Pondicherry!!

I was just tired ... really tired of Bangalore.... so when we got a chance to take off , we were like pondiiiiiiiiii.... 

Pondicherry or Puducheri as it is known as in Tamil is a small tiny kutti little place 200 kms off of Chennai... It is a Union territory ... all that means is ,that alcohol and petrol is cheaper there :P ...

It was not like we had'nt been to pondicherry before ... it was just that I have always loved the little place to distraction. It was a French colony till the the 1974 :O ....... But the French did a good number of the place .. . it is absolutely charming ... 

More Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puducherry

The entire city is divided into 2 parts-  The French Quarter and the Tamil Quarter. And as you guessed it , the French Quarter is the place to be ........... The place is a as big as the MG road and Brigade Road put together...All the roads are built perpendicular to each other.... The french quarter place is right next to the sea and the main road is called as the MG Road which runs right next to the sea. The beach is not huge , there are huge boulders to keep the sea out as it is very rough , but the place is charming , small vendors come out in th evening to hawk their wares .. its the usual beach stuff ... balloons .. chats etc ...[takes you back :)] The breeze is brilliant and the hotels and the art gallerias are brilliant ... 

We stayed at the Dumas Guest house which is a huge, beautiful and old 17th century house. The owners let out 7 rooms , everything is nominally priced at 1500 Rs.They do not serve food , but they offer to get the alcohol for cheap :P ... The rooms are huge and beautifully decorated with AC... The rooms are surrounded by house plants of every variety.. Since the place is humid all the beautiful flowers bloom .... right outside the door... The only draw back , no TV or Radio .... but you wont mind that at all ... its peaceful ......

There is a Hi design Hotel in Pondicherry right in front of the beach ....Its a beautiful hotel made of wood and glass and has a beautiful rooftop lounge .. they serve awesome food and drinks... Another favorite is La Pondicherry ... lovely lovely lovely cocktails and awesome food .... have always loved that place .... :)

We decided to skip the tourist spots in pondicherry and do something different this time ..... so we went Antique hunting ... Pondi is known for the its antiques .. People buy old stuff - doors,chiars ,tables,boxes,cupboards anything... off of the local villagers and restore them ... man !! those old things are just lovely ... everything is too highly priced and exported. I had my heart set on a couple of them but they were too expensive :( ... and the transportation cost extra ... but none the less very very beautiful...

Then we decided to hit the beach .. but the beach on the outskirts of pondicherry ......... :) .. parallel to the sea ,on the east coast road which leads to the pondicherry city , there are a number of small villages , usually fishermen villages ... lovely ... we decided to go to one of them ... worth it .... the sea is very rough ... we can't get in but the place was awesome ... to take in the breeze .. children playing carrom :) ... fishermen folk lounging around ... charming ...

We like the Aurobindo Ashram , not for the meditation stuff , but for the stuff you can buy ... beautiful ceramics and handicrafts can be bought at the Ashram store.... We also love the Ashram cafe on the way to the Ashram ... its a peaceful place where you can put your legs up and sip your tea and eat almond biscotti ....

Pondicherry is also famous for pottery ....... you would not believe the stuff you can get there ... decorations to lamps to crazy stuff ... :) ... The place is also known for export quality clothes , the ones before they put a lable ... they are cheeeeeeaaaaaap........

Just for kicks we went to this place called Chocola , its in the tamil quarter of the city , we were told that you get exquisite Belgian Chocolates there , boy were they right , awesome chocolates ... quirky ones to just melt in your mouth ... just divine .... 

Then it was time to head back :( ... we drove from Pondicherry to Bangalore via Tiruvannamali in 8 hours !! But a  hatke trip .. we dint do any toristy stuff .. just exploring ... 

Sun [lots of it]... Sand and Culture !! 

Yercaud!!

We decided to go away for the weekend .... but we dint know where :) [usual case] .. then the idea struck . Yercaud!!
Its not far away, its gonna be nice and cool and we can drive .... So off we went.

Yercaud is a hill station in Tamil Nadu , near Selem . Its around 230 Kms from Bangalore [Not too far] ...
We set off early from bangalore , we hit the NH7 and drove via hosur,Krishnagiri,Dharmapuri then to Selem .. It took us around 4 hours ... and n
We stopped for some refreshements in Selem , no Darshini concept in TN ... so had to go to some fancy looking place with fancy prices ...

We set off from Selem to Yercaud , its a steep drive up into the clouds and it has 14 hairpin turns :) .... Naveen enjoyed it .. what he dint enjoy was the
traffic jam on the way to the top :P ... traffic stood still for around 30 mins because some hot shot got stuck in a hairpin ...

We finally reached the top and we looked around ... a commercialized hill station but still pretty .. we could see that it was very small .....
There was a huge lake in the center ... and a lot of mini shops on its banks .. all of them selling yummy food !! But it was not that cold.. :(
We decided to just go to our hotel "The Grand Palace". Its a decent place , but over priced but at least clean!!

In the evening we decided to explore the place but the dusk fell quickly :( and we were kinda surprised as to how quickly it got dark ,
we went near the lake since that seemed to be the place for action ... even the shops were beginning to close and it was just 7 PM :(
We just went back to the hotel , but it was decidedly chilly and cold now ... very very cold !!

The next day we went around the place , we went beyond the lake and we saw only beautiful orange orchards and coffee plantations ... breathtaking cliffs ...
There is a famous Servarayan temple and a Devi temple ... we climbed and climbed and we reached the top of the hills and there was a view point ...
it was a picnic point with fantastic views and a park for children !!

There are fantastic trekking trails there it seems , but we dint have the time to try them as we had to get back ....
overall its a nice pleasant place , don't expect excitement , its just a place to visit once  !!
The views are spectacular and if you want to experience the off season chill , just go to yercaud!!

More info :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yercaud

Orange County - Coorg!!

We were getting married in August and we were at loss, as to where to go for our honeymoon.

Its the rainy season, it'll wet and slushy all over.

Then we decided , if we are getting wet, lets do it in style :) ........

We decided to go to Orange County - Coorg!!

Its a breathtaking place, expensive but worth it !!

We left for KushalNagar in the morning, reached there by afternoon, we went to the usual Tebitian Temple visit..

I love the place though , maybe for all the cool stuff we get there ... shopping basically.

Anyone who goes there should pick up the dolls there , they are exquisite..

After the shopping , we were kinda stuck , Orange county is in Siddapura, almost 50 KMs from Kushalnagar!! ...

An auto driver decided that he'll be brave enough ferry us till there, in the driving rain and bad roads.

We could'nt help but notice that, our bumpy ride offered some fantastic views :) ... and a very entertaining auto driver...

We paid the auto guy almost 400 bucks and reached Orange County! ... What a place ... What a place ...

We were welcomed in style , It was Onam , so the place was decked up in Kerela Decorations...

THe place is an Eco Resort, basically what it meant was that , we could'nt be messy and throw plastic and paper about...

It is a throughly beautiful place, in between the Coffee Plantations [whihc coorg is particularly famous for] ....

The area is so vast that , the resort is evenly spaced out and beautifully thought out..

There is a huge lake in between the resort and there is boating, in good weather..

There are activity centers, they organise treks and bicycle rides.

There are three restaurents, each serving a different cuisine.. Italian,Indian,Continental...

The place is unbelievably romantic .. Lush greenery all around, clouds hanging low and very very beautiful rooms,cottages and villas.

We had booked a Villa with a pool, the architecture was the traditional Coorgi style.

The entire house [ yes it is huge ] , was made of eco friendly materials [wood, mud bricks] ...

The interiors are beautiful, soft and antiques everywhere.. The bathrooms are a delight ... The pool was a jacuzzi :) ... so it was FUN!!

We shared the pool with a couple a swans , for some odd these birds loved our pool and refused to go back to their lake [the villas are on the lake side]

These birds poop everywhere thats the worst part :( , but the staff is so friendly that , they dint mind coming over again

and again and cleaning after and shooing the birds..

There was activity in the evenings, folk groups performing, magic tricks , dance shows ... In the morning we could go biking, trekking , play games [indoor and out door] ...

Or just lazing around [thats the best option]

Orange County is a romantic place , imagine , soft rain pelting your windows , tea and mini biscuits , exqusite chocolates .. hot showers and a book.. Heaven..

They belive in pampering the guests, so we got a lot of free goodies ... :) , chocolates and T shirts, free Wine , Coffee Beans , Umbrellas ....

Its expensive .... BUT WORTH IT !! Its worth it for the stay , the experience , goodies , food , the service , the sheer beauty !

Gokarna!!

Gokarna has always been my favorite holiday spot. I love the serene beauty of the place , its almost as if , its untouched ....

A number of people come every year to Gokarna , but even with all that, there is something indescribable about the place , it just draws you in, you feel like you can just live there forever.

Sitting beneath the swinging coconut trees, playing in the sea .. sipping lime juice ... just sitting and staring ... There is something infinite about the sea which has always fascinated me and when i go to Gokarna , that feeling intensifies....

Gokarna is a small town, there are exactly two roads in the town , one of which leads to an antient temple. Gokarna is famous with Hindu piligrims, its has two very famous temples , one dedicated to Lord Shiva and the other to his son Lord Ganesha. The town is a very important place for hindus in terms of the last rites to attain Moksha [salvation]. There are a number of tales connected to Gokarna , it seems to be a great hit with almost all the holy books in india , it finds reference in both Ramayana and Mahabharata. Adi Shankracharya seemed to have defeated a Sanskrit scholar here in a debate which lasted for days, finally establishing his doctrine ...

For the other stories : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gokarna,_India

We took the bus to Gokarna, we left Bangalore at 10 PM and reached Gokarna by 8 AM. The only drawback in Gokarna are the rickshaw fellows, the fares are always beyond 100 Rs. I mean that is highway robbery, but they know that we are helpless and we will pay :( ... bikes for hire is not a concept which is very popular .. so tourists end up spending a lot of money on travel alone. This time we stayed at Gokarna International on the Kudle beach. It is'nt all that it is made out to be , it is an average place which stinks big time ! We ate at various places in Gokarna , food is not fantastic , but since it is so hot , you don't feel like eating anyways ... so it is all good !!

The ocean on one side and the western ghats on the other , Gokarna has something for everyone .. The ocean is very very very gentle , the waves aren't too rough, you can just paddle or swim out , its great fun .. There are six fantastic beaches in Gokarna - Gokarna beach,Kudle Beach,Om Beach , Half moon beach,Paradise beach and Sangam beach.

Om Beach is arguably the most popular beach,it is shaped as an Om. Half Moon is my faveroite, it is a quite beach, where most tourists don't come, the sea is really friendly and gentle , paradise is a party place ... I don't like it too much , but again it is subjective. Sangam beach is a beach which most of us have'nt visited, its a virgin stretch of sand spreading kilometers across, with no civilization in sight.

All the beaches are separated by cliffs, sometimes its a adventurous trek or it may just be a normal trek to the next beach. The easiest path is from Kudle to Om. The most arduous one would be from Om to Half moon, the most tricky one would be Paradise to Half moon.

As i said Gokarna has something for everyone, there are cheap shacks which sell interesting knick knacks or clothing, you can get anything from chains to anklets to china ...

There are water sports, but not that interesting. There are fishing boats which take you from one beach to another , I personally love them but the pricing is steep, but worth it.

There is usually an interesting mix of people there, people are friendly and I mostly think that is coz most of them are either drunk or high. It is a proper hippy place,but no one disturbs you if you want to be left alone !! Thats the best part of all.

Overall it was a fun,relaxing experience. We drank and drank and drank some more, played all the games under the sun... swam out in the ocean,trekked ... LOVE IT!!

I will go back as always ....