Philippines- El Nido

Well, I got to add another country to the list I have visited. I went for a business trip to Manila. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived in Manila. I knew it is a country between the first and third world. It has a significant poor population, but also has some very wealthy--just like India. But somehow it was different from India. First off the infrastructure seems to be much better, at least in Manila. Secondly, it looks a lot like the US (not strange as it was a US colony for a while). The cars are 'huge' and the roads nicely paved. The other thing I noticed, at least in Makati, is all of the security forces carrying significant weaponry.

Cindy went on the trip with me, just to kind of scope the place out. We didn't actually see that much of Manila, or the surrounds. I did see our new office building there, and enjoyed the widely available decaf coffee (not just at the hundreds of Starbucks, but elsewhere as well).

After the business trip, Cindy and I went to El Nido for the weekend. Absolutely beautiful. The sky was blue, the ocean blue-green, and clear as a bell. We visited Snake Island where we climbed the long climb to the top, all of five minutes, and had this view. It is named snake island due to the undulating sandbar which is visible at low tide and looks like a long snake. No snakes on the island as far as we could tell.

We also saw a couple of caves, one of which we got to go inside. It was used as a hiding spot during the 2nd world war. Now it only houses some birds and bats. There's a tree whose roots grow right through the rock.

The snorkeling (and diving I presume) is superb. Here these Jack fish are being fed by the resort, as they are every morning for the benefit of the guests. I swam with them the next morning before the feeding as I had missed the sunrise cruise. They are about a meter long, and very fast. In the same area I saw probably two dozen different kinds of fish and sea creatures, including sea urchins, coral, sea stars, and lots of colorful fish. No pictures as my camera isn't waterproof.

We also went kayaking in a lagoon, snorkeling in the same lagoon, and went on a sunset cruise.

I'm ready to go back...

Wildlife Photography

A couple of months ago, Cindy and I went to a photo show here in Bangalore. There was a drawing by Toehold and I was the lucky winner of a trip to Kabini for a wildlife photography bootcamp. It was all arranged by Toehold, and they even coordinated carpooling for us, as Kabini is about a 5 hour drive from Bangalore. I got to travel with two gentlemen, one who works here in Bangalore for one of the major real estate developers, the other lives and works in Dubai for a bank. I realized almost immediately as we started discussing photography on the way out that they both had more experience with DSLRs than I for wildlife types of photography, and I was outclassed in equipment as well. As it turned out I had the least equipment of anyone on the trip, but I still managed to get some nice pictures.

So we left on Friday morning at 7:30 from south Bangalore. Prasanna, the driver, knew a nice place to stop for breakfast on the way--good South Indian dosas, etc. Aziz was pretty tired on the trip, so he slept most of the way in the back seat. He had flown in from Dubai and arrive very early in the morning. We arrived a the Jungle Lodges at about 12:30, the appointed time, so we did really well. There we met Sudhir and Giri, the two instructors/ guides. After we all assembled, had lunch and got to know everyone on the trip, we went for our first Safari. The safaris run twice a day into the jungle, once from 3:30 till 6, and in the mornings from 6:30 till 9:30. So we head off in two jeeps. The group had been divided into two teams who would stay together for the weekend on the various Safaris, but the instructors would trade off. Sudhir was our first instructor.

We went out for a practice shoot the first afternoon, then we would discuss mistakes and preparation etc. afterwards. Sudhir was excellent at giving tips while we were out there shooting, light conditions, camera settings and all. We got lucky on this trip that we saw, amongst all of the other animals in the forest, a leopard crossing the road. He was a bit far away for me to get a really good picture. My longest lens is 300mm, and it really needed 400-600 to get a good shot of him. Sudhir was working with an 800mm lens which was really something to see. As you can see from the photo, he was walking about half way between our jeep, and another group on safari. They have banned the drivers and naturalists from carrying walkie talkies, something they did in the past, because it became like an overland race to get anywhere something good had been sighted, and the animals would get scared when 6 jeeps would come roaring up to wherever there was a good sighting. So our team saw the leopard, the other team didn't.

Friday evening we had a talk on technique, and then went to bed for an early trip into the forest the next day. Saturday we saw and took pictures of lots of animals, and different birds. I've posted only a few on Flickr The tips and tricks were really helpful. Giri led our morning session, and Sudhir the afternoon one. Unfortunately we didn't see any other cats on Saturday. The other team did see one at the end of the day. We were all waiting around near the Tiger Tank, because we could hear the alarm calls from the deer, indicating that a cat was in the neighborhood, but it never showed itself. We went one route out of the forest, the other jeep went the other way. They saw a tiger off in the distance on their way out, but it went into the jungle before they got close.

We did see Elephants, Deer, Monkeys and lots of Birds.


That evening we talked to someone at the Jungle Lodges who had been coming repeatedly for 7 years, and had never seen a tiger. So sightings are rare. Saturday evening we had a guest lecture from one of the heads of the forestry service who also happens to be an avid wildlife photographer. It was good to hear him talk, and see his beautiful pictures, very inspiring.

Sunday morning was to be our final safari. Giri was leading the group in our jeep. He and the driver kept stopping and listening for alarm calls. And we kept hearing them. Finally we were going up this long hill, stopping every so often. It was our 3rd or 4th stop. We were hearing the alarm calls, and wondering where the tiger was. I looked to the side of the jeep, and there she was, about 30 yards away, crouched down in the grass. I said "Tiger, Tiger 10 O'Clock". My jeepmates didn't believe at first, then they saw her. The camera clicking sounded more like a machine gun going, it was pretty amazing. She stayed there for about 10 mins and then got spooked, so she got up and went into the brush behind her. We could tell she was going down hill, back the way we had come. Giri had by now jumped up on the roof of the jeep cab, holding on to his camera with one hand and the roll bar with the other, he tells the driver to drive backwards down a bumpy, full of potholes, dirt track. We saw her come out of the brush down hill from us but the jeep was still moving too much for us to get pictures. Then she started back up. We raced back up the hill to where there was a clearing cut through the brush at about a 45 degree angle down the hill. She crossed there and some got good pictures. I really only got a good picture of the spotted deer she chased off. And then she went into the brush again. About this time another jeep showed up. They had just missed it all by 5 minutes. Timing is everything.


When I get some more time, I'll go through the hundreds of photos I took that day and see if I can process any more of them to be good for posting and I'll add them to the Flickr.

I have to thank Giri, Sudhir and Toehold for this amazing experience. One I won't forget till the day I die. Seeing a wild tiger, in the forest, and getting the time to take decent pictures doesn't happen every day. I'm inspired to be a better photographer, and to continue trying to get some good wildlife photos, along with the others I take. I can highly recommend Toehold for people who wish to improve their photo skills.

Down Under

Rather than go back to the US for holidays, we decided this year to go visit Isha and Brenton in Melbourne. It was a bit odd for me, as I had to work most days so I was "in the office" at the hotel most afternoons, but got the chance to do some sightseeing in the mornings, and a couple of days I had off.

Rather than list the full itinerary, I'll just share a few places we saw.


We went to St. Kildas, and walked along the beach. My cousin Jan Marc, and my nephew Satchel were visiting as well.


We saw the tiny penguins (well actually penguin) on the pier. Too many people crowded around to get any good pictures.

On Christmas the Cicadas were very loud, this one joined us on the table after we ate dinner.

Cindy and I went for a drive down the Great Ocean Road. She put her toes in the Tasman Sea, and in the Southern Ocean.

And along the way we saw the 12 Apostles (though there are only 11 left standing now). It looked a lot like the California coast except that you have to drive on the wrong side of the road. And to prove we were there:


And of course we had to see Kangaroos, so we visited the Healsville Sanctuary where we saw all sorts of strange Australian wildlife.






And we even managed to stop at a winery and sample the local wines. No pictures, but we did bring back a couple of bottles to India.

Oh Yeah, We also went to the beach, where many went surfing, though your's truely had to get back to the "office" so I skipped this activity.


Satchel and Jan Marc did manage to do fairly well.
Here's Satchel on the Right.


And Jan Marc:


Even Marian got in on it.


And then on the way home I got serenaded by this group in BLUE at the Singapore airport. The picture is a bit blurry, but that's how I was feeling after 6 hours flying on New Years Day.


The rest of my Christmas in Melbourne photos can be found here.

Udaipur

Our final destination was Udaipur. While most of Rajasthan is dry desert, Udaipur is best known for being on the lake. The lake does dry up a lot during the dry season, but as we were there just after monsoons, it was completely full. But more about that later.

We set off from Jodhpur fairly early in the morning (9 ish). We were to see a temple on the way to Udaipur. Not knowing much about it, I wasn't totally sure what to expect. I've seen a lot of temples during our stay in India, and some were just interesting, and others spectacular. This one, Sheth Anandji Kalyanji, is truely special. As we were driving along, we got on one road which started to get a little curvey and going up hill. The vegetation started to change, it became more green and the trees reminded me of home, looking very much like the big oaks of california. They weren't of course. Then we stopped at the temple.

Now this is a very active temple and has been there for several hundreds of years, managed by the same family. It is carved entirely out of Marble. I did hear one quote from an tourist while inside which totally flabbergasted me and almost caused us to break out in laughter. Mind you this is a Jain temple and they are very Vegetarian. The lady asked her guide if the temple was carved out of marble or Ivory. I couldn't believe it. Anyways we wandered around this architectural marvel for an hour or so. Even Maya was impressed by it. It maintained a cool atmosphere by being open enough to let the breeze through. It let in light, but wasn't so open as to warm up too much in the sun. It was filled with carvings and there were all sorts of colums, pillars, domes, and other wonders to look at.

We proceeded to lunch at Aranyawas which has a nice view of the little valley it overlooks. And then on to Udaipur.

We arrived in Udaipur in late afternoon and went pretty much straight to the hotel. Unfortunately we were not booked in a hotel on the lake, but it is a former palace of the local King. He still maintains his polo ponies there and has his own private airport there. Since it was Diwali when we arrived, the staff was pretty minimal and all of the staff were wearing what looked like army uniforms. This gave the whole place a bit of a military feel. There is a small private lake there too. It was pleasant, but not at the top of my list if I were to return. That evening the hotel had scheduled Diwali celebrations over the polo grounds. First they handed out sparklers to everyone and lit candles all around so we could litght the sparklers. These were more similar to the ones I've seen in the USA. About a foot long (1/3 meter). They were fun, but hard to light. There were a couple of children running around with the sparklers. I think they were something like 4 and 7 years of age.

Then the guards started lighting the big stuff. They had two different kinds of rockets, bottle rockets, and some in cardboard tubes. They started off putting the big ones in the tubes upside down, so the first 2 ejected the tubes into the air, and exploded on the ground at their feet. Pretty spectacular!! Fortunately no-one got hurt. Then they got it right and the children descended to "help". They kept running up to the guards who were lighting some rocket, or firecrakers, or strongter stuff. I kept wondering when they would get hurt or scared, fortunately they didn't. I couldn't understand how they could be running around down there, but then found out they were the hotel manager's children and knew all the guards. All was well.


The following day, we met our guide for Udaipur. Of all the guides, we liked him the least. He rushed us through the few sites he took us to, and seemed to be forgetting one we wanted to see. He started us off at the palace. It is a home to the current king, plus a hotel. Since it was part of the same hotel chain where we were staying, we got to go through the grounds without paying extra fees. We did have to pay for the tour though.

Inside they have a number of nice exhibits. Unfortunately as we were rushed through, we didn't get to see all of them. One I thought was particularly interesting is a represnentation of the King's horse in an historic battle against another Mughal supported king. He dressed his horse up as an elephant baby so that the war elephants from the other side would not injure it. The war elephants supposedly carried a sword in thieir trunk to injur the opposition horses and riders. It worked for a time, but then the elephants realized and did injure the horse.

The tour goes through all parts of the palace, up and down narrow stairs. The narrow passageways were part of the security scheme. Only 1 man could hold off several because the hallways were narrow enough for only one to go through at a time. We got to see views of the lake from the palace, the first working indoor plumbing, and many other things.

We had a short visit to the local temple. Then we went off to a garden which had been built for the palace ladies. Only women were allowed to enter there when it was built. Now it is open to all. After that a quick visit to a folklore museum. Then it was time for Lunch. The guide took his leave.

After lunch we asked our driver where to go for a while. We had tickets to take the boat tour at 5:30, and needed to kill a little time. Not so much we could go back to the hotel, but enough to need something to do. He took us to the lake shore where I spotted some pirate boats. And we enjoyed a leisurely walk along the water.

Then we went on the boat tour. We actually took a boat at about 4:45, which was just fine. We toured around a bit, and then stopped at Jagmandir. This is an island in the lake which was used as a summer picnic/ palace ground for the royal family. It is now open to the public and you can see the gardens, have a bite at the coffee shop, or even stay overnight in part of the former palace. We stopped in for a coffee, and the view. We had been wondering where to have dinner. We sort of wanted something scenic. Well we had found it. They had a dinner restaurant on the island. And they were willing to give us a table. So, all we had to do was wait around for dinner time. We wandered the island, saw the sunset. And we took pictures and then watched as they put blankets on the elephants out front of the Island. I guess they can get stone cold.

We enjoyed a delightful dinner at Jagmandir, along with a stunning view of the palace all lit up for Diwali. I'd love to go back and just relax on the lake for a couple of days.

Jodhpur and Surrounds

We set off towards Jodhpur not too late in the morning, we were to stay 2 nights there, so we could move at a bit more leisurly pace. Jodhpur is known as the Blue City because many of the houses are painted blue. Originally the Brahmins were the onely ones allowed to paint their houses this particular color, but in recent times it has become unrestricted and more universal. But I get ahead of myself.

We didn't go into Jodhpur proper the day we arrived. We met our guide, and he took us to some villages in the surrounding areas of Jodhpur to visit some of the local crafts people. First we visited a potter. He had a very large kiln in the yard, but I didn't get to ask him how he covers it up. I'm actually curious to know. It is obviously fed by a fire which can be stoked through the hole on the bottom. It is obviously not too high temperature clay he uses as the iron doesn't melt in the kiln, which it could for a high temp firing.

His son demonstrated the wheel they use for making most of their pots. It is basically a big flywheel mounted on something which allows it to spin. It is not held horizontal, but has to be spun up with a stick and while doing that managed to keep it from wobbling. Once it is spinning well, it can be used for several minutes to make a pot. He was able to throw a pot in the space of about 2 minutes.

After he made a couple, I was convinced to give it a try. While I had used a wheel in my parent's pottery shop when I was a teenager, it has been many years. And the one I used was motorized and high up enough to stand at. Both my attempts were flops, but it was fun to try.

In the area around Jodhpur, there is a long standing tradition amongst some of the villagers of using Opium. It can be consumed in several ways, but one of the traditional ways to consume it there is by making Opium Tea. So our next stop was the house of an elderly man, his daughter and granddaughter. They demonstrated, or rather he demonstrated, how to make opium tea. He also demonstrated on me how to tie a turban, which can start at 9 meters long and go longer. They were very gentle kind people and genuinely open and friendly with their home.

Our final stop that afternoon was at a Dhurry Weaver village. This gentleman showed us the process for weaving them, and explained the different types of wool, silks and cottons they used. He also explained how the village had been set up by the government to promote the handicrafts and create a co-op for the weavers to get better incomes. We bought a couple of lovely dhurries from him for the house.

We ended the day with going to our hotel, which was another converted palace(Rohet Garh). This one was the nicest of them all. It was very homey. The owner lives in part of it, and he met us (and I suspect most of the other guests) in the garden at tea time just after we arrived. As I said the place felt very comfortable while being a very nice hotel. It had the nicer qualites of a B&B combined with a 4 or 5 star hotel. The hotel was all lit up at night, in preparation for Dhiwali. As such it was like walking out into fairy land.



The next day we made a tour of the royal crematorium, and the fort and palace. The royal crematorium looks imposing as you come to it, until you find out the cremations didn't take place in this building. The large building is a monument built by one of the kings of Jodhpur so that his mother could look out the window and be reminded of her husband who had been cremated there. You could go inside the monumnent, where there were pictures of all of the Kings of Jodhpur, plus a space for worship. All kinds of people come to worship here. Many people come and tie a knot in a a handkerchief or piece of fabric or thread on the chain dividing the insides of the hall. They make a wish for something good, i.e. a child, and then once the wish is granted, they come back and remove the item. It is a nice spot with a small lake, and a nice view when it isn't hazy, like the day we were there.

From there we went to the fort proper. The fort is high up on the hill, even after you park the car. This time we rode in an elevator up to the fort. It is walkable, but the elevator saves a lot of time. The rock was hand carved to make a shaft for the elevator some years ago. Inside there were a lot of items used by the Maharajas of the time. This silver palanquin was particularly interesting. Notice the human face on the lion. Again there were many rooms of sliver and gold. Very fancy digs for the these royals.

The view from the fort was stunning, albeit a bit hazy. You could certainly see why it is called the Blue City. And when we exited the fort, here was a camel waiting along beside all of the two wheelers parked by the entrance to the fort.
After visiting the fort, we visited a textile warehouse where they had seven floors of different kinds of textiles from floor to ceiling.


Then we went to the city market are and visited the clock tower. Since it was just before Diwali, the market was crammed with people. There were many side streets and alleys. We went through a few of them, ending up at the clock tower. We saw people selling clothing, running open air barber shops and dental clinics (have your tooth removed on the street anyone?), trinkets for Diwali, and anything else you could think of. And of course children passing the time...