Monday, September 21, 2009

Indian Angle: A coverage of bay area athletes

India Angle
Host: Shachi Patel

About 3 weeks back I got call from one of our friends from Asha Org Shachi Patel. I was pleasantly surprized to know about her new program titled The Indian Angle and that she wanted some of us as Guests in her Radio show titled Extreme Acheievers.

To start with I clarified that none of my outdoor pursuits are extreme per se, and I will be honored to be part of the program. Some of the fellow guests were my other running friends, Padma (Avid Ultra runner), Anush(Runner and Mountaineer) and Rajeev Char(Ironman athlete).

Apart from talking about our backgrounds, each of us had a specific topic to talk about I was mainly asked to discuss my 2008 Himalayan hikes to
i) Everest Base Camp, South side, Nepal
ii) Climb of Stok Kangri, Ladakh, India

Padma mainly spoke about how she accomplished being the First Female Indian 100 mile runner, Rajeev spoke about Ironman distances and his passion for it and Anush spoke about his love for mountains. Entire interview can be heard at: usstream.tv. It was very nice talking to Shachi and she did a excellent job of moderating between all guests.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Last day @ Rio

Already at end of your 2 weeks trip in South America, The lively continent. Past 9 days we have been travling exclusively in Brazil, starting with a breathtaking views of 275 falls at I?gasscu falls, river ride in Rio del Parana to Lively spirit of people in Copacabana, it has been a exciting journey.

After Beunos Aires we headed to Igassu falls, our guide Walter showed us through both Argentina and Bralizian sides with some additional events in small town of foz de igassu. It was very informative talking to walter, we learnt a lot about brazilian way of life.

After a 2 day stay at Igassu we headed towards beach city of Rio de Janiero. Carlos from Via capi picked us up and droped us at Orla right on Copacabana beach. We were pretty tired since our flight was delayed so we took it easy, after a small stroll we crashed at Orla.

Day 2 at Rio was a full day organized tour. After a brif chat with hotel assistant Francis decided to cut short my tour to visit a futbol match. It was between local team flamengo and santo andre, was very exciting to spirit of local fans at maracana. Attacks of flamengo were too quick fo santo andre to match, it was a one sided match.

Day 3 we decided to just relax and laze around the beach with couple of Capirinhas.. that was a great day. Soon we returned and decided to pack for our Wild life trip at Pantanal.. which turned out to be a total fiasco.. (more on that later)

Last day was mostly spent shopping for souvenoirs at popular HippĂ­ market at Ipanema and enjoying buffet at our hotel, what a feast.