Switzerland here I come!

Abu Dhabi airport

Whew! What a place! Now I know where poetic descriptions like "The lovely morning dew" came from...

We started very  early like at 5 in the morning to Cochin international airport. For those of you who haven't read my earlier blogs, I live in Kerala, India. In any other city 31 Km may not be a big deal but in Cochin it is almost a one and a half hour journey. At 7:45 am we boarded the Etihad airways flight bound to Abu Dhabi.We arrived at Abu Dhabi at 12 noon. Unfortunately we had a 14 hr hold there. Fortunately for me there was good food. At 8 pm, we started planning what to do in Switzerland. A guy approached us. He said he was from the Philippines and he knew all about Switzerland. After some talking we figured that the dude had no idea of what he was talking. We asked him what there was to see in Bern. All he said was "It is beautiful.". My Dad was already ticked off due to the waiting time. He almost screamed at the dude to leave. Just because manners was important he kept his cool. After a lot of half hearted thank you's the dude left. Finally at mid night We boarded the fight to Switzerland.

The hoatzin and the leaf

I come up like a little bud,

rumbling against mummy.

A hoatzin in the distance,

is it my end already?

Oh hoatzin, you scare me

You vile smelling plump.

Don’t come close, I cant move

You hurt my nose, smell like dump

Oh hoatzin, see my plight

I am little, not strong.

As the wind blows light

Have no choice but dance along.

Oh hoatzin, you scare me

Your sharp beak, your claws

Sure they pain more than a stinging bee

I shiver, I tremble, they’re scarier than cat paws.

Oh hoatzin, you scare me

Please don’t have me for lunch

You come like a banshee,

You can kill me with a crunch.

Oh hoatzin, you scare me

I am still green,

I am still young

I hope you leave me alone.

Oh hoatzin, you scare me

Let me live

For I am to fullfil

My destiny.

Oh hoatzin, you scare me

I have to help people

Who think they don’t need me

In the end they do.

       

                                  -Ashwin Menon

Horsley hills part 2

So by 5:30 pm I stopped watching TV. My parents managed to drag me out of the house (well not exactly drag but you get the picture), and I am glad they did. We walked to a place called the valley view point. We descended down a steep set of stairs and climbed on to a circular platform. We looked down and immediately fell for the breathtaking view. WOW WOW WOW!

We stood there for almost half an hour taking photos. Then we went on a walk around the area. There is not much to see. We walked around the area in just half an hour. We came back to the room after sunset and I again watched TV till dinner. The food was average. The room was average too. The room service was right on the dot. We told them dinner was to come at 9:30 pm and by 9:29 pm the doorbell rang and the guy with our food was right outside. The next morning we woke up at 6 am and went for a walk to the view point but we realized we had missed sunrise by half an hour. Disappointed we again went for a walk around the area. There is also a mini zoo and crocodile pond in front of the resort. By 10 am we went for breakfast. The checkout time was 12 noon but we did not wait.

On the way back

We thought staying there after 10:30 was not worth at all. It was also the wrong to go in as it was too warm to do anything. By 10:45 am we left horsley hills and just in time too as the traffic was starting to increase in Bengaluru. All in all the journey was fine.

Horsley hills Part 1

Surprise! Surprise!

We started at 8:30 in the morning. We had planned to start a little earlier. We started from our flat in Singasandra, Bangalore.  Horsley hills is roughly 145 Km from Singasandra. Traffic was normal as it was Labor Day. It still took us around half an hour to reach Marthahalli. By 9:15 we reached Bangalore- Tirupati highway. Here we had breakfast at hotel Annapurna. By 9:45 we were back on the road. The first 50 km were the boring dusty streets of Bangalore. Then we took a slight right towards Hoskote. We bought Guavas at Hoskote. After we bought the Guavas, the vendor himself told us to wash them nicely! A little later we reached the Andhra border. 

Andhra border

 

The road has shrunk!

The WOW route!

The roads suddenly shrunk by 1 or 2 feet. Very soon we saw a board saying ‘WELCOME TO HORSLEY HILLS’. We were relieved. We went on ahead until we reached the foot of the hills. There a person collected 20 rupees as entrance fee to the hills. We started climbing the hill. It wasn’t such a long climb compared to Ooty, Munnar and Mulyanagiri. We were on top pretty fast. We arrived half an hour after check in time and the rooms were still not ready. So we headed to the restaurant and had lunch. Then we went to the rooms to find that it was still not ready. They were an hour late now. On our humble request they finished their cleaning quickly and left. Honestly I know will call me lazy but I spent the afternoon watching cricket on TV.

Playing it my way

Sorry for not writing for so long. Last month I read this wonderful autobiography of one of the greatest cricketers of all time.Sachin Tendulkar. It is a beautifully written book. A serious cricket fan and reader would simply love this book. It describes his most tense and happiest moments. For people who don't like cricket, This wouldn't on the top of your reading list. Anyway, this book is a vivid contrast of his personal and cricket life. Well this is one book to read. ENJOY!