Slow down in Slovakia II: High up in the Tatra Mountains

Slovakia shares Tatra Mountains with Poland at its northern borders. Dunajec River, a tributary of Vitsula River, cuts through the mountain range and creates a canyon and a natural border for the two countries. The landscape in these mountains is similar to that of Alps and the ranges are divided into high and low Tatra Mountains, with Low Tatra placed to the south of the High Tatras.

Pieniny National Park is located on the banks of picturesque Dunajec River and here you can go boating on wooden rafts that can accommodate as many as 30+ people in one raft. There are modern rafts also available if you want. Boatmen dressed in the traditional Goral costume with royal blue jackets and Goral hats would tell you interesting and hilarious stories as they row the boat for about 9 kms for you, and would keep you entertained all the while. As the river twists and turns they throw questions at you about which peaks are in which country – one side being Polish and other being Slovakian. They tell you folk tales associated with peaks like the 7 peaks on one side as seven monks and one peak on other side as a Nun and a story about how they all got frozen into these peaks. Stories keep coming as you find yourself in the midst of total greenery and mildly flowing river. At certain points all you can see is green color of mountains as it reflects in the water punctuated only by the blue or grey sky if you look upwards. Young boys on shores click the souvenir pictures for you. There are natural signs on the rocks and guides carve out witty anecdotes from them that I am sure are fictional.

At the end of the ride you can take a ride in the horse carriage to reach the restaurants area where traditional Slovak food and drinks are served. The wood carvings all around this area tell you two things – that wood is found in abundance here and second the local folk artists use it to express their creativity. If you are lucky, you can get to hear the local musicians playing their music for you. If you sing a song, even in your own language they even re-produce the music for you, quite close enough if not accurate.

Our guide told us that just a few days before the Tsunami that hit the Asian coastlines in Dec 2004, there was a hurricane that hit the Tatra Mountains and it lost its green cover of dense green trees. Yes, the mountains do look bald. It would take at least 50-100 years for the trees to regenerate themselves and hence the current generations may never see them as green as they were before 2004. Though strangely pink colored wild flowers have come up to cover the mountains making them look like pink Mountains. I did not get the time explore the flora and fauna of these Tatras but I did mange to get a glimpse of its omnipresent pink flower.

You can see ski pads and steam baths here and there in the mountains that show some sign of activity, otherwise the ride through the mountains is pretty much lonely and serene and you can sit back and admire the scenery that changing by the minute.

Hyderabad Hues XXII: Tribal Museum

Located right in the heart of city near Banjara hills, celebrating the aboriginals who lived on this very hill is the Nehru Centenary Tribal Museum. It is dedicated to 35 tribes that inhabit in the state of Andhra Pradesh and intends to showcase their culture and heritage through various displays and dioramas. Spread across three floors, the museum has a detailed information kiosk that gives you information about all the tribes in India. Adorning the walls inside and outside the museum are trademark white on red tribal motifs. On both sides of the entrance gate are tribal dances exhibited along with the pillars that represent the tribal deities and around whom the tribal people dance. 

On the ground floor, through Chenchu tribe’s dioramas, they try to showcase their conical huts, their honey collection technique, their hunting equipment and techniques as they continue to be hunter-gatherers. Rest of the section here is a collection of photographs showcasing the differences between various tribes like – facial features, fabric designs, hut designs, deities, dances and occupations. Then there are pictures that together showcase the similarities across tribes in terms of activities of women and cultivation method called Podu where they keep clearing the jungle in small patches for agriculture. The other half of the hall focuses on the developmental activities being done by the government for the tribal communities. 

First floor has beautifully done households of various tribes, with specialty of each highlighted like the Ediding design of Savara tribe, circular hut with conical roof of Chenchus, liquor making of Lambadas from Babool tree, garments made from Adda leaves by Porja tribe, soothsayers of Yerukala tribe, conical huts of Yanodis and masks of Naikpod tribe. In between spaces they display common things like weekly markets, weighing measures, household equipments and deities that sometime happen to be ancestors as well. Second floor showcases the musical instruments, I found Rim Zim made out of bamboo with grooves in it quite interesting. There are hunting and fishing equipment along with array of traps, different for different catches like fish, rats, rabbits and birds. There are agricultural equipments with a noise making bird scare followed by handicrafts in bell metal, wrought iron and terracotta. I particularly liked a chappal or slipper made out of tree bark and bamboo strings. The displays end with a depiction of a burial scene. 

Museum office houses a small library that you can access. Brochures are available but you need to purchase them. Besides the museum building, tribal hut shaped structures have been erected, looks like with intent to sell tribal products, but they lie in an abandoned state as of now. There is also a small amphitheatre that does not seem to have been used till now. Since there is no museum shop, you can ask the caretaker to show you items for sale and they will bring them out of a series of Steel Almirahs. There is supposed to be a tribal products shop as well, but it was closed when I visited the museum. 

It is a small museum, with limited but well maintained displays. Photography inside is strictly prohibited, and I wonder why? There is nothing that will get harmed with photography here, instead museum management can charge for cameras and have a steady revenue stream from it. A guide tour would make this place more interesting as a lot of things about tribal culture are not intuitive to the urban mind. I must thank Shankar Ji, the sculpture artist at the museum for giving me a guided tour of the museum and the curator Dr Satya for giving the background information on the tribes.

Check Out Czech III: Prague Castle

This must see attraction in Prague has been a seat of power and home to rulers of Bohemia since it was built in late 9^thCE. This castle has seen many additions and renovations, what you see today is as it was done my Maria Theresa in 18^th CE. By dimensions it is supposedly the largest castle in the world, but that is a matter of fact that does not stand out when you are standing on the hill housing this castle. What stands out is the view from this hill of the Prague on both sides of Vltava with red roofed buildings and green domes of churches.

Most parts of the castle are open to the public and you would se people moving around without any monitoring or security checks and that was kind of a feel good factor for me as we are not even allowed in the vicinity of buildings that house our politicians and even if we are allowed the number of security drills we have to cross takes away the whole fun of it. At the entrance gate there are guards on duty in their pale grey and white uniforms with a matching box behind them. I cannot say what the purpose of these guards here is besides a ceremonial duty, but they were a delight for the visitors as the tourists posed to be clicked with them and they kept obliging by standing like a statue.

As you enter the ornate gate of the castle with two massive statues depicting the fighting giants you see the first courtyard. Here you see Mathias Gate in Baroque style and enter the next courtyard with a fountain in the middle and different structures that are clearly from different periods in history. There is an elongated circular building white, with beautiful niches in the walls to hold the statues of revered saints. There are tall and thick walls with giant shapes and decorations. Move to the next courtyard to see the most beautiful part of the castle, a tall and narrow Gothic style St Vitus Cathedral in black brown stone. The structure stands tall, almost out of reach of most cameras. Inside the a vaulted roof covering the narrow length of the hall that would create a haunting environment but for the crowd and the colorful stained glass painting across the long walls on both sides. Go around the cathedral and you would see another ornate but this time colorfully painted entrance that is no longer used.

Scattered around the palace complex are various statues and if one can find someone to explain these, you could spend a couple of days in this complex. Turn around from the cathedral and you see buildings in cheerful colors against the bright blue sky. A passage from here leads to Golden street, a very narrow and small street that was built sometime in 16^thCE and at first glance looks like it was built for the dwarfs and would make you feel taller suddenly. Initially this was built to house the marksmen or the guards of the castle but later they moved on and other people came to live here. One of the famous inhabitants of this street was author Franz Kafka at No 22. The legend of how this street got its name is interesting – In mid 19^thCE, an alchemist living in this street was experimenting on converting any metal into gold. One day there was a loud noise and fire in his house and when fire brigade entered his house, he was found dead with a solid piece of gold in his hand. If he smuggled that gold into the house or actually discovered alchemy will always remain a mystery but giving the small street its name immortalizes the story.

Outside the castle in the cobbled streets besides tourists you see entertainers like musicians, acrobats and even a witch. As you walk down the stairs to climb down the hill, on one side is the castle wall and on other side the top view of the city and on the wide stairs are various performing artists displaying their talents.

To the visitors of Prague, I do not think I even have to recommend this castle; it has to be on any itinerary.

Andhra Adventures VI: Pocharam Wild Life Sanctuary and Dam

Pocharam wild life sanctuary is just about 15 kms from Medak. It is named after the Lake it is located next to. Rich in flora and fauna it used to be the hunting ground for the Nizam's and was later declared a wild life sanctuary. I wonder if they could hunt anything other than deer's, as the boards show leopards and tigers on their boards, but they are obviously not there in this small jungle so close to the human habitation.

Today you can go for a small ride or walk in the sanctuary where a 4.5 km path goes through the forest and the marshland. Water from the Dam comes into the forest, so you need to be careful while walking around. Trees were not very high but their thin branches were intricately woven with each other making a net like formation, making the jungle look thick. We saw lots of deers, most of the times in bunch of 20 or so, but they ran away as soon as we went near them. There were peacocks, most of them roaming alone in the forest. Most abundant in the forest were butterflies and it was like being in a butterfly park. There was color flying on all sides, on roads, on leaves, on flowers and just in the air. 

If you can identify birds, you would love this place. There were many birds big and small, single hued and multi-colored. A watchtower in the middle of the jungle lets you have a bit of bird’s eye view of the lake and the forest around. I must warn you to climb the watchtower at your own risk, the wrought iron staircase is tilted and the elevation does not allow you to stand on any stair and in case of any accident there is no medical aid available in sight. View from the top is wonderful though, most of us urban people hardly get to see so much of nature around us. 

A little ahead of the sanctuary is a small dam on a tributary of Manjeera River, yes the same river that supplies water to Hyderabad. This is not exactly a dam but a broad wall with perforations on it where at first sight I was amused to see cars parked, motorbikes being raced and a row of people standing below the water falling from the top. It seemed like a picnic spot, a kind of rudimentary water park for people to enjoy during and post monsoon. We thought for a while and then decided to cross this wall on car and go to the other side, and happy that we did that. There was a large reservoir with another equally thick but a longer wall. Water was overflowing and walking on the wall was like walking through water. Those who knew swimming jumped into the water and the rest of us had to be content with clicking the pictures of divers. Sun setting on the water and people jumping around in water was such a serene and joyous time.

A good post monsoon getaway!

Hungary Hang Out I: Pest in Budapest

Budapest, the capital of Hungary is divided by Danube River into two parts – hilly Buda on its west bank and plain like Pest on its eastern bank. They existed as two separate cities till late 18^thCE, before they were combined as a single city called Budapest. Both parts of the city have many heritage structures, but the Buda is more about history while Pest is more about heritage, history and current day bustling metropolis. As we were roaming around the streets in Budapest, out guide constantly told us to keep looking upwards as the top parts of the buildings are the most ornate in this city. And yes, even the plain looking buildings had beautifully painted or sculpted tops.

First heritage structure that I saw was Heroes Square, a magnificent and majestic square right in the middle of the city, with a tall column surrounded by figures of men on horses, made ornate by two colonnades behind the central column adding to the aura of central column. Seven men on horses represent the seven chieftains of the original tribes that settled in Hungary. People look like miniature versions of themselves when looked through these huge structures. This square was erected in 1900 to commemorate a millennium of the arrival of seven original tribes of Hungary and is dedicated to the various heroes of these tribes. The figures symbolize War and Peace, Knowledge and Glory. Two Colonnades have the statues of various important historical personalities of Hungary. Square is flanked on both sides by two opulent buildings – one of them is Museum of Fine Arts and the other an Art Gallery.

Next we stopped at a thermal bath, which is a building in pale yellow with white columns and sculptures. There was a long queue of people waiting to enter the bath, and at first I thought why do they have such a long queue for bathing, do they not have bathrooms at home, but then I reminded myself that bathing is more of a ritual in this part of the world, when people treat themselves to these therapeutic treatments and just enjoy being with water. Various sculptures depicted the various joys of having an exclusive bath. From what I saw there was a modern swimming pool like structure in open and various closed chambers that I assume may be for therapies and hot water baths. There are many baths across the city, some more than a century old.

In the evening we had stopped at the central market, which is a market that both locals and the tourists use, and it was a colorful market on two floors. Hungarian Paprika is famous and the small shops selling them were as colorful as they can get and giving stiff competition to the fruits and vegetable vendors. There were shops selling usual tourists merchandize like fridge magnets and small curios along with specialties like local wines. 

In the streets outside, there were sculptures here and there, some in stone that probably belong to history and some in metal that are probably from this era. There are small stalls selling local brands and hand made items. I also saw a version of our local cycle rickshaws there. Like most European cities Budapest also has excellent public transport system with a combination of underground metro, trams and buses, though I think the best way to explore these cities is on foot. People in Budapest do walk a lot; so do in Rome as the Romans do.

Travel Stories V: Catalyst by Destiny

This blog just turned eight, 8 years of non-stop blogging and I could not have asked for a better story to come my way to share with you.

Last year in February, I visited Bihar and wrote extensively about it and that included the ancient caves in Barabar Hills. On the hills, some children wanted to be clicked and we obliged, and we were happy to get some very happy faces in the frame. I am usually very careful while sharing pictures of unknown people, but this time I put the picture of three smiling boys on the blog post, only to discover now that there was destiny playing its role.

Last week, I received a long e-mail from an Australian lady from Kolkata. A small boy working in the tea stall below her hotel window caught her eye and she tried helping him by buying him new clothes and a mobile phone. She discovered the boy is from Bihar and is not the tea stall owner’s son as she had assumed. Out of curiosity she googled Bihar and landed on this blog and was pleasantly surprised to see the same boys picture on my blog. Boy acknowledged that it was indeed his picture. She wrote me asking when and where I had clicked the picture, as she is trying to send the boy back to his family, which I readily shared as much as I knew. The boy in blue in the picture is the one.

I have no clue if his family sent the boy to Kolkata or he ran away to Kolkata, weather they really want him back or they want him to fend for himself and not burden them. I am not even sure if it all means anything, but I know it gave me happiness that somewhere my work could connect the dots. It gave me a feeling that world is indeed small and it sometimes presents you with opportunities to make it a better place, even without any conscious effort on your part.

Just in case this re-unites the child with his family and assuming they both want it that way…this blog would have served its purpose.