07112022 – India Trip 22-23 starts today
Today Khyati, Anshi & I embark on a 100 day India trip.
We will blog our journey on PolarSteps at https://www.polarsteps.com/ParasMamania/6036876-india-trip-22-23
In terms of luggage, we are taking 2 cabin bags, 2 bag packs and 1 Trunki. This is a budget tour as we look to visit family, friends, historical places, temples, deserts, mountains, rivers and the vast landscape of India. I am excited to show Anshi the India that I have experienced as a child.
Please stay in touch and keep commenting.
Paras
Reviving my blog – 12 Sep 2022
Hello to all my readers,
It’s been a while since I last posted. A lot has changed and from a different perspective, not much has changed. My last blog post is Day 100 of our India trip from 2013-2014.
Today (Khyati, Anshi & I) have embarked upon a similar journey for the next 6 1/2 months travelling, meeting friends and family across the US and India. I hope to document some of our travels here.
For now, stay well and connected.
Paras
DAY 100 – MUMBAI
Day 100 – Mon, 3rd Feb 2014
A Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu quoted – “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
We started this incredible journey on 27th Oct 2013 and come today, we have marked the completion of our 100 day journey around India. Khyati and I are hale and hearty as we reach our 100th milestone. The trip has been full of incredible stories, ones we will remember and cherish for the longest time in our lives.
It is 11:50 pm Sunday evening, our taxi is driving through the lanes of Goregaon headed home. In another 10 minutes, it will be another day and more so, our 100th day. We wanted to surprise our parents. Right at the dot of 12, we knock at our doorstep and lo behold! our parents can’t believe it. They are expecting our arrival for Monday morning and here we are… What a joyous reunion and welcome back!
We have another busy day tomorrow and we call it a night around 2 am.
It’s Monday morning, Khyati and I have a few personal chores to attend to. Our parents announce that my cousin’s mother in law and family will be coming to meet us in the afternoon around 2:30 pm and requested us to be home. We gladly obliged.
It’s 2:30 pm, the door bell rings and I hurry to open the door. What do I see? My cousin and my nephew from Ghatkopar are here to meet us. As it’s a Monday and working day, I didn’t expect them to come.
In another 15 minutes, my uncle and aunt come by to meet us. An hour passes and more relatives and friends come over. We still see no sign of my cousin’ MIL and their family. My parents and cousin’ are also exchanging some concealed packets from the kitchen and vice versa. We sense something fishy in all of this.
It’s 5:30 pm, around 20-25 of our close relatives are home and everybody is gathered around the dining table. They have placed two nicely decorated cakes in the centre and they are singing welcome back song for us. What a beautiful surprise! My family have wanted to get back to me for the umpteen surprises I have sprung upon them and they can be very proud, they pulled off an awesome surprise on us.
cakes
My parents had prepared a small welcome note in Gujarati. The note was heart touching. I will attach a photo of that one soon.
celebrations
We enjoy a wonderful evening of family time, everybody is eager to hear our stories and have assembled intently in the living room. Khyati and I feel like orators addressing an audience.
This marks Day 100 and completion of our successful trip around India.
Here is a map of our recent travels.
India journey
We have traveled over 15000 km (9000 mi) in the last 100 days. We visited 18 states, 1 Union Territory and 53 cities during this journey.
Finally, last but not the least – a vote of thanks.
Thank you so much to our parents for allowing us to embark on this journey.
Thank you to our family and friends for being part of this incredible journey, whether in person or in spirit.
Thank you to all our readers, commenters for their ongoing readership.
And the person without whom, this journey wouldn’t have seen the light of the day – to Khyati!
To my readers – what other details of this trip would you like to know / read about? Please let me know in the comments section and I will be sure to write.
Best wishes,
Paras
DAYS 98 AND 99 – DEOLALI
Day 98 – Sat, 1st Feb 2014
Day 99 – Sun, 2nd Feb 2014
It’s Saturday morning 10:00 am, Khyati and I are all packed up and ready to leave for the last destination of our India trip – Deolali. It’s a small town just south of Nashik. There are few tourist spots here but the main pull for Deolali was that two of my closest friends were driving down from Mumbai to see us and we intended to spend the weekend together.
train route to Deolali
The last train journey was a smooth AC chair car ride. We reach Deolali by 6 pm in the evening and our friends – Parag and Mittal are there to receive us. It’s 6:30 pm and Alisha joins us as well from Mumbai.
Deolali rly stn
We are a full house now, we head to Parag’s home in Deolali and just relax for the evening. The air is a bit chilly in the night as we step out for dinner around 9:30 pm. We didn’t expect to hit waiting times at the restaurant but to our surprise, we were waiting for over half an hour before we were seated at the table. Well, the wait was worth as the food was so good.
Post dinner, we bring in Saturday night by playing cards and board games throughout the night. Don’t know where time flew but it was 5 am by the time we hit the sack.
It’s Sunday morning 11 am, there is an air gliding club in Nashik and it’s open to visitors during the afternoon / early evening. Our friend has made reservations and we were quite excited about this.
We take a stroll around the neighborhood in the morning and visit the Jain temples here. It’s noon, all of us are playing a murder mystery board game – “Cluedo”. The game is quite interesting and gripping. The challenge is to find answers to three questions – who is the murderer, where did the murder happen and what weapon was used to commit the murder? Mittal emerged to be the winner of the game and rightfully so, she had the most experience playing this game.
It’s 2 pm, we head out for some lunch in Nashik town and then plan to go to the Air gliding place. It’s 3:30 pm by the time we get to the main entrance of Air gliding centre, the guard stops our car at the gate and declines us from going further inside. He says that the air gliding centre allows entry to fliers on a first come first serve basis and so far, 3 cars have gone inside. That’s 15 people and there won’t be space for any more people to do air gliding today. We were disappointed on hearing this and kept persuading the guard to let us in. He just won’t budge. Eventually, we gave up on our wish to do air gliding.
It’s 4:30 pm, we head to Sula wines. There is a Vero Moda festival going on there. On our way there, we see a lot of grape vineyards and if possible, we wished to do grape stomping. Unfortunately, due to it being a Sunday and the festival time, there were huge crowds of people and the grape stomping option was ruled out for today.
at Sula wines fest
We gate crash one such vineyard and walk through the farm. We tasted a few grapes but the grapes were sour.
at the grape vineyard
It’s 6 pm and we are on our way to Mumbai. We reach Thane by 8:30 pm and meet few other friends over dinner.
USC friends
It’s 11 pm and we bid goodbye to Thane and take a taxi home.
Hope you enjoyed Day 98 and 99 of our India travel. Tomorrow is Day 100 and the culmination of our fantastic India trip.
Best wishes,
Paras
DAYS 95 TO 97 – PUNE
Day 95 – Wednesday, 29th Jan 2014
Day 96 – Thursday, 30th Jan 2014
Day 97 – Friday, 31st Jan 2014
It’s Tuesday night 10 pm, our AC sleeper bus to Pune has picked up all its passengers from Goa and is on the main highway heading to Pune. The driver has dimmed the aisle light and Khyati and I call it a night soon. The sleeper beds are 5’5” in length and for me, that is no good. The roads are in quite a good condition and we slept sound. Our bus experience was good but if I were to choose, trains are more comfortable in comparison to buses, hands down!
It’s Wednesday morning 6:30 am, we are woken up by the bus conductor who walks along the aisle announcing the next stop – Katraj. Katraj is about 10 kms outside of Pune. Some people alight here and rest of the passengers are packing their stuff and starting to crowd the aisle area. We alight at Pune Swargate and take a prepaid auto rickshaw to our friend’s place in Koregaon Park. It’s 10:30 am and post breakfast, we walk from our friend’s place to Osho Park. This park is in the quaint part of the town and the park is nestled in acres of lush greenery. We enjoy our walk in the park and then next, we head to Aga Khan palace. Aga Khan palace is where Gandhiji, his wife – Kasturba and his personal secretary – Mahadev Desai were held captive when he launched the Quit India movement against the British in 1942.
Gandhi and Kasturba
Legend has it that Kasturba ji and Mahadev Desai breathed their last at Aga Khan palace and they are buried here. Gandhiji himself carried out the last rites of these two dear people in his life.
Samadhi
On our way back from Aga Khan palace to the railway station, we notice a road sign for KFC. Anybody notice the irony in this picture? Kentucky Fried Chicken and pure veg?? haha
KFC and pure veg…
In the evening, we dine at our relative’s place in the old part of the city. It was good to meet with all of them and enjoy a lovely meal. In the photo below – Harish Masa, Jyoti Masi, Sanket and us.
relatives in Pune
It’s Thursday morning, 7:30 am, Khyati and I are at the dining table with Chaitali and Dhanish enjoying some hot breakfast. Both of us are not movie buffs but we have wanted to catch up on a film for a long time. We have booked ourselves tickets to the “American Hustle” for the 9:30 am matinee show at Inox Leisure cinemas, Pune. The movie is worth a one time watch. It’s noon, we head out from there and plan to explore Katraj. Katraj has a beautiful Jain temple on top of a hill and a zoo and snake park. We take the local city bus to Katraj bus stand and hike up the hill to the temple.
Katraj Jain temple
It’s 3:30 pm, we walk down the hill and take a shared auto rickshaw to the zoo. The zoo is huge and very well maintained.
at the Pune zoo
It’s 6 pm and we are meeting one of our other close friends from California over dinner. I have known Prashant and Dimple for over 7 years now. They were very hospitable and were inquisitive about our entire trip. It was the first place where we gave an interview of sorts. Prashant has been kind enough to jot down our interview and post it as a blog item on KutchValley – http://www.kavita.kutchvalley.com/?p=4362
It was really good catching up with him and his family.
with Prashant, Dimple and the kids
It’s 11 am Friday, Khyati and I are visiting the Tribal museum in Pune. It’s not a known tourist attraction which is why there were hardly any tourists here. The museum is small but great. It gives us insight into how the tribal folks of Maharashtra lived and worked back in the days.
at the Tribal museum
In the afternoon, Khyati and I visit the War Memorial site in Pune. The War memorial site is well protected and within the complex, it’s walls are adorned with great stories of the various battles Indian soldiers have had to fight over the years. We enjoy reading these real life experiences and are in awe of the immense contribution Indian soldiers give for us to lead such a smooth life.
In the evening, Khyati and I are meeting my work friends over dinner at a local restaurant. It was nice of my friends to come out and meet us on a Friday evening. We enjoy a good meal and catch up on old times.
with old Yardi friends
Three days in Pune went by in a jiffy. We had such a good time, thanks to all our friends, relatives and our host – Chaitali and Dhanish.
with Dhanish
Hope you enjoyed this piece, please let us know by leaving a comment.
Best wishes,
Paras
DAYS 93 AND 94 – GOA
Day 93 – Monday, 27th Jan 2014
Day 94 – Tuesday, 28th Jan 2014
Traveling from Bangalore to Goa, we had a lot of options in terms of the route we could take but Khyati and I preferred to take the coastal train route going via the Konkan region. This is a very scenic route and the train would cover this journey in the morning part. This was our last overnight train journey of our India trip.
It’s 8 am Monday morning, our train pulls into Mangalore station. The train stops here for 40 minutes and the train splits into two. One heading North towards Karwar and another heading South towards Kannanor.
coastal train route to Goa
The coach is fairly empty all the way to Karwar. We are bestowed with breath taking scenery on this route.
MVI0116 from Paras Mamania on Vimeo.
Karwar is the last town on Karnataka side before we enter the state of Goa. Our final destination is Alto Porvorim, a small town in the interiors of Goa. We had to break our journey in four parts – a) Bangalore to Karwar AC 3 tier sleeper tickets
Train to Karwar
- b) Karwar to Madgaon passenger train
Karwar to Madgaon
- c) Madgaon to Thivim Second Class seating
Madgaon to Thivim
- d) Auto rickshaw from Thivim to Alto Porvorim.
Khyati and I are just in awe of the super rail and road connectivity that India has on offer. We could get to just about any place we wish to. We reach our host’s house in Alto Porvorim by 8 pm. Post dinner, we just relax for the evening and catch up with Minal ji and share our experiences. It’s midnight by the time we call it a night.
Goa can be broadly categorized into North Goa and South Goa. The last time Khyati and I were in Goa, we had explored South Goa. Today, we planned to explore parts of North Goa with Minal ji.
It’s Tuesday, there has been a slight scuffle in Goa. The taxi union in Goa had roughed up a bus driver carrying 12 Russian tourists and there was a police complaint due to which 300-400 taxi drivers were on strike and had held up the Calangute area of Goa. Minal’s husband – Mr. Vikarm Verma is a lawyer representing the Russian consulate and he was directly involved in the dealings of this matter.
Does that deter us from our plans to visit North Goa today, I ask? “No way” was the apt answer from Minal. We liked it.
Over lunch, we had Vikram ji and their son Ameya’s company and it was good catching up with them.
with our host family
Post lunch, we head out to see Minal ji’s boutique. She has an amazing collection of fashion clothes made from all over the place. Some exquisite Kutchi embroidery work adorned her boutique. Khyati immediately connected and was browsing through the collection while I just nodded at some of the jargonistic textile terms, hehe…
We head in Minal ji’s car to Fort Aguada area. Minal ji let me drive. It’s a really fun experience to drive in Goa unlike other parts of India. People are a lot relaxed here. The ride is 10 kms going up the hill. Fort Aguada is famous for the old and new light house, the fort where innumerable Hindi movies have been shot and the Aguada Jail where Charles Shobhraj was held up.
We climb around 70-80 stairs all the way to the top of the Light House. We have scenic views of the beach, Arabian sea and inland Goa town. A nice breeze is flowing and we enjoy our time here.
atop the light house
We walk around the fort area reliving Dil Chahta Hai moments. We drive down towards the beach now. I believe, Goa is the only place where there are many shacks on the beach and people can just relax and have food, drinks and just sun bathe. We got to witness the most amazing sunset we have ever seen. It was a clear bright red sky as the sun set.
It’s 7 pm, we head back home and have some light dinner before our onward journey to Pune. It’s 8:30 pm, we bid good bye to our host family and head towards the Kakori Circle bus stand. Does the name ring a bell? Kakori Circle is famed after the infamous criminal Charles Shobhraj was captured here in broad daylight while sipping coffee at a restaurant. Post that incident, they have placed a replica of Charles Shobhraj here. We chose to take a picture of that man.
Charles Shobhraj handcuffed
It’s 8:45 pm, our AC sleeper bus to Pune is there on time. We stow our luggage in the compartment below and settle on our seats. It’s an overnight bus journey and tomorrow morning, we will be back in good’ol Maharashtra and so close to Mumbai.
Hope you enjoyed Goa with us. Please let us know by leaving a comment.
Stay tuned for the last few posts of our India trip.
Best wishes,
Paras
DAYS 91 AND 92 – BANGALORE
ay 91 – Saturday, 25th Jan 2014
Day 92 – Sunday, 26th Jan 2014
It’s Friday night 9:30 pm, our train from Mysore has pulled into Bangalore Cant railway station.
route to Bangalore
Karan and Jeenal – our friends have come to the station to receive us. We go to a nice restaurant on Cunnigham Road and after a heavy dinner, we head to their home by 11 pm.
We have quite a few friends and family in Bangalore and we specifically adjusted our trip in a way that we get to spend the weekend here.
For Saturday, we planned to visit all our friends and family. In the morning, we visit Lax Uncle and Sh. Liladhar Gada (Adha). It was really good to meet them and we consider ourselves lucky to know such eminent personalities of our Kutchi community. From there, we head to Khyati’s cousin’ house in Koramangala area.
with cousin’
We have lunch here and in the afternoon, we leave to visit Tipu Sultan’s palace and Bangalore Fort. Unlike what the name suggests, both these attractions are quite small in size. The palace is just a small building adjacent to a Vishnu temple (look at the irony – a Muslim ruler’s palace next to a temple built for a Hindu God).
Bangalore Fort
On our way back to Karan’s place, we walk by a huge construction site. As I manage a sneak peek, it turns out to be the Bangalore Metro… Look at the two underground tunnels being laid out in this part of the town. Work seems to be going in full swing.
Bangalore Metro sneak peek
In the evening, we meet one of our other close friend’ Bhavini and her family over dinner. We have been spoiled by the amount of good home cooked food we were served here. Bhavini had specially cooked a traditional Jain Malayali meal for us. The food was really yum!
We head back home around 11 pm and we are not in the mood to call it a night soon. Saturday night should be card night. All of us settle on the sofa bed and dish out card games. Karan taught us an interesting new game which we play for the next 3-4 hours. We almost lost track of time as the card game was so much fun. We finally call it a night around 2 am only to wake up in a few hours.
It’s 26th Jan – India’s Republic Day today and Karan has made elaborate plans for the morning. There is a beautiful flower show and flag hoisting ceremony at Lalbaug Gardens. We reach the gardens by 6 am Sunday morning and there is quite a lot of people given the early time. The garden is huge, set in many acres of land and we spend a good part of our morning here.
tree with innumerable branches
Flower show
It’s 8:30 am and we take part in the flag hoisting ceremony at Lalbaug.
MVI0068 from Paras Mamania on Vimeo.
It’s 11 am and we drive in Karan’s car to few other pockets of Bangalore. It was good to drive around the city and get a touristy view. Karan suggested that we try the traditional Kannadiga food at a local restaurant – MTR 1924 (Mavalli Tiffin Rooms). Legend has it that this restaurant was opened by 3 brothers in 1924 and the legacy has been continued by their family. The food was really good and from there we head home by 3 pm.
It’s 5:30 pm, Khyati and I are ready to bid good bye to Bangalore and we are on our way to Bangalore Yeshwantpur Junction for our overnight train journey to Karwar.
We really enjoyed our stay in Bangalore and cannot thank our hosts enough for the wonderful time we had.
with Karan and Jeenal
Hope you enjoyed our write-up for Bangalore. Please let us know by leaving a comment.
Our next destination – Goa.
Best wishes,
Paras
DAYS 89 AND 90 – MYSORE
Day 89 – Thursday, 23rd Jan 2014
Day 90 – Friday, 24th Jan 2014
It’s Thursday morning 8:00 am, Khyati and I are walking down Market St, Ooty to our favorite restaurant joint for some hot breakfast. For the morning, we decide to tour the Thread Garden which is right opposite Ooty Lake. This place is something unique. The designer Antony Joseph along with his team of 50 people have designed the entire garden with unique flowers, plants but all the work is done with just plain thread work. There is no stitching or any kind of printing work involved. It’s impressive to see such immense talent brewing among us Indians.
Thread Garden
It’s 11 am and we head to Ooty Lake and take a stroll around the lake. We head back to our hotel by noon just in time to check out and then we take an auto rickshaw to the main bus stand and await our AC bus to Mysore at 1 pm.
It’s 1:30 pm, still no signs of the AC bus. I go again to the enquiry counter and check. The response is “Aayega, bus aayega.” [bus will come] but when? How long do I wait for an AC bus when I saw 2 non AC buses leave for Mysore. Khyati and I had plans to visit Vrindavan Gardens in the evening but if the bus keeps getting delayed, who knows if we will make it?
Finally around 2 pm – Khyati and I decide that we will just head to Mysore in the next non AC bus. No use waiting for an AC bus when we didn’t know the delay time.
The journey was comfortable and we were just happy to be on the road to Mysore.
route to Mysore
In India, you can identify what state is the car/bus from by reading the first two letters of the license plate. On our way to Mysore, we were surprised that a truck from Haryana, North India had made its way all the way to Mysore traversing a distance of over 2500 kms.
Haryana truck in Karnataka
We reach Mysore bus stand by 7 pm and head to our hotel – Gujarat Bhavan in the old part of the town. We take a prepaid auto there. By the time we finish the check in formalities, it’s already 8 pm and there is hardly any time to head to Vrindavan Gardens. We relax for the evening and call it a night by 10 pm.
It’s Friday morning 8:30 am, Khyati and I take an auto rickshaw to the main bus stand. We have hot breakfast at a local restaurant and walk towards Mysore palace. Enroute we see the clock tower.
Clock Tower
Mysore palace is grand. The grandeur of this palace can be seen by the sheer view of the palace from outside. It’s huge and marvelous.
Mysore Palace
Mysore Palace is the main palace of the Hindu king – Krishnaraj Wodeyar. It has been maintained in immaculate condition and no photography is allowed inside. The odd thing was that we were asked to take off our shoes before entering the palace. Legend has it that people consider this palace to be a holy site and there was a temple here. After roaming around the palace, we did not see any temple inside but instead a temple is there on the backside of the palace. Did the kings, queens not wear sandal / shoes while living in the palace?
Post this, we head next door to Jaganmohan Palace. This was the alternate residence of the Mysore king and now houses a lot of paintings and artifacts.
Mysore is famous for sandalwood and artifacts. We visit the local markets just to check out what’s on display. It’s 2:30 pm and we head back to the main bus stand and have some lunch. We have an evening train to catch for Bangalore, our next destination.
It’s 4:30 pm, we have checked out of our hotel and take an auto rickshaw to Mysore Junction railway station. Our train – Tuticorin Express to Bangalore is stationed on platform 1 and we settle in our coach. I call up Karan – our host in Bangalore to inform him of our impending arrival.
Mysore is a city of such historical heritage and it’s hard to cover all tourist attractions in a single day. Khyati and I hope to come back again.
Hope you enjoyed our stay in Mysore. Please let us know by leaving a comment.
We have entered the Nineties of our India travel today. Only 10 days remaining. Stay tuned with us, don’t go anywhere.
Best wishes,
Paras
DAYS 86 TO 88 – OOTY
Day 86 – Monday, 20th Jan 2014 to Day 88 – Wednesday, 22nd Jan 2014
It’s Monday morning 6:30 am, Khyati and I have checked out of our room and we take an auto rickshaw to the Fort Kochi jetty stand. There are frequent rides to Ernakulam and we hop on a boat to get there. We reach Ernakulam Jn by 8:15 am and our train to Coimbatore is at 9 o’clock.
Kochi to Ooty route
Our final destination is Ooty but as we did not want to take a direct bus there, we decided to break the journey in 3 routes. First, we headed from Kochi to Coimbatore, the journey took about 3 hours. We reach Coimbatore Jn by 12:30 pm and then take a state transport bus to Mettupalayam. Mettupalayam is a small town at the foothills of Nilgiri mountains. The famous Nilgiri mountain railway starts from here.
We reach Mettupalayam by 3:30 pm. We haven’t made any hotel reservations and just hope to book a lodge near the station for the night. In our quest of finding a hotel room, we head near the railway station. Apparently, there are no hotels in the immediate vicinity. At the railway station, we see a sign board for railway waiting rooms available, please check with the station master. We have never lived at a railway retiring home and I was apprehensive about booking this one but the advantage being that this was right at the railway station. We decide to take it and to our surprise, the rooms were very good. Very clean and well lit rooms with Western toilets and 24 hours running hot water. We were impressed.
railway retiring room
at Mettupalayam
In the evening, we walk around the small town and have some dinner at a local restaurant.
Usually at Indian railway stations, there are continuous announcements over the microphone about oncoming train arrival and departures. I was worried that this noise won’t allow me to sleep peacefully but being the quaint place it is, Mettupalayam gets only 8-10 trains during the day. Post 7 pm, there were no more trains for the night and the next train arrived at 6 am the following morning. Win win!
We sleep sound and wake up around 6:15 am. We walk down the stairs straight to Platform 2 and our coach is right there.
toy train
The seating is quite cramped as there are 10 of us in a small coach. There is hardly any place to store our luggage but to our surprise, our co passengers did not have any luggage apart from a small carry bag. To our luck, their luggage was being transported in a bus all the way to Ooty. The train climbs to an altitude of over 7000 feet and cuts its way through scenic bridges and breath taking views of the mountains.
passing through a bridge
We could feel the cold mountain air as the train passed through 8 stops on it way to Udhagamandalam (Ooty).
at Ooty station
We arrive in Ooty by noon and we take an auto rickshaw to our hotel. It’s 1 pm, we head out for some lunch. We find a Gujarati Bhojnalay (restaurant) and have some food to satisfy our appetite. We inquire at Tamil Nadu tourism’s office for nearby attractions. We find out that we could head to Doddabetta Peak and Botanical Gardens today. Doddabetta Peak is the highest peak in Ooty and we can easily hike there from Doddabetta Junction which is just a few kms bus drive from Ooty Market. But in the last few days, a tigress has set loose herself from the nearby Mudumalai National Forest and killed three people and a cow. Hence, all hiking near Doddabetta Peak has been closed and we are only allowed to go in private cars up the hill. We enjoy our visit at Doddabetta Peak and spend an hour here.
scenic views from Doddabetta Peak
On our way back, we stop by the Tea Factory. Ooty has a lot of tea plantations and it’s famous for the various spread of teas. Our next stop is the Ooty Botanical gardens. Beautiful flowers, plants and greenery cover this area and it’s very well maintained. We walk through the entire garden and spend few hours here.
at Botanical gardens
It’s 7 pm, we head back to the market area and post dinner, relax at the hotel and call it a night around 10 pm.
It’s Wednesday 8 am, Khyati and I are having some breakfast. Post that, we head to the tourist bus stand and await our bus for the day. We have booked a package tour to explore the outskirts of Ooty and Mudumalai national forest. It’s 10 am by the time the bus has picked up all the passengers from the various hotels of Ooty and we are finally on our way. Enroute to Pykara Dam and lake, we visit Golf Lines, 9 miles and Shooting Place. These are very scenic spots in Ooty and many films have been shot here in the yesteryears.
at Shooting Place
Next, we head to Pykara Dam. From the place where the bus stopped, the dam was half a km walk. We purchase some corn and hope to eat it on our way there. Have we not grabbed even a single bite, we see a dozen monkeys running in our direction aiming clearly for the corn. Had I known earlier, we wouldn’t have even purchased it. The monkeys get closer, Khyati clings to me tightly not willing to give up her corn. The monkey comes to a halt near me and tries to find a way to snatch. I did not want to get into a tussle and I throw my corn a few meters away and the monkey immediately rushes to grab it. Few other monkeys still have their eyes set on Khyati’s corn. Khyati does the wise thing and gives away her corn to the hungry monkeys. We visit the dam and the lake. Next, we head out to the last and final stop – Mudumalai National forest. Our bus goes through the winding roads of Nilgiri mountains until we are at the foothills and into the dense forests. The forest encompasses an area of 320 sq. kms and is part of all three states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The only way to explore the forest is through a bus safari. The bus takes us through the jungle and we get to see the animals in their natural state. We see spotted deers, Sambas, herd of elephants and a leopard up close feeding on a samba.
leopard feeding on a Samba
We recommend this place if you are visiting Ooty.
We head back to Ooty and the bus drops us back to our hotel by 9 pm. It’s been a good but tiring day. We relax at our hotel and call it a night around 11 pm. The weather was pleasant, around 15-20 deg during the day and around 10 deg during the night.
Hope you enjoyed our experience in Ooty. Please let us know by leaving a comment.
Tomorrow, we head to Mysore and explore the land of Tipu Sultan.
Stay tuned with us for future posts. Only 12 more days to go for the completion of our India trip.
Best wishes,
Paras
DAY 83 TO 85 – ALLEPPEY AND KOCHI
Post updated – Feb 13th 2014
Day 83 – Friday, 17th Jan 2014 to Day 85 – Sunday, 19th Jan 2014
We had booked AC chair car tickets on our train from Trivandrum to Alleppey formerly known as Alappuzzha. The journey was comfortable and we reach Alleppey station by 8:30 pm. As we head outside, we hope to find a rickshaw to our Jain Dharamshala. The distance is just under 2 kms and I was anticipating that rickshaw wallahs might rip us to a cost of around Rs 100. I was prepared to negotiate. Khyati and I ask the first rickshaw wallah in sight to take us to the Jain temple, he will charge a mere Rs 20. My ears didn’t believe what I heard and I reiterated that I wanted to be taken to the Jain temple and he confirmed. Wow, this was just the first instance where we met an honest rickshaw driver and this experience continued all through out our stay here and in Kochi. There are no auto meters but the locals don’t charge an inflated fare. They just charge what is fair and we were very impressed.
We check into our room by 9:15 pm and lucky us, we are the only occupants in the Dharamshala for that night. Our rooms were adjacent to the backwaters and we slept sound.
It’s Friday morning 10 am, we plan to sail through the backwaters today and make some reservations for the afternoon. In the morning, we offer our prayers at the Jain temple and visit the local markets. The locals are a friendly bunch and we mingle with some of them.
Jain temple in Alleppey
It’s 12:30 pm and post lunch, we head to the boat jetty area. We have rented a private boat which will take us through the extensive backwaters for 3 hours.
Alleppey Backwaters
The experience is fantastic and I recommend it to each one of you.
snake boat used in water races
enjoying the ride
Our driver – Mr. Subbu has been riding the boat for over 30 years and is familiar with all the waterways. We sit on the upper deck of the boat and enjoy the lush greenery.
At my request, Mr. Subbu allowed me to drive the boat for some time too. Boat riding is a very cool experience and I enjoyed my time at the wheel.
at the wheels
We saw many house boats and sail boats in the waters. Boating is only allowed between 7 am to 5 pm and post that, all the boats are grounded and need to be parked somewhere.
MVI0297 from Paras Mamania on Vimeo.
We make a brief stop enroute at a local shop and enjoy fresh coconut water. The owner had a pet eagle and we take pictures with it.
with the eagle
We finish our backwater sailing experience by 5 pm and head to the beach area next. The beach was crowded and we enjoy beautiful sunset again here.
sunset
In the evening, Khyati and I catch up on our writing and we call it a night around 10 pm.
It’s Saturday 9:30 am, Khyati and I are at the KSRTC (Kerala State Regional Transport Corp) bus stand and ask some locals for the next bus to Kochi. Kochi is just 70 kms from Alleppey and a little over an hour journey. We manage to board the buses ok but our luggages had a hard time. Unfortunately, buses aren’t made for storing cabin bags and we just have to place them on the bus floor. We reach Mattencherry area of Kochi by 12:30 pm and take an auto to the Jain temple, Kochi. Kochi was FKA as Cochin. Kochi also consists of many small islands and a popular mode of transport is waterways. Kochi is called the Venice of the East.
It’s 4 pm Saturday afternoon and we head out. There is an antiques market near our Jain temple and we visit that first. Post that, we head to the boat jetty stand and take a boat to Ernakulam.
ferry ride
The journey takes 20 minutes and the ride is cheap. We pay Rs 7 pp. Public transport in most cities of India is so affordable. On the other side, we walk along the Marina drive. It’s a promenade and we enjoy our walk here. We visit a children’s park in the neighborhood and enjoy the evening here. It’s 8 pm and we take the boat back to Fort Kochi and our Dharamshala.
One of my friend’s from Los Angeles – Ronak Gala is in Kochi for a work assignment and we plan to spend Sunday together. It’s 10 am Sunday, Ronak meets us at the Fort Kochi boat jetty stand and we walk through the Fort Kochi area. Fort Kochi is a quaint part of Kochi with historic British, Dutch and Portuguese architecture prevalent in some of the houses and buildings around. We see the famous Chinese fishing nets and walk along the pier.
with Ronak
We head back to the Jain temple around noon for a peculiar event that happens daily between 12:15 pm and 12:30 pm. There are around couple hundred pigeons and at 12:15 pm sharp, the pigeons circumambulate the temple dome / spire 3 times and then gather in an open area where they are fed rice / grains. The pigeons are very gentle and they sit on your hands and peck on the grains. It’s a unique event and we were glad we got to witness it.
MVI0363 from Paras Mamania on Vimeo.
Khyati feeding the pigeons
It’s 1 pm and we have a Gujarati thali at a local restaurant. The food was good and filling. We head to the Dutch palace in the afternoon. This palace was built by the Dutch as a goodwill gesture to the king for his kind hospitality. This palace now houses the history of the Kochi kings and Chera dynasty.
It’s 2:30 pm and we take a boat jetty to Ernakulam to our friend’s place. The boat encountered a snag as we were riding in the waters and the staff had to slowly drag it to the side shore. We changed boats and reached Enakulam by 3:30 pm. We relax for a few hours as I catch up on my writing at Ronak’s apartment. It’s 6:15 pm and we head out to visit two other Jain temples in this part of the town. It’s 7:30 pm and we bid good bye to Ronak and take the ferry back home. It’s been a good weekend and it was good seeing my friend after so many years.
Hope you enjoyed Alleppey and Kochi with us. This completes our visit to the state of Kerala. Next, we head to Ooty, a beautiful hill station nestled in the Nilgiris.
Kerala Tourism is promoting their great backwaters and here are some beautiful imagery of the stunning backwaters as seen from the sky. Wouldn’t you love to go there?
Backwaters 1
Backwaters 2
Backwaters 3
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Best wishes,
Paras