Pune to Mahabaleshwar (Oct 31)

Pune to Mahabaleshwar (Oct 31) 3rd try  (I keep trying to post and then it gets deleted... so I am writing this in notepad and will post it when I have a stronger connection).

Today we travelled across parts of the Deccan Plateau to get a sense of the weathering and development of the landscape. We were treated to views across several valleys. For me, it is pretty incredible how the landscape has changed over time - I am still trying to wrap my head around rates and timescales. As the Indian Plate split off from Antarctica/Australia and moved toward the Eurasian Plate, monsoons would have become more important to weathering rates - but the products of weathering this type of bedrock is a bit tricky to see - so it seems like most of the story is based on erosion features, chemical weathering changes, and some scattered colluvium deposits...

We are spending the next two nights here and using Mahabaleshwar as our base. 

To finish the day, we wandered around Panchgani- sort of an octopus-shaped plateau - with outlooks in all directions. It is a bit of a tourist spot too - there were a lot of people there offering horse rides across the landscape. And there were monkeys!!

The ‘steps’ are due to different lava flow events. 

MahaGanPati Temple - huge statue of Ganesha is here. 

  

Near (or possibly this is) the town of Wai. 

  

More views 

Panchgani Plateau

Panchgani Plateau monkey

Also enjoying the view. 


Attempt at a selfie - there are a lot of people that want to take your picture... but not the same as a selfie!

This guy (pup) was trying really hard to join our group and felt like the monkeys were competition for our attention. 

Pune - Part 2

First things first - I got my bag!!!  I am just back to our hotel after a bit of a journey to the airport and back ~20km, so ya I get why that takes an hour one way (nope). It also requires asking the same question a number of times (for an hour) to get my bag - summary is what’s important here - I got my bag back. 

The visit to the university of Pune was really nice, there was a formal greeting and tea with the department, followed by an informative introduction to the Deccan Traps and the geology of the area we are visiting. Then we had a tour of the department and the initial university building (once the formal head of the state building).

Tomorrow we had for the laterite tablelands (I think or we do that the next day). If I play my cards right I won’t be at another airport until Sunday - wahoo!

Delegates (that’s what everyone is calling us), and members of the department of geography outside after the formal introductions, presentation and tour.

The fancy smancy building - the blocks are basalt that came from an adjacent quarry. 

My Bag!!!! I am afraid to open it. 

Goodnight!

Pune - part 1

We are in Pune (pooh-knee), most of the group met up at the airport in Delhi early this morning and most made it on the flt (one person’s itinerary was cancelled and they were booked on the next flight. So there were some hiccups, one notable one was when I was checked in as a different person on the trip (I had to hand over my id and all that), went through security, where they look at you and your ticket, and then while we were waiting to board and checking seat numbers it becomes apparent that I did not have the boarding pass for Jaclyn Cockburn - yikes (for so many reasons - how was it even possible that two boarding passes for the same person were printer, how is it that no one noticed/ checked  the names closely??). Anyway, it got sorted, got on the plane - they told us a couple of seats - different from the double boarding cards, but whatever it would be fine, plane landed a couple hours later in Pune, got off the plane, I didn’t have any luggage to collect, so I was just waiting for the group, which is when I realized, I didn’t have my phone! Gah - gut-wrenching, face-palming, sinking feeling (I probably shouldn’t even have a passport and be allowed out of the country). I tracked down an airline agent and they said they would look into it... without a specific timeframe mentioned this was a bit concerning. Tracked down some other people, it was decided that there was a phone found, we just need to prove/verify that it is mine. What brand? Okay got that, what seat, yep 17a, no problem, can we see your boarding card, ohh so that’s a problem... there was this strange moment (like a 5-10 minute moment) where four of us were standing around a counter - with my phone on the counter, a handwritten note of me declaring I received my phone, and then this weird stalemate about the boarding pass...  anyway, clearly I got my phone back, but honestly this is why I can’t have nice things. 

We are about to head to the University of Pune, to meet with some experts and learn more about the region. I am trying my hardest to not fall asleep (tricky with the full tummy and poor sleep last night). In a possible miracle turn of events, my bag has been located - we are now working toward reunification - could be tonight (probably means I need to go back to the airport...), could be tomorrow (more tricky as we are heading ~150 km south of here (no airports along the way) and will be there for two nights), before moving again - even further from Pune.  I am hopeful that I will see my bag before I leave India. And for the sake of my fellow-field trippers, I hope it is sooner than later - they are all really nice people and I am quickly becoming ‘that’ kid on the trip, which is totally counter to the packing strategy I came up with last week - don’t draw attention to yourself - no one notices the tail on a dancing donkey etc., and therefore no one will know you are wearing the shirt from yesterday...

Picture from the plane (in case you were counting - yep this the 4th plane in 4 days). 

Matching boarding passes. I can’t make this up.

 The amenities from our hotel - I do feel special, not sure about the toothbrush though (I had my own packed in my carry-on). 

Hopefully I will have a picture of me and my bag by the end of the day. 

Silver lining, might be thin, but it’s still silver

Location: Delhi - wahoo - made it!

Luggage: unknown... doh!

Jet lag status:  no idea

New things: airliner photography (apparently it’s a thing), weird scultputers, augmented reality sunrises, driving expert level New Delhi!

Well just because you have a long layover for flight doesn’t mean your bag will make it - yikes!! In a weird twist, when I got through immigration (~1.5 hr line up...), to the baggage carousels, I was looking around for my bag and asked a couple of agents about bags coming from my flight, and said mine wasn’t there. One agent said to me: “You are Jaclyn Cockburn?” Oh wow! I am famous, another agent came over, and was like “oh Jaclyn Cockburn! We don’t know where your bag is.”  And that’s when the no sleep and everything else kind of hit - holy smokes! Anyway, by the time I was ushered out of the baggage area, there had been a phone call and my bag would be arriving at 11:30am and then it would go to my hotel.  All right, off to my hotel. 

I met up with a friend of a friend today, but I am now going to claim her as my own friend now - Neeti, came and picked me up and we went for lunch.  Neeti has a tonne cross-Atlantic travel experience, and is very forgiving of poor conversation skills and sympathetic to a weary traveller. Driving in Delhi is unlike I have ever seen - there were cows in the middle of intersections - and if they had car horns or a bell - that would have been honking/ringing too. Not sure how Neeti does it!

Some pictures from the last 12-18-24-never ending day?!

There is an observation deck at Terminal 4 at Heathrow, I went to check it out and Whoa! The views were great and there are a lot of airplanes but the seriousness of the photographers - trying for that perfect shot of the British Airways 737, was weird. 

A strange statue in Doha airport... there were a lot of things of this scale. 

And the funky light/sunrise through the fancy 787 Dreamliner window this morning. 

And finally - lattes with Netti at Starbucks at a mall that is one of the largest ones I have ever seen - Ambience Mall in case you know it. 

Looking forward to seeing my luggage sometime - it took me so long to pack! 

Longer way round

So ever been to Doha? Me neither - seems like a reasonable thing to do on a Saturday...

The missed connection in London means I am now going through Doha on Qatar Airlines, to get to Delhi by tomorrow morning. And good news I have a window seat! My seat on my Heathrow-Delhi flight was an aisle, so really this whole delay is a bit of an upgrade :)

And final silver lining, I can now have fish and chips and a pint at the Prince of Wales Pub in terminal 4. Turns out London time is not too early for beer - cheers!

Unexpected opportunities...

So a great flight from Toronto into a sunny London morning. We had a great view of all the sites, unfortunately the sightseeing and slightly delayed departure meant that the connection to Delhi was going to be tricky - plus you need to clear security again... soooo what was going to be a very brief stay at Heathrow is now turning into an all day thing ... maybe - still waiting in line to find out what happens with the connection. Likely a flight later tonight (after 9pm, it is ~10am in London- apparently, my phone thinks it is 5am, and my body is just hoping I don’t plan to run/speed walk 5km through an airport again today). In the other silver-lining moment, there were 33 passengers from my flt that missed the connection- so instant friends and possibly a chance to start a card tournament or something. 

Some pics from the plane (in reverse order). 

Bags are packed

Bags are packed and I am ready to go!

I have a window seat for my first flight - maybe there will be a post-worthy snap of London.

Itinerary (broad strokes)

Below is a rough outline of what I will be up to for the next 6 weeks.


October 30-Nov5 - Deccan Trap Field Trip - Basaltic terrain - one of the largest flood basalt deposits in the world (top 3?), with deposits ~2 km think, covering 500 000km^2, which makes this one the largest volcanic features on the planet. 
Highlights: Ajanta Caves, Lonar Crater, and the really old, really big volcanic deposits and what's happened the them since they were deposited (~66 million years ago).

The map below is from the field guide for this trip (citation: Joshi, Veena U. 2017. Geomorphological Field Guide Book on Deccan Inland (Edited by Amal Kar). Indian Institute of Geomorphologists, Allahabad). 

Nov 6-11 - International Conference of Geomorphology (ICG), Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
Yep - SIX days of conferencing - well in the middle of that there is field trip - areas around New Delhi.  A day off is needed, the first sessions start at 8:30am and run through 6:45pm - each day!  The hotel I am staying in for the conference is close to Connaught Place, and the conference is near India Gate.  You can see these hubs in the Google Maps screen capture here.  My presentation is scheduled for 5:30 on the second full day of the conference, early enough in the schedule that I am able to enjoy most of the conference without worrying about it!  I will be talking about some of the work we've been doing in New York around sediment yield after large events (e.g., hurricanes and tropical storms).

Nov 12-17 - Darjeeling Himalaya Field Trip
I don't have the field guide for this trip yet - but tea and mountains, what more could a girl ask for?


Nov 18-Dec 2 - Delhi to Kathmandu tour (for fun - I am sure there will be some water and rocks)
Highlights include Jaipur, Taj Mahal, Orchha, Varanasi, Chitwin National Park (Nepal), Pokhara, Kathmandu!

Dec 2-5 Kathmandu times

Packing update

I almost done packing, and it seems most of my stuff has made it into the bag...  I am going with the duffle, and I am just going to try to be shy in a corner somewhere, so one will notice if I am wearing the same shirt more than once at the conference.  I am sure it will be fine.

Efficient packing is something I have always been good at, clearly at an early age I was at expert level.

Tonight's status, I still need to add socks and toiletries, I am sure it will be fine.

Getting Started

In a week I will be a couple of hours into a long travel day. A flight to London, to connect with a fight to New Delhi.  It will be around 26 hours (including the 9.5 hour time difference) total, the good news is the way back is much shorter, I leave just after midnight and arrive before breakfast...

I am heading to India for a conference (geomorphology stuff), but will make the trip worthwhile by including some travel.  A couple of conference related field trips, and then a 15 day tour Delhi to Kathmandu (Nepal), with a couple of days to wander around the ancient capital before making my way back home.  Who knows what the blog post frequency will be, but this is going to be my main method of sharing the adventure.  Don't worry about commenting, and the good news is Blogger doesn't have a 'like' button or a way to see who has viewed the posts - so read and enjoy, or don't, I won't know about it.

I will be away for 40 days, just short of 6 weeks.  I imagine if I were at home for 6 weeks, I would likely wear the same thing, and rotate out work clothes.  The challenge for this trip is I am trying to pack light (day pack, and a duffle - which is almost the same size as the day pack).  This is so it will be easy for me to carry my stuff places.  There are a couple of times during the tour at the end of my trip where we might need to walk with our luggage some distance (15-20 minutes) and I am not sure a wheelie suitcase would be suitable for that, but I don't think my giant, (70L?) MEC, multi-day backpack is what I want to take with me either.  So choices will need to be made, and I might need to let go of what is a 'conference' shirt and what is a 'wandering around the grounds of the Taj Mahal' shirt. So packing has started, but I am at a bit of stalemate with respect to the vessel.

This post is just to get things started.  I will post my trip itinerary before I go, it will give you time to find some of the places on a map (maybe I will even post a map).  And maybe an update on the packing.

The bag choices.