Greencaviar Travel

I have come to India mainly because I wanted to see the Taj Mahal, the most photogenic architecture in the world.  However, it’s not easy visiting Agra where the Taj Mahal is situated. Never mind the long flight to India, but the trip to Agra had been one of the most uncomfortable trips I had ever experienced.  The city simply lacked the infrastructure to receive tourists or visitors. But the beauty of the Taj Mahal was worth all that discomfort from the trip. Our guide warned us about the do's and dont's inside the complex. For example, video cameras are not allowed, but phone and still cameras are okay. He also told us that the Taj Mahal is the most protected monument in India. No polluting vehicles are allowed within the 500-meter radius of the Taj Mahal. So it was a long walk from the main gate to reach the security check and ticket entrance.  Then from the ticket entrance, it was a short walk to a very large courtyard, bounded by four gates (yes, it sounds r...

One of my aspirations as a nature lover was to visit the Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Although I had known that it’s one of the biggest draws in Nepal and had heard rapturous accounts of it, I had only the vaguest mental picture. Would I be able to see a tiger? Would I be able to trek in the national park? Well, I did not see a tiger, but while walking through the jungle, our naturalist-guide showed us some tiger foot prints. While the most famous attraction maybe the one-horned rhinoceros, which is an endangered species, it is by no means all there is. As I discovered on a recent trip, Chitwan holds more than animal treasures. We learned about the people in the surrounding village and their culture. After a six-hour trip from Kathmandu, we spent the rest of the day on an elephant jungle safari until sunset. During the elephant ride, we saw some primates, three different kinds of deer – sambar, muntjac and spotted deer, peacocks and lots of birds and a grazing rh...

For decades, adventurous people go to Nepal to climb or set foot on the highest mountain on earth, Mount Everest. I did not come to Nepal for that reason, but when I mentioned that I was going to Nepal, a co-worker told me to, at least, take the flight to the mountains and see the amazing view of the Himalayas and the eight tallest peaks in the world, which includes Mount Everest (the tallest at 29,028 feet). So I signed up for the ‘mountain flight’ offered by some Nepalese airlines. The ‘mountain flights’ offer dawn/early morning panoramic views of the Himalayas and Mount Everest; each passenger is guaranteed a window seat. It was raining when we arrived in Kathmandu. By 7:00am the following day, we were scheduled for the mountain flight on Yeti Airlines. I anxiously waited to board after going through the normal airport security, not realizing that the flight was dependent on weather condition. As we approached the boarding area, the airline staff told us to wait about 10 minute...

  Morocco Road Trip, Part 3:  The Road to Marrakesh Along the fabled road to Marrakesh or Ouarzazate (depending on where you are headed) lies a place that never existed in my imagination: Tichka Pass . Approaching the pass, our guide told us a tiny bit of history, “We are coming to this pass…7,400 feet or approximately 2200 meters. The road, by the way, was built by the French, the road that links Marrakesh to Ouarzazate”. Soon we reached the peak and stopped to take photos of the Tichka Pass marker and the astonishing views. As we traveled in the heart of the High Atlas Mountain chain, I started to film our journey using my iPhone 6+, mostly shooting the landscape – the snow-capped Atlas Mountain reaching towards the sky - bisected by a thin road.   As if shooting from a moving vehicle not challenging enough, the refracted light made filming the landscape even more impossible.  But I found a workaround by pressing my iPhone against the window. We stopped ...

Series #5: Torres Del Paine National Park, Southern Patagonia I caught my first glimpse of the distinct peaks (Torres) from Lake Sarmiento, an interesting lake that looked as if it had a ring around it. Leading up to Lake Sarmiento, we passed the Deciduous Magellan Forest with poplar and conifer trees but mostly dominated by Lenga trees. Then on to Patagonian plains and plateau covered in pampas and walled by rocky hills: a landscape said to be lower than sea level and created by glacial movement. And of course, the famous symbol of anything Patagonia, the horn-shaped towers (the jagged mountain peaks) dominated the horizon and could be seen from all directions. With the changeable weather, the snow-capped mountains suddenly appeared with glorious blue light or buried under a shroud of dense, gray clouds. The sky was vast and dominating. Milky aqua waters of Rio Paine and lakes were part of the surreal landscape. While I expected to see glaciers near the mountain, I was surprised to...

As they say, no trip to New Zealand is complete without a visit to “The Lord of the Rings” movie location. As an avid fan of “The Lord of the Rings," I visited three movie locations: Mt. Victoria in Wellington, the Hobbiton Movie Set (a bit cheesy) and Edoras. And the most impressive was my journey to Edoras. (Sorry, for the reference to those of you who have not read “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy or seen the movies.) In J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional Middle-Earth, Edoras is the capital city in the kingdom of Rohan, built atop a rocky outcrop in a valley surrounded by craggy mountains. The countryside of Rohan is a land of pastures and lush tall grassland that is frequently windswept. Peter Jackson brought this fictional place to life in the film “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” which was filmed on location in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Many scene shots were taken from the Rangitata Valley. The movie set was built on top of the hill called Mount Sunday (Edoras). ...

Series 3: Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia The air got colder as we started our ascent heading to the peak of the lower arch.  So I had to wear the fleece jacket attached to my belt. Aside from being suited in astronaut jumpsuit, I carried all the necessary gear like headphones, hats and a jacket provided by Bridge Climb.  Everything was attached to my belt.  We were only allowed to bring sunglasses, but the company provided a strap to secure them. Lockers were provided for all of our other personal belongings. At first, I was not happy at the rule of not being able to take even a phone camera with me to capture and Instagram a photo of my adventure. I thought it was another way of the Bridge Climb to make money from the photos because I had to add $54.00 to the actual cost for photos.  As we geared up, I began to understand that everything was for safety reason. The keyword there was to latch-on. Everything was attached to our belt latched on ...