Apr 13 - 17
April presented a lovely option in front of us – take 1 day off & get a 5 day long weekend. How can we miss that! The decision on the trip, however, was taken just 2 days before the vacation & hence we were left with limited options. Hot weather in April narrowed down our options further. Coorg it was and we were going to drive down all the way from Chennai!! Mode of journey was the toughest decision since we were just 2 of us with only one knowing to manipulate the wheels & about 10 hr journey (about 600 km) one-way. But yea, we took the plunge & there was no looking back. We booked “Serene Homes” home-stay (near Poojakal, Kutta) for the next 3 days.
Apr 13
We hit the Chennai-Bangalore highway with Ilaiyaraja songs and Google maps for company. Quick breakfast at Vellore Saravana Bhavan and driver-friendly roads ensured that we didn’t have to stop for lunch until we were half-way thru the Bangalore-Mysore highway. It was almost 3.00 pm when we reached Mysore. Our home-stay was in South Coorg and we had to take a deviation in route via Nagerhole sanctuary to reach the place. The last 10 hours of continuous driving was getting into us and we just wanted to reach asap. I initially thought that we would be driving around the sanctuary, but nah, we were gonna drive through it. As we entered the Nagerhole sanctuary, our spirits suddenly rose coz we had no idea what was in store. Over the next 30 kms, we encountered herds of deer, an elephant and a wild pig, all in their natural surroundings. The elephant especially was just some 10 meters away from us casually exploring the bushes. It’s a wonderful feeling to see the ‘mighty’ living being in its natural habitat. We took a gutsy call to stop the car and enjoy it for more time. We dare not step out of the vehicle, of course. Slight drizzles had brought down temperatures and the animals did not mind stepping out of the forest area to give us beautiful sights to relish. It was a wonderful start for our memorable trip.
The homestay was just a few kms away from the sanctuary and we reached Kutta by 5.30 pm. We drove through narrow paths (not qualified enuf to term them “roads”) amidst coffee plantations to reach our destination. Coffee plantations are not as pretty / picturesque as tea plantations but the plants are tall and strong making the ambience feel very warm & cosy. The home-stay was sweet and clean; our hosts (Prakash & Navya) warm & food delicious. After a short walk in the backyard of the place leading to a stream, we called it a day!
Apr 14
We started our trip with a visit to Iruppu waterfalls – about 7 kms away from our place. People – waterflow ratio was disproportionate with the former in higher numbers but most of them were happy washing their feet in the stream and enjoying the place from afar. We loved the chill water and were refreshed for the morning. After another yummy dose of lunch, we headed to Nagerhole sanctuary for the safari. After the experience of driving through the sanctuary I was mighty excited about this – so inspite of his apprehensions Karthik tagged along. I couldn’t have been more wrong; the safari fell way below expectations – we sighted deers, deers & more deers, a few wild buffaloes and not even an elephant. The hot weather added to the disappointment.
Evening turned pleasant once again with mild showers. Our day ended with a long walk around the plantations surrounding our home-stay. April is dry at Coorg and the elephants often venture out of the forests into the residential plantations in the night for water / jackfruits / mangoes. We did spot few elephant marks in the surroundings. People staying near the forest area have guns at home to scare the wild animals in case of major ruckus.
Apr 15
Information online told us that the hills around Coorg offered exciting spots for sight-seeing but were laden with leeches which was a BIG turn-off for both of us. Also, most trekking spots are reserved and one needs permission from forest authorities (Mysore office) to explore those. Anyway, we broached this topic with our hosts and were in for good news – 1. Coorg was mainly dry in April & were devoid of leeches; 2. Apr 15th was Vishu holiday & hence a security guard from a nearby plantation could take us on a trek around a small hill (part of Brahmagiri forest) in the area. The trek looked quite funky coz the guard walked with a huge rifle on his shoulder & there was another person accompanying him with a sickle to remove thorny branches on our way. This trek was very different from the ones we have done before. The hill is not one of the usually trekked one and so there was absolutely no clear path. It was full of bushes, dry leaves, huge trees and continuously humming insects / birds. The hill is often visited by elephants and tiger and so we were quite watchful and conscious of the different sounds. This was a pretty short trek and we finished it less than 3 hours.
Post freshening up, on advice from our hosts, we crossed into Kerala (Wayanad district) to visit Kuruva Island & Banasura Sagar dam. The day was hot & most of Kuruva island seemed overrated; however, our mood totally changed when we encountered a beautiful stream… we spent a good amount of time letting the water sweep past our feet while we were comfortably seated on dry rocks. Ah, wat joy! We moved on to our next destination – Banasura dam (largest earth dam in India). Rain gods took mercy again and made the atmosphere romantic with light showers & lot of breeze. The just-finished-rains, late-evening-gloom lit sky, vast area of water and excellent picturesque just overwhelmed us and by far, this is one of the best places we have ever been. The dam was crowded but the large space ensured that one could be left undisturbed to enjoy the scene. The water reservoir had a speed boat service attached & we had a jolly ride around the water body too! From Coorg, this place is quite far off (especially if you stay up north); but it’s a good outing for Wayanad visitors.
Apr 16
After some yummy breakfast, we checked out of the home-stay and bid farewell to our hosts. It’s worth mentioning about our hosts especially the land lady Navya. But for her, we would not have gone to such wonderful places of great natural surrounding and feel. In fact, she pushed us to visit the dam and vouched for the experience. We decided to visit Talakaveri before heading out to Mysore. Talakaveri was towards northern Coorg and a lonnnnnng drive from Kutta. For people from Coorg, it is a very holy place – strictly not touristy. We expected a stream flowing around but were surprised when we saw the place – the temple is built around the point where Kaveri river originates. Except for a pool of water in an enclosed space, there wasn’t much. By the time we drove down to Madikeri and had lunch, it was 3 pm. On our way to Mysore, we stopped at Kushalnagar Buddhist Monastery. After visiting multiple monasteries earlier, could not help being unimpressed by the structure & the place. However, was a good break from our long drive & the pleasant weather helped us relax!
We reached Mysore only around 8 pm – unfortunately, we missed the fully-lit view of the palace!
Apr 17
Refreshed from the overnight stay and a long drive ahead, we started our day with the Mysore Palace. Mysore was hotter & drained a lot of energy from us. The insides of the palace were cool and I always like imagining those days when this palace would’ve been inhabited. After driving continuously for the last 4 days, the final day was a challenge – I seemed more tired than Karthik though he drove non-stop for the next 9 hrs.
Driving for such long hours is definitely tiring… but that’s what made the trip super special. The thrill & comfort is unmatched!!
Overall rating:
Priya’s rating: 7.5 / 10
Karthik’s rating: 8.0 / 10
Tips & Tricks
1. For ignorant souls like us, Coorg is not a town / city – it is a district and hence there is a lot of travel involved while sight-seeing.
2. Coorg can be best enjoyed in home-stays / resorts basis one’s budget. Better home-stays with reviews online don’t come cheap but we were very happy with our choice. Most places except Madikeri do not have lot of food joints and food served in-house is the savior. Karthik was not too convinced about the idea of home-stay but then felt very happy we chose one, thanks to the customized & delicious food offerings. Would recommend Serene Homes!
3. If you are planning to visit Coorg over a weekend, it is recommended that you book your stay in advance. We could book this place at the last moment only cos we were travelling on weekdays.
4. Though I heard from people that staying in Madikeri / north Coorg is better, I felt southern part of the district was much more un-touched and non commercialized. We had not visited Dubare elephant camp & few other viewpoints around northern Coorg. If these places are really good, then staying in the north makes more sense.
5. Cafe Robusta coffee that we brought back as souveniers got rave feedback from our near & dear. So dont miss it!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Hills again!
Mar 11 – 13, 2011
This trip to Coonoor was planned about 3 months ahead of the journey – truly an anomaly!! I had also booked my company guest house ahead of time. However, its also strange that the people who prompted such early planning dropped out of the trip at the last moment :) The gang of 5.5 (inclusive of a 1.5 year old baby) people started off our train journey with some yummy puris (courtesy Seetha), dosas n curd rice in true Madrasi fashion. Post Dec 2009, the gang of Shiv, Seetha, Navya, JK, Karthik & I once again joined in for a memorable trip.
Mar 11
We headed to Mettupalayam from where we were to hop on to the Toy Train or Heritage Train that plies between Mettupalayam n Ooty. It is not too much of an exaggeration if I claim that if he had trekked our entire journey, we would have reached earlier than the train. What was supposed to be a 3.5 hr journey extended to 6.5 hrs with us being totally famished towards the end. The first few stops led to Kodak moments but slowly changed into frustrating moments 2 hrs into the journey.
Thanks to our lovely cooks at the guest house, we got yummy lunch as soon as we reached. Like all other hillstations, our options for sight-seeing at Coonoor were a bunch of viewpoints. We visited a couple - Dolphin’s nose, Lamb’s rock. Both the places that we visited were devoid of crowd thanks to the late afternoon visits and enthusiasm of our driver who showed different facets of the location. We spent a good amount of time walking around, exploring, relaxing, clicking, singing (ahem… ), chatting at each of the viewpoints. I can still remember the bright purple flowers at Dolphin’s nose…
Night had set in by the time we were back for some hot onion bajji & egg bhurji. Its always nice catching up with old friends … there’s so much to talk and you don’t feel that its been ages since we connected. Our night melted away thus – talking!
Mar 12
JK, Karthik, myself & our driver (who backed up as the guide) set on a trekking expedition amidst some beautiful tea gardens. I can bet that the tea gardens offered the best pictures in a long time! The path was well laid out for most of our trek and we climbed up & down some hills before we reached the pinnacle. The intense, cold and gushing wind assured that we were up above the sea level truly in the arms of nature. We had carried a pack of sandwiches and munched on happily with the breeze for company. Traversing along the trekking path was easy but we covered a lot of distance and were totally exhausted. We left at 7.30 am and reached back for a late lunch around 2.00 pm… While we were busy trekking, Shiv & family went for a leisure visit to Sims Park; Navya was super thrilled with the flowers, trees and water around.
World Cup Cricket match between India & SA would engage us for the reminder of the day. Putting aside the exhaustion from the trek, we huddled up cheering and fearing for the men in blue. Navya offered the other dose of entertainment with her constant innocent acts. It was sad that we lost the match finally… but thankfully it dint bog us down much n we resumed into snacking + chatting for the night.
Just a week before our journey, JK had decided to shed his singlehood status…. and reinforced it time & again through his sudden escapades for hours together. His mobile escaped bursting out from the heat, thanks to the Coonoor cool weather.
Mar 13
I have never stayed in Coonoor in all my trips to Ooty and post this trip can vouch for the fact that Coonoor is a heaven compared to Ooty. Its sparsely populated yet has access to almost everything required; but most importantly, the weather is very pleasant. Coonoor is beautiful, with tea gardens enveloping the hills soothing your eyes as you move about. We had our return train in the evening and planned a quick trip to Ooty. On our way, we crossed Wellington – the army cantonment area and the locales looked majestic!!
We had little time in which we visited Pykara lake, Rose Garden and Botanical Garden. Boating at Pykara was fun; though we did not get to see the lake brimming with water thanks to our visit as late as March. Trust the place is lot prettier post monsoons. Rose Garden gave a new dimension to us this time. Rose garden was everything complete except roses. Suddenly they make you realize that your garden grasses are more pleasant than those dwarfed thorny bunch of dry sticks. What a difference the roses give them when they blossom. Life cannot be better understood! Botanical Garden was good but the crowd and time constraint ensured that we couldn’t enjoy it all. The mercury level at Ooty was significantly higher than Coonoor and the charm of the hillstation is lost. Trust the place has been commercialized beyond limits by now.
If you are in the southern part of the country and looking for a relaxed vacation, head to Coonoor – I recommend!!
Overall rating:
Priya’s rating: 6.5 / 10
Karthik’s rating: 7 / 10
Tips & Tricks:
1. If you ever want to try the Toy train for travel, ensure that you are loaded with snacks, books, cards and other means of entertainment.
2. Coonoor / Ooty temperatures are much more favorable in Oct – Feb; am sure the place is a treat to watch post monsoons
This trip to Coonoor was planned about 3 months ahead of the journey – truly an anomaly!! I had also booked my company guest house ahead of time. However, its also strange that the people who prompted such early planning dropped out of the trip at the last moment :) The gang of 5.5 (inclusive of a 1.5 year old baby) people started off our train journey with some yummy puris (courtesy Seetha), dosas n curd rice in true Madrasi fashion. Post Dec 2009, the gang of Shiv, Seetha, Navya, JK, Karthik & I once again joined in for a memorable trip.
Mar 11
We headed to Mettupalayam from where we were to hop on to the Toy Train or Heritage Train that plies between Mettupalayam n Ooty. It is not too much of an exaggeration if I claim that if he had trekked our entire journey, we would have reached earlier than the train. What was supposed to be a 3.5 hr journey extended to 6.5 hrs with us being totally famished towards the end. The first few stops led to Kodak moments but slowly changed into frustrating moments 2 hrs into the journey.
Thanks to our lovely cooks at the guest house, we got yummy lunch as soon as we reached. Like all other hillstations, our options for sight-seeing at Coonoor were a bunch of viewpoints. We visited a couple - Dolphin’s nose, Lamb’s rock. Both the places that we visited were devoid of crowd thanks to the late afternoon visits and enthusiasm of our driver who showed different facets of the location. We spent a good amount of time walking around, exploring, relaxing, clicking, singing (ahem… ), chatting at each of the viewpoints. I can still remember the bright purple flowers at Dolphin’s nose…
Night had set in by the time we were back for some hot onion bajji & egg bhurji. Its always nice catching up with old friends … there’s so much to talk and you don’t feel that its been ages since we connected. Our night melted away thus – talking!
Mar 12
JK, Karthik, myself & our driver (who backed up as the guide) set on a trekking expedition amidst some beautiful tea gardens. I can bet that the tea gardens offered the best pictures in a long time! The path was well laid out for most of our trek and we climbed up & down some hills before we reached the pinnacle. The intense, cold and gushing wind assured that we were up above the sea level truly in the arms of nature. We had carried a pack of sandwiches and munched on happily with the breeze for company. Traversing along the trekking path was easy but we covered a lot of distance and were totally exhausted. We left at 7.30 am and reached back for a late lunch around 2.00 pm… While we were busy trekking, Shiv & family went for a leisure visit to Sims Park; Navya was super thrilled with the flowers, trees and water around.
World Cup Cricket match between India & SA would engage us for the reminder of the day. Putting aside the exhaustion from the trek, we huddled up cheering and fearing for the men in blue. Navya offered the other dose of entertainment with her constant innocent acts. It was sad that we lost the match finally… but thankfully it dint bog us down much n we resumed into snacking + chatting for the night.
Just a week before our journey, JK had decided to shed his singlehood status…. and reinforced it time & again through his sudden escapades for hours together. His mobile escaped bursting out from the heat, thanks to the Coonoor cool weather.
Mar 13
I have never stayed in Coonoor in all my trips to Ooty and post this trip can vouch for the fact that Coonoor is a heaven compared to Ooty. Its sparsely populated yet has access to almost everything required; but most importantly, the weather is very pleasant. Coonoor is beautiful, with tea gardens enveloping the hills soothing your eyes as you move about. We had our return train in the evening and planned a quick trip to Ooty. On our way, we crossed Wellington – the army cantonment area and the locales looked majestic!!
We had little time in which we visited Pykara lake, Rose Garden and Botanical Garden. Boating at Pykara was fun; though we did not get to see the lake brimming with water thanks to our visit as late as March. Trust the place is lot prettier post monsoons. Rose Garden gave a new dimension to us this time. Rose garden was everything complete except roses. Suddenly they make you realize that your garden grasses are more pleasant than those dwarfed thorny bunch of dry sticks. What a difference the roses give them when they blossom. Life cannot be better understood! Botanical Garden was good but the crowd and time constraint ensured that we couldn’t enjoy it all. The mercury level at Ooty was significantly higher than Coonoor and the charm of the hillstation is lost. Trust the place has been commercialized beyond limits by now.
If you are in the southern part of the country and looking for a relaxed vacation, head to Coonoor – I recommend!!
Overall rating:
Priya’s rating: 6.5 / 10
Karthik’s rating: 7 / 10
Tips & Tricks:
1. If you ever want to try the Toy train for travel, ensure that you are loaded with snacks, books, cards and other means of entertainment.
2. Coonoor / Ooty temperatures are much more favorable in Oct – Feb; am sure the place is a treat to watch post monsoons
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Kodai!
Karthik’s company decided on Kodai for their Annual employee + spouse trip for 3 days and we happily hopped on. I have been to Kodai a couple of times earlier with my parents… all I could remember was few view points & boating on the lake. We were excited about getting some time off to enjoy the lovely weather.
Day 1
I slept through the train and bus journey, until we reached the Sterling Resorts. The resort at Kodai was pretty good and in comparison to the Yercaud one, the rooms were awesome. Day 1 was regular affair – we visited Coaker’s Walk, Pine Tree forest, 4 Pillar rock, Guna caves and some shopping spots. None of these were exciting; however, Pine Tree forest is a good place to spend time walking & talking… too bad our guide dint allow us more than 20 mins here. Also, we walked all the way from 4 Pillar rock to Guna caves in a rocky terrain which made for a good trek. By the time we got back for lunch, it was about 4 pm. Evening was pleasant with some music & dance for company.
Day 2
An early morning walk at hill-stations is a must-do and we thoroughly enjoyed walking through random streets with a cup of chai!
We learnt that, on the previous day 2-3 people stayed away from the larger group and opted for a trek up a hill instead. The guide had chalked out visit to the lake & shopping for the day which totally dint excite us. So we dropped off from the larger group and preferred joining the trekkers instead. With loads of energy and a bottle of water, the 4 of us started out on Saturday morning. Our target was the hill we could see behind our resort. With the help of few locals we found the way and started the uphill journey. The climb up took about 2.5 hours with 60% journey on defined paths and the remaining on self-discovered routes. One of us was a seasoned trekker and he helped out in choosing the best possible route while we were at crossroads. On our way, we relished on fresh plums straight from the orchids around and also managed to fill our pockets without being caught. We also came across a hut where eucalyptus oil was being extracted – the hut was steaming hot and the strong aroma filled all our senses. I was also stumped by few beautiful houses and guest houses on our way – the stone like walls and the tiled roofs were a pretty sight. After conquering the peak (!!!), we rested relishing the scenery around and feasting on our plums resource.
With the help of a local shepherd, we figured an easier path downhill. This journey was much more scenic & relaxed – we crossed a water-less valley, pine forests, a small stream and some locals on our way. As we reached the resort, immense satisfaction, hunger & sleep were all that was left. Me & Karthik also caught up on some good movies on TV as we relaxed that evening.
Day 3
It was pack up day and post our morning walk, we just lazed around. A pack of cards and enthused players kept us until the buses towed us away. We also visited the Madurai Meenakshi temple before calling it a day!
Happy to have explored a different dimension of Kodai this time – also gave us ideas for our next trip! Yaayy – am going to Ooty in March!!
Our rating:
Priya’s rating: 7/10
Karthik’s rating: 7/10
Day 1
I slept through the train and bus journey, until we reached the Sterling Resorts. The resort at Kodai was pretty good and in comparison to the Yercaud one, the rooms were awesome. Day 1 was regular affair – we visited Coaker’s Walk, Pine Tree forest, 4 Pillar rock, Guna caves and some shopping spots. None of these were exciting; however, Pine Tree forest is a good place to spend time walking & talking… too bad our guide dint allow us more than 20 mins here. Also, we walked all the way from 4 Pillar rock to Guna caves in a rocky terrain which made for a good trek. By the time we got back for lunch, it was about 4 pm. Evening was pleasant with some music & dance for company.
Day 2
An early morning walk at hill-stations is a must-do and we thoroughly enjoyed walking through random streets with a cup of chai!
We learnt that, on the previous day 2-3 people stayed away from the larger group and opted for a trek up a hill instead. The guide had chalked out visit to the lake & shopping for the day which totally dint excite us. So we dropped off from the larger group and preferred joining the trekkers instead. With loads of energy and a bottle of water, the 4 of us started out on Saturday morning. Our target was the hill we could see behind our resort. With the help of few locals we found the way and started the uphill journey. The climb up took about 2.5 hours with 60% journey on defined paths and the remaining on self-discovered routes. One of us was a seasoned trekker and he helped out in choosing the best possible route while we were at crossroads. On our way, we relished on fresh plums straight from the orchids around and also managed to fill our pockets without being caught. We also came across a hut where eucalyptus oil was being extracted – the hut was steaming hot and the strong aroma filled all our senses. I was also stumped by few beautiful houses and guest houses on our way – the stone like walls and the tiled roofs were a pretty sight. After conquering the peak (!!!), we rested relishing the scenery around and feasting on our plums resource.
With the help of a local shepherd, we figured an easier path downhill. This journey was much more scenic & relaxed – we crossed a water-less valley, pine forests, a small stream and some locals on our way. As we reached the resort, immense satisfaction, hunger & sleep were all that was left. Me & Karthik also caught up on some good movies on TV as we relaxed that evening.
Day 3
It was pack up day and post our morning walk, we just lazed around. A pack of cards and enthused players kept us until the buses towed us away. We also visited the Madurai Meenakshi temple before calling it a day!
Happy to have explored a different dimension of Kodai this time – also gave us ideas for our next trip! Yaayy – am going to Ooty in March!!
Our rating:
Priya’s rating: 7/10
Karthik’s rating: 7/10
Christmas @ Pondicherry!!
24-26 Dec
This is probably the longest I ve stayed away from this page since I started blogging – too bad that I don’t update it often enough. Trying to get this page up-to-date but my memory seems to be failing me. Lemme test my memory and give my best attempt at re-production!!
Did a half a day Pichavaram trip once again mid Dec – this time with parents & hubby dear. But this post is dedicated to the French colony - Pondicherry...
Christmas beckoned tourists all over and so few of my friends from Hyderabad came over along with their friends to Pondicherry! I never understood the hype around this place – my aunt used to live at Pondicherry and I used to frequent as a kid for shopping & time-pass. Never really explored the French settlement areas n heard rave reviews from few friends earlier. Due to last minute confirmations couldn’t find a good place to stay and had to settle for a hotel that was just enough for sleeping over.
So finally took off from work early - Karthik, Shiv, Seetha, Navya & I drove down to join the rest of the gang on 24th evening. We dined at Rendevous which sounded like a French restaurant but had better Indian food than continental. Our best moments were spent chilling out on the beach post dinner. Pondy doesn’t really have a beach but has lots of rocks to sit over and enjoy the sight / sound of the ruffian sea waves. The lovely breeze and the buzzing place was heavenly post sunset. We would hang out on the beach until the cops would drive us away at midnight. I dozed off – but a bunch of guys revisited the cops-free beach at 3 am and vouched that it was even better!
25th Dec
The gang was 24 member strong and one can imagine the efforts that would go into getting all of them up & ready for any outing. So it wasn’t surprising that by the time we shook off our beauty sleep, got ready and left for breakfast it was 11.30 am. We finally settled for lunch at a café and set out to Chunnabar beach which was about 7 kms from Pondicherry. Chunnabar was a popular boating spot and was flooded with people on 25th! When we had to choose between waiting for 2 hours to ride on the boat and ditching the place, we chose the latter.
I never knew Pondicherry actually had beaches. Thanks to someone who had visited earlier, we headed to the beach on ECR near Auroville. Apparently the Auroville beach is much better but since it’s a private beach, only guests of Auroville guest house could enjoy the beauty J The beach on ECR behind Surya Resorts was not bad at all – decent crowd, good weather & enthusiastic company had us dancing to the tunes of the ocean. For the night, we headed to Asian House to party & dine. The men were very excited knowing that there was a female DJ from Netherlands playing that night. The DJ + songs were quite a let down but it was good to shake some legs and catch up with friends. We repeated the post-dinner beach walk ritual and it was splendid again.
26th Dec
We left Pondicherry early in the afternoon after a good south Indian breakfast at Hotel Surguru. Yet to explore Auroville – Matri Mandir – good French restaurants/places – shopping at Pondicherry.. need to wait for the next time! Though not crazy about Pondicherry yet, overjoyed to have seen a new face of the place and looking forward to more trips.
I am skipping the rating part since it was too short a trip to comment on. Overall, it’s a good weekend getaway for visitors from Chennai / Bangalore.
This is probably the longest I ve stayed away from this page since I started blogging – too bad that I don’t update it often enough. Trying to get this page up-to-date but my memory seems to be failing me. Lemme test my memory and give my best attempt at re-production!!
Did a half a day Pichavaram trip once again mid Dec – this time with parents & hubby dear. But this post is dedicated to the French colony - Pondicherry...
Christmas beckoned tourists all over and so few of my friends from Hyderabad came over along with their friends to Pondicherry! I never understood the hype around this place – my aunt used to live at Pondicherry and I used to frequent as a kid for shopping & time-pass. Never really explored the French settlement areas n heard rave reviews from few friends earlier. Due to last minute confirmations couldn’t find a good place to stay and had to settle for a hotel that was just enough for sleeping over.
So finally took off from work early - Karthik, Shiv, Seetha, Navya & I drove down to join the rest of the gang on 24th evening. We dined at Rendevous which sounded like a French restaurant but had better Indian food than continental. Our best moments were spent chilling out on the beach post dinner. Pondy doesn’t really have a beach but has lots of rocks to sit over and enjoy the sight / sound of the ruffian sea waves. The lovely breeze and the buzzing place was heavenly post sunset. We would hang out on the beach until the cops would drive us away at midnight. I dozed off – but a bunch of guys revisited the cops-free beach at 3 am and vouched that it was even better!
25th Dec
The gang was 24 member strong and one can imagine the efforts that would go into getting all of them up & ready for any outing. So it wasn’t surprising that by the time we shook off our beauty sleep, got ready and left for breakfast it was 11.30 am. We finally settled for lunch at a café and set out to Chunnabar beach which was about 7 kms from Pondicherry. Chunnabar was a popular boating spot and was flooded with people on 25th! When we had to choose between waiting for 2 hours to ride on the boat and ditching the place, we chose the latter.
I never knew Pondicherry actually had beaches. Thanks to someone who had visited earlier, we headed to the beach on ECR near Auroville. Apparently the Auroville beach is much better but since it’s a private beach, only guests of Auroville guest house could enjoy the beauty J The beach on ECR behind Surya Resorts was not bad at all – decent crowd, good weather & enthusiastic company had us dancing to the tunes of the ocean. For the night, we headed to Asian House to party & dine. The men were very excited knowing that there was a female DJ from Netherlands playing that night. The DJ + songs were quite a let down but it was good to shake some legs and catch up with friends. We repeated the post-dinner beach walk ritual and it was splendid again.
26th Dec
We left Pondicherry early in the afternoon after a good south Indian breakfast at Hotel Surguru. Yet to explore Auroville – Matri Mandir – good French restaurants/places – shopping at Pondicherry.. need to wait for the next time! Though not crazy about Pondicherry yet, overjoyed to have seen a new face of the place and looking forward to more trips.
I am skipping the rating part since it was too short a trip to comment on. Overall, it’s a good weekend getaway for visitors from Chennai / Bangalore.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Vibrant Thai!
31st Jul – 7th Aug
We had been harping upon a trip abroad in Jul – Aug for quite some time. After considering numerous options n changing plans every 3rdhour over a week in July, one fine morning we zeroed in on Thailand. We had 8 days to travel across Bangkok, Pattaya n Krabi. For a change, Karthik did a lot of planning / organizing as I was busy at work.
Picking on lessons learnt from the Mauritius trip, we did a semi-planned trip this time. We had arranged for island / city / fun trips on 4 days and had left about 3.5 days to play around with. Thanks to TripAdvisor and few travel sites, we were loaded with options on sight-seeing, adventure sports and restaurant options. However, we were planning all of this in mid July and had to really rush up on everything in the last 10 days. Thomas Cook was the travel agent for the trip – ofcourse, they used a lot of local agents throughout.
31st Aug:
Our first destination was Krabi – a 3 hour flight to Bangkok and a hop-on flight to Krabi the same morning. While Bangkok n Pattaya were obvious destinations, we had to do quite some background work to choose between Krabi and Phuket. We rejected the latter mainly cos it is way too commercialized for our liking though am sure the place had its advantages. The trip from the airport to the hotel reminded us of our first few hours at Mauritius – the only difference being that this time we could see more people around on our way. Half an hour journey and quite some Mercedes / Nissan / Ford / 7-11 / Pizza joints spotting later, we reached Krabi Resort.
As we drove into the resort, I totally fell in love with it. The property spans across a considerable area full of greenery. This is the only resort which has private beach access and still is located in the main hub of Ao Nang – so location is a major plus. Our room was located in the A-wing n the beach was just 15-feet away from the room. We were excited n started chilling right away. We were busy soaking ourselves in the smell n sound of the gushing ocean water, until drizzles drove us in for a short nap. Later in the evening, we did a lot of walking around the place and explored few food joints for lunch / dinner. We came across quite some Indian restaurants but dint experiment much and stuck to Navrang Mahal (aka Royal Indian) restaurant whenever we had Indian food. We were looking forward to experimenting with Thai cuisine but the incessant stink of seafood from the Thai restaurants would ensure that we didn’t even step into one throughout the trip.
99.99% of the population in Krabi couldn’t speak English and we had to replace sentences with phrases / actions to communicate. It was frustrating at times and we had a hard time even to buy a local SIM card out there.
1st Aug:
Every morning for the next 3 days, I would wake up n walk right into the beach chair outside, watching the waves and taking in all the beauty until nature / Karthik call me in. We had planned a 4-island trip for the day through the travel agent. These trips were conducted both on long tail boats and speed boat / ferry. The pier for the local ferry was about 2 km from the hotel. Apart from the trip to nearby islands, speed boats were also available for travel to Phi Phi islands / Phuket and far away destinations on the west coast.
Out trip was on a speed boat and covered Tub island, Chicken island, Poda island and Phranang caves in that order. Tub and Chicken island are separated by a shallow strip of water which can be crossed by foot. The water was warm and we didn’t hesitate to soak ourselves completely. The crowd was not much and so, it was an ideal spot for relaxation. We started again only to stop in the middle of nowhere in the ocean – it was time to snorkel. I have an earlier experience of snorkeling in Andaman – but the difference was that it was a guided one and closer to the beach. Now, we stopped in the middle of the ocean and I was not so sure. After some initial hesitation, both of us got down into the water fully geared. Initially hiccups aside, it was good fun trying my luck at spotting fishes and loads of colors (read corals) in the ocean. However, I couldn’t swim in the wavy area and had to be literally dragged back by the boatman to the ferry. Karthik however managed to swim back on his own. Its such a pity both of us are water lovers and still suck at swimming. We stopped next at Poda island for lunch and had good veg fried rice + sauce. Post lunch, we again dived into the water until we were called back to the boat. Exhausted by then, dint do much at Phranang caves island except lie down in the shade, relax and get a henna tattoo done.
It was drizzling as we headed back to the hotel – perfect ending to a joyful day.
2nd Aug:
We had to decide between generally roaming around Krabi in a rented bike and water rafting / quad biking for the day; we chose the later for the love of action. It was an hour n a half journey to Phangnga (a place equidistant from Krabi and Phuket) which was located amidst hills, plantations and water body. About 3 -5 people were seated on each raft with 2 trained people on either ends of it. Inspite of the tips and instructions given, we figured that we barely had much to do as the trained rafters did all the maneuvering required. Adventure quotient would be minimal but the thrill & fun made it quite fulfilling. One of our fellow rafts tumbled upside down and added on to the drama. Overall quite safe n fun, but would not recommend for hard core adventure lovers.
The second half of the package was quad biking. I was a passenger on the quad Karthik rode. Initially it seemed quite easy in comparison to the one at Mauritius. However, the terrains that we crossed later posed quite a challenge and Karthik thoroughly enjoyed it. Mid way, we stopped in the hill and walked up to a small waterfall in the forest area. The place was very serene and soothing. At the end of the day, we were totally tired and slept through the entire journey back to the hotel. We also caught up on the traditional Thai massage at the hotel and it was awwwwesome!
3rd Aug:
We were to fly out from Krabi in the afternoon and decided to keep it light in the morning. We lunched at Pizza Company and had a nice long walk around Ao Nang not willing to part with this small, sweet town. We flew out of Krabi into Bangkok from where we were transported to Pattaya on cab. After about 1.5 hrs journey on the Bangkok-Pattaya highway, we reached Siam Bayshore Resort at Pattaya. Pattaya beach and the hotels on beach-side are separated by a road. Our room was a sea facing room with a lovely view and it was a sight to see the entire place lit up in the night against the background of the sea. The resort was located at one end of the Walking Street and there were reasonable amount of good restaurants at a 10 min walking distance. Pattaya is flashy n loud – not much to my taste but after walking up and down the place, I finally got used to it all.
4th Aug:
After having an average breakfast for the last 3 days at Krabi, I was more than delighted seeing the breakfast spread at Siam Bayshore. The spread was immense and the food delicious. We were scheduled for the coral island trip – which included some water sports n beach lazing. After rarely seeing Indians around in Krabi, it was quite a change to see that Indians comprised 80% of the tourists here. Wouldn’t say a welcome change though… cos there were too many prying eyes. Post some paragliding, water scooter riding and swimming in the beach, we were back to the mainland for yummy Indian lunch at Beverly Plaza hotel. In the evening, we were sent to a gems factory by our travel agent – Karthik was happy about the toy train journey there which is audio-visual and briefs the visitors on gems around the world. Otherwise, it was a worthless trip (the gems were overpriced!) and we would have rather caught up on our afternoon nap. In the evening, we watched the much talked about Alcazar show which included dance performances by eunuchs on different genres. More than the dance / choreography, the sets and the costumes were the subjects of interest.
5th Aug:
As I was browsing TripAdvisor, I bumped upon “Flight of the Gibbons” as one of the top-rated Things to Do out of Pattaya and Bangkok. No travel agent at Chennai had heard of this place – but we trusted the reviews and decided to go. The place is rightly located between Bangkok and Pattaya. We started early to our destination and as we reached the place, it seemed more of a forest ride. After a couple of stops, we were finally asked to be geared up for the “flight”. The next few hours were filled with fun & adventure – activities included gliding through ropes across elevated platforms build around tall trees, walking across shaky wooden pieces with support from the rope tied above, walking on ropes amongst the rest. The adrenaline rush was heightened due to the fact that all activities were performed atleast 10 mtrs above ground level. While novices like me found it to be quite a challenge, hardcore adventurists in our group did not find it exciting enough. At the end of it, our bodies demanded rest but destiny had other plans. We were dropped back to our hotel in Pattaya and were scheduled for a cab pickup to Bangkok. We were immensely satisfied with our local travel agents until then but they screwed up things that evening. Let’s just say that they did some miscalculation on timing and we were made to pay for it by travelling in a local bus from Pattaya to Bangkok instead of a cab. Well, we wouldn’t have been angry, except that the travel agents didn’t even call to apologise or communicate the change. Anyway, that incident aside, the entire trip was quite well organized
6th Aug:
We were put up at Rembrandt Hotel, Bangkok – the place was very formal after the resorts that we stayed at. The place seems to be a favorite among Indian travel agents and there were about 15 Indian restaurants located at 15 min walking distance from the hotel. The city tour that was organized was supposed to cover Golden Buddha and Reclining Buddha temple. We later realized that the trip was sponsored by another gem factory at Bangkok and hence we were supposed to again visit another gem factory (Argggh!!!). Based on a friend’s recommendation, we also wanted to visit the Grand Palace & Emerald Buddha. We were travelling with another Indian family – the father had visited Bangkok earlier and suggested we also visit Wat Arun (The temple of Dawn). They were not interested in the Grand Palace since they had other plans for the afternoon. After some initial confusion, the guide came up with a fabulous proposal. Luckily, the Grand palace was next to the Reclining Buddha temple and hence, the guide dropped us there and we were spared the trouble of the gem factory the second time.
The Grand Palace is the erstwhile residential place of the current king. The place was huge and we had fun figuring out place with a map in hand. Unlike the pleasant weather days in Krabi & Pattaya, Bangkok was mighty hot and humid. But the place itself was so brilliant, that the heat did not deter us - the architecture, vibrant colors, beautiful structures, the emerald Buddha (actually a jade Buddha which was mistaken in the past for emerald), paintings instantly flash in my memory when I recall it. We were happy about the day being well spent and relaxed for the reminder of the day.
7th Aug:
Lot of our friends had urged that we shop till we drop at Bangkok. We had too many things to do and a flight to catch in the night. After thinking back and forth, we finalized on Wat Arun and the weekend Chatuchak Market for the day. Wat Arun was splendid – though its called a temple, there is no deity that you can locate. The structure had Indian architectural influence and was like a south Indian temple atop a hill. We had to climb stairs, some of them very steep, to reach the top. One can get a lovely postcard view of Bangkok from the top. We were happy that we took the efforts of adding this to our itinerary cos it was really pretty. As we left to take our ferry, we came across people buying water snakes for cooking…. yikkkkkes!!
A cab and a train journey later, we reached Chatuchak weekend market. The place was swarmed by people across ages and had a good variety of stuff. We did some watches, junk jewellery, shoe n bags shopping in our limited time there. Things were not dirt-cheap but quality seemed decent for the price. My only regret was that we did not venture into even one of the numerous malls at Bangkok, but the sight-seeing more than made up for it. As we rushed back to the hotel, we also managed to stop for a quick masala dosa before leaving to the airport.
We loved Thailand – it is vibrant, colorful and diverse. Of all the places, I liked Krabi the best – it seemed like the ideal vacation spot and I would love to go back anytime. The country on the whole offered good variety of places and experiences. Thailand has something in it for everyone!!
Tips & Tricks:
1. Please mention your choice of food clearly to your travel agent if you are a vegetarian – we had no issues in our Bangkok Airways flight between Chennai and Bangkok. However, the crew had only non-veg food to offer in the Bangkok-Krabi-Bangkok sector cos we had not specified food choice at the time of ticket booking.
2. Krabi Resort (3.5 star resort) is situated in a prime spot at the Ao Nang area of the city. Location of Krabi Resort is a great advantage – just outside the resort are numerous shops and restaurants n major joints were located at 10-15 min walking distance; however, the resort itself was very peaceful and blissful to stay in. Service at the resort is below average and each request takes ages to get fixed. Also, the buffet breakfast was average and spread was not impressive. But, to me, the location itself offsets all the other negatives. If I were to visit Krabi any other time, trust me – I would have to stay at A1, Krabi Resort.
3. For the island trips, it is recommended that you start early to avoid crowds and relax completely.
4. July – Sep is the rainy season in this part of the world. Based on a friend’s reco we took a risk and rain gods cooperated. Plus, these days weather is so unpredictable that one can barely be sure. Except for few drizzles which helped in keeping the mercury down, we were lucky. However we heard that few days before we reached Bangkok, the place was almost flooded with rains. It’s a gamble – but July seems like a safer option. Sep – def No.
5. At Pattaya, none of the hotels will have a private beach and it doesn’t make much sense to spend extra on sea facing rooms except for the lovely view.
6. Wat Arun in Bangkok is located across a river and can be reached directly through road / ferry from the city side. When we hired a cab, we had no idea about the direct route on road – we had asked him to drop us at the ferry point but he ended up taking on road directly. On our way back, we took the ferry and it seemed more comfortable to reach the city.
7. Cab / tuk-tuk drivers tend to cheat a lot in Bangkok. While cab meters are usually trust worthy, we found the meter reeling very fast in one of our trips and had to finalize a rate verbally.
8. Being vegetarians, we were not sure about choice of food in Thailand. Krabi, especially is not yet a full fledged tourist place. However, apart from the Indian restaurants itself, all these cities had joints like Pizza Company n Subway that have atleast 1 veg item available.
Overall rating:
Priya: 8.5 / 10
Karthik: 9 / 10
We had been harping upon a trip abroad in Jul – Aug for quite some time. After considering numerous options n changing plans every 3rdhour over a week in July, one fine morning we zeroed in on Thailand. We had 8 days to travel across Bangkok, Pattaya n Krabi. For a change, Karthik did a lot of planning / organizing as I was busy at work.
Picking on lessons learnt from the Mauritius trip, we did a semi-planned trip this time. We had arranged for island / city / fun trips on 4 days and had left about 3.5 days to play around with. Thanks to TripAdvisor and few travel sites, we were loaded with options on sight-seeing, adventure sports and restaurant options. However, we were planning all of this in mid July and had to really rush up on everything in the last 10 days. Thomas Cook was the travel agent for the trip – ofcourse, they used a lot of local agents throughout.
31st Aug:
Our first destination was Krabi – a 3 hour flight to Bangkok and a hop-on flight to Krabi the same morning. While Bangkok n Pattaya were obvious destinations, we had to do quite some background work to choose between Krabi and Phuket. We rejected the latter mainly cos it is way too commercialized for our liking though am sure the place had its advantages. The trip from the airport to the hotel reminded us of our first few hours at Mauritius – the only difference being that this time we could see more people around on our way. Half an hour journey and quite some Mercedes / Nissan / Ford / 7-11 / Pizza joints spotting later, we reached Krabi Resort.
As we drove into the resort, I totally fell in love with it. The property spans across a considerable area full of greenery. This is the only resort which has private beach access and still is located in the main hub of Ao Nang – so location is a major plus. Our room was located in the A-wing n the beach was just 15-feet away from the room. We were excited n started chilling right away. We were busy soaking ourselves in the smell n sound of the gushing ocean water, until drizzles drove us in for a short nap. Later in the evening, we did a lot of walking around the place and explored few food joints for lunch / dinner. We came across quite some Indian restaurants but dint experiment much and stuck to Navrang Mahal (aka Royal Indian) restaurant whenever we had Indian food. We were looking forward to experimenting with Thai cuisine but the incessant stink of seafood from the Thai restaurants would ensure that we didn’t even step into one throughout the trip.
99.99% of the population in Krabi couldn’t speak English and we had to replace sentences with phrases / actions to communicate. It was frustrating at times and we had a hard time even to buy a local SIM card out there.
1st Aug:
Every morning for the next 3 days, I would wake up n walk right into the beach chair outside, watching the waves and taking in all the beauty until nature / Karthik call me in. We had planned a 4-island trip for the day through the travel agent. These trips were conducted both on long tail boats and speed boat / ferry. The pier for the local ferry was about 2 km from the hotel. Apart from the trip to nearby islands, speed boats were also available for travel to Phi Phi islands / Phuket and far away destinations on the west coast.
Out trip was on a speed boat and covered Tub island, Chicken island, Poda island and Phranang caves in that order. Tub and Chicken island are separated by a shallow strip of water which can be crossed by foot. The water was warm and we didn’t hesitate to soak ourselves completely. The crowd was not much and so, it was an ideal spot for relaxation. We started again only to stop in the middle of nowhere in the ocean – it was time to snorkel. I have an earlier experience of snorkeling in Andaman – but the difference was that it was a guided one and closer to the beach. Now, we stopped in the middle of the ocean and I was not so sure. After some initial hesitation, both of us got down into the water fully geared. Initially hiccups aside, it was good fun trying my luck at spotting fishes and loads of colors (read corals) in the ocean. However, I couldn’t swim in the wavy area and had to be literally dragged back by the boatman to the ferry. Karthik however managed to swim back on his own. Its such a pity both of us are water lovers and still suck at swimming. We stopped next at Poda island for lunch and had good veg fried rice + sauce. Post lunch, we again dived into the water until we were called back to the boat. Exhausted by then, dint do much at Phranang caves island except lie down in the shade, relax and get a henna tattoo done.
It was drizzling as we headed back to the hotel – perfect ending to a joyful day.
2nd Aug:
We had to decide between generally roaming around Krabi in a rented bike and water rafting / quad biking for the day; we chose the later for the love of action. It was an hour n a half journey to Phangnga (a place equidistant from Krabi and Phuket) which was located amidst hills, plantations and water body. About 3 -5 people were seated on each raft with 2 trained people on either ends of it. Inspite of the tips and instructions given, we figured that we barely had much to do as the trained rafters did all the maneuvering required. Adventure quotient would be minimal but the thrill & fun made it quite fulfilling. One of our fellow rafts tumbled upside down and added on to the drama. Overall quite safe n fun, but would not recommend for hard core adventure lovers.
The second half of the package was quad biking. I was a passenger on the quad Karthik rode. Initially it seemed quite easy in comparison to the one at Mauritius. However, the terrains that we crossed later posed quite a challenge and Karthik thoroughly enjoyed it. Mid way, we stopped in the hill and walked up to a small waterfall in the forest area. The place was very serene and soothing. At the end of the day, we were totally tired and slept through the entire journey back to the hotel. We also caught up on the traditional Thai massage at the hotel and it was awwwwesome!
3rd Aug:
We were to fly out from Krabi in the afternoon and decided to keep it light in the morning. We lunched at Pizza Company and had a nice long walk around Ao Nang not willing to part with this small, sweet town. We flew out of Krabi into Bangkok from where we were transported to Pattaya on cab. After about 1.5 hrs journey on the Bangkok-Pattaya highway, we reached Siam Bayshore Resort at Pattaya. Pattaya beach and the hotels on beach-side are separated by a road. Our room was a sea facing room with a lovely view and it was a sight to see the entire place lit up in the night against the background of the sea. The resort was located at one end of the Walking Street and there were reasonable amount of good restaurants at a 10 min walking distance. Pattaya is flashy n loud – not much to my taste but after walking up and down the place, I finally got used to it all.
4th Aug:
After having an average breakfast for the last 3 days at Krabi, I was more than delighted seeing the breakfast spread at Siam Bayshore. The spread was immense and the food delicious. We were scheduled for the coral island trip – which included some water sports n beach lazing. After rarely seeing Indians around in Krabi, it was quite a change to see that Indians comprised 80% of the tourists here. Wouldn’t say a welcome change though… cos there were too many prying eyes. Post some paragliding, water scooter riding and swimming in the beach, we were back to the mainland for yummy Indian lunch at Beverly Plaza hotel. In the evening, we were sent to a gems factory by our travel agent – Karthik was happy about the toy train journey there which is audio-visual and briefs the visitors on gems around the world. Otherwise, it was a worthless trip (the gems were overpriced!) and we would have rather caught up on our afternoon nap. In the evening, we watched the much talked about Alcazar show which included dance performances by eunuchs on different genres. More than the dance / choreography, the sets and the costumes were the subjects of interest.
5th Aug:
As I was browsing TripAdvisor, I bumped upon “Flight of the Gibbons” as one of the top-rated Things to Do out of Pattaya and Bangkok. No travel agent at Chennai had heard of this place – but we trusted the reviews and decided to go. The place is rightly located between Bangkok and Pattaya. We started early to our destination and as we reached the place, it seemed more of a forest ride. After a couple of stops, we were finally asked to be geared up for the “flight”. The next few hours were filled with fun & adventure – activities included gliding through ropes across elevated platforms build around tall trees, walking across shaky wooden pieces with support from the rope tied above, walking on ropes amongst the rest. The adrenaline rush was heightened due to the fact that all activities were performed atleast 10 mtrs above ground level. While novices like me found it to be quite a challenge, hardcore adventurists in our group did not find it exciting enough. At the end of it, our bodies demanded rest but destiny had other plans. We were dropped back to our hotel in Pattaya and were scheduled for a cab pickup to Bangkok. We were immensely satisfied with our local travel agents until then but they screwed up things that evening. Let’s just say that they did some miscalculation on timing and we were made to pay for it by travelling in a local bus from Pattaya to Bangkok instead of a cab. Well, we wouldn’t have been angry, except that the travel agents didn’t even call to apologise or communicate the change. Anyway, that incident aside, the entire trip was quite well organized
6th Aug:
We were put up at Rembrandt Hotel, Bangkok – the place was very formal after the resorts that we stayed at. The place seems to be a favorite among Indian travel agents and there were about 15 Indian restaurants located at 15 min walking distance from the hotel. The city tour that was organized was supposed to cover Golden Buddha and Reclining Buddha temple. We later realized that the trip was sponsored by another gem factory at Bangkok and hence we were supposed to again visit another gem factory (Argggh!!!). Based on a friend’s recommendation, we also wanted to visit the Grand Palace & Emerald Buddha. We were travelling with another Indian family – the father had visited Bangkok earlier and suggested we also visit Wat Arun (The temple of Dawn). They were not interested in the Grand Palace since they had other plans for the afternoon. After some initial confusion, the guide came up with a fabulous proposal. Luckily, the Grand palace was next to the Reclining Buddha temple and hence, the guide dropped us there and we were spared the trouble of the gem factory the second time.
The Grand Palace is the erstwhile residential place of the current king. The place was huge and we had fun figuring out place with a map in hand. Unlike the pleasant weather days in Krabi & Pattaya, Bangkok was mighty hot and humid. But the place itself was so brilliant, that the heat did not deter us - the architecture, vibrant colors, beautiful structures, the emerald Buddha (actually a jade Buddha which was mistaken in the past for emerald), paintings instantly flash in my memory when I recall it. We were happy about the day being well spent and relaxed for the reminder of the day.
7th Aug:
Lot of our friends had urged that we shop till we drop at Bangkok. We had too many things to do and a flight to catch in the night. After thinking back and forth, we finalized on Wat Arun and the weekend Chatuchak Market for the day. Wat Arun was splendid – though its called a temple, there is no deity that you can locate. The structure had Indian architectural influence and was like a south Indian temple atop a hill. We had to climb stairs, some of them very steep, to reach the top. One can get a lovely postcard view of Bangkok from the top. We were happy that we took the efforts of adding this to our itinerary cos it was really pretty. As we left to take our ferry, we came across people buying water snakes for cooking…. yikkkkkes!!
A cab and a train journey later, we reached Chatuchak weekend market. The place was swarmed by people across ages and had a good variety of stuff. We did some watches, junk jewellery, shoe n bags shopping in our limited time there. Things were not dirt-cheap but quality seemed decent for the price. My only regret was that we did not venture into even one of the numerous malls at Bangkok, but the sight-seeing more than made up for it. As we rushed back to the hotel, we also managed to stop for a quick masala dosa before leaving to the airport.
We loved Thailand – it is vibrant, colorful and diverse. Of all the places, I liked Krabi the best – it seemed like the ideal vacation spot and I would love to go back anytime. The country on the whole offered good variety of places and experiences. Thailand has something in it for everyone!!
Tips & Tricks:
1. Please mention your choice of food clearly to your travel agent if you are a vegetarian – we had no issues in our Bangkok Airways flight between Chennai and Bangkok. However, the crew had only non-veg food to offer in the Bangkok-Krabi-Bangkok sector cos we had not specified food choice at the time of ticket booking.
2. Krabi Resort (3.5 star resort) is situated in a prime spot at the Ao Nang area of the city. Location of Krabi Resort is a great advantage – just outside the resort are numerous shops and restaurants n major joints were located at 10-15 min walking distance; however, the resort itself was very peaceful and blissful to stay in. Service at the resort is below average and each request takes ages to get fixed. Also, the buffet breakfast was average and spread was not impressive. But, to me, the location itself offsets all the other negatives. If I were to visit Krabi any other time, trust me – I would have to stay at A1, Krabi Resort.
3. For the island trips, it is recommended that you start early to avoid crowds and relax completely.
4. July – Sep is the rainy season in this part of the world. Based on a friend’s reco we took a risk and rain gods cooperated. Plus, these days weather is so unpredictable that one can barely be sure. Except for few drizzles which helped in keeping the mercury down, we were lucky. However we heard that few days before we reached Bangkok, the place was almost flooded with rains. It’s a gamble – but July seems like a safer option. Sep – def No.
5. At Pattaya, none of the hotels will have a private beach and it doesn’t make much sense to spend extra on sea facing rooms except for the lovely view.
6. Wat Arun in Bangkok is located across a river and can be reached directly through road / ferry from the city side. When we hired a cab, we had no idea about the direct route on road – we had asked him to drop us at the ferry point but he ended up taking on road directly. On our way back, we took the ferry and it seemed more comfortable to reach the city.
7. Cab / tuk-tuk drivers tend to cheat a lot in Bangkok. While cab meters are usually trust worthy, we found the meter reeling very fast in one of our trips and had to finalize a rate verbally.
8. Being vegetarians, we were not sure about choice of food in Thailand. Krabi, especially is not yet a full fledged tourist place. However, apart from the Indian restaurants itself, all these cities had joints like Pizza Company n Subway that have atleast 1 veg item available.
Overall rating:
Priya: 8.5 / 10
Karthik: 9 / 10
Monday, September 6, 2010
Mystic Munnar!
26-28 June 2010
This post comes in toooooo late… but I ve got just me to blame. I hope the details are etched in my memory and I can do maximum justice to this trip!
Well, if you have a Mallu friend who’s getting married in God’s own country and especially during monsoons, don’t think twice. Its so much more worth than you can imagine. Thanks to dear Mallet, we had a short reunion and a super good trip.
26th Sep
The wedding was on a Saturday and I had thought that the “vacation” doesn’t start until Sunday morning… but I was wrong. During monsoon, every corner of Kerala makes you feel so relaxed and great. The water and greenery is soothing and pleasant to the eyes. Changanachery, a small town in Kerala, is where our journey began… to be exact, it started a few hours earlier when me and Karthik woke up to beautiful landscape & scenery during our train journey. At Changanachery, I caught up with friends (UK, Nabz, Mohit, Simmi, Dipti) and ex- colleagues from Hyd. One of our colleagues had booked / organized evening n overnight houseboat at Alleppey for all of us that day – needless to say, I was not quite excited since we did it all few months back. Nevertheless, post the wedding we packed our bags and pushed off!
We were back in Kerala after 6 months… first during Christmas & now during monsoons. Alleppey looked quite the same – narrow roads n water ways brought back memories of the December vacation. The change now was that instead of a day trip, we were doing overnight houseboat trip. This time we hired a 3 bedroom houseboat that also had an upper deck. I was surprised that I enjoyed the experience much more this time. The slight drizzles, overflowing water, bright colors and greenery made it a totally different experience. Thanks to rain gods for taking a break n letting us take in the full beauty of the trip. Upperdeck was ideal for chit-chats n silent moments; tea n pakoda; clicking n being clicked…… well, till the time mosquitos start their daily raids. The snacks were delicious and food ok. The houseboat was parked next to some fields for the night. Pack of cards, music, memories were good to keep us engaged into the night. We woke up early to catch the sunrise, but there were too many clouds. We started our journey back post breakfast and thanked Shibu for arranging it all!
27th Sep
The group reduced to half its size in the second leg of our trip to Munnar. It kicked off very well when we managed to convince Nabz to take another day off and join us… We started quite late in the morning and it was about lunch time when we reached Munnar. On our way to Munnar, we stopped at a couple of spots and even succumbed to impulse and bathed in a waterfall. We had just 3/4th of a day at Munnar and we wanted to make the best out of it. Inspite of me feeling sick most part of the journey uphill, the breathtaking views did cheer me up. By the time we reached Munnar, we were refreshed and famished. The local ‘Saravana Bhavan’ came to our rescue and we binged on some yummy dosas. Post lunch, we directly headed out for some sight seeing. First was the elephant camp, where we rode in pairs of 2 /3 on the elephant through a slightly hilly patch amidst tall trees. The ride was bumpy and we could feel the muscles of the elephant moving under our legs. It was interesting to see the elephants maneuvering the ups & downs of the terrain - overall, a fun ride. The next spot was the dam – the dam by itself is nothing to rave about but all that remains in my memory is the yummy tea / omlettes / snacks from the local shops. It was drizzling when we reached and we couldn’t have asked for a better weather to dig into the hot snacks.
Finally, we started our journey to Ayur Resort & Spa. All that we saw till then was beautiful & breathtaking, but as we rode higher up to reach the resort, things started getting mystic. We stopped at a viewpoint where we could see clouds floating below us. Words / pictures can never do justice to the beauty the place beholds. The magical state remained with us as we rode into the resort. Our rooms were good but almost with no view. The weather was chill n nice – we were all cuddled up in 1 room snacking, watching FIFA match (cant remember which one) with the game of trump keeping us company.
28th Sep
We woke up early enough to explore the resort and places around. The resort is quite good, located in lovely surroundings (recommended if you have a vehicle on you) and cost effective in monsoons. Me & UK binged on relaxing Kerala massages while the rest trekked around the place. We packed again to reach Cochin; on the way back we visited a tea factory through a friend’s contact. After dropping the rest at Cochin airport, me and Karthik rode to Ernakulam railway station. On our way, we stopped for late lunch at a restaurant. We also got some chips & Ghee cake from Quality Bakers (damn I forgot the town’s name L ). The ghee cake was so yummmmmmmm – Karthik & I loved it.
This trip was an eye-opener, for I realized what they meant when they termed Kerala – God’s own country. Munnar is amazingly beautiful and a must visit
Tips & Tricks:
1. Kerala during monsoons is a gamble; we were veryyyyyy lucky that the rain gods were in our favor and we were subjected to just the pleasant drizzles.. If you ask me, August should be a safer bet – beauty n greenery sans the rains
2. Kumarakom house boating is supposed to be better than the one from Alleppey. So check it out!
Our Take - Munnar
Priya's rating: 8/10
Karthik's rating: 7.5/10
This post comes in toooooo late… but I ve got just me to blame. I hope the details are etched in my memory and I can do maximum justice to this trip!
Well, if you have a Mallu friend who’s getting married in God’s own country and especially during monsoons, don’t think twice. Its so much more worth than you can imagine. Thanks to dear Mallet, we had a short reunion and a super good trip.
26th Sep
The wedding was on a Saturday and I had thought that the “vacation” doesn’t start until Sunday morning… but I was wrong. During monsoon, every corner of Kerala makes you feel so relaxed and great. The water and greenery is soothing and pleasant to the eyes. Changanachery, a small town in Kerala, is where our journey began… to be exact, it started a few hours earlier when me and Karthik woke up to beautiful landscape & scenery during our train journey. At Changanachery, I caught up with friends (UK, Nabz, Mohit, Simmi, Dipti) and ex- colleagues from Hyd. One of our colleagues had booked / organized evening n overnight houseboat at Alleppey for all of us that day – needless to say, I was not quite excited since we did it all few months back. Nevertheless, post the wedding we packed our bags and pushed off!
We were back in Kerala after 6 months… first during Christmas & now during monsoons. Alleppey looked quite the same – narrow roads n water ways brought back memories of the December vacation. The change now was that instead of a day trip, we were doing overnight houseboat trip. This time we hired a 3 bedroom houseboat that also had an upper deck. I was surprised that I enjoyed the experience much more this time. The slight drizzles, overflowing water, bright colors and greenery made it a totally different experience. Thanks to rain gods for taking a break n letting us take in the full beauty of the trip. Upperdeck was ideal for chit-chats n silent moments; tea n pakoda; clicking n being clicked…… well, till the time mosquitos start their daily raids. The snacks were delicious and food ok. The houseboat was parked next to some fields for the night. Pack of cards, music, memories were good to keep us engaged into the night. We woke up early to catch the sunrise, but there were too many clouds. We started our journey back post breakfast and thanked Shibu for arranging it all!
27th Sep
The group reduced to half its size in the second leg of our trip to Munnar. It kicked off very well when we managed to convince Nabz to take another day off and join us… We started quite late in the morning and it was about lunch time when we reached Munnar. On our way to Munnar, we stopped at a couple of spots and even succumbed to impulse and bathed in a waterfall. We had just 3/4th of a day at Munnar and we wanted to make the best out of it. Inspite of me feeling sick most part of the journey uphill, the breathtaking views did cheer me up. By the time we reached Munnar, we were refreshed and famished. The local ‘Saravana Bhavan’ came to our rescue and we binged on some yummy dosas. Post lunch, we directly headed out for some sight seeing. First was the elephant camp, where we rode in pairs of 2 /3 on the elephant through a slightly hilly patch amidst tall trees. The ride was bumpy and we could feel the muscles of the elephant moving under our legs. It was interesting to see the elephants maneuvering the ups & downs of the terrain - overall, a fun ride. The next spot was the dam – the dam by itself is nothing to rave about but all that remains in my memory is the yummy tea / omlettes / snacks from the local shops. It was drizzling when we reached and we couldn’t have asked for a better weather to dig into the hot snacks.
Finally, we started our journey to Ayur Resort & Spa. All that we saw till then was beautiful & breathtaking, but as we rode higher up to reach the resort, things started getting mystic. We stopped at a viewpoint where we could see clouds floating below us. Words / pictures can never do justice to the beauty the place beholds. The magical state remained with us as we rode into the resort. Our rooms were good but almost with no view. The weather was chill n nice – we were all cuddled up in 1 room snacking, watching FIFA match (cant remember which one) with the game of trump keeping us company.
28th Sep
We woke up early enough to explore the resort and places around. The resort is quite good, located in lovely surroundings (recommended if you have a vehicle on you) and cost effective in monsoons. Me & UK binged on relaxing Kerala massages while the rest trekked around the place. We packed again to reach Cochin; on the way back we visited a tea factory through a friend’s contact. After dropping the rest at Cochin airport, me and Karthik rode to Ernakulam railway station. On our way, we stopped for late lunch at a restaurant. We also got some chips & Ghee cake from Quality Bakers (damn I forgot the town’s name L ). The ghee cake was so yummmmmmmm – Karthik & I loved it.
This trip was an eye-opener, for I realized what they meant when they termed Kerala – God’s own country. Munnar is amazingly beautiful and a must visit
Tips & Tricks:
1. Kerala during monsoons is a gamble; we were veryyyyyy lucky that the rain gods were in our favor and we were subjected to just the pleasant drizzles.. If you ask me, August should be a safer bet – beauty n greenery sans the rains
2. Kumarakom house boating is supposed to be better than the one from Alleppey. So check it out!
Our Take - Munnar
Priya's rating: 8/10
Karthik's rating: 7.5/10
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Bangalore - Mekedatu
29th May, 2010
I ve been a bad girl and havent updated my page in ages. Well, I ve been dormant through March to May coz there was nothing to update about. Ever since, I have been too busy travelling and working to update. Finally, the moment has arrived!
After being fried & roasted by Chennai summer waves, we finally took a break end of May. One fine Friday afternoon, me & Karthik packed our bags, filled up the fuel tank and drove down to Bangalore. Weather gods finally took pity and started showering in bits to make our journey pleasant. Bangalore was fun-packed: catching up with friends after ages (Sumi, Ambi, Raji, Sonu, Reks), those legendary chit-chats, breaking into nostalgia, gossips, being clueless about future and what not. It was a sight to see our husbands trying to engage in our conversations and give their opinions at times where it dint matter! Amidst all this, we managed to rope in Mekedatu in our itinerary, thanks to Karthik's insistence! The plan for the next day was finally frozen at 1.30 am after hours of deliberation...
Most things around Bangalore are about River Cauvery and so is Mekedatu. "Meke" - goat and "datu" - leap is the literal meaning of the place. Its conveniently located at about 90 km distance from the city and is easily accessible by road. We planned to leave from Bangalore at about 8 am and ended up leaving at 11 am. On our way, we stopped at this mini quad biking place and had a ball of a time trying our hands at it. By the time we reached Mekedatu it was 4 pm. We saw a river stream in front of us unsure if there was anything else to look forward to. Water was not more than 2.5 feet deep and the tourists were crossing on to the other side of the stream.
We followed suit, crossed the stream and headed to the "bus stop". The bus journey was literally rocking and we had to hold on all that we could, to minimize physical damange. But the journey was totally worth it for what unravelled in front of us was far beyond expectations. We climbed up mini rocks and landed on top of a beautiful valley that sandwiched Cauvery from both sides. The rocks seemed a reflection of an artist's work - brilliantly grafted to perfection. The sound of gushing water, the sight of an exotic valley, the smell of nature's sweetness - beyond words! We could have spent hours just taking in the beauty but the bus wouldnt wait beyond 30 mins. The 30 mins spent was worth the whole day's effort!
May is supposedly a dry month - I would love to see how much more this place would offer post rains. There is a Chunchi falls on the way to Mekedatu but we dint have the time to stop - probably worth checking out!
Our Take - Mekedatu:
Priya’s rating – 7/10
Karthik’s rating – 7/10
A great 1-day trip if you are in and around Bangalore!
I ve been a bad girl and havent updated my page in ages. Well, I ve been dormant through March to May coz there was nothing to update about. Ever since, I have been too busy travelling and working to update. Finally, the moment has arrived!
After being fried & roasted by Chennai summer waves, we finally took a break end of May. One fine Friday afternoon, me & Karthik packed our bags, filled up the fuel tank and drove down to Bangalore. Weather gods finally took pity and started showering in bits to make our journey pleasant. Bangalore was fun-packed: catching up with friends after ages (Sumi, Ambi, Raji, Sonu, Reks), those legendary chit-chats, breaking into nostalgia, gossips, being clueless about future and what not. It was a sight to see our husbands trying to engage in our conversations and give their opinions at times where it dint matter! Amidst all this, we managed to rope in Mekedatu in our itinerary, thanks to Karthik's insistence! The plan for the next day was finally frozen at 1.30 am after hours of deliberation...
Most things around Bangalore are about River Cauvery and so is Mekedatu. "Meke" - goat and "datu" - leap is the literal meaning of the place. Its conveniently located at about 90 km distance from the city and is easily accessible by road. We planned to leave from Bangalore at about 8 am and ended up leaving at 11 am. On our way, we stopped at this mini quad biking place and had a ball of a time trying our hands at it. By the time we reached Mekedatu it was 4 pm. We saw a river stream in front of us unsure if there was anything else to look forward to. Water was not more than 2.5 feet deep and the tourists were crossing on to the other side of the stream.
We followed suit, crossed the stream and headed to the "bus stop". The bus journey was literally rocking and we had to hold on all that we could, to minimize physical damange. But the journey was totally worth it for what unravelled in front of us was far beyond expectations. We climbed up mini rocks and landed on top of a beautiful valley that sandwiched Cauvery from both sides. The rocks seemed a reflection of an artist's work - brilliantly grafted to perfection. The sound of gushing water, the sight of an exotic valley, the smell of nature's sweetness - beyond words! We could have spent hours just taking in the beauty but the bus wouldnt wait beyond 30 mins. The 30 mins spent was worth the whole day's effort!
May is supposedly a dry month - I would love to see how much more this place would offer post rains. There is a Chunchi falls on the way to Mekedatu but we dint have the time to stop - probably worth checking out!
Our Take - Mekedatu:
Priya’s rating – 7/10
Karthik’s rating – 7/10
A great 1-day trip if you are in and around Bangalore!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Picturesque Pichavaram!
I remember visiting this place many years ago with a large group of family members. All I had was snapshots of the place in distant memory!! So... when a leisurely visit home with my parents and bro around called for some change, Pichavaram was the closest and obvious choice. Unlike the earlier trips illustrated on this blog, this one was sans my hubby.
My parents, my bro and I started off after a healthy ragi porridge breakfast on a Friday morning hoping to be there by 10 to escape the afternoon heat. Little did we realize that the place infact opens as early as 7 am! The sun was out by 10 am but the heat bearable - we chose the 2 hour boat ride. We had to curse our luck though for leaving back the camera at home. The rower was an enthusiastic localite providing lots of information on the place. The speed at which he was throwing botanical names of species around embarassed the ignorant us.
Pichavaram is the only other mangrove forest engulfed backwater location in India (the other one being in the WB/Orissa region). Once upon a time it was the haven for smugglers who got in goods from foreign countries illegally through this place - post the famous MGR movie Idhayakani, Pichavaram developed into a famous tourist spot removing its tainted image forever.
Pichavaram lake is vast and sublets branching out of the main lake makes it very scenic. The narrow sublets are engulfed with mangrove trees on either sides giving a cozy and cool feel to the tourists. The water level raises and subsides every 6 hours with the varying inflow from the sea. A 4 hour ride on a normal boat / 2 hour ride on a motor boat would take the visitor all the way upto the beach but considering the weather we decided to stick to the lake. Fishermen were aplenty trying their luck with the fishes and prawns in the water body. When the water level is at its lowest, the lake is hardly 3-4 feet deep. The eco system has gotten affected post Tsunami though there were no high tides or loss of lives.
More than the vast lake, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride through the sublets and the chutku halts under the shades of mangrove trees on the side. The place also offered immense scope for photography and all I had was a 2MP Samsung mobile to experiment with (very unfortunate!) - will try to upload few of those. The ride left us with a very pleasant feeling and I resolved to visit the place more often!
Tips & Tricks:
- A place worth visiting especially for those residing in a 100 km radius from the place. Ideal months to visit - Dec / Jan and ideal time would be as early in the morning. Once the sun starts spreading its shine, it might get sweaty and irritating.
- The place seems pretty safe but keep away from wearing expensive jewellery as the rowers can take people to any unfamiliar nook and corner of the lake.
My rating: 6.8/10
My parents, my bro and I started off after a healthy ragi porridge breakfast on a Friday morning hoping to be there by 10 to escape the afternoon heat. Little did we realize that the place infact opens as early as 7 am! The sun was out by 10 am but the heat bearable - we chose the 2 hour boat ride. We had to curse our luck though for leaving back the camera at home. The rower was an enthusiastic localite providing lots of information on the place. The speed at which he was throwing botanical names of species around embarassed the ignorant us.
Pichavaram is the only other mangrove forest engulfed backwater location in India (the other one being in the WB/Orissa region). Once upon a time it was the haven for smugglers who got in goods from foreign countries illegally through this place - post the famous MGR movie Idhayakani, Pichavaram developed into a famous tourist spot removing its tainted image forever.
Pichavaram lake is vast and sublets branching out of the main lake makes it very scenic. The narrow sublets are engulfed with mangrove trees on either sides giving a cozy and cool feel to the tourists. The water level raises and subsides every 6 hours with the varying inflow from the sea. A 4 hour ride on a normal boat / 2 hour ride on a motor boat would take the visitor all the way upto the beach but considering the weather we decided to stick to the lake. Fishermen were aplenty trying their luck with the fishes and prawns in the water body. When the water level is at its lowest, the lake is hardly 3-4 feet deep. The eco system has gotten affected post Tsunami though there were no high tides or loss of lives.
More than the vast lake, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride through the sublets and the chutku halts under the shades of mangrove trees on the side. The place also offered immense scope for photography and all I had was a 2MP Samsung mobile to experiment with (very unfortunate!) - will try to upload few of those. The ride left us with a very pleasant feeling and I resolved to visit the place more often!
Tips & Tricks:
- A place worth visiting especially for those residing in a 100 km radius from the place. Ideal months to visit - Dec / Jan and ideal time would be as early in the morning. Once the sun starts spreading its shine, it might get sweaty and irritating.
- The place seems pretty safe but keep away from wearing expensive jewellery as the rowers can take people to any unfamiliar nook and corner of the lake.
My rating: 6.8/10
Friday, January 22, 2010
Yercaud!
8-10 Jan 2010
Yercaud was the 2010 new year treat given by Karthik's employer for all employees (+ spouse + children). Inspite of 2 travel intensive weekends, we were all excited about the 3rd one. The big question mark was the crowd that would accompany us but the comfort factor was Karthik's friends with whom we will anyways hang out.
The train journey started quite formally with the organizers distributing one bottle of water and softdrink tetrapack before everyone snoozed off. The question mark became a pleasant surprise as the crowd (about 100 people) let their hair loose for the reminder of the trip making it a memorable and jolly weekend. Sizeable credit should be given to Vaibhav and his team from Maks tour opertors for injecting energy and enthusiasm to people across ages.
8th Jan
Mini buses picked us up from Salem junction in the early hours of Friday. The late night journey effects continued and I was asleep until we reached Sterling Resorts. The resort was located just next to a viewpoint (Ladies seat) and inherited a lovely view on all sides. However contrary to our expectations, the facilities / room turned out to be ordinary. The resort was full with few other groups too occupying it for the weekend and hence about 20 of us were placed at lesser known Ajith guesthouse - less than a km away from the resort. Ours was a 2 bedroom, 1 hall arrangement - Me, Karthik, Mukul and Garima shared the space. The quartet was soon to become the infamous 4 for being late always and having maximum fun.
Our first spot, Pagoda viewpoint, was good to look around, click pictures and laze about. Before we left for the next place, we ensured that our bus was filled with young couples and bachelors adding to the entertainment quotient. Our next destination was Botanical Gardens which unlike the rose gardens in Ooty, was primarily an interest for Botany lovers. We were welcomed by some interesting plants which were named - "Kiss me not", "Hug me not", "Touch me not", "Forget me not". They were all thorny plants warning the visitors. The garden was vast and full of variety. The most captivating species was the Pitcher plant, an insectivorous variety which traps and dissolves the insects which land on its cavity.
We moved on to the ancient Shervaroyan cave temple - the guide informed us that the cave which starts here stretches all the way to Coorg in Karnataka. None of us were inclined to test it but the temple in itself was nicely poised inside a dark cave. A huge playground and plenty of time initiated a surprise cricket tussle between the employees. While the players enjoyed being a part of the match, they also provided ample entertainment for the onlookers to rejoice. After a nice workout, we had a relaxed noon playing cards and enjoying a cozy nap.
Superb DJ, good lighting, inviting dancefloor, decent food, perky games and an enthusiastic crowd rocked the evening. We were sweating it out even in the cold weather and totally loving it.
9th Jan
The itinerary mentioned that we would be given a wake up call at 6.30 am. Thankfully sense prevailed and we were asked to assemble for the trek at about 8.30 am. We started our trek down the hill to Killiyur falls. The overall stretch was about a km with about 0.5 km of steep climbdown. An hour later, we happily landed in the foothills to enjoy the waterfalls and munch on our breakfast. Post the trek, we moved on to some boating at the lake. As our ill luck would have it, rain gods started showering cutting short the boating expedition but we had some amazing bajji, masala appalam and snacks out there. After a relaxed afternoon, a round of table tennis and carrom set the mood right for moving and shaking on the dance floor later on. Mukul & Garima were judged the Best Dancing couple for setting the stage on fire. Hours later, we were still awake playing cards and chatting until our eyes begged of us.
10th Jan
We were leaving post lunch and the morning was left to us. Post breakfast we went on a long stroll - first to Ladies Seat viewpoint and then to State Horticulture farm to visit the Rose Garden. The garden deceived us as there were no roses but the layout was beautiful and worth a visit. Pepper was growing in abundance in the region, so it was but natural for us to purchase some spices and eucalyptus oil bottles for our near and dear.
Few tips & tricks:
1. Sterling Resorts - average facilities and food. Walking up and down the vast expanse in the resort is a fun exercise. Sports room is decently equipped and provide entertainment in the evenings. However, the place shuts by 8.
2. Yercaud is best in Dec-Jan. Day temperature hovers around 22 degrees and drops to about 12 degrees in the night. Summers would be quite warm as the hillstation is about 1500 meters above sea level.
3. The place is ideal for Bangalore and Chennai dwellers as its just few hours away.
Our Take:
Priya’s rating – 6.3/10
Karthik’s rating – 7/10
Yercaud is a small hillstation with nothing much to do but relax! Ideal for a lazy weekend away from the mad city rush.
Yercaud was the 2010 new year treat given by Karthik's employer for all employees (+ spouse + children). Inspite of 2 travel intensive weekends, we were all excited about the 3rd one. The big question mark was the crowd that would accompany us but the comfort factor was Karthik's friends with whom we will anyways hang out.
The train journey started quite formally with the organizers distributing one bottle of water and softdrink tetrapack before everyone snoozed off. The question mark became a pleasant surprise as the crowd (about 100 people) let their hair loose for the reminder of the trip making it a memorable and jolly weekend. Sizeable credit should be given to Vaibhav and his team from Maks tour opertors for injecting energy and enthusiasm to people across ages.
8th Jan
Mini buses picked us up from Salem junction in the early hours of Friday. The late night journey effects continued and I was asleep until we reached Sterling Resorts. The resort was located just next to a viewpoint (Ladies seat) and inherited a lovely view on all sides. However contrary to our expectations, the facilities / room turned out to be ordinary. The resort was full with few other groups too occupying it for the weekend and hence about 20 of us were placed at lesser known Ajith guesthouse - less than a km away from the resort. Ours was a 2 bedroom, 1 hall arrangement - Me, Karthik, Mukul and Garima shared the space. The quartet was soon to become the infamous 4 for being late always and having maximum fun.
Our first spot, Pagoda viewpoint, was good to look around, click pictures and laze about. Before we left for the next place, we ensured that our bus was filled with young couples and bachelors adding to the entertainment quotient. Our next destination was Botanical Gardens which unlike the rose gardens in Ooty, was primarily an interest for Botany lovers. We were welcomed by some interesting plants which were named - "Kiss me not", "Hug me not", "Touch me not", "Forget me not". They were all thorny plants warning the visitors. The garden was vast and full of variety. The most captivating species was the Pitcher plant, an insectivorous variety which traps and dissolves the insects which land on its cavity.
We moved on to the ancient Shervaroyan cave temple - the guide informed us that the cave which starts here stretches all the way to Coorg in Karnataka. None of us were inclined to test it but the temple in itself was nicely poised inside a dark cave. A huge playground and plenty of time initiated a surprise cricket tussle between the employees. While the players enjoyed being a part of the match, they also provided ample entertainment for the onlookers to rejoice. After a nice workout, we had a relaxed noon playing cards and enjoying a cozy nap.
Superb DJ, good lighting, inviting dancefloor, decent food, perky games and an enthusiastic crowd rocked the evening. We were sweating it out even in the cold weather and totally loving it.
9th Jan
The itinerary mentioned that we would be given a wake up call at 6.30 am. Thankfully sense prevailed and we were asked to assemble for the trek at about 8.30 am. We started our trek down the hill to Killiyur falls. The overall stretch was about a km with about 0.5 km of steep climbdown. An hour later, we happily landed in the foothills to enjoy the waterfalls and munch on our breakfast. Post the trek, we moved on to some boating at the lake. As our ill luck would have it, rain gods started showering cutting short the boating expedition but we had some amazing bajji, masala appalam and snacks out there. After a relaxed afternoon, a round of table tennis and carrom set the mood right for moving and shaking on the dance floor later on. Mukul & Garima were judged the Best Dancing couple for setting the stage on fire. Hours later, we were still awake playing cards and chatting until our eyes begged of us.
10th Jan
We were leaving post lunch and the morning was left to us. Post breakfast we went on a long stroll - first to Ladies Seat viewpoint and then to State Horticulture farm to visit the Rose Garden. The garden deceived us as there were no roses but the layout was beautiful and worth a visit. Pepper was growing in abundance in the region, so it was but natural for us to purchase some spices and eucalyptus oil bottles for our near and dear.
Few tips & tricks:
1. Sterling Resorts - average facilities and food. Walking up and down the vast expanse in the resort is a fun exercise. Sports room is decently equipped and provide entertainment in the evenings. However, the place shuts by 8.
2. Yercaud is best in Dec-Jan. Day temperature hovers around 22 degrees and drops to about 12 degrees in the night. Summers would be quite warm as the hillstation is about 1500 meters above sea level.
3. The place is ideal for Bangalore and Chennai dwellers as its just few hours away.
Our Take:
Priya’s rating – 6.3/10
Karthik’s rating – 7/10
Yercaud is a small hillstation with nothing much to do but relax! Ideal for a lazy weekend away from the mad city rush.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Merry Merry Christmas!!
25-28 Dec 2009
It was indeed a Merry Christmas vacation for all of us!! We had paid our dues much earlier - waking up early just to book tickets, calling friend's father's friend's friend's friend to do our bookings, endless calls & confirmations, strategic planning for 5 month old baby's travel, flying in from Singapore / Delhi.... and it was totally worth it.
JK, Shiv, Seetha, Navya, Karthik & I started our journey dramatically on 24th with JK making it just a couple of mins before the train departed! JK was to be Navya's acting boyfriend and caretaker while the couples relished the trip :P The fun element of the trip doubled with Sathish & Razi joining a day later at Alleppey! Our target: Chennai - Cochin - Alleppey - Nagercoil - Chennai in 4 days!
25th Dec - Cochin
We checked in at Sree Krishna Inn - a reasonably decent hotel just outside 'Ernakulam Town' station for a couple of hours to freshen up. Brushing aside demands from our sleepy eyes, we got ready in time for rocking Veega Land (a reputed theme park). The lush green Kerala started unfolding in front of our eyes as we travelled towards the theme park. Veega Land was unusually overflowing with people given the vacation time... but then, whats the fun about screaming and jumping with no one around. The first ride that caught our attention was Twin Flip Monster - there was too much excitement around that ride. Me & Seetha were the most enthused.... after a 15 min wait we set our foot in the monster and it really turned out to be one. At the end of 5 mins... all of us were left with spinning heads, nasty headache and puky feeling. Me & Seetha were the worst affected - and took a couple of hours to recover! The monster also ruined a large part of the day as we became averse to any fast motion for quite sometime. Navya became cranky too with the new atmosphere, crowd and humid weather getting on to her. Water sports were a savior in the second half but we all decided to end the day early and head to Alleppey.
It was about 7 pm when we set our foot in Pagoda Resorts - the place was colorful and fully decorated for Christmas. After 2 consecutive bad meals, we were delighted at the dinner buffet spread. Apart from the normal pulav, roti, subzi we had kappa (traditional kerala dish) and Christmas cakes. Good spread of food, friends to chat up and a cozy atmosphere called for a nice long dinner. Navya was still not out of the travel hangover and almost got her parents to abandon the further travel plans. We ended our night with a game of 'Business'!
26th Dec - Alleppey
What a bright day it was... Sathish & Razi reached even before we woke up.... Navya had a good night's sleep which means the trip continues as per plan.... JK stepped into the caretaker shoes and ensured Navya had a good morning nap ....We had a delicious breakfast!! Except for some billing issues at the resort, we were in the best of spirits when the autoricks came to pick us up. Roads in Kerala amaze me - some of the most travelled roads are not more than 1.5 meters wide and can just about manage to fit in a Hyundai Santro. We travelled through many such lanes before arriving at the houseboat area. I fell in love with the boat the moment I set my eyes on it. It looked both majestic and cozy with the sundeck and living area being the major highlights. Ours was a 2 bedroom one and perfect for the 8 of us. A summary of the next 7 hours: Custom-made egg bhurji+music+cards...Vembanadu lake.... Sweet toddy+fish fry... chat/laughter... cards... lunch with rice, sambar, 3 veg curries, omlette, fish fry, chicken curry.... envisioning JK's future (a.k.a. having fun at JK's expense).... cards.....songs.... yummy tea+pakoda.... silent goodbye sitting on the sundeck! We all wanted more of it... but alas, it was time to bid goodbye to the lake.
27th Dec - Nagercoil
We reached Nagercoil in the wee hours of Sunday morning and checked into Hotel Singar. The plan was to take a quick nap and head to Thiruparappu waterfalls by 10 am. The lazy bums that we were.... took our own sweet time in getting ready and finally started by 11 am. The journey was beautiful... we crossed villages, cultivating fields, fruit orchids,streams of water and gigantic trees. Karthik finally relented and started singing (which is not necessarily positive). The waterfalls was way too crowded and we started wondering if we would enjoy. Once we stepped in, all that mattered was the sheer joy of being overpowered by the falls. The crowd didnt bother us and we had loads of fun soaking in water for hours together. By the time we half heartedly decided to wind up, it started drizzling. Perfect ending to it all.... hot chai and bajji. The route on our way back was even better - the road was sandwiched between giant rubber tree farms giving a forest feel to the ride. After another quick nap, it was time for meeting the bride & groom in the evening. One of our juniors, Karthikeyan joined us for the reception and we all had a great time teasing / embarassing the couple on stage. Dinner was total Ashok style - Egg dosa, Appam, Parotta, Uttappam, Veg & Non-veg curries. The night wouldnt end without another session of cards with Sathish's nakkals overflowing in full form. The sane bunch went insane rolling with laughter!
28th Dec - Nagercoil
The dream come true marriage was full of filmy dialogues for most of us attending a Tamil Christian marriage at such close quarters for the first time. Karthik, Shiv & JK danced their way in the procession from the wedding hall to the church attracting attention from the entire town. What seemed like a peaceful wedding thus far turned into a thiruvizha (festival) at lunch time. 100s of people suddenly poured in and it was an interesting experience fighting our way to the pandhi (wedding meal). I was drowsy even before I could complete the meal - the payasams were the best. All we wanted was a good nap but we had just enough time to pack our bags and leave for the railway station. The bunch of us started our journey hoping to relive our college days... and the trip did total justice! We did it all.... non stop laughing, mocking, teasing, gossipping, playing.... and I do feel a couple of years younger right now!
Our Take - Cochin:
Priya's rating: 5.5/10
Karthik's rating: 6/10
Alleppey - Houseboat:
Priya's rating: 8/10
Karthik's rating: 8/10
Perfect relaxed vacation is best spent on Alleppey houseboat!
It was indeed a Merry Christmas vacation for all of us!! We had paid our dues much earlier - waking up early just to book tickets, calling friend's father's friend's friend's friend to do our bookings, endless calls & confirmations, strategic planning for 5 month old baby's travel, flying in from Singapore / Delhi.... and it was totally worth it.
JK, Shiv, Seetha, Navya, Karthik & I started our journey dramatically on 24th with JK making it just a couple of mins before the train departed! JK was to be Navya's acting boyfriend and caretaker while the couples relished the trip :P The fun element of the trip doubled with Sathish & Razi joining a day later at Alleppey! Our target: Chennai - Cochin - Alleppey - Nagercoil - Chennai in 4 days!
25th Dec - Cochin
We checked in at Sree Krishna Inn - a reasonably decent hotel just outside 'Ernakulam Town' station for a couple of hours to freshen up. Brushing aside demands from our sleepy eyes, we got ready in time for rocking Veega Land (a reputed theme park). The lush green Kerala started unfolding in front of our eyes as we travelled towards the theme park. Veega Land was unusually overflowing with people given the vacation time... but then, whats the fun about screaming and jumping with no one around. The first ride that caught our attention was Twin Flip Monster - there was too much excitement around that ride. Me & Seetha were the most enthused.... after a 15 min wait we set our foot in the monster and it really turned out to be one. At the end of 5 mins... all of us were left with spinning heads, nasty headache and puky feeling. Me & Seetha were the worst affected - and took a couple of hours to recover! The monster also ruined a large part of the day as we became averse to any fast motion for quite sometime. Navya became cranky too with the new atmosphere, crowd and humid weather getting on to her. Water sports were a savior in the second half but we all decided to end the day early and head to Alleppey.
It was about 7 pm when we set our foot in Pagoda Resorts - the place was colorful and fully decorated for Christmas. After 2 consecutive bad meals, we were delighted at the dinner buffet spread. Apart from the normal pulav, roti, subzi we had kappa (traditional kerala dish) and Christmas cakes. Good spread of food, friends to chat up and a cozy atmosphere called for a nice long dinner. Navya was still not out of the travel hangover and almost got her parents to abandon the further travel plans. We ended our night with a game of 'Business'!
26th Dec - Alleppey
What a bright day it was... Sathish & Razi reached even before we woke up.... Navya had a good night's sleep which means the trip continues as per plan.... JK stepped into the caretaker shoes and ensured Navya had a good morning nap ....We had a delicious breakfast!! Except for some billing issues at the resort, we were in the best of spirits when the autoricks came to pick us up. Roads in Kerala amaze me - some of the most travelled roads are not more than 1.5 meters wide and can just about manage to fit in a Hyundai Santro. We travelled through many such lanes before arriving at the houseboat area. I fell in love with the boat the moment I set my eyes on it. It looked both majestic and cozy with the sundeck and living area being the major highlights. Ours was a 2 bedroom one and perfect for the 8 of us. A summary of the next 7 hours: Custom-made egg bhurji+music+cards...Vembanadu lake.... Sweet toddy+fish fry... chat/laughter... cards... lunch with rice, sambar, 3 veg curries, omlette, fish fry, chicken curry.... envisioning JK's future (a.k.a. having fun at JK's expense).... cards.....songs.... yummy tea+pakoda.... silent goodbye sitting on the sundeck! We all wanted more of it... but alas, it was time to bid goodbye to the lake.
27th Dec - Nagercoil
We reached Nagercoil in the wee hours of Sunday morning and checked into Hotel Singar. The plan was to take a quick nap and head to Thiruparappu waterfalls by 10 am. The lazy bums that we were.... took our own sweet time in getting ready and finally started by 11 am. The journey was beautiful... we crossed villages, cultivating fields, fruit orchids,streams of water and gigantic trees. Karthik finally relented and started singing (which is not necessarily positive). The waterfalls was way too crowded and we started wondering if we would enjoy. Once we stepped in, all that mattered was the sheer joy of being overpowered by the falls. The crowd didnt bother us and we had loads of fun soaking in water for hours together. By the time we half heartedly decided to wind up, it started drizzling. Perfect ending to it all.... hot chai and bajji. The route on our way back was even better - the road was sandwiched between giant rubber tree farms giving a forest feel to the ride. After another quick nap, it was time for meeting the bride & groom in the evening. One of our juniors, Karthikeyan joined us for the reception and we all had a great time teasing / embarassing the couple on stage. Dinner was total Ashok style - Egg dosa, Appam, Parotta, Uttappam, Veg & Non-veg curries. The night wouldnt end without another session of cards with Sathish's nakkals overflowing in full form. The sane bunch went insane rolling with laughter!
28th Dec - Nagercoil
The dream come true marriage was full of filmy dialogues for most of us attending a Tamil Christian marriage at such close quarters for the first time. Karthik, Shiv & JK danced their way in the procession from the wedding hall to the church attracting attention from the entire town. What seemed like a peaceful wedding thus far turned into a thiruvizha (festival) at lunch time. 100s of people suddenly poured in and it was an interesting experience fighting our way to the pandhi (wedding meal). I was drowsy even before I could complete the meal - the payasams were the best. All we wanted was a good nap but we had just enough time to pack our bags and leave for the railway station. The bunch of us started our journey hoping to relive our college days... and the trip did total justice! We did it all.... non stop laughing, mocking, teasing, gossipping, playing.... and I do feel a couple of years younger right now!
Our Take - Cochin:
Priya's rating: 5.5/10
Karthik's rating: 6/10
Alleppey - Houseboat:
Priya's rating: 8/10
Karthik's rating: 8/10
Perfect relaxed vacation is best spent on Alleppey houseboat!
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Mauritian Safari!!
15-21 Sep, 2009
Well, in case you are wondering... Mauritius was the closest we got to Africa and hence the title!!
It was an overnight transformation from hot, humid Chennai to pleasant, breezy Mauritius. A string of scenes - super regulated traffic, lush greenery, hectares of sugarcane fields bordering the highways and most importantly, roads sans humans – convinced us that we were out of India! On the other hand – Velmurugan Kalyana mandabam, Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, SBI Mauritius, advertisement hoardings of LIC / New India Assurance company etc. - that we encountered on our way to the resort assured that we were not too far afterall. Dreamy eyed, we rode through all of this to our much awaited Sands resort.
As we zeroed in on Mauritius, we realized that selecting “the” resort was a bigger task. Hours spent over Google, tripadvisor.com and quotations from SOTC/Thomas Cook led to the final decision – “The Sands Resort”. From the moment we stepped in, we could not wait to dive into the pool after a quick lunch at the restaurant. The white sand beaches at Mauritius are shallow for about 500 meters, making it perfectly safe and fun to play around in. The cold evenings were best spent chit-chatting on the hammock or the beach chairs by the sea – which had one of the most picturesque views from Sands. Our favorite evening pastime was to get lost viewing the sunset in Mauritius, considered one of the best in the world. We also had some sweet surprises at the resort – chocolates left on the bed, free snacks for trial on the beach, African dance and bonfire evening, bed decorated with floors etc.
16th Sep: We had 2 choices - lazing around at the resort or exploring “quad biking”; we chose the latter. A quad is a four wheeler mini tractor of sorts (2-seater) with jumbo wheels that can maintain stability through roughest of roads. All the other 3 couples had prior experience with quad biking and the guide was cynical about our skills. I proved the guide quite right but the I-will-not-give-up man managed to convince the guide otherwise after 15 mins of test driving. All through our journey up & down 3 mountains, we witnessed lush greenery, breath-taking views of the ocean and encountered herds of deer & wild boars. The bumpy tracks, water-logged stretches and the steep downhill journey did give us the jitters at times, but we managed to sail past it all. Exhausted but happy, we concluded it was one of the most challenging and satisfying activities ever! The authentic Mauritian lunch included in the package happens to be the best meal we had in the week.
17th Sep: Our guided tour series started with a North Island tour. Nothing exciting though about visiting few monuments / structures / botanical gardens / malls that paid commissions to the tour agent. The water lily plants at the gardens are supposed to be a treat to the tourist’s eye when they fully bloom in December-January. The day’s tour was only worth the delicious lunch and a relaxed time spent at Le Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis.
18th Sep: It was time for the South Island tour which started off pretty disappointing with a souvenir gift shop and ship-model selling outlet. The tour turned much better as we climbed few mountains to visit craters, temples, waterfalls and seven-colored earth (the varied colors owing to ferrous deposits). Thanks to the cool breeze, 5 min drizzles at regular intervals and 22 degree temperature - we had a lovely time with our mini-walks around the greenery at each location. Our enthused driving guide Vimal provided tons of interesting information on the island. The potential of Mauritius, the virgin island, was unleashed by the British in early 1800s by getting tons of slaves from India to work in their sugarcane fields. The Indians who managed to survive 6 months of journey back then, have spent generations in the island ensuring that Indian descendants form more than 60% of the current population. Almost whole of the sugar produced in the island is exported to Europe. So, inspite of being the highest exporters of sugar in the world, the localites import low quality sugar from China for consumption…..
19th Sep: The most awaited journey to Ile-Aux-Cerfs started with the undersea walk. With about heavy 40 kg helmet on my head, I was excited to step on the sand under sea (about 5 ft deep). The sheer feeling of moving under water amidst the colorful fishes and corals was thrilling. The helpers gave us bread crumbs which the fishes nibbled from my hands leaving behind a sweet ticklish feel!! I had half a mind to stay back, but 15 mins later I was forced back on the deck…. sigh! Couple of hours later, we were cruising through the bright blue ocean on a speed boat to experience the much-hyped parasailing. My articulation skills would do complete injustice in expressing the elated feeling I went through flying mid air over the ocean alongside the only person I wanted to be with at that moment. Deep into the sea and up above the ocean within few hours – what a day!! The immensely satisfying day ended with some great African dance & music… the dancers even taught us a couple of hip shakes!
20th Sep: We had reserved the day for the exciting complementary water sports that Sands promised – wind surfing, water skiing, kayaking etc., only to be told that we need to be excellent swimmers to try those out. We were shattered… but did not want the discouraging boat club members to influence us. Seeing few other tourists perform these activities, we realized that wind surfing was beyond us. However, the water surfing experience at Dimna Lake (Jamshedpur) way back in 2005, cheered us to try out water skiing. The brave & energetic duo failed so miserably at the end of it all – Karthik drank 2 litres of sea water before he gave up and I conceded defeat after trying to turn myself around in the ocean for 10 mins. Keeping the disaster aside, we had the perfect relaxed day with an hour in the pool, a pack of cards, yummy pasta and a long walk!
21st Sep: Our return flight was in the night and we had decided to visit the Casela Bird park in the morning. We aren’t big fans of birds but the main attraction at Casela was the possibility of being up, close and person with the king of the jungle – Lions! The cabs were working out to be too expensive and we wanted to try public transport. I was surprised to find the condition of buses worser than in India but the bus stops were very cute – colored in bright green, yellow or red. The bird park has too many alternate attractions and so little birds that one may wonder why its called so. Our chief objective was to meet & interact with the lions and we wasted no time to reach our destination. It is an irony to see the beasts tamed to such an extent that they behaved like dogs. Inspite of the reassuring staff around, it wasn’t easy for me to get off the fear factor. Nevertheless, I felt quite elated to touch, feel and be around the lions.
At the end of the 6 days, it was tough to leave the bright blue beaches behind us…. but Karthik was delighted at the prospect of his mom’s sambar & rasam for the next meal!
Few tips & tricks:
1) Try to stay in the western coast of Mauritius; the eastern coast gets very windy & cold in the evenings forcing tourists to stay-put inside their rooms. In case you opt for guided tours, avoid resorts way up the north/south borders of the country. Staying around the central region would reduce travel hours and give you more time to enjoy the luxurious beaches.
2) Sands resort: Much recommended for its great service & ambience. Since we were the only vegetarians in the resort, the restaurant staff volunteered to prepare customized dinner everyday based on the cuisine of our choice. Pros – Very few Indian tourists, customized service, breath-taking Infinity pool, helpful staff. Cons – Tendency to give preference to white skin over brown skin among few hotel staff, most free water sports require one to be an excellent swimmer, remote location (about 2 km walk to the nearest village) – compelling one to buy food/beverages for exorbitant prices from the hotel
3) Try avoiding the 3 day guided tours – atleast the North Island trip was totally not worth it.
4) Food options at the resort especially for vegetarians are limited. Mauritian food is a slightly modified, bland version of Indian khaana – it is worth trying! There are lots of Indian restaurants outside the resort areas throughout Mauritius. Though we did not try those out, we heard good feedback
5) We strongly advise you not to pay for the lunch as a part of your package. On the days of touring, they pack sandwiches / burgers which get really cold by lunch time. Also, it is totally worth trying out restaurants / cuisines outside – some of them turn out to be wonderful.
6) We used SOTC – the services offered were good – no complaints. All Indian tourists seem to be attended by Seaside Tours, a local agent in Mauritius. Only Thomas Cook as its own branch located in Mauritius.
Our Take:
Priya’s rating – 8/10
Karthik’s rating – 8/10
Definitely Recommended!
Well, in case you are wondering... Mauritius was the closest we got to Africa and hence the title!!
It was an overnight transformation from hot, humid Chennai to pleasant, breezy Mauritius. A string of scenes - super regulated traffic, lush greenery, hectares of sugarcane fields bordering the highways and most importantly, roads sans humans – convinced us that we were out of India! On the other hand – Velmurugan Kalyana mandabam, Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital, SBI Mauritius, advertisement hoardings of LIC / New India Assurance company etc. - that we encountered on our way to the resort assured that we were not too far afterall. Dreamy eyed, we rode through all of this to our much awaited Sands resort.
As we zeroed in on Mauritius, we realized that selecting “the” resort was a bigger task. Hours spent over Google, tripadvisor.com and quotations from SOTC/Thomas Cook led to the final decision – “The Sands Resort”. From the moment we stepped in, we could not wait to dive into the pool after a quick lunch at the restaurant. The white sand beaches at Mauritius are shallow for about 500 meters, making it perfectly safe and fun to play around in. The cold evenings were best spent chit-chatting on the hammock or the beach chairs by the sea – which had one of the most picturesque views from Sands. Our favorite evening pastime was to get lost viewing the sunset in Mauritius, considered one of the best in the world. We also had some sweet surprises at the resort – chocolates left on the bed, free snacks for trial on the beach, African dance and bonfire evening, bed decorated with floors etc.
16th Sep: We had 2 choices - lazing around at the resort or exploring “quad biking”; we chose the latter. A quad is a four wheeler mini tractor of sorts (2-seater) with jumbo wheels that can maintain stability through roughest of roads. All the other 3 couples had prior experience with quad biking and the guide was cynical about our skills. I proved the guide quite right but the I-will-not-give-up man managed to convince the guide otherwise after 15 mins of test driving. All through our journey up & down 3 mountains, we witnessed lush greenery, breath-taking views of the ocean and encountered herds of deer & wild boars. The bumpy tracks, water-logged stretches and the steep downhill journey did give us the jitters at times, but we managed to sail past it all. Exhausted but happy, we concluded it was one of the most challenging and satisfying activities ever! The authentic Mauritian lunch included in the package happens to be the best meal we had in the week.
17th Sep: Our guided tour series started with a North Island tour. Nothing exciting though about visiting few monuments / structures / botanical gardens / malls that paid commissions to the tour agent. The water lily plants at the gardens are supposed to be a treat to the tourist’s eye when they fully bloom in December-January. The day’s tour was only worth the delicious lunch and a relaxed time spent at Le Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis.
18th Sep: It was time for the South Island tour which started off pretty disappointing with a souvenir gift shop and ship-model selling outlet. The tour turned much better as we climbed few mountains to visit craters, temples, waterfalls and seven-colored earth (the varied colors owing to ferrous deposits). Thanks to the cool breeze, 5 min drizzles at regular intervals and 22 degree temperature - we had a lovely time with our mini-walks around the greenery at each location. Our enthused driving guide Vimal provided tons of interesting information on the island. The potential of Mauritius, the virgin island, was unleashed by the British in early 1800s by getting tons of slaves from India to work in their sugarcane fields. The Indians who managed to survive 6 months of journey back then, have spent generations in the island ensuring that Indian descendants form more than 60% of the current population. Almost whole of the sugar produced in the island is exported to Europe. So, inspite of being the highest exporters of sugar in the world, the localites import low quality sugar from China for consumption…..
19th Sep: The most awaited journey to Ile-Aux-Cerfs started with the undersea walk. With about heavy 40 kg helmet on my head, I was excited to step on the sand under sea (about 5 ft deep). The sheer feeling of moving under water amidst the colorful fishes and corals was thrilling. The helpers gave us bread crumbs which the fishes nibbled from my hands leaving behind a sweet ticklish feel!! I had half a mind to stay back, but 15 mins later I was forced back on the deck…. sigh! Couple of hours later, we were cruising through the bright blue ocean on a speed boat to experience the much-hyped parasailing. My articulation skills would do complete injustice in expressing the elated feeling I went through flying mid air over the ocean alongside the only person I wanted to be with at that moment. Deep into the sea and up above the ocean within few hours – what a day!! The immensely satisfying day ended with some great African dance & music… the dancers even taught us a couple of hip shakes!
20th Sep: We had reserved the day for the exciting complementary water sports that Sands promised – wind surfing, water skiing, kayaking etc., only to be told that we need to be excellent swimmers to try those out. We were shattered… but did not want the discouraging boat club members to influence us. Seeing few other tourists perform these activities, we realized that wind surfing was beyond us. However, the water surfing experience at Dimna Lake (Jamshedpur) way back in 2005, cheered us to try out water skiing. The brave & energetic duo failed so miserably at the end of it all – Karthik drank 2 litres of sea water before he gave up and I conceded defeat after trying to turn myself around in the ocean for 10 mins. Keeping the disaster aside, we had the perfect relaxed day with an hour in the pool, a pack of cards, yummy pasta and a long walk!
21st Sep: Our return flight was in the night and we had decided to visit the Casela Bird park in the morning. We aren’t big fans of birds but the main attraction at Casela was the possibility of being up, close and person with the king of the jungle – Lions! The cabs were working out to be too expensive and we wanted to try public transport. I was surprised to find the condition of buses worser than in India but the bus stops were very cute – colored in bright green, yellow or red. The bird park has too many alternate attractions and so little birds that one may wonder why its called so. Our chief objective was to meet & interact with the lions and we wasted no time to reach our destination. It is an irony to see the beasts tamed to such an extent that they behaved like dogs. Inspite of the reassuring staff around, it wasn’t easy for me to get off the fear factor. Nevertheless, I felt quite elated to touch, feel and be around the lions.
At the end of the 6 days, it was tough to leave the bright blue beaches behind us…. but Karthik was delighted at the prospect of his mom’s sambar & rasam for the next meal!
Few tips & tricks:
1) Try to stay in the western coast of Mauritius; the eastern coast gets very windy & cold in the evenings forcing tourists to stay-put inside their rooms. In case you opt for guided tours, avoid resorts way up the north/south borders of the country. Staying around the central region would reduce travel hours and give you more time to enjoy the luxurious beaches.
2) Sands resort: Much recommended for its great service & ambience. Since we were the only vegetarians in the resort, the restaurant staff volunteered to prepare customized dinner everyday based on the cuisine of our choice. Pros – Very few Indian tourists, customized service, breath-taking Infinity pool, helpful staff. Cons – Tendency to give preference to white skin over brown skin among few hotel staff, most free water sports require one to be an excellent swimmer, remote location (about 2 km walk to the nearest village) – compelling one to buy food/beverages for exorbitant prices from the hotel
3) Try avoiding the 3 day guided tours – atleast the North Island trip was totally not worth it.
4) Food options at the resort especially for vegetarians are limited. Mauritian food is a slightly modified, bland version of Indian khaana – it is worth trying! There are lots of Indian restaurants outside the resort areas throughout Mauritius. Though we did not try those out, we heard good feedback
5) We strongly advise you not to pay for the lunch as a part of your package. On the days of touring, they pack sandwiches / burgers which get really cold by lunch time. Also, it is totally worth trying out restaurants / cuisines outside – some of them turn out to be wonderful.
6) We used SOTC – the services offered were good – no complaints. All Indian tourists seem to be attended by Seaside Tours, a local agent in Mauritius. Only Thomas Cook as its own branch located in Mauritius.
Our Take:
Priya’s rating – 8/10
Karthik’s rating – 8/10
Definitely Recommended!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Epilogue
The purpose of this blog is multifold:
- Share our travel experiences with friends & family
- List the do's & dont's for would-be travellers to the location
- Maintain a travel journal to re-live the experiences
- Ensure that we keep travelling at regular intervals
So here we unfold - our footprints on Mother Earth!
Priya & Karthik!
- Share our travel experiences with friends & family
- List the do's & dont's for would-be travellers to the location
- Maintain a travel journal to re-live the experiences
- Ensure that we keep travelling at regular intervals
So here we unfold - our footprints on Mother Earth!
Priya & Karthik!
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