A lesson learnt!

So, last monday I had an off, because half my class visited wonderla , and the other half decided to idk, do something by themselves. Then, there was a third group of a few of us who decided to do a trip by ourselves. After a lot of contemplating, we decided a place close by and not very commercial or explored. So that effectively, ruled out pondicherry, coorg, ooty, coonoor etccc. So while googling up places , i stumbled upon this thrillophilia list (btw, the internet is SATURATED with thrillophila articles , if ever you decide to google) and i saw YELAGIRI as a destination. Excited, i searched the internet for articles about the place. The websites boasted of paragliding, trekking, parks and a lake. Which, we figured was enough things to do , as we were planning ONLY a day trip. HOW UTTERLY WRONG WERE WE! First off, against all sensibilities I paid no heed to traveller's review of the place which claimed "nothing to do here", "boring!!!" "Dont waste time here" .. and still proceeded to travel here. Yelagiri is a hill station in Tamil Nadu and unless you have a car at your disposal (which, i didnt) this journey will prove to be very tedious. I caught a train to jolarpettai from cantonment - from buying general ticket and  travelling in LADIES COACH (for rs. 75 /- it was a bargain) and having to jostle with hostile ladies for space to climbing up on top berths , it was nothing like anything we ever experienced before.We further caught a bus from jolarpettai to Yelagiri hills. And once we reached the place, what can i say? To put it simply, it was a disappointment. It was not chilly at all, nor were there any tourists about. We didnt speak the language, so it was not easy to communicate. We headed towards the hills only to find that the main attraction (the temple on top) remains closed on Mondays, and the swami malai hills aint tall enough to offer a great view.WHAAAAAT! We decided (half way the trek , mind you!) to abandon the trek and head downwards towards the village where we got the chance to draw water from the well and wash our faces. After that, we decided to head to the main city and whole we were waiting for an auto to pass us by, a tractor passed us by and by some sheer luck, he agreed to drop us off at the desired location. This is something, i've been meaning to do for a longgg time and i'm so glad it happened! :D Blah blah blah. Turned out that even para sailing doesnt happen any more and that it actually stopped, 3 years back! And the website false advertises even now!! Sigh.

So basically, the trip was a flop. But the purpose behind it wasnt! I still got to get out of bangalore, bonded with my girls, and somehow still had fun .

This trip has taught me to do my research properly, and not to land up at a place completely lost with different expectations and most importantly DO NOT BELIEVE THE ONLINE ARTICLES 100% and yess. 

Till then, keep galavanting folks! :D

Pondicherry : 10 things you have to know!

So in my quest for a relatively quiet New Year's Eve ; I stumbled upon the very lucrative option of the city of Pondicherry. It seemed ideal ; is only about 320 kms away from Bengaluru, one could do a two-day trip easily, it fit very well in my budget , seemed exciting with its promises of French architecture and culture, and most importantly everyone seemed to agree to this destination.
Thus , came about the grand idea of spending new year's at Pondicherry.

So more simply, Here's top things you need to know about this laid-back, peaceful city!

1. For those tourists, heading over to Pondicherry expecting a commercial infrastructure to entertain crowds and expecting a party - like atmosphere , you're in for a great deal of disappointment! Pondicherry is NOTHING like Goa. No multitude of beaches, no loud music, no impressive beach shacks, no foreigners walking about in bikinis, no "partying" crowd. Nothing, Nada, Zilch.

2. Pondi , on the other hand is laid-back. There is not much one is expected to do here. Trust me, you would understand this better once you actually get around the city and experience this first-hand. Its a content little town that is mainly indifferent to its tourist crowd. I would recommend to just switch on the dormant "Panda" mode in you. Relax, put your feet up and just experience the city. 

3. . There still exists a strong French influence on the city, especially in the old quarters. What with, mediterranean style houses and bakeries and roads having fancy french names! You will walk down the city and find shop names in as many as three languages ; English, Tamil and French. So much that even there are different Menu's - one in english and other in French. Despite this, do not expect the whole crowd to be made up of Frenchmen and women. They still constitute smaller portion of the crowd. 

4. While biking down from the city to Chunnambar boat house I discovered this ;  Pondicherry has a dual identity. The town is divided into two sections: the French Quarter (Ville Blanche or 'White town') and the Indian quarter (Ville Noire or 'Black Town'.) One, that is more typically south Indian and other more Western . One cant help notice the difference between the two.  But, the whole city makes for a rather pleasant mix of East and West. 

5. Pondi is a back-packer's delight! Tons of places to eat, tons of places to drink, tons of people to meet. Now, 
Dont fret if you dont find suitable accommodation or if everything on Tripadvisor or any other website seems full. There are a tonne of options available there - low budget, mid budget, high budget, B n B's. 
Drop me a msg , just in case you need help with accommodation here. 

6. The best way to see pondi and the nearby areas is by simply renting out a 'Cycle' or a 'Gearless scooter' or  hiring a 'Motorcycle' . There are several shops that rent out these vehicles on Mission Street and MG road. They're pretty inexpensive ; we paid 400rs / day (ONLY because it was december end and NYE was just around the corner) , otherwise the rates start from Rs. 250 for a scooter / day and 50rs /day for a cycle. (P.s fuel separate) . The other way would be to simply walk around the city as most sights are within 2-3 kms of each other. 

7. Travelling alone? Travelling with a large group of people? Either ways, this happens to be a very safe destination. 

8. If you are travelling to pondi for some ' sea - air' and some good 'ol beaches and all of that jazz, you've gotten it all wrong. There is a long stretch of rocky beach which has a provision to sit around and a wide pavement for walking.  As you walk down there's also a Gandhi  "The Father of India" statue followed by a sea facing restaurant, called Le Cafe.

9. If you are lucky enough to strike some good conversation with people over at the bar or a cafe, you can walk into Pondi alone and head out with a mobile phone full of numbers of amazing people you met in this city.  While having lunch , Me and a friend had the most interesting conversation with two men from Melbourne about religion, economics and politics! In a quaint, charming cafe. 
 Just be open to the experience of meeting new people and you'll do fine here!

10. This place caters to everyone! Same restaurant will serve you authentic southindian , kerala style fish curry with rice and will also serve you amazing, mouth-watering pastas and steaks. Its a hot-pot of world cuisines. Truly! Some wine, some beer.. all served here.





OTHERS! 

Shopping: 

 You will find auroville stores selling incense sticks, candles, and handmade paper and various other nature-friendly knicknacks they make for some great shopping! Slightly on the expensive side, maybe but they're still cheaper than buying it in your city. Head to Jawaharlal Nehru street for some street shopping. Loads of export surplus clothes available - dont hesitate to bargain! 
This is also the best place to pick up Hidesign goodies, as it is a pondicherry based brand the prices are super.

Eating and drinking :

The city is teeming with cafe's, restaurants and various small eateries. Craving brownies at 3 am? Head over to LA CAFE which is a 24-hour cafe serving delicious chocolate brownies, And while you're at it, stay back and watch the sun rise over the sea while enjoying some cappuccino. Other places to eat would be ARTIKA CAFE (amazing art work by Locals and French ) , RENDEZVOUS for some good seafood, ZUKA for your chocolate fix. MADAME SHANTE''s for Indian, Chinese and continental food.
Head over to L' ESPACE for a shack-like experience and some eclectic music over great cocktails. Another beautiful open air restaurant is LE CLUB - You can't go to Pondi and not have a meal here! Amazing ambience. The seating is very comfortable. We, in fact spent our new year's at this joint. The food is amazing , and portions are generous. 
 Also check out : LA MAISON ROSE, and INDIAN KAFFE 
EXPRESS, COFFEE . COM, SATSANGA.

ARTIKA CAFE.

LE CLUB.

 ****                        ****

*****                            ****                        ****                    



HERE, ends another amazing trip. I really am going to try and blog more often and maybe not just about travels? I think its time I expand into something more than just travelling ... 

ohhh wellll..... 
till then Keep Galavanting, Folks! :D

Sojourn through Andaman and nicobar islands!

Have you ever been to a bachelorette where the "bachelor" missed the flight and couldn't make it to her own bachelor party? Have you ever been to a bachelorette where the bachelor's 19 year old younger sister was present and managed most the arrangements (think ; WILD party games and dirty hampers!)? Have you ever been to a bachelorette where there was a married couple along with their toddler? Have you ever been to a bachelorette where there is a soon-to-be-married, very-much-in-love couple? Have you ever been to a bachelorette where there is a guy who no one has ever met, heard about or seen? 

WELCOME TO ANUSHREE'S BACHELORETTE! :D 

This was the motley bunch of people who were attending my sister's bachelor party. And the events that followed is an adventure of epic proportions.

NO KIDDING!

From the 2 and halfhour journey to Havelock island, to the first gasp of surprise after seeing the water that’s so blue, to “Baywatch tours & travels” , to the famous birayani episode , to the idyllic location of Munjoh Beach Resort,  to having our own private beach (disappointing!) , to the moment boys bonded over on a ‘dry’ day (14^th august, geniuses!) , to having the bride finally reach the resort and to find all her friends missing, to bonding over meat discussions, good music, “neon” generation .. the trip was damn near perfect.

<--- b="">Munjoh beach resort

After casual intro’s at the airport, and care-free banter that soon flowed between the group .. there was a sense of ease, even though the people I was with were easily 7 years elder to me. Sure, I had met them before and got along fine but then I always had my sister around.  This time, it was different. A good different!  At some point i found myself completely forgetting the age differences completely and just having a blast! 

Be it, laughing like an idiot with Varun bhaiya over his many 'Punny' jokes which i still maintain ONLY i would find so funny and listening to his amazing music choices or talking to Tulika di about meaningful things to her helping me out with the arrangements, or be it with Pratik bhaiya trying to teach me how to be with nevaan to disappearing to eat with Priyank bhaiya without the knowledge of others, to swapping stories with Kesha di.. I never had a dull moment :') 

****

Sitting behind on the bike pillion, speeding on the streets of havelock with a bowl of nutella in my hand procured from a cafe called Fat Martin, and breathing in the warm, sultry air and feeling the blast of sun on my face, no worries except avoiding monitor lizards and other lizards . (ohh, priyank bawwa!)

Fat martin cafe @ night! So pretty :')

You haven't quite gotten the 'tropical' holiday feel until you're at one of these cafe's eating pineapples with salt . Also! This place is exactly what my and priyank bhaiya's retirement plan looks like :P 

Nothing else would be better than owning your own scuba diving store attached to your own cafe where you own a mini-home theatre set up.

Sigh! SO PERFECT :')

Witnessing a football match between the locals, and envying their simple yet fulfilling life where food is plentiful and nature is abundant. Woh kehte hain na? Thoda hain, thode ki zaroorat hain. Just that! 

Lying on the beach on our backs after a session of scuba diving, with waves gently lapping at our feet, getting baked like a cookie in an oven.. while checking out cute boys on the beach :P and i cannot forget the embarrassment we faced, when we convinced a cute dutch guy to do a funny "dare" with my sister, only to find out she had already left the beach without us. (Diiii, whatte epic fail!) 

Walking back to the resort, realizing what a long way we have to go to eventually reach there , so what next? Hitching a ride from an andaman local and going triples on his scooter, of course! :D He was more surprised at us or we were, i still don't know. 

Playing a mad, crazy game which resulted in lots of laughter, open declaration of love (ahem, ahem tulikaaa di! :D) and surprisingly, the intellectual conversation that we had and how we became UN, UN general, USSR, and Pakistan by the end of that night.  To spewing "love" (reference to context!) all over the room and the other "love" discussions in the morning we had trying to figure out who-dun-it. 

But..

I'll tell you my most favorite moment? Rather i'll 'show'  you :

When didi walked in, and saw this :

^^^ Her friends dressing up for her, and wearing this :

Her reaction was so instantaneous, it just made all the hard work worth it all! The survival kits, the presents , the hamper.. everything! 

Oh anu diiii, You beautiful, incredible thing! 

Doing anything for you is rewarding. 

The Andaman & Nicobar are a group of picturesque Islands, big and small, inhabited and uninhabited. Andamans is such a breath-taking place, with clear blue waters that run quite shallow and with its charming beaches which are devoid of filth and trash which you generally associate with any beach in India. It is actually, quite unlike any place in India. 

For many, Havelock islands is Andamans and havelock is a backpacker's paradise! Make sure you visit, Vijaynagar Beach (Beach No. 5) and Radhanagar Beach (Beach No. 7). Though I didn't actually get to trek due to monsoons, i've heard trekking is also an interesting option in andamans. 

Also, there are many other islands around andamans that worth quite a visit! Neil island, bartrang islands, viper islands .. 

 I can't wait to travel some more, till then.. that's all, folks! 

Please drop in any queries and anything else that you need to know and i'll be happy to help! 

Keep galavanting, peeeps! :D

P.s Will do a separate blog piece on Scuba - Diving and its wonders. 

Sri Lanka - now and then.

Heyyy you guys! After a long hiatus, here's my new travel experience. 

Last to last weekend, I was in Srilanka with my elder sister and 4 of my cousins for a "cousin's trip" . To those who don't know, my sister is engaged to be married soonly, on the 28th of november 2014 and before that, as the family tradition goes .. we had to have a trip with cousins to help us bond better, and re-live the bride/groom last days as a part of our family. Idk, who came up with this idea but i am so glad we do this. And more importantly, I am lucky to have such fun cousins. 

The destination decision started at coorg, then munnar and it escalated to bangkok then finally somehow to SriLanka. The fact that, Srilanka is where i spent a whole summer sort of clinched the deal. I'd know where to chill, and would make a sound itinerary and plus, my sister always wanted to visit the place. All set and done, off to srilanka we were! :) 

It is quite some feeling when you get to return back to a place (which you called home BTW, for almost 2months)  and do it differently. This trip was so vastly different from my time here that its quite astounding. It opened up my eyes and perspective to a whole new side of colombo, which I wasn't exposed to during the course of my internship. It made me think how every place has multiple facets attached to it and how its important to know and appreciate it.

How was it so different, you might ask?

For one, I was doing this trip with my family and as it is with most families, you do everything in style. 

We travelled in luxury, dined and wined at the finest and stayed at an amazing hotel and worried about nothing. 

Whereas, last summer I stuck to a budget. Travelled like a local, ate just enough to get through and I had constantly something to do, or plan. Barring weekends, i don't remember chilling at all . 

Secondly,  there is so much more autonomy in your decisions. Like it ; do it. No questions asked or explanations required. Eg : i remember getting off a bus in the middle of the journey to Yala national park because we crossed tangalle beach and I just had to, had to go there.  This sort of a thing ideally wouldn’t be possible with a larger group.

I also realized while travelling, the more you are open to asking questions , the more you will be likely to make less mistakes.  This realization came after we accidently boarded the wrong bus to Galle. What would take about 1hour 30 mins to complete, it took us quite the double time. My cousins were quite a sport, when I messed up.. but because when all the plans of a trip depends on you.. you just cannot screw up. It aint fair to others who travel with faith on you.

 

Apart from almost gatecrashing a srilankan wedding that was taking place in our hotel.. my interaction with a local was NIL.

This trip, did not even leave me enough time to go and meet my srilankan friends nor could I visit my school . INSTEAD I visited a sparkling casino range called “BALLY’S” and p.s yess they permitted me and my underage cousin aswell (so, hooray!).

Lazing by the pool, eating at the hotel’s multiple dine-in options, going crazyyy partying, going bar-hopping, shopping for flip-flops and souvenirs.. This trip was done truly like a pakka tourist :)

And i finally saw, why Sri Lanka was such a tourist hotspot and why so many foreigners frequent this tiny isle. Warm people, lots of sunshine and lovely beaches. All this, and not very expensive either.

I am just so glad i got to do this trip so vastly differently. This place will always be so incredibly close to my heart. :') 

Why? Hahaha, wait for my future blogposts.

P.s last weekend i went to andamans . That blog is coming up soon (well, as soon as i fix my phone. Pssh, don't ask! ) 

I have been so frantically busy ; what with my sister's bachelorette, to final year shenanigans, to my credit courses, to a plethora of other things.

But you keep galavanting, folks.