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The BLOG! You Tube! Check out someof my videos on youtube: My Video of Skydive Jump: From my trip to Spiti Valley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5-WbeFtpGw Tribute to GIR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9c0D_u8x1s
Peru Trip I
went to Peru for spring break. We were a group of 30 people from Babson
who went for 10 days to the wonderful country.I learnt in business
school that instant gratification is what everyone looks for. So here
are the pictures from the trip
There are two albums http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106292&l=e2a95&id=748825715 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=106401&l=83c4e&id=748825715 City for Lima:
We reached the city of Lima and stayed with our friend’s family at his
mom’s house and saw the best of Peruvian hospitality. The city is very
diverse. Although located on the coast, it is very dry. We got a lot of
sun (coming from cloudy and snowy Boston, it was a welcome relief).
Downtown financial district has beautiful buildings, the place we were
staying at had beautiful houses and places to visit. But driving
through the city, we also saw some real poor sections of the city. I
saw two Indian auto companies in Peru – Bajaj and Mahindra. I saw lots
of parallels between Lima and Delhi but still they are as different
as…..Delhi and Lima….what else did you expect? We went out to a few
clubs at night and the music was amazing. The crowd, the music and
everything was fun. Once we had dinner at our friend’s place and had
Pisco Sours – a traditional Peruvian drink. I would leave the task of
researching about it to you guys. The
city tour was a little boring because of the long bus ride but still
saw a lot of interesting places. We also visited Babson’s partner
University in Lima – University of Centrum. The most interesting was to
see a display of bones in a cathedral which was built by the Spanish
back in 1500’s. The cathedral had three floors of graves below the
building since it was built. About 50 years ago some Japanese
researches thought that digging out the graves would be a good idea.
And then they came up with the idea of putting them on display. Cusco:
We then flew to Cusco which is up in Andes and about 3,300 mts. Some of
our friends got sick, I mean really sick. SO next time you fly to high
altitude be prepared to first adopt to the new altitude. It’s a
beautiful city, a great combination of old and new architecture. The
city square has medieval look to it and with clobber stones, around, u
feel someone has transported you back in time. Had
the first sample of Coca tea. To give a context, Coca leaves are raw
material for cocaine. The leaves are not toxic by themselves. However,
one would fail a drug test if they were to go through one after having
coca tea. It’s a refreshing drink especially in high altitudes. Sacred Valley: We
then took a bus to Sacred Valley, a beautiful valley on the foothills
of the Andes and where the old Inca ruins start. The best part for me
was hanging out at this lounge bar which was all wood, with rugs of
lama skin lying around and a few swings. Just lied down on the rug with
a beer in hand and listened to local music. Loved it. Inca Trail:
The next day we took a small bus ride to the start of the Inca Trail.
Again a beautiful drive but I really missed my motorcycle as we went
through the curves. Inca Trail is more than 500 year old trail built by the Incas to go to Macchu Picchu.
(Please click on links to see more details over these). The hike was
going to be for four days but we did it in three. Babson students
always do things faster, better. We hiked for 38 kms in 3 days, went
upto altitudes of 4,200 meters, faced rain, falling rocks and ferocious
animals. Worst of all no access to phone, internet and the blackberries
were not working. Not even an TV! How the hell I was supposed to get
updated on the Brittany Spears news? Anyways, these turned out to be
the best hike for me ever. We had a team of porters with us. At lunch
of the first day we had a surprise. We had a proper tent pitched with
tables laid out complete with cutlery and clean plates and they even
had warm water and soap to wash our hands. We were treated to fresh
cooked food unlike most camping where you have to do with canned food.
After lunch we left, the porters packed the tents and everything else,
went past us and when we reached our night halt spot, they already had
our sleeping tents and everything else already pitched. It was a great
experience. Had some beer (thanks to an entrepreneurial lady who was
selling it) and had a nice sleep in the beautiful valley. Next day
turned out b tough to me, thanks to a heavy backpack I was carrying, my
tendency to get AMS, heavy rains and 1,200 meters climb and then all
the way down. This is when we first saw the clobber stones put up by
the Incas and the architecture of old ruins. I can write in full
details but it will go on for pages. We reached Macchu Picchu on day 3
evening and caught up with the rest of the gang (they took a train from
Cusco). On Day 3 me and Andy were on a roll (a good day after my
disastrous day on Day 2). We climbed down 800 meters and like a million
steps in 2 hours. The path was all stones, with no proper structure. We
were tired like hell and did not want to see anymore steps and our
worst fears came true when we realized we had to still climb a lot of
steps from the bus station to our hotel. Anyways, saw civilization,
cars, phones, TV after three days. It was great to realize I can still
live without them. Took a much needed shower, shaved, relaxed the
muscles and hit the town! Had some nice Pisco Sours, dinner and chatted
with the rest of the group. Macchu Picchu:
One of the seven wonders of the world, deserves that recognition. The
old stone houses, the architecture, layout of the city looks like they
used latest SimCity to design it. I was wondering who might have had a
larger market share of construction equipment when they were building
these cities: Caterpillar? Kawasaki? Or some local company. I do not
know if these companies were global back then. I
was wondering all the way how the hell they managed to break those
stones and form them into cubes? They used just to tools – A Wooden
widget and water. These rocks back then were still soft as they are
volcanic rocks. They would make small slots in the rock, insert wooed
wedges and pour water on top. As the water froze, it expanded the wood
the rock, being soft from the inside cracked open revealing smooth
sides. We then went up Wayna Picchu. The mountain u see in all the
pictures of Macchu Picchu. It turned out to be tough especially after
three days of intense hike but it was worth it. The view from up there
is breath taking. As the clouds flew over Macchu Picchu in the valley
below, I just stood there and absorbed the essence of nature, human
spirit to build these structure 600 years ago and human ability to
achieve anything they have ever wished for. Hiked down, took the bus
back to town and then the train and another bus to Cusco. The drive was
beautiful. You will see in the pictures. I did wish I was on my bike!
But I was in company of my friends, something I cherish as much.
Partied like crazy in Cusco and left for Lima the next day Beach House: We
spent about two days in the beach house. We bought food supplies,
beverages to complement the food. The beach was amazing. The waves were
big, beers were cold and sun was bright. Everything we wanted. Most
played beach volleyball while I and Vijay built a Babson logo on sand.
It was a lot of effort but it paid off. We literally left our mark! In
the night, I partied like I have never before. WE went to this awesome
club, great music, open air and our own private table. Alex knew the
owner of the place and we were taken well are of by the bouncer and the
bar tenders. Had a lot of Vodka, Chivas Regal, red bull and water. We
danced till 07:00 AM. Yes till 7 in the morning. It was crazy. I have
never seen the sunrise while partying. Next day was again at the beach
for most people but I was working on a paper I had to submit on Monday.
15,000 ft and below September 30, 2007
(For links to pics and video please scroll down but do read the blog for the whle experience)
What gift did you give to your mom on her last birthday? I gave her shivers for hers. 30th September 1955 was the year when the most beautiful woman on earth was born, 52 years her crazy son jumped off an airplane.
I called her a day earlier and told her I had bought a bike. She was silent and then very upset that I had done something very stupid. I told her I was kidding and then told her that I was going TANDEM SKYDIVING. All she said was be careful and have fun. She is the best mother ever. She encourages me to live my dreams or just that she knows she cannot help it.
We drove up to Lebanon. Not the one in middle-east but the one in Maine. Five Indians, driving in a German car in US to a city named after middle east country to do a sport invented in Europe. Sounds crazy? It is. It was me, Raghuraj, Abhishek, Veer and Amol. We left early morning to get there on time but had to wait for a long time to get on the plane. If you are going skydiving and your reservation says 08:00 AM, it probably means you will take off not before 01:00 PM. We saw the plane taking off, going around circles to gain altitude and then leaving behind small black dots all over the sky. Abhishek was really worried that the plane was not reliable and it was leaving debris behind. Soon these dots were getting bigger and finally he realized that they were not plane’s debris but skydivers. We could make out who were experienced divers and who were tandem jumpers. The cameramen came the fastest and landed with high speeds followed by solo experienced jumpers. Then came the tandem jumpers with two people tied to one parachute. I do not know what is more dangerous, trusting tow person’s life on one parachute with one of them expert or one person per parachute who might know little about skydiving. I prefer the later but chose the former for some other factors.
Our names were finally called out. The first batch was Veer, Amol and Raj. They got dressed, prayed and got on the Cessna Airplane .Soon they were floating down like birds. I shot a few videos of them landing. Next it was our turn. My instructor was Paul and Peter would be my cameraman. I got dressed in a nice red jumpsuit. Got a video shot and got onto the airplane. Now if you see this airplane, it is nothing like the ones you have flown in. First, there are no air hostesses, no drinks are served on board and the good part is no annoying pilot announcements. There is a irony though. Whenever you fly in passenger jet, there are like a 1000 instructions for safety and all you do is stick to your seats. Here, when we were actually going to jump off the plane, no announcements. They could’ve said “You guys are gonna jump of an airplane, please tie the person behind you to yourself.” We got up to 15,000 ft. The last time I was at this altitude, I was riding my bike. It was in Spiti Valley. So different. Last time I riding on a straight road at 60 mph and this time falling vertically down at 120 mph. Jumped off the airplane. A lot of people might think I was scared looking at video but I was far from it. I was just trying to listen to the instructor. Anyways, it was much less scary than you think it is. We did a Barrel, which is basically flipping on the back. The ground was still far far away but I was approaching it fast. Then Peter (my cameraman) was shooting me flying below me. I was surprised how much control he had. It was pure ecstacy. The speed, the wind, the sound of wind, the beautiful green valley below and the sheer rush of adrenaline were at levels I had never experienced before. Jumping off 15,000 ft is less scary than being hung at a height of 200 ft which I have been in a few rides. After a great free fall, the parachute came out. I was suddenly being sucked up into the sky and once the parachute was open and I saw the ground, I was consumed by the earth. I floated over the green meadows and flew through the clouds, the whole experience was heavenly. Paul let me control the parachute for a while and I will say, I go the hang of it. I did pull it too hard once and took a sharp left turn but then got a hang of it. We landed pretty fast compared to other jumpers. The first thought I had after landing was ‘when should I do it again’.
Got my DVD and my camera roll of the fall and hit the road. Thanks to Veer who let me drive his BMW 5 series, the end of the day was awesome too. It was a wonderful car to drive.
SO ladies and gentlemen, if you want thrill in your lives, go skydiving, otherwise just visit my webpage to hear my experiences.
The pics of the adventure:
My Video of the Jump: Hiking, Biking and building friendship along the way Septem 19th 2007 I am back. After getting hold of my life managing between classes, on campus job and partying, I got an opportunity to do what I love the most – Outdoor activities. My friend called me and asked me if I would accompany him and his roommate for a camping trip. My friend could not accompany us so, me and Nakul decided to go together. I knew Nakul for sometime through Babson Energy Club and realized I should’ve been friends with him long back. Renting the equipment – tents, sleeping beds and pads, Bunsen burner took a lot of time. We could hit the road only by 1300 hrs and we knew we could not summit today. We drove to Mount Mansfield, VT. The base is Stowe, a very wealthy city. I had never seen two Rolls Royce in one single day. There we many classic cars in the city and not in museum but on the roads. Aston martins, Masserratis, Jaguars, Porsches, you name it and it was there. After a getting a little lost, thanks to a strange map, we finally reached the base. We parked the car and started hiking. We camped at 2400 ft because regulations do not allow to camp beyond that. We chose a area in the wilderness as we did not want to camp on the regular camp site. Cleared the area and pitched the tent. When we opened the tent to pitch it, I told Nakul that this was the first time I was camping. There was this moment of silence in the middle of a forest, he looked at me probably he was thinking – this is the first time I am camping too. Luckily he had camped before. However, with my engineering skills I did not take any time to figure out how to pitch the tent. In fact since Nakul had never worked with this tent, I had to figure out the most parts. Once we got settled down, we started cooking. We had ready to eat Indian food and some soup and stuff. Thanks to amazing culinary skills of Nakul, we had the best meal ever. It was pure art – ripping the packet, pouring the contents in the pan and then stirring it to heat it. It was pure art and takes a seasoned chef to do it perfectly. After eating a hearty meal, we cleared everything out and realized that there are a few hungry animals out there and the smell of food would attract them. We took care of that and went to sleep. Got up, packed and left for the hike.
We were hiking from the west side and took the Sunridge trail. It’s a C rated trail so the hike was not difficult and offers great views. I would suggest this trail for amateurs and families. As we ascended towards the summit, the vegetation was changing. There is a little detour on the trail which takes you to ‘cantilever rock.’ We took it and saw a huge rock hanging on our head. We got out of its way just in case. Headed back on our main trail and soon we climbed upto the Tundra line. The vegetation was much sparse and the trail was now mostly on flat rocks. The most inspiring were three ladies who must’ve been in their early 60’s but were hiking pretty fast. In the valley below, the colors were changing but real fall was still a few weeks ahead. We finally made it to the summit, called the Chin with an elevation of 4,300 ft. The scene was beautiful with mountains and lakes all across the valley. Rested our butts a little bit and took another trail down (Hell Brook Trail). This one was DD rated and hence was much tougher. Take this trail only if you are a seasoned hiker and its better if you take this on the way up. Most of the trail was just the stream and lots of loose rocks. Nakul tool a little fall on his knee and it started hurting real bad. So be careful and look out for loose rocks. I also slipped on one and luckily was holding a tree and I was swinging on it. Slipped twice more and landed on my back and thanks to all the equioment I was carrying, I did not get hurt. Made it to the base and Nakul was waiting for me. WE had found a Moose antler the night before and had left it near our camp site. WE tried to look for it but it was missing along with the trash we had left behind (to be picked up later) . I think we left them too close to the trail and someone took them. Anyways, soon we were back on the road. Missed the exit to I-93 because we thought we had to take the I-95 and ended up in Western Mass about 70 miles away from home. Got back to Nakul’s gf’s place at midnight. She served me some great chicken korma and dal. Got back home at about 01:00 AM. It was a great weekend where I conquered a mountain and made a great friend.
The pics are at: Biking
Now that I found another crazy guy who also finds ways of pushing his abilities to the limits, I also got a chance to do what I had been planning but did not do. We went out biking to Calahan state park in Framingham . It was a great bike trail with some great slopes to speed and lots fo plces where you can jump your bike. We got back a little early thinking of the long week ahead and then he taight me how to ride long boards. I got a little hang of it but I need to practice more.
Deutschland I went to Germany for a week. Check out my experience. Coming back to Babson August 10th - August 21st 2007 After a great summer in Canada it was time to head back to Boston. I was up for a surprise when I got back to my place in Wellesley. The house was now occupied by China. It was a total invasion. Not that I am complaining. I had three chinese girls from the in-coming first year living in the house. They were all excited to start the new life in a new country and a new school. Reminded me of my earlier days in Basbon with hope in the eyes and ethisiasm in everything I did. After a year, the hope is a reality and enthusiasm has given place to new ideas. I met all my friends and it was good to be back. Its strange how the perception of home keeps changing. A place which was so alien a year ago is suddenly home. Before the school starts there were more exciting things to come by. Germany trip being one of them. We were supposed to fly on Friday August the 17th from Boston. Got the VISA sorted out on Tuesday of that week and I had no idea what the trip had in store for us. On Friday, some truck driver decided to get a little drunk and drove his truck across the median on I-93 blocking the traffic at both sides and hence making sure that some of us missed our flights. Yes, I missed my flight. The airline said they could put us on the next plane for a minimal charges of $2,200 per person. Meeting Andy at Frankfurt, Autobahns, historical city of Berlin, meeting with our clients and our German colleagues seemed to be impossible. After making all possible efforts to convince the airline officials that we need to get to Germany at all costs, we decided to go back and talk to our coordinator at Babson. On Saturday we decided to head to Boston instead of sulking in our rooms cursing ourselves and the airline. It turned out to be a great day. Four Indians hung out at Quincy market, ate various cuisines of the world, watched an Indian movie and ended the day with a spicy Indian dinner. Shweta's non-stop chatter, Balaji's profound thoughts, Pawan's never ending stream of (supposedly) knowledge about everything on earth and incredible GPS made sure we never had a dull moment. On Saturday night we got an Email from our program coordinator that she had booked us on flights to Germany on Sunday. I do not know how to thank her. Here are a few pics from the day in Boston. Shweta still wondering why a short train ride should cost Rs. 80. At Quincy Market  Hopewell Rocks - Natural Wonders of the world July 29 2007 Last weekend, I decided to visit the wonders which Bay of Fundy provides. One of them is the Reversing Falls in Saint John. The bay experiences high levels of tide activity. During low tides, then river flows naturally into the sea but the high tides are pretty big so as they rise, it starts to oppose the flow of water. The river flow starts to slow down and at a point one can see standstill water when the force of river coming down equals that of incoming tide and then river starts to flow in opposite direction. This happens twice a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (366 days during a leap year) and 100 years a century. I tried to capture the different stages on camera but it will be difficult to make out from the pictures as it cloudy. Then on Sunday, I decided to visit 'Hopewell Rocks' - one of the natural wonders of the world. The whole geography of Bay of Fundy is unique. The depth of ocean floor at Hopewell Cape is very shallow and gets deeper and deeper near Saint John. Due to this, when 100 billion gallons of Atlantic high tides comes into the bay, the tides go upto as high as 14 meters. Due to this phenomenon, there is a lot of movement around the rocky hills of hopewell cape and hence the rocks get shaped in beautiful sculptures. It is like nature has been working for thousands of years to produce one master piece after another. If you are interested to learn more, I guess wikipedia will come in handy. Now for the road trip to Hopewell Rocks. Sunday afternoon, a phonecall to Ryan. Answers the phone and I instantly know he just wants to take some rest. So I hit the road on my own. As the turn the ignition of my Chevrolet Monte Carlo, the engine comes to life and the green monster roars to get on the road. I love the way this car behaves on a highway. Its great around the corners and hitting 90 mph is very easy, given cops are not in sight. Remember its a 1999 model. No wonder it wins so many NASCAR champinships. Anyways, back on the road. The dirve across the Bay of Fundy was beautiful and sunny and very scenic. Soon after crossing Alma, saw the three elements of nature in perfect harmony. Clouds floating above the sea with hills in the background. Man was I missing my girlfriend at that time. After reaching the cape, I headed straight to the rock formations. Entry fee is $6.75 with student ID. Did I tell you that during low tides one can actually walk on teh ocean floor. See it to belive it. Now it was time to take a stroll on the 'ocean floor' and click numerous pictures. The shapes of the rocks keep changing and older foramtions keep falling! |
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