Travel Diaries 2016
The one medium that made me expressive, strong, relentless, yet vulnerable and weak at the same time.
I decided to write about my first love - Travel. Last year has been an absolute roller coaster ride, so many highs and so very many lows. As far as travel is concerned, i was lucky enough to see few places to unwind and get out of the city multiple times.
Kushalnagar:
2016 started off with a long weekend trip to a beautiful resort in Kushalnagar called Prakruth. A beautiful green place with Cauvery backwaters right in the backyard. It drizzled all the days we were there, but that dint dampen our spirits. We spent all 3 days playing in the water like baby elephants, eating to our fill, chatting away to our hearts content, warming up to the campfire and just being kids again. On the way to Kushalnagar, we even stopped by a very serene resort near Srirangapatna. The road trip, the company, the music, everything came together and knit beautiful and unforgettable memories.
Pondicherry:
This trip had to happen, since i hadn't seen Pondicherry before and had always heard hoards about its beauty. The road trip was amazing as we took the green route SH5 and it felt like we drove through a beautiful dream. The city itself is very cozy and humid because of the beaches. Seaside Promenade, Paradise Beach, French colony are the must places that one cannot miss. We stayed very close to the Serenity beach. We had luxurious brunch/lunch/dinner at the French cafes close to the beach and rest of the time spent soaking up the sun at the beach. We also visited Sadhana forest at Auroville. They describe the place as "This is a community focused on water conservation and the indigenous reforestation of 70 acres of severely eroded Auroville land located inland from Morattandi, off the Pondicherry-Tindivanam road ". The place is run by volunteers from all over the world, something on a higher dimension if you ask me. Great company accompanied by a lot of drama was the highlight of this trip :)
Ooty & Coonoor:
As per my previous blogs i am sure we have already established how much i hate the SUN! Hence, i naturally gravitate towards cooler places. That was the same case with Ooty and Coonoor as well. We started this road trip late friday night and reached Bandipur around 3am. Bandipur conveniently connects Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and is the most preferred route for commuters from Bangalore and since Bandipur is a reserve forest, the gates open only between 6am-6pm. We waited for the break of dawn in our car and once the gates opened everyone rushed like it was Doomsday! We did have some wild animal sightings and that was worth our wait. We first drove to Conoor and stayed in a YMCA. The entire city is like it's just out of a Mills & Boons novel. So quite so serene so conventional and so very cozy. We decide to not roam around too much and stay put to our hotel and the main market. Since it was November, the winter cold was more than snug. After a long walk and heavy Italian dinner we called it a day. Next morning we started our 2nd leg of the trip to Ooty. This time too we stayed at YWCA and the place was not just green but all colors of the rainbow. Flowers here flowers there flowers everywhere (Ref: The Ancient Mariner!). We saw a couple touristy spots and had a luxurious lunch followed by the very popular Ooty chocolate tea. We rid goodbye to our trip with a promise to retire in Conoor and opening our own Italian Pizzeria!
Hampi:
As the year was ending, i had a sudden itch to see one last place before closing it off for the year, and what better place than an architectural marvel: Hampi. My love for Architecture is in-line with my love for greenery. According to me, ancient architecture somehow makes me feel like i am living and breathing the era and boy did it happen again. The city was run by Vijayanagara kingdom back in the days and the entire city is where the dynasty spread. Some places have been victims of vandalization but the government is doing its best to restore the damage. Hampi has a mixed culture with respect to tourists. People flock here from all over the world and why not! The city is breathtaking and i could easily lose myself here in all it's entirety.
Thus my very short stints for 2016 ended on a high note. I do resolve to travel and see more places in 2017 and that thought is more than motivating for me to look forward to every single day :D
Cheers,
S
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