Most Memorable Travel Experience - Contest for the month of May

Memorable Travel Experience Contest - For the Month of May

Remember, you were vacationing in Denver in travel sweats whereas your baggages enjoyed an all-expense paid trip to a baggage carousel in Atlanta.

Remember, the tensed moments when you were catching the red-eye-flight to Boston to perform in Indian Cultural Association and your Maragathe Veena was given a rough handling by the Airport Baggage Authorities.

Remember, you left your train tickets at home and boarded Bangalore Shathapthi Express and the TTR literally threw you out of the compartment.

Remember, you forgot to pack that all-importanat-medicine for your kid's asthma when you were off to Kulu - Manali.

Not neccessarily panicky moments but your memory is also flooded with the sweet romantic moments that you shared with your hubby dear on the Honeymoon trip.
Treasure-hunting with kids in the shallow waters off Hutchinson Island, Florida, Cool candle-lit dinner on the banks of Lake Fateshgar in romantic Udaipur, in the company of School of fish and paradise in Hastings Reef, Australia. The list is jsut a random jottings and am sure you must have had far more enjoyable, memorable, unforgettable travel experiences.

Ladies am sure you are all rushing to post your entries in the contest but let me make a polite reminder. This contest is not to highlight the tourist or exotic places you visited but the personal experience or incident you had. An unfrogettable travel experience could have happened even during your visit to your native town. So come out with your winning entries.

Post your entries in this thread before May 31st 2007.

The thread sure would make an interesting reading and platform for you to share your memories and an added bonus you could be the lucky winner of Surprise Gift.

Gear up and Good luck in winning this contest.

Dear Lakshmi,
You had selected a very good topic and there will be a flood of response. The moderators or the judges will have to gear up for a tough job!
Regards,
Pushpavalli

Hello Friends,

A very good topic to share experiences with all.
Here am going to share with u all, two of my experiences and the most memorable ones too.....

First One...........
I got married jus before an year and my SIL lives in Delhi.My hubby planned for a trip to delhi well in advance by flight so that rates are cheap and booked for tickets even before our marriage.He had this trip as a pleasant surprise for me and never told me till a month before a month trip.

I too got excited and started preparations for that trip.The day too finally came up.The flight timing was afternoon 1.30 and early that morning by 7.00 am my husband contacted the airport authorities to check out whether tehe flight is on time.And can u all guess what answer we got from there......
"yes sir,the flight is on time................but one thing is it should have reached delhi by now" yes, we thought it was afternoon 1.30 but actually it was 1.30 am.Then we went to delhi by another flight the same day by paying high fare.
This incident can never be forgetten in our life.

The Second one..........

It was our honeymoon trip to mauritius.............
We had certain Once in a lifetime moments there.Undersea Walk and Para Sailing.Undersea walk is something wherein u are first taken to a platform in middle of sea in a speed boat.Then from that platform oxygen helmets are being fixed and then we are taken under sea walk for about fifteen minutes.It was a very thrilling experience for us and one more added highlight was that me and my hubby both do not know swimming.The sea depth is low and we are able to walk on the sea floor for which special water shoes are given.They give fish food on our hands and fishes come close to us to eat them.Am attaching herewith some photos i found in internet of that undersea walk.

Parasailing was also very thrilling.It is that from the same kind of platform we are taken off in a parachute which is tied to a speed boat and taken a ride around the sea.At one moment the speed board goes slow and makes us drop so that our feet dips in sea water and again takes off.That was really thrilling.Each parachute can have two people and me and my Hubby had a wonderful experience.Am attaching a couple of photos here.

Hope i have not bored u all with my stories.

Regards,
Shantha Kasiarunachalam

[


Here is mystory. I want to know whether members are allowed to submit more than one entry.
Pushpavalli

Ran to catch a flight!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>
You must have seen people running to catch a train or bus. Have you ever seen people running to catch a flight? We literally ran to catch the flight at the last minute that too at a foreign country!<o:p></o:p>
My son is at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1:place>Minneapolis</st1:place></st1:City> in US. Our maiden visit to US was in the year 1997. During our stay he had arranged to visit <st1:place><st1:City>Newark</st1:City>, <st1:State>Washington</st1:State></st1:place> and <st1:place>Niagara</st1:place>. Two of his friends also joined us with their families. All arrangements were made including pulikachal, Tomato thoku, varaiety of podis and armed with rice cooker and other personal items, dresses, camera, medicines etc and finally the D-Day arrived. Even that day also my son had to go to the office and returned home just before two hours of the journey.<o:p></o:p>
All had reached the airport in time. We were all waiting for the check in call.<o:p></o:p>
The check in call was announced and all had gone in line to the counter. They started checking passports and visas. All had their passports and visas ready; to our dismay my husband had not brought our passports and visas. He checked it up in the morning, but forgot to take them. My son was in a dilemma and I felt very bad. Just imagine yourself at my situation! I just felt what people would think of us! My son was in a dilemma and felt bad. <o:p></o:p>
But friends had suggested hiring a taxi to and fro, to go home and get the passports and visas. My daughter in law had to stay with me with our grand son though she had their papers. My son told his friends to board the plane and if we were in time we would join them or else would leave by the next flight. My daughter in law and myself were waiting crossing our fingers hoping that they would get the papers without searching for them and would return before the flight took off. So father and son rushed home and brought the passports and visas. Luckily they found it without much searching! <o:p></o:p>
By the Grace of God they returned very fast, but we had literally to run to catch the flight. I was out of breath and my heart was pounding. I have to tell you that I am a BP and heart patient and had removed my gal bladder with open surgery just a few months back. With all my ailments I took the risk and ran gasping for breath. My daughter in law was running along with me holding my hand. My gosh! We did catch the flight before it took off. All the co passengers were watching us with great admiration! We took a long breath after sitting in our seats. Immediately we heard the announcement, "Fasten your seat belts, the flight is going to take off."So our trip had started in an adventurous manner.<o:p></o:p>
But we had enjoyed the trip very much. All that ends well is always good! <o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

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Heights of my absentmindedness.


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I was pursuing my Masters at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Utah</st1:PlaceName>, <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Salt Lake City</st1:place></st1:City> in 2002-2003. I planned to graduate by Aug 2003 and return back to <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> (My marriage was already fixed with my childhood friend who was then staying in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>). So I decided to join him in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> after marriage. When I told this news to my friends (with whom I pursued my Bachelors’ degree in <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>) who were at different places in US, all of them planned a get together in <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State> and from there we all decided to go on trip around NY, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Pennsylvania</st1:State></st1:place> and few other places nearby. I booked my flight from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Salt Lake City</st1:place></st1:City> to JFK on 25<SUP>th</SUP> of July 2003. We had a very tight schedule, 4 days for the trip and many places on our list to visit. My flight was at 9AM in the morning, one of my friends Rajesh came to the airport to send me off. We reached the airport at 6.30AM well ahead. Check-in did not begin by that time for this flight. So I and Rajesh were waiting near the check-in counter. We started chitchatting/gossiping and time went on. Check-in for my flight had began and passengers were in a Queue. I was seeing the Queue but still I couldn’t realize that I was supposed to be in that. Check-in for that flight has closed and the counter was empty. Even then I was just glaring around and chatting with my friend. Finally at about 9.00AM I thought “What’s all happening here, Why is this check-in not starting yet”. I told this to Rajesh and he screamed at me. “Goshh! Paagal ladkee..Gibbon..ab tho teree flight take off bhee hua hoga” (U mad girl, your flight must have taken off by now)..
<o:p></o:p>
I ran towards the counter and the person there asked me what happened. I told him that I missed my flight. He was so surprised. Because he has been watching me for the past 2hrs while I was just chitchatting with my friend. He asked me my flight no and I told him. He was literally shocked and confused. He said “you have been watching the Queue and the display board for the past 2 hrs and you didn’t realize that the flight was your’s”. He could hardly control his laughter. I was totally annoyed and lost. He took me to the counter and I transferred my ticket for the next flight and reached NY by 11PM that night (I was supposed to reach NY by 3PM had I’ve taken my earlier flight). All the time in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Salt Lake City</st1:place></st1:City> airport I and Rajesh were blaming each other for this. My friends in NY cursed me like hell. Due to my delay, we had to cancel our trip to Statue of Liberty Island that day.

This is the worst yet memorable travel experience I ever had.

Cheers
Keerti

Hai ALL IL ITES,
Good day.
Last summer in usa , we planned a long trip by road covering east coast places, with 4 familiesof different with 2 small kids of 1.5 years . we planned in advance about taking rice cooker to cook rice in hotels where we 'ld stay , got to know how to prepare sambar in mw and all pastes of lemonrice, tamarind rice and home made vethakuzhambu.we were ready with all luggages and of course the babies ...we enjoyed a lot in niagara falls --that too cave of the winds ,everyone was drenched fully , still no idea of coming out ...we dragged our son out from that . he loved it , he did not fear for the force of the falls ...instead he was laughing at it . in that cave of the winds , the officer who was incharge of sending the people in queue was having a special haircut --mullampanri hair cut ---sides of the head were shaven well with centre was as sharpened as standing needle pines ...just like in one tamil cinema senthil -comedian was having that style ,goundamani used to make fun at him...we were making with ourselves as soon as we saw him.everyday after reaching hotel around 11pm we put on the ricecooker for rice ...by the time we were ready after a good bath ..the dinner would be ready (thats 12midnight)..throughout newyork for visiting ,one of our friend suggested he knew well all around ny,and he took all of us by walking (nataraja service)thr'out ny.even catching trains to newjersey , he showed us the wrong direction to subway ,so we walked for 4 miles that way and found out the right way and got back...he was known as "champion for the cause ....nataraja service".in washington D.C we enjoyed the independence day parade and looking at tall buildings ofcourse white house (we didn't see our rashtrapathi bavn yet).we thought a surprise baby shower with cutting cake for our friend . so we arranged cake( with only name of the mother on it and no descriptions)cutting in our car. we had ballons in the car too.one of a bachelor friend who came with us , just thought we were having cake as snack , came just like that and started cutting the cake and eating it ....we all shocked and the people who had to cut the cake were laughing at him...and we all joined them.

kids coperated well and luckily everyone had avery good health and spirits..


another one :

my husband told me the news on my wedding as a surprise thta we were leaving for kulu ,manali tmw.it was the first time for me to visit north india,as i was not travelled before .throughout the journey ,i felt homesick .but somehow managed it ...we enjoyed all the places ...my husband in good romantic voice asked me what did u want now? at that immediate instant,i answered with tears in my eyes" i need rasam satham to eat ..no aloo paratas" .he showed a face that time (no need to say wherte his romantic voice would have gone). still fun to remember !even now he makes fun with that ..

another incident:
we and our friends went for tubular rafting around a river, in atlanta.
a rubber wheel tube which had a seating arrangement in the middle. we've to sit in it and move with the flow of water ... depth ofwater is less and flow of water is very nice and fast at some places .we all got into it , and we were enjoying a lot . at some places we'd to get down and move the tube boat a little and we'd to jump in then. at some places ,flow of water or the branches of the river made the boat to topple ,again we were drenched with water . at some places we thought of finishing the sport , we forced ourselves from the flow of water to stop the tube ...in that many of us toppled down in the river and with tube at one hand and a HAND grip from other friends we were trying toget up, although river of less depth. in that process , one of my friend , she was very tired and trying to catch a grip ....she caught the grip at the shorts/trousers of her husband ,and she pulled it down ,he cried and he was also fallen down ....that newly weds made everyone laugh.

Dear All,

Sairam!!!!!

This incident happened few years ago, may be 10 or 12 yrs. but still fresh in my memory.

We (i.e me/husband/son/and my parents) were travelling from Mum to Bangalore for my cousin's "Poonal ceremony" (i.e thread ceremony). As it was peak season, manage to get the trains tickets, but could board only from Kalyan (middle) station, instead Dadar (starting) station. As usual, made idlis, pulioyadarai, Theplas and curd rice and packed it in the "5 storyed tiffin carrier".

We were very tensed, as the train at Kalyan halts only for 2 minutes and with our luggage, need to board the train as fast as possible. As the train entered the station, somehow i managed to enter the compartment and pulled the luggage and everbody in. Before my dad could board the train, it started. I pulled him with all my strength and in that chaos, the "tiffin carrier" fell from my dad's hand (ofcourse in the compartment only) and all the tasty curd rice fell. Actually we didn't know whether to cry or laugh, but managed to locate our seats and placed ourselves well???? We were 5 and last seat was occupied by one lady. Suddenly my dad started telling her all the story..like how we got into the train, how the curd rice fell etc. etc. As my mum was pretty UPSET about the whole incident (obviously, she had got up quite early to make all the "khanas"), got furious and started shouting at dad in tamil - i.e why you need to tell her the whole story, who is she...bla...bla...bla and till we reached Bangalore this was on...and on... and on.. and finally when we got down at Bangalore, she wished us in Tamil......

And i leave the imagination to our IL...... Our face was looking as if we had just seen a "HORROR MOVIE".

Cheers

Shashu

[quote=SHASHU;66021]Dear All,

Sairam!!!!!

This incident happened few years ago, may be 10 or 12 yrs. but still fresh in my memory.

We (i.e me/husband/son/and my parents) were travelling from Mum to Bangalore for my cousin's "Poonal ceremony" (i.e thread ceremony). As it was peak season, manage to get the trains tickets, but could board only from Kalyan (middle) station, instead Dadar (starting) station. As usual, made idlis, pulioyadarai, Theplas and curd rice and packed it in the "5 storyed tiffin carrier".

We were very tensed, as the train at Kalyan halts only for 2 minutes and with our luggage, need to board the train as fast as possible. As the train entered the station, somehow i managed to enter the compartment and pulled the luggage and everbody in. Before my dad could board the train, it started. I pulled him with all my strength and in that chaos, the "tiffin carrier" fell from my dad's hand (ofcourse in the compartment only) and all the tasty curd rice fell. Actually we didn't know whether to cry or laugh, but managed to locate our seats and placed ourselves well???? We were 5 and last seat was occupied by one lady. Suddenly my dad started telling her all the story..like how we got into the train, how the curd rice fell etc. etc. As my mum was pretty UPSET about the whole incident (obviously, she had got up quite early to make all the "khanas"), got furious and started shouting at dad in tamil - i.e why you need to tell her the whole story, who is she...bla...bla...bla and till we reached Bangalore this was on...and on... and on.. and finally when we got down at Bangalore, she wished us in Tamil......

And i leave the imagination to our IL...... Our face was looking as if we had just seen a "HORROR MOVIE".

Cheers

Shashu

Hello Kasisheela

Thanks for coming up with your travel experience and making your entry into the contest. Inspite of being tension moments you have narrated it in a lighter vein about your flight to Delhi. The pictures of under sea walking and para sailing was amazing. You sure must have enjoyed these activities.

Hello ILites
Am sure that most of us are all well travelled and have loads of stories to tell when honeymooning, taking the kids on their first flight, get-together vacation with in-laws.
Go ahead and post your entries as the closing date is nearing.