After some quick shuteye, I showered and ventured into the city. We were joined by my friend’s Spanish boyfriend. When I told my friend Neha that my friend was dating a Spanish boy, she got all swoony and drooly hoping to live out her Enrique fantasy even if it was vicariously through someone else. But in reality, Preeti’s ‘Enrique’ turned out to be more of the siesta loving, pot-bellied Spanish man who loves wining and dining more than anything else in the world. Oscar speaks very little English. And just about enough to make conversation with me. Preeti and Oscar converse only in Spanish. And they’d call each other amor, which is the Spanish word for love. ‘Amor’ is also one of my countless nicknames. So everytime I’d hear amor, I’d turn around, only to see them whispering into each others ears. How awkward it must have been. For them.

Later in the day, we walk through an Egyptian temple in the middle of the city and take a cable car ride. Oscar’s trying to explain the history of the cable cars. And as he’s struggling with some words, Preeti turns around and goes, “Oh by the way, he does know a few Hindi words too!”. I turn to Oscar and go all, “Nice! Say something!”.  I’m hoping to hear a “Namaste” or a “Mera naam Oscar hai!”. And Oscar turns to me and with a straight face goes, “Chutiya”. Expat Indians must make the country so proud.

Morty & skydiver dude trying to be all cool for the camera

Mum once told me that to travel one needs to get 3 things right: the right age, the financial resources, and most importantly, the will to travel. So here’s a couple of things I believe I should definitely attempt before I get too old, go broke, or become too chicken for adventure.

Some day, perhaps!

I’ve always considered myself to be a water baby. Hence, its not surprising that topping my bucket list are a host of water based  activities. Scuba diving, surfing, snorkeling, diving with sharks are some of the things I’d love to try. The last one in particular. Considering that I’m not much of an animal lover and detest sea food (yes, a kalank on all of them Bongs out there), I think it would be interesting to live through the Jaws experience first hand. Step one for the aforementioned goal is already in the works. A trip to V’s Caribbean homeland, experimenting with T&T cuisine (which, I gather, is very much like Desi food, so I should feel just at home) and lazing on the beach, sipping on a Mojito, is step two. Step three: **gulp** stepping into a steel cage, descending down the clear blue waters, with sharks circling around me, and being terrified of being eaten alive by the very thing I came to see!

Sweet Lord, thats one gorgeous view!

Moving onto less dangerous, but equally incredible things to do! People who know me would agree that physically strenuous activities are really not my thing, but a man can dream, can’t he? I think that climbing to the top of the Pyramid of Giza would be super cool and would certainly make for interesting conversation on a date. Hot date: So Morty, what did you do last weekend? Me: Well, I was in Egypt and I climbed to top of the Great Pyramid of Giza with my buddies and had a beer. Hot date: **too stunned to say anything** I’ve always thought that Egypt is a country much like India. Steeped in mythology and culture and a fabulous destination for tourists. I really want to visit the place someday. Ever since Lucky Ali crooned O Sanam to that gorgeous woman in his video, I was convinced that Cairo/Egypt is one place I must go to. Standing on the top of the pyramid, would be one of the most breathtaking moments of my life.

This was just the tip of the iceberg. There’s the carnival at Rio, the touristy spots in Italy/Rome, the gondola’s in Venice, Kerala backwaters, Rajasthan, Ladakh,  and of course the millions of places I could visit in the US itself. My list could go on and on. The world is huge and we have so little time. A single lifetime simply isn’t enough to enjoy the beauty of this planet. Makes you realize how insignificant a part you are of this huge ass planet.