Ahmedabad - The hidden gems in your back yard

Introduction

As a Gujarati native, Ahmedabad is a family hub for us its the primary link from Mumbai and the hub for us to go to all the spokes of family across Gujarat. On my recent trip to India I took some time to take the family around some of the key places across Ahmedabad. For most families of Gujarati (Indian) origin we never think about seeing the places in our back yard. So below I've described some of the things you can do in Ahmedabad besides shopping malls and give your family something of interest to do and see.

The step wells of Gujarat

Hidden in the old part of Ahmedabad in the midst is the Dada Harir Vav. The word "Vav" describes a set well where you would step down through the ground to gather water for daily use. Whilst these step well have been supersede in daily life. A visit will render you in awe of the function of these large holes in the ground but more so the intricate care and design of these unique pieces of architecture.

A look across the top of the step well

A look down into the main well

As you step down you appreciate the layers of the well

Intricate carving in both Sanskrit and Arabic (Mughal era)

Looking up the step well towards the light

Intricate carvings of the step well - perfection in all things

Huthee Singh Vadi

Tucked away again in the old part of town is the Jain temple Huthee Singh Vadi. The temple we visited was under restoration and photos weren't allowed inside. But here are a few shot taken from my phone from the outside of the temple.

Huthee Singh Vadi-intricate decorations on the outside

Siddhi Sayed Jali

Around the old Ahmedabad town the streets are riddles with gates (darwaza) and fortifications in the area. One of the interesting carvings in Ahmedabad are the jali's in the centre of town. These are fine carvings in a slab of stone forming windows to religious buildings.

How to to get around town

We took the approach to rent a rickshaw for 3 hours taking us everywhere. Interestingly even the rickshaw owner did not know all the placed but these are easily found on Google Maps and by asking around as we did.

And there is more to see in Ahmedabad, take a look at the tourism website and it has a wealth of options to keep a day occupied.

Note if your are going to cover a substantial amount of distance or have a large group the best option is to rent a car to drive you around.

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Cracking Krakow

Introduction

One of the pleasures of working in a large organisation is the ability to travel. For some the travel to repeatedly the same location makes the experience and extension of often monotonous work. Thankfully for me the experience of business travel doesn't take this format so still feels like an experience.

So my work recently required me to travel to Krakow in Poland, my first visit beyond what we used to call the "iron curtain" for people like me who were 1970's children. Krakow is one of the smaller town circ. 1M population but growing fantastically fast especially for technologist like myself.

Whilst I didnt really do sightseeing no time here are some photos from my visit and my thoughts on Krakow.

First impression and the city

Krakow is a small airport, probably the size of a small suburban street. Its 3 hours from Warzaw by train (30 mins flight) and easily accessible from Europe and Russia. Can drive into Poland from the rest of Europe very easily.

The current airport is work-in-progress (Oct 2014) and I'm sure it will be very modern when its finished in the next couple of years. Airport is located about 30 mins outside the city center.

The city is small with a mix of new and modern malls and Ikea like super stores and very nice hole in the wall boutique shop in the centre of town. The city is build around two centres the old city and adjoining Jewish quarter. Both form a centre life packed with restaurant, hole in the wall eateries and hives of activity.

A few of my photos from Krakow


The first photo is of Wavel Castle in the city centre, this was taken on my first morning from the window of my hotel.

Walking around the fringes of the old town, lot of lovely old buildings and cobbled streets. the inner city is laden with trams criss crossing the streets.

Here is a picture of a tram turning at a cross roads, the streets seemless transitioned from cobbled to tar and back.

 One of the suburban trains of Krakow, I took this train from my place of work to central Krakow.

A Polish train driver, looking out across the track as I was waiting to buy my ticket on board the train. The driver wasnt happy with me he slammed the door in my face. But I didnt mind I still had a smile on my face - the joys of trains.

A 80's bar in Krakow, Spotem, truly underground it felt like an London underground tube platform. The place was packed with students Krakow has 200K student population and is truly a student city.

The old city is surround by gates and towers such as this one. The inner town definitely has a medieval feel to it. Surprised it survived the Second world war but apparently there was an agreement with to not bomb Krakow.

Being vegetarian food in Krakow was not a problem but for sure the food was quite stodgy. I would probably end of looking like this fellow. I survived my week on potato pancakes, dumplings of different varieties and such fare. But I did survive fairly easily. For the carnivores there are endless options of a fairly heavy and filling nature.

Polish culture is to have a heavy breakfast (breads), dinner at 3pm which is heavy and a light supper at 6-8pm which usually consists of bread with meats/soup. For me a polish lunch is probably all the calories I need.

Conclusion

Krakow a good weekend break with lots to do. I would probably avoid going to the local football matches especially the local derby. Apparently it can get violent with some serious weaponry. Apart from that, the town was good, people friendly and very willing to talk and engage.

October, for me, was a very pleasant time to visit, the coldest months are December, January and February when temperatures are commonly at -10 to -20 on average. They have been known to go down to -40 so good luck with avoiding that.

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The European Summer of 2014 : Sitges and Barcelona

Introduction

The drag between Easter and Summer has been a long one with the spartan trip to Athens a distinct memory. The planning for a summer trip was long in process it all started with my arrival back in the UK with the family declaration of another villa vacation. Only this wasnt Asia with the luxury, people and service you come to expect as standard. This was Europe, the land of DIY, where people want to spend a long weekend painting a spare bedroom.

First was the location, with the criteria of a hot climate, a young baby (so not too far on the aeroplane) and some oldies thrown in. A close location with a host of thing to so was called for. Naturally in Europe only one location fits the bill and that is Barcelona. Without too much research we picked Sitges a town slightly outside Barcalona but with excellent link to the airport and Barcelona environs.

I picked Sitges by looking at google maps and images on the internet and that only the first few images. Little did I know that our extended family was headed towards a gay and lesbian holiday hot spot and beaches popular with nudists. While neither is a relevant factor for me as I am of a liberal mindset be aware if you are not. With that said we had a fantastic time.

We booked out Villa through Sitges Hill Villas (link) and their service was good. The villa immaculate and the normal issue you do find with an large building were attended to quickly. Overall we have a great time with a great location.


Sitges Villa - Location and Pictures

We had a four bedroom villa looking out over the hill above Sitges in a town call Olivella. The town is surrounded by forests and vineyards and is the home of Cava sparking wine.

Looking across our village - Olivella

Sitges Hills - Olivella

Sitges

Sitges is a fantastic town with excellent beaches. The town is conveniently accessible from Barcelona. It has all the major shops to stock up on groceries and a host of good restaurants.

A number of small villages radiate around Sitges and the road leading from Barcelona to Tarragona.

We also spent a lot of time in Sitges around the its beach, on the marina where there are a number of good restaurants. The sunset around Sitges were stunning although you're not looking due west.

Barcelona

Barcelona has a host of things to do in its own right and there are many internet pages dedicated to it. My only piece of advice is that part of Barcelona are not free so a number of the Gaudi places should be booked in advance on-line (Sagrade Familia, Park Guell and check the others. We went to Park Guell at mid-day and the next available slot was at 6pm)

Here are some shots at the Sargada Familia the most famous of Gaudi's monuments in Barcelona.

Monserrat

We did a day trip to Monserrat and its a place well worth a visit with its stunning views. Its a strenous hike to the top or there are finicular railways and cable cars as less strenous routes to the top. We drove to Monserat and took the funicular train up to the top. Here are some pictures of the views from Monserrat

Looking up at Monserrat

Closing

We hired cars and its worth noting that when you hire a vehicle you should check the insurance cover and that you're paying in the right currency. From the same website we have an instance where we hired one car with insurance paind for in GBP and one car paid in USD without insurance. Both from the same company - Europcar. The were vehement in stating its not their issue but I think they are doing their customers a disservice so be aware.


Well worth doing a villa holiday in southern Spain and Sitges is a great location to visit. Our family loved it and its worth going. Below are some more Flickr pictures.

2014 - 3 mins in Barcelona and Sitges

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Myanmar - Asia's uncut jewel

Introduction

Myanmar has only recently started to open its gates to the outside world as part of that process those gates are being flooded with tourists from all over the world and the big corporations of the world. Coca Cola, Pepsi and the big Asian brands are all making a play for Myanmar. So in time this country is going to become like all others. While this process will take ten years or more and we all hope that the country will retain its village feel for as long as possible. This blog post is about our visit to Myanmar in 2013. If you're planning on visiting this may help you and if your a drifter on the internet it may prompt you to visit or appreciate a rarely talked about corner of our world.

What we covered

Out trip took in the key triangular cities of Myanmar. Starting in Yangoon, flying up to Mandalay, then Bagan and finishing around Lake Inle. Other trip also take in the one of the beach locations. An whilst the Andaman Sea is one of the finest and warmest seas. We did not do a beach locations.

We went to Myanmar in March/April and it was seriously hot. Our tour had a whole day hike, the other half would never have managed it let alone our kiddies. Best time to visit likely to be November to February. This is high season. Which we went at the tail of the tourist season its was relatively easy to get around.

Yangoon (Rangoon)

We landed in Yangoon from Hong Kong. One of the most laid back cities in Asia. The traffic moves slowly and there is a lovely drift to the city. We started with a visit to Aung Sui Ki's residence where you're greeted with a lovely wall and told of her residency there.

The Shwedagon Pagoda overshadows the whole city and its the centre of attractions. The pagado is stunning day or night but its worth seeing it during both periods of the day. 

Shwedagon Pagoda - Day time ambience

Shwedagon Pagoda - Night ambience

Yangoon also has a number of other attractions the Scotts Market for any souvenir shopping, The reclining buddha pagoda (Chaukhtagyi Pagoda). We stayed at the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel - a lovely hotel with good facilities. A refreshingly cold pool to counterbalance the heat of Yangoon in March.

Mandalay

We flew Air Mandalay to Mandalay, our touch covered the Saigaing hills although we were too tired for the drive and we say the monastry from the bank of the Irrawaddy. Our real tour began with a boat ride and bullock card ride to the Bagaya Kyaung (Wooden Monastry). As you ride through the country side you notice the landscap littered with mysterious stupas and it does make you wonder what a rich civilisation this area must have been in the the past. The day finished with a walk around the U Bein Bridge. 

We toured more of Mandalay the following day covering Mingun and Shwenandaw Kayung a white stupa. 

Mandalay is the birthplace of a lot of Burmese Art and in particular marble carvings. To add to our collection we bought a lovely marble Buddha (60cm) for USD 50. It was unfinished but with the most blissful face possible. If you do be careful to make sure you have a receipt as airports check for stolen antiquities.

Happy walkers on U Bein Bridge

Bagan

No visit to Myanmar without taking in the magical city of Bagan. Rise early to see the sunrise over the mist covered stupas and transform yourself to an bygone era. Bagan has thousands of stupas and its impossible to see them all there are a few key ones that your guide will pick out for you.

The hot air baloon ride are super popular so be sure to book then well in advance. We missed out as out trip was very last minute. Other things I would recommend is to ride around Bagan assuming that its not the midde of summer.

Crowds on top of a stupa watching sunrise over Bagan

In Bagan we stayed at the Thiripyiysaya Scantuary Resort Bagan and what a location to stay at the children were happy with the pool to cool off after a hot day touring the sites. Dinner and breakfast was relaxed in facing the Irrawady river and the surrounding plains.

Pindaya and Lake Inle

From Bagan we flew to Heho airport from where the Pindaya Caves and Lake Inle are accessible. If you are short on time you would choose Lake Inle over the caves. Also there are a number of Hiking options from Pindaya to Inle should you feel energetic enough. I believe the hike take a day with an overnight stay in a monastry in the mountains. The lake, its markets and life is beautiful and gentil. The unique aspect of this place is the Inle fishermen and how the steer their boats as they fish. Sunset over the lake and absorbing its life is a great way to end any visit to Myanmar.

Paddle and Casting technique of the Inle fishermen

Lake Inle - reflections on street life

Lake Inle : Sunset conversations

Yangoon

From Inle (HeHo) we flow back to Yangoon. We had a spare day in Yangoon and then back to Hong Kong.

Our trip was arranged with a Myanmar Shalom travels and they were great. The arranged guides in each city, the flights, pick ups and drop off's. I would thoroughly recommend them to any future travellers. They seem to be a smaller company compared to a couple of their more established competitors.

Costs and Coverage

The snapshot below outlined what we covered and our tour cost were HKD 80000 or (USD 10K / GBP 6400. This was for two adults and two kids including internal air fares, guides, entry into all the sites and all drives.

More Photos of our trip at Myanmar on Flickr

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New adventures in Europe - Athens

The move back to European pastures marks the start of new adventures into Europe. Given our decision to move back to the UK originated in IndoChina, where better to visit than the equivalent in Europe - Athens, Greece. Greece in my view is the birth place of philosophy, arts and science in Europe and for a large part the world.

We arrived in Greece on Saturday evening, getting to the central of Athens is easy you have a number of options train (EUR 8), bus and Taxi (EUR 35). Given our family we opted for a taxi to take us directly to our hotel.

Athens - Day 1

We avoided doing the Acropolis on our first day as we had time and we wanted to orient ourselves with the city. So we started Sunday at Syntagma Square to watch the changing of the guard at eleven o'clock. The changing of the guard is a twenty minute ritual. But worth the entertainment value of the toe twitching legs of the gregariously dresses guards. Who are all immensely tall by anyone's standards.

We then walked along Metropoles from Syntagma Square to Monastriaki along the way you see a number of byzantine churches and Athens Cathedral (under scaffold when we went). But there is a quaint little citadel next to the cathedral.

We ended up at Monastriaki where on Sunday there is a flea market. The market is mostly tourist souvenir trap (market). There are some interesting antique stall further inside the market.

Out trip resume with walking through the Roman Market (Agora) into the Plaka area in the foothills of the the Acropolis. The area has a lot of coffee houses and restaurants catering for the masses. Great greek food available are some of these.

After a 3pm lunch we went to do some of the acropolis monuments on the lower part of the Acropolis, we saw the Temple of Hephaestus.

Our photographs for Day 1 are below:

Syntagma Square - View of the Bertagne Hotel

Interesting Street Art - Anafiotika

Syntagma Square - Changing of the guard photos

Metropoles - Kapnikarea

Anafiotika - the back streets this time with a race track

Athens Back Streets - Tatoos and Acropolis

Roman Agora (Market)

Mertopoles - Athens Cathedral a quaint chapel

Athens - Day 2

Our second day in Athens started how most people's first day would start with a hike up to the Acropolis. We walked up from behind Monastriaki station. The walk up takes about 20 minutes.

The Acropolis is a combination of structures, the leaflet that goes with the entrance ticket explains the structure of the complex. The area consists of the Propaleya (entrance), Temple of Athena, the Parthenon and a number of open air theatres.

The Acropolis took a good two hours to walk. We then walked down the hill towards the Plaka again and visited the Acropolis Museum. The museum is new and is definitely worth a visit to explain the decorative reliefs of the Parthenon. Unfortunately most of these reliefs are held by the British Museum and with the new Acropolis Museum, Athens has a great argument to have them returned to their rightful home.

We finish our day visiting the Temple of the Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. These are near the Acropolis station where we finished our day. The station is a good place to finish with lovely coffee shops and ice creams

We went on an absolutely brilliant day pictures from our visit that took the whole day below

Acropolis - Theatre of Dionysios

Acropolis - The perpetual works of the Parthenon

Acropolis - The straight curves of the corinths

Acropolis - Temple of Athens

 Day 3 - Sunion and Lake Voulgamani

After the walking on the first two days we opted for a few easier days doing museums and some day trips out of Athens the most notable of which was our trip to Sunion on the southern tip of the Attica province.

Sunion houses the temple of Poseidon perched high up on cliffs facing the Aegean sea. The trip out to Sunion takes about an hour from central Athens. You take the scenic road along the coast going south toward the southern tip. We went on a pretty grey day but if you're luckier then us that you will be greet by emerald blue seas and a fantastic drive. I get the feeling that its worth going to Athens again just to do the drive south on our own. One day ....

Our pictures from Day 3 are below

Sunion - The cliffs keep the ocean at bay

Sunion - Temple of Posiedon on a cloudy day

Our Athens list

We did the following on our trip to Athens. Day 1 and Day 2 will be the core to any trip.

Day 1

• Syntagma Square
• Changing of the guards at 11am (Sunday has a major change of guards)
• Walk along Mitropoles (road from Syntagma to Monastriaki)
• Athens Cathedral
• Kapnikarea
• Roman Agora (Market)
• Anafiotika
• Lysacretes Monument
• Temple of Hephasetus (can be done with Acropolis)

Day 2

• Acropolis - The Propylaea (Entrance)
• Acropolis - The Parthenon
• Acropolis - Theatre of Dionysios
• Acropolis - Temple of Athena
• The Odeion of Herodes (on the way down from the Acropolis)
• Acropolis Museum
• Temple of the Olympian Zeus
• Hadrian's Arch

Day 3

• National Archeological Museum (must do)
• National Gardens (can be skipped)
• Lycabettus Hill (A view point of Athens to do at sunset)

Day 4

• Lake Voilgamine
• Temple of Poseidon
• Sounion
• Byzantium Museum
• Old Olympic Stadium

We'll close this blog with a view across this wonderful city

Our Athens photos on Flickr

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