Ladakh (Land of mountain passes)

 My Travel map!!!

( The Trans Himalayan Zone)
So Finally, Here I go in writing a blog on this trip. I still can't believe that I have made it. I had been doing my homework on this trip from the past 4 months before starting the actual journey.
I met few people, had an interaction with them on their experiences in ladakh, researched the places, weather conditions, The first-aid medicines, studying about the artifacts of the mountains and their impacts on the habitants, Do's and Don'ts, Acute mountain sickness.. what not!!!!
To begin, let's start with Delhi to Manali :
As soon as we reached Delhi it was mid night and we didn't any option at the airport except to come out and roam on Delhi roads.. The night life of Delhi is absolutely awesome, but still I had a lot of expectations. You will get to feel the presence of it. yes, You are in country's capital!!!
Some how we managed to pass the time till 5 AM and at last boarded the bus to manali from ISBT, kashmiri gate.
The road from delhi to manali is quite beautiful as you will be crossing through the industrial regions of haryana to the green paddy fields of punjab via chandigarh. Punjab has its flavours of rich greenery plantations through out the state.
After chandigarh we slightly moved towards east and headed towards the himachal region. The road from here slowly steeps up and becomes bumpy indicating you " Welcome to the mountains!!!"
The lovely hill station Manali is perched on the northern edge of the Kullu Valley - just 40 kms away from Kullu, at an altitude of 1,926 metres, and makes a wonderful holiday destination ideal for a family vacation, a honeymoon or on your own. The mighty River Beas hurtling through Manali adds a dramatic tone and you can spend hours watching the river rush by.
Over the last few years Manali has developed into a major hill resort, chock-a-block with modern hotels and tourist lodges. The Mall or main bazaar in Manali is the hub of activity, flooded with shops, restaurants, trekking and mountaineering outfits and wayside food stalls.
The excellent combination of wooded forests, snow covered slopes, lush green valleys and the swirling waters of the mighty Beas make Manali an ideal destination for treks and mountaineering expeditions into the Solang Valley and over the Rohtang Pass into Lahaul-Spiti.
It is also the beginning of the epic two-day trans-Himalayan journey up to the cold desert town of Leh in Ladakh, connected by the Leh-Manali highway. Manali comes alive in winter with immense skiing and ice skating opportunities- it is often called The Land of Snowballs and Skiing!
There are lots of places to see and sightseeing opportunities in Manali and these includes visiting its ancient ruins, villages, temples, and Buddhist monasteries. Some of them are mentioned below for your convenience.
Visit the village settlement of old Manali,At Dunghri village, a two km walk from the tourist office in Manali, is the famous Hadimba Devi Temple. Maharaja Bahadur Singh built the present wooden pagoda-like temple in 1553 after earlier structures were burnt down by forest fires. Standing on a stone platform surrounded by old deodar trees, the three-tiered temple is crowned with pennants, brass bells and a trident. Carvings of animals, plants, and folk deities adorn the temple, while hunting trophies hang over its entrance.
Inside the shrine is the brass icon of the goddess, surprisingly tiny compared to the huge temple structure and the legendary prowess associated with her. The shrine is within a natural cave formation dominated by huge rock. A set of enlarged footprints on the rocks is believed to be of Hadimba, herself.
Note: The opening time of the temple is 6 am and there is no entry fee to visit the temple. Do remember that cameras and video cameras are not allowed inside the temple. Dress in simple and sober attire and if you wish you can make a donation in the donation box.

A Spectacular view in Manali ( way to rohtang pass)

Manu Maharishi Temple is a walk away from the main Mall and lies in the Old Manali. The shrine is designed in a pagoda style and is dedicated to the Hindu sage Manu and is the only temple of Manu in India.
Vashisht, a village three kms and half an hour away from Manali is famed for its hot sulphur springs and panoramic view of its valley. One can take a day trip to the village and can reach on foot; it won’t be much of a hassle. If you wish to reach there by a car, then there are taxis available from the main Mall in Manali where you can hop on to get to the tiny hamlet.

                                                                                                                                                                                                             Jogini Waterfall in Manali

Dharamsala,

The hill station of Dharamshala sits on a narrow ridgeline along the Dhauladhar range. Dharamshala town is roughly divided into two sections – the lower town with its traditional settlement and market areas and the upper town of McLeodganj, famous for its celebrity resident, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The heights of the two sections vary from 1,250 metres to about 1,770 metres with a steep winding 10 km road linking the two sections. Around a 150 kms from Mandi, this hill resort of Dharamshala in the Kangra Valley of northern Himachal Pradesh is the most important town of the district.

Surrounded by pine forests, the grand Dhauladhar ranges tower like sheets of rock over Dharamshala, making this a great place for the adventure lover.

Sightseeing in Dharamshala includes visiting museums, or marvelling at the architectural splendour of Buddhist monasteries here.

The lower town of Dharamshala is crowded with shops, local houses, and government offices. The Museum of Kangra Art is the only significant site to visit on the main road in Dharamshala. Exhibits include a collection of miniature paintings from the Kangra School, some local jewellery, excellent traditional wood carvings, and copies of some paintings by 20th century Russian artist Nicholas Roerich. The artist who lived for quite a while in Himachal Pradesh was renowned for his vivid Himalayan mountainscapes.

A road leading up through the crowded bazaar is a steep 10 kms climb up to the northern edge of McLeodganj. This winding road takes nearly 40 minutes by bus, or about 20 minutes by a shared taxi. The alternative is a short cut along a steep trail that leads to the southern end of McLeodganj past the Dalai Lama’s residence.

The residence of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is surrounded by high walls and sits on the edge of a cliff overlooking the valley. Besides the Dalai Lama’s living quarters, the complex also includes offices of the government in exile.

It is extremely difficult to get a private audience with His Holiness and requires sending your request at least four months in advance to his secretary. But the Dalai Lama also appears in public audiences for a gathering of about 300 people, which are organised according to demand. On special festive occasions, the Dalai Lama leads the Kalchakra Ceremony that is performed by Buddhist monks for universal peace and harmony.

 View in Dharamsala!!

Dharamsala - Pathankot - Jammu

This is the route where I had to cross the three inter state borders from Himachal to Punjab via pathankot and from Punjab to Jammu. Though,the road is very rocky and bumpy in the himachal regions , but as you reach the punjab border, the condition of the road improves and you will be zooming across the highway the moment you enter into Punjab.

The road to Jammu is a plain highway in stretch with 4 lane traffic, No sooner did we step into the Jammu border, the mobile network got lost as the prepaid sims outside of that state gets blocked. Luckily I was having a postpaid mobile.

Jammu - Srinagar  NH-1A Highway

The Jammu to Srinagar highway is one of the epic journeys which I ever had in my life, As you will be crossing through few of the mesmerizing landscapes of the kashmir valley.

Traveling through the Black Mountains with snow covered on the top of it with the Jhelum river flowing underneath will keep your concentration off the road for most of the time.

I was totally stunned and was looking around the nature serenity, I couldn't ask for a better day in my life. Little did I knew that, I would be seeing better astonishing views ahead of my journey ( in Ladakh ). There are many places in and around srinagar for site seeing.

The most prominent natural attraction of Srinagar is the Dal Lake.
The waters of the Dal Lake are dotted with small willow covered islands that give an ethereal ambience to the lake on misty mornings. A unique feature of the lake is the Mihrbahri people, trading in flowers, fruits, and vegetables grown on floating gardens on these islands in the lake. The larger and more elaborate pleasure garden of the Mughals is the Shalimar Bagh, four kms away. Laid out by Emperor Jahangir for Nur Jahan,

Private Coaches and taxis can be hired from Jammu Tawi to reach Srinagar. Srinagar is linked by the National Highway 1A to the rest of the country. J & K State Road Transport Corporation operates comfortable buses from Jammu. The Jammu – Srinagar road passes through majestic mountain passes, with fields stretching out to the sides and lined with towering trees. The journey takes about 12 hours and is a good tour in itself.

We stayed in the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar. Lal Chowk is often referred to as Ghanta Ghar (House of the Bell). It is a tower with a clock and a bell. With hotel lined streets and a bustling market, it is always full of action.
Once we managed to look beyond the barrage of tourists and vendors, Srinagar beyond a major tourist hub emerged before us.

                                                                                                                                            Dal Lake

From Srinagar - Kargil - Leh:

There are only two roads that connect to Leh from the rest of the India one being Srinagar - Leh and the other Manali - Leh Highway.

The distance from Srinagar to Leh is 434 KM's and is one my beautiful rides I have ever taken in my life. You will be traveling through the stunning views of the mountain terrains.

Generally, travelers or adventure lovers from all over world dream to undertake this road trip of their lifetime by covering both routes connecting Leh – Ladakh to rest of India i.e. a lifetime experience road trip traversing Srinagar – Leh – Manali Highways. Apart from being famous for its enchanting views, this highway holds a strategic importance for India and being close to LOC, you see the heavy army presence on it when you travel through Srinagar – Leh Highway.

After Zojila Pass

Kargil  has a huge variety of colour changing mountains From Green, Brown and of course the black mountains with snow covered on the peaks, It has some spectacular mind blowing landscapes through out the region. LOC passes through this area and the area is very very sensitive.
Every Individual vehicle has to register themselves near the checkout point in this region and you should be open to answer any sort of inquiry done by the army generals in these regions, Kargil is the entry point in Ladakh region , its situated at a even distance of Srinagar - Leh highway. Most of the people choose this place as the resting point on their trip to Leh.
To reach Kargil one has to cross through the mighty Zozila pass, which I reckon it as the Godzilla Pass :) and Drass ( Which is the second coldest region in the world) while going from Srinagar.
The temperatures in Kargil and Drass might drop to -3 or -4 during nights in peak summer and to -35 to - 40 in peak winter seasons.
Places to See :
1. Tiger Hill
2. Kargil War memorial
3. Indus River

A View in Kargil

Things to remember:
1. Its always better to chose Kargil over Drass , when it comes to night accommodation during this trip as the options available in Kargil are more in compared to Drass.
2. Always carry Warm thermals, Glouses, 2 MonkeyCaps ( for safer side) and a heavy woolen or Leather jacket to survive in those weather conditions during nights.

Leh, Sitting at 3,500 metres above sea level, the air is rarefied and outsiders need time to get acclimatized. After arriving, give at least 48 hours before undertaking any vigorous climbing or treks. The most common symptom of high altitude sickness is headache and nausea, which usually goes within a day or two.

People here are very hospitable, Most of the people here are Shia Muslims and the rest are Tibetan Buddhists. You get to see the Army officials every where and be open to answer all the questions if in case of any inquiry done them.

Leh - To - Pangong Tso

The Pangong Tso, What more I have to save about this place..The spectacular view of the mountains in the background with the deep blue saline lake flowing through will make you to feel close to the nature.
The beauty of this lake is it changes its colour to deep blue as the temperature increases and it portraits VIBGYOR colors early in the morning as seen from the long distance.
This lake is situated at one of the highest points in the world at 14000 ft, and the climate here is absolutely chilled, it goes in to negative temperature during nights even in summer ( For the rest of the India).

The Lake remains Frozen for the rest of the season ( from November to April ) and usually remains closed for the tourists, only the Indian Army does their duty near this region throughout the year.
Only 33%  of the Lake lies in the Indian Origin,Most of the Lake lies in the Peoples Republic of China in Tibet region,
This place is often chosen as the Shooting spot for most Bollywood and Tollywood flicks. Though many movies had been shot over here right from mid 90's ( Dil se, Heroes etc..), But, this lake has got the recognition after the block buster movie 3idiots climax scene which was shot over here.
How to reach Pangong Lake:
Pangong Lake is situated almost to the India - Tibet Border region with Spangmik being the last village in the India.
Most of the private vehicles are available from leh to pangong lake, But Since I was on a expedition drive, I was driving on Bullet.
You can reach to Pangong lake from Leh ( Via Karu , Tangste Villages),its 150 kms from Leh  and you have to cross the 3rd highest mountain pass in the World, THE CHANG LA. It is at the height of 17,688 ft (5360 M).
The time taken to drive 150 Kms will be more than  6 hours as you will be driving on the mountain passes and you need to be very much careful on the edges.

 From here sky was the limit, coz i was driving on a mountain top

Things to Remember ( Do's and Dont's):

1. Since the atmospheric conditions are very abrupt, never ever be overconfident of making it possible to drive on mountain roads, always have a steady plan in your mind and keep a buffer day for every place you visit in these locations.

2. Never ever push your body conditions, If your body doesn't acclimatize to the higher altitudes, always steady down to lower altitudes and take some rest or take a break. My advice is to stay in LEH for couple of days, so that your body acclimatizes to the conditions over there.

3. While you are driving on higher altitudes or traveling on higher altitudes, the amount of oxygen level decreases and you will be hit with Acute Mountain sickness (AMS), Vomiting sensations, headaches and dizziness, It's better to carry anti oxidant drug tablet which will be useful during such trips.

4.Never ever drive in these regions during night times unless it is a four wheeler ( The people who drive four wheeler are highly skilled on these mountain terrains during nights as well). If it is a four wheeler and you are self driving , drive it on your own risk at nights.

5. The people here are very hospitable, Always try to avoid having loose talks with the local people over here ( Especially  related to the International issues ).

The Trip to Vizag and Araku valley

Vizag and Araku : This is one of my trips which I had been planning to do from quite a long time and finally it happens on the occasion of one my friends wedding.

With couple of acquaintances moving out of the country and with one flown away to J.K, Everyone got unglued after the much anticipated release from the project a few months ago.

This was an opportunity to gather on an occasion for the rest of the people who are staying in Hyderabad as a group.

We had to board a train from Secunderabad to Vizag, Everyone had to rush after completing their office work as the train timing was scheduled at 20.15.
With knowing the city traffic, we took a one-half hour as a buffered time and finally reached to station only to find out that the train was running late.

At last the train arrives and we all finally board the train and adjust ourselves in juggling down the seats of other fellow passengers as half of the seats were to the other side of the compartment.

We quickly settle-down and lit up the atmosphere with the cracking jokes on everyone. I didn't participate in counter attacking proactively , I remained silent most of the time as some other thoughts were creeping into my mind.
Finally, we end the session and everyone goes to sleep, As I have the habit of sleeping late in the nights, so I engaged myself by watching a movie in my mobile.

Somehow the train covered up the distance and finally we had arrived to our destination on time.

Vizag is a city which is covered with full of small hill ranges throughout its circumference, unlike the other coastal cities this city is little different in its climatic variations.

Though the climate here is hot and humid due to sea coast, but it cools down a little bit in the evenings giving some exotic views to the people.
The only interesting things to be seen are the couple of beaches and the museum which carry a lot of information on the geography and history of the medieval and contemporary India.
It also gives us the information about the Navy and Air force operations carried from vizag during world wars and indo-pak wars.
There is one more place called 'Kailasagiri' from where you can see the entire city( along the beach view), I believe it is somewhere around 1000ft above sea level giving you a panoramic view of the entire coastal line of the city. The Name is written on the hill like  a 'HOLLYWOOD' Style which is in Los Angeles lol :D.

This city was affected with a cyclone called 'HudHud' and the entire city was devastated. Life had become much more chaos to the local residents to survive after the effect,  I must admit to the fact that this city had redeveloped again to some extent within a short span of time covering the basic needs to the social life.

We refreshed ourselves in our accommodated hotel rooms and as first things first we started our journey by visiting a local famous temple known as 'Simhachalam'.
The roads in vizag are quite different following a 3-divider roads (2 service roads and 1 main road in middle). So you need to be very much careful while driving on these roads as you can expect any sudden vehicle appearing in front of you out of nowhere.

After spending a two hour time in the temple, we headed towards the kailasagiri region which is on the hill road of the city, This location is worth to watch and it has a train ride and a cable car ride which will traverse across the entire hill to get the panoramic view.

The cable car ride will give you an immense thrill as it slides down from the top of the hill to the bottom of the road, As it starts moving down the hill, you will feel as if you are entering into the ocean from the top heights.

This place is better advised to be visited in the early morning hours as you can see the sun rising from the sea bed and the cool breeze touching your skin will make you feel refreshing.

Soon after that we zoomed across the beach road and went to Rushikonda  beach. we halted there to have lunch and immediately followed it up entering into the beach, the waves were so strong and few kids were doing surfing across the waves.

              '

Look at the road,it was so tempting!!!!

By this time, I realized that I had seen enough number of beaches from west to east coast, I didn't had the patience of entering into the ocean and carry the itching salted content throughout the journey, I decided to stay away from it.

One of my colleague too had similar state of mind ,so we both decided to have some photo sessions in between.
There after we went to museum and then finally winded our day1 with RK beach. Unlike the rushikonda beach, the RK Beach is very crowded giving you the feel of city life.The waves are much stronger and they were touching the edge of the highly elevated sand. All of my colleagues were playing with the water waves to find out which wave was stronger enough to pull across the sand. It was little childish but it had a fun part as we didn't had anything left on what to do with the beaches!!!

As the Evening progressed , we had a meal in the Green park hotel and set ourselves to head back towards room, everyone was very tired and as soon as we stepped across the hotel, we fell asleep.

Day2 was the journey of Araku valleys:

Araku journey was quite different as we had to travel through the tunnels, the train was scheduled to depart early in the morning somewhere @ 6.40 AM from vizag,  As the railway station was a KM away from our place , we started from our place at 6.30.

We were dubious in catching the train and we had to run over the platforms and at last we made it. The train started as soon as we entered into it..
All of my friends settled down and were chit chatting. I was busy in watching the nature's beauty and kept myself in taking the snaps of the hills and the small plateaus.
The train journey is the most beautiful part for a trip to araku , as it has to cross some 58 tunnels on the hill ranges.I was always at the train corridor watching the beautiful view of the mountain ranges and the valleys and clicking the snaps.

Here are some of the snaps from the train journey which would make you feel mesmerizing.

This pic I had to take with lot of timing and great care as I had to lean away from the Train door, check for any poles and then click it!!!

 Hill ranges seen from the train!

A View from the train corridor!!!


The plan was to get down at Borra caves and later to cover the katiki falls.
We had breakfast as soon as we got down and took a walk to borra caves, The borra caves are a million year old caves, you need to be very careful in your foot steps as the ground clearance is not leveled,  The deeper you go inside the caves , the air pressure decreases and it stinks a lot. you can't stay at that place for more than 10 min. All you can do is just visit , go inside it , and come out as soon as you can.

 Borra Caves

After borra caves, the plan was to cover katiki falls, it is situated at a height of some 3500ft above sea level and there is no proper road to reach out to that place. Normal vehicles doesn't ply to that place, All you need is a 4*4 commander vehicles with high suspension springs.

The ride to katiki falls is very very bumpy, though it will give you a difference experience as your body will be in full motion from head to toe.
So if you want to take your cars or SUV's to this place , take it on your own risk,
I had been through so many bumpy rides earlier in the southern parts of Karnataka ( from Mangalore to Kurnool Highway), but never like this.

At some point even the commander vehicles halt and from there you have to take the journey by climbing up the hill. The water falls will be half- a- kilometer from here and it will really test your stamina levels to reach there.

The water is fresh and clean and its very cold,

Katiki Water Falls!

It was like a trekking to reach Katiki Falls!!!

After that we had our lunch and we set our selves in moving on to Araku valley.
We took a road journey after lunch and it started raining as we were entering into the eastern ghats of India.
The Araku valley reminded me of the Coorg Hill station of the Madikeri district in Karnataka
As the roads were exactly in similar fashion.
The only interesting thing will be the journey in the ghat roads, I would like to drive on these ghats if I get a chance. There were not much places to see in Araku region as there was a tribal museum which was closed due to shortage of power and a flower garden which had some worth to visit.

 Eastern Ghats!! Araku valley!!

As I could see different kinds of flowers being Floricultured over here.
We  reached our hotel by 10 PM as there were lot of traffic jams in between on the ghat roads due to heavy rains.
We couldn't make it on time to our friends reception , as it was already late in the night.


                                                                                                                                                                                     The view before raining!

Day 3 - Attending the marriage of one of my best buddy

Finally the day had come on May3 for my friend, He was busy with his own things, We went to the venue on time and made sure that we had given the attendance to him. He was quite happy in seeing us and so too my gang!!
We had some funny moments at the photo sessions and also during the lunch and finally we gave a good bye message to him.


After that we came to the hotel and relaxed the whole day and finally we boarded a train to Hyderabad that night.

The next trip is to the Great Himalayan Range ( Leh - Diskit and Manali) and I expect it to be the trip of my life.

My Experiences in South India

South India: One of my memorable trip which I'll cherish for the life time.

This is the trip which I travelled from Madurai to Allepey around the Indian Peninsula covering the sacred and spiritual places.

The reason I said this because, As this is my first solo trip in my life and Neither did I had any restriction on my schedule nor anyone to disturb it, so I was the king of my own schedule :)

You should at least have one solo trip in your life to experience it, so for me it happened to be South India (Though I never expected it so soon).

I always had a Plan B option for each and every place which I visited ( in case if something does not work out according to the plan), here I had to make so many plan B as there were multiple places to cover according to the allocated days.

This is the map which shows  my journey from Madurai then to Rameswaram , Dhanushkodi ( The dead end of India from Rameswaram),Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari , Nagercoil, Trivandrum, Allepey ( Alappuzha)

The journey was for 7 days and eventually everything went as per the plan I prepared.

So, I boarded the  Kacheguda - Nagercoil Express from Hyderabad to Madurai. So, as the train started I sat calmly and was thinking on how to entertain myself throughout the journey.
The time to reach Madurai was exactly 24 hours So, thinking of what to do I immediately plugged in my ears with my Bluetooth device and engaged my phone with music and movies, there were a couple of North Indian guys in my compartment whom I guess were the students of VIT.

They were speaking in proper North Indian slang and watching the Tamil movie of Vijay's "Kathi" in their laptops (Without any subtitles) and a Telugu guy who kept his eyes occupied to his book. I thought of having a conversation with them, but as they looked completely busy with their stuff,  I felt not to disturb them and decided to have a chat in the later part of the journey.

So within no time the train reached Kurnool station and I was feeling damn hungry, so I ordered some eatable stuff from the pantry car and after that took a deep sleep, the next morning when I woke up, I noticed that those people had left the train. There were also two Tamil guys in the adjacent berths from the beginning of the journey and they were playing rummy, I was watching their game play and strategy and  I couldn't control my laugh on most of the occasions as they were playing with the Joker card open to everyone, even without forming a sequence. hehehe !!! :)
I wanted to join them , but seeing their customized rules and regulations in the game I decided to drop the idea of playing with them.

So, I kept on seeing the locations from the train, it was somewhere in the middle of Tamil Nadu with the nearest coming junction to be "Salem"
It was early in the morning, the enriches of the green paddy fields and with the clouds touching the small mountain ranges in the long distances made me to keep looking on the visuals for most of the time. Different thoughts were creeping in to my mind.

In Salem, after having my breakfast I was listening to music and enjoying the game show of my fellow co passengers, till I met this guy who works in Chennai and travelling to his home town Madurai. With couple of hours left in the journey to end we started to have a conversation.

As he visited most of the places which i was going to witness, he gave me much needed information about Madurai and also about the southern part of the state on the transportation connectives. He suggested me to visit Tanjavur as well, I wanted to visit Tanjavur and I also knew that I couldn't make it as it was not a part of my plan. So I decided to visit it some other time(As I didn't want to disturb my schedule )

As the conversation progressed, I was retrospecting my own experiences on the places which I visited in India and he was quite impressed with me.

Finally, I reached my destination...

Madurai: The City of Temples

Madurai is the second largest town in Tamil Nadu after Chennai , famously known for the beauty of the temples. You can find many temples in this town and the very famous temple known here is the "Meenakshi Amman Temple".

The temple is very near to the Madurai railway junction (not more than a KM). You can also find the bus connectivity to the different districts which is adjacent to the railway junction.

Most of the temples here have the beauty in their sculptures and the history left behind them.

I believe that the Kasi's (Visalakshi) and Madurai's (Meenakshi) are one and the same with the different names.

So, I took a stay near to the surroundings and refreshed myself  and had some lite meal before heading towards the temple.
The cuisine habits of Tamil Nadu are mind boggling especially in the veg departments and breakfasts. The kind of  "Chutney" and "Sambar" they prepare will make you to lick your fingers. The kind of ingredients they use in making the recipes is something which never changes in taste.

Then, I headed to Madurai temple and since it was less than a KM, I decided to walk across the streets of Madurai to see its beauty.

The temple has four towers, all have the replica of one another (except the names), I headed into the temple from West tower. You are not authorized to carry any electronic item into the temple premises (except your phone).

The moment you enter into the temple, you 'll  get confused by the architecture as everything looks similar,  so my suggestion is to keep one base location in the temple as a reference point. I was walking inside the temple to find the inner doors to search for the starting point.

There is one more shiv temple ("Surandeshwar") inside the Meenakshi Temple, So first I visited Shiv temple and after that I realized I lost my way, I was asking the local people for the way to Meenakshi temple line , after making 2-3 circumferences  round the temple, I finally came across the Meenakshi temple line,   It was a pleasant evening with less crowd on that day.

I was roaming around to see the architecture and the sculptures across the temple and believe me I didn't feel like coming out of the temple.

My Mind was like an empty vessel (got freed of everything...), I sat there for some time and was looking at the people, the way they offer their prayers to the god by enlightening the "diyas". I felt I was like under the divine power :)

You can have the license to take videos and photos from your mobile by purchasing a ticket inside the temple premises.

Below are few snaps :

 

The West Tower of temple                                                                           Inside the temple

 In the streets of Madurai

 Inside the temple


After the temple visit, I came to my room and was searching for nice cuisines for my dinner, I had a heavy meal as I couldn't control my appetite. Soon after my dinner, I started roaming on the streets again to check the night life and also it would help me in digestion.

 I started inquiring on how to reach to Rameswaram from my nearby location as that was my next destination (Its only 170 KM from Madurai).
So I reached my room by almost 12 in the mid night and decided to start by 3 AM, so that I can reach to Rameswaram in the early hours of morning.


Temple sculptures

I thought of having a power nap in between, but I was scared as I knew if I sleep, then my next day schedule gets ruined as I don't have the habit of waking up early in the mornings. hehehehe !!!

So  just to pass the time, I was watching the high lights of the world cup matches of that day.

"Mattuthavani" - is a place located on the outskirts of Madurai from where you can find the bus services to reach Rameswaram.

Soon after by the time it was 2 AM , I started packing my bag, checked out of the room and headed towards the station, there were no train to catch to rameswaram.. so I booked a cab to reach Mattuthavani. Every bus will ply from Madurai to Rameswaram via Ramanathapuram, There are few beautiful locations in between where the driver doesn't stop. So,I decided to take ticket till Ramanathapuram( As you can see in the map) and from there I hired a private cab just to capture few locations.

 I was having a power naps in between the travelling time, by the time I reached the place it was 6 AM.

There is a lot of language barrier in Tamil Nadu as people here either know Tamil or English, so there is a huge communication problem. Either you should have the knowledge on the base
version of Tamil to understand what the other guy is speaking or you should have a conversation with a guy who knows English.

And the problem much more arises when you travel to the southern part of the Tamil Nadu like in Ramanathapuram ,Tuticorin and Tirunelveli ( where people only know Tamil , you hardly find a guy who knows English) .

I hired a cab guy, who luckily was relenting to give me a company and he was with me for later part of my day, till I completed all my rituals in Rameswaram.

Here are some beautiful locations of "Pamban Island".

The Pamban Bridge connecting to Rameswaram island

 This rail track is in the middle of the ocean with 1.4 KM to connect to Rameswaram

Believe me , I could see the depth of the ocean from the bridge , its hardly not more than 8-10ft deep.

If you see the above image carefully, you can see the rail tracks visible in the bed of the ocean.

The boats for fishing near the island

The view of the Bay of Bengal( as this is one of my super clicks)

The other side of the bridge

As the moment I reached to the middle of the bridge, I could see nothing except water, the entire 360 degrees is with water with the thin line bridge connecting the island.

The Ocean color with the pure Navy blue content enlightening its richness and the windy breeze touching your skin amidst of the bridge will make you to feel like the heaven on earth.

The best part of the ocean is, you can see the depth of the ocean from the bridge. If you are 10 ft tall, I believe you can walk across that ocean to the island.

Rameswaram:  The sacred place, It is believed that this is the place where Rama worshiped lord shiva before starting his journey to Lanka by building a bridge from Dhanushkodi.

I felt little comfortable in communicating as people here knew Hindi. (considering it to be the pilgrimage)

So, first I went to the ocean to take bath which is behind the temple, The water here is absolutely stagnant and calm , you just can't even find a small wave coming across the temple and that is the beauty of the location. Spiritually, It is believed that Rama made this water to remain calm.

The Ocean behind the temple

There are few tiny wells in the temple premises which are called as the sacred water, so before worshiping the lord  shiva , It is believed to take a bath across these wells.

The place themselves tells about the epics of Lord Rama.

So after I was done with my things , My cab driver was  eagerly waiting for me to have a breakfast, we had a nice "Pongal" and from there I went to see "Dhanushkodi".

Dhanushkodi is considered to be the ghost town of India ( Not technically), As the place was once washed out by the Tsunami in 1964. They say it ideally because there is no scope of living in this part of the area ( After Tsunami), except the fishermen living in huts. Its the remote area and there is no electricity.

It was once the ideal location for the business frontiers between India and Srilanka before Independence where the Britishers used to export and import goods on daily basis.

The island stretches to the Dead end of the India called as Dhanushkodi, from where the Rama started to build the bridge to Lanka. It stretches to 14-15 Km from Rameswaram to the Tip and the place gets narrowing as soon as you move forward towards the tip.

You can see the ocean's stretch on both the ways with narrow thin line with road and trees. Its a place from where Lanka is just 13 odd KM and probably the shortest  route to reach Lanka.

At some point even the normal cars stop at Dhanushkodi and from there still the stretch extends to 3-4 KM, the land from this point keeps on decreasing into the sea

level and normal cars can't be driven at this place, so you should have some special powered engine cars or bikes with full throttle in the first gear to drive on this land. The sand covers the vehicle tyres to the half of it.

Currently, the govt is building a road project on this sand to extend it till the stretch, hopefully it gets completed very soon.

The description itself suggests the place

So, If you want to visit Dhanushkodi make sure that you reach the destination and come back within 5 PM, because there is no electricity and the road is very accident prone,you won't find any person if something happens even to the vehicle.

                                       

At the tip of dhanushkodi --  one part of ocean

                                                                                                         The other part of the ocean

While leaving rameswaram, the clouds were approaching the bridge towards the island,
From long distance I can clearly see the rain at one end of the bridge while the other end of the bridge was wide open to sun.

So after Dhanushkodi, my next destination was Kanyakumari, you can find buses and trains directly from Rameswaram to Kanyakumari,  since I hired a cab I had to go back to Ramanathapuram and from there you have to reach Tuticorin. I had the worst experience over here as I couldn't find any person guiding me with proper directions. Somehow, I managed to reach Tuticorin,

 As there is no proper road to reach Kanyakumari from Tuticorin, one has to go to Tirunelveli to reach Kanyakumari. By the time I reached Tirunelveli it was 6 PM, you can find many buses plying to Kanyakumari,  I boarded a bus to Kanyakumari and was enjoying my music.

 When I reached Kanyakumari it was already 10 PM, I was so tired that I desperately wanted a sleep , I  immediately jumped into the nearest hotel and took a stay for that night, I refreshed myself and had some dinner in the nearby place and took a sleep. I was scared again of waking up early in the morning, as the main event was to see the sun rise from the Cape Kanyakumari. But some how managed to wake up early in the morning by 5.30 by keeping backup alarms. :)

Though the locals here are tamilians, most of the people here also know hindi ( Might be because of the tourist spot).

There isn't anything much to see in this place except the sunrise and sunset points, I just saw the sunrise point and dropped the sunset (though it was a part of the plan) as I didn't had any idea on how to spend my time till the sunset,

The other places you can see here is the Memorial rock of vivekananda , The Triveni Sangam ( Where the three oceans meet) and some beaches.. since I visited many beaches, I wasn't interested in them...
The place is much more sultry and the sun always lies on the ocean.

The Rock is just few meters away from the cape. Govt had made this a tourism spot by adding the ferry services to reach the rock.

Here are few snaps of the location:

 Early Morning sun rise above the rock

--> The Triveni sangam ( Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean )

The Panoramic view of the cape in the early morning

From here, the only place you will be reaching is the guaranteed South Pole (Antarctica) !!

Ferry Services to reach the rock

From the rock

It was afternoon and the sun was over my head and haunting me to reach to my place to have a cool bath, Soon I went into my room had a cold shower and checked out, I had some nice meal near to the place and was waiting for my kerala bus(KSRTC) to come as my next destination was Trivandrum...
 I boarded the bus at 2PM and headed towards  Trivandrum , No sooner did I reach Nagercoil, the atmosphere kept on changing from the very sultry to the cool breeze, I was entering the western ghats of India, I can clearly see the clouds bursting down on the top of the mountain ranges.

All of a sudden it started to rain after Nagercoil... The rain continued till Trivandrum which was 3 hours from the cape.

One of the location, somewhere near to Nagercoil , where the clouds hitting the western ghats, this pic was taken from the bus.

When I reached Trivandrum it was already 5 PM,  Finally the rain stopped.I have one college friend who works in Trivandrum,  when I called him and said I was coming to Trivandrum, he was pretty much excited, because its been a year since we met when he was in Hyderabad. He was little surprised to see me roaming on the southern peninsula and couldn't believe it that I was travelling all alone.

So the plan was to visit the Padmanabha Swamy temple, which is now the wealthiest temple in India, surpassing Tirupathi...

We visited the temple and kept our belongings at the lockers available and headed to worship the god "Vishnu"..
You are not supposed to wear any shirt and also the trousers , the only material you are supposed to wear is the "dhoti". There were ready made Dhoti's available next to the temple. So we had to buy two before entering into the temple.

After that we marched towards his flat, we went to Kovalam Beach to dine the following night.  The place was filled with full of exotic flavors of the restaurants and the foreigners enjoying the beach view.
So we opened up two beer bottles and reopened up all the old stories of the college days and the mischievous things we had done,
The conversation extended almost till the mid night... hehehe!!!
We were the part of the same gang during college days, it was good to see one old friend meeting at a new place and dining and hanging out till the mid night...

So by the time we came to his flat it was already 1 AM, I slept off as I had to go to Allepey, the next day.

The Next day when I woke this was the scenery from his balcony@ Techno Park in Trivandrum:

It was full of Coconut trees all over the place...
The buildings belong to some IT company.

The next day I took the help of my friend on how to reach Allepey As, I was packing my bags, my friend suggested me to come to Trivandrum again after visiting Allepey as there is nothing much to see in Kochi, except the beach and the seaport. Since my return travel was under dubious, ( As the return date was not confirmed in my mind on when to book and from where to book) Initially, I was thinking to book a bus ticket from Kochi to Hyderabad from his place. All of a sudden we search the train tickets and see that there were some tickets available in tatkal from Trivandrum to Hyderabad, The tickets were also available from kochi, but later I thought to drop that place as there was nothing much to see in that city.. My friend described Its a city which is very very classy in compared to its capital.
So, I booked a tatkal from Trivandrum to Hyderabad and immediately jumped out to reach to Allepey As I had only one day in my bucket.
I took a RTC bus to reach Allepey, its 5 hours from Trivandrum and by the time I reached there it was 3 PM.

The food in kerala is really Atrocious(especially the street food and local restaurants), you just can't predict the item of what you are eating. I ordered  one eatable chips I was thinking it to be a hot chip, I ultimately ended up knowing it to be sweet banana covered with Chilli flavour.
Yuck!! its horrible.. if you want to try any cuisines , make sure that you visit that authentic places by knowing it predefined.. Otherwise you will end in real hard pain....

So Finally I came to Allepey : The Back Waters...

The Back Waters in India :

In India, Alappuzha is famous for its back waters.. These are nothing but the part of the ocean water which extend into the town making it much more beautiful and site seeing..
You can find house boats which extend up to the ocean amidst leaving you for an entire evening and also the entire night to enjoy the scenic beauties of the coconut trees and the sunset.
You can also find the normal ferry boats which will take you on the entire back waters and charge you on the hourly basis. I booked a ferry for couple of hours and I rate those 2 hours as the best part of my life in travelling...

Just see the natures beauty over here:

The back waters of kerala are worth to watch at least once in a life..

That's the Eagle on my hand ( the owner of it was quite surprised to see it coming towards me)

Sunset time in back waters

After few snaps it was already 6 PM and I boarded the bus back to Trivandrum and reached at 11PM ,  we searched for dinner  and luckily found one fast food center..We bought the food to the flat and enjoyed it seeing the highlights of the day's match. 

The next day my train was at 7 AM in the morning from Trivandrum central. The train reached the Kochi station at 1 PM, I said good bye to Kochi and  decided to visit it some other time....

So my Next trip is to the mighty Himalayas ( along with the Kashmir region) but before that I might write a small blog on Vizag and Araku Valleys trip!!!!