I have a track record of breaking New Year resolutions
within the first few weeks of January.
But what do you expect if the envisaged goals center on fitness, eating
right, reading more, etc! However, this year my goal is far more engaging and completely
driven by “wanderlust”. I strive to take
a trip every month i.e. 12 months 12 trips! Yes, as crazy as it sounds and as
damaging it is to my bank balance, travel is what drives me.
I was mulling over this idea for a while now. In fact, in 2015 I travelled quite extensively
without such an ambitious travel goal [Jan – Thailand/ Cambodia, March –
Udaipur and around & Delhi, April – Goa, June – Srinagar & Leh, Ladakh,
July – Goa, September– Harne/ Murud, October – Hampi, Badami, Pattadakal &
Bangalore, November – Dubai, December – Sri Lanka]. In summary I travelled in all
months of 2015 except February, May and August which is a pretty exciting year
of travel!
In 2016, I plan to take this love for travel to another
level by traveling once each month. The
plan is to do a good mix of long vacations (full-time job does not permit
otherwise!) and weekend breaks. I also
hope to cover a fair variety of mountains, beaches, architecture/ historic
places and some adventure.
Thus far, I have taken 3 trips (errr….4 if you count a spill
over trip from 2015) in the first quarter of 2016 i.e. one in each month. Here is a quick round-up:
Just like New Year ’s Eve in 2015 (Arc’s Bar, Koh Samui), I
brought in this new year at a beach.
This time we were dancing and drinking away at a beach restaurant in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka.
Hikkaduwa is a beautiful coastal town in Southern Sri
Lanka. We spent 4 glorious days here connecting with the ocean. Frolicking
on the beach, watching turtles wade in the sea, trying our hand at surfing and
exploring the zen world while reconnecting with scuba diving after nearly a
year and so on...
Between the trips to the beach, we hogged on Sri Lankan hoppers, rotti, leisurely breakfast of pancakes, omelettes and fruits and lots of seafood!
The sunsets in Sri Lanka are grander and people are very warm. The country owes a lot to tourism and has so much natural beauty to offer! I do hope to return here, maybe
explore the east coast and Yala national park next time around!
Karnataka is my new found love. This time I set out to explore South-West
Karnataka by beach bumming at the pristine beaches of Mangalore/ Udupi between
sampling the Mangalorean cuisine (prawn ghee roast <3 content.="" heart="" nbsp="" our="" p="" s="" to="">
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| Must visit St Aloysuis Chapel, Mangalore |
We also paid a visit to St. Aloysuis Chapel in the college campus by the same name. This Chapel is an architectural wander and has interiors in the Roman style. The paintings on the Chapel wall are intricate and very well preserved. In fact, they do not allow photography inside! But This Chapel is a must visit!
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| Note two hot babes and iconic rock formations in the background! |
It was end January and the region was very hot, but the numerous
rounds of coconut water kept me cool. The most exciting part of the trip was St
Mary’s island, where one finds strange rock formations made of basaltic rock
supposedly when Madagascar broke away from Indian sub-continent.
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| Bekal Fort, North Kerala |
We spent the last day of our trip at Bekal which is best known for Bekal Fort
which juts out into the sea.
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| Taj Bekal, you beauty!! |
However, we made a quick trip to the fort and we
were more than happy to simply unwind (in style!) at the Taj Vivanta property in Bekal (North Kerala)
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| My favorite part of our room, the swing overlooking backwaters, Taj Bekal |
The property is sprawling and boasts of an exclusive stretch
of back-waters and it’s own private beach!
The earthy feel of the rooms with houseboat style roof, the traditional
swing in the balcony overlooking the backwater and the swimming pool offering
sunset views made our stay here very special.
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| Swimming pool, backwaters and a sneak peak of the private beach! |
To add to it, the hearty breakfast buffets and the chef recommended sea
food for dinner at their sea-side restaurant while listening to the sound of
the waves was the high-point.
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| Backwaters, Taj Bekal |
This
property is the reason why so many people visit Bekal on a relaxing/ rejuvenating
holiday. No wonder it was difficult to
part.
(Room for two cost us about INR 10,000/- = rates as on January 2016)
February 2016
Unravelling mysteries of Lonar crater, Maharashtra
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| Panaroma of Lonar crater |
It’s ironical how far and wide I travel, but rarely consider a trip in Maharashtra. Having read so much about Lonar crater (Buldhana district, Maharashtra), an action packed trip finally materialized just when February was bidding adieu.
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| Unique rocks at Lonar |
Lonar crater is one of a kind crater formed in basaltic rock some 50,000 years ago when a meteorite collided with Earth and left a deep burrow. Today this burrow is a lake whose water is both saline and alkaline and is also a thriving habitat for birds and unique flora.
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| MTDC property, Lonar, Buldhana district, Maharashtra |
We left Mumbai at 4 am and after driving through Malshej ghat,
Aurangabad, etc finally made it to Lonar by 4 pm. Lonar is almost 600 kms from Mumbai and it
was very ambitious to do a one-night stay trip to Lonar, instead two night stay
here is recommended. We checked into the
MTDC property (best stay option here and pre-booking is necessary), located at
the periphery of the crater and quickly signed up with a guide to show us
around the crater during sunset & guide us to a hike to the crater for
sunrise the next day.
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| Viewing deck |
We drove to the look-out point halfway across the MTDC
property and enjoyed unobstructed view of the crater. In photos, it just looks like a not-so-large
green water body, but in reality the crater/ lake is huge with a diameter of 1.8
kms.
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| Sunsets at Lonar |
Thereafter, we visited the hanuman temple and enjoyed the sunset. Next morning was very exciting. Our guide took us inside the crater and
showed us around the numerous ruins of temples which dot the crater. Some of the temples are being reconstructed,
while majority are inhabited by bats! There are some temples which have
carvings of figurines in Kamasutra poses, much like the UNESCO site of
Khajuraho.
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| Green water of Lonar lake and winged friends |
However, nothing beats the awesomeness of the lake, if you
discount the strong odour of sulphur! The water is absolutely green and is
covered by blue moss at several areas.
Early in the morning several winged friends were flying about of pecking
on food along the lake which is why this lake is a birders paradise. There were also our predecessors (monkeys) playing
about in the lush trees at the edge of the lake, trying their best to dodge the
huge bee hives!
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| Kamalja Devi temple, Inside Lonar crater |
Most-touristy point of the crater is the Kamalja Devi Temple
inside the crater. It sees a steady stream of devotees trickling in through the
year. We said our prayers and set off to
finish our periphery inside the crater.
We ended the 4-hour walk at Gomukh temple where one can take a shower in
the natural spring water which cascades down the artificially made holy-bath area.
Apart from the crater, we also visited
the Daitya sudan temple (Vishnu temple with carvings akin to Khajuraho temples).
Our guide mentioned that the Lonar crater comes alive after
monsoons, although the water level rises sharply. A good enough reason to revisit? – only time
will tell!
March 2016
Haridwar and Rishikesh
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| Meandering Ganges |
Pilgrims are drawn to Haridwar, foreigners are charmed by
Rishikesh/ yoga by the Ganges , well for me the biggest draw was rafting in the
Ganges. A cousin’s wedding in Haridwar
was the perfect excuse to strike the rafting off my bucket list! I spent 3 days and 2 nights in Haridwar of which majority
time was spent in the weddings ceremonies and the balance in sight-seeing.
Thereafter, we had a full day of rafting pre-planned
(cost us about 2500 including vehicle and rafting the 24 kms stretch from Marine
drive) on our last day. Our rafting company picked us up at out hotel in
Haridwar and after driving for 1 hour we reached the office of our rafting
company. There we picked up our gear –
life jacket, helmets and oar and set-off for a 45 minutes’ drive to Marine
drive (starting point of our 24 kms rafting). The road was meandering and gave
us stunning view of River Ganges throughout.
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| The gang! |
At marine drive, we suited-up and got a briefing from our
instructor. Thereafter we set-off for a
a few kms of lazy rafting, peppered with insane double rapids. As the summer was just setting in, the water
level in Ganges was quite shallow in parts exposing the rock-bed underneath and
making rafting more dangerous. Thus,
having an experienced and friendly guide helped.
Our rafting route from Marine drive to Shivpuri (approx. 11
kms) took us about 2.5 hours whereby we tackled some popular rapids such as
cross-fire, 3 blind mice, etc. Thereafter, we completed the stretch from
Shivpuri to Rishikesh in another 2 hours. The rapids in this stretch were
difficult and the rain/ thunder storm made it harder to row. Luckily, the hot tea and vegetable maggi at the
most-looked-forward to halt at Maggi point (approximately 3 kms short of
Rishikesh) energised us. The last
stretch to Rishikesh was interesting with views of the numerous hotels/ yoga
retreats dotting the river bed and the stunning views of lakshman and ram
jhula. After finishing the 24 kms stretch of rafting, we were tired and socked
to our bones and hot pakodas and mathris set us back on track for the return
journey to Haridwar.
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| Overrated aarti at Ganga ghat |
At Haridwar, we freshened up and went to Ganga ghat for the
evening aarti. The aarti was to start by
6:30, but even at 6 the crowds were maddening and the whole place was very chaotic. The aarti itself was nothing remarkable. In fact, the most enjoyable experience of the
evening was eating hot parathas and washing it down with lassi for dinner at one
of the many dhabas at Ganga ghat.
We did not get a chance to camp overnight at Rishikesh;
however, I have heard it’s a lot of fun.
One can also do other adventure activities such as zip-lining and bungee
jumping in Rishikesh. Also, I would
suggest going for rafting later in the summer months when water levels are
higher and the rapids are even more challenging.
Quarter 2: April = Kashmir/ May = ? / June = ?
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| Coming soon :) |
