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Written by Brajesh Karjee
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 I did my second trek to Mt Ophir on 25th Jul 08 and this time, it was a bigger group. The last trek was done exactly 2 years back (read the trek details in the travelogue section of my travel web page http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/5f4b9/138b89/ ), on 14-15th Jul 06. This time around, a lot of the members were first timers. There were 21 members and hence we divided them into 4 groups. I was the group leader for the 3rd group, which comprised of experienced trekkers like Siti and Hayati and also some first timers like Mohd Amin, Sharianna and Hayati’s son, who was the youngest member of the group. We started from Singapore at 7 PM.
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A Trip to the ' Queen of Hills ' Darjeeling |
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Written by Rajesh Anand
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The one hour air travel from Kolkata to Bagdogra was smooth despite pilot Vasant Kumar's gentle suggestion of the flight being somewhat bumpy. Co-pilot, Captain Sahay's surname gave a strong possibility of the continuation of Bihari connections in most of my holiday trips. |
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Written by Brajesh Karjee
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The Tioman Island trip was a rejuvenating trip for all. Almost all the members had a first hand experience of the snorkeling in the South China Sea. The corals around the Tioman islands are beautiful and the marine life is full of action.
About Tioman Islands and Juara Beach resort
Tioman islands is the largest island (roughly 1/3rd the size of Singapore) in the archipelago on the east coast of Malaysia, close to the border of Johor and Pahang state. The island itself is a part of Pahang state but the approach Jetty town (Mersing) is located in Johor state. Mersing is small town which serves as a jetty for visiting these islands like Tioman, Rawas, Tinggi.
At Mersing Jetty, ferries are available for Tioman almost every hour and return fares are around RM-80-90, depending on whether you take fast boats or normal ferries. The travel time is 90 mts with fast boats and these boats can easily seat around 30 persons. The normal ferries charge around RM 75 for return fare and take around 3 hrs to cover one way distance. Tioman can also be approached from Tanjong Gemas jetty, which is further up from Mersing. But ferry services from Mersing is more regular.
Tioman island is a pear shaped island and the western coast of this island is more popular with tourists. Most of the resorts are located in the western part, including the five star resort Berjaya.
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Angkor Wat-Largest religious temple in the world |
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Written by Brajesh Karjee
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I just concluded my 4 day visit to Siem Reap town in Cambodia. All I can say is that Angkor Wat is much more than just a 7 ancient wonders of the world. The vastness and the precise details of the bas reliefs and the intricate carvings on the wall, the grandeur of the architectural styles and the fact that no cementing material was employed during the construction of these temples only force us to think of dexterity of the people and the knowledge of scientific construction activity prevailing at that point of time. I could only consider myself lucky to have had a chance to visit this beautiful land, visit the various temples and appreciate its beauty. Angkor Wat is not the only temple in the vicinity of Siem Reap.
There are numerous other temples worth a visit, in and around Siem Reap. Most of these temples are in a state of ruins and desperately needs restoration work. But they force you to think about the greatness of the Khmer Past and lead us to review its history. It also forces you to ponder upon the extensive reach of the Indian culture, architectural and sculpture styles, governance and literature, much beyond its boundaries at a time in history, when communications and transportation was not so easy. Chinese writers of this period have testified the influence of Indian influence on the local kingdom in their journals. Sanskrit inscriptions dating back to 6-10th century AD are commonly seen in the various temples around Siem Reap. They have been deciphered and tell the stories of the kings, Dev Rajas (God Kings), political system, irrigation system, life of common people and much more. The fact that Indian traders were visiting this region during the trade between China and India and would stop over at these intermediate coastal regions is very well described by this link (http://www.angkorwat.org/html/L2205.html) on Cambodian History.Cambodia has been known by different names in the past, like Khmer Kingdom, Kambuja, Cambodge, Kampuchea and now Cambodia. In the epic Ramayana, this land was referred to as Cambodge or Kambuja which was sandwiched between the famous Champa Kingdom (now in Vietnam) in the east and Siam on the west.
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The drone of the vehicles speeding at 65 miles per hour on the freeway barely a couple of hundred metres from my 3rd floor apartment in North Gessner, Houston, Texas is monotonously constant. The noise recedes quite significantly when the doors and windows are closed but with slight concentration the 24x7x365 sound is very audible especially in the quiet of night.