Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2008

Featured Post

The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.

Videos of the fog

In my earlier post, I spoke of the fog and how we were thrilled by it. Here are a couple of videos I recorded, which show the extent of the fog and how the vehicles seem to appear from and dissappear into nothingness.... Go on, take a look at them.....

Magnificent Munnar – Part II - A day in the hills

Munnar has enough magic keep one enthralled for at least 3 days. There are a number of places to see and lots of trekking routes to explore in all the four directions. We however had only a day with us, and had to make the most of it. We decided to take the route which would take us to the dams and lakes where we could spend the day boating, which Samhith enjoys immensely. As it happened, most other tourists seemed to have had the same thought, and every boating pier was full, and we had to return without a single boat ride. We had lots of fun in other ways though, but let us take things in sequence. The View From Mattupatti Dam We started for Mattupatti Dam, about 12 Kms away. Here, in the lake created by the dam, one can ride speedboats. However, the speedboats were few, and tourists too many, and we were told that we would have to wait for at least an hour. None of us is known for our patience, and we decided to move on, albeit with some reluctance. Outside the boathouse, we fou

Magnificent Munnar - Part I - Arrival

Munnar is one of the most beautiful hill stations of our country , one which makes the appellation of Kerala as ‘God’s own country’ come true. It is a land of mountains covered in every shade of green imaginable and unimaginable; of tea plantations which stretch over miles and miles of countryside, not sparing an inch of the mountains; of waterfalls which cascade down the mountains, their origins too high to be seen, their final destination unknown, but their force increasing by leaps and bounds of the water……. The beauties of Munnar are to be experienced, not enumerated. But the memory I shall always carry with me of this magical place is the fog - The fog which made the road ahead practically invisible; the fog which appeared out of nowhere, bringing with it the chill and the monsoon rain. But before I get carried away, I must begin at the beginning. The beginning was early in the morning on the 15th of August, our Independence Day, when we left our cosy beds to catch the first flig

A sudden trip to Munnar - Photos

“Let’s go to Coimbatore” said my husband, and like a dutiful wife, I agreed. But wait, that’s not where the story begins. The story begins earlier in the day, the 14th of August, when my sister-in-law was supposed to come on a visit to Bombay with her husband. We were all planning to go to Shirdi, and had made all the arrangements. Unfortunately, our plans went awry, when their plans were cancelled due to some persona problems. All of us were disappointed, but none more than my son, who simply refused to believe that his aunt was not turning up as expected. That’s when my husband returned from office and put forth his question. Coimbatore? …Now? …How? Questions flew fast and furious, but he had an answer for everything. We had a long weekend ahead, Independence Day on Friday the 15th, the weekend followed by the Parsi New Year on Tuesday. We could have five days in Coimbatore with Sandhya, just by taking a day off from school and office. Well, to cut things short, he booked tickets, a

Dandeli Jungle Lodges Review

I recently found a wonderful site: Review Stream , specialising in reviews of anything and everything. They not only invite you to write for them, they even pay you for it. I tried it out, writing a review for Jungle Lodges at Dandeli, and you know what ? They paid me 2 USD!!!!! Of course, it is still on paper, or rather on the net, but anyway, thats a lot more encouragement I have recived so far. I am attaching a link to my review so that you guys can check it out.... Hey, don't forget to vote for m review.. they might pay me more!!!!!! MY REVIEWS Jungle Lodges, Dandeli ReviewStream.com