Yelagiri

Trip members: Karthik, Sankar, Murugan, Prashant and Sathish Raja
Trip date:  10 and 11 Mar 2018
Trip Plan : Chennai - Yelagiri - Ambur - Chennai

Day-1

A quickly planned weekend trip to Yelagiri - first time, being so close to Chennai. Yelagiri is around 210 kms from Tambaram. On the Bangalore highway, after crossing Ambur and just before Vaniyambadi, watch out for a signboard for Yelagiri - 22 kms. Take a left at this exit. It is easy to miss this left and if you overshoot this you would reach the Vaniyambadi toll station in about 1km. After 1 km, turn left at this junction, there's a sign board pointing towards Yelagiri. The hill station has beautiful hair pin bends and nice drift in temperature in the evenings. The day time is quite sunny in all weather like the plains.

We started from Chennai around 6 AM and took the route of Tambaram - Manimangalam - Sriperumpudur - Vellore - Ambur - Yelagiri. We stopped at Hotel Sakthi Ganapathy in Kancheepuram bye pass around 7:30. The restaurant never disappoints - pongal, vadas, idlies, dosas, pooris and coffee. All were good and satisfactory.

The hill station does not have too many places to see; however, a pleasant place in the evenings. The hill hosts an artificial lake with boating facilities, a park, Lord Murugan temple and then one more - Swamimalai. We reached Yelagiri around 10:45 AM. We stopped by the Punganoor Lake - Car parking is available at Rs.20 per car and boating is available - Rs.50 per person for row boat and Rs.25 for kids. Entrance ticket to the area is Rs.10 per person and per camera. Boating is open from 09:30 AM to 5:30 PM. We hired a row boat - around 20 minutes of going around the lake and taking few snaps around.

We then, went into Thrill valley adventure park - near to the lake. They had a good list of adventures to do - Human slingshot, Paintball, Zurfing, Parallel zip lines, ATV, Kids Zorbing, rope bridge and rope course. Few were Rs.100 and few at Rs.200 per attempt per person. We bought tickets for rope ziping and Zorbing. Zip lining was preferred first by the instructors. It was a very good experience - 200m of Zip lining. I did that twice and nice experience. For Zorbing - all 5 of us got into one ball in a small pond - and it was all Harrakiri ! Unable to stand and were rolling all over. Wow !!! Ufff ..... come on .... stand up .... I am rolling !! ..... ooohhhhh ... The fun was unlimited and we ended up very tired.

After the adventure all we needed was a good lunch and some rest. We checked in hotel Kumararaja Palace - booked rooms earlier by Makemytrip. The Hotel is just awesome, very cool checkin at reception. We had booked non-AC and upgraded the same to AC with a top-up of Rs.600. Big, clean, and spacious rooms. No complaints rooms were the order of the place. Very comfy and reachable to swimming pool. The water in the swimming pool was also very good.

We went out for lunch. There are not may restaurants in Yelagiri and just settle down to once that you see. We landed at Hotel Golden Restaurant. We ordered rotis, jeera rice, dhall and subji. They were ok and no issues - edible food was greatly appreciated in these localities and this was one of them. We then returned back to the hotel and enjoyed rest of the afternoon in the swimming pool. Later, in the evening, we just went by random roads to enjoy some sunset view and we were not disappointed.  We went close to the Shiva temple and enjoyed a beautiful Sunset.

We then visited the Yelagiri nature park - entrance of Rs.15 per adult and Rs.5 per kid. There is also musical fountain - separate tickets for Rs.25 and Rs.5 respectively at 7 PM. We went around the park for almost an hour and had dinner in a restaurant nearby. Hotel Food corner - they took close to 1 hour to serve dosas for all of us - food was ok; but, since we had all the time in the world, it was affordable.

Day - 2

Started the day around 6:30 and went for a short walk nearby Kumararaja palace - it was definitely refreshing and mildly cold. After enjoying the buffet breakfast, we went to all corners of the hill station. We spent close to 1 hour meeting all ends of Yelagiri - filled with all guest houses and small farms.

We then stopped by Lord Murugan temple - hosting the temple and a good view point. One had to walk and climb around 50 steps to reach a steep climb of a small hill and have dharshan of Lord Murugan. We spent around 20 minutes and then enjoyed the views around.

We then returned back to the rooms around 11:30 AM and checked out; and started back to Chennai.
Enroute, we stopped by at the view point to see great views from the hair pin bends.

We had lunch at Ambur. Biryani and veg food at Hotel Sai Sangeet in Ambur was the meals in store for us. Hotel Sai Sangeet- around 200m from the NH - served was good food - soups, starts, valaipo pakoda, parathas, paneer gravies and meals. They were all good and enjoyable.

We reached back Chennai (Tambaram) by 4 PM after the memorable trip.

Rann of Kutch

Trip members: Karthik and family
Trip date:  13, 14 and 15 Jan 2018
Trip Plan : Chennai - Ahmedabad - Modhera - Gandhinagar - Ahmedabad - Bhuj - Dhordo - Rann - Bhuj - Chennai

Day-1

We started from Chennai on 13th Jan to Ahmedabad. As expected the Bhogi festival shutdown the airport until 8 AM. Our scheduled flight around 7 AM could only take off at 11  AM. This 4-hour delay sort of screwed up the Day-1 itinerary. We had planned to visit Champaner and booked cab for the same. However, we landed at 13:30 and by no way, we could make the trip eventful if we visit Champaner for half a day.

We then spoke with the driver and planned to visit Modhera Sun temple; if time permits, also do Rani Ki Vav. By 2 PM, we reached outskirts of Ahmedabad and stopped for lunch at hotel Maharaja. The authentic Gujarati Thali for Rs.150 – unlimited papads, kheer, sabhjis, dal, kadi, ghee rotis, rice and chaas were an awesome refresher as we were dead tired since early morning wake-up to flight delays. We thoroughly enjoyed the Thali.

We reached Modhera around 4:15 PM. Modhera is around 100 kms from Ahmedabad. It took almost 2:30 hours to reach the road had traffic and unlimited speadbreakers.

Modhera Sun temple complex hosts mainly four things: a beautiful step well, a national museum, an artistic hall and the Sun Temple. The step well was a nice place for photographs and for children to play like a puzzle. The artistic steps were a great display of skill, talent and creativity. The Modhera Sun temple dedicated for Sun God (Suriyan) is a gem with amazing rock carving. Each of the pillars and the surroundings are so ornamental and carries lot of details. No wonder it was aimed to be destroyed. Scientifically, the temple lies on tropic of cancer and the Sunrise falls directly on the main deity (when it was present) on March 21st and September 23rd. The guides tell that the deity had a big diamond on it and the sun rays would fall on it and make the temple glow. Allaudin Khilji had made a great impact on this history and the richness (art and wealth) on this temple. The temple had been built during the Chalukya dynasty. The pillars and arches and domes have amazing sculpting work. The entry fee is Rs.15 for Indian adult; Rs.200 for foreigners and no fee for children and cameras.

We spent around 45 minutes here and then started to Rani Ki Vav. The driver said, it would be of no use as the close entry by 5 PM. He suggested instead to visit Akshardham temple at Gandhinagar. We obliged as the best local guide is the driver.

Gandhinagar is an excellent city – well spaced and laid roads, very clean and admirable. The Akshardham temple has very stringent rules to enter the temple, with no mobiles/camera allowed; no bags allowed and a physical frisking and x-ray check before one enters the temple. Unsure, why so much secure! As we entered the temple, we admired the cleanliness and the whole setup with restrooms, drinking water, games for kids and grown-ups, big lawns and yeah, a temple too!!! It was all along like an exhibition. The temple I visible from any place – quite a nice architecture. Being a first time to such a temple, was little shocked to see worshipping the guru – Swaminarayan. I always thought this was a Lord Vishnu temple. However, completing the temple visit was done, and did not really get the spiritual feel – big restaurants and some water fountain music show was also in store! Well, commercialization can be seen. It is a good picnic spot.

We then reached Ahmedabad around 8 PM and had dinner at Hotel Surabi. The food was served fresh and hot very quickly and they were tasty and yummy. We had our regulars – dal tadka, jeera rice, rotis and all sabji. Very satisfactory dinner as we were exhausted for the day. We had a train to catch to goto Bhuj at 23:40 and got dropped at the railway station by 9 PM.

Day-2

We reached Bhuj by 7 AM. We had booked our Rann package with Gujarat Tourism – Rann Utsav @ White Rann Resort. They provide luxurious tents and bungas (huts) with AC fitted and all required conveniences; and utmost cleanliness at Dhordo. White Rann Resort had put a big tent outside the railway station. They verified our booking and said the refreshing can be done in a nearby hotel – ClickHotels. We did so and there was a mini breakfast open for us at the tent – bread, butter, jam, poha, tea and biscuits. As we did so and enjoyed the morning chillness, by 9 AM, the bus for us was ready and boarded to Rann.

The bus stopped around 10:30 at a village and we had the very popular mava – served fresh and hot. We also had some pani pooris. The bus then took us to the tents by 11:45. The white desert necessarily does not warranty someone to stay in Rann to see. One can even stay at Bhuj or enroute anywhere – there are lots of tents and cottages all around. One needs to provide ID proofs at army checkpost to enter the Rann area; the whole area is under army control. Being through the government package, all these were done earlier and taken care and we did not spend any time for these formalities. However, all other private vehicles must complete the formalities.

The tents were ready and greeted us with souvenirs’ cap. The tent was very spacious and comfortable. The restroom was also well equivalent to cozy rooms. We refreshed and had a great buffet of lunch – all food is by Courtyard Marriot at White Rann Resort; this defines how good the food would be – rotis, many sabhjis, starters, salad, pappad, chaas, desserts, rice and much more!
There are lot of shops around and some activities in the resort. We played a maze, dressed in local attire and posed for photos, did some cycling and then took some rest. The temperature in the day time is quite hot and not very encouraging, however, as the sun goes down, it becomes cold and colder. By 4:30, we had hi-tea and started to the Great White Rann Desert!

We boarded the open double-decker bus and it was about 2 kms to reach the entry. From distance, one can see the white line of the desert. There were thousands of cars and lakhs of people all around wandering in the white desert. There are areas were people don’t venture as they are very slippery and sludgy. We got down at 5:30 and were asked to be back by 7 PM.

From parking, the Grand and wide spread White desert is only 10 mins walk. Though the whole area is a desert, the salt whiteness starts with a 10-min walk. There is a watchtower about couple of kms, a thin road leading everyone by foot or camel or horse. We looked for a place with lesser background of people and more whiteness than covering distance. Sunset was also just 20 minutes away and we do not want to go lot deeper and either get lost for the sunset with the crowd behind us or miss the whiteness in daylight. As we walked in the salt desert, the whole ground is moisty and swampy. One cannot really want to lie down or sit down and take/give great poses!

After enjoying the sunset, in a moment it became dark. We walked towards the bus and headed back to Resort – enjoyed a great multi-course dinner – soups and desserts @ desert! There were locally popular Kutch musicians and dancers doing some performances and we were audience for some time before hitting the bed on a day of tiredness!

Day-3

We woke up to a chilly morning and great breakfast – dhoklas, idlies, poori bhaji, Meti ka tepla, breads, juices, yogurt, flakes and much more! We checked out and proceeded to catch our return flight from Bhuj to Chennai via Mumbai. Enroute, we visited the village where artisans make the popular Rogan art fabric painting. This is a unique painting and actively promoted by PM Narendra Modi when foreign delegates visit India. We saw a small demo of the painting and lot of paintings they had made and available for sale.

We got dropped at the Bhuj airport – one more airport in India visited! And back to Chennai via Mumbai by Jet Airways!!

Other prominent places to visit in Kutch are Kala Dungar – a hill up seeing the White Rann and hosting an important archaeological site – Dholavira; Lakhpat Fort, Gurudwara and Narayan Sarovar. Lakhpat fort is an old fort presently guarded by the BSF jawans. Beyond that there is a vast flat grey coloured land till the horizon. Beyond that Pakistan border starts and Mandvi beach.

Distances

• Bhuj to Dhordo – 82 Km - 1 hour 45 minutes
• Bhuj to Mandvi (Beach) – 59 kms - 1 hr 10 mins
• Bhuj to Kalo Dungar – 90 kms – 2 hours
• Dhordo to Kala Dungar – 66 kms – 1 hour 45 minutes
• Bhuj to Dholavira – 220 kms – 4 hours 30 mins

Bhuj local sight seeing like Aina mahal (9.00 AM - 5.45 PM), Prag Mahal (9.00 AM - 6.00 PM), Kutch Musuem, Hamisar Lake, Chattardi, Hill Garden, Swaminarayan Temple, Trimandir Temple, Bhuj Haat Market etc. Check timings for Aina mahal and Prag mahal. Lot of cabs and auto are available at Bhuj railway station.