Weekend getaway to the K land...

After a long hiatus, am off on a weekend trip... Ever since Dec showed its face, I have been itching to get on the road and explore a new destination. I had a place in mind, but alas was unable to plan and now the flight rates have hit the skies and beyond.

Consoling myself, I had decided to hit this town that has been on my "Must visit" list for quite a while now. I have had conversations with friends who visited here, some recommended it highly while others said "Cha, nothing there but empty houses, no point". But the heart wants what it wants right? And so, I am off to this town, not so far away from Chennai to explore and see what it holds for me...

Started as a solo trip, but then plans changed and a friend is coming along.. The 1st time we are travelling together.. Excited and anxious!!

All I am dreaming off are long endless corridors, beautiful pillars, colourful walls, the palace, the temple, the church all tucked into a quaint little town. I have seen enough photographs and videos of the place, so now am ready to go say hello...

Any guesses where am headed to?

Skywatch Friday.. Blue waters in SriLanka

Ah, the memories from the Sri Lankan trip continue to linger on... I was talking to a friend about the fresh sweet Strawberries from Nuwara eliya and so decided to do a post on the place for today's skywatch as well.. 

After being on the road for the better part of the day, visiting K Galle, Kandy and Pinnawala, we had decided to halt at Nuwara Eliya for the night. We drove along the winding road, stopped at the first B & B, bargained for a good rate and tucked into the warm cozy bed. The next morning, we hit the road fairly early and as we drove down, the sun was beginning to rise shimmering in the blue lake. It was a beautiful man made lake that also had a amphibian in it [ one of those planes that flies and glides on water].. The water looked like a million diamonds had spilt.. 

Further down, we stopped at a small roadside shack for a quick breakfast- had the most yumm tasting coconut roti and the lady also told us of a Sita temple nearby which was quite a beautiful one at that.

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday ... 

Skywatch Friday- Humannya- Blow Hole, Sri lanka

As we were driving along towards Matara, our driver announced there was a Blow Hole nearby and asked if we wanted to visit. Ofcourse we did!! We nodded our heads till it was ready to fall off our shoulders. He then drove into a narrow lane and puled into a parking lot. Now this amazing thing about Sri Lanka is that in most tourist places, the parking lots are manned by locals. There were old women standing around every corner inviting us to park in their spot. Maybe that is how they earned their living.. Here, we pulled into a lot near a small shop of sorts. We paid the parking fee to the lady [about 100LKR] and made our way down the narrow lane around bends and corners. And then came a sudden flight of steps, basically rocks put together to form steps. We climbed up about 20 of these, came to a landing and then up another 40-50 steps. And then when we stopped to check the place out, we caught the beautiful shimmering ocean beneath. 

There is a small center of sorts with pictures and posters describing the Blow hole and different sea animals around the place with seats meant for school kids[ a visitor information place]. This is also were we bought our tickets [500LKR for the 2 of us] and then went on to find the way to the Blow hole. There were a bunch of rock steps leading up into the trees and beyond. I noticed a couple come down from there and wondered how far the spot really was. And then there were few steps down to the ocean, which was just too inviting to resist. 

My friend and the cab driver went ahead and I caught up with them slowly. I dont have a few of heights, but the rounded rocks were a challenge... I finally reached the top and saw nothing but open space. There was the ocean below, and then I noticed a path of sorts had been made by the high ocean waves. There was railing all around and we positioned ourselves right in front, near the guy who worked there. Ajith has been working at the Blow Hole site for 7yrs now and he says he loves it. He is all about "wait 2 mins madam, it will come, so many big ones in morning.. low tide.. one more.. one more..." kinda guy!! We stood there for nearly an hour, watching the little squirts and a few big ones pop through the cliff . It sure was a sight to behold... 

The Kudawella Blow Hole or Humannya is a rare geological formation of nature. Situated at the southern coastal village of Kudawella, it is the only Blow hole in the entire Asian subcontinent and the 2nd largest in the entire world. The Kudawella village name literally translates to "small beach", it took quite a hit in the 2004 Tsunami  and is in near ruins today. 

The blowhole itself is a natural crack in the rocks, and when the wind blows in the right direction the water shoots up the cliff and into the air The water shoots up above the cliffs during the monsoon seasons [Ajith told us it rises over 30-40 meters]. Infact, the place Humannya [Hoo-mannya] derives its name courtesy the  wooshing sound of the water as it comes up the cliffs.  

We got down half way, went over to the Emerald ocean, spending a few minutes standing amidst the rounded rocks, collecting shells and then made our way back to the car. We felt like we had traveled to the moon and back!

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday ... 

Srilanka- An overview of our trip

Now that we had landed in Colombo, the excitement within us was brimming over. Even though we did not have a concrete plan or an itinerary, we managed to cover quite a bit in the 6.5 days we were there in Sri lanka.... Here is a quick jist of all that we did and places we went to,

• Land in Colombo afternoon 2.45pm
• Stayed the night in Colombo at Lafala Hotel
• Dinner at Yaal restaurant on Welawatte beach road [ good veg food] next morning left for Dumbula & Siguriya- long drive ahead. 
• Saw 2 temples and climbed 1/4 way up Siguriya [very hot and after a point there is only a ladder.. about 2000 steps up are few cave temples]
• Then drove to KGalle [ to a friend's house] 
• Moved ahead to Pinawala elephant orphanage [ spent about 3.5 hrs here.. lunch was packed by friend]
• Do some shopping at Laksala inside the elephant orphanage [it is a govt store and very very good - masks, mugs, tee shirts etc]  
• Headed to Nuwara elliya [ stopped at a strawberry farm enroute for a half hour, and bought a box of yumm strawberries]
• Halted that night at Nuwara Elliay- Midky hotel  
• Next morning drove out towards Yala, stopped enroute to see the Sita temple[ where she walked thru fire] and reached Yala around 2
• Hopped on a safari truck for the safari - took about 3 hrs in total [ cost of safari jeep- 5000LKR and safari itself was another 5000 LKR]
• Drove towards Kataragama and stayed at a hotel called Rasoja [very new and basic, but good]- again worked out to about 50$ incl breakfast -no wifi
•  Morning 9am went to Kataragama temple- spent 4 hours here, saw puja and had prashad.. also walked to the Buddist temple within the complex [ about a km away]
• Drove down towards Unwatuna- stopped at Hummanaya to see the Blow hole - it is on top of a cliff, short trek but worth it], there is also a beautiful beach below.

• We stayed that night in Unawatuna [ on a brand new property literally above the ocean]- will recall name of place and share! 
• Morning drove towards Galle- stopped at a Turtle sanctuary [ entry 500LKR per person] and then explored Galle fort area a bit, walked around and finally drove to Madu river [ like pitchavaram, we did a 3hr river cruise, hopped off at cinnamon island, explored the place, bought cinnamon] , held a baby crocodile, there is also a fish spa if you are interested[200LKR]
• Had lunch at the resto there and drove to Colombo straight. Reached around evening 7. 
• Checked into the most awesome place[ you should check this place out- Colombo haven, run by a couple who treated us like their kids and fed us amazing veg food. The galle face beach is about 20mins walk from here . there is also an ice cream place in front- carnival ice cream
• Last day, we left to House of fashion - did some shopping[ v nice place] and headed to airport. 

Now that you know all that we did, wait for the experiences to come in the subsequent posts... :-))

Srilanka- The departure

So, now that we were done with the Planning and Research, we had our ticket and our bags were packed. Since we were flying out of Madurai, both of us left our resp destinations the prev night and reached Madurai morning 6ish. We met, had some breakfast, freshened up and hailed an auto to go visit the Temple. The auto driver offered to wait, and drop us at the airport for Rs300. We agreed, esp since it gave us peace of mind regarding our luggage [ we were wondering if we had to lug it around] and we had a ride to the airport [12-15kms away]. 

He patiently waited the hour while we did the Temple Darshan and dropped us off at Madurai airport. We were early, we had reached by 9.15 when the gates were opening only at 10. We sat and waited in the lounge. At 10am, we checked in our bags,  and were asked to fill out Immigration form - it contained fields where you had to fill in- Name, nationality, city of residence, date of travel, passport number, issue & expiry date and the address we were headed to [make sure to mention city name if not the entire address]. Once this was done, we once again had to wait for a while for the Immigration counter to open.  A man checked out passport and the form, and put a stamp and sent us on our way.  

Always carry your passport and a copy of the ticket/visa along with you!!

{yes I clicked this selfie after the stamping]

We made our way upstairs and waited few minutes before security check in. Once that was done we were off to the gate to wait for Boarding call. 

Ta da.. we were all set to hop on the shuttle and get into our flight. Lo Behold, I noticed that our flight was a small one, a Spicejet "Laung" Bombardier Q400. Our seats were in the 18th row and so we had a short walk to our seats.! Buckled in, we were all set to take off.. 

And this began our Sri Lanka Holiday....................... :-)) 

Srilanka- The Hotel Research

Now that you are done with Planning the trip, it is time to do some research and get some information on the country, places to see, things to do, and other little matters. 

While my friend continued to speak to the contact she had in SL, I did some research through friends and the good ol internet as well. I gathered itineraries from friends who had visited, from a travel company nearby and even checked out quite a few blogs. There were a few places that all of them recommended, and some were extra, which left me with a lot of thoughts. My friend and I went to and fro on Whatsapp talking about the list of places to see, where to stay and local transport, etc.. It was mind boggling, but amazes me now that we managed to pull off a trip entirely via Whatsapp.. :D 

Some sites to refer for 

Hotel options:

http://www.agoda.com/en-in/country/sri-lanka.html

http://www.booking.com/country/lk.html

http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotels-g293961-Sri_Lanka-Hotels.html

B & B's

http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotels-g293961-c2-Sri_Lanka-Hotels.html

http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/sri-lanka.html

http://www.bedandbreakfastworld.com/sri-lanka/asia

On our 1st night in Colombo, the one thing we both wanted was to stay at a place that had the Ocean view. And for this, we chose "Lafala Hotel and Service Apartment". It was a brilliant place, the room was lovely, balcony doors opened to the view of the ocean. There was a large palatial bathroom, with a huge bathtub and a view of the ocean as well. The entire road Welawatte beach road was a pleasure to walk on. The ocean on one side, rambling trains nearby and buildings/hotels on the other side.  The one thing I noticed that most hotels here had was "free wi-fi" [It was such a blessing as I had work and friend was able to skype/whatsapp her family as well]

You can book a room here via Ctrip or Agoda. The room costed us $54 and they threw in Breakfast for one person complementary, the other we paid for. 

In other places we stayed sheerly based on inky pinky ponky, and ofcourse whatever looked impressive [good yet affordable]  :- ) But if you know exactly where you are headed, you can book ahead and save a few dollars here and there!! 

More to come in the next post.. 

Skywatch Friday... Above the Indian Ocean

There we were walking from the airport shuttle all set to hop into the flight and head off to our final destination- Colombo. We were flying in a Bombardier Q400 aircraft- "Spicejet Laung", a flight with a capacity of about 50 passengers. We hopped in via the small staircase and found our seat. The flight took off and before we knew it, we were flying on top of the Indian Ocean. The blue beneath and the white fluffy clouds above was just a sight too good to be true! It was a short one hour flight, and most of the time was over the ocean. 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday ... 

Sri Lanka- The Planning

This was a trip like no other. Why do I say that? There is only one reason why! This is my 1^st ever trip across the Indian borders, yes, I was finally gonna get a stamp on my passport and setting foot on foreign land. So what if it was Sri Lanka, our neighbouring country. It was still a country that needed a passport and visa and all that jazz! For those who have travelled across the globe, this is no big deal, but trust me – it was such a huge deal for me! Actually, this was true both for me and my friend. We had kinda made a pact a year or so ago that we would make our 1^st international trip together and it so happened that the dream came true…

She called me towards the 3^rd week of March and asked if I was game to do a trip to Sri Lanka and I immediately said Yes. She had done quite a bit of research and began rattling out flight and visa details even before the whole thing settled in my mind. I checked the net, got her passport details and booked our tickets and Visa. Within a day we had also booked the hotel for the 1^st night and we had decided to take the rest as the days progressed. I took 2 friends into confidence and asked them about places to go, things to do and so on.  I also referred to the net, checked out quite a few sites of which I found Sri Lanka Travel portal to be quite good and informative! 

[Image courtesy: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/asia/sri-lanka/map_of_sri-lanka.jpg]

We booked tickets on Spicejet from Madurai, cos that was the cheapest flight available on the dates we wanted to travel. There are quite a few other Airlines- Air Lanka, Air India Express and so on. 

The Visa was done online, and it took a few minutes only. All I did was Google “Sri Lanka visa” and the “https://eta.gov.lk/” site popped up. In that, after reading the process, i clicked on “Apply” which opened out a form that i filled out [name, passport number, issue and expiry date, address, dates of travel, and an address at the destination], then make the payment via credit card [USD 15]. However, visa is also available on arrival, but that costs USD 30.  Once you are done filling out the form, check and make sure the information provided is correct, esp passport number. If you don’t really know where you are staying [which was the case with us], just fill in Colombo [landing destination] and it works! Now when you are done with payment gateway, you will receive an email saying your visa is under process and you will hear from them in 24hours. I received a “visa approved” mail within that time and I had it on my phone in case anyone asked for it [which none did]

Similarly, for the ticket, you just need to store the email on your phone, don’t need print outs. Just make sure you are carrying your passport with you as you will need to show it at multiple places.

With regards to Foreign Currency- we did a rough estimate after talking to friends/travel agents and people living in SL, and decided we might need about 50K Sri Lankan Rupees [LKR], which was equal to Rs25000 INR. So, I called up a money exchange company, took a copy of the passport and ticket and cash and got the LKR money.

LKR is quite interesting- the notes are all different, some large, some small but all of them have a collection of birds/animals/symbols/masks on them. Quite colourful.  The LKR 2000 notes are much larger than LKR 5000. They also have coins, very similar to ours except theirs is all gold in colour.  The normal conversion rate is 1 INR= 2.17 LKR, but most places give upto 2LKR.  We needed little more and so when we approached Western Union in Galle, they offered us 1.9LKR only [lost about 500 bucks in that transaction].

That is all you need! Oh and you can draw cash if required using your ATM card from your local Indian Banks. The ATM machine gives a good rate – 1INR= 2.17 LKR. Our Credit cards also work everywhere, for no additional charge! The credit card slip comes in LKR, while the SMS/email notification in our INR.

Now that you know what you need to plan a SL trip, I shall talk about my experiences in the next post.

Guess the destination

Well, it has been quite a while since I travelled.. And so I have decided to take a short holiday, and this time am travelling with a dear friend.

Where am I headed? Well, that is for me to know and for you to guess.. And if you guess right, a small something awaits you :)

So, leave your guess in the comment and wait for me to update!!

Clues-

There are beaches

There are mountains and Hills

There are elephants and then there are people

There are temples 

There are tea plantations and 

There are interesting dishes... 

Where am I headed to ?

Oh yes, if you are among the few who know where I am headed, shh, stay away and you shall get a small something.. lol..

See you all soon~!!

Skywatch Friday...French War memorial, Pondicherry

It would be an understatement if I said this year was off to a not so great start. It has been an amazing one so far. And the 1st trip was to a town I quite love, Pondicherry. Saturday night a friend messaged asking for info on Pondicherry- things to see, where to stay etc and thus formed a plan in my head. I quickly messaged another friend who has been wanting to visit Pondicherry before she moved out of Chennai and asked if she was upto it. She replied "yes, lets go, ask others too". I asked few others but none could come since it was a weekday trip and they all had commitments. So, Sunday evening I booked us tickets on the bus and rooms in a hotel in Pondicherry. 

Monday morning both of us were on the bus on our way to Pondicherry... Yayy!!  We reached around 9.30, checked in, grabbed a bite to eat at La Cafe on the beach and wandered up and down while waiting for our other friends to arrive. 

And that is where I clicked a shot of the French War Memorial. It is located on Goubert Avenue [beach road] and  is a monument erected in memory of all the soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War. Every year on 14th july an annual commemoration is celebrated  when the monument is lit up.  

We spent a few minutes there and moved down the road where I pointed out the Joan of Arc and other monuments along the road. 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday... Astronomy and science- Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

And what a glorious morning it was. We woke up to see the gentle drizze through the window, the spotted deer grazing in the park nearby and pigeons all over the place, probably looking for shelter from the rain. We decided to go explore a few places near the Hawa mahal- maybe the City Palace and Janta Mantar. 

We hailed an auto and reached the entrance within 10mis and noticed a small queue already there. We waited near the entrance for the gates to open and then were told that we had to go around the corner to pick up tickets! D'oh! Hoping the gentle drizzle did not transform into a crazy shower, we went ahead bought the tickets and entered the complex. I have read about Jantar Mantar and knew it was all about science, but was not prepared for the massive interesting structures scattered through the space. 

The 1st plaque gave us a sneak peek into the story behind the name. The name is derived from jantar  which meant "instrument" and mantar  was referring to the "calculations". And so, Jantar Mantar literally translates to  'calculation instrument'. 

As we wandered through the vast open space, with the gentle drizzle constantly falling on our heads, we were feeling high and chirpy. The weather was beautiful, the place was majestic and overlooking the city palace. 

A guide was taking a group of spaniards giving them information in Spanish. I stood fascinated, trying to catch the words and see if I could remember what I had learnt. 

The previous day I had picked up a book about the places to see in Jaipur which had a bit of information about Jantar Mantar as well. It said Maharaja Jai Singh II, the king who founded the 'pink city' was a great scholar and an avid astrologer. He had studied philosophy, architecture,astrology and religion in various schools and was very familiar with universal mathematical concepts -Euclid's Clements, Ptolemy's Syntaxes and the Master works of Aryabhatta. 

In 1718 he decided to build an observatory which drove him to study astronomy. He then went on to build five different conservatories across North India. But, the 'Jantar Mantar' at Jaipur is the biggest one of them all and it houses several instruments that offer precise measurements of time, the azimuth, declination of the sun and the positions of constellations, along with several other astronomical phenomena.  

The observatory consists of 14 geometric devices that are used to measure time, track the constellations and, observe the orbits around the sun. Popular structures within the Jantar Mantar are the 'Samrat Yantra' (the world's largest sundial), the 'Jaiprakash Yantra' and the 'Hindu Chhatri'..  We were not too big on science and dint really understand much of what we saw, but we did enjoy the leisurely walk around the place... 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday 

Skywatch Friday... Dutch live on

After ages, am back on the Skywatch Friday wagon today... All thanks to a conversation I had with a friend about Tranquebar. It has been over 2yrs since I was there last, and I do wish I get to do another drive down the Coromandel Coast... [Fingers & toes crossed]

Tranquebar (Tharangambadi as it more commonly known) is a small town in Nagapattinam district, about 45kms from Chidambaram and 15kms north of Karaikal. The name literally translates to "a place of the singing waves". It was a Danish colony from 1620 to 1845, and today a getaway destination for many. There is a Danish Fort, Church and the Governor's Bungalow to see, apart from the shimmering ocean. 

The architectural journey of Tranquebar can be traced back to the 14th century Masilamaninathar Temple built during the Pandya Regime. Then come 17th century colonial fort and 18th century churches. 21st century sees the crumbling heritage structures being restored by INTACH. This involves The Bungalow on the Beach , Gate House, Shiva Temple, façade restoration of St. Theresa’s Convent, former Danish governor’s residence and Goldsmith Street houses. Entry to this town is through an impressive two hundred year old Town Gate built with a Danish allure.  [Info courtesy : Tranquebar.in]

Canon facing the ocean in front of the Fort

 The Dutch Fort, as you enter the complex

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

Relishing the Challenge- Braving the storm

During a recent movie meet with friends, we were talking about going on a road trip to Goa. Then came the discussion of when is a good time to hit Goa, post rains, before new years, etc etc. And before we knew it, each of us was sharing an interesting incident from our travels to various corners of the country. The most exciting was from Karan. An IT boy, he has been in Chennai for a while now and loves driving around on his bike, his pride & joy.  I share his experience here. 

I was in Kerala, at home for a few days. And true to Kerala, it kept drizzling constantly. It was Friday evening and I was bored of sitting at home.  I wanted to just up and go somewhere but none would come alone using the rains as an excuse. D'uh!! On saturday morning, I woke up, had chaiya [tea in malayalam], put on my jacket and just took off on my bike. As I hit the road, the drizzles began and pretty soon it was pouring cats and dogs. I had no clues where I was headed, but I dint want to stop, I dint want to come back to an empty house. There were quite a few mountains and green fields around, luckily I knew my way around this part of the country. I kept riding and the rains got heavier. 

Along with the downpour, mist started settling in to a near zero visibility. I paused for a moment, wondered if maybe I should not be so foolhardy and just return home. But then, some craziness kicked in and I just kept riding it out.  The 1st break I took was an hour later. I was drenched to the bone, but there was such a big grin on my face. Feeling the wind and rain on my face, I experience excitement like never before. I stopped at a road side tea shop for a cup of tea and something hot to eat. There were a couple of elderly men sitting there sipping chaiya, who looked at me like I had lost my mind. One man asked me if I was from out of town and another commented "youngsters these days, no care for life, look at him". I was tempted to ask them what was the most crazy thing they had ever done. But then decided against it. Paid for what I had and got back on the road, this time heading back home. The two hours was exhilarating, giving me a sense of "freedom". 

No sooner had I parked the bike, mom came scolding me for going out in the rain. My mind was already cooking up plans for a longer drive, maybe to Kochi or Nagercoil the next weekend. Talk about Relishing the Challenge and living life to the full.... 

Skywatch Friday- Walk amidst the trees

A text from a friend "Girl, we are planning a tree walk on saturday with a few of my friends and our kids, coming? It is from 4-5pm in the Tree park in Kotturpuram" I instantly replied "Yep, will be there"

Armed with a bottle of water, I headed out towards the park, only to find the lot of them already out and about. I spotted them near the water pump, and a small make shift shed of sorts. My friend asked me to pull out the buckets and pot from the shed, while she took charge of pumping water. 

The kids were all between 4-10 and some had a tiny bucket with them, which they insisted on using. It was quite amusing. The park is not huge, but has quite a few trees and young saplings, and a path between for people who like to walk. Amidst these trees, we also spotted an adult male spotted deer that soon disappeared into the wilderness. Wondered where he had wandered in from. 

The adults in the group carried the big buckets, pouring into the smaller ones and guiding the kids towards the plants. It was amusing listening to them advice each other, get playful only to be pulled back by their parent. The best was when my friend's son P wanted to water the wild weeds and I told him they were wild plants that needn't be watered. He turned around and said 'but those plants also need water no, why you saying no put water on it?" I realized explaining this was going to be tricky..

Here we are teaching kids to water and take care of plants, and then we tell them certain plants dont need water.. Quite an awkward situation.. I decided to leave these tricky things to the parents  and distracted him to the spider on the lamp post. Kids being kids, got distracted and all swarmed around trying to catch a glimpse of the spider. One kid announced "let us pour water on the spider and see what happens"... Jeez, what is up with kids of today!!scary... lol... 

As we walked around, there were a few regulars who asked us if we maintain the place, or who takes care of the weeding and so on. Some came from a few kms away to walk, and said the park seemed run down over the past few weeks and wanted us to do something about it .


Sure felt good to have done this activity, and we hope to continue it for as long as possible and rope in more hands.


For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday

 About the park- Source: TOI 
The transformation of this area, which was once overrun by tonnes of waste and thick vegetation, was initially carried out in 2008 by the Public Works Department with support from Nizhal, a non-government organisation.Nizhal sourced and planted 240 saplings of over 100 different species of tropical dry evergreen forests/indigenous, naturalized trees/shrubs. Students and volunteers have been helping the greening process by pumping water from the lone hand pump to water the plants and adding manure.