Good thing about having good friends abroad (specifically, in tourist places) is that if a chance presents itself to be there, you always have a friend for the journey and exploration nearby! The other important aspect is that you can then take a break from the mundane hotel stay and food, of course. 😉
So I just crash landed at my friends’ place and let them decide where to go.
Sohini and Priyadarshi, a fellow Honuman couple have been living in Peterborough 
town for almost a year now but I had never visited their place earlier. So this time, I took a LNER train to Peterborough on a Saturday afternoon to spend the remaining weekend there itself.
Oxford and Cambridge are two synonymous names as far as knowledge is concerned and having studied in an education system hugely inspired by the British, I had my eyes set for Cambridge. Well, I meant, for visit only, in case you have misunderstood 🙂
Sunday morning post breakfast, the three of us drove from Peterborough to Cambridge, a short drive of around 40 mins.
Cambridge town, by itself, is not huge and hence can be covered 
by walking, well lengthy walks I mean. There is this Cam river (more like a canal) flowing through each of the known colleges and universities and a traditional market square as well. Other than that, its majorly the old world charm of alleys and by-lanes and the intimidating facades of old British architecture.
We walked past the huge gardens, heading towards the Trinity college. But alas it was closed to visitors for a private congregation! Surprisingly, it was also the same Sunday
when this Pink Marathon was being run.
Mostly dejected after not being able to visit the Trinity gardens, we decided to take the Cambridge Punting tours.
So what’s punting? A punt is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow, designed
for use in small rivers or other shallow water. Punting refers to boating in a punt.
The Cam river makes punting a very successful business in Cambridge, where, as it says, most students try it as a source of income (however, we felt it was mostly the ex-students! 😉 ).
This 1 hour shared tour (with other visitors) cost us 17 pounds each and each punt can take from 2 (for private punts) to 10 guests. There is also an option for self-punting but beware, if I may, it’s a physically challenging activity to say the least. Time for some pics now!
This tour is mostly fun and banter if your “punter” is quirky. There could be a humorous guy/gal with loads of “interesting” anecdotes about Cambridge and its’ different colleges but don’t expect a serious rundown about Cambridge.
So what else is there to do here? Well, as I’ve said already, the idyllic by-lanes are interesting enough to spend an entire day getting yourself lost in the city.
Now if you have a day in hand and you are nearby London, then do take this day trip but make sure the college grounds are not closed! 😛
Signing off with few more images from the College town.
It’s bye from your Travel Monkey!
Honumans 
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