Istanbul-


The city makes you feel like you are in one of those cities which would have had Sinbad and Aladdin.
I have to admit I am not very interested in travelling to historical places. But the moment I saw the mosques,minarets,tombs,mosaics,rugs,stained lamps…I was glad I had decided to stop by in Istanbul.
The history all around you just takes your breath away.
And if not that, then the hookah café certainly will :)

The city bustles with life on Fridays and that’s when I was there.
Checked out all the historical places on the first day by foot as the major sites are all located around Sultanhamet Square, where my hotel was.
Shopping in Istanbul was another exhilarating experience altogether. I bought hookahs and quite a few knick knacks while walking through the bazaars all day.
The rugs are awesome and most of the café’s and restaurants are covered with them. Not just the flooring but the walls also. In the evening I went out for some Turkish dinner and caught some lively Turkish dances being performed round the corner. There is belly dancing in turkey too but the style is a bit different from the Egyptian belly dancing. I couldn’t make out any difference though. The girls were as pretty and graceful but that’s what the guide told me.
Next day I went for a long 4 hour cruise on the Bosphorous Sea, which connects the Mediterranean to the Black Sea via the Aegean Sea. The palaces on either side of the sea were beautiful. The bosphorous sea divides the asian and the European side of Istanbul.I checked out both and both were as amazing.
The best buy in Istanbul was definitely my black leather jacket…(eventually you just have to give in).And the craftsmen actually made my jacket in front of me. right from cutting,stiching,pasting and ironing. It took them just about 2 hours lo and behold. my jacket was done.
I spent a lot of time just walking around and enjoying the place. There were so many intriguing tiny details everywhere in the city that it’s somewhat overwhelming, but in a grand way.

Pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/onlyiampreeti
Folder - Turkey

Egypt -




If you're a movie lover and want to go back in time to imagine that you're in "The Maltese Falcon" or "Indiana Jones" then Cairo is for you! A sprawling buzzing mass of humanity.

I landed in cairo in the middle of the night and was woken up by the speedy cab I was in.Was staying with my dad so everything was quite peaceful.The best thing about our hotel was that the balcony opened to River Nile and you could see the whole city of Cairo.
While in Cairo ,I obviously checked out the Pyramids and the Sphinx.I had heard that the pyramids are close to the city itself but they are Bang! In the middle of the city.The pyramids ,the camels ,the sand ..everything was quite picturesque.
The bazaars of Cairo are always crowded and unless you are with somebody there is a 100% probability of getting lost.Went to some of the famous bazaars and bought some awesome Egyptian jewellery.
The roads of Cairo deserve a mention.
You just have to walk and hope. As I stand on the edge of the road and hesitate for a while, I see some locals just walk out and let the cars dodge them. My golden travel rule of "do as the locals" was put into practice. I walked out and jumped back in again. It was crazy. People just walk all over the road and don't really look where they are going or what the traffic is doing. My golden travel rule of "do as the locals" was regressed.

The citadel,the museum ,the cairo tower are all good places to sightsee.The scene stealer was lovely cruise dinner on nile with traditional Egyptian music and yes of course!belly dancing.Guys! you gotta check it out.
I also went to another old city of Egypt,called Alexandria.Its by the coast of Meditteranean sea and has an amazing view.The food obviously is great.
Egypt is certainly one of those places that is so different to anything I have ever experienced before and am so happy I did it.

Pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/onlyiampreeti
Folder - Egypt

African Adventure-
Safari –


Headed for the “game drive" after the Trek.Honestly, the Safari’s were quite tough bcoz of the heat and the dust, but rewarding and quite full of action. I had the luxury of a private Safari and therefore enjoyed it thoroughly.At Arusha, I started in the afternoon and the game drive went on till late evening. Drove around all day through the jungle, vast grasslands, mountains, lakes and lots of animals.The jungle, the breeze and the sunset made this an extremely pleasurable experience. Felt like right out of “The Lion King”.
In the other Safari’s, I didn't see a lot I hadn't seen before, and the drive was terminated by a typically huge thunderstorm. The dawn drive the next morning made up for it, with a misty sunrise and lots of animals to see. The game drive went on for hours and you are not allowed to get down of the jeep at all…I mean AT ALL…..
It is amazing how much control you can exercise over your bladder in such circumstances.Another long drive, but this time through the Western corridor of the Serengeti into the central portion. This was interesting but to be frank the Serengeti is so big there is not a lot of game to be seen. However the wide open spaces were worth the trip. The next day proved incident packed. Now the roads in the Jungles are dirt roads full of craters and potholes etc, and it had rained bucket-loads the night before. Suffice to say I was entertained by some great shows of "truck surfing" on several occasions. Amazingly we didn't get stuck.Sometime before lunch I rolled up to the visitors centre. The paved walkway had been closed as they had seen lions there early that morning. We were driving around when my guide, Aiesac hushes up and goes” Elephants”…Elephants?? Where?? “Right in front of u”… Where????
And then suddenly I saw huge elephant walk through the bushes.
To cut a long story short, this gave me a real feel for just how close a large animal can get without being seen.On the way out of the park I passed through the migration of Wildebeest and Zebra, which was extremely impressive. We drove for 20km through wildebeest as far as the eye could see on both sides of the road. The long afternoon drive up to the Crater was spectacular, through high mountains and scenic Masai villages (some no doubt real, some no doubt positioned for the tourists). Mist rolled down the crater walls forming cadaverous fingers in the ravines. The whole thing looked a lot like Scotland, but with lions and elephants. Later that day, I went to one of the local households and had a taste of homemade African beer (fermented bananas and some more ingredients).It stinks like crazy and has this thick layer of sawdust like substance which I tried real hard to blow away before I drank but in vain. The taste was not bad; it was rather good considering the stench.
My wild dusty sweaty Safari ended with a pleasant night in a comfortable hotel not very far from the national parks.
During the Safari, there were so many times when I wanted to stop and play in the dirt, find out exactly how rough the skin of the cattle is, see up close the giant termite mounds that i've already seen a hundred times from this distance - only on the tv and internet.
I must mention that I was completely taken in by the grace with which a Giraffe runs. I saw lots and lots of them and every time they could hear a vehicle they would run….not sprint with dust clouds. not run with speed..but just float in slow motion and before u know they are gone. Trust me …its not the slow motion button being pushed on discovery ,these lovely creatures actually move like that.
The Safari’s were probably one of the highlights of the trip, and I was happy just sitting on top of the vehicle taking in the scenery, although I also saw a fair old bit of game.

Pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/onlyiampreeti
Folder - Tanzania

African Adventure-
The Kilimanjaro Trek


At the end of january i set off on the most awesome adventure i've ever undertaken.Tanzania Egypt Turkey
Its been quite some time since I came back .Work has been crazy and finally I get time to write to all of you …The whole trip was way too cool to be put up in one blog and thats why I am gonna send 3 blogs.(I can see Adarsh worried :)Trust me guys ,I need to do full justice to all the places.
First comes-Africa>>Tanzania>>Dar es SalaamI reached there after a grueling long flight from Delhi.The place is usual…any other city .What makes the city wonderful is the lovely Indian Ocean Coast. Ah!thats where I got my african hairdo with at least 30 braids all over my head.To top it all all the braids had colorful beads.The hairdo is fun..u can swing around and all the braids swing with u.

Africa>>Tanzania>>KiliI had plans to climb kilimanjaro, the world's highest free standing mountain at a daunting 5895m and the whole trek takes about grueling 7-9 days of trek.you wouldn't do this kind of thing for fun (i mean you might, but i wouldn't).I opted for a 3 day trek upto a few bases.There are five main routes to the top -- Marangu, Shira, Mweka, Umbwe and Machame. The most popular route is the Marangu Route which starts at the Marangu Gate at 6000 ft. and has huts and facilities along the way. Regardless of the route taken, the vistas are magnificent and the flora and fauna of the different life zones are fascinating. Rain forests give way to moorlands and alpine meadows until these, too, give way to an alpine desert where lichens cling tenuously to rocks. The landscape, though desolate, is hauntingly beautiful as you walk among the clouds.
First Day -After breakfast we drove upto Marangu Gate (1 860 m). The route passes through tangled rain forest to the Mandara Hut at 2 752 m, close to the Maundi Crater. The climb is reasonably easy although the path is sometimes slippery.The drive till the Marangu gate is also quite fascinating, on the right side of the car you can see the horizon stretching upwards into the clouds, then on the left of the car it pokes back down again, a worryingly far distance from where it began. THIS is kilimanjaro and I couldn't even see it because it's so damn big. The climb started with a dirt road, which is dissapointing when you want to be in the wild away from all of civilization, but it soon becomes less of a road and more of a well worn path. it's pretty much rainforest all day. All around there are these all kinds of ferns and trees and palms. i'm hoping the photos will speak for themselves because there's no way i can describe the density and wonder of the rainforest to my satisfaction.In the beginning,every other group I had met had over taken us(me and my guide). i suspect that "poley poley" is said more as a joke by these guys, but we're determined to stick to it. and what's the rush anyway? it's not like there was endless fun to be had at the camp. i was starving though, and visiting the toilet shed was something of an adventure. I reach the camp.Nice and comfortable.My legs were hurting a lil but I was still confident, actually I was dreading the night. The moment the sun fell it was instantly freezing. it caught me off guard and each night it was only going to get colder. we huddled in the mess tent and ate popcorn. By this point i'd already removed my glasses, i figured i'd do it early so as not to forget or lose it.
But what a mistake, as I file out of tent after dinner I was greeted by the fullest night sky you could ever see. the milky way has torn a gash in the sky from horizon to horizon. it pours across and you can see right into its depths. amongst the millions of stars above me.I couldnt even spot a single constellation that i could recognise (not helped by this being the southern hemisphere and a completely different sky :)), there were just too many stars. it makes me completely forget how cold i am, and after standing still for a few too many minutes i'm more than happy to get into the sleeping bag that i'd previously been terrified of. it's cramped and halfway into space i'm still too cold in it (something i' was sure i'll appreciate after I hit 35 degrees of dare es salaam later).getting up in the morning it remained freezing until the sun finally appeared from behind the mountain. for breakfast our cutlery was so cold i had to wear my gloves to hold my fork. i'm wondering why they bring metal cutlery and china plates up the mountain when i'd honestly prefer lighter plastic ones.between then and and the next camp it was a constant uphill. It was steep and hard route but also a rewarding one. whenever you turn around all you can see is a sea of billowing clouds fading slowly into the sky. the world has disappeared completely. the only trace of it remaining is mt. meru, visible in the distant distance, like a volcanic iceberg.ahead of me, the trees are black, gnarly and very much dead. our guide explains to us that they're all burnt, demonstrating by pulling one of them out of the ground. a fire tore up this part of the mountain in early 1999. it took a huge team of local people to put the blaze out, and much of the vegetation was lost. as a grey cloud passes right through us it makes for the gloomiest scene. I was quite tired and out of breath by afternoon.it turns out all i had to do was take it easy. "poley poley" really does mean slowly.The first day of trek i heard the most terrifying noise. it was a deep gutteral rumble and i swear i could feel the ground vibrate with it. It was rolling and never ending. deep down i knew it's thunder, but the fear said Elephants marching right at you Preeti…ruuunnn!! I just stood and waited for some huge elephants to show up from amongst the bushes and trample me …and then our guide goes….oh that’s just the wind….Yea rite!!Relief!! what was scared anyway?:)
The final part of the trek was easily my favourite - climbing up along a sharp walkway, the rainforest floor far below us on either side. the views into it were just incredible. The tops of a hundred different plants and trees floating amongst the clouds.
Pics at http://photos.yahoo.com/onlyiampreeti
Folder - Tanzania