Fidgety Foots

Our travelogues have been long neglected. Here’s a quick update.

Hawaii:

We went to Kauai in February (14th-18th). Too short - if you’re ever going to Hawaii, go for at least a week, otherwise you’ll come away dissatisfied.

Kauai was known to the Polynesians as the healing island, and so it is. There’s something about the place that makes normally harried people stop, breathe and say hello.

It was a great trip - here are the highlights for me.

1. The land: Sunil dubbed Kauai “keralafornia”…a combo of Kerala and California. It had palm and deciduous trees with broad leaves as well as coastal pines (coastal pines were confused by the lack of snow and grew branches that pointed to the sky). The island was born of volcanic activity, so was created in isolation. The soil is bright red in sharp contrast to the green that carpets the island. Kauai’s volcanic crater is deep and lush with waterfalls striping its walls.
2. The Pacific: I know what you’re going to say - we have the pacific right by us in California. Not like this, temperamental, intolerant and scary. When we were there, the surf was unseasonably high, and we got to see 20 foot waves smack into each other from 3 different directions. Check out the sunset on Ke’e beach where the waves obfuscate the sun at points. We got to see the sunrise almost every morning, and that was breathtaking.
3. Connecting with random strangers: We ended up meeting and chatting with really interesting people, from a book store clerk (who gave us reading suggestions and 10% off), to a whale lover (who taught us about humpback whales and agreed about the unworthiness of humans in general), to vacationing retirees.

The pics of our trip are here - http://picasaweb.google.com/sunilsc/Kauai2008/

Tahoe trip:

Went to Tahoe last weekend for a mini ski vacation. There was fresh powder on the ground and sunshine in the air….lovely combination. We snowshoed one day, skied another.

Pics are at http://picasaweb.google.com/sunilsc/TahoeTripMarch2008

We spent Labor Day weekend at Yosemite. Not the valley (with the madding crowd), but high up in the mountains. We camped at Tuolumne (two-aw-lu-me) meadows.

Day 1: The first day (or evening, since we reached around 4pm) was spent acclimatizing to the altitude and setting up camp.

Day 2: Woke up fairly early, after breakfast eating and lunch-packing, set out to Lembert dome. This is a 6-ish mile hike to the top of a big granite rock that offers views of Cathedral peak, Vogelsang and Mount Dana. The first 2 miles were steeply uphill and that coupled with the altitude meant that there was a lot of huffing and puffing involved for the first one hour. However, we acclimatized well by the time we got to the base of the dome and tackled the final sharp incline on hard granite quite easily. Views from Lembert dome were spectacular and we spent about half and hour on top soaking in the sun and scenery.

We made a small detour on the way back to stop at Dog lake and eat lunch. Walked around the lake, Sunil swam for a bit (Sunil’s comment-water was frigging cold) while Teju took a nap. The lake was very calming, with tall golden reeds fringing sky-filled water. We saw deer watering at the lake and dragonflies everywhere.

At camp, we dined on bhelpuri (thanks to Archana) and bhindi subzi (thanks to Moni). Late at night we went to Toulumne meadows and sat in moon washed meadow…..this was the most special part of the day.

Day 3: Tried to get an early start, but slept in due to previous night’s moonlit-meadow activity. The plan was to hike the Glen Aulin trail, a 12 mile hike through moderately rough country along the Tuolumne river. The hike was lovely….very quiet walking. The river peek-a-booed throughout the trail, disappearing for a time only to make an appearance around a bend. Of course, we were flanked by mountains on all sides. Cascades, meadows, waterfalls, mountains, all ingredients to a perfect hike.

The hike ended at the Glen Aulin high Sierra camp which sits at the base of a waterfall. The water was a brilliant green, and as we found out while trying to wade our way through it, it was because of a thick slippery layer of algae. We spent a couple of hours at the falls eating lunch and basking in the sun, Sunil as usual waded in the water for a while (Sunil’s comment-water was frigging cold). Headed back to Tuolomne meadows and were rewarded with a view of the setting sun lighting up the meadows with a (nearly) full moon in the background.

On the last day we decided to drive through Tioga pass and visit Mono Lake. Tioga pass through the Sierras is a beautiful but narrow road with a sheer drop on one side. The pay-off is the spectacular view and stops at alpine lakes along the route. We drove all the way to Mono lake to see the Tufa formation (calcium carbonate deposits). At noon we decided to head back to the Bay area which meant driving back through the Tioga pass and Yosemite. We made good time since we avoided the Labor Day traffic and the drive home took about 5 hours with a stop for lunch.

Avoiding the valley during the long weekend was a good decision as some of our friends testified being stuck in a perpetual parking lot down there. Looking back at the trip, I think we finally saw the true allure of Yosemite. Can anyone say “Backpacking”?

Photos can be viewed on the “Photos” page (link on the right of the page under “Timepass”)

Spent a day and a half camping at Point Reyes - a rugged sweep of coast punctuated by soft beaches. Badri/Archie joined us.

We had reserved a campsite with a view at Coast Camp (FYI, all campsites are accessible by foot only, but there’s a youth hostel that’s accessible by road).

The campsite was an easy hike - 3 miles from the youth hostel across fairly flat land on the Coast trail. We reached it in about 1.5 hours, set up tents and headed out to the beach.

The Pacific was somber that night. We stood on rocks looking out to sea as the waves crashed and frothed around us…I can’t begin to describe it…..come visit us and we’ll show you. The Zen club of Berkeley was meditating on the beach and I truly can’t think of a better place to empty the mind. You barely even have to try, the ocean seems to swallow you.

We went back to camp for dinner and found ourselves visited. The campsite had a food locker and we had forgotten to put our breakfast bars in it, so raccoon-bhai(s) paid us a visit. There were muddy little paw prints all over our packs and inside our tent, the pouch with the bars had been unzipped and emptied. Reluctant admiration is in order - unzipped, not chewed through.

Dinner was maggi + taco mix. I think the raccoons like maggi-smell because they kept coming into camp and we had to fend them off with shrill yells. After dinner we went back to the beach and made a driftwood fire. Then back to camp and bed with the sound of the sea to lull us.

Next morning was good for wildlife spotting- we saw quail, elk and deer from camp.The return hike was by the Laguna trail that took us inland. There was a pack of turkey vultures along the trail, at least 10 of them, all HUGE. Some were wheeling above us, some had sentry duty atop the pines. They had an interesting process for the changing of the guard on the pines - one bird would take off just as the other landed in the smoothest handoff I’ve ever seen. We finally managed to tear ourselves away from them, got back to the car and returned home.

Overall, it was a very easy backpacking trip, the hike was not as strenous as the one at Sunol and this time the backpacks were a lot more comfortable. Cant wait for the next one already!!

Spent the past weekend in Chicago with friends and family.

We played, gossipped, reminisced, watched movies, told bad jokes, ate impossible quantities…did everything we missed over the last year.

Back to reality/sanity now.

Last weekend we finally visited one of the most popular tourist spots in California-Lake Tahoe. We had made camping reservations at Emerald Bay State Park in March and even back then, there were few spots open. We realized why when we rounded a bend on Hwy 50 and caught our first glimpse of the blue waters of Lake Tahoe, the word breathtaking immediately comes to mind. We spent the first day acclimatizing to the altitude (6500 ft) and indulging in the time-honored traditions (or so I hear) of photographing Emerald Bay, hiking the Eagles Falls trails and visiting Vikingsholm. Vikingsholm is totally overrated, Eagles Falls is impressive especially with the snowpack run-off in full flow and Emerald Bay’s name does it justice.

We spent the evening on the banks of the lake near our campsite watching a rather magnificent sunset.

Day two was the designated “lets punish ourselves” day and the chosen activity was a hike to the summit of Mt. Tallac (9300 ft) in the Desolation Wilderness area from the Fallen Leaf Lake trailhead. We stopped at Soda Springs on the way - a bubbling well of carbonated water. If only we’d remembered to bring the cola mix…

We proceeded to walk through some of the loveliest terrain either of us has seen. How should I describe the hike; one word-humbling. As I was telling Teju, every now and then we humans gloat about our accomplishments and our status as the superior species, and then nature in her quiet way figures out how to dispell that notion. Calm alpine lake surrounded by majestic pines, with snow capped peaks reflected in clear blue water will do that to you. There were plenty of ooh-aah scenery moments but none of them compared to the view at Lake Gilmore.

We decided to break for a quick lunch at Lake Gilmore and then continue on to the last stretch of the trail which was a 1.6 mile hike to the summit. The only problem was that it was getting a little late (2.00pm), the trail was under banks of snow and there were clouds gathering in the distance. A few hikers coming down told us that the trail below the tree line was wiped out, but that as long as we kept going uphill we were headed in the right direction and once we were above the tree line we would see the summit trail. And press on we did.

The hike became decidedly tougher with slushy snow, rocks and a marked increase in steepness. However, the pay-off was getting to view the grandeur of the Sierras spread out below us with no one else to share it with. An hour later, we had just crossed the tree line at about 9000 ft when dark thunderclouds started to make their presence felt and a bolt of lightning in the distance persuaded us to turn around and head back despite the summit being in our sights. Trekking down on the barren exposed hillside with thunder and lightning was very unnerving, but the best thing to do was to just keep moving which is what we did. By the time we were safely among the trees, the rain was coming down hard so we found a nice spot near Lake Gilmore and waited for the rain to subside. The trek back was uneventful and we were back at our car by 6.30pm, a total hike of about 11 miles with 2500 ft elevation gain in 8 hours. It was without a doubt the best hike we have done to date and that is saying something.
On the third day we decided to try our hand at para-sailing. We drove to South Tahoe city and got slotted in to para-sail at Timber cove. Great experience and a definite must-do if you ever get a chance. Soaring 1200ft above dark blue waters at 30 mph is a definite thrill!!

Overall, it was a great trip. Given a chance we would probably avoid the main Lake Tahoe area completely as we found it very touristy, perfect for a family trip, but not if you are looking for something more remote. We are already planning a return trip, but next time we are planning to do a backpacking trip out to one of the alpine lakes and stay in the wilderness for a day or two.

Click here for more  photos of the trip

This Memorial day weekend we decided to test our skills at backpacking. The chosen destination was the Sunol East Bay Regional park which had been recommended by our friends as a good location for backpacking virgins. It was a short trip…from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning.

We had planned to hike to the campsite (only 5 miles away) in 2 hours. 2 hours did I say? Hah! 5 miles uphill with a 30-40 pound pack resting on bony hips is like 200000 miles of regular walking. Or grim plodding, which is what we were doing by the end. We took all of 5 hours to make it to camp.

The campsites were unlike any we’d seen before. They were set 10 mins walk away from each other, so we could literally pretend we were the only 2 humans around.

We set up camp, ate dinner, watched the sun set, crawled our aching selves into sleeping bags and passed out.

Memorable moments are listed below.

Little frogs: Walking through heather, we came across hundreds of miniature frogs crossing the trail to get to a small pond. This is a pic of the frog on Sunil’s palm.

Exhausted dog: Half-way through the hike we were taking a break from our self-inflicted pain when a couple with a small dog (think Men in Black) came by. The dog immediately ran towards us and came to a standstill in our shadows. We became aware of a loud wheezing disturbance which we realized was the poor dog huffing and puffing for all it was worth. The dog’s owners kept calling it and even started walking but to no avail. Lionheart here had no intention of budging from our shadows and finally just plopped on the ground in the shade. Last we checked the owners had walked back and given the last of their water to Mr. Endurance who was sprawled out in a shady nook.

Sunset on the hills was glorious. After setting up camp, we went up and watched the sun set behind the hills. It started out a slow golden creep, then suddenly we were wrapped in a smoky orange haze. Totally worth the hike.

Cows which surrounded our campsite and moooooooed loudly at each other through the evening. There is a fence that is supposed to separate cows and campers, but it clearly doesn’t work. These were HUGE, muscular mammas who stared fixedly at us when we passed them.

The return was uneventful. We woke up early next morning, ate breakfast and were packed up by 8.15am. We did not linger too much at the campsite thinking that it would take a few hours to get back. But we took the short route (3 miles) back most of which was downhill and were back at our car by 9.45 am. So to emphasize, we took the long way uphill and the short route downhill, hmm, yup definitely makes sense.

This little hike so close to home brought us strange and new experiences. I guess travel doesn’t mean a long trip.

We went to see butterflies this weekend. Not many varieties, just one very interesting one. Funny, we used to see so many of them in India, but without context they were just pretty little bugs. Now I have a new respect for the species.

The butterflies we saw are called monarch butterflies and they migrate down to California all the way from Canada. And they do so at 20mph (can you imagine that drive at that speed??), so I guess butterflies are patient and persistent. Anyway, they come down here to get warm and they’ve found a nice breeding ground at the Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont. It’s an old farm with a tall eucalyptus grove that is just BRIMMING with butterflies!

We took a nice little tour that showed us the chrysalis (the golden dot on it is pigment, by the way), the caterpillar and finally the butterflies in all their glory.

It’s very easy to tell male from female butterfly – the males have slimmer lines and two dots for scent glands (even in the butterfly world, its the males that stink). It’s even easier when they’re locked together, because then interested observers (i.e. us) can compare and contrast their bodies. I imagine this is how aliens feel when they watch porn movies.

We learned that they can migrate down to California like normal species, and by doing so they extend their life san from 4-6 weeks to 4 months. There’s nothing like warm climate for the constitution……..so if you are hot you will live longer (I guess Teju and I will live to be quite old then). Anyway, I digress. On the way back to Canada, the fluttery travelers die. Their babies hatch, fly on and die. This goes on until the FIFTH generation finally reaches Canada. I’m not sure that I would ever leave a place if I knew I wasn’t going to get very far, but genetic makeup is a wonderful thing.

All in all, it was the perfect two hours – educational and recreational.

We’re back after a three week trip to India. As always, it lifted our spirits to be home, meet family and friends, and participate in the rituals of daily life in India.

Bangalore is evolving strangely. Some parts seem to be caught in a time warp while others have thundered on to modernity. The populace doesn’t know what to make of it. I saw people on scooters trying to talk with cell phone squooshed between ear and shoulder, people using modern parking lots with no idea of parking lot etiquette (yes, there is such a thing)….I could go on, but basically, no one knows quite how to use the shiny newness of international Bangalore.

Some things are reassuringly the same. A Bajaj scooter can still comfortably carry 3 adults and 2 children. College students still congregate a Brahmin’s Coffee Bar which had maintained it’s high standard of idly-vada-khara bath for as long as I can remember. Cars will still honk furiously at an errant cow on the road, but won’t move until the cow has passed. Temples smell the same and the pujaris look the same (why wouldn’t they?). The Infant Jesus church has still the power to move me (and I’m as un-religious as they come). The paddy fields glow impossibly green on the way to Mysore, with Garudas circling over them.

There’s also the new and exciting Bangalore, the Bangalore of possibility where wonderful things are always around the corner. As a provider of services to the world, Bangalore has been serviced. It is if possible, more diverse than it was. There’s more money, more exposure, more awareness of what it means to be Indian and otherwise.

We did a small trip to Shivanasamudra to see the falls. We rattled along for 3 and a half hours on a road that was more pot-hole than tar, gazed at the falls for 15 minutes and headed home. The falls were spectacular; well worth the bone shaking journey. I noticed that most of the visible change was limited to Bangalore. The small towns along our way (Kanakpura, Kollegal, Malavalli) hadn’t changed outwardly. They still had long, narrow streets flanked by slanting houses. Very few restaurants were to be found. The changes were more subtle - a tea stall owner carrying a cell phone or “Noodals or Fride Rice” on the menu of the little eatery we lunched at. Change is drifting sparsely to these little places. Maybe nothing will happen here until Bangalore bloats and bursts; it’s frayed infrastructure unable to contain the enormous influx of people.

As always, I ate like a pig. Bangalore is meant for eating out in. Stuck to my parents like a leech because I didn’t want to miss out on a single moment with them. Shopped like a maniac - most of my wardrobe is India-bought now (so far I’m a maniacal pig-leech, if you please). Met up with old friends, and it was as if we’d never been apart. Lovely.

It’s back to work now, with memories of my trip to warm me.

Happy New Year, all.

Sunil’s side:
We started off the trip with the wierdest airline boarding system we have ever seen. On Singapore airlines at SFO they simply made a boarding announcement and people started lining up in a “Q”. I had seen the same thing with Catahy Pacific in summer and knew that if we patiently waited for them to call our seat nos then we would be the last to board with no place to stow away our hand carry. They followed this system consistently throughout the trip and yet every flight took off on time despite this rather chaotic boarding scheme. The flights were excellent though, their in-flight amenities are amazing, lots of leg room too. In fact there was so much leg room that there was an actual sign asking people to not sleep on the floor, hmmm, must be a common problem!!

We spent a day in Singapore en route to India. It was my first time in a country other than India/USA/Canada and I was excited. But Singapore was strangely disappointing. There was no quaintness or cultural uniqueness to it and felt just like the US, a melting pot of different ethnicities, yet somehow very……sombre? And btw, you cant chew gum in Singapore and its also difficult if you are named Jai, since there is no jay-walking allowed!!

We spent 4 days in Bombay. This time we did manage to visit South Bombay and Teju finally saw Haji Ali, Gateway of India and Victoria Terminus. We did also did the boat ride from Gateway which allowed us to get a pretty decent view of the Taj with the Gateway in its foreground. A trip to Montegars brought back lots of memories and was the “high” light of the day (pun intended) for me. Teju also got to experience first hand the adventure of getting off a crowded suburban train at rush hour. What is it like you ask? Well imagine trying to get into Walmart during Thanksgiving morning, add a little more sweat, grime and BO (well depends on which Walmart you go to), and you will be half way there. Did a bit of shopping in Bombay as well and also managed to visit some of my favorite restaurants including Yoko’s Sizzlers and Gajalee. However, street food still rules in Bombay and we fulfilled some of the requisites like gorging on Swami’s Bhel, Alberts sandwich and Jai Jawan’s fried fish.

I have now gotten used to the new bipolar Bombay, a confusing mix of western influences trying to coexist with Indian attitudes. The disparity between the haves and have-nots keeps getting wider and it amazed me just how rich and how poor people can get.I think you get a very stark view of both ends of the spectrum in Bombay more than any in other city.

We all (Mom, Sis, Teju and myself) left for Bangalore on Jan 2nd. Teju spent time with her parents while Mom, Sis and I stayed at Mom’s brothers (Venumman) place. Bangalore has changed, no longer the laid back city that I had first visited in 1991, it is now a very cosmopolitan city but bursting at its seams. The growth of the city has unfortunately outpaced the infrastructure and in typical fashion the government has no clue how to solve it and when it does try people like Gowda throw a wrench into the plans.

We did a small 2 day trip to the cities of Bellur, Halebid and Shravanabelagola. One of the first things that stood out while viewing the magnificient monuments and temples was the attention to detail that the artisans gave to their work. Each sculpture at Bellur and Halebid was unique in some way and each had its own tale to narrate. Credit must be given to the Archaeological society of India for maintaining their pristine attributes. I was a little put off by some film shooting that was going on inside the temple at Bellur. They had occupied one side of the main temple and wouldnt allow the public to enter that area while shooting was going on. The scene involved a dance with a flock of oval shaped feminine looking individuals undulating their ample midriffs while exposing their armpits at the same time (try to picture that!!).

Bangalore was also memorable for the amount of shopping that we did there and I must admit that Bangalore easily surpasses Bombay in the shopping choices available. Forum and Central are easily international quality and people obviously have plenty of money to spend there. However, I think the most fun we had shopping was when we stopped at the exhibition of Channapatna wooden toys outside Cauvery. These wooden toys are all hand made and are coloured with vegetable oil based colours. The artisans put a lot of thought and skill into the items they craft which include simple spinning tops, yo-yo’s, racket-making spinners, toy trains, baby cradles and a host of other unique pieces.

The big problem I noticed in India is that people have accepted modern facilites and take full advantage of them with no idea of how to use them in a socially responsible or civic manner. Examples of these abound from using cell phones in movie halls to not following basic parking etiquette while driving a spanking new Honda. But that seems to be a common recurring theme all over India, accept the glitzy, glamorous western conveniences but lets not bother with the basic considerations to society that using them would entail.

As is normal with all trips to India, this one also got over too quickly. This one was different from the previous trips because I think for the first time I started noticing the positive effects of globalization in India. And I dont mean the fancy shopping malls or the spanking new cars, that had started a while back. What I am referring to are the opportunities that the younger educated generation now has and they seem to have the confidence to make use of it. However, I did feel like there are two parallel worlds coexisting in India, one world that seems to effortlessly deal with the changes thrown at them everyday, and the other world that seems to be keep getting weighed down by those same changes. Hopefully they will merge soon and hopefully we will be over there when it happens.

Last weekend (nov. 11-13th) we visited the old grad school again. Teju had a holiday for veterans day and a bunch of her relatives were meeting in MSU, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up on some old times. The weather in Michigan was unseasonally warm, in fact I think it was colder in the Bay area!!
We had a great time, spent Saturday morning on campus walking near the river and replenished our MSU apparel. In the evening we had a small pooja for divali, the kids lit up some sparklers and we also played some cards (Teju actually beat me in Bluff!!).
Also visited some bars in East Lansing including Harrison Roadhouse which was the first bar I ever went to in the US (actually on my first day in the US, Aug. 8th, 1995!!).
Of course the real excitement was on sunday morning while we were getting ready to leave. For some reason I thought our flight from Detroit left at 2.00pm. So the plan was to leave home at 11.00am which would give us enough time to stop at Georgio’s, pick up pizza and return the rental car. At 10.40am I checked the confirmation and realized that our flight was scheduled to leave Detroit at 12.15pm!! Needless to say the goodbye’s were a little frantic and brief. The next hour wasnt too pleasant with Teju checking to see if there was a later flight (there wasnt) and the possibility of having to fork out an extra $400 to get back to SF on anther airline. We managed to get to Detroit airport car rental center at 11.55am, the Enterprise guys were very understanding and dropped us off in the same car to the airport. We checked in at 12.04 am, ran over a few people on our way through security to the gate and boarded at 12.11am!! So, I guess all is well that ends well, but next time both of us are going to confirm the flight time the day before travelling!!
Anyway, all in all, great trip, wish we had more time though. Here are some pics from the trip.

Coyote Hills regional park:

We went biking today along the Bay View trail. The trail starts out in Fremont and winds it’s way along the bay. It was a beautiful day - crisp and sunny.

We ended up on a hill with hawks wheeling around and under us. We saw a pair of red-shouldered hawks nesting in the heather and a pair of some other raptor with white and black wings. We were bang in the middle of the bay area - flanked by Dumbarton bridge and San Mateo bridge. The day was so clear, we could even see San Francisco and the Bay bridge!