Holiday breaks and a zillion plans

Shiva peak near Har Ki Dun in Uttaranchal (Nothing to do with this posting, just love the peak)


The best thing about being in London is you are only an hour away from mainland Europe by plane or Eurostar. The bad thing about having an Indian passport, I need the F**king Visa. Even worse scene, cannot apply in India anymore. Talk about bizzare.
I've been invited to visit several friends this spring and summer. Italy tops the charts, and have even been invited by Simone (Read birthday posting) to visit him and go to a lake near Verona with some friends. Am thinking about it. Might be super fun. On the other hand my conscience would not let me have that much fun. The bad bit about following Karma.
Will also spend weekend in Bologna, have already been there but totally adore the couple I'm visiting.They're very old friends and stay with my family in Bombay when they make a yearly trip to Goa each year. Have never met two people so much in love with each other, even at 40!
Late June will take me Spain with my ex flatmate, this one I cannot wait for. Endless nights of partying and having a lot of fun in the sun.
Sometime in may or june, I might have to visit my close friend cordi, her husband oli and my sweet little nephew Nico in Zurich. My mum's coming to visit so we'll go then.
In July am still hoping for the pillion ride, if not then a trek to Jomsom would be ideal.
It's amazing planning all these holidays on my own even though it might be a lot of fun to go away as a couple. Like a friend says , "I'm single in London" well in this case, "I'm single in London and the rest of the world too!! (Maybe leaving one little place in the Welsh countryside)."

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. ~Lao Tzu

I found an old diary writing from my experience looking at this peak -

"Our job done and matches bought, we crouched behind one of the boulders, hidden from view of campsite. Stoned with some pure hash made fresh by the locals we looked in silence at the wonder around us. The peak ahead of us had the silhouette of Shiva. Its amazing how hashish and Shiva go so well together. Looked left and right and top and bottom trying to find more similarities. Was a thrill to our flying minds. The peak is eerie. 5 meters in front of me lay a clean white goat skull complete with horns and teeth. Its bones picked clean by insects or microorganisms. The river gushes deep down below. Thundering in this majestic silence."

Pearl Shah - 16 May 2004