Travel Blog

“Hola, Bueno Dia Señores ? Señores bien venido en avion de mi bonito pais, Bolivia, America del Sur”- these Spanish words came from the mouth of chief cabin crew of VARIG, the Brazilian airlines, bound for La Paz from S?o- Paulo, a famous Brazilian international airport. We, a traveler group, started our journey from Mumbai. We came to Johannesburg by South African airlines and from Johannesburg to S?o- Paulo by the same airlines. In that airlines cabin crews spoke in English. But when the Brazilian airlines took off from S?o- Paulo, we noticed one strange thing. That was the change of language everywhere in the aircraft. The words of caution, name of various objects- all were in the Spanish language. We could understand nothing; we could only make the cabin crew understand our needs by moving our heads or hands like dumb. It was two hours flight from S?o- Paulo to Santa Cruz, a Bolivian city. In the flight we were served some strange foods we tasted never before. We were thrilled when we saw Amazon Rainforest bellow our aircraft. We touched the land of Bolivia, the run way of Santa Cruz international Airport. Actually the airport’s name is Viru Viru International Airport VVI. We were transit passengers in VVI. After some times, we flew away to La Paz. On way to La Paz, we saw red hills, Rocky Mountains and some lakes. Just before landing in La Paz, we were so pleased at the sight of Titicaca, The biggest lake of Latin America. While landing we saw the mountain peaks covered with while ice. Cabin crew was trying to describe the beauty but we could not understand him. We landed in La Paz, a very beautiful International Airport.

It was at 12:30 P.M. Bolivian local time we completed the immigration formalities. Upon arrival, we became complete illiterate as we could not read or understand Spanish language. We were roaming to and fro in the airport building which was noticed by a police officer in civil dress. At first, he suspected us but upon interrogation he found that the problem with us was only the language problem. Luckily he could speak English. He checked our visa & tickets and being satisfied, he became busy to help us. He helped us to change our money to Bolivian currency. We were thrilled to see Bolivian Peso (currency). Another problem we faced was that the temperature was 7⁰c and was completely intolerable to us. We called to one of our friends in Bolivia who told us to go to Santa Cruz and advised us not to stay in La Paz as it was so cold at that time. We decided to go to Santa Cruz. Upon hiring a taxi with the help of that policeman, we started for La Paz bus terminal. Actually the sight left and right was so nice that it was difficult for me to describe in words. We only looked around from the taxi. In the bus station the weather was no chilly that we could not tolerate. Even if we wore all the cloths we took with us we could not tolerate the chill. Another problem we began to face was the problem of finding any toilet. A hundred times we tried to make them understand we needed to go to any urinal by uttering the words: toilet, urinal, bathroom, restroom, refresh room etc. But all our efforts proved futile. Then one of my fellow traveler sat down and by some acting, he showed his need. All people around us laughed at us and one of them led us to toilet, located very near to us. We became strange to see the words written ‘B?no’ instead of ‘Toilet’.

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‘Viti Levu’ and ‘Vanua Levu’ are the names of two main islands of The Fiji Islands. This South Pacific country has altogether 333 islands- big and small. Some are so small that there are only one or two houses, sometimes no houses at all. In the international map, Fiji can be identified only as some dots. It may be assumed that at anytime these dots will be washed away or will be deleted by blue salty water of the Pacific Ocean. But in reality it is not that. When a visitor arrives in Nadi- the international airport of Fiji Islands, his assumption is bound to be changed. The capital city is Suva, located in Viti Levu, he sees a hilly postcard-like city. The names of other cities in Viti levu are Namaka, Nadi, Nausori, Raki-raki, Ba , Loutoka, Sigatoka etc. In Nausori, there is also one international airport. There are about seventeen airports in other small islands. Only small airplanes & helicopters land in those airports. The neighboring countries are Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Samoa and Australia. It needs about 10 hours 40 minutes from Inchon, South Korean Airport, 17 hrs from Los Angeles, 7 hrs from Australia, six hrs from New Zealand to fly to Nadi. The international airline of the Fiji Island is ‘Air Fiji’. It has international fights to many destinations including Port Vila, Auckland, Brisbane, Manila & Los Angeles.

I started my journey from Beijing International Airport, China at 11:30 A.M., China local time. China was very cold and full of ice and snow everywhere. Our flight by Korean Airlines delayed because the runway was slippery due to heap of the ice on the runway. After 30 minutes, airport authority cleaned the ice out and we flew away to Incheon. I was a transit passenger in Incheon and my next flight was at 17 hrs Korea local time by the same airlines. The flight flew away for Nadi. I could see nothing but very small ships in the Pacific Ocean since the windows of the aircraft must be closed at night, I had to pass the whole night sleeping. Very early in the morning I was marveled at the sight of morning sun rising out of blue water in an extremely beautiful way. At 8:24 AM Fiji local time, our aircraft touched the land of Fiji Islands.

No prior visa is required for most of the nationals for entry into Fiji. I was thrilled to see that some local young people with Fijian dress were singing welcome songs inside the airport to greet the overseas visitors. “Bula, Vinaka”, the boys were saying to the foreigners which mean “Welcome, Thank you”. I proceeded to the immigration desk and submitting my passport, I got 14 days visitor’s visa. I came down to customs and doing all the airport formalities I went to search for a taxi for Suva.

It took 2 hour and 30 minutes to drive to Suva, a very beautiful city. On my way to Suva from Nadi, plenty of small hills, small markets, houses, canals, gardens were seen left and right.

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Egalitarian, cosmopolitan and oh-so-cool, Melbourne has a passionate soul and intellectual fervor that makes it a truly global experience. From the cultural and artistic wonderland of Federation Square to balloon rides above the city, and toothy smiles from sharks at Melbourne Aquarium, the city offers a moment for every mood.

Located in the Asia Pacific time zone, Melbourne is ideally placed between the East and the West - providing a time zone bridge that links the closing of the US markets and the opening of the European markets. With regular appearances in “The Economist’s” ‘Most Livable Cities’ list, it has a right to be boastful, despite being referred to as Australia’s oft-ignored but second largest city.

There are so many attractions in Melbourne that one can go there any time of the year and still return fully satisfied. Visitors are amazed by the unique sightseeing and entertainment experiences that are available within a short stroll, tram, train or taxi ride of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center and the city’s 30,000 hotel rooms. The city also reveals its

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By-P.C.Ray

There are many ways to reach Sunderban. One way is from Sealdah by train via Canning which is called the Gateway to Sunderban., or from Chowringee, Kolkata by bus via Sonakhali to Basanti. From here either by bus or by boat one can go to the Tiger Reserve Forest and Pakhirwalla within one and half hours. The government Tourist Lodge is fully equipped to give comfort and joy of stay. Besides, there are private lodges and lodges maintained by the Municipalty. Far from the madding crowd, yet adorned with pomp and pleasure, the lodges invite the elite of the neighbouring places. Here the people come to shake off the drudging daily routine life, while others come to gain experience of the solitude. As the great litterateur of the English literature Francis Bacon said, “ Travel in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder a part of experience.” (Of Travel)

Sunderban is full of scattered islands, the only link being boat .In trugh, it is the land of the greenery. Here the men and women are simply dressed. Men are mostly found with stripped Lungis and women are simply covered with apron with open unruly hairs. Most of the people have no fixed

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