Crowning Glory : Leh and Ladakh

You need to be prepared for what you will encounter when you visit this remote region of India. Anything you may have heard about it before (and I am sure you would have heard a lot!!), nothing prepares you for the sight that will actually welcome you when you land there...Natural beauty at its peak: mountains, rivers, valleys and even deserts.. Its got it all and everywhere.. While driving around this region, every turn you take, you would be welcome with a new sight, a picture-perfect moment. And as hard as you may try, its very tough to gather it all in your mind and your memory, the amount of beauty this place embodies. (Its even tougher to choose which photos to post on the blog and which not!!)
Jammu & Kashmir state, where Ladakh is located is divided into three regions, and surprisingly all three are completely different: in the landscape, the religion as well as the way of life. There is the Jammu region, which is a plain region and the prevelant religion is Hinduism. Then Kashmir with the picturesque valleys and mountains is the Muslim dominated region. And the third and often neglected part of the state is Ladakh located in the north eastern part of the state with a dominant Buddhist culture.
Ladakh is the forgotten part of the state where population is scarce and development very low. The landscape there is of mountain deserts, with huge brown mountains and no vegetation at all. Just big expanses of brown land full of natural beauty and breathtaking views.

There are three ways of reaching Ladakh. By road, you can come via either Manali or Srinagar. Both routes are supposed to be very scenic and help to acclimatise better. The roads are closed though for 6 months of the year due to snow. At such times the only way to reach this area is by flying directly to Leh.
Its actually quite a nice flight, flying over the Himalayas and you can get top views of the mountains below. The Leh airport is also a feat by itself, how suddenly you land into the valley and see the town emerge from the gap in the mountains! Though be prepared, more often than not, because of bad weather the Leh flights have to turn back to Delhi and then try to make a try for it again later in the day (maybe that's why they are so expensive).

Leh is the capital and main town of the Ladakh region, the biggest (and maybe only) town too. Its the seat of religious and administrative control over the city. It is also the tourist centre which is used as a base for all travels in this region. The river Indus flows through the town and there are couple of picnic spots where you can spend some time. Also, you will notice that most of the landscape there is bare with no vegetation, except next to the rivers (and Indus in this case) where you will see a lot of trees during the spring months and this would be the only green patch in the whole area!!
Leh is situated at a height of about 11,500 feet. Its a high altitude location, and oxygen levels are lower than what our body is used to on the sea level. So, you need to get your body used to such environmental conditions, and so when you fly to Leh, you need to acclimatize for at least one day in Leh itself. That means one day of no exercise at all, just eat, sleep and eat some more!

Leh does not have that much to do actually, its more like the tourist centre. The markets in Leh are full of Tibetan stuff being sold: stones, jewellery, warm clothes, handicrafts etc. You can visit the Shanti Stupa which is at the top of the mountain. Its a huge white Buddhist stupa, not very old, which has been built to spread peace in the world. Also, given that its at such a height, it gives a good view of the town below (again mostly bare, with some small patches of green somewhere). Then there is the kings palace also within the town which is in ruins, but which is open for visitors. You can visit the monasteries in Leh (as well as the countless ones which spot this whole region).

There are monasteries in Leh which are often visited, Thiksey and Shay. They are similar to any other Buddhist monasteries you may have visited. Though, if you go during the tourist season in the summer, you would see lot of activity happening at the monasteries: local dances, shows, festivities, prayers, processions etc (I din see it though!).

There are many many monasteries in this region, in the towns and away from the towns on the roads to other places as well as in many unreachable areas as on top of a hill etc. The structure of the monasteries is similar mostly, there are lot of small rooms where all the llamas stay, study,work and pray. Then each monastery will have the prayer hall, where all the llamas pray together. The Buddha statue would be in this prayer hall and it would be ornately decorated with handicrafts, paintings and sculptures in bright red and golden colours.
Other than in Leh, the other two places recommended by everyone visiting Leh are the Pangongso lake as well as the Nubra valley.
Pangongso lake is this huge 150 kms long saltwater lake about 4-5 hours drive away from Leh. Apparently, it is sea water that got stuck up in the Himalayas when the Indian subcontinent met the Asian continent and the mountains rose. Its like a blue gem in between brown and yellow mountains all around! It looks like a painting, completely unreal and out of this world. The colours are so vibrant and stunning, its completely unbelievable that such a place can exist in this world!

The drive to the lake is again studded with magnificent views along the way, the same landscape everywhere. On the way, there are lakes where you can see clearly multiple colours as shown here. This region is so full of beauty at every turn of the road, it just awes you so much. Even the first view of the lake that you get from a gap in between the hills takes your breath away. You actually wonder, how can something like this exist!
The lake is part in India and part in China. There is army presence there which patrol the lake. You can even drive a few kms just next to it. If lucky you can even boat in the lake, though in a limited area only. There is apparently no life in the lake because of the salty water. There is also a mountain next to the lake, which is called the opal mountain. Apparently, you can find opals here and there on the mountain, you can try your luck there if you are feeling lucky:).
The other place to be visited in this regions is the Nubra valley, where you go via the Khardungla pass, "the highest motorable pass in the world":). Its again a 5-6 hours drive from Leh, and the drive being awe-inspiring as usual. You can even spot yaks in this region.

The Khardungla pass is always cold! And snow is present there most of the year round. Its the highest motorable pass in the world and you will see a sign saying the same at the top (Sorry for no photos, all the photos with the board have us posing with the board, typical patel spot it is!!). You definitely should enjoy the hot chai at the top of the pass. You will never ever find a tea so welcome! Also, don't stay too long at the top of the pass, the wind is so strong and chill factor is so high, its not even safe to stay there for so long. The drive till Nubra is again through dangerous roads and pretty sights on the way. We went to Leh in October which is actually the end of the tourist season. Its the time of the year when the snow starts and roads start getting blocked. Even when we were going to Nubra, we got stuck before the Khardungla pass for a couple of hours as it had snowed the previous night and the pass was closed. Also driving through the snow seems so precarious so many times, its fun and enticing!

Just after crossing the pass with the snow, you will enter the Nubra valley and the landscape will again change completely. Nubra valley is famous for the sand dunes, almost resembling an actual desert(complete with camels)! The drive till Nubra is next to the Zanskar river and the sand dunes and you will see patches of green in between and then bare lands and then valleys with the sand dunes and the sandstorms.

Nubra is also famous for the two humped camels which are only found here in India. Apparently these camels wandered here from Central Asia and have since been here. You can take a ride on the camel, it almost feels as if you are in Rajasthan:) ( with sand dunes, sand storms camels and completely dry air!!). From here, you can also go to the Siachen base camp, if you have the guts to:) !

The last place we visited was the Kargil and Batalik region. Its on the way to from Leh to Srinagar. The route is different, as slowly and slowly, you can see the culture changing from Buddhist to a Muslim tinge, plus you also see the vegetation en-route gradually increasing. You will see these small villages on the hillside where the whole hill is bare, but the villages are surrounded by trees. Every time you take a turn and another breathtaking sight greets you!

Somewhere on this route, if you get a chance you should stop at the 'magnetic hill'. Its this location somewhere on the way which is said to have a magnetic field from a hill nearby which pulls metal including cars, bikes etc towards itself. You stop the car of the road where the marking is made and you will see your car being pulled in the direction of the magnetic hill. Is a very weak magnetic field, but still worth seeing. Interesting, isn't it?
We also visited a village in this area which is supposed to be one of the last few pure Aryan villages left in the country. There are a couple of these villages in this region, where the features of the people are different from the rest of the populace around. Their customs are also different and their eyes are blue! According to some, these people are the original Aryans who had come to the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia and settled here rather than moving inward into the mainland. They retained their original customs and features as they never intermingled with the local populations. In fact all these villages only marry within each other and hence are a dwindling population. We saw the traditional dance being performed by the villagers complete with the traditional attire, music and all. We also interacted with them and learned a little bit about their life.
We also saw the locations which were involved in the Kargil war of 1999 (Tiger hill which was conquered back from the militants and some others). The were bare, with no tree cover, and just loose stones on all sides. Taking a look at these mountains, you would wonder how anyone could climb it, leave alone climb it knowing that the enemy on top just has to push the rocks on the top to start a landslide and finish off your whole team, without ever needing weapons! Hats off to those brave souls, takes a lot of courage to try to fight a war in such inhospitable conditions and to win it too!!

There are lot of options for adventure sports in Ladakh, you can do white water rafting or trekking in the high ranges or take part in the Tibetan marathon. Guess if you are interested in this, then Ladakh offers a lot more than to an average tourist. I of course haven't done any of this, so don't know for sure.

Caves of yore : Ajanta & Ellora

Aurangabad is located in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, about an overnight train journey away from Mumbai. Its the central location used for visiting the Ajanta and Ellora caves, as well as there are some places of interest in Aurangabad itself. Ellora is about 30 kms away from Aurangabad, and takes about an hour or so to reach from Aurangabad while Ajanta is 120 kms away, taking about 2-3 hours to reach there.


The three major differences (according to me) between the two sets of caves is that the Ajanta caves are famous for their paintings, while Ellora for their sculptures The second would be that Ajanta was built about 2200 years ago from second century BC till fourth century AD, while Ellora is relatively new and built about 1600 years ago from the fifth to the eighth century AD. Lastly, Ellora caves were never lost to human civilisation, hence they are still relatively in good condition. However Ajanta had been completely lost and forgotten for centuries till in 1819, it was re-discovered by a British officer. Years of neglect and erosion have led to the Ajanta paintings being in a dilapidated condition now.


Our first day in Aurangabad, we did a day trip to the Ellora caves, as well as visited the sights of Aurangabad. Ellora is a set of 34 caves of which the main ones are mostly shown by the guides and the rest you can visit if you want. The first set of 12 caves are Buddhist caves, then 17 Hinduism based caves and then 5 Jain caves. All of them have perfectly crafted sculptures made by sculptors, artists and Buddhist monks who stayed at this site for years to work on them. The cave constructions were sponsored by the kings, and the artists continued to work for as long as the funds came in, and when the funds dried up, the artists left, leaving some of the caves incomplete.

All the caves have been dug out of the stone, and some of the structures are difficult to imagine. One of the main temples is No. 16 which is a Shiv temple, called Kailasa temple. Look here, to the depth upto which the stone was cut to make the temple. This is the photo from a Jain cave. The sculptures in these caves are slightly different based on the religion they portray, in subtle ways but on the whole they are all dug out of stone, and involve various intricate works.


The sculptures are beautiful, intricate and would have taken years to carve. Its just amazing to walk around these man-made caves. Some of the sculptures are geometric designs while a lot are of the gods and goddesses depicting mythological stories. Some of the caves are viharas, where monks could stay, which some are temples or monasteries to pray. All of the caves are so much cooler than the weather outside too! Its quite a relief during summers, you just dont feel like getting out of the caves!! Its just so wonderful to walk through the years of work, is difficult to put it into words actually, its just something to experience, how years ago something of this beauty could have been built. Ellora unlike Ajanta caves have never been "lost", so on the whole they are in a relatively good condition too (thankfully).

The same day, we also visited Aurangzeb's tomb as well as his wife's tomb, which is also called the mini Taj Mahal. It looks like its been built with the Taj Mahal as its inspiration, isn't it?














We also had a stop at the Daulatabad fort, but did not get time to spend time to explore it. Apparently its one of the best forts in India, with multiple levels of security at each level. Take a look there if you can.


The next day, we went to visit Ajanta caves, and it was a completely different and out of this world experience. The first view which greets you when you climb the mountain out of which these caves are carved is breathtaking. 30 caves cut out on one face of the mountain and which were lost on to civilization for ages.. As you walk through these caves, you will see the ornately decorated gates and the interiors painted in resplendent colours. Imagine, this was done like 2000 years ago! and imagine what it was when it was in perfect condition, the walls and ceilings in bright colours!!!! I could spend hours just admiring that work!


 Ajanta caves are 30 in number and are all Buddhist caves. They again have some caves designed as viharas (as in the photo) and some as monasteries and prayer halls to pray. Also, a lot of the caves are incomplete as when the funds died down, the artisans stopped working on them and moved onto other locations. Also, the caves at Ajanta have both paintings, as well as some sculptures also.
Over the years when these caves were "lost:, the overgrowth from the forests destroyed the caves, plus water came in during rains and destroyed all the paintings. There is restoration work going on massively, however a lot has been already lost. What is left is amazing too though, just amazing. The colours, the paintings, the expressions on the faces, the whole stories told in one canvas, the jatakas tales, there is so much to appreciate and absorb..


Interesting facts which I still remember are that there is one cave with dragon paintings in it. Does this mean we had contact with the Chinese even then? Also, there is this painting in one of the caves, where if you shine the torch, the necklace lights up as if it is sparkling. This is one of the most famous photo from Ajanta.






Here are some more photos from Ajanta. Just put together some good ones...

The guides at both the caves however are not good. They hurry you through, not really giving time to you to enjoy and appreciate the art there. That is one thing which really was not too positive. Flash cameras are not allowed inside the caves so as not to harm the paintings. However given how rule-following we Indians are, people continue to use it all the time!! Otherwise, the caves were just mind-blowing. Hopefully they would be preserved well for the coming generations.


A good place to stay in Aurangabad would be the Lemontree hotel. Its quite a reasonable place, with high standards and is relatively new too. The food is nothing much to write home about though! But the service at the hotel is top-class, highly flexible and helpful. Definitely would recommend it.

Bohemian Goa

Goa is one of "those" places, where you end up so many times in your life (and if you have ever stayed in Mumbai, this number would be much higher!). This place is just so amazing that many times I wonder what it is that is so special about it. But its just so much fun and relaxing, I think can spend a long time there and still not have been able to explore all it has to offer...

Goa is mostly famous for its beaches and the night life at some of the popular beaches. Anyways have been to Goa a couple of times and each trip has been so different than the last one, that I always wonder, "What is the real Goa??"!! Not figured that out yet though but still working on it:).

Goa and its beaches are split between the north and south Goa beaches. The north Goa ones are the more crowded and hippie ones, the popular ones being Baga, Calangute, Arambol and Anjuna. They are famous for their beach parties, the night markets, the clubs and the crowds.

We stayed at Baga once, in the hotel next to the only Subway in Goa:). It was quite a happening and lively place and enough to keep you occupied for a long time! The beaches here are good with clean water. Some of the beaches are sandy while some are stony beaches but everywhere, you have a lot of crowd.You should also definitely buy some of those brightly coloured shirts and skirts available at the beach shops. They are so Goan, you would definitely want to be seen in those when in Goa. There are lot of places on the beaches itself to eat, where the tables and chairs are put on the beach itself during dinner time, while during the day you can eat at the makeshift straw-shacks on the beach itself.

Also nearby on North Goa itself is Fort Aguada, where the movie Dil Chahta Hai was shot. Its a popular place to watch the sunset from too.

South of these beaches comes Panjim, the capital of Goa. Compared to the rest of Goa, the city is very boring. Its like any other city, with offices and some small beaches which are not really impressive. It has two famous beaches, Miramar and Dona Paula. Dona Paula is a stony beach and has some water sports apparently.

From Panjim, you can also visit old Goa, which retains its Portuguese ancestry. People dress differently, the houses and architecture is different, the air is also completely different. There are two famous churches here itself, right opposite each other. They are a must visit for all.

And South of Panjim are what are called the South Goa beaches. They are white sand beaches and much less crowded than the north Goa beaches. In fact, a lot of the famous resorts are located in the south with a lot of them having their own private beaches.

My last trip to Goa, I finally went to South Goa and absolutely loved it. We took a train from Mumbai to Mudgaon and then onwards from there to Palolem Beach. The drive till Palolem is quite pretty, through heavily forested hills and twists and turns in the road. We stayed at Palolem itself and it was indeed my best stay in Goa!

Palolem beach has shacks running across the beach, but it is still not very crowded. There are not that many tourists visiting here, mostly people who are staying there itself. Its sparkling at night too, when its all lighted up. A good place to have meals is the Draupadi restaurant, it had such tasty food, it was heavenly...yummmm..

The water is very clean here, though very placid. Since the beach is curved inside, its surrounded by land on almost three sides and hence does not have too many waves. Its good for swimming and safe too as its quite shallow, but not good for body surfing.

We stayed at the Palolem Beach Resort which is right at the beach itself. Was a good place to stay, and given how much we paid for it, a steal!! The hotel had a restaurant right on the beach, so you can enjoy the sound of the waves while having your meals. The breakfast spread is amazing, anything you want was available!! The rooms were good too, had everything you need without any pretentions. The hotel also had a tree-house structure, where you can just sit and stare at the sea, especially during the afternoon when its too hot to go out. This was where we sat for hours and played cards and read and slept off too!

You can spend time doing a variety of things here: walk on the beach, run, cross over during low tide to the Sundowner, which is a resort slightly secluded on a hill, and approachable only sometimes during the day when the tide is low etc etc.

One of the days, we drove to Kolva beach which is the beach for watersports. We were just so shocked with the crowds there that decided not to move out of Palolem after that:))). Anyways they had para sailing, water jet scooter as well as the banana boats there. Para sailing was great, with you getting a view of the nearby beaches as well as the Vasco town. Jet scooter was a bit of a let down though, as they dont really let you drive the scooter yourself. But you can see that its got a lot of "fun" potential.

If you walk along the Kolva beach, there are a couple of shack restaurants later on which don't allow Indians at the restaurants, only foreigners are welcome!! Return of the British Raj, it sounds like, but its true!!! They allow you to eat there and use the sunbeds only if you have white skin and otherwise not. Quite a shocker it was. Anyways, otherwise Kolva was just a fine beach. Water was good, waves were good but the crowd wasn't. So not as much fun.

At Palolem itself, there are lot of things to do. Get a tattoo at one of the shops or from the traveling artists who approach you when you are sleeping on the sunbeds. Shop. You will notice foreigners being given preference here too, when shop keepers shoo you off on seeing a foreigner approach, asking you to give way to the new guests:))). You will also see service being given to them while the Indians being asked to "self-serve". Its very sad to see this happening, what should we do about it? Can we or can't we?





From Palolem, you can also take a boat ride to butterfly island, which you can see from the island. The boatsman takes you to 2-3 small beaches on the island and leaves you there to play in the water for sometime, and then comes and takes you to somewhere in the middle of the sea where you can get the see the sunset. Its a good couple of hours of fun. There are also lot of boatsmen offering to show you dolphins in the sea, but when I had tried it years ago, all you could ever see was the tail of some black fish while it was going down into the water. Definitely not worth it!!

Otherwise most of the things about Goa would be well known. You can hire bikes or cars and drive around from beach to beach yourself. Food especially sea food is great there. Feni is the popular locally brewed alcohol, apparently quite strong and tasty.

The menu at most of the shacks offers everything, from Indian to South Indian to Thai to Italian to Mexican to Middle Eastern! Though what they finally get for you would be very different from what you expected!! Banofie Pie is a popular dessert and not to be missed.

Service is very lax, everyone is as chilled out as you should be when near a beach:). Weather is hot most of the year round, winter of course being the best weather to visit. During monsoons, Goa is still pretty though the water is not as safe to go into. Goan music is very lively if you get a chance to hear it somewhere. Karaoke's are popular and fun too. Magnificent white churches are strewn everywhere you drive. The towns are small and old worldly type and the people completely relaxed and chilled out. There are some casinos also organised on ferries which go into international waters for you to play legally.There are also apparently some good wildlife parks there, which somehow no one seems to care about:) as well as some famous temples also.

All in all, a great place to relax and forget everything else.

Pearl of the Orient : Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the two commercial city-countries of Asia, the other being Singapore. Both of them have become big commercial centres of Asia, and frankly, both of them don't even look like they are in Asia! Also, you get visa on arrival in Hong Kong, which really makes it an easy place to visit.

Hong Kong is located sort of on an island in China and partially on the mainland China. It retains some of its English heritage still, given that it was under their rule for 99 years, but its now slowly and gradually turning more Chinese. As of now though it's quite an interesting mix of the two. Also, even though its just a city with limited area, it has a lot to do, whether its sightseeing, adventure sports, trekking or loads of shopping! There is enough number and variety of things to do there to pass a couple of days there!

Hong Kong is composed of a couple of islands, the major ones being the Hong Kong island, Lantau island (on which the airport is located) and Kowloon. Hong Kong city is composed of three major areas where most of the people stay: central, midlands and the peak region. Central is where all the offices of Hong Kong as well as the malls and LKF are located. The midlands is located around Central, and then the peak area leading up to The Peak! In the Hong Kong island itself, there is the green and forested area you will encounter when you drive to Stanley. This is the sparsely inhabited region of Hong Kong.

Kowloon is not really an island, its in the northern part of the city and linked to mainland China. Its developing a lot recently and has a number of malls, residential complexes as well as the ICC tower being built there, which will be the tallest building in Hong Kong. To reach Kowloon from Central, you can either take the ferry or the metro, or just the road tunnel which goes from under the sea!! The Chinese are really way ahead in their technology than the rest of the world, you will see that a lot here.

Located between Kowloon and Hong Kong is the famous Hong Kong harbour and the harbour skyline. This is one of the most popular and famous sights of Hong Kong, where you can see most of the famous buildings of the skyline. One of them is the HSBC building which looks like it was built by a kid playing with blocks!!

There are many touristy things to do when in Hong Kong, Am just listing some of the main ones:

The Peak:

The Peak is the name given to this huge mountain facing the Hong Kong city (very innovative name, isn't it:)) ). You can go up the Peak in a tram which goes up a very steep incline and is a scary ride. The view from the Peak is amazing, of the sea and Kowloon beyond during the day and the lights in the city below at night. There are a couple of shopping stops and eating places on top of the peak too. Good for an evening out.

Lantau Island :
It is one of the closeby islands of Hong Kong and is mostly famous for the airport located on this island (on fully reclaimed land) as well as the grand Buddha statue which is located here.

You can go to the Buddha statue either by train and then by cable car or take a ferry and then a bus. The cable car runs over high mountains and is quite scary too. Also, there is a mountain track on these mountains too for trekking, in case you want to take the tougher route to the Buddha. If you take the ferry and then the bus ride, the bus ride is through very awesome and green areas of the island, all green and forested and with lots of fresh air.
Once you get off the cable car, you will reach a small Chinese village which has been created for tourists. You just walk through this village to get to the Buddha statue.

The Buddha statue is huge and very impressive too. There is a museum there to spend some time reading about the history of the statue, as well as to learn about the Buddhas's life. Just next to the statue, there is a Buddhist monastery where you can interact with the monks and eat some traditional vegetarian food. The temple in the monastery is also a good place to visit.



LKF :
This is the party place of Hong Kong and a very famous one at that!! Its a small L shaped street, with pubs and restaurants on both sides and is lively till late hours in the morning. The street is full of expats most of the time and a good place to spend a weekend evening partying. Anyone and everyone you know would be there during the weekend for sure! There are lot of small and big events held here from time to time. My favorite place here was a Mexican restaurant, it has awesome food. Also, during lunch hours, there is a small restaurant here which provides vegetarian thali. Its yum, have forgotten the name of the place though!

Harbour, Ferry and Laser Show :
From Hong Kong Central you can take the Star ferry which charges just 2 HKD to cross the harbour and reach Kowloon. It gives a lighted view of both sides of the harbour, especially during the evenings. Also, if you time your ferry well, in the evening at about 8 pm or so, you would be able to catch the laser show which happens every evening on the harbour. The view from the ferry is the best view you can get, and you should definitely try it. Its about 10-15 mins of the laser. with the famous buildings on the harbour lighting up in various colours and patterns. You can also take a ride in the dragon boats in the evening along the harbour, which offer touristy tours every evening.

Just on the Kowloon side of the harbour is the Promenade, a pathway next to the sea where tons of people descend in the evening for taking in the cool breeze of the sea. Its a nice walk with artists and photographers on the street providing entertainment to the people taking a walk there. You can also see Jackie Chan's statue on the promenade as well as the hall of fame of famous Hollywood stars etc. There are also a couple of theatres or galleries there to spend some time.

Tsim Sha Tsui :
It is an Indian area in Kowloon, where you can eat Indian food if you feel nostalgic. An area around here which is worth visiting is the CKM (Cheung King Mansion). The market here seems a bit shady though! It has small shops and a lot of them selling cheap electronics, smuggled stuff etc. Also in this area itself is the only theatre in Hong Kong which plays Hindi movies on Friday evenings.

Stanley :
It is an area slightly away from the Central Hong Kong and the drive till the Stanley beach is long. There are beaches on the way where you can stop, hills for trekking and beautiful scenes with houses scattered here and there. There are a couple of good treks out here too. At Stanley, there is a famous street market too where you can shop for cheap Chinese goods. Its another good day out option.

There are many other islands near Hong Kong, where you can go for a day out.
One such island that I went to was a lesser know island, Po Toi. We went to Stanley and then took a ferry from there to this island. It was completely uninhabited except the tasty sea food restaurant they had there. It looked completely shabby but had really tasty food. We trekked a bit there, went into the water for sometime and then were back. Quite an interesting trip!!

Macau :
The Macau island which is treated like Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) is located close to Hong Kong about 1 hour by ferry, or 15 mins by helicopter which is also available as an option. Like Hong Kong, you can get a visa on arrival in Macau, so that is helpful.

Macau was was also not under China but was ruled by the Portuguese for many years. It is again similar to Hong Kong in that respect that it still retains some of the architectural style of those times as well as the look and feel of place feels very international.

Macau is called the Vegas of the East, and is mostly famous for its many casinos. At night it seems like a mini Vegas and is popular among the Chinese. Its been built very grandly and you can see that in everything around the island.






The major hotels/casinos in Macau are the Venetian, Wynn, Grand etc. The Venetian was inaugurated recently and is a pleasure to visit. The theme of the hotel is Venice and it has been built on a grand scale in the Venetian style. On the outside a complete replica of the entire Piazza San Marco has been constructed.

Inside, the ambience is like the city of Venice. Grand staircases, huge paintings on the ceilings, and there is a Grand Canal within the hotel on both sides of which you have multiple shopping areas. The Canals have flowing water with gondolas and people singing in the gondolas as they do in Venice. Its just a treat to walk around the hotel and take in the beauty of the place.

The casino in the Venetian is a bit expensive though, minimum of 200 HKD per bet. Its better to play at the Wynn or Lisboa, which have a smaller bet size. Almost all the hotels in Macau have a casino, you can just walk into any of those. Play all you want, win/lose all you want and just have a good time. One point to note is that all the casinos offer free alcohol. Guess if you are losing a lot of money, you can try to make up for it from alcohol:).
Another thing to do in Macau would be to visit the Macau centre, which offers a chance to bungee jump or skywalk around the tower.

The Bungee jump is a bit expensive though.
Also, at the top of the Macau Centre, is the platform which has glass on the ground. Its quite an effort to even walk there, its soo scary!









Two other places on Hong Kong which I have not gone to but have heard good reviews about are Disneyland and Waterpark. Give them a visit if you want to.

Getting Around :
Travel around Hong Kong is easy. The transfer from the airport to the city is easy, as you will directly land-up in Central or Kowloon in less than half an hour by the airport express. Once in the city, just buy the Octopus card, and it works in the buses, the trams and the metros as well as shops! The cabs are cheap too, so they are always an option. Ferries to nearby islands make for a good ride. Also you can use the escalators everywhere in the Central and Midland areas if you want to walk around a bit in the city. This is something very unique to Hong Kong that I have seen. Also most of the buildings in Central are all interconnected, so you can walk from one end to another without ever coming out in the sun! That also really helps getting around during summer.

Just try not to walk around too much around Central on a Sunday afternoon!! There are too many crowds everywhere on that day. Its the day when all the maids around the city get a day Sunday off, and they all spend their time sitting in the open and chatting and gossiping!

Shopping :

Shopping is the national pastime of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong is well endowed to cater to this hobby :). The Shenzhen area about an hour away from Hong Kong is the centre of all kind of shopping you would want to do, have heard the deals and bargains there are unheard of anywhere else. Buying clothes, shoes, bags, CDs, watches etc: everything made in China at throwaway prices. Earlier you could get a visa for Shenzhen from Hong Kong itself, but now you need to take a Chinese visa beforehand.

The famous malls of Hong Kong include the Elements in Kowloon which is a new high-end mall, recently opened. It has a lot of good brand there, as well as an ice skating rink:).

 
The IFC Mall in Central is another huge mall, where you can get lot of stuff to buy. Nearby only in Queens road etc, there are lot of options too.Harbour City in the Kowloon side is another good option, its one of the biggest malls in Hong Kong.

 
For slightly cheaper shopping, there are lot of shops near Times Square. You need to bargain a lot there though but then you can get really good deals.

In fact anywhere in Hong Kong you go, you will find a mall or some shops at least! And brands are there everywhere. In fact like most of South Asia, Hong Kong is very brand conscious, you will even notice that in the way everyone around there dresses up. Should warn you though, one problem you will face while shopping in Hong Kong is of course the size availability! Since Asian women are so petite, not getting your size can always deflate your ego:(.


General Info :

As far as weather goes, summer gets too humid in Hong Kong and its tough to go out in the afternoon. During winter it gets a bit cold and windy, but most of the times its pleasant and the best time to visit Hong Kong. Also, there is a lot of smog over Hong Kong for most of the year, which gets a bit painful and unhealthy.

Food is available in good variety across the city. If you love sea food, then Hong Kong is a haven. There are countless places offering tasty Chinese non-vegetarian food across town. Popular eating places are located mostly in Soho, LKF, Wan Chai as well as in the malls. Indian food is available at Tsim Tsha Tshui area as well as the Princes (?) street in Central.

A good place to visit would be the Aqua pub in Kowloon, it is located near the Harbour City mall. It has glass all around and gives a great view of the harbour, great ambience. Have heard it plays Bollywood music on Thursdays, not sure if it does, but you can check it out if you want. Also definitely try the French restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel. Very expensive though but it is simply superb food!!

The best hotels to stay in Hong Kong would be the Four Seasons and the W. The W is a new and very stylish hotel recently opened close to the ICC tower in Kowloon. Its an interesting stay. Also the Four Seasons is located in Central and is quite a luxury hotel. It has one of the best views of the harbour and if you can get a harbour view room, you are quite lucky. Another positive about the Four Seasons is that the swimming pool there also has a great view of the harbour. Its quite fun to spend some time there, swimming and appreciating the scenes around.

There are many cultural events also which keep happening there regularly, like the fireworks on Hong Kong's handover day, Rugby and Cricket Sixes, Dragon Boat races etc. There are lot of exhibitions held regularly, water sports like wake boarding etc, so enough to keep you busy if you spend a longer time there. All in all, a city with a lot to offer for a short or a longer trip traveller.