Skywatch Friday... Over the ocean yonder..

It was one of those plans that fell into place before you could blink our eyes twice.. Well, that is a bit of exaggeration, but nevertheless it was a trip that happened without too much drama..  A bunch of us decided we should do a trip... The gang had planned an earlier one, but few of us couldn't go [last minute] and this time the troops were playing it down and keeping it low.. 

None of us squealed about it to anyone. Some did share the news, well God bless their understanding families. Some of the others had to cook up stories, some just said "work"... It went to such an extent that one family left the day before and were there ahead of the rest of us..ha ha... 

Since I have been there numerous times, I was given the task of finding us the place to stay at.. After a bit of debate, it was down to 3 of us who took the decision.. Hotel Atithi it was!! I have been here for lunch earlier, and remember it being fairly close to the beach and being a nice property, it would be a good bet. 

We had decided to scoot Saturday morning and be back Sunday evening.. Reached the hotel around noon, checked in and waited for the souls who had landed earlier... And thus began our trip... 

Here are a few pictures from the Hotel.. The view was fabulous[we could see the ocean not so far away] a huge field of sorts, a small lane with a temple where there was quite a bit of activity happening.. The rooftop restaurant looked very inviting, and then there was a pool right on top.. Wow what a view!! 

For more beautiful skies, visit Skywatch Friday ... 

Another weekend, another destination

Am loving the new turn of events.. When I was looking forward to welcoming 2015, I knew I was going to travel lot more this year but did not have any real plans in place. And then things fell into place and here I am all set to pack my bags once again.

I am off Thur night/Fri early morning to a destination that is new, and should be back Tue morning sometime! I am quite excited about this trip, and it is once again with a friend who hasn't really done too many trips sans her family. She is nervous/excited and anxious... haha...

Where am I headed to? Well, that is for me to know and for you to guess.. But I promise that the 1st 5 who get it right will get something as a reward once am back... :-))

Clues:
1. it is nearby yet far
2. I do require a visa to explore this town
3. English is not their native language
4. The flight duration is less than 10 hours
5. It is not a cold country [ but I do hope & pray it is pleasant atleast]
6. There are quite a few beaches/water bodies around here.. 

Fire away your guesses..

Adios!!  

Adios Kumbakonam

"Boom" I hear a cracker burst, beyond that I hear a dog howl and a child wail (am sure they were scared of the sound). Next door, a man in a worn out lungi sits with his legs stretched out. Probably home for lunch and resting his feet a bit. Few door away 2 girls are playing hop scotch with n old frail woman watching them from the verandah. The minute they hear the horn of the bus, they stop playing and wave.. I wave back at them and they grin, from ear to ear..

Oh,look there's a man sculpting a shivalinga idol, knocking on the stone over and over again till it breaks away. A lily pond with nothing but bright green moss covering its surface

A bus drives past, nearly brushing past my window jolting me out of my revere. The bus winds through the roads, honking at other trucks and cars ahead. Celine dione sings "beauty & the beast" - feels like she is talking about what am feeling now- leaving the beauty of the small town heading back to the big bad world called city life.

It has been 2days of sheer bliss, not just the sights and sounds, but being able to spend time with myself.. I am in a new town, a place I have been wanting to visit, but just dint seem to happen.. I guess it was "Time" or "destiny". And now am heading back, not sad, well little sad,but with the smile I had as I hopped on the bus on saturday morning in Chennai .

A loudspeaker plays a tamil movie song as the bus moves along.. 2men walk pushing a motorbike along...cool breeze sweeps my face...

I arrive in Kumbakonam

After a long journey, a bus ride of nearly 10hours i have finally arrived. This is a destination that has been on my radar for over 3yrs and looks like the time has finally come. Today, i woke up with an itch so heavy that i turned on my laptop and started looking for Bus tickets on Redbus.in even before i had my morning cup of coffee. I knew i wanted to get away, and i knew it had to be either Pondicherry  or Tanjore side. There were no buses available to Pondicherry and so i started looking for Tanjore, alas, none there. And then it struck me, i could check for Kumbakonam and voila, i found the one last ticket. But wait, it was for 10.15am, and the time was already 8am. Could i make it? Was i being foolhardy? I put aside my crazy thoughts and went ahead with the booking. Booked both onward and return and then went and told the family. They were flumoxed, usually i give announcements days in advance. 

Anyways, in their true style, grandparents started offering suggestions of places to see, while mom and dad asked me to be careful, and have fun. Mom's added advice "dont tire yourself out, you come back and are exhausted usually".. haha... 

So, here i am, sitting in the hotel room, typing this post. Just had a good cup of hot Kumbakonam Filter kaapi and ready for some dinner. I havent had a morsel to eat all day [ if you overlook the packet of biscuit and juice i guzzled down], but heck, 10hours and just that? you feel bad for me, right? 

Alrighty, time to sign off and head out..

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The Dargah ...

"Are you journalists?" 
"In which paper do you write"
'You are both travelling alone?"
were some questions that sparked off conversations, helping us kill time, making the bus journey enjoyable. 

We were back on the bus and on the road after a brief stop in Chidambaram for about an hour, just enough time to check into the hotel near the bus stand and grab a quick lunch. 


'How much further to Nagore?" i asked the man in the seat ahead of ours.
 "Another 10 mins maximum.. you are going to the Dargah?" he replied.
"Yes, sir." we replied in unison. 


Though Nagore and the Dargah had not been in our initial plan, since we were heading down that road, we decided to make a quick stop here. This was the 2nd time S and i were doing one of our up and go weekend backpacking trips... 

Destination - unknown [ we had zeroed in on Chidambaram to be our base and thought we shall wander around there... maybe as far as Veilankanni church...]

Duration of trip - 2 short days  

Agenda- None :) 

Travellers- 2 absolutely excited souls... me and S 

I was telling S -"My grandparents have been here... apparently people from all religions are welcome here and they visit here- not just for a prayer, but consider the Dargah to have special powers"  when the bus drew to a sudden halt.  Bidding good bye to our fellow passengers we spotted the colorful walls of the Dargah ahead of us just as we stepped of the bus.

A small elephant stood near the entrance blessing visitors. it had a crescent and a star on the forehead and looked no bigger than a baby.

As we walked into the  long corridor leading to the Dargah, rows of brightly lit shops caught our eye on either side of the walk way. filled with little knick knacks, toys, garlands, souvenir from the Dargah. it was quite a sight. 

Nagore One of the popular pilgrimage centres for Muslims in Tamil Nadu is the Dargah at Nagore. The tomb is more than 500 years old. It has a golden dome, flanked by five minarets. It also has a tank called Peer Kulam, which is believed to have waters with curative properties. The Kandhoori festival of the Saint, during the Islamic month of Jumad Thani (Jumad Akhir) is an important festival celebrated by people of all religions.

Situated 4 kms north of Nagapattinam, Nagore is home to the famous Dargah of Sufi Saint Hazrath Syed Shahul Hameed Quadir Wali 

Entering the Dargah, a man came towards us, and asked us to leave our bags near the door and follow him inside. Noticing the apprehension in our faces, he showed us an ID card saying he was an authorized personnel from the Dargah. guided us to a room just outside the main prayer room, and offered us a few packets and asked us to make a donation, minimum of Rs100... We were taken aback, and realized here was another way of making us part with our money... Managed to convince him we were students and offered a smaller sum and rushed to head out of the place... 

Looking for a place to pick up some water from, we looked forward to other adventures that awaited us that day.. 


photographs:
1st one taken on my N95 8GB phone
others on my canon camera[film camera :)]

[Skywatch friday] Heaven indeed

As the sun sets, the clouds dance to the colours in the sky....

The Puri Jagannath Tempe in Chennai on ECR had us all captivated with its beauty, pristine marble, and silence that enveloped us..... 

For more beautiful skies, go to Skywatch Friday

Quick Getaway.. Pondicherry!!

Sometimes you dont know which direction you are headed till you actually reach!! 

For us, it happened literally..It was the Christmas long weekend, and the plan was a trip to Karnataka, but Murphy came into action, so we did a U turn and breezed towards Pondicherry instead and what  fun the 2days were..!!

Completely unplanned.. no agenda... infact we dint know where we were gonna stay as it was the Christmas weekend and all hotels and guest houses were full, err lemme rephrase, they all had rooms available for 24th but we had to scoot on 25th morning... since we were planning on getting there on 25th, we took the only alternative available, and decided to gate crash into Apar's aunt's place!! 

Shimmering waters along the ECR

Every time i go to Pondy, its a whole new experience.... 


Different company, different atmosphere, different discoveries .... !! This time was no different.. Not only did we try a new restaurant - Lunch @ Haveli in Hotel Annamalai International, but also managed to fulfil our dream of having Baileys irish cream [@Rendezvous with yummy pasta dinner].. 

Part of the Christmas decor @ Ananda Inn

One of a kind experience was witnessing a whole brigade of people at the beach and on the streets [ had me wondering why, till my friend said - its Christmas/ long weekend-Duh!!] ... 

Windmill peeping from behind the walls of the cafe/shipping arena @ Auroville

Discovered Pondy had a Sringeri Sharadambal temple [ had to share that bit of news with folks at home and the instant words were out, they were all yelling - go visit the temple]... 

A canopy on the beach [ pic taken during my earlier visit]

Took friend and her son to Auroville, only to be told we cant go into the Matri mandir any more, not unless we had prior permissions or knew some big shots.... ;o) [Only big shot i know is Me...:D] .. we were shown a video footage of how the whole project began and has evolved over years.. the last few times i'd been to Auroville, we had gone inside the Matri Mandir, right up to the top, to see the crystal ball... !! but now, rules have changed!! for the better am sure!! 

Matri mandir at a distance... Auroville... after a lovely 1km walk!!

Had the most yummmmiest lunch @ Ananda Inn- buffet, the spread was delightful- starting with salad down to the desserts... Only disappointment was they were out of Chocolate eclairs and my friend wanted one, asked a couple of people, but alas we left without savoring one of them eclairs...!! Always a next time!! 

Waves lashing against the rocks at the beach

We did make a quick stop at the Aurobindo Ashram, sailed along the queue and swished right out.. never seen such a crowd in Pondy, ever...!! 

The lighthouse, standing guard

I truly believe - 


1.Travel to explore unexplored sights and scenes...


2.Get lost - literally and otherwise, for only then will you learn your way around and unravel hidden truths about yourself... 

The evening sky, moon shining bright..

3.Have no set agenda, that way you can go with the flow and see more... i love visiting unheard of, out of the order, non touristy yet interesting places...! 




4. Walk... thats the best way to enjoy a new town..
If you cant walk, use local transport.. good fun and you learn so much more about the place/history/must visit places and so much more..

Matri Mandir, in all its Glory @Auroville

We took the bus from CMBT, Koyembedu... not the volvo, but a regular one, costing about Rs55 per person.. and within Pondy, we walked or took the auto.Mind you, autowalas are as bad as in chennai, so be ready to haggle... 

Return was also via bus, except this was wee bit better, and airconditioned, so tickets were Rs145 each... Bus takes about 3.5 to 4hrs, with one pitstop... And buses ply from Chennai & Pondy every 15mins!! 

Off i go to yet another familiar yet unfamiliar town tomorrow... Will come back with more stories.... Till then, adios!! 

Coromandel Coast... Mahabs!!

It was a bright cool saturday, i was all excited for i knew it was gonna be a fun weekend! my bag was packed, camera battery charged and all pepped and ready to go!!! There came the call i was waiting for -

"lets meet for lunch at 1 at New Woodlands and then can scoot from there", he said..

"Wokie dokie", i chirped... before bidding adieu to all at home and stepping out!!!

Antique car parked in New Woodlands parking lot...

As we drove along the ECR after a fun meal, the cool breeze kept us company, soothing music from the radio and our phones/ipods kept us in high spirits..!! We had no agenda, dint have any plan of any sort, but all we knew was it was going to be a good weekend...!! Woohoo... :-)

Pretty butterfly art on a rock near the toll booth on ECR

Now, have i known these looney bins long? nope... 2 of them I've known little over a year, and the 3rd, the Senor ;o) well, met him thru the other friend sometime in Aug and we just hit it off...

Where were we headed? Not far... Mahabalipuram aka Mahabs.....

 Interesting stall, dont u think?

Only smart sensible thing about this trip was Senor and moi had done a bit of research and i had called ahead to check if Golden Sun Resorts had rooms, which they claimed they did and we could just drive in, and no advance booking was required!! Oh well, we sure hoped their word was good..

 Terracotta horse standing tall outside our room

Drove on past the Golden sun, reached A2B -adyar ananda Bhavan - had a coffee and fed the kiddo some dosa... experimented some with our cameras and were on the road once more, this time back to the resort to make sure that room was available.. after a quick tour, peek a boo, we found a room.. Room 14, alas, discovered the front door wouldnt shut...up we went to Room 12, and there we found key wouldnt work in the lock.. what a bummer , right? nope, we were enjoying this!!! :D

playing around with the lights in the beach

Finally settled into Room 11, the one we saw 1st.. the french door opened out to the pool, and a few steps away was the ocean.... beautiful.... we were 3 and half happy contended souls !!

Why not check out the Shore temple? we thought and made our way out the resort towards the beach... it was nearly 7pm, dark and so couldnt shoot any pics, but the place was beautiful.. could make out the silhouette of the shore temple against the night sky...

Pathway to the ocean

The mommy and kiddo took a ride on a friendly horsey called Santhosh.. the horsey took liking to senorita, licking her hands like Floppy does to me..hehehe..following which we had a bit of adventure..Mommy discovered her phone was missing, and we set about looking for it in the beach, while a brainwave struck me and i called her number only to hear a guy's voice telling me he had the phone and had just called her home, told her mom the same thing!!

 The 3.5 stooges

Phew.. such a relief... but that kinda took the zing off the evening, and we walked back to the car park to return to the room...

Golden sun reception area

Armed with camera, and our wacko mood, we walked to the beach.. playing , cracking up, clicking pics... playing in the swing.... grooving to the romantic numbers that floated in the air... What timing- hunger bells were just about starting off in our tummies, as took us to the open air restaurant.... The buffet was what we had opted for, Rs200 per head- naan, a kebab kinda starter, couple of side dishes, rice, pappad, and curd rice with pickle were the order of the night.... lazing by the pool, just letting our thoughts flow, we were chilled out completely.....

Pic of Shore temple a friend had taken during her visit a year or so back...

We were tucked in by 9, but sleep was nowhere in sight... Senorita suggested we play cards, and that we should go buy a pack[ well, what happened there shall remain a secret, that is until any of the looneys come around reading this post....:D] ... which ended up on me, the brave one! hehe... so, out i went into the dark night to buy a pack of cards... the game began around 10, and suddenly the pros wanted one more pack, so off they went this time... we played Rummy for an hour or so... before calling it a day, or rather night and snoring away.... :-)

The next day dawned bright and early... 5.30am.. Senor and moi, took our cameras and headed off to witness the sunrise, capture the moments on our cameras... It was beautiful, breath taking and an amazing sight that never fails to leave me speechless... !!

Sunrise at Mahabs beach

Time sure flies when you are having, a phenomenon that i see happening over and over and over again!!!  it was 9 by the time we showered, and got ready to hit the road.. back to Chennai.. not before making a stop for breakfast at A2B... that place is just amazing - hot food, good quality and not very pricey... right next to the Radisson Temple Bay and walking distance from the Shore temple, it draws quite a bit of crowd...

A pic by senor...

Savoured the ride on ECR... laughing, having a good time we reached the city... That was one fun weekend... sometimes, it pays to just up and go, esp with a bunch of equally nutty adorable caring sweet nuts called friends... :) Thanks guys for yet another rocking trip!!! :)

Trying my hand at clicking diff kindsa pics with my camera!

[Next time, lets do Mahabs and actually get around to visiting the heritage sights and beaches]