A winding road in Nathiagali, Pakistan. Can you imagine a car passing through this narrow road?
View of a road in San Francisco from a cable car
A road in Islamabad, Pakistan leading to Faisal Mosque.
http://ceenphotography.com/2014/08/26/cees-fun-foto-challenge-roads/
Lombard Street, San Francisco, the most zigzag street I’ve seen.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/zigzag/
When I visited San Francisco with my husband many years ago, I had the chance to photograph Lombard Street; its 8 sharp turns have made it known as the crookedest street in the world. We walked up the street as cars zigzagged by and we wondered how difficult it must be for someone who would have to commute by here daily. Apparently it was designed this way to negotiate the steep incline of the hill.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Street Life
As I sit in the study next to me is my husband’s computer table with a collection of memorabilia on top. Of these my favorite is a replica of a cable car we got as a souvenir from our travels to San Francisco back in 2004.
The cable car system in San Francisco is the world’s last manually operated cable car system. We used one of its only remaining three routes, the one to Fisherman’s Wharf. The cable cars are mainly used by tourists now. The cable cars are pulled by a cable running below the street and are operated by something that looks like a clutch. At the end of each line there’s a manual turntable to rotate the car.
What if our life was run like that never straying from the pair of rails provided? We would reach our destination in the shortest time possible. Instead we keep running off in other directions. Some find their way back and others are lost forever.
The turntable represents the end of one journey and passing of knowledge and wisdom to the next traveler who travels much of the same journey but towards a different goal. The rotation at the turntable may be smooth but requires a lot of effort, like our endeavors to teach our children all the necessary knowledge to embark on their journey of life.
Along our journey, as on the cable car, we meet many people, some we embrace and they become an important part of our lives, others we may not care much for. But each person we meet defines us and shapes our character and personality. We may not know it but we carry a part of them with us for all of our lives.
May each of our lives be run with direction and purpose and may our transitions be smooth.
Weekly Writing Challenge: Object
A travel distance of nearly 12,000km and 20hrs with one stopover, the farthest I have been from home is to the United States.
My husband and I travelled from Islamabad to New York via London back in May 2004. Back then the cost of one ticket was more than my husband’s monthly salary. We dug into our savings but were determined to go.
I was working at that time and had recently rejoined. My bosses did not like the idea of my taking 3 weeks off so soon after having joined, but I kept insisting until they reluctantly agreed.
There were weeks of planning and calculations and excel sheets involved. We eventually finalized an itinerary.
We stayed in New York for a week and saw all the sights from the Empire State building to Central Park to Liberty Island, Brooklyn Bridge and the UN Headquarters.
We then flew to Los Angeles where we stayed another week. We saw the Getty Museum and went to Hollywood and Universal Studios and drove along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway.
Then we were off to San Francisco for a few days where we got to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz and rode on a cable car.
We also made a day trip to Grand Canyon and were greatly impressed by the natural beauty of the place.
Lastly we stopped at Las Vegas for two days where we got to see the fountains of Bellagio.
Despite all the strict “random” checks on the flights that we had to endure, this trip was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m glad that we made it happen.
Daily Prompt: Come Fly with Me
