During our last posting at Kochi, me and Sukhi had the opportunity of travelling to various places. I will narrate a few of our experiences. In 2002, we visited Simla and Manali all the way from Kochi. It was a great experience as we had a peek at the snow covered peaks. The bus ride to Manikaran was horrifying as we on the edge of the seats through out. We also experienced snow fall at Simla. The next trip was to Darjeeling and Gangtok. The best part of Gangtok was the ride to Nathula Pass, the silk route border of indo-china. we had the previledge of shaking hands with the jawans of India and China. "HATS OFF" to the jawans who protect our borders day in and day out in that weather. When we reached the top, near the border, the weather started playing havoc and we were asked to rush down ASAP. But fortunately the weather Gods were good to us and we continued with our viewing and enjoying the snow covered land. We were at the top of the world (14700 ft) in literal sense. It was amazing to see the beautifull scenic surroundings. That was one experience you have to actually go through to bilieve it. We also had an opportunity to go seawards to the Lakshadweep Islands. The voyage by "Tipu Sultan" is worth mentioning. We were on board for three days as we had to disembark on the southern most island of the group called the Minicoy Islands. This island was initially possessed by the maldivians. Wayback in time it was given to india as a gift. Minicoy has the largest natural lagoon in the world. The ship had to disembark us outside the lagoon. I must tell you, the fishing boat (the only mode of transportation) ride to the island was hell of a journey of 45 minuites, getting tossed all over in the open ocean. We kept our fingers crossed, all the way praying for the quick and safe journey to the shore. Once we were in the lagoon, it was a smooth ride. We had the opportunity to see the amazing underwater world with various types and colours of fishes. The only sad part was that the recent tsunami had spoilt the beautiful corals beneath. We also visited the lighthouse which is the oldest one in this part of the continent. We also met the aboriginals of the island and visited the biggest tuna fish tinning factory. I was amazed to see the only car and no dogs 'at all'. The trip was an excellent opportunity to relax from maddening city crowd. The return was not that eventfull as we had a ship direct to kochi. In another occassion, I was given the responsibilty to take the children of naval community for an adventure camp to munnar. They were exposed to rock climbing and trekking. Sukhi also accompanied me as she was guardian for the girls. In fact sukhi has been accompanying me for all the trips either done by own vehicle or other means. She is also a good driver. But most of the time I do the driving and she is the navigator. We have travelled to Ooty six times during our stay in kochi. In one of our such trips to kodaikannal, we had to pass through the ghats of Idukki. We encountered around 25 hair pin bends, but fortunately none of felt sick. We also encountered some wild boars and elephants. To list down a few road trips, we have performed Kochi-Trivandrum-Kanyakumari-Kochi, Kochi-Coimbatore-Ooty-Kochi, Kochi-Kodaikanal-Kochi, Kochi-Munnar-Kochi, Kochi-Mumbai-Kochi, Mumbai-Delhi-Ludhiana-Mumbai. I also had the previledge of being the only naval representative for the World Military Games car rally from Trivandrum to Hyderabad and back. We were a contingent of 12 cars from navy, army and airforce moving in coordination and perfect timing, spreading the message of the Games. The response from the local crowds from different villages of andhrapradesh was overwhelming. And finally, not to forget the forthecoming Mitsubishi Great Driving Challenge. It wiil be another opportunity for me to discover those parts of south india where I have not been able to. I wish all the participants the very best , happy and safe driving.