Travel | Noman's Land

I feel like I am living on my car these days. This is my third trip in a months time. Also this trip made me miss my four of July’s firework display, though I did get some respite from driving because of the presence of Rajesh in the car.
Starting out …
Finally I have touched the Lone star state (Texas) that brings to 18 the number of states that I have driven through in the US of A …

And I have only driven through 11 of the states in India

That leaves 32 more to go in the US of A and 24(including the Union Territories) in India. I know most of you wouldn’t give a hoot about this list but heck I do need to keep track 😉

The trip started out pretty fine but we got stuck in traffic because of a car going up in flames on the way. I was probably 10 cars ahead of me. I have learnt my lesson about speeding the hard way(By way of innumerable tickets) but I am thankful that I didn’t have to learn it by way of my car going up in smoke.

The highlight of the trip was not just three school friends meeting together after a gap of three years but also the voracious eating habits of the same!! Like manna from heaven is good home cooked food to a couple of bachelors, given to us courtesy of my worstest enemy (jk) in the world Sapna. One thing I must add is that marriage does make the girls cook better. The whole weekend was spent by us just eating our hearts out, we did get to see a little bit of Texas but mostly it was about food. We guys are just fascinated over food more than girls I guess … oops don’t want the girls to think that though. I think I need to start a separate blog about my search for the perfect Briyani (Only my favorite food in the whole entire universe)

One lesson that I learnt on the trip is that no matter how tough you think you are the body tends to disagree. Inspite of not having proper sleep and spending the better part of two days driving, I decided to go swimming at a stream in Austin. For which I had to pay by vomiting and telling the lifeguard that it was because of the partying the previous night (Atleast that’s what he assumed ’cause I wasn’t in a shape to contradict him).

I would also like to give a shout out to the state of Oklahoma for having a speed limit of 75 Miles … are the other states listening. If all the other states had this speed limit I would have saved myself a few speeding tickets!

All said and down it was a fun time meeting old and close friends. Of all the things I have in the world, the most precious are my friends! (I know that statement made your eyes misty … It was supposed to …)

In front of the Texas Longhorn stadium.
Rajesh
Me
Karim
Hussain

Finally my first international road trip has come to fruition. It was
a interesting and bumpy ride with my first accident. But over all it
was a wonderful trip … just me, my machine and the road … From
what I have see of Canada its a mix of North Carolina and Iowa,
Greenery everywhere with sporadic farmhouses. I was almost convinced
that Canada had better roads than the US till I reached Toronto and
then the city roads are the same all over the world.

The main reason for the trip was to get some immigration work done but
I couldn’t help making it into a vacation with myself!! What with
Niagara falls nearby, I couldn’t let the chance go to waste. Also I got to go
to four different places (Toronto, Niagara, Detroit and Chicago). Each
in a league of its own.

The trip to Niagara was of course the highlight of the trip. One of the best natural wonders that I have ever seen.
In front of Niagara
I don’t know how many people would like to enjoy such beauty alone like me (I had to). It was funny trying to take a picture of myself with my left had with the falls behind me. I did have a fellow loner at the CN tower and my trusted camera remote!

Trying out the remote on my camera

Rainbow on the Niagara
One thing I couldn’t capture on my camera was the night lighting at the falls (Believe it or not I waited two hours for the lights to come on with nothing else to do)
The Cultural mosaic
Toronto is a nice big city, and a melting pot of cultures and ethnic
background. I loved everything about the place accept the traffic jams.
But I sure did feel at home with the driving style (What true blooded
Indian would not feel that way in that Darwinian style of traffic). I
have heard stories of New York but till I see that place I will have
to give the prize to Toronto for being the most global place. How do I
decide on that ?? Well it all depends on the number of radio stations
and the people I see on the streets. From what I have seen, Toronto
has few French channels(which is expected), a couple of Spanish
channels, a Punjabi channel, a Tamil channel (Sri Lankan Tamil) and a
African tribal music channel. If that’s not diversity then what is ???
The world surely is getting smaller. I was also impressed by the
public transport system, the Street cars, Buses and Metros. The
students of the University of Toronto which is at the heart of Toronto
sure do have a party time.

Inside the CN Tower Skypod. The tallest observation point in the world. Also supposedly one of the 7 wonders of the modern world!!!
The tale of two cities
The Downtowns of two big cities couldn’t have been more different than
those of Toronto and Detroit. I was freely roaming alone in downtown
Toronto till the early morning hours but Detroit downtown sacred the
jeepers out of me even with a friend to boot. Toronto had a few old
buildings but the whole place was lively and fun while Detroit seemed
like a lost city with debilitate buildings and a eerie darkness all
around!!

Downtown Toronto !!!

Detroit Downtown!!!
Culinary delights
Most of my friends know about my appetite. And boy did I have a ball in Toronto. Tried out a lot of different cuisine. Loads of the sucked though. Went to the India town and had Bhel Puri and Dosa at two different places. The dosa wasn’t good but I did give a ride to a Pakistani person. Now I am sure that food is the solution to the India-Pakistan problem. Or the sight of a common enemy – the lines at the US consulate!!! Another bad experience was the Vietnamese food that I tried in China town. I have had it in California but this was totally different … I was ready to throw up because of the smell that came with my order of Pork soup! The highlight of the Culinary experience was the Kothu Parota at a South India restaurant.

Me enjoying the Kothu Parota with a fan of Indian food!
Hits and close Shaves
I am never going to rent a car again. Its just going to be my baby in future! Started off with a accident on I-270, after changing cars I almost ran off a rain soaked road and followed that up by almost running over a cyclist in downtown Toronto. Oh ya forgot the parking ticket!! Either I am loosing my touch or I drove sloppy cars. The other issue is that it sucks to drive a automatic after driving a stick shift. You have no control over when the gears change!