And we went to Munnar

Ruma and I were sitting in Suvi’s room for our regular evening chit chat. I said that I don’t have any class for next seven days, so Suvi suggested that we can go for a short trip. We had around two-three days for the trip considering the time and budget constrain. As always I got super excited and took the research and planning job for the trip. After much discussion we decided for Munnar, a hill station in Kerala, it is famous for its tea plantation and green hills.

Place: Munnar, Kerala, India

Date: 3^rd Jan to 6^th Jan 2012

With: Ruma and Suvi

We started from College at 5 PM on 3^rd Jan’12 for CMBT (Chennai Interstate Bus Terminus). Our college is around 70 KM away from the bus terminus and thus it took us more than 3 hours to reach CMBT during pick traffic hours. We had booked direct bus tickets for Munnar via KPN travels (750 bucks for Deluxe AC Bus). Our bus started at 9 PM and before that we quickly managed to have finger licking delicious dinner from KFC.

It is a 15 hours journey from Chennai to Munnar, the route is Chennai – Choimbatore – Udumalpet – Chinnar – Munnar. We reached Udumalpet at 8 AM, had little breakfast and moved to a mini bus for rest of the journey. This part of journey was breath taking, as we travelled through Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and then started moving up the hills which is a part of the Western Ghats. These hills are fully covered with tea plantation and thus look like a huge green carpet on the hills. We reached Munnar at around noon. After half an hour of search we checked in Hotel Minarvaa (budget hotel, two double bed room for twelve hundred bucks only). The hotel reception helped us in booking a cab for sightseeing; it charged 1700 for two days.

The major tourist attractions in Munnar are located on the way to either Madupatty or Coimbatore. We started towards Madupatty at 2 PM after a heavy lunch. Our first stop was a place called Photo Point, not sure why they named the place like that because entire Munnar is very much picturesque. Anyway we started clicking pics and realized that our driver cheta (elder brother in Malayalam) is also very much fond of clicking photos. Next was Madupatty Dam, a small dam on Kundale Lake. There is a market along the lake for the tourist. Homemade Chocolates are very famous in Munnar, we also got some for friends. The other places that we visited that day were Echo Point and Top Station View Point. We returned to hotel, had dinner and went for a walk. People in hill stations generally sleeps early and roads get deserted by 8:30 PM or so. But still it was pleasant walking up and down the hills. It was cold but we were enjoying the weather, especially after coming from hot Chennai.

Next day morning, I got up little late and by then Ruma and Suvi have already gone for breakfast. They got freshly cooked and soft idly for me from the nearby restaurant. Our driver cheta came around 9:30 AM and we started for places on the way to Coimbatore. We stopped at Tea Museum but it was too much crowded so we gave it a pass and went for Nyamakad Water Falls. Local people also arrange for short (one/two hours) trek around this place.

Our final destination in Munnar was boating which we missed on the first day. We hired a speed boat for half an hour for 350 bucks. I have always been scared of water but enjoyed the boating thoroughly. Got some wonderful pics clicked posing in life jackets. It was surprising to notice that most of the drivers and tourist guides in Munnar click good pics and know where and how to pose. 

Then we were dropped at the bus stop where we caught the mini bus to reach Udumalpet. I slept throughout the journey back but Ruma who was awake said it was very exciting to travel via Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in night. We reached Udumalpet and got to know that KPN has upgraded our travel back to Chennai to AC sleeper bus. We started at 9 AM and reached Chennai CMBT around 7 AM. Thank God, next day we didn’t have any class thus it was time for some rest after a beautiful trip to Munnar.

Click here for more pics

Kanchipuram a Temple City

Kanchipuram is a famous temple city of Tamil Nadu. If words are to be believed there are more than thousand temples here. Two of most famous temples are Kamakshi Amman Temple and Ekambareshwar Temple. 

Date: 19^th February 2012

With: Friends (Some 10 of us)

Presenting a photo blog...

Entry to the Temple

God Stands Alone

Gopuram

Some Idols

Lamps-1

Lamps-2

Shiv Lingas

Divine Rays

For more photos click here

Jodhpur and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan, Part 1)

It was time for my biannual long vacation to home. So Mom, dad and I also planned for a short trip to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. Rajasthan, a state in northwest of India is a dream destination both for domestic and international travellers. The state is famous for its Rajputana history, various forts and ofcourse the famous Thar Desert. It takes atleast a week if you want to cover the important places of Rajasthan which includes Jaipur, Udaipur, Chittor, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Mount Abu. All the places are well connected via road and rail. Infact there are some luxury trains running covering all these places with royal treatment for its passengers, may be some day I will also be in a position to afford it.

Place: Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

Time: 29^th Mar to 2^nd Apr, 2010

With: Mom and Dad

We board a train to Jodhpur from Old Delhi Station. It’s an overnight journey and we reached next morning. All these places in Rajasthan are very famous tourist destinations and you can find lots of visitors across the year. We hired an auto outside the station for our all day city tour. We checked in a hotel, got fresh and started for Jodhpur Sightseeing. Our first stop was Umaid Bhawan Palace, this is the last great palace built in India (completed in 1944). Half of this palace is used by the royal family of Jodhpur and rest of it has been converted to a 5 star hotel and museum. Tourists are allowed to visit only the museum. The speciality of the museum was a clock museum with more than hundreds clocks from across the world.

Next we went for the major attraction of Jodhhpur, Mehrangarh Fort. The fort is more than 550 years old and the city Jodhpur was built around it. The main highlights of the forts are Moti Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Phool Mahal and various small museums showcasing weapons, ornaments, utensils and so on. Jodhpur is also known as blue city because most of its houses are painted in Blue to protect from strong sunrays. From the top of the fort you can see a mesmerizing view of the city. The fort also has a restaurant which serves Rajasthani Thali with Gatte ka saag. Post lunch we went to Jaswant Thada the royal cenotaphs.

It was a bad time to visit Rajasthan because hot weather made us tired. We went back to hotel to take some rest. We had our train to Jaisalmer that evening. Through the hotel we contacted a hotel in Jaisalmer who promised to provide a pickup service from the station as we were supposed to reach very early in the morning.

The hotel in Jaisalmer was decent and they arranged cab for our city tour and also for Thar Desert trip in the evening. The city Jaisalmer is all about its fort also known as Sonar Kila (it’s made up of yellow sand stone) and Thar Desert. If you are interested in buying some souvenir for your friends it’s best to buy it from Jodhpur. Jaisalmer Fort is the only live fort in India, there are more than 5000 people still staying inside the fort. Most of the houses in Jaisalmer are in haveli style with jharokhas.  It gives the entire city a very ethnic look.

We hired a guide for Jaisalmer Fort and he took us through various lanes insides the fort. A very famous movie Sonar Kella by Satyajit Ray was shot here, which made the fort even more famous. The fort has a museum and a beautiful Jain Temple. The rock carvings inside the temple are really splendid. Next we visited some havelis and come back to hotel.

In the evening we started for our Thar Desert trip (my first visit to a desert). We reached near the desert some time before the sunset and took camels to reach the desert. Ahhh now camel ride is a real scary thing to do especially if you are sitting at the back seat. I somehow luckily reached the desert safely while my mom was laughing on me sitting infront of me. But I loved every bit of the desert; all you can see is sand, sand and sand. With the sunset it made a perfect landscape. Post sunset we came back (this time thank God, by car). We went to a camp where cultural night was organised for tourist, which includes Rajasthani dance and songs (Kesariya Balam Padhoro Mare Desh...). We had dinner with dal bati churma and other Rajasthani delicacies. If you wish you can also stay in those tents for the night (not exactly very safe for families). We came back to hotel.

Next day we had our train in the evening and morning we had nothing to do. And mind you Jaisalmer is very hot even in March end. Mom got extremely bored and we went to visit a fossil park. OMG what a disastrous plan it was. There was nothing other than tree fossils which are thousands of years old and did make any sense to me. The driver dropped us in the Station and we board the train to Delhi. For a change this time no office but home sweet home. 

Click here for more photos (By Dad and me)

BHUMI Siragugal 2011

Siragugal is the annual cultural festival of BHUMI. In 2011 around 1500 kids from different orphanages in and around Chennai participated. It was a two day event. First day had sports and cultural events were organised on second day. Considering my tight academic schedule, I could attend only the second day. This was my second year with Siragugal. The event not just brings joy to the kids but also get me immense satisfaction.  The day starts early (6 AM) and goes on till late evening (9 PM) thus makes me hell tired but end of the day it always give me a big sense of achievement.

This year I borrowed Suvi’s DSLR and tried to capture some of the moments.

 Our logo

 Fish Painting 

 All set for a dance number

 I was speechless 

 The Dude

 A million dollar smile

Talking Eyes

For more photos click here

Once upon a time... a trek to Kurangani Hills

TCS Maitree (CSR Team) in collaboration with http://ecologin.org organised a two days trek to Kurangani Hills in Meghamalai for its employees. It is situated atop Western Ghats and lies near the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The place is yet to be encroached by tourists. This has kept the place still very green and close to nature. You can find waterfalls, forests and small tribal villages in this region. All together it made a perfect place to be my first trekking destination.

Place: Kurangani Hills, Tamil Nadu

Date: 5^th to 8^th March, 2010

With: TCS Colleagues

We board the bus near Thiruvanmiyur Bus Deport after Dinner at 8 PM. The entire trip from-to Chennai was arranged by Ecologin. They charged 1600 per person and 31 of us were together in this trip. Mostly from different projects and I didn’t know anyone other than Purnendu. We stopped on the way in the morning for breakfast. Then two teams were made, one with all the girls and some boys (total 18) travelled to Kurangani Hills and the other team with all guys went to some other place in Meghamalai (now I don’t remember what’s that place). Our team was given packed lunch and the bus dropped us at the foot hill of Kurangani.

We started trekking with our luggage. The weather was hot (Most of the hill stations in south get hot by March but it was bearable). After an hour of trek we reached a small waterfall. Some people enjoyed it by taking bath and I enjoyed by watching them splashing.

We again started trekking, our plan was to reach central station before sunset and target top station next morning. We stopped after an hour or so for lunch (none of us were full-fledged trekkers so these frequent stops were required). By the way there were two guys and one girl with us from ecologin to help us with the route. They were not just great guides but also Eco friendly. It was amazing to find that they carried packets to collect our lunch/dinner plastic or papers packets and to ensure that we maintain the sanity of the place.

Now our destination was central station where accommodation was arranged. We trekked throughout the afternoon and evening through the forests with one-two small stops. And I swear carrying your own luggage seemed to be a pain while trekking. But we finally reached central station where a small cottage was arranged for us with kitchen and bathroom. Bonfire was arranged during dinner. And we had few rounds of Antakshari to relax. Most of our legs were paining like hell and bed started calling us :P. We went to sleep but six guys had few more steps before they could hit the bed. Because of space constrain they trekked few KMs more in dark to another cottage. Purnendu was one of them, he told later that it took them half an hour to reach the place but they got nice mattress and beds unlike us to rest their legs and ofcourse body.

Next morning we got up fresh to start for top station our last destination. After breakfast we started trekking but this time without our luggage (well that was a big relief).  The day was hotter and there wasn’t much of forest around so we had to trek in hot sun. We reached top station (the place is in Munnar). So we trekked from Tamil Nadu to Kerala (this makes me happy). Top station had many tourists who were all happy and gay because unlike us they have come in buses or cars. Some small shops were selling ginger/honey soda and it tasted like amrit after the tiring trek :P.

Then we came back to the cottage to have lunch and collect our bags. Trekking down is much easier than going up but we all were dead tired and last hour of trek got really difficult. We reached the foot hill with a huge sense of achievement. Bus was already waiting for us where we meet the other group of trekkers who went to some other place.

On the way back we again stopped at the same place where we had breakfast to have dinner and we reached Chennai early morning next day. And it was time for office ... (most of my trips end with office, I know it’s boring to read same stuffs again and again but trust me it’s even more boring to go to office after such a tiring yet exciting trip.)

For more photos (mostly clicked by Purnendu)

Travel to Hampi

A mail with the same subject line popped up on 31^st July 2010 from Sneha with plan for our next holiday trip. Hampi was the capital of Vijaynagar Kingdom (from medieval period). Now it’s one of the World Heritage Centres in India.  The ruins of the empire are spread over an area of 26 sq km. If history is what interests you then Hampi is one of the best places to Visit in India.

Date: 14^th Jan’11 to 17^th Jan’11

Place: Hampi, Karnataka

With: Sneha

Tickets were booked as planed and we started on 14^th Jan’11 for Bangalore. We reached Bangalore around 11 AM. After spending half a day in IISc Bangalore and Indira Nagar Club, we board the overnight train for Hospet (Train # 6592). Hampi is 13 KM from Hospet and we took a local bus (it’s frequently available). On the way you can find many ruins of the capital city of Hampi. Like most of our trips we didn’t do any Hotel booking but was carrying many hotels and guest house phone numbers. If you are particular about luxury hotel then stay at Hospet because Hampi doesn’t have any proper hotel. We looked into some of the accommodations available, called few of them and finally liked a room available with attached bathroom at Padma Hotel (1000 bucks per day, 24 Hours check-in). After taking some rest we went out with our plan to visit some of the 'ancient temples but unfortunately it’s was Pongal (Tamil New Year). The roads were crowded with people from neighbouring places who have come to take holy bath in Tungabhadra River.

Sneha’s friend who has visited Hampi before suggested us to visit Mango Tree Restaurant.  I will also suggest the same as it is a real peaceful restaurant with an amazing view of the Tungabhadra River and the rocks around. They serve reasonably good food and soft drinks. We went there for lunch and sat for 2 hours. Laziness was setting in as the day progresses, the crowd outside was another reason which stopped us from visiting different places. We decided to take some more rest and go out in the evening. Many foreign tourist visit Hampi every year. Old Hampi has a good market for Indian dresses and jewellery. Shopkeepers are comfortable in English (one of the boys even said “Ma’am please speak in English, I don’t understand Hindi). We did some shopping, had dinner and decided that next day we will get up early in the morning to see the sunrise.

We were ready at 4:30 AM and started for Matanga Hills. As we reached the foothill we realized there is no light and the way up is full of rocks (which looked unachievable in dark). We waited for some time and saw a guy (a French tourist who was in Hampi for 3-4 days and knows the route to top) coming towards the foothill. We starting climbing the rocks with his help and in a minute the chai wala also joined us with his bucket and a small touch (it’s important to carry touch during travel). It took us 20 minutes to reach the top and ahhhh it was worth every minute of effort, the complete view of Achyutaraya Temple is breathtaking. We waited for 10-15 minutes for the sunrise which was again mesmerizing. Then we had tea and climbed down.

As decided we didn’t waste any more time and after a quick breakfast we went to market to hire a Moped, our companion for the day (monuments in hampi are 3-4 Kms away from each other, so it’s best to hire a 2 Wheeler). Our first stop was Virupaksha Temple, it is a Siva Temple founded before the time of Vijaynagar Empire.

Next we went to Monolithic Bull (bull curved out of one rock). We had to walk from Monolithic Bull to Achyutaraya Temple. Each of these monuments is beautiful and without any doubt the place is a photographer’s paradise.

Post that we had to talk more than 1 KM because we thought Vitthala Temple (our next visit) won’t be that far and didn’t take moped. But luckily after some time got a battery operated car run by local women (they charge 10 bucks per head). Vutthala Temple has a huge rock chariot with temples around it. You can see beautiful stone carving though these are centuries old. There were also many artiest trying to capture these monuments in their art.

Our two wheeler was far away, so we again started walking and reached the banks of Tungabhadra River.  Boating is different a different experience in Hampi as you find coracles here. They charge around 600 or so for half an hour. We tagged along with a family and shared the amount.

Next and last destination was Tungabhadra Dam, 17 KM away from Hampi. We had our hired moped; I was riding a moped for the first time. It’s so light that it gave me the feeling of riding a cycle on highway. On the way to Tungabhadra Dam you can find many small monuments on either side of the road. The ruins of Hampi are spread across 26 KM. Tungabhadra River looked as huge as an ocean (without waves). We spent half an hour there (it wasn’t that great, just another dam).

Thus was the end of our Hampi trip, we came back to Hotel, picked our bags and reached Hospet to catch train for Bangalore. We reached Chennai on Monday afternoon. 

Check more photos (By Sneha and Me)

Pondicherry - The Ever Entertaining Pondi

Pondicherry, a Union Territory of India is situated 150 KM south of Chennai, is the best, easiest and cheapest escape from Chennai city life over a weekend. In my last four years of stay in Chennai, I have visited Pondi (as we call it) 7-8 times and each time the experience was different. Pondi has something to offer to everyone. You can visit Pondi for:

• Spirituality - Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville
• French Architecture - The French colony has building from the time when France was ruling Pondi, some of these buildings have also been converted into Heritage Hotels
• Food - Some of the restaurants in Pondi like Du Parc, La Club etc. serve mouth watering continental food
• Liquor – Pondi, being a Union Territory, offers inexpensive and wide range of liquor. It has lots of liquor showrooms
• Beaches -  Pondi is blessed with different kinds of beaches, there is a rocky beach just next to French Colony, some “yet to be explored” beaches on the way to Pondi (East Coast Road) and an islandbeach- known as paradise beach  (you need to take a boat and reach the beach via back waters of Pondi... this is a different experience, some bit of water sports like motor boats and water bikes are available here)
• Churches – Sacred Heart, Notre Dame des Anges Church are century old churches in Pondi with excellent French Architecture

And so on. So if you are in Chennai or anywhere don’t forget to plan a trip to Pondi, it won’t matter whether you are with your friends, family or love... Pondi will be always relaxing...

PS: Couldn't think of a single photo that will define Pondi thus will soon post a Pondi Photo Blog