Sagaro and myself are starting on the planning of the second edition of Make Your Trip. The destination could be Goa. There would not be much news except in our blogs on the proposed date. This is a budget travel so there would be restriction on the money lie in the first edition. The tentative plan is second or third week of June.
Watch this space for more details. To know about the first edition click here.
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Lakshmipathy Balaji, once known for his smile and which was lost being away from big time cricket due to injuries has performed what no other bowler has done in T20 cricket. Yes, hes got a hat trick enabling an easy win for Chennai Super Kings against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.
Congrats Balaji and good to see you bang on target in the second match he’s playing in IPL.
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Today when Karnataka is into the first phase of elections to elect Goverment for the state, it is sad to note that in a State with maximum exports in IT sector has still not come up with a technology whereby any Kannadiga can cast vote from anywhere.
In time when people are going all over the World because of work and other reasons nothing else would make them happy then an ability to cast their vote. Its practically impossible for these citizens to come back to cast their vote.
Technologically it is not a difficult task to achieve the facility of bringing in Online voting feature. All it requires is an user identification and it should direct the user to their constituency and to click on button for casting the vote. The main problem though is what should be used for user identification.
Before this there should be feature during registering the citizens in the electoral list of a particular constituency to enter an ID card number. This could be Voters ID or Passport Number or PAN Card Number. Having entered this detail while registering or re-registering one, the same ID card number should be used for logging into the system. A week or two before elections each user should be able to verify his/her details and confirm. Any tampering of this list could only point to the Election Commission since they would be the one’s who have the overall responsibility of maintaining this list.
In this way every citizen could be made accountable if they don’t cast their vote also.
This is not a difficult task to achieve. Where there is a will there is a way.
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I have been to these places so far and lots more to go when I see the World Map am disappointed I have not seen even half the World. Listed below the map are my favorites till date.
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Once again sudden showers 30mins back took everyone by surprise. And it came as a good relief from the heat which has been going up for past few days. The first few drops were more like ice cubes falling down and it was also damn cold/chill.
The traffic has piled up so much from Koramangala Signal till Koramangala Maharaja Restaurant, one cannot but appreciate the efforts of the temporary traffic controller standing at the Maharaja Restaurant junction. Even in the mild showers he was standing in the middle of the road regulating traffic and preventing a deadlock situation at the junction.
Tags: Bangalore, Koramangala
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A long weekend and a long drive from Bangalore through Kerala halting at Wayanad, Cochin, Kovalam. We drove more than spending time in each place. But yes, having been to all these places before so I wasnt missing out on anything.
At Cochin there are quite good hotels like ‘Udipi Anantha Bhavan’, ‘Dwaraka’, ‘Woods Manor’. The prices at these places are about 1200 Indian Rupees.
In Kovalam ‘Hotel Sea Face’ is pretty good.
Priced at 3000 Indian Rupees you get a sea facing room. They also got a swimming pool and other amenities. Also, massage is possible out here.
Who is getting….
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Dark clouds around 6:00pm turned into heavy showers around 7:30pm leaving everyone stranded on the roads. Not prepared for the sudden showers showed in everyones face, happiness for relief from heat and anxiety as to how to reach home. The rain was so heavy that a short movement of 10meters after getting down the bus to a shelter nearby left my pants and shirt drenched in water, not to forget my head. Thanks to Levis showroom guys in 4th Block Koramangala who allowed us to stand inside. Unfortunately for them their board crashed down in the heavy winds.
Update: When it rains in Bangalore electricity goes off. And the worst part was in some areas it was complete blackout till today morning there was no power. Pretty tough night with lot of mosquitoes going around and when covering with a blanket makes you sweat. Luckily I had Odomos ointment which I used to fight the mosquitoes and that was quite effective.
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From Innsbruck I take the evening train to Wien. On the train I meet a student of Wien University who happened to be flipping through pages of lonely planet book. Under impression that it was for Wien I enquire to learn that it is for South India a journey which is under plan for them. Me being an Indian and a South Indian I share my knowledge about this beautiful country. And goes the conversation for few hours till we reach Wien.
At the station my host picks me up and we walk down to the place.
Its pretty easy to travel around in Wien also. Most of the touristic spots are located in the 1st district. Take a printout of the City Tour or the Ring Tour from this link. Rest is pretty simple.
On the first day I walk around the 1st district for 6hrs stopping at spots like Parliment, History Museum, SchornKirch. I paid 10euros for walking inside the History Museum which had a wonderful tagline “We don’t have emperors, We have only their jewels”.
The entry fee looked pretty high for me and so I stayed away from other museums, tho I dont think I missed much.
I complete almost 3/4th of the tour when I reach the river Danube. I spend about 1hr along the river side without doing anything. Some other time I would have thot why am I wasting time but here I was on vacation and had liberty to do what I wanted to do without thinking about work or anything else.
Then I walk along the river check out some clubs and then feeling hungry walk over to “Der Wien Deewan” restaurant. This restaurant is very unique. They serve Pakistani/North-Indian curry (3 varieties of chicken & 3 veg). You can take the curry with as much rice as you want. The concept is very simple “Pay as you wish”. How much ever you eat, whatever you feel like paying pay. This was started by a Pakistani who married an Austrian and settled in Wien. This is a definite must for whoever is touring this city.
On the second day I dont do much. Later in the afternoon, I meet two guys Dirk and Nick who are travelling around the World on their motorbikes. They, my host and me we have lunch and then some photoshoot time and then some conversation with the bikers am off to take the train back to Frankfurt which ends my vacation.
Nick had worked in India some years back and click here to follow them.
For photos click here.
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Sarlszburg, Innsbruck, Vienna are the three main touristic cities in Austria. Of the three, I skipped the first one to go to the second one.
I have travelled by plane, cruiser across countries. So this time I decided to take the Deutsche Bahn for travel to Austria from Germany and back. The normal fares are pretty high in train but there was a special offer by which I got my tickets for entire journey for less than half the usual price.
So from the city of Mannheim, I take the City Night Line to Sarlszburg and then change over to the next train to reach Innsbruck.
It was raining when I was leaving Mannheim not that the other days during my stay was any different.
Innsbruck is not a big city. Surrounded by snow covered mountains even during this time of the year the view is just mind blowing. Stand at one point maybe the Bergisel Ski Jump Stadium terrace and take a 360deg turn. From start to end of the turn you will be bowled over by the scenery and the beauty.
Bergisel is one of the main tourist spots in Innsbruck. You can either use the cable car or climb the staircase (255 steps approximately) to go up the terrace which is 50mt above Innsbruck. From Bergisel to the Castle there is a route by which one should be able to walk down but I did not try it neither did I go to the castle since I spent more than 2hrs at Bergisel. And it was pretty tiring walking up and down. I went to Bergisel on the second day of my stay in Innsbruck.
Earlier day after reaching Innsbruck station, thanks to couchsurfing I get a space to stay. So I go up to the place for surfing. After pretty good breakfast and a long chat getting to know each other I leave on my journey for next 5hrs. First thing I do is get a map of the city at the Tourist Information Center which is located in MuseumStrasse.
But before I went to the Information Center I walked through the old city and having been updated on the buildings by my host it was much easy. There is also Alpen Zoo nearby but coming from India watching animals in zoo’s don’t excite me!!!
Later I start my walk up the road towards HungerBurg. Having covered most distance and with less than 2kms to cover I do not find any space for pedestrians. I look around and finally give up and start my way down. The best would be to take the tram from Renweg to HungerBurg and that would be really amazing ride up and down. Dont miss it.
To view the photos click here.
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Travelling from Germany within the German region it is Konstanz, from the Swiss or Austria section it is called Bodensee. Its a big lake originating from the Alps flowing down through Austria is the intersection of the three countries.
You can just keep walking along the lake and if you have a valid visa for entering Switzerland you can within few minutes!!
Its a highly romantic place and a good getaway. Though you might not find lot of tourists from other countries who visit mostly the main cities in the countries.
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