http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , Canada , Alberta , Calgary en-us Sat, 25 May 2013 22:02:29 +0000 Sat, 25 May 2013 22:02:29 +0000 We are at the Calgary Airport through security as usual very early fast and relaxing no crowds. Now we can relax until our boarding call at 220pm take off scheduled for 320pm. getting jittery not to mention teary eyed feels like I am leaving home and going home all at the same time..How lucky am I to have two such places http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-783997.html Hi there everyoneSo I started this blog September 9 2012 and had the goal of telling about some roadside attraction a Big Ball of String sort of sight every Wednesday and Sunday.Today which is still Wednesday where I live is the first one I missed.I planned to talk about Boston and Im working on that particular blog. But because of Series of Unfortunate Events I havent finished http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-778379.html Notes from a Dug The Beaches of KovalamEnd of journey. Yesterday saw Deb and Janice leave the magic of our final Indian residence the Surya Samudra in Kovalam. Situated about 100 feet up a rock face our side by side cabins look out over the neverending breakers that stretch forever to the West. This thirty cabin property on about 30 ocean front acres is yet another retreat from the neverendin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-773709.html Notes from a Dug Munnar to Kochi to BackwatersWe enter Day 2 of the India General Strike still sitting 6500 feet above sea level. Terry and Janice sign up for a minitrek through parts of the tea plantation into which our hotel has been nestled. Deb is applying more Ayurvedic goop on to the pinched nerve in her foot. It seems to work like a hot damn. Mr. Dug following the advice of the onstaff http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-773018.html Notes from a Dug Periyar Half Way through MunnarWelcome to the Communist state of Kerala. A 48 hour nationwide strike has been called and in this country of 1.2 billion people only the 2 of the population that live in Kerala will be paying any attention. However there are implications for us. No public or private transportation will be allowed during this time. That means we will need to con http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-772436.html Notes from a Dug MaduraiWe check into our accommodation in Madurai only to discover we are checking into the former residence of the local British Club. Retuned and rejigged about five years ago each suite comes with its own plunge pool. Of varying sizes these granite minipools are about twelve feet long and eight feet wide. Some are accessed from an oversized sliding glass door that separa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-771885.html Notes from a Dug Pondicherry Chidambaram Kumbakonam Tanjore Trichy MaduraiMan have we been on the move Two days ago we were to have left Pondicherry in the early AM but the three chicklets kinda liked the town and decided we could squeeze in the day39s itinerary and still spend half a day in Pondicherry39s French Quarter. The Dug liked that idea as well. Let39s find that Fren http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-771649.html Putting your fears aside and admitting that you want to improve yourself is a huge step. Take these ideas and use them as a starting point for your efforts. An overreaction to situations is going to cause you stress that is not necessary. It39s best to train yourself to cope with your daily stress and it begins with analyzing every situation where you tend to feel strained. If you make a mist http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-771572.html Notes from a Dug PondicherryThe four grumpies arrive in the once French colony of Pondicherry. We39re ready to flay keelhaul and gut the next guide. Aw and he seems such a nice innocent young man. A lamb to the slaughter. But he turns out to have spent three years studying for a degree in tourism. His English is decent. He knows how to present a story. He passes the audition. Fortu http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-771407.html Notes From A Dug Chennai to Mahabalipuram On this part of the trip the Three Women and a Dug found their collective voices and it involved a lot of barking. Leaving Chennai our first stop on the road to Mahabalipuram was at the temples of Kanchipuram. Our guide for this stop was a Brahmin priest who was also a parttime tour guide. If anyone could present a context to the stream of temples w http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-771323.html Notes from a Dug ChennaiEverybody grab a bag. In fact grab all your bags. We39re joining the thousands that are doing the same thing on board the Shatabdi Express train into Chennai Central Station. It39s a mix of order and gong show. We have no idea how our local tour rep is going to find us until we see two men running alongside the slow moving train tapping on our window and holding o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-770849.html Notes From A Dug MysoreMore often than not on this trip where we find ourselves staying has had enchantment written in big bold letters. Our stay in Mysore was a calming hideaway just a breath away from town. A small stream ran past the restaurant and at dinner time the geese and frogs would compete for our attention. Imagine Bridge Over Troubled Water croaked out and honked over by reptiles http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-770633.html Notes from a Dug Goodbye Goa Hello IndiaEnough of the bliss kingdom known as the Leela Inn. It was time for the three Moms and a Dug to get back to India. Where we stayed in Goa was so unlike any of our previous stays that we did forget the land on which most Indians walk is nowhere near where we were being pampered. Our transfer driver to the airport was all testosterone and jet fuel. The pampe http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-770233.html You might remember this passage from 2012 January 16 when I bought my saris. A year later I finished the sari curtains and celebrated with a tea party.Thus we came to Kanchipuram home of the best silk weavers and best sari collections. Along the street for about a kilometre or more were openfronted shops spilling colourful saris and fabrics for mens clothes. Vendors flapped open the tight http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-769552.html Notes from a Dug Hunkered in GoaThe plan evolves. Three Women a Dug become Three Mothers a Dug. We reached our temporary Goan home two nights at the Panjim Inn about 1030 at night and decided that Stephanie was staying with us. No way the moms were going to put a young on her own 29 year old women back in a taxi to who knows where. We39re getting a room with AC and a warm shower for h http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-769443.html Notes from a Dug Udaipur to GoaWhoa Goa What happened to Aurangabad Yup we were to be packing up today and catching an afternoon plane to Mumbai and then on to Aurangabad and the elephant caves. Instead yesterday in a casual moment I looked at our plane tickets and realized we were booked to fly out at 7 AM and not 4 PM as per our original itinerary. Something had happened in the Lan http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-769441.html NOTE TO THE READERS fricking site. I can39t seem to add photos to the text in the same document. It will be a quite garbled as the photos must be loaded separately. Wherever you see a gap insert the appropriate photo from the list of photos soon to be uploaded.Notes From A Dug Udaipur RoadshowMy last post may have led you to believe that the road from Jodhpur to Udaipur was uneventful. N http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-769439.html Notes from a Dug Jodhpur to UdaipurFive hours on the road from Jaisalmer and we pull our lassiimpregnated bodies into Jodhpur. One very neat thing about road travel here is the roadside oasis. These road stops are like AutoGrills in Italy or Gasoline Alley in Red Deer except they don39t clean the toilets. However the knickknack shops are spiffed and ready for our cash. Unfortunately for http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-768687.html Hi there some additional photos for you to check out. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-768359.html So Doug lives and works in the city of Red Deer situated halfway between Edmonton and Calgary. We arrived there on Sunday night and walked to his place as the snow fell gently around us. There39s not a while lot to do in Red Deer and I was still getting my energy back so we were happy to laze around liein and go for short walks to the supermarket and shopping centre. One of our walks took http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Calgary/blog-768358.html