The Reading Diaries..

So, i work for Energy Majors and life at that end is very different, its away from world, but very close to nature.. One of my usual visits these days is to a river side town Reading which head quarters some IT giants and then energy giants too.. I like travelling and this indeed is teaching me a lot.. :)
So, from day 1 of figuring out my way, to finding out my favs on the usual track is a journey i covered in last few days.. It was my first trip and i noticed that Thames Valley Park has lush green meadows with river running behind.. I was out of a meeting, day was almost ending and i wanted to open my shoes, walk on the grass, sit by river side and do nothing.. BUT, i told myself, control, understand that work day is over but this is still near office, what if someone recognizes you and thinks you are mad.. i queued, waiting for a taxi to pass by.. boom, there came two teenagers with a lovely dog.. "Excuse me! Do you know how to reach the meadows, and that river?".. "Ya, you cross the road and walk for few minutes, its right there.. Can i also come??" (Yours truly, i dont have very strong mind when it comes to such things:)).. So, me, two teenies and a dog.. we went to the river side, had a long walk and talk, till one of them asked me, where do you come from?? Oops, London, i need to take a train back.. interesting day; i loved every moment of it.. I decided that i needed to stay in a small town and also buy a cute dog at some later stage in life.. Lesson learnt part 1...
Today was another day.. While coming back from Reading last evening, i saw a little ice cream shop which intrigued me everytime i passed by.. i wanted to have an ice cream to come out of hectic last week which had left me sleepless.. i wanted, so i did get in.. the shop was beautiful, had candies, cholocates, lovely pastries and a small counter for ice creams.. the counter boy was cute and smiley, he helped me choose the ice cream i loved and i walked out.. Today, i remembered at 3 PM, that i had nothing to eat since morning.. i got dragged to the same shop.. as i stood on the counter waiting for my soup and sandwich, the lady on the counter asked, " what do you do?".. i do blah blah blah.. She cuts me short, "do you like it?".. yes, why do you ask that?? Well, i had a big business and i was lucky to be able to sell everything and open a chocolate and ice cream shop where i love all of my customers and i love the sandwich that i will make for you now, you know i love my job.. And i felt like asking this to you, coz the way you looked at my chocolates and ice creams, i thought you will own a shop like this one day.. :).. I smiled with no words; i did look at her shop with admiration a day back, it looked so made with own hands, small and beautiful.. i did think for a moment that i wish i had a shop like that..

Sure, may be someday lovely lady and i know i met you for a reason today, i believe in destiny :).. At one end there are meetings and numbers, at other there is simplicity, nature and contentment.. i find both in one destination.. :)

Cirque Di Soleil

I am not one of the theatre and art enthusiasts.. I like good things in life, but animation and television was what art meant for me.. then came this art which becomes the part of my subject line..
During my visit to Vegas, some of us decided to watch "Ka", a circque di soleil's show.. this is a theatre which involves circus gymnatics and theatre art.. I did not really know what was i going for till i landed in and got introduced to this amazing world of art..
Lavish stage concept and direction, amazing acting, superb flex bodies, music, a neat story line and an awestruck me.. the colors of clothes, the impact that this theatre left on me is memorable for life.. I just knew that artists are unique and desrve to be the guys in fortune's top 50 rich people to live in this world, if only world was a fair place to live in and people got rich for their relative value of skills..
I like the way th art has been preserved, a niche market created and priced well for the same.. the uniqueness and quality has drawn more investments and hence has helped the organizer improve the art by adding visuals, costumes and stage effects..
Truly inspiring.. all form of arts, all over the world, need some enthusiasts, who can build these up and offer to the world.. the right shall survive and thrive.. :)
For all the money that "KA" in Las Vegas seeks, its worth a lifetime experience.. if you are around, just go in..

The Neemrana Palace

This time when i visited India, i decided to spend a weekend off at Neemrana.. its an old fort which has been refurbished and converted into a resort.. Priced fairly, it does not really boast of the 5 star facilities, lavish lobbies and excellent room service.. this is a "true fort".. for those of you who want to go there, this has 11 floors, you might not realize it, but yes, you might climb 8 floors on your feet to reach to your room.. the rooms are very simple and have been decorated with old pots and craft from time of kingdom.. each room is different from other and has a history of its own which is preserved and explained in pictures and decors.. Small fort windows might lead to a scenic view of the village or a the back view of mountains.. there are cultural folk dances, buffet lunch and dinners and fire fox( zipping) activities which can be done in this resort apart from spending a lazy day and exploring the fort..
The fort has local staff which ensures that you get personal touch and you are taken care of.. all in all, a must once in lifetime experience.. a very well preserved heritage which shall make you relive the moments that you had read about in some tales..
Price : INR 4500 - 12500
Food : Buffet - Average
Services : Good but unique
Decor : Simple and elegant
Attraction: Pool and people
What you can see around : A Bowri and walk in the village
How Long : A day or two may be

A week in Las Vegas..

This was around July 29th.. My first trip to US.. i was somehow never so keen on working in US.. and i must say that i probably like to be comfortable and not run after many things.. but i have realized one thing in life, what is most important in your life is ability to understand and appreciate differnt cultures, learn from all, adjust with all and take back the best of all.. Vegas is fun and lively..being an MBA i will appreciate the business sense of its establishment.. Mid of desert, no where is this "strip" of land.. showcases some of the world's largest hotels.. entire economoy is gambling and fun.. yep, this is like a dream world.. "sin" city.. they say whatever happens in vegas stays in vegas.. and trust me it does along with the money that you bet.. :P
I stayed in Aria resort, which is spacious, neat and well maintained, has a huge casino and a very interesting and cheap buffet with a real large spread.. This is in middle of strip, so you can turn right or left walk for 3-4 kilometers on either sides and be back on foot.. In Vegas one needs to visit all casinos, all casinos have some or the other attraction to attract people to its vast casino floors and entice them into this world of gambling.. Must see attractions: Paris, musical Fountains at Ballerio (This is a must watch), Lion habitat at MGM grand, volcano around Caesar's Palace, the venetian for its massive marble floor and venice look.. you just need to walk in the strip at night, park yourself at each of the casinos for sometime, watch the players and move.. remember, longer the time spent, more the chances of a rip off.. :)
Try the luxurious ice creams, the large sized paris drinks, and variety of food available all around.. While the public transport is bad, you should still hop on one of them and take a 2 hour bus drive in 2-3 dollars from one end of strip to the other.. For the shopping freaks, this is a brand's paradise.. But you find the low priced brand outlets at extreme ends of the strip, so could catch one at manageable price.. Caeser's palace shopping mall with a sky ceiling is worth a go.. all in all, really, it can be one of the most leisure holiday spot to laze around and enjoy..

The Tavel o u g e...

So, i am in London for almost 2 months now.. Woo.. unbelievable, the pace at which time passes by.. And i have been ignoring my blog.. I hate myself for it.. Sorry, i was just trying to concentrate on work, which for sure is not more important than you or you need some of my attention on weekend for sure.. Sorry, but i was busy on weekends exploring London to get something for you.. :)
Here are places i visited:
-- Greenwich
-- Piccadiliy
-- Liecester
-- Camden Lock
-- Regent's Park
-- Oxford Circus
-- London Eye
-- Primose Hill
-- Sherlock Holmes' fictitious house

And much more.. Blog, let me tell you, this city is truly multi cultural.. In a crowd of 5 peole there are atleast 2 nationalities.. Its diversity in true sense..

And getting to food--
-- Fuklava
-- Drummer's street
-- Maryleboune woodland
-- Wagamama
-- Crussh
-- Pret
-- Camden local food mart
-- Spitalfield food mart
-- Pizza Express
-- Sprat

I tried 6 different cuisines and let me accept, i love Indian food. :)Though cakes and some sweets here are worth learning to cook..

And not to miss, i am now a member of Best Gym in Britain. Yo, i spend all my evenings working out in Reebok ad thats the reason i am spending less time here.. But dont you worry, i will soon work out the balance and give you more info on whee my life is heading.. As of now, time for me to drop dead!! CIAO..

New Year Grows...

I was wondering what possibly could be the best things to do on new year??
- Travel - Visit some cool destinations
- Party - Choose the best party in town and just go and have fun
- Cake at home - This might sound boring to most, but this is how i spent most of my new years in childhood days, watching the new year programme on TV, cuddled in a rajai, cake and food and with papa.. Trust me nothing in this world can match the welcoming new year that way....

So, i start with Travel - one of the most favoured destinations in India on new year is Goa and 2 years back we went to a place called karvar near Goa to welcome the year.. Since it was slightly off Goa and we went for a camping trip, it was far away from madding crowd and an aamzing experience. The water came till our camps during high tide and the dance floor was right by the river side. It was awesome fun. Got to do with the people i went with and also the location we chose. Next year was ISB, and yes we did go to the cruise party(dont ask me where was the cruise:P), the ship had a dance floor, NO, it wasnt great, but we all together totally enjoyed what was on offer.. :) Though not on new year, but this jungle resort type of place in Dandeli could be another place to visit during new year.. The place is again established on river side and in general very calm and peaceful. Kerela could be a place to go to, but i dont know why, i feel its too talked about nd everyone is always there.. Next could be LEH, Ladakh.. wooooo.. i so badly want to visit ladakh.. Next Year, i am going there for sure..

Party- So, this is usually the most difficult part.. You want to stay in city, you dont want to stay at home and you dont want to go to a party which is not your type of music and which has cheap and drunk crowd.. Difficult choice.. Specially music can kill the point.. If the DJ is bad then you have almost spoiled your evening.. This happened with me once.. Some of the friends got booking done.. I followed like a loyalist.. I realized the music was bad, food was even worse and people were looking at you as if thats their only focus in life.. Finally, we decided to move out of the place and come back to home, watch movie in my friend's home theatre, ordered domino's pizza and talked our heart out about everything..

So, whats the safest bet?? I want to go back home and spend time with my family, play with my nephew and begin new year with people i love the most.. However, if that does not materialize, i would want to stay with my best pals and probably welcome the new year with them peacefully, does not have to be a fancy travel or party this time, i want to save these moments for life..

Coorg - The Scotland of India

To pursure my love for travelling, it was time to see the so much talked about Coorg in Karnataka. As usual the gang of Kunal, krishnan( The usual ones) , Peeyush, Kapil, Shaiku and Kapil's mum headed towards the journey. We started at 4 AM in morning and reached the near abouts of Madikeri (Capital of Coorg) around 10 AM. We had no bookings done and we just went into the wilds with no plan. :) So, then started the hunt for the right plan to spend two days. We had two cars and hence the liberty to drive to all impossible places. We started with the Abbey falls.
These were lovely and water split all over in air as if it was raining. We moved from Abbey falls to the most wonderful place i have ever seen - the Tal Cauvery - Origin of the river. The drive to Tal Cauvery is absolutely wow. Given we has three boys to drive, i had the liberty to watch the greenery and lovely sky. The way up was like walk on the clouds. We reached to the top of the hill and it started raining very heavily. The clouds touched us and we were taking shelter under the doors of the temple. After some time the rain stopped, we took the stairs to the holy place and then we all saw some 200 odd steps into the sky. All of us got excited at the site and went for the ascent. The view from top of the hill was lovely. There were lush green moutains all around and there was too much beauty that i will fail to capture in words.

Our car was the last one to come down from the mountains. It was dark, raining, scary and we all were wet, but we loved every bit of it. We reached back to Madikeri, had food (Food wasnt the best part of the journey though) and slept to wake up at 7 AM in morning and search for Mukkodlu (Rope bridge) falls and then many kilometers into beuatiful wild in search of an arbit waterfall. Peeyush traced a snake and krishnan was a feast for many leeches. All in all nothing scary and life threatening, but there was sound of river water and nature at its best in all directions.

From there we moved to Dubare - the rafting and elephant site. This was kind of ok, i had done rafting before so level 2 was not an attraction for me given that it deamanded 4 hours of our total 6 hours in hand before we headed for Bangalore. So, while Kapil and his cousin statyed back for rafting, we moved for Chicklihole Dam and Harangi Reservoir to watch the dams while we drove to the Monastry. I was seeing a monastry(Golden temple) for the first time. It was grand and btiful. I kind of liked it, thought it was not something spectacular as i had heard of the one in Dharamshala.
This was the end of our one and half day trip to Coorg, we were driving back to Bangalore. Peeyush drove us back real fast, he is always the level headed one, concerned about the safe and timely arrival of us back to our destinations. Peeyush will head for canada in sometime, Kunal and Krish will head for US and i will head for UK. Work is splitting us apart. We have spent some of the best times in Bangalore, searching for food and travelling. We intend to continue this bit of life ever later. So, since Europe is pretty, everyone has to come to europe trip before i go and visit them in US. Its always been fun to be with frenz and new locations always leave these uncertainity in mind on will i get the same people again?? :)

The Hampi trip!! :)

One of the weekend getaways of mine. This time with Shravan and gang and yes Shravan did not create a DDLJ scene on the station, he was before time for the train. :) So, we had this new set of people, DPS, Malik, Baily, Trupti, Shravan, GB and me. We became freinds in train and rest is a history. From playing Uno in the top berth of train to distilled water and crazy jokes, the whole journey was fun. I slept soon, only to wake up in mrng and reach the destination. We headed for tungabhadra dam with crazy heavy bags , but the whole ascent was some fun. Then we moved towards hampi and stayed near the famous temple. Afternoon was dedicated to Mango tree restaurant. This place is a beauty, you are made to sit on stair case facing the river and food is served. The calmness and serenity of the place just leaves you enamoured. Next, we headed for the remains near temple. These were some rocky mountains with small temple and water body up there. We came back and Shravan treated us to the local Mandekari. :). We had our dinner in an equally exotic place called Garden paradise. The cuisines availabe at this place is Israeli, English, South India and North Indian.
Next day we took a guide and took some 3-4 kinetics to travel around hampi with a guide. The remains are spread over 25 kms and as you wade through the roads, you get the feel of old city and you feel you are relving the era. Huge stony architecture, large markets and water bodies, everything is so ancient and speaks of old times. We were fortunate to see the shooting of some serial which was being shot in one of the temples. After whole long day of discovering the magnificience, we guys decided to move back. We were dead tired and we reached station just in time. Please dont forget to buy some handicraft from this place, they are really exclusive and cheap.
I will call hampi river side goa. Lots of foreigners, care free life, variety in food, its all there to stay. The color of life is all so visible and it does not come at huge cost. :)

Ebony- My fav dining place in Blore

A perfect bday eve- just the close friends, roof top and watch the world go by. This year the party was at Ebony. Its nothing new. Those who know me, know that Ebony has been my favorite since ages and years. So, this year again, i wanted to celebrate my birthday in style. However, the weather was not very supportive, when we started from home, it was drizzling, we thought we will have to sit inside and hence miss on the spectacular view from 13th floor. However, we decided to sit outside and for the pouring to start. It drizzled for sometime and stopped. The weather was lovely, the ambience was perfect and drizzling just added to the fun. We went for Italian this time, while i can vouch for the pasta, i cant say the same for lasagne in Ebony. Stuffed mushroom was not bad, but all in all i wont say that one should go to Ebony for food, its the feel of being on the top of the world. :)
Place: Ebony, 13th Floor, Barton Center, MG Road
Prices: 500 per person atleast
Ambience: Amazing
Food: Multicuisine( Average)

All in all- I love this place.. its serene and on top of the world.. :)

Yercaud

220 kms from Bangalore is this scenic place called Yercaud. Some of my friends and me decided to head for the same on weekend. We started at 6 AM from Bangalore to stop at A2B road side restaurant for breakfast. After some photo sessions, we started for salem, the ascent to Yercaud starts from Salem. Yercaud is around 30 kms from Salem which is known for its steel plant in India. The way up was amazingly scenic. The city was left behind while we trailed the multiple hair pin bends to way up. Finally, we reached to a lake and we knew we were there. We decided to trek to water fall which was on our way. This was an extremely steep and slippery trek. I stopped mid way despite all the hand holding by friends, while some of them went all the way down to see the waterfall. We then proceeded for lunch at a local place. Dont forget to eat the good sambhar in Tamil Nadu. :)
We then started the hunt for hotel, which was impossible given the crowd in city. We just managed to convince one hotel guy to give us two rooms after 9 PM. As soon as some arrangements were done, we proceeded to the lake for boating. K and K pedalled the boat while me and Kajal had a great time viewing the dear and other boats around. After a good 1.5 hour in the boat, we decided to step out and check into the hotels. We started way back with the cotton candy and rice puff road side delicacies. Back into hotel, we kept our luggage and walked our way to a south indian restaurant for dinner. The food was again simple south indian dosa. We walked back the long trail in dark night and slept like there was no tommorow. We had decided to get up at 5, but that never happened :), so the next day was long walk to Lady's point. This is a place from where one can see entire Salem. It was a beautiful point. The road goes up to another view point called Gent's point and then further up to Children's point. Its a wonder to see the world go by from those points. We then entered into Rose garden, a huge garden with varieties of flowers. By the time we came back to our car, we were dead tired. All we could think of was food and now was the time to try something North Indian in a nice place. We headed for the "Forest Lake" hotel. It had a large buffet spread and we all hogged on food. After hours of sitting on luch table and enjoying the ambience of this beautifulo place, we came back to hotel, packed our bags and started our journey back home.
Place- Yercaud
Distance - 220 kms from bangalore
Type - Hill Station
Feel - Average
Weather - Not very cold
Good change and nice to see Salem from top.

Travelougue- Dalhousie, Khajiar, Chamba, Kala Top and Back... :)

This time it was off to hills.

Gurgaon-> Pathankot -> Dalhousie -> Khajiar -> Chamba -> Kala Top -> Pani Har -> BACK One of the most scenic places i have ever been to. Since my nana was very fond of travelling to hills, he has always owned a home in one of the hill stations. We have homes in Mussorie and Shimla and i have some fond memories of my childhood spent there. I have been to many of the well known hill stations, but Dalhousie is absolutely the clear winner as of now. Its scenic, its peaceful and right there in mountains. However, the best part of my journey was trip to Khajiar. This is truly the Switzerland of India. I went for zorbing and trust me its was scary inside the huge ball, and i hurt my nose and got some scratches due to jumping into the ball wrong way. :) I went for the horse ride with Rajendra Kumar and his horse John. The 2.5 km ride was full of wonder ful trail of longish pretty trees and lots of grass. I was told about the movie 1942 a love story being shot there at some point in time. We walked down the lane to find out the apple orchards, the train was wonderful and can not be expressed in words, there was a view of snow clad mountains in back and greenery everywhere.

We headed forth to Chamba after this. Chamba is a commercial town of himachal. It was large and crowded. We settled in a dhaba for rajma chawal and saw the museum. There are many temples which one could visit. After this we headed back to Dalhousie and walked down the street to see the subhash chandra chowk and then subhash bowli which is known to have cured SC Bose of TB.
Next day was our trip to Kala top which is suposed to have wild life sanctury, but there is no animal. What is interesting is the 3km walking lane thorugh jungle with scenes i had never even dreamt of in my life so far. It was prettier than any imagination. We reached to a rest house which was stationed among the hills, i was told by our guide RC tandon that butterflies fall in bundles in this place , such is their population and liking for this place. It was one of the breaktaking views. One of the places i want to go and stay at sometime in life may be.
This was the end of adventurous exploration. Now was time to relax and explore Dalhousie, we went around in market searching for Pizza and shopping for family. The whole place was so serene and beautiful that i did not want to come back. Sometimes in life you just wonder what exactly is a place made of and how lucky are the people who get to stay there. Looking at the snow covered peaks in distance from the balcony of my room, i just wondered if beauty had any other definition. :)

The happiest countries in the world!

Heard of richest, most competitive, most populous, growing, bla blah blah..
Here is a list of countries which are happiest :D
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/08/0819_happiest_countries/1.htm

Fine Dining , Part-3, Chutneys

Chutneys is the place to go in Hyderabad. The city is known for its spicy compliments and Chutneys does justice to its image by providing with a large variety of the same with any south indian order. If some one wants to try south indian food or for that matter wants to stick to something light, this is the place to go. It was lazy saturday afternoon with nothing much to do, so me, T, E and G decided to head for chutneys. And as usual wherever you go, whatever you do, there will be 10 ISBians eating. (Yes, i met my classmates and i so totally love the feeling of seeing known faces when i go out.)

Anyway, about the place. It is not known for its ambience nor can you spend time on a nice, long romatic food date. The guys have a long queue waiting for their food, so they will kick you and your date out even before you realize. (Perfect place to take people you just dont want to impress.) If you want to quickly have good food, this is the place. Some of the things worth trying are - Steamed dosa( 0 oil ), normal onion rava dosa and uttampam. Dont go for any other out of the world things on menu as its a traditional place and what you need to enjoy is chutney.

So here we go:

Location: Banjara Hills

What to try: Steamed Dosa, Rava Dosa or anything traditional south Indian

On your pocket : 250 per person

Ambience: No, its not the feel good factor

Customer Service: They are fast :)

Fine Dining Part 2 , Novotel Midnight Buffet

Novotel is the star hotel of hyderabad. Like any 5 start hotel it is just too huge, everything about it is luxurioud and large. Ambience is worth admiration. I have visited this place many a times. Memorable ones are a) With S & T. We guys had a good time. Again gossips and laugh. And ofcourse good food at 12 at night is one of the memorable moments in life. b) with A,R,P,R and I. This was while coming back from poisson. So, we had danced like crazy in a pub and two of us in the gang were hungry at 12. Obvious, we needed food and novotel was the place to go. All of us in a car, off we go for food. And then what followed food was, we were asked to move out at 2 and then we all settled down around the swimming pool to gossip till it was 4 AM in morning. Trust me, sometimes you just dont want to stop talking. I was wondering about an exhange student who was so much enjoying the stories. :)
So, we will talk about Novotel now. Its a buffet. Breads are the differentiating factor here. You get allo parantha, plain parantha and 3-4 kinds of dosas. The spread of salad is sexy. They keep chaging desserts, so longer you sit the better it is. :D The ambience is great and staff is very very cheerful and friendly. The pool side is one of the best thing to happen to anyone. Its calm and uncrowded, so one can sit peacefully for hours and there is a huge gym by pool side which kind of grabs my attention everytime i go. Food was good and different. There is a small bar come pub next to buffet, they have a live band in there. This is like one of those cool places, you might just want to spend an hour in to watch people perform. So, when we went there was a huge group of some foreigners dancing away to glory and enjoying the time. The music is so damn cool that if you love dancing, you would just not manage to sit.
So, all in all, just go!! Its an experience anyone will love.
Cuisine: North- South Indian, Lots of salads, Nice Indian and continental desserts. Huge Spread. Tastes good.
Type: Buffet served after 11 PM till 2 AM.
Experience: Luxury
Ambience: Like any 5 star hotel
On your pocket: Rs. 500/- per person
Location: Near hi tech city

Fine Dining Part 1 :)

So, tonight was an outing with bunch of friends to Tamaara. I remember having come to this place called "Secret Lake" in 2004 when i was in Hyd for some official work for a month. There was nothing secret about this place called "durgam cheruvu" or secret lake even then and now its anyway public. But i was awestruck by the ambience of this place. Its located on stairs of a rock climb. We decided to sit outside and this was indeed a candle lit dinner as we could not even read Menu till someone took out a torch. :) I like the location and total feel of the restuarant. There is a pub Athena right next to this restaurant. I could not go there, damn the assignments, but i have been told that it is good. Among all the pubs that i have visited till date, i think i will put Poison at the top. Its airy, large and music is something you will fall in love with. Then comes firangi paani and i am ok with firefly too.
It was indeed one of the good outings, where 5 of us sat down to gossip for hours. Its fun to be in college once again. Its just fun to be student and to talk about everything under the stars(we were sitting under the stars for or dinner, remember :)). Good day!!
Place: Jubilee hills
Restaurant: Tamaara
Ambience: Too good, have dinner under the stars.
Food: About Average, A la carte
Cuisine: Thai, Chinese, Indian (Limited Vegetarian option)
Pub: Yes, right next door
Crowd: OK
Service: OK
On your pocket: Avg 500 per person
Recommend: Yes, one visit is must.

Hyderabad Blues!!

Its a given that special moments in life are not the crowded parties and definitely not too many people. Its some special people who make every moment special and its travelling that leaves me so damn happy that at times i feel i am crazy. Snoozing the alarm was not an option for me, i was going to explore Hyd and i had to start at 6:30 AM in morning.
I have lot to write about the city of Nawabs and i have a lot to travel before life takes me to a 9-9 job. OK, i have no clue why i did MBA, i could have been happy being a travel guide or cook or writer or i am good at do nothing. But then i think MBA was on my mind since i was 12 and i never give too much thought to whats on my mind. I am strong follower of Nike's "Just do it" philosophy.

Anyway, i am just listing the places i visited to feel good about my holidays :D
Here is my Hyd coverage:
Ramoji film City
Birla Mandir
Chowmahal Palace ( I love this )
Salarjung Museum ( Know royal tastes)
Golconda Palace
Qatab Shahi Tomb
Hussain Sagar Lake
Charminar
Choori Bazaar (Laad Bazaar)
Zoo Park
AND I WANT TO SEE FALAKNUMA PALACE BUT I CANT!!
Places i want to cover before i leave Hyd to join my job:
Nagarjuna Sagar
Sirisalem
And ok, let me not underestimate the assignments at ISB. Term 8 is starting tom.

I will detail out my experience and opinions on each location for the travellers to be. BUT, as of now, i am almost dropping dead, i need to sleep.

And to the place i loved most.. Kanya Kumari!!

This is day 3. We start for Kanyakumari late night and reach the place at 3 AM in morning. God, i need to sleep. We land in a hotel room, the tour guide says, mam, i will be here at 5:45 AM, we have to see the sun rise from Bay of Bengal. Haan bhai! OK!! And i am telling to myself, i dont care whether sun rises or not, i dont think i am getting up. I NEED TO SLEEP!!
I enter into my room and open the window, i can see sea. I saw a huge rocky structure in dark, thats Vivekananda memorial. OK mum! sun rise will look good. I will get up. I set the alarm for 5 o clock and go for a quick sleep. It dsnt take long for that alarm to ring, but then i dont have a choice, sun will not wait for me. We get up and walk down to the sun rise point. I had never seen day shining on sea shore. It was beautiful experience. The sea waves were hitting the rocks. The day was brightening with every passing moment. I captured the stages. Suddenly the orange round rose up from behind the sea. It became bigger and bigger. There were boats of fisherman going out in sea. Expereince was amazing. The waves of water were running to hit the shores as sun made them brighter.
We headed to a point where Indian ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea meet. the color of water of these three seas is different and you can see the black, dark blue and greenish color stand out. I like the feeling of sea waves wiping off the land beneath my feet. I settled in knee deep water and waited for sea waves. Its amazing. There is water all around and soft land under your feet. The color was marvellous. We moved on to check out some temple of brahma, vishnu and mahesh 20 kms off kanya kumari. We took out some time for wax museum in kanya kumari. I liked the way guide described it, "One london, 5000 Rs, other wax museum India only 50 rs." :).
We came back to sea shores for Kanya Kumari temple, vivekananda rock and gandhi memorial. Now was time to explore Vivekananda rock which was off the land. We were seated in a huge boat, it took us to place where swami vivekananda prayed for knowledge. Nice site. Sea touching the rocks all around. There was water till my eyes could see on one side. Time to come back.
We reached back to hotel and started back for Bangalore. I wanted to stay in Kanyakumari for a day more because we had not seen the sun set. I told to myself, never mind, some other time. Mum seemed to be enjoying sea a lot. She did not crib of tiredness, no sleep or food or for that matter anything. Strong mum! when i asked her thrice, she said she wanted to sleep and i saw that our feet were swollen because of extensive travel in short time. Time to get back to home sweet home.

All in all, its tiring, tanning, sleep depriving, but travelling is always worth. Its fun to discover new places, meet new people, learn about new cultures. One life is not enough and i need to sleep before i go miles...... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........

Location- Kanya Kumari
Travel- 250 kms from Kanyakumari
Food- Good
Cleanliness- Good
Places to visit- Sun rise, Vivekananda memorial, Kanya Kumari temple, i liked was museum, Sangam point, Gandhi memorial, brahma vishnu mahesh temple.
Caution- have fun@ beaches ( remember three oceans meet at this point, its a rare sight.)

Journey Journey Part 2 with droopy eyes...

This is day 2. The day is supposed to be a trip to Rameshwaram, this is an island situated in gulf of mannar. I asked mum not to wake up very early as i knew that next three days were going to be extensive on journey. But, the day starts at 6:00 AM. I have difficulty opening my eyes, but then something tells me that you are going to check out the south eastern tip of India, c'mon. And i jump out of the bed. Ready to run at 7:00 AM. With bag on my shoulders, i enter into the bus to find some of the known faces. We all smile at each other. I take out my camera and share some of the pics with the gal, who is amazing photographer. She shows hers to me. We all settle for a 3 hours bus ride. I keep showing the farms to mum in the way. We finally smell something BAD, alright, this is fish and we are near sea. Mum was happy, she told that she loves the horizon and i realize that so do i. There seems to be a point where sea meets sky and there is no visible piece of land. And trust me, for a moment, everything looks like a beautiful painting to me.
We pass pamban bridge on the sea. Its a beautiful site. The bridge is constructed on sea and there is a parallel railway line which runs along. There is water all around.
We stopped to see a floating stone's temple. There are some stones which when thorwn in water, do not drown. It is said that the ones' touched by Nal and Neel from hanuman's army do not drown. This indeed is interesting. One temple was ruined by tsunami, but then they show the ruins.
We reached the main rameshwaram temple. There is a queue of people who are willing to sell you moksha for Rs 50/-. The package includes taking a plunge in sea, then they will throw water from 22 wells on you( which will make u holy), then if you pay 150, you will be given special prefernce over people who are standing in queue. Ok, i get that.
The whole temple is muddy and watery because people have to go through the 22 well bathing. Its supposed to purify ones soul, but you should take bath after being through 22 wells, your body is separate from soul. This was an interesting experience. Millions of people is all i remember. The temple is huge. Again an architectural marvel and yes indeed the water from 22 wells does not dry up even after millions of people take bath in it. It is said that water from each well tastes different and Lord Rama had to go through this before he sat down to pray to Lord Shiva.
We came out of temple soon. This was time to explore surroundings. I loved the sea though it was dirty at the shores. I sat down at a cleaner side and observed a ship pass by. It was a small, wooden boat. The person rowing it was a fisherman. He was heading in a huge sea with his fishing nets. He does not know about moksha, he knows that he has come on earth and he needs to earn to survive. He waves his hand and so do i. I know everyday he heads closer to moksha. I look at the temple in back ground, God is smiling again. He says, you all come to me and there are millions who earn from your coming, look at it positively. I set my eyes at the small fading boat again. I got my answer God, OK!! :)

Location- Rameshwaram
Distance- 200 kms from Madurai (3-4 hours journeys)
Food- Average ( You get all kind of Indian food)
Cleanliness- Its a holy place, so dont expect anything
Places to visit- See the south eastern most tip of India from pamban bridge, check out the sea, do go through 22 wells(they never dry), check out the temple architecture. Yes, you can see Abdul Kalam's house in Machalipatnam. Floating stone temple.
Caution- Be rational.

A 3 day trip to holy south indian cities..Part-1

The journey started at 10:30 PM on 22nd feb. I wanted to sleep then and i want to sleep now as i am jotting down my experience. In morning the bus hit Madurai. I woke up my mum and told her that we were in temple city. Madurai looked like an old, dirty town. ( I have no clue why is tamil nadu dirty, but consistently i have observed that while its earning from tourism in immense, they don't learn that hygiene factor is important.) Here, a man walking on dirty streets without slippers, welcome to Madurai.
We got down and were taken to a nice hotel by our tour operator( Thankfully, had it been dirty too, he was in to get a good piece of mind for me.). We were told that we were near Meenakshi temple and we could visit the same and be ready for a trip around city by afternoon. We got ready and walked towards Meenakshi temple. The temple was huge. It has four huge doors and has magnificent stone carvings all around. There is a temple of Lord Shiva and Meenakshi. To me the temple looks mysterious because its too huge and dark. We boast of technology, but the funny part is we cant even maintain what people could make 1000 years back. The temple needs better maintenance. The temple was dark inside with some small openings through which sun descended its rays into the temple. And, lets not talk of pandits and their constant cry for money. I feel like asking God that why did he become so biased about his bhakts. What if i did not have 50 rupees, was i not supposed to see him then?
Afternoon was welcomed by a tour guide. We were taken to some palace which has been converted into a museum. The carvings were wonderful, BUT it cried out loud for maintenance as well. It was dirty, unkempt and full of people. It will not survive the century if not taken care of. From there, we headed for some big lake. There is a temple right in mid of that lake. The temple is empty year round. Once in year, god and goddess are brought to visit the same. So, we are shown the same from distance and i so badly want to go to the temple and see it. BUT, its something to be seen from distance, OK.
Next, we travel some 20 kms off Madurai to visit another mysterious temple between hills. There is an animal cut infront of a closed door every day in name of "bali".The door opens once in an year because that's how God likes it. We enter inside to see a whole new mysterious world. Its all a huge huge mansion carved out of greyish huge rocks. Its been told to me that it was constructed when cement did not exist. The cement was replaced with a mixture of jaggery, eggs and sand. Amazing if that is true. The building is huge. I have never seen such huge temples ever in life. They are huge stone pillars carved with millions of statues which i find difficult to interpret. Its huge and beautiful, but as i say, there is an element of mystery, it says you cant explore me, i am beyond you. The paths look difficult to interpret, its usually dark inside and the pillar trails ends nowhere. And then i realize that i am probably in 25% part of that mysterious place and will be too scared to go to other 75% alone, but i would want to.
We head back to reach to a relatively modern temple, huge beautiful idols, but then its not mysterious as Meenakshi and the other temple. There are stories around the coming up of each temple. How God prayed to make Goddess happy, who was kind of cross(atleast that's what i got out of the story). The one who prayed even got gold lotus from a pond which now has only pink natural lotus. But yes, Meenakshi temple is beautiful and huge. You must check out the four main doors which are 9 stories and have more than 1000 idols carved in it. The idols inside are huge and carved out of black stones. There is a 1000 pillar hall in Meenakshi temple which looks more like dancing hall to me. Its now converted into a museum with anything and everything that broke down in temple due to lack of maintenance.
So, after a long day, we came back to hotel. Tonight, we were supposed to sleep for next 3 days it was going to be BAD. I have no clue when did i fall asleep but i know that i was discovering the mysterious temples in my dreams and they were not dark. They were beautifully lit and i wondered how kings in olden times visited such huge temples. I was dreaming.
However, i would say that commercialization of temple looks bad to me. They are supposed to be places where people could go and sit in peace. There is nothing like that which remains in temples anymore. Poor stand in long queues, they are pushed out. Its the financial capacity based on which God's view is sold. I feel bad about this aspect. There were huge hoardings suggesting that only Hindus could enter in temple shrine. I have no clue. Does God or the temple management know whats my caste? When you are charging money to see God then why restrict it on other factors? God, do you see all this?

Anyway, i am dreaming and i realize that when king enters the temple, its only him and his family. Poor people get to see once in a while. God did not construct it, mind you, King constructed it. God did not set the rules, people set them. God seems to be tired himself working 20 hours a day and accepting offerings from millions when he is supposed to be the giver. Then i look at his idol, he is smiling. He says, i smile at all of you. I love you all, even after paying you cant see me. I am your faith, you search me in all easy places while i reside in you. Do good and be good. This is a historical heritage building, i happen to be sitting here because i thought king did a great job. Yes, he did. I got my answer, thank you God! :)

Location- Madurai
Food- Average
Cleanliness- Bad
Travel- 8-9 hours journey from bangalore
Place to Visit- Meenakshi temple (Such temples are not a common site. Architectural marvel)