My Travel Log (2000 to 2008)

My son was born in year 2000. I started maintaining a travel log for my son so that he could read all about it when he was grown up. Every year, I took a print out of the log and attached it to his baby book. It turned out to be a good idea as my son really liked going through his baby book. I maintained the log for 10 years, and then handed it over to my son to continue.

Luckily, I can now use that log as a starting point for my own travel log. We didn’t have a digital camera till around 2006 or ’07, and I haven’t got around to scanning the pics from the photo albums. Even the digital pics for 2006 to mid 2009 are missing because the hard disk on which I had backed them stopped working. So here’s a summary of my trips from 2000 to 2008 without pics. For 2009 onwards, click here.

Year 2000

1. Mar (Around Holi) to Binsar with Kailash, Aditya & family (with baby in tummy)
2. Oct to December to Kayamkulam (Kerala) with Subhadhra Kunjamma (welcome baby!)

Year 2001

1. Mar to Naukuchiatal with Monu, Kailash, Lata, Soni, Smitha (baby’s first official trip)
2. July end to Saat Taal with Monu, Kailash, Aditya & family, and Guru
3. Nov to Kaudiyala with Monu, Kailash, Aditya & family
4. Dec 30-31, Jan 01 to Kaudiyala with Monu, Kailash, Lata & family

Year 2002

1. Feb to Kerala with Monu
2. Mar 28-31 to Barog with Kailash, Monu, Aditya & family; Guru & family
3. May 25-27 to Saat Taal with Kailash and Monu
4. Aug 15-18 to Kaudiyala with Kailash, Monu, Aditya & family; Guru & family
5. Nov 27-30 to Alchauna and Saat Taal with Kailash and Monu

Year 2003

1. Jan 31, Feb 01, 02 to Chauki Dhani (Jaipur) with Kailash, Monu, Aditya & family and Guru & family
2. Jan to Limerick, Ireland – Official trip, with stopover at Heathrow, London both ways. On the return trip, we took a metro ride to Picadilly, London and spent an hour there. Had my first Starbucks coffee (ughhh!) and dumped it after a sip
3. Mar 15 – 16 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Sushil, Vidya, and Shilpa
4. Apr 11 – 13 to Kaudiyala with Kailash, Monu, Sushil, Shilpa, and Vidya
5. May 16 – 18 to BhikiyaSen with Bhaiya, Bhabhi, Kailash, and kids
6. May 30 – June 14 to Kerala (including Kovalam) with Kailash and Monu
7. July 05 – 06 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Vidya, Shilpa, Jatin, and Sushil
8. Aug 15 – 17 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Sids, Anshul, Vishal, Gyan, Jagat, and Satyajit
9. Dec 25 – Dec 28 to Chilla (Raja Ji) with Kailash, Lata, Sony, Monu, Smitha

Year 2004

1. Jan 10 – Jan 14 to Limerick, Ireland with stopover at London (Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street) with Sonia, Sapna
2. Feb 28 – Mar 02 to Rishikesh with Kailash, Monu
3. Apr 24 – Apr 25 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Lata, Smitha, Savita, Dharmendra, Ankita, Sahil, Siddhartha, Shipra, Anshul, Vishal, Anurag
4. July 01 – Jul 05 to Chail Via Shimla (toy train) with Kailash, Monu
5. Sep 04 – Sep 07 to Naukuchia Taal with Kailash, Monu
6. Oct 22 – Oct 24 to NainiTaal (monu’s first outstation birthday) with Kailash, Monu
7. Nov 14 – Nov 18 to Kullu Manali (also Rohtang Pass and Mannikaran) with Kailash, Monu, Bhaiya, Bhabi and kids and Bhabi’s father and mother
8. Dec 3 – Dec 5 to Corbett (Claridges Corbett Hideaway)with Kailash, Monu

Year 2005

1. Jan 12 – 24 to Kerala (including Periyar lake and Thekkady) with Kailash, Monu, and parents)
2. Feb 05 – 07 to Jim Corbett (in-laws’ wedding anniversary) with Papa, Ma-in-law, Kailash, and Monu
3. Mar 25 – 27 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Lata, Sony, and Smita.
4. May 07 – 10 to NainiTaal with Kailash, Monu, in-laws, Bhaiyya, Bhabhi & kids
5. July 09 – 10 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Anurag, and Sangeeta
6. Aug 26 – 28 to Saat Taal and Alchauna with Bhaiyya, Kailash, Niki, Pundu, and Monu
   (Bhabhi and Ruchi stayed back at Haldwani)
7. Sept 23 – 25 to Jim Corbett (Rains and flood all the way) with Kailash, Monu, Siddhartha, Shipra, Sarthak
8. Oct 21 – 24 to RamGarh and NainiTaal (Monu’s B’Day) with Papa, Kailash, and Monu
9. Nov 25 – 27 to Mussoorie – Kempty and SahasraDharawith InfoPro colleagues
10. Dec 03 – 05 to Jim Corbett (Anniversary) with Kailash, Monu, Bhaiyya, Bhabhi & kids

Year 2006

1. Jan 26 – 29 to Rishikesh, Kodiyala, DevPrayag with Kailash, Monu, Vishal, and Gunjan
2. Apr 14 – 16 to Jim Corbett (The drive at night was awesome – saw so many deer wandering on and around the main road) with Kailash, Monu, Vishal, Gunjan, Shruti (Vishal’s sis), Rakhee, and Prateek
3. May 20 – 21 to Bhim Taal (Met Fredy Smetacek Jr at his bungalow while trekking from Bhim Taal to Saat Taal. Fredy was bedriddenHope to meet him again some day.) with Kailash, Monu, and Vishal
4. June 3 – 10 to Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty, and KodaiKanal (Saw 18 wild elephants on our way from Mysore to Ooty in Bandipur and Madumalai wildlife sanctuary) with Kailash, Monu, Bhaiyya, Bhabhi & kids
5. Sept 23 – 24 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Vishal, and Gunjan
6. Sept 30 – Oct 02 to Ramgarh with Kailash, Monu, Lata & family
7. Dec 23 – 25 to Renuka Ji Lake with Kailash, Monu, Shilpa, Arvind, Rakhee, and Prateek

Year 2007

1. Jan 26 – 28 to Chandigarh with Monu and Priya (Went by train; Kailash and Aditya picked us on the way back from Kasauli)
2. Jun 16 – 19 to Bhim Taal and Saat Taal (1 night in BhimTal and 2 nights in Saat Taal) with Kailash and Monu
3. August 11 – 15 to Naini Taal, Ramgarh, and Mukteshwar(Day trip to Mukteshwar) with Kailash and Monu
4. September 29 – Oct 1 to Kaudiala with Kailash, Monu, Lata, Sony, and Smita
5. November 3 – 4 to Saat Taal and Naini Taal with Kailash, Monu, Vishal and Gunjan
6. December 21 – Jan 1 to Kerala (including Neyyar lake, Kovalam, and Vegaland) with Kailash and Monu

Year 2008

1. Jan 5 – 6 to Agra and Vrindavan (ISKCON temple) with Kailash, Monu, Bhaiya, Bhabi, Ruchi, Nikki, and Pundu
2. Feb 8 – 10 to Corbett National Park (Corbett Hideaway)with Kailash, Monu, Lata, Sony, Smita and Vattu Kunjamma
3. Feb 25 – 26 to Mumbai (Andheri, Goregaon, Juhu Beach)**First Trip Completely Alone**
4. Mar 21 – 23 to Saat Taal with Kailash, Monu, Aditya, Mamta, and Imli
5. May 9-11 to Nainital with Kailash, Monu, Lata, Sony, and Smita
6. June 13 – 15 to Shimla and Fagu with Papa and Monu. Kailash joined us in Fagu
7. July 12 – 13 to Rishikesh with Monu, Kailash, and Papa
8. July 18 – 20 to Ambala with Monu, Kailash, and Papa (for Bhaiya and Nikki’s birthday)
9. Aug 30 – 31 to Jim Corbett with Monu, Kailash, Lata, Sony, and Smitha

10. Oct 25 – 28 to Rishikesh with Monu, Kailash (Spent Choti Diwali in Rishikesh, stayed in an ashram for the first time, watched fireworks on the beach, I was preparing for a test most of the time) 
11. Dec 5 – 7 to Ambala with Monu, Kailash, and Papa
12. Dec 26 – 30 to Bandhavgarh Reserve in Madhya Pradesh (also Rewa and Banasagar dam) with Monu, Kailash (Saw a tiger – He walked in front of our Jeep for about 3-4 minutes and then turned and vanished into the bushes.)

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