Sun..Sand..Sea .. Varkala, Kerala

Just returned from Varkala - Sivagiri, Kerala. Beautiful place. This is one of place where there is a cliff and a beach next to each other.

Day 1:
Bangalore - Kollam by train
Travelled by 16315 KOCHUVELI EXP
Note: This train doesn't stop in cantonment or any other station. After Majestic, next stop is Salem.

Day 2: Varkala - Check-in to hotel
Reached Kollam around 7:50 AM and there came the next train at 8:15AM. Kanyakumari-Trivandrum express. The ticket costs around 17rs for adult. There is also something called sleeper ticket which costs almost double, with that ticket you can get into any coach. Reached Varkala at 9 AM. From there we went to Akhil beach resort where we had booked rooms already.

Note: Taxis and Autos in Kerala are very reasonable compared to Bangalore. Taxi costs around Rs.150 from railway station to Akhil beach resort, auto cost about Rs.80.

Akhil beach resort, Varkala,Kerela:
Value for money. Friendly staff, neat room, decent food. You cannot ask for more. The bathroom and fittings are very nice. Also I love the balcony on every room. We took a deluxe room which costs  Rs.1000.

In Varkala all the food is made to order, so have loads of time to have food or plan and order early.

After breakfast at Akhil we headed to beach. Around this time of the year(Sep-Oct) the beach is a good 1-2KM walk down the hill, but that adds to the vacation. You can take an auto to reach helipad and walk from there as well.

The day we went was a full moon day and the waves were ferocious! We all enjoyed the massage in water and then returned to Akil for a lunch. Again lunch we had ordered upfront and everything was nice.

Note: If you are not a big fan of coconut oil, tell specifically not to add.

Post lunch we went to see Janardhana swamy temple, this walk is a mini trek again. The temple closes at 6PM. After that we settled at beach for a nice sunset and refreshing breeze.

Dinner@Ootapura
Ootapura next to helipad is the only vegetarian outlet in Varkala. Try their butter chappati and capcicum masala. It's so fresh and homely. But you need to order 40mins upfront. You can see them preparing in front of you only. So if you are planning to eat here order in advance or do not mind the wait.

Juice shack
This is one another favorite destination of ours.Nice uices, fresh sandwiches above all very friendly manager. You can ask him for anything he will help you.

Recommended things to do at Varkala:
* Go for a an early morning or late evening walk towards black sand beach or Tibetian beach. If you are a non-vegetarian you would enjoy the food and the display. Veggies try morning walk if you have sensitive heart/nose :)
* Go for a swim early in the morning beach side

Day 3: Rejuvenating Boat house at Asthamudi Backwaters Kollam
We were a family of 15 adults and 3 children. No one had been on a boat house. So arranged a 6hour drive in boat house. This was full of surprise and very much enjoyable for everyone!
* Booked through Southern Backwaters
* Paid 10,000 for 6 hours with welcome drink, excellent lunch, tea+snacks
* The breeze of backwater and luxury of boat house is enchanting

Day 4: Trivandrum

Shree  Anantha Padmanabha temple:

Nice temple but loads of restrictions. Dress code, no phone/camera, Queue when there is no crowd. Also when we are near the God there is no enough light to have one good look at the God
Note: All temples in Kerala are closed around 12 Noon. Target to reach before that.

Breakfast and lunch at Arya bhavan, excellent vegetarian food.

Shanghumugham Beach 

Beautiful beach, well maintained. Do visit if you have time

* Kollam, Varkala, Trivandrum are all well connected by train and it's convenient to roam around in train.

After that returned in Gareeb rath back to Bangalore with loads of fond memories!

Jog falls, Agumbe weekend getaway

Monsoon vacation - Jog, Keladi, Theerthahalli, Agumbe,  Kundadri, Kuppali

Last weekend (August 11th and12th) had been for a trip in Shimoga district. We covered Jog falls, Keladi, Agumbe,  Kundadri, Kuppali in two days.

We left Bangalore in shimoga express from Majestic from dirty 10th platform. Train reached Shimoga at around 5.30Am. Took an auto and checked in to Hotel Ashoka inn(double room:Rs.570), near KSRTC busstand. Slept for good 2 hours. Checked out from hotel and had wonderful open dosa. Heard that is the place where open dosa is discovered. We hired a  taxi and first stop was shimoga zoo. I would recommend this place for the leopard,hyna,jackel. Do visit if you go like us, with a kid who would be excited.

Amazing Jog falls
Jog is about 100 kms from Shimoga. It took good 3 hours for us to reach, but roads, climate were excellent. We first went to inspection bungalow side of jog. It's the second entrance. What a site it is. There is little bit of trek one has to do. It would be easier without rain. We went when it was pouring but again that is a wonderful site and experience. There are photographers here as well take a snap worth the memory! Get yourself drenched in the rain and powerful water fall music! It feels like Pandora of Avatar movie. Cloud closes and opens and makes it even more beautiful! Do visit when it rains! You can never forget!

We spent good 3 hours here and then we went to the normal entrance of jog falls. This is typical indian tourist spot but for a chance clean. Loads of parking, wash rooms and some eat outs. When we reached here we couldn't see as the fog was thick. But this again is suppose to be very beautiful. They say mornings we get a good view. We went at 3PM and nothing was seen.

We returned to Sagar for lunch and had wonderful tiffins at Mysore cafe.

Keladi - Old magnificent temple
Based on suggestion from a friend in that area visited this very old beautiful temple.There were very few visitors to this temple. There is a care taker who explained us about the temple and story behind it. It was very nice. The temple floor was extremely slippery and that added to the fun.

Halt at beautiful Theerthahalli
Stayed at hotel Mayura. We didn't get a place elsewhere. Hotel was average. Check out thunga river at full flow.

Day 2
Misty Kundadri

This is one place I can never forget! It is a beautiful spot on a hill top. There is a small pond. It felt like heaven.

Scenic Agumbe

Heard that at this place there are many movie shooting taken. I totally loved this place. There was a lake which was a picture postcard only.  Both Kundadri and Agumbe were only ~30kms from Theerthahalli

Kuppali
On the same day we visited Kuppali. Famous kannada poet Kuvempu's house has been made as a monument here. House is extremely old and cleaned and saved of beauty.

We also went to the place where he got motivation to write poems. Wow! that place was truly inspirational. Karnataka government had made some beautification as well and it is well worth it!

There ends our wonderful two day trip covering some beautiful places at Shimoga district. For monsoon vacation, this is the place!

We had wonderful dinner at Hotel Pawan, Shimoga. Got into train and returned back to Bangalore with wonderful memories and work week started!

Misty Sakaleshpur , Amazing Rottikallu

Last weekend(July 12th,13th) we all went to Sakaleshpur as an office tour. We were 30 of us all mixed group and it was refreshing.

We traveled by AC bus from Bangalore. It took about 6 hours to reach Rottikallu resort which is 25kms from Sakaleshpur. In car I think it can be done in 5 hours with 30min breakfast break.

First sight of western guards playing hide and seek with clouds is amazing sight. There are small streams everywhere.

I think July-August is the right time to visit Sakaleshpur.

Anyone from Bangalore will all of sudden feel refreshed after inhaling the fresh air.

The resort is beautiful. Full of lush and green.

The resort manager and the employees are very friendly and courteous.

Here are some creative activities:
1 Beach volleyball: Water filled pit to play. When you are with a gang like us(30+), you would freak out. Boys played 3 matches, girls played 3 matches full of fun.
2. Small stream to play around. Beautiful,safe and fun. Water splashing and some area it flows with little force. Good fun
3. Rope bridges
4 Tarzan swing - Become kid again
5 Adventure activity - This is the best. You would hang in a rope and land in the stream from a height of 20m. Awesome experience.

All of the above and excellent lunch kept us busy till 5.30. Then they took us for a short trek to a place very close by. It's like a view point. Their lunch included Akki rotti, super spicy cutney, some payasam, nice pulav. I loved the food. It was all fresh, less/no oil, tasty and very different, unlimited.

Evening there was a camp fire set up and we totally enjoyed it.

Thier snacks(made to order) were also fantastic. Super spicy peanut masala, onion bakoda, capcicum bajji. Wow!

Dinner had chapathi, Benne kadubu(like Tamilnadu style kozhakattai) and some palyas. All were very nice.

Next day morning with our super energy group we left for the trek at 7 AM in the mist. The trek is of 4KM(one way) and of moderate difficulty level. With the group it was good fun. Some places were steep but absolutely safe.

The return route of the trek is different from onward. Return there was a beautiful waterfall which was a visual delight. I saw and entered into it for an awesome massage. Water heals, refreshes and re energizes you! Amazing! All the tiredness due to trekking is long gone after playing in water.

Returned to resort and hogs into hot set dosa, uppitu(Upma) and kesari bath.

Overall this was a wonderful trip to remember.

I strongly recommend rottikallu for
* Awesome super spicy food
* Friendly staff
* Games
* Clean rooms
* Location

Go with a group, you need people to have fun like us!

Chikmagalur, Kemmangundi, Mullayangiri, Eagles eye holiday - 3 days at natures lap

Just returned from a 3 days trip to Chikmagalur. This is the second time for me and I totally enjoyed it!

Day 1:

Left Bangalore at 7.45 AM. Breakfast at Agarwal Bhavan timkur road after Jalahalliu croos. Try their Karabath and Rawa dosa. You wouldn't forget it for real real long time. To reach this hotel take service road not the toll road/bridge. I didn't see any decent place to eat after this point. We started after breakfast at 9 AM till some point there are awesome toll roads. One can easily average 100 in any vehicle you have. When we are close to Hasan a small stretch of bad road exists. Work to convert that to 4 lane is in progress. Right now only one toll till Hasan. Rest all are trail run. Yes you get to drive for free.

Reached Chikmagalur and stayed at Planter's court hotel. This hotel standard has gone down. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I saw quite a few places to stay(Sowndarya hotel to name one). Try else where.

Had lunch at hotel next to this Planter's court(I think it's called Asoak). Not a good place to eat as well. Lot of cigarette smoke and nothing was available except meal.

Left for Kemmagundi at 3 PM. We were misled and took a bad road which goes to kemmangundi. Took 3 hours to reach Z point. We knew we already do not have time to walk for long in Z point. So we went little further and came back. Z Point is a beautiful place but have at least an 1.5hrs to walk to and come back. Go when there is light.

We saw rose garden and saw kalhatti falls. Kalhatii falls is a beautiful place with small temple. Temple is open only till 6PM. There is no light after that. This is a small deviation while returning from Kemmagundi and do check this place out.

Good route which we found while returning is thru thriakeri has a good road though it's slightly longer. Take this route don't get carried away by boards.

We returned to Kemmangundi and had good dinner at HOTEL SOUNDARYA RESIDENCY very nice place.

Slept at hotel room

Day 2: Mullayangiri

Left at 6am in the morning and drive was awesome. Roads are fantastic and it's a beautiful place to visit. Be ready to claim 500 steps. It's well worth the climb.Carry your own food. Nothing available here as well. We had carried bread and juice.

We returned back after spending good amount of time at the top.

After coming to room our drive to Eagles eye holidays started.

Note:

1. Carry the map and follow all the instructions well.

2. Now there is a banner near the church where you need to take a right

3. There is a tiny board near the paddy field and banana plantation to find this resort.

4. Drive is good and roads are well laid now. Even patch work is happening at the damaged portion of roads.

I am surprised by the comments given in the net for this place. We went to this place based on a recommendation from a relative who stayed there and totally enjoyed it.

This place is in middle of some estate with beautiful view. We had booked a villa for 4 adults. Its a nice big room with 4 carts placed. Neat bathroom with hot water and well lit. Clean bed sheets, curtains and friendly staff.

Few things to note:

1. It's not a luxurious resort. It's like JLR but much better than that.

2. No room service

3. Basic tasty food. Best: Gobi pepper dry without onion/garlic. I still feel the pepper smell it gave. Do try! Fresh strawberry juice. Never had anything of that sort. Masala dosa. Farm fresh bananas

4. The whole place is at different levels. If you are taking elders they may find it difficult to climb up and down for food or going out. It is a good elevation where rooms are. Be prepared.

5. Do try the Trek. It's not very difficult. 4KMs. Awesome view you get.

We didn't get a chance to do plantation walk as it was a Easter holiday person incharge was on leave.

The river side picnic again was not available

There is enough to spend time.

There is lot of open space. They give to Badminton racket, Volley ball, Cricket bat. All indoor games are also available.

Bon fire with music is nice. My toddler son thoroughly enjoyed it.

Just go to this place, relax enjoy nature carry memories and come back.

There was a huge fight from a person being unsatisfactory. I found it very funny. I think they keep up the promise of saying it's a home away from home.

Go to this place only if

- You want to get up with the birds chirp.

- Enjoy the night with moon and stars.

- Play and talk with your family and friends.

3 days at the lap of nature was so refreshing!

New year's eve @Yercaud

Hi All,

Had been to Yercaud for 2 days.

Fist day the cyclone called "thane" hit us and we just had to stay indoors.

Stay:

Sophy's resort, View point cottage (Behind 1st petrol bunk).

Took three basic rooms. Tariff: Rs. 820/room.

Pros:

-Friendly service

-Great Tea

-Nice location(loved the view point set up nearby)

Cons:

- Power cut for the entire two days. They have backup only for a CFL on each of the rooms

- Initially they told power would return in 2 hours etc. Then we went out enquired and realized if it rains, in Yercuad power can go off for a week even

- No water through taps. One guy got us water bucket after bucket(Including hot water).

- Bathrooms are too small(tiny)

- Rooms were not too clean

They need to get some backup done rest all is ok.

Eat:

3/4 of meals we had at Saravana bhavan opened recently. Stunned by their service and taste.

Best:

1. Paneer 65

2. Noodles

3. Veg pulav

4. Pongal

5. Ghee roast

Each and every item has quality. Coffee also was great! Do have a meal here

One more eat out: Malar(Inside servoroy hotel). Neat place you can have a peaceful meal. Ours was a budget trip this time, didn't eat anywhere else.

Places to see:

1. Kuliyur falls - We didn't see due to rains, must be a nice place

2. Ladies seat,gents seat - Can be skipped. Gents seat is better, ladies seat is full of Monkeys!

3. Pakoda point - Spend some time here, awesome point

4. Shervoroy temple - Very nice place, scenic

5. Shri Chakra Maha Meru temple - Beautiful temple, - Must see

6. Lake

We didn't have time for anything else, we returned. But loved the place would go back again when I get a chance.