In Cambridge University, there are about 35 colleges. Each college has its own chapel and its own history. Most of the colleges—to name a few, Kings, Queens, Trinity, St John College had an entrance fee of £2-£3.
Cambridge is situated on river Cam, hence the name Cambridge.
Boating is called Punting in Cambridge. College students and some tradional punters arrange the sightseeing by small boats-similar to Vallam in Kerala, and Nattu padagu in Tamil Nadu. The vintage looking boats have seats provided along with cushions and rugs to give a rustic feel . A long wooden pole is used to row the boat, which requires tremendous stamina . The punter is the boatman and is usually a Cambridge student working part-time. The punter also acts as a tour guide.
Visualise a river flowing in a semi circular way, meandering its way through the celebrated university. On both the sides of the river lie colleges. With a history that extends to over 600 years old, it is a site for spectacular architecture, incredible stories and most importantly a place that has given the world its most respected and renowned scholars and academicians.
It was awe-inspiring to remember that remarkable Indians had studied here such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Man Mohan Singh, Ramanujam. Moroever, other notable and incredible alumini includes historic figures such as Sir Isaac Newton (the father of physics) , Francis Crick and James D. Watson ( the scientist who discovered the double-helix of DNA) and Charles Babbage ( the father of computers).
We were lucky to get a punter who was fascinated by India and had thus travelled there numerous times. His girlfriend was from Bhutan, and brought up in Jharkhand, now living in US with her parents, which meant that he was aware of the Indian way of life which made it easier for us to relate to him.
The punter studied in UK for 5 years and had excellent grades, however he could not qualify for domestic fees applicable for UK students as he needs to be here for at least one more year. The annual fees for foreigners is £20000. He has to complete one more year, to qualify as a domestic student.
After a tranquil boat ride which lasted 70 minutes, we went on to explore the city. It was interesting to see a merging of the old and new,where, the historic architecture of the colleges blended with the new buildings of shopping centre and vast amount of shops. We visited these places and also into some of the colleges and took photographs.
Whilst exploring , we came across a gold cockroach clock that seemed familiar to all of us. We had then realised that this was in fact the clock that was shown in the film Paa where some of the initial scenes were shot at Cambridge. It is a part of Christ Corpus College, and inaugurated by Stephen Hawking, the well known physically handicapped scientist of modern era.
We proceeded on taking numerous photographs. It was a thrill to walk in the streets,
where great personalities moved about.
Cambridge is around 53 miles from London and it usually takes about 90 minutes.
Needless to say the roads are very good. The driver was good, the coach was superb , all in all an exteremelly memorable trip to one of the most iconic univeristy in the world. I can now proudly claim that I am infact a Cambridge return!
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