Map of India and Sri Lanka showing localities that we visited in 1994
One of my most memorable trips was one to India and Sri Lanka back in 1994. For a period of about 6 weeks, from January to March, I visited southern India and parts of Sri Lanka with a colleague of mine, Sunil Gandhi, with whom I had travelled several times before including to the SW US in 1977 (photos from that trip are on Flickr ). Sunil was not only a great travel companion, the fact that he is originally from India (born in Mumbai) made it possible for me to "see and feel" India in a way that few other foreigners are able to. For one thing, Sunil has relatives in several Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Visiting the families, being able to converse with his relatives and share food and drinks with them in their homes, gave me the rare opportunity to really see India "from the inside".
Like so many of my travels in the past 35 years, this trip started out as a geological conference and field excursion. The technical meetings were held in Hyderabad, almost exactly at the geographic centre of the country. The field trip was a 5-day tour of a large portion of Andhra Pradesh state that few outsiders get to see unless they are visiting geologists. The purpose of our coming to India was to exchange ideas and experiences on uranium geology with our Indian hosts.
The rest of the time was devoted to "tourism". We visited Delhi, India's capital, and Agra, where the famous Taj Mahal is located, when we first arrived in India (before the conference). Then we flew to Hyderabad to attend the conference and take part in the field trip, and then went on to Chennai (called Madras in 1994) where we stayed for a few days and from where we visited an important Indian shrine at Tirupati. Then we flew to Colombo, the capital of the island country of Sri Lanka. Traveling by taxi (i.e. a rented car with a chauffeur) we drove to the beautiful city of Kandy and from there headed south through some of the most spectacular mountainous landscapes and tea plantations that I had ever seen, to Hikkaduwa on the south coast of the Island, an area that was devastated by the December 26, 2004 Tsunami.
After spending a week or so in Sri Lanka we flew back to India, arriving at Trivandrum close to the southern tip of the sub-continent. We stayed a few days at a beach resort south of Trivandrum called Somatheeram, and from there, traveling by car, by train and by boat, we headed northwards along the west coast of India and through the Western Ghats (a mountain range) visiting interesting places like Quilon, Cochin, Ooty, Mysore and Bangalore. Then we flew into Goa, the former Portuguese colony, where we stayed a few days to relax on the beautiful beaches in that area. Then we continued on to Mumbai (then called Bombay), Sunil's birth city, and then back to Delhi where we spent the last three days of our trip trying to see as much as we could before returning to Canada.
Map of India and Sri Lanka showing localities that we visited in 1994
One of my most memorable trips was one to India and Sri Lanka back in 1994. For a period of about 6 weeks, from January to March, I visited southern India and parts of Sri Lanka with a colleague of mine, Sunil Gandhi, with whom I had travelled several times before including to the SW US in 1977 (photos from that trip are on Flickr ). Sunil was not only a great travel companion, the fact that he is originally from India (born in Mumbai) made it possible for me to "see and feel" India in a way that few other foreigners are able to. For one thing, Sunil has relatives in several Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Visiting the families, being able to converse with his relatives and share food and drinks with them in their homes, gave me the rare opportunity to really see India "from the inside".
Like so many of my travels in the past 35 years, this trip started out as a geological conference and field excursion. The technical meetings were held in Hyderabad, almost exactly at the geographic centre of the country. The field trip was a 5-day tour of a large portion of Andhra Pradesh state that few outsiders get to see unless they are visiting geologists. The purpose of our coming to India was to exchange ideas and experiences on uranium geology with our Indian hosts.
The rest of the time was devoted to "tourism". We visited Delhi, India's capital, and Agra, where the famous Taj Mahal is located, when we first arrived in India (before the conference). Then we flew to Hyderabad to attend the conference and take part in the field trip, and then went on to Chennai (called Madras in 1994) where we stayed for a few days and from where we visited an important Indian shrine at Tirupati. Then we flew to Colombo, the capital of the island country of Sri Lanka. Traveling by taxi (i.e. a rented car with a chauffeur) we drove to the beautiful city of Kandy and from there headed south through some of the most spectacular mountainous landscapes and tea plantations that I had ever seen, to Hikkaduwa on the south coast of the Island, an area that was devastated by the December 26, 2004 Tsunami.
After spending a week or so in Sri Lanka we flew back to India, arriving at Trivandrum close to the southern tip of the sub-continent. We stayed a few days at a beach resort south of Trivandrum called Somatheeram, and from there, traveling by car, by train and by boat, we headed northwards along the west coast of India and through the Western Ghats (a mountain range) visiting interesting places like Quilon, Cochin, Ooty, Mysore and Bangalore. Then we flew into Goa, the former Portuguese colony, where we stayed a few days to relax on the beautiful beaches in that area. Then we continued on to Mumbai (then called Bombay), Sunil's birth city, and then back to Delhi where we spent the last three days of our trip trying to see as much as we could before returning to Canada.