Travelling

Travelling is always fun - be it alone, with a partner or in a group. Travelling takes you places, sometimes known and sometimes unknown. A travel enthusiast has great chances of discovering new places while travelling to old or known destinations. Every travel journey has a story to cherish. You get new experiences, new cuisines, new people, new traditions and scenic beauty, time to cherish the wonders nature has endowed us with. I personally love travelling. I have travelled to a lot of places both domestic and international, sometimes for work and majorly for pleasure. Every trip has given me new experiences. Some were solo trips that included business trips, treks, visit to national parks others were adventure trips on bike, trips to historical places and forts of Maharashtra, the temples , Konkan qregion. Some trips were with my partner and others included kids as well. We all should travel and explore new places,ofcourse not now when the pandemic has hit all the nations around th...

Kondhana fort of the past now called as Sinhagad Fort(Lion's Fort) is 4300ft above the mean sea level. Many battles have been fought from here in the past. Though it's in ruins now, however still serves as a tourist spot for all ages of people. It's advisable to reach there as early in the morning to avoid a lot of rush. We were 2 families with kids between 3-7 years of age. The trekking wasn't much. We did take our eatables, seating mats, water, playing material, etc to enjoy the picnic with all safety measures. We covered the pune darwaza, kalyan darwaza, samadhi. We then found a peaceful and shady place to sit down and relax. The kids played and even their parents were able to enjoy a few games, along with delicious home made food.

Kondhana fort of the past now called as Sinhagad Fort(Lion's Fort) is 4300ft above the mean sea level. Many battles have been fought from here in the past. Though it's in ruins now, however still serves as a tourist spot for all ages of people. It's advisable to reach there as early in the morning to avoid a lot of rush. We were 2 families with kids between 3-7  years of age. The trekking wasn't much. We did take our eatables, seating mats, water, playing material, etc to enjoy the picnic with all safety measures. We covered the pune darwaza, kalyan darwaza, samadhi. We then found a peaceful and shady place to sit down and relax. The kids played and even their parents were able to enjoy a few games, along with delicious home made food.

We had to board the Goa express from Goa to Pune. We asked the taxi driver to drop us at Vasco da Gama Railway Station. After around 75min drive from Calangute, the taxi stopped outside a yellow coloured building. When we looked around, it was the railway station. It's quite a small station but very beautiful, colourful, properly managed, very neat and clean. The waiting rooms were absolutely clean and the washrooms way above the Indian railways' standards. I had seen such a station for the first time and was really stuck but he beauty and the cleanliness.

The better part of being in Goa is the cruise. We directly went to the mandovi bridge and found a few agents there. We booked our tickets with Paulo Cruise for 5.30pm We boarded the cruise well on time. The lower deck had filthy washrooms. There was also an air-conditioned enclosed room on the lower deck where the performances were conducted. They had a few local dances by their dancers and also had a few dance activities fort be guests. The upper deck had chairs to sit and have a good view of the sea, sunset, water, other ships and the natural beauty in general. There was a counter also to buy some food items and drinks while onboard. This was an average experience for us. While on our way back to the hotel, we saw a few more cruises on the way which looked better than what we had experienced. Anyways, we enjoyed and the kids had fun.

This was one of the most over hyped places that we visited in Goa. Somehow the night markets are very famous in Goa and most of them happen either on Wednesdays or Saturdays. We checked with locals and decided to visit tthe Clive's Saturday night market. It was like any other flee market that happens almost everywhere now. The place was huge and was full with stalls, which was even difficult to complete or to remember which stalls have already been covered. But, all the stalls had almost similar stuff with not much of variety or options to choose from. We felt that visit of ours as a time waste.

A completely commercial beach, they have their agents roaming around in various areas and promoting the commercial activities of the beach. They have boats that take tourists in the middle of the sea showing various spots like goa jail, light house, aguada fort and dolphins jumping in their natural habitat. The boats were okay, but the natural view was nice. The shore was dirty owing to numerous commercial activities. You could find all kinds of tattoo makers, souvenir shops, ice cream sellers, corn vendor , hat vendor, sunglasses vendor and various other vendors as well.

Arambol beach is a very neat and clean beach with amazingly clean water. The beach was an hour's drive from out hotel but the drive was scenic , the route was slopy , some hills but quite serene. The shacks were better than the ones at Calangute beach though the prices were same at 200INR for a pair. Got tattooed there. Spent a good amount of time there watching the waves , playing in the water and sand.

The most famous and most commercial beach in Goa. Our hotel was 10-15 min walking distance from Calangute beach. The beach and the water is quite dirty with trash scattered around. The beach has agents who offer a package of 5 water sports in around 1300 INR. The shacks are okay. The charge 200 INR for a set of 2 and those charges are waived off if you buy snacks from their shop. It's good to relax on the shacks with some snacks/drinks and look at the sun rays falling on the water and then finally the sun going down. As a matter of fact that's one of the most picturesque landscape of Nature.

A waterfall which had been huge and surrounded with greenery in the past, and probably still has the same beauty during monsoons even now. It is located near sonalium in Goa. We could see the waterfall from the train (Goa express). The train's scheduled time while reaching goa is quite early in the morning and the fall would not be visible then , but while coming back by the same train, the time is well suited to see the waterfall.

We had planned for a family vacation in Goa. Wanting a relaxed time and considering the kids, we had booked this resort well in advance. We reached the hotel around 12noon and had to wait for around 40 minutes before we could check-in. Welcome drink was served in the meanwhile. Once the rooms were ready, we were guided to our rooms by the bell boys. The rooms were well furnished with study table, kettle, mugs, water bottles, ac, tv, centre table, refrigerator, cupboard with safety locker, iron, iron board, etc. Our room had 2 beautiful balconies facing the hotel's swimming pool. One balcony had a small table and chairs to sit or have tea. The other balcony had cloth lines which were very useful for us with the kids. The washroom was neat and tidy, properly maintained and had all the necessary toiletries available. The room was spacious and the tv was a good entertainment for the kids. The room service by the house keeping guys was a good job and we had a very pleasant stay in all ...

We planned for a weekend outing to Bhimashankar. Bhimashankar is one of the 12 jyotirlings in India. The shivling here is made in silver and visitors are allowed to enter inside and can touch the shivling. We hired a cab and started from Pune at around 9.30am. The distance from Pune to Bhimashankar is around 130kms and it took us ~3-3.5 hours to reach the temple which included a breakfast break of about half an hour with kids. As we were travelling in a Xylo, these big cars move a lot during cuts and curves on the road and that induces a nauseatic feeling. I had my 8-month old kid with me and she vomited twice due to this. We reached the temple and it took us around 2 hours to reach inside and do the darshan. Darshan happened nicely, but as it was 3pm, it was time for Aarti and they had to close the premises for cleaning, the temple staff were in a bit hurry. We also visited ram temple which is also in the same campus. While walking back, we had corn chaat from one of the vendors. We t...

We reached Alleppey around 2pm. 2 men came to pick up our luggage from the taxi and loaded onto the house boat. One by one they helped us board the boat and we were made to sit on the chairs near the deck of the boat. The dining table had fruits, water bottles and glasses kept on it. There was a standing fan which was cooling us a bit and in a few minutes we started sailing through the back waters of Alleppey. The bedroom was well maintained and the washroom was clean though it was quite congested. The view was amazingly beautiful. It was very very hard to take our eyes off. We clicked a lot of pictures of the coconut trees, the greenery, nature,house boats, boats of local villagers and everything possible throughout our stay on the houseboat. Wand fulfilled this request as well.\nAt 9am we checked out of the houseboat with some very beautiful memories for lifetime.e were served with a delicious Kerala style food for lunch post which we went to the deck of the house boat and the view f...

We reached Trivandrum around noon. Pappukutty beach resort was booked for us. This one was the least clean hotel of all the ones during our trip. The advantage of the resort is it is located on the beach (Kovalam beach) with all sorts of shops and restaurants around it. Because the resort is on the beach, it is a bit far from the road. If you've heavy luggage, you'll need to call the receptions they'll send a cart to carry the luggage till the hotel room. We were given a room on the ground floor , but it had dampness on the walls leading to smell in the room. We checked about it with the reception staff and they got us shifted to the adjacent room. There was swimming pool right outside the room which could be used by the guests. My husband and daughter enjoyed in the pool, while I enjoyed a freshly prepared omelette in their in-house restaurant. As it was afternoon, and the sun was too hot to go to the beach. So, I went for a fantastic fish spa for my feet and hands. It was...

We freshened up at our hotel and walked till the boating ticket counter, bought the tickets and then had to stand in the queue for around an hour before we could get onto a boat. The boats have a capacity of 150 passengers and ferry the visitors to the Vivekananda rock memorial. There's an entry fee to the memorial. They have a small room where they show a documentary about the place, it gives the visitors a background about the importance of the rock and what happened in the history. The place has 3 different halls. One has the statue of Vivekananda, another one the footprint of goddess Parvati and the 3rd one is a meditation hall. All the halls expect you to be silent and photography isn't allowed inside the halls. The view outside is amazing with water all around and when you get to see the sun going down, it looks awesome. There's a statue of Sri Thiruvalluvar near the Vivekananda rock memorial and it looks mesmerizing too. We then came back to the starting point by the...

We checked-in to hotel Temple Citi in Kanyakumari. This was the most fabulous room amongst all of them that we have checked-in during the entire trip. A spacious 2-double bed room with wardrobe, TV, sofa, AC. The room was very neat and clean and so was the attached washroom. This hotel is very near to the boating point. Their restaurant is located on the 3rd floor. The breakfast buffet spread was average, but the restaurant was too warm and humid, making it uncomfortable for the guests to enjoy their breakfast. Finally, we had to get a few breakfast items down to our room and have them there. The old man who carried our luggage during check out was nice enough to thoroughly check the room and make sure we hadn't left any of our belongings there.

Our booking was done in hotel S.S. Grand in Rameswaram. We reached this quiet place by around noon and were given a nice comfy room within no time. It had an AC, mini fridge, TV, kettle, double bed, and almost everything that you might expect from a hotel room. We freshened up and relaxed while enjoying a hot cup of coffee. The official breakfast buffet timing starts from 7.30 am. As we had to travel too much the next day, we got ready early and reached the hotel's restaurant around 7.15am and were asked to wait saying you won't be allowed before the designated time. At 7.30am, though the reception staff allowed us and the other guests inside the restaurant, but the breakfast want ready. They got only a few items at a time by 7.50am but everything was being served hot and very nicely. The delay in time was made up by the hospitality. A nice stay and a happy breakfast!

This had been the largest bridge before the Mumbai's Worli sea link was built. Pamban bridge connects Rameswaram to mainland India. It's a huge bridge and the surroundings are very beautiful. We reached there during the afternoon and it was flooded with tourists, and hence it becomes a no-stopping zone with policemen strictly patrolling and not allowing public to stop their vehicles on the bridge. There's also a railway track which runs through the sea and is known to be an experience! The shore at one side of the bridge was docked with a lot of boats ⛵ . The entire place was very scenic and airy.

Our purpose of going to Madurai was to visit this holy place. We relaxed for a while and then went to visit the Meenakshi temple. We are from our hotel around 4pm and reached the temple. The road leading to the parking was narrow and crowded. We got down near the temple to walk while our driver drive the car to the parking area. We removed our footwear at a shop near the temple. Mobile phones, bags and other such stuff is not allowed inside the temple and needs to be deposited in the locker room. The guards at the entrance all you to be fully covered (not really sure what it means). I was wearing a cut sleeves top and trousers, so she asked me for a stole/dupatta,etc and wrapped it around me like a shawl. There was too much of rush inside the temple. We got to know there was a free line (queue) and a paid queue. Such things are practiced only in places where Hindus worship. I haven't seen any such discrimination at places where any other religion worships. We paid ₹50 per entry to ...

Hotel Annamalai was chosen for our stay in Madurai. We reached the hotel and asked for our room. The room want available. Though we had booked in advance, the hotel staff at the reception said few of the rooms are being cleaned and would be made available soon. We were asked to wait. After a wait of 15-20 minutes, we were given a room. One of the staff carried the luggage to the room. The room was clean, nice and spacious. We ordered dinner from their in-house restaurant (Anjappar) for room service. Their service wasn't upto the mark and language was a problem there. They couldn't understand either hindi or English properly. But the food was good and on the spicier side. Overall stay was nice with a few glitches here and there.