Dive trip

I just came back from my diving trip and enjoyed it a lot. It was amazing seeing all the underwater life. We went to 4 dive sites and for anyone going diving to Phuket, I would recommend the last one- Shark Point. Ironically, we didn't see any sharks :(. But there were amazing corals and hundreds of fish including anemone fish, sea urchins, star fish, schools of barracuda and a snake eel! I went underwater with my dad and one of his friends who was also doing the course, accompanied by an instructor. Here are some pics from my trip:-

First day we arrived in the morning and practiced some skills in a 3m deep pool which was supposed to stimulate a dive. 2nd and 3rd day, we had 2 dives each. The first 2-3 dives we were so busy worrying about our equipment that we couldn't really enjoy the dives, but the last dive, which also happened to be the best site, was amazing and surreal really. The last day, we had a flight at 12:30, and then a 4 hr stopover at Bankok because the flight from Phuket wasn't direct. It was mostly travel. 

In Phuket, we went for a morning walk on the famous Patong beach and saw the street markets. 3 things which are widely sold there are Tuk Tuk rides, dress suits, and massages. Thai boxing is also very famous there. Overall, an amazing trip. If anyone wants to do scuba diving, PADI is a good organisation cus the certificate is recognized world wide. At the end, I couldn't believe that the thing I had been looking forward to for so long was over already and that I was actually a Certified Open Water scuba diver!!

The best part about diving is the thrill and the excitement and even though there is a potential risk, normally nothing serious happens. The adventure and the adrenaline the first time you breathe underwater and don your equipment is unmatched by anything else I've tried so far. It's not really ''difficult'', just a lot of things to remember in the beginning. Once you are comfortable in the water, it's like you don't have a care in the world. I hope I'll be able to do many more dives in the future.

Smiti

Trip to Kashmir

Hello to the world! I am starting this blog as a learning experience to know what it's like. As someone who is posting online for the first time, I'm gonna start by introducing myself. I am Smiti Mittal. I am 12 years old and a student in 8th grade. I enjoy indian classical singing, cooking, playing tennis, swimming, painting, science and hopefully I'll enjoy blogging too! The blog is called Smitipedia- kudos to my friends who gave me the nickname in 4th grade on account of my brains (Wikipedia) ! It used to be a joke that one day I should start a website called smitipedia.com. I suppose I've got there now, 4 years later. To start off with I'm gonna tell you about my trip to Kashmir in the summers.

"We left for Kashmir on the 23rd June, 2014. The flight was really short- just over an hour. When we arrived in Srinagar it was afternoon and so we hadn't felt the cold of Kashmir yet! We drove to a popular tourist spot near by- Pahalgam, where we stayed for 2 nights. There, went to a valley, Besaran about 1/2hr away on horse. The ride was fun but even more was the panoramic view.

 We got pictures clicked there while wearing traditional Kashmiri clothes. It was a magnificent journey and the horses seemed to have carved their own route through the mountains.

 Afterwards we went on a drive to a well-known tourist spot- Aru valley. There was a slight climb to get to the main valley and it was raining but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

The next day we drove to a small valley- Gulmarg where we stayed for another 2 nights. At Gulmarg we went to a counter early morning to buy tickets for going up to see the snow. We had to wait for 2 hours before we got the tickets and that was after booking them online but it was all worth it. We went up to the snow(2nd level) and were immediately bombarded by people trying to get us to use their sleds where they took you up a slope. But we wanted to try climbing so we climbed up. From there we went on a short accompanied ski trip to a place from where we could see the LOC or indian line of control(border). We came back and played in the snow making snowmen, though the snow was all dirty snow. The gear we had rented- thick jackets and snow boots- served its purpose well thought it was still cold. We came down to the 1st level and had lunch at a 'dhaba'. We came back down in a gondola.

Next day we headed to the summer capital- Srinagar. Evening time was devoted to a beautiful Shikara ride on the famous Dal lake.

Later we saw flowers at a garden although the real blooming time is Aug-Sept, so there weren't many flowers. 



We spent the night at the beautiful Taj hotel. After lunch, we headed to a houseboat called "Buckingham palace" which although quite lavishly furnished did not match the rating of 4.5 on tripadvisor. Nevertheless, a unique experience, especially since I haven't been on the house boats of Kerela either. 

The whole of Kashmir was fun and busy because of the peak season visiting time.

It was much better than I thought it would be.

I thought it would be boring because it wasn't abroad but boy was I wrong.A perfect end to my summer vacations. "

So that was my experience of Kashmir. Hope you enjoyed reading about it. I would be more than happy to receive comments/feedback as I am new to this.That's it for now!

Bye,

Smiti.