kind. We reached LA Paz and had dinner at Gonzales. You guessed right. Taco de Pescado.

Day 6– Rented a scooter and drove to balandra. Pramida was very apprehensive because Frank and Evans had warned us that it wasn’t safe to drive scooters on the highway. After numerous trucks passed us on their way to the port at Pichilingue and the incessant cross winds from the desert and the gulf tried to beat us into submission, our 150 cc scooter safely delivered us to Balandra. The first sight of the lagoon was awe-inspiring. I had never seen such clear waters in my life. Like all the pictures. Did some snorkeling at the south-end of the beach near the rocks. There were so many fish. Awesome! Met 2 Chinese PhD students from Pittsburgh now working in the bay area. Traded a few stories and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging.
Dinner at Rancho Vallejo. Standard.

Day7– Finally the wind conditions were right for the trip to Espiritu. It took Pramida forever to find fins that fit her and eventually used shoes to make the fins fit. It was an hour and half trip to the protected islands. The agenda is snorkeling with sea lions at Los Islotes and kayaking near the bay on Espiritu. We finally reached Los Islotes and were warned not to approach the male sea lions. There were two there who were busy fighting for females. There were a few adolescent pups that came close and were playful. I freaked for a second when one of the pups approached me and quickly beat a retreat but on my second sortie, I was more confident and I will never forget the image of the sea lion which came so close to me and all the fish moving about in their schools and the barks of the lions. Transcendental. Pramida panicked a little because her mask was not of the right fit. We kayaked after that for over an hour and this was my first time on the sea. It was choppy and the turn near the cliffs was almost like kayaking on river rapids. We parked our kayaks on the island and went for a swim. Two guys let Pramida and me borrow their swimming goggles and I really am thankful because the underwater fauna was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I almost found Nemo! On our way back the boat had some problems with the gear and the boat started listing badly and then swayed wildly when a gust of wind hit us from the east. Soon we were on our way back to Pichilingue and didn’t stop for the scheduled third stop. But I wasn’t complaining. I got to snorkel with the sea lions!

Day 8-Hung out on the terrace of our hotel all morning and went to this cafe for lunch in the afternoon. Spent a few hours there eating and drinking. Tecate beer was quite good. There were these writers/musicians who were selling seashell jewelry. Pramida wanted to buy this blue choker but it was very expensive. Decided to buy other crap. Drank all day looking at the sea and made sure to catch the last amazing sunset at La Paz. I am surely coming back for more.

Day9– Bumped into the scientist couple from Fairbanks, Alaska at the airport, who were with us on the trip to Espiritu. They asked us to look them up if we ever pass their town on our way to the Arctic Circle. Possibly our next trip? Our flight from Mexico was late and after barely making it on time to terminal 8 in LA for our connection, I set off the alarm at the security check, possibly the plate in my leg. I did make it in one piece back to San Jose.

So, that was our trip in brief. I hope it will interest you enough to possibly consider La Paz as a future travel destination! I would be happy to answer questions and please do leave comments.