Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller » 2004

How to rock a 4 hour layover in Barbados!

rishiray — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:13:19 +0000

One of the best things about travelling in the islands can be a stopover or even a lengthy delay. Now if your flight is delayed by 2 hours, then you wont have much hope of doing anything but waiting in a generally crappy Caribbean airport. However, if you have about 5-6 hours between segments, then you can leave the airport and head to the beach for some swimming and maybe a couple drinks.

Think about it … why stay in the airport when great sand and beaches are simply a 10 minute taxi ride away? As it stood, I had a couple hours in Barbados and there are a couple reasons why hopping to the beach in Barbados is a good idea … aside from the fact that it is Barbados :

Taxis from the airport are cheap – if you walk outside the airport, you can be at Hastings for as little as $3USD in maxi taxi.
Barbados is safe and no one will try to rob you upfront unlike Jamaica or Trinidad
People are actually really friendly upfront in Barbados unlike Jamaica or Trinidad – there is no culture of fear or suspicion.
Did I mention a beach in Barbados … see below

So if you have 4 hours to kill in the airport in Barbados … here is a sample plan.

Head to any hotel and ask if they will keep your bag in storage for you. I happened to use my Marriott Platinum status at the Courtyard Marriott – Bridgetown – simply showing the card got me fantastic service. They offered me storage for my bag, a travel bag and a beach towel to use, along with use of their facilities … for FREE!!

Note : I only went to the Courtyard with the expectation that they would treat a Marriott Platinum this way … but I assume that you can try this at any hotel but the Accra Beach Hotel – since they wanted to charge me 25$USD to store my bag – they can “haul dey ass“. I’ll be writing a “nice” note on Travelocity … you can bet!

From dropping your bags off, take a wander along the boardwalk from Hastings to Rockley Beach. There are a couple bars along the boardwalk … the water is phenomenal and the sand is awesome.

Walking along the boardwalk is awesome in the sun with the water at your beck and call, with a police presence patrolling the boardwalk … you don’t have to worry about anything else!

Finally, at Rockley Beach … head over to one of the stalls and grab a cold one … or 6 … tell Tara at the “De Rock Beach Bar” I sent ya!

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 4 hours in barbados, how to layover like a boss, how to spend 4 hours in barbados, layover in barbados

Another thing to do in Trinidad : Hike El Tucuche …

rishiray — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:47:37 +0000

On the list of things to do in Trinidad, hiking El Tucuche doesn’t rank up in the “must-do” category for me. It’s not because it is lacking in beauty, lovely trailside waterfalls, interesting flora and fauna, but because I am just too damn lazy. I’ve hiked up El Tucuche twice in my life and that was good enough for me … especially because in that one time, I almost killed my brother when he decided to leave us and find a trail to the top, got lost, had to backtrack … without summiting and then proceeded to have us searching for him, while it was close to dusk at the top of the second highest peak in Trinidad on a rainy day.

If I knew now that, I could charge 100$ USD a person to lead people on the trail up El Tucuche, I would have surely changed jobs and become a bush ranger. There are some unique tree frogs and the signs will tell you so

This is a tough day long hike of about 4 hours each way to Trinidad’s second highest mountain. This hike is not for the day tripper or for the stroller. It is a kick ass hike filled with possible hazards, especially if you’re doing this in the rainy season.
There is no camping on the trail and it is paramount that the hike be completed in daylight, as you really do not want to be stuck on this trail at night. The recommended starting time should be 7am – if you start at 10am like I once did, prepare to run down the mountain lest you be caught in darkness.
The hike starts at an elevation of 800 feet on an old donkey trail that takes you to a pass in the between St Joseph and Maracas Bay. It takes at least an hour and a half to get to the pass and here we leave the donkey trail to climb to El Tucuche’s second peak. On the way you pass through cocoa estates and emerge into Lower Montane Rainforest. At the turn off there is an old broken down shack where an old “Obeah Woman” used to reside as she was rejected by the villages. She practiced her own brand of various religions. She had a black iron cross that she stuck in the ground and claimed Christ would return to earth in all His glory there. She often moved the cross. The elevation is about 1800 feet here and there is just about half the upward journey to go.
Going up the eastern face of “El Tucuche”, the forest will change in character from Montane to Elfin, the forest shade will decrease and the temperature will get cooler. There will be the sounds of Toucans, Howler Monkeys, Cicadas and various birds filling the aural void. You might even see the mountain crabs ambling across the trail …

The slopes going up can get steep and muddy but the cool, clean mountain air is invigorating. Close to the first summit, the trees become shorter, and it is usually quite wet up here, even when it is not raining, and quite often cloud covered. Along the path to you’ll pass waterfalls in the wet season …

The first summit is at about 2800 feet and has a 1000-foot cliff to one side. From a break in the vegetation the view is spectacular, when not cloud covered. Bathers can be seen at Maracas beach with binoculars even though you are several miles away.
The last push to the real El Tucuche summit is then made. Slipping and sliding up the steep, muddy slopes, it is a hard push to get to the summit, about 4 1/2 hours after leaving base camp. If it is not a cloudy day, you can get clear views of the Caroni Plains and swamp, the North Coast, and rest of the Northern Range.
There are two ways to descend the mountain. You can either the plunge down the Western face along Caurita Trail or basically go back down the Eastern face to find your way home.

Key facts

Approximate Hike Distance: 4 mile each way
Approximate Hike Duration: 9 to 12 hours return
Highest Elevation: 3072ft
Lowest Elevation: 500ft
Approximate Total increase in Elevation: 2800ft
Level of Difficulty: Difficult and Strenuous (Or as we say .. “it flecking hard”)

Equipment

Hiking boots or trail shoes are recommended as the trail can get quite muddy and slippery.
Slippers are not appropriate
Be prepared for rain, hence waterproof hiking sacks or bags are recommended
In case of rain, ensure a dry change of clothes and towel in the car to change into for the drive home

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: el tucuche, hiking el tucuche, how to hike el tucuche, things to do in trinidad, top 10 trinidad things, trinidad top 10, what to do in trinidad

Walking through Versailles

rishiray — Sat, 10 Jul 2004 11:01:00 +0000

http://rishiray.smugmug.com/gallery/2404117_8j8Pz#125989882_YLZuh

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2004. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Versailles

Walking through Paris

rishiray — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 11:02:30 +0000

http://rishiray.smugmug.com/gallery/2403888_H6oeh#125976331_whrMY

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2004. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Paris

Scotland – Edinburgh, Stirling, Glasgow – July 02 – 08th 2004

rishiray — Thu, 08 Jul 2004 19:33:08 +0000

This is the first retro posting in the blog for Scotland..hopefully I can find more old logs to put in here.. but Scotland touring is brilliant. except for the ‘Ginger’ who tried to get in a fight with me.

Glasgow Day 1

Glasgow Day 2 & 3 – Buchanan, ScuthieHall and Argyle Streets

Edinburgh Day 4 – The Royal Mile and Princes Street – 282 pics!

Stirling Day 5 – Stirling Castle , William Wallace Monument and Bannockgate – 210 pics

Glasgow Day 6 – Touring the rest of Glasgow

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2004. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Taking the Chunnel!!!

rishiray — Thu, 08 Jul 2004 16:35:21 +0000

One of the things about going from London to Paris is the actual journey through the Chunnel. One would think, it would be much faster to fly from London to Paris and those ‘ones’ would be correct… it is faster, but why would I fly when I have little money and travelling through the Chunnel is something that one should do, if just for the sake of saying you travelled through a technological marvel of the 20th Centure. I had seen a couple documentaries about the making of the “Chunnel” and of course when you think about all those people who had taken the swim in the English Channel, you wonder about the state and sanity of the human mind.

Well according to the brochures : ” Getting from London to Paris has never been easier. The high speed Eurostar train takes visitors between the two European cities in just 2 hours and 35 minutes. Going underneath the Chunnel, the tunnel below the English Channel, is a comfortable, economical and ecological way to travel.” Of course, no one has spoken about the cost of the goddamn EuroStar but it cost me the equivalent of 185$ Canadian, which is fricking expensive. I asked a couple people about this and they remarked, “Oh it’s worth the extra money to take the Chunnel!” or “Now, you get to mark off something on your list”.

In the end, I thought about it and these were the reasons I came up with taking the Chunnel:

It only takes 2 hours 15 minutes to get from central London to central Paris.
There are no airports
You can walk to Waterloo and walk out of Gare Du Nord and get directly to a hotel.
No extra fares to get to the airport (Heathrow or Gatwick) and no extra fare getting from Charles De Gaulle to downtown Paris
The overall speed of getting from Central London to Central Paris is actually much faster than taking a flight
Did I mention no airports and checking in, at least 2 hours before in Europe.
No fuel surcharges

As for the overall travel experience of travelling the Chunnel, these were some of my observations: The train is very fast (sometimes you feel the speed and sometimes not) and very modern. They serve sandwiches and drinks and pastries onboard, so you can have your breakfast between both countrues. You can pay in either pounds or Euros, but they don’t take Canadian or make change on board.

It’s lovely looking out the window and seeing the countryside in Kent and Northern France. Of course, you don’t see much when you are in the underwater portion of the trip, but it’s quite pleasant, although towards the deepest part of the journey, you do feel a pressure difference and the air does smell different. Like travelling on the seashore, its a bit musty and a bit salty. The time under water is only about 20 minutes, anyway.

They make all the announcements over the loud speaker in English and French. When you are in England, they make the announcement first in English and second in French, and then they switch and do it the other way around when you get to France. I always find that transition rather exciting, as it’s immediately obvious when you cross national lines. Of course, you experience many of the same things you would at an airport. The luggage is scanned, and when you get to the second country, your passport is stamped. But it is all pretty efficient.

The actual logistics of getting to Victoria Station and then finding the office was pretty straight forward:

I found the public washrooms funny but highly efficient though… you could travel, take a shower and move on.

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2004. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chunnel, London