Saturday 15 December 2012

Ice Bar in Stockholm

Every time I have been to Sweden...never had time to see Stockholm city as work took me to other cities with me just being able to see the Arlanda Airport in Stockholm.

But I was clear...the day I get some time I will hit the Ice bar in Stockholm...had read quite a bit about it on the net. Finally got an opportunity in October 2012. Never been to our desi ice bar in Saket, Delhi but Stockholm to phoren hai na.  So, wahan ke ice bar men to jaana hi hai.

If I remember correctly..I spent about 290 SEK to get into this place in the Nordic Hotel. Bade khwaab the...par it turned out to be a very average experience. I think its overhyped and apart from the thrill of having made it ...its not that a great experience after all.

Its just that you are put inside a room which is like the deep freezer of your refridgerator with ice all around you. 




The only thing I enjoyed inside was the drink in an ice glass. You get some special gear...jackets to enter inside and thats it. Your entry is for 45 minutes but I guess I came out in 20 minutes flat from that place.


I saw the website of the Saket ice bar...looks much better than the one in Stockholm. Will try it sometime.

Gur making in the sugar belt of India

Last winters I used to travel regularly to the sugar belt of India...Western U.P Dhampur and surrounding areas.

One could see a number of  gur  making hutments on the road. Stopped by them at one of them and picked up some gur.

Gur is actually brown sugar... the first level of unrefined sugar used in making chikki/gacchak

First step is to take out sugar cane juice using a electric run juicer. Then this juice is boiled in a couple of stages. Interestingly the remnants of juiced sugarcane i.e molasses, is dried and used to boil the sugarcane juice.




Later when the concentrate becomes thick it is put in a chamber and left to cool. Pieces cut, stacked and sold on the highway. Minimum quanity...one piece...20 kgs.

We have landed...Chaos


Sitting in a plane...the moment the air hostess announces...we have landed...there is chaos on the plane.



Suddenly you hear seat belts clicking open and people get up to open the overhead stowage and out come the cabin baggage. Its a sort of a race...as people hurry to jump out of the plane even before it has been parked at the gate or the gates have been opened.

And with the bags in their hand....people wait for the next 10-15 minutes for the gates to open and people to move out.

I wonder how much of a difference in minutes does it make if people were to sit patiently till the gates are opened. I dont think the difference would be more than a minute or two.






Even when I have been the last person to get out of the plane...I see most of our hurried passengers waiting outside either at the baggage belts or those who dont have checked in baggage ...outside the loo or in the taxi queue.

It would help for the air hostess to include in her safety instructions...Please relax for a few minutes in you seats...we will shortly announce deboarding.

Friday 14 December 2012

Autos at Airports

Air travel was an elitist thing in India for a long time and I guess that was one of the reasons why autos were never allowed at airports. But with budget airlines coming in...everyone gets to travel on air.

Autorickshaw (the three wheeler taxi in Delhi and many other areas) is one of my favourite machine.

But unfortunately its banned at a number of places including the airport in Delhi. You cant be dropped at the airport by an auto. You will probably be dropped a kilometre away and from there you will have to walk.

I found this signboard below at the Chennai airport. I happen to take an auto to the airport at that time and got dropped just in front of this signboard. Interestingly there was a van waiting there for a free drop to the airport...that van was run by Sky Cabs...a radio taxi company in Chennai.

Its the same when you get out of an airport. I have seen many passengers walking to the main road outside the airport to get an auto.

Changing track, I had heard that Mumbai is a more equal city than Delhi...its was evident when I found autos available right outside Mumbai airport. I guess we will have to get Delhi to be more equal by having autos at the airport. Incidentally, five stars in Delhi dont allow autos...but I have heard its not the same in Mumbai.










Interestingly, Chandigarh being a Punjabi city culturally also should treat the autos in a similar manner at the airport. But I found one auto at the airport in Chandigarh. This guy quickly dropped a person at one corner and zipped away


By the way, they sell toy autos at the International and National terminal.

Lingerie market in Istanbul

I am feeling a bit shy writing about this...one of my first few entries on my travel blog and its about lingerie.

Chalo..anyways let me drop these thoughts...and move on with my writing. i

Lingerie is sold in markets around the world but in many of my travels I am yet to come across an exlusive lingerie market with a whole lane dedicated to it. Yes...we do have the paranthewali gali and dariba as exclusive lanes for paranthas and jewellery....and its the same around the world.

The bazaars of Istanbul are world famous...the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar and even the lanes leading to it. Roaming around in Istanbul while walking up from Sirkeci towards the Grandbazaar I came across this street or should I say streets selling lingerie and underwear exclusively.

I hadnt seen such a street ever...I had seen a cluster of shops may be 10-20 shops together in our very own Karol Bagh or even Stockholm but never seen it elsewhere (Havent been to Thailand,Paris or Amsterdam...other places where I could find something similars...I guess)

Istanbul is the only Islamic country of Europe and to find such a street there was surprising for me. But I guess I also need to see that it is also one of the pubbing hotspots of the world.

Didnt get inside any of the shops apart from one but even from the windows it seemed it would beat some of the best I have seen on television or some of the other markets.

One of the shops intriqued me...with some funny underwear with cartoons. A very interesting  shop.

I guess there would be a good market for these funny underwear in India as well. Imported or Made in India.


Tuesday 11 December 2012

Indian flag on GT Road

My home is Himachal...so I often drive on the GT Road from Delhi to Chandigarh.

Ever since hoisting the Indian flag became democratic...I have been amused by this huge Indian flag hoisted along the highway near Shahbad I guess. If you are on the road...you cannot miss this...because its actually huge..one of the largest I have seen. Dont go by the pic I have posted below...it somehow doesnt capture the magnanimity of it.


Crossed that point several times but forgot to take a picture...this time I parked my car and clicked the picture. Didnt have the time to enquire about its story.Next time I will check who is the guy behind the flag.

Musafir Travels Pvt. Ltd.

Finally the Musafir starts his travel blog. Had been thinking for centuries to start my travel blog aur aaj finally shuru ho hi gaya.

Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dum nikle...

Perhaps hidden in the name of this blog is also my desire to start a travel company sometime...hence the name ...pvt. ltd.

Samajh nahi aata...have been through so many journeys and so many places...where to start.

Also...why am I writing...for my blogs to be of help to other travellers?...May be but not really. For me to be able to share with friends and people...where I have been?...not really considering that I havent even posted photos of my journies on facebook.

So, neither am I wanting to be a travel writer and nor a social guy...but  there are bits of that in me. Then why did I start this blog...

*
*
*

I think its my heart wanting me to write about some places and some journeys...which I really enjoyed....so here they are.