INDIA: Himalayan Mountains

This is the location map of Kailas Mountains (Himalayan Mountains, near Tibet) and the Manasarovar. These are of immense religious significance to Hindus.They believe that Lord Shiva abodes here. It is also believed that Ganges, the holy river, originates from this mountain.














Sunrise over the Manasarovar in Tibet


Tibet offers access to this mountain and most people start from here.

ROME: St Peter's Basilica

CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURE

The photo in the link using a flash program that lets you see the entire 360 degrees of a place. You can do so my moving your mouse after holding the click function and in a laptop by using the touch function !

Here is a virtual visit to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican. To the right, you can see Michaelangelo's (once naked, now clothed in gold) Christ on cross. His Pieta, unfortunately, cannot be seen, as it is in a recess to the right of the entrance.

INDIAN DOMESTIC AVIATION. PASSENGER DATA: May09

Domestic air traffic received a fillip in April 09, with 1.55 lakh more passengers flying than in the previous month. According to the latest data released by the civil aviation ministry, the domestic passenger traffic picked up marginally, having reported a 12 per cent fall in the first three months of calendar year 2009.

The Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines and its low-cost arm Kingfisher Red led the pack, flying 8.61 lakh passengers, almost 26 per cent of the total domestic traffic. That was followed by Jet Airways and JetLite — flying 7.96 lakh, cornering 24.1 per cent of traffic — and Air India (domestic) with 5.83 lakh flyers, getting a 17.6 per cent share. The total number of domestic passengers carried by scheduled domestic carriers in April was 33.15 lakh, compared with 31.60 lakh a month ago. Among low-cost carriers, IndiGo flew 4.54 lakh air travellers, followed by 3.87 lakh of SpiceJet and 1.45 lakh of GoAir. The all-business class airline Paramount Airways carried 0.75 lakh passengers.

Low-cost carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet wrestled 13.7 and 11.7 per cent of the total traffic. GoAir cornered 4.4 per cent and Paramount 2.3 per cent, the figures showed.

The highest seat factor for domestic airlines in April was bagged by Paramount, which had 88.5 per cent of its aircraft seats full on average.

No-frill carriers IndiGo and GoAir recorded a high of 72.1 and 72 per cent, JetLite 68.7, SpiceJet 68 and Jet Airways 65 per cent. Kingfisher registered a 64.2 per cent seat factor and Air India (Domestic) 59.9 per cent. Low seat factor, reflecting a low demand for air travel, has been a major cause of concern for the aviation industry worldwide, including in India.

Despite low promotional fares, the number of passengers travelling, which had grown at a high pace of 20 to 25 per cent, has slumped in the past several months ever since the slowdown hit the industry.

Domestic air travel between January and March this year had registered a negative growth of 11.69 per cent, compared to that in the same period last year.

AIR FRANCE: RACIAL PROFILING?

Tue, May 12 11:29 AM

Mumbai, May 12 (PTI) Over 50 Indian passengers flying Air France had a "harrowing" time at Paris airport after their aircraft developed a technical problem and complained today on reaching here that they were victims of "racial" profiling. The passengers, who spent 28 hours in Paris, said they were confined to a lounge at the airport there from 10 pm on Sunday till 7 am the next morning and given "hardly any food and water".

The passengers, on their way to Mumbai from the US via Paris, said while the foreigners were taken to hotels shortly after their plane returned to the Paris airport due to apparent technical problem following a four-hour flight, they were taken to the lounge and given just a bottle of water and a sandwich. Giving details of their "harrowing" time, one of the travellers, Vineeta Sengupta said, "No foreigner would have been treated like the way we were treated.

People were lying down on the floor over there (at a place at the airport) where immigration takes place". Accusing Air France of "racial" profiling, a girl passenger said that the officials there even had threatened that they would be handed over to the police if they did not stop protesting.

Sengupta said the 53 to 54 Indian passengers were later "huddled out" of the airport on a "group visa", which the authorities could have provided much earlier, and taken to a hotel. No reason has officially been given for the delay.

PTI.

TEMPLE TOURISM: INDIA, KERALA,TRISSUR - Elelphant race in Guruvayoor

Elephants are donated to the temple. This is referred to in local parlance as "nadakiruthal".The elephant is used in many rituals at the temples and often in festivals.The most famous of the elephants is "Guruvayoor Kesavan" about whom a movie has also been made!! Children, especially male, are often taken under the trunk and between the legs by a mahout, since the belief is that it cures the child of fear! A ring made of elephants hair, is considered a talisman(anavaal mothiram)!!



For the devotees, the elephant race is a big event and in spite of the pachyderms having a history of going amok, they seem to turn out with children in tow to watch this event. Guruvayoor so far has not had an elephant misbehaving.



The mahouts run from the temple carrying the bells that the elephant is to wear for the race and the race begins!
















TRAVEL TO GURUVAYOOR: Guruvayoor is located within driving distance of Trissur in Kerala, India. Guruvayoor temple authorities allow only practising Hindus to enter the temple and pray. Non-Hindu's pray outside the premises. Domestic tourism in India is largely driven by religious tourism. Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh is one of the most popular temples and attracts millions every year and makes Andhra Paradesh one of the top domestic tourism destinations. Guruvayoor in Kerala is fairly popular among South Indians.Sabarimala is another well known destination which is open only in the winter season. The season ends culminating in the Makara Vilakku(January 14th) prayers. Here you find only male devotees and there are abstinence rituals and disciplines to be followed prior to undertaking the pilgrimage.Men typically wear black clothes and do not shave till the visit to the temple is over.
Kerala Tourism Board has a web site which can be googled easily and will provide further details.


Photographs have been taken by SMEVINS PHOTOGRAPHY.For any queries regarding commercial use kindly write to smevinp@yahoo.com

Raison De Etre for Travel

There isn't time
To do all the things I want to do,
With all the mountain tops to climb,
All the woods to wander through,
And all the seas to sail upon,
And everywhere there is to go,
And all the people, everyone,
Who lives upon the earth to know
-Anonymous
Source unknown, but very succinctly puts across the reason for my wanderlust and the reason for this blog!

Introduction

This is an attempt to record details of my travels and to provide fellow travelers and gypsies with information they can use.
vinod
july 08