Le Monde - Cuckoo’s Eyeview

Scorching sun, soiled shoes, tired swollen feet…. refusing to move further and.. ..

when cool sea water fondly caresses them with gentle kisses, they refuse to move… .. yet again.

I do not know how many times I must have watched it. This is Dancing Matt.
Check out this fun travel video of Matt Harding.

I just love this video and whenever I watch this, I give him company.

This video has become so popular that visa people have approached him and now he appears with a shorter version of his video in Visa card ad. You must have seen it during recent cricket match series.

Here is the full version.

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Yes, What a relief !!
This week old news was held back in order to have an uninterrupted story on Amritsar trip. The news has come as a big relief to millions of travelers to Switzerland who want to combine it with rest of the Europe.
Yes, now the Schengen visa will give you access to this beautiful country as well.

If you do not know anything about Schengen treaty, read here.
It is basically an agreement among 24 European countries, also known as Schengen countries, to keep open borders for tourists and till now Switzerland was not a part of it. In simple words, it is a combined visa for all these countries.

Till now one could get a Schengen visa, travel to entire Europe but could not enter Switzerland on the same.

I had become a victim of this arrangement on my first trip itself and it was a terrible experience. I was almost deported.
In spite of that experience Switzerland continues to be my favourite country, my second home. Below is one memorable picture.

P.S. - I am off to my vacations for a few days.  But don’t you worry, my posts will keep you occupied.

Technorati Tags:- Schengen visa

Contd. from.. ..

[I had mentally prepared to see three major landmarks in Amritsar before getting back. We reached Amritsar at 10:30 AM.]

The moment we got down, horde of rickshawalas and autowalas surrounded us to take us to hotels. New to the city, lack of direction and short on time forced us to take one rickshaw to one of the hotels from his list. Knowing well about the trap I asked him how much commission he gets. “Rs 20 for ordinary room and Rs 50 for an AC room” prompt came the reply.

Since we had to recover the lost time, we got into the first hotel rickshawala took us to. Very small and ordinary one from our standard. Also, because my motive was a budget travel, we wanted a very nominal room for a few hours. All I wanted was a place to have a quick shower, recharge our cell phones etc and dump our luggage there. I was even ready to bargain to give us for an hour and keep our bags in the reception. But neither PP nor the hotel people agree to my brilliant idea.

As luck would have it, only one small room was vacant, tariff being Rs 800. Very cheap  looking at the usage and as a first timer.

Done.
Later on we found out that there are many budget hotels near the Golden temple and the temple itself has a big dharamsala. No, no one from my family would have agreed to that sort at any cost. I decided next time I was not taking them. Anyone of you willing to join me ? Raise your hands.

The hotel was at a walking distance from the city bus depot. We went there and enquired about the various options available to go to Wagah border.

It was quite amusing to hear the combined words we kids used to speak at home. Till then I thought words such as sitto, eato (for sit, eat) were typical of Delhi but when at the inquiry I heard the gentleman saying ‘Jab sooraj astega‘ instead of ‘ jab sooraj ast hoga‘, I felt at home and smiled. It is another thing that PP never agreed ‘astega‘ not being a proper word.

By the time we were ready with enquiry, a nice shower and a heavy breakfast it was past noon.

Stuffed Tandoori Paranthas with home made butter, unlimited curd, pickles and a cup of special masala chai. All for Rs 64/-. What else do you want to start your day ?

Amritsar is a very small city and the most common mode of transport is rickshaw and shared autorickshaw. In fact, now when I am trying to recollect, I did not see any single taxi. We took a rickshaw for Jalianwala bagh. Golden temple is again at a walking distance from it.

Tandoori = Cooked in Tandoor
Parantha = Flat bread
Masala = spice
Chai = Tea
Next stop:- Jalianwala Bagh

Contd. from.. ..

[We too went to our sleeper berths and slept. I guess, the bus must have started at around one after filling up the rooftop and giving that family a double sleeper seat.]

I was in a tee and jeans. During night I felt cold, but didn’t have anything except for a filmsy cotton shawl. Hey we had not planned to go to Amritsar, where sometimes the temperature goes down as low as 0° C.

I was oblivious of how many times the bus had stopped but when I opened my eyes, it was past seven, and when I moved the curtains from my window, a beautiful foggy wintry morning was welcoming me and the sun was trying to show its bright smile.

On the way, I could see some small villages, children going to school, people fully attired in winter clothes riding scooters for work, some ongoing constructions and small roadside dhabas (kiosks) starting their day.
The bus stopped for 2 minutes at one place on the highway and I could see some of the male fraternity getting down and relieving themselves. No no, I had closed my eyes then !! But lucky, lucky them !! I kept lying and enjoying the north Indian winter. There was another reason why I did not want to get up.

I do not know how you take it but the worst thing I fear in any journey or outings in India is lack of toilets let alone clean. I fail to understand why this basic need is so ignored or shall I say are we shy to even mention about it ? I have written earlier how a toilet made me change my apartment in Geneva.

And this tour (from Delhi to Amritsar to coming back to Mumbai) had just started to test my patience. Remember, it was more than 12 hours since I had visited last, so an urgent need arose for the same. Since I drink lot of water, the need was almost SOS.
Slowly it was eight now. The bus was moving very fast and we did not know where we had reached at that time. I kept telling myself to hold on for some more time, our destination was about to come. It looked an era to me. I tried to sleep again but no, it won’t let me.

This was in Phagwara

Suddenly I saw one board and then reality struck ! We had just crossed Phagwara ! Jallandhar was yet to come ! Amritsar is around 90 KMs from Jallandhar. More than full three hours to go since it was almost office time and the bus had to pass through the cities. I, in no way could hold for that long. I sent PP who was sitting down (I was on the first floor sleeper berth) to ask the driver to stop at any Gas station or restaurant informing about the need. I wondered what other ladies were going through.

Well, after 5 minutes which seemed 5 hours, PP came back saying he could not even reach the driver ! The door to him was closed and he was not responding. I shrieked !! I yelled at him. I wanted to go. PP explained how very large boxes were kept on the passage blocking the entire way and people had either kept their legs on them or sleeping on them. What rubbish !! I was not in a mood to listen to this bullshit.
Immediately I put on my shoes, hitting one person on my way down from the upper berth. I tied my shoe laces sitting besides a lady. Her husband too was trying to reach the driver. They were on their honeymoon trip and what a way to start !!

When she saw me getting up, she joined me as if I was the leader. We climbed onto the boxes, hitting some more on the way and banged on the door. It had become so urgent for both of us that we were ready to tell the driver to either stop or see the scene there itself. Both of us were furious. Fortunately she had a shrill voice and somebody from that side heard her.
And we were further blessed because one gas station came within 5 minutes and people sitting in the front helped us getting down. PP and that lady’s husband also got down and waited for us.

Anyway, the journey thereafter seemed relaxed and comfortable, only worrying factor was loss of time. I had mentally prepared to see three major landmarks in Amritsar before getting back.
We reached Amritsar at 10:30 AM.

To be contd.. ..