Sarath Chandra Pandurangi's Blog

We just came back from a beautiful vacation from India. Kerala, a state in India, is also dubbed "God's Own Country". It is rich in greenery, abundant in water bodies. Kerala should be on any tourist's list immediately after Tajmahal, Agra (although, be advised that Agra is North India and Kerala is on the extreme south). The weather was generally pleasant (Jan - Mar is considered the *season* for tourism here) We landed in Thiruvananthapuram , aka Trivandrum, Trichy. It's the capital city of Kerala. It is accessible by air, train (and also sea). It is said to have some really nice beaches – one is - Varkala Beach (we were unable to go for lack of time). Can also be used as a crashing pad. The crown jewel tourist spot near Trichy is a hill station called Ponmudi . The best experience would be to spend a night in the KTDC resort 2 KM from the summit. The sunrise and the sunset from the resort is awe inspiring. The summit is not open for either so, the resort i...

And Back to work on Monday. The US is just as it was when I left. Missing India already. But very excited to start work tomorrow. The journey was very tiring. In the last 6 years, this is the first time I felt so, after flying to or from US. Probably this accounts to the old flights on British Airways. Note to self: Next time, avoid BA. Old flights, Bad Entertainment system (worst among all airlines so far), Psuedo-Friendly Staff and Customer service. However, Food was exceptional. Overall - Not worth it. Go Qatar (for its Service, Newer aircrafts) or Air India (For Food, Newer aircrafts).

Don't buy those water bottles again. Bobbles – is a pet bottle that can be your very own personal water filter – on the GO!! It filters out chlorine and other contaminants as you drink. The filter , replaceable, lasts for about 300 bottles. Does the job for about two months. The filters are available separately. The Bobble is also a good idea environmentally speaking. As the Bobble website notes, 1.5 million barrels of oil are used annually to make plastic water bottles, most of which are then casually discarded. We had been buying bottled water. Looks like now we'll be drinking from our Bobbles. (This trip to India this time lasted 6 months. I wish I came to know about this before. I would have saved so many water bottles)

Just back from Vinukonda, AP, India . This trip to India is taking a toll. I am moving around a lot of places and very quickly. Its a lot different from travelling in US. We have a lot more tools and *own* or rental cars. In India you typically travel in public transport (rail or road) - Not many places you want to go can be reached by flight directly. So you generally donot need directions. But once I had to travel on personal car. There are very few GPSes, let alone - their reliability. However, Google now does come handy. It not only shows directions from one city/town. But is also helpful in taking directions in Cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The text directions may not be really as good as the *helpful* bystander - but the directions will definitely give a better picture.

"Mapquesting" in India is uncommon, if ever used at all. Google India maps have been developing quiet fast in the past few years. The last time I went to India, I was able to spot my home. Then I was able to save it as a favorite location. But Yesterday, I used it for real. I had to locate US consulate in Hyderabad. I had a Consular Interview scheduled on 18th for My H1B visa Extension. I did not have time to go personally there a day before, which I would have done otherwise. I looked up the address from the Consulate website . And put that in maps.Google.co.in . This dint come up, but – I did a search for us consulate, Hyderabad , and voila, I got the exact address I was looking for! Cool isn't it? Then, I hit the directions link, and put my home address. Dint come up. Tried with the local area name instead of the exact address. And Swweet sugar, It was even able to get turn by turn directions for me. View Larger Map

Jyothsna and I love biking. Yesterday we *surprise* visited Annapolis. It was sudden, so, I dint know where to start. So we stopped at the visitor centre. Found out US Navy Academy was a place worth going to. And there was a college football game that had just begun. We had a more naturalistic view on spending the evening. So we started walking to the Market space, to the dock. At the end of the dock, We were surprised to find Free Wheelin' . They rent out bikes for free. Really. Its not a 16 speed mountain bike of your childhood dreams but, a simple one speed cruiser enough to have fun. All they needed was our Photo Ids and a Credit Card. (They make a copy of these and shred it when we return). They even gave us a Annapolis Transit pass each, in case we had a flat tire or just were to far to bike back. I did a similar thing in SFO two years back. A friend and I rented a couple of bikes and biked the Golden Gate. But that wasn't free. We rented from Bikeshare.com. They cha...

Many a time, you travel on a high Air traffic day. Chances are - the flights that you are going to take have been over booked. I haven't personally given this advantage before - but it appears that airlines are authorised to give away round trip tickets and free vouchers for volunteers who are willing to take the next flight. This post from Dumb Little man's Tips for life blog gives some pointers how to score on these deals. Leave comments in Guestbook