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 Challenges with Hotel Stays: Check-In/Check-Out Timings and Booking Experiences

Check-In and Check-Outs 

Long ago, I used to see some hotels offering 24-hour check-in. Now, in the days of Goibibo, Booking.com, Agoda, MakeMyTrip, etc., many hotels list check-in at 12 noon and check-out at 10 in the morning. Some have gone further, with check-in at 2 in the afternoon and check-out at 12 noon. I am not sure how many travelers find these timings convenient, but they certainly don’t work for me. From the hotel’s point of view, they get two hours in a general shift to clean the room for the next guest.  

For me, the problem is that I always reach my destination early in the morning. This way, I can make the most of the day. If I reach the place at noon, more than half the day is wasted. For example, if I am visiting a place over the weekend, it doesn’t make much sense to reach there on Saturday afternoon. Half the day is already gone. Since I need to return home in the morning in time for work, I end up leaving the place by Sunday night. There are so many trains that make these types of journeys very easy.  

Now, let’s say I reach the destination at 7 in the morning, and the check-in is at 12 noon. Sometimes, early check-in is not available. Sometimes, it comes with an extra cost, as I found out on my recent Hyderabad trip. When I check out, I always leave the hotel in the evening. I don’t find it efficient to check out at 10 AM and waste precious daytime traveling. So, what I currently do is check out in the early morning around 9, leave the bags with the hotel, and then return at night to pick up the bags and leave.  

Last September in Udupi, we reached the hotel before 2 PM (their check-in time was 2:00 PM). The rooms were not ready! They later upgraded the room but not before wasting 30-40 minutes of precious daytime. I know this wish may/will not be granted—but if hotels could keep some of their rooms for 24-hour check-in or offer better timings for people like me, who arrive in the morning and leave at night, it would be ideal.  

Reserving Rooms and Payment at Hotels  

I also tried the below-mentioned options while reserving rooms at hotels:  

a. Payment on arrival.  

b. Partial payment a couple of days before the actual check-in and the rest at arrival.  

c. Full payment a couple of days before arrival.  

So far, in all three cases, when booked via third-party sites like Goibibo, MakeMyTrip, Agoda, Booking.com, etc., everything went well. Note, I can’t say the same for all, so check the last suggestion at the end of this article.  

Now, I tried the same on a hotel’s own website. I reserved a famous hotel in Jaipur without paying. You may wonder why I did this—mainly because that option was available. If it wasn’t, I would have paid during the booking itself. The hotel’s website sent me emails after booking and close to the travel dates. So far, so good. This hotel also provided one airport transfer included in the bill.  

To schedule the airport transfer, I called them. Things went south from here. To my surprise, the guy at the other end told me that my reservation was not confirmed because I hadn’t paid. Now, they didn’t have any rooms left due to the festival season, and I couldn’t stay there. The guy insisted on this and didn’t offer any other options. I told him I received an email from their website about my booking and welcome messages, and there were no notifications about payments. If the reservation was not valid or they wanted me to pay in advance, they could have simply added a line in the email. After the call ended, I received one more email from their site—my booking was canceled!  

For the same trip, but on another day in Delhi, I had already booked a hotel via Agoda with a payment-on-arrival option. I was worried they might also cancel it. Fortunately, they honored the contract.  

Another problem faced while booking on a hotel’s own website is cancellations. Many don’t offer an option to cancel without losing most or all of the booking amount. They insist on rescheduling the trip within the next 3–6 months. This happened to us last year. The problem is that you may not find a suitable slot during the given interval. Some hotels are straightforward and immediately cancel and refund the amount after deducting a cancellation fee.  

Some Suggestions to fellow travelers

1. It’s better to apply caution when booking rooms on a hotel’s own website. The price may be lower compared to third-party sites, but always read and confirm the options available for cancellations or rescheduling.  

2. Never reserve a room without paying on a hotel’s own website, even if the option is available (pay on arrival).  

3. If you are arriving early, check whether early check-in is possible and whether it has extra charges.  

4. If your room is below ground floor, think twice before taking it. You may not like it after some time. This happened to us in Satara. We changed the room to the 2nd floor.  

5. Always try to book hotels close to good eateries. A 5-10 minute Google search will easily show you the place. In mid to high-end hotels, restaurants will be very costly. Also, if you don’t like the hotel’s restaurant, you will always have an alternative. Of course, you can order via Swiggy or Zomato as well.  

6. In case your booking is in a well-established market in a big city (e.g., Paharganj in Delhi, KR Market in Bangalore, or Old Hyderabad), always avoid going out or returning to the hotel during peak hours. Many times, you’ll end up spending huge amounts of time in Indian traffic.  

7. Also, take note of the closest hospital and metro station (if there is one) near your stay.  

8. If your train reaches the destination early in the morning, check whether a retiring room is available at the station. These retiring rooms are located on the platform itself. One can book a retiring room either at the source station or the destination station using a PNR number on the IRCTC website. You can book it for a duration of 4–48 hours either immediately before departure or right after arrival. The rates are very economical. If early check-in is unavailable, it’s better to freshen up at the railway station itself.  

9. Never book rooms, flight tickets, etc., using any third party that doesn’t have customer care or a contact number that someone will answer, regardless of how good their offer is. If there is a possibility for something to go wrong, it will go wrong at some point. This happened to us, and we were left without any option to cancel the to-and-fro flight tickets.  

Sajeev

 Chasing the Waves: An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 1

Links for all parts

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 1

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 2

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Final day

Oceans have always fascinated me. While I saw mountains every day until the end of my teenage years, I never saw the sea. I was intrigued by beaches where waves never stop rolling in; islands surrounded by water on all sides; ships which transports goods from ancient times; and mighty European sea powers which brought in so much wealth from their colonies. 

For me, the sea was an elusive marvel; for New Delhi, though, it might have been the opposite. Despite India’s vast coastline and proximity to international shipping routes; despite a rich history of maritime trade; independent India hasn’t truly embraced the idea of becoming an ocean power. Perhaps having the capital located hundreds of kilometers from the coast hasn’t helped.

Bangalore, too, isn’t a city where you can easily reach the sea. Located in the center of southern Deccan, the closest popular beach to Bangalore is probably Pondicherry Beach, and that’s over 300 kilometers away.

When planning a trip to celebrate my daughter’s first birthday, Malpe Beach in Udupi came to mind. However, the heavy downpour at that time of year made it difficult, so we rescheduled for the end of October, aligning with Diwali and Kannada Rajyotsava holidays. I was returning to Malpe after more than a decade. Last time, it was a solo journey; this time our entire family plus, Gokul and his family (Deepa and Akanksha) joined us. We had planned to book the Vista-dome train, but I was late rebooking, and all Vista dome seats were taken, so we switched to another, slower train.

On Diwali evening, we met at Bangalore city station. This station was originally called South Bangalore City (station code as SBC). Later, the name was changed to 'Bangalore City', then to 'Bengaluru City' and finally to 'KSR Bengaluru' couple of years back. The area near the place is called 'Majestic'. This came from a popular cinema theater of the same name once located there. The Uber driver dropped me off at the station’s back entrance and I slowly walked to the fifth platform. It was fully crowded, some eagerly looking at the tracks for train to come; couple of fathers playing with their kids, others glued to their phones, and a few staring aimlessly, as if searching for something profound. There wasn't many who were laughing. Looks like people are slowly forgetting to laugh.

Finally, the train arrived, and we settled in. Since I’d booked late, we got all middle and upper seats—far from ideal for two new mothers with one year old kid, let alone a seventy-year-old lady needing to climb. Fortunately, one guy didn't show up and another one shifted to upper berth. Alanksha, Gokul and Deepa’s daughter, was full of energy. She wanted to go to upper berth to be with her mother. The moment she reach there, she started crying for coming to her father's side(who is in lower). So Gokul take her to ground, now she will start crying to reach the upper berth. This activity repeated many times. Although this exercise provided Gokul with plenty of exercise, it was not reflected in his waistline. Fortunately, my little one stayed where she is. I silently prayed that she should not to cry till we reach Udupi!!!

I rarely sleep before midnight, but that night I fell asleep around ten thirty. By morning, light started creeping in to the compartment, waking me. I went to the door to see where we were. The train was an old metallic box, painted in a shade of yellow color, with a 72-seat configuration per bogie. I wonder why this color? can't it be something better? Outside, the trees glistened with mist and rainwater—a lush, misty landscape still miles away from the Subrahmanya Road station (SBHR) on the Hassan-Mangalore route. This is one of my favorite route, especially the stretch between Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road (a two-and-a-half-hour journey over 45 kilometers). After a while, we reached Subrahmanya Road, where temple-goers disembarked. We continued, crossed the mighty Netravati and reached Mangalore (a major port city in India's western coast). 

With a longer stop at Mangalore Central(10 minutes official and many more unofficial), we grabbed idli-vada for breakfast, and Gokul stocked up on onion samosas... There was nothing much to do other than either sitting in the seat or just walking up and down under hot sun in uncovered platform. Finally train started and started our journey through famed Konkan rail.

India’s western coast can be divided into three sections:

1. The Kutch and Kathiawar region with the Gujarat plains to the north.

2. The Konkan and Canara coast - Konkan stretches from the Daman Ganga River in the north to the Gangavalli River in the south; while Canara (or Karavali) goes from the Gangavalli river in the north to the Chandragiri River.

3. The Malabar Coast - Starting south of Goa and extending to Kanyakumari, includes the Canara Coast in historical context.

Most of the west coast, from south of Mumbai to Kanyakumari, has similar geography: a narrow strip between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, blessed by the southwest monsoon and dotted with fast-flowing rivers. If you stay in anywhere in the western coast, then you won't find much difference (as far as geography is concerned) if you move to anywhere else in the coast. I spent some time standing by the train door, taking in the vibrant coastal landscape. Around noon, we finally reached Udupi, where two prepaid autos took us to our seaside hotel, ready for lunch.

At Malpe beach

After lunch, we strolled down to the beach, which was bustling with holiday crowds for Diwali and Karnataka Rajyotsava. Malpe Beach offers a range of activities for travelers — parasailing, banana boat rides, speed board rides, zorbing,  trips to St. Mary’s Island, and a sea walk along the fishing harbor’s breakwater.

The beach was relatively clean, with only a few scattered plastic bottles. Considering the holiday crowd, litter was minimal (probably due to regular cleanups). The beach road runs parallel, from Gandhi statue to Cochin Shipyard building. On the side there are two Paradise resort restaurants (with bar), probably one other restaurants, and numerous snack stalls selling sugarcane juice, spicy potato twists, sweet corn, ice cream, juices and chats. Near Gandhi statue, one can see a number of shops for tattooing; shops selling kids’ play items, and T-shirts, beach hats etc. Parking is ample, and for those looking for a drink, Paradise Resort has bars attached to two of their restaurants (not much other options for main dining), along with a few other options near Gandhi statue.

Finally, standing by the waves, I felt the ocean’s attraction pull once more. My daughter toddled happily in the sand, beach with endless horizon seemed the perfect place to celebrate. Rolling waves force was too strong for her little legs, so she stayed closer to shore. After a while, she wandered to the firm wet sand and found an empty ice cream cup let by someone. Her mother tossed it a bit further away, and our daughter gleefully toddled after it. Each toss led to another chase, and her laughter filled the air. Soaked in saltwater and sandy from play, we eventually pulled her out and walked towards hotel. By this time, sun was on his last leg of the day and about to start filling the western sky with his orange color - bidding farewell for one more day.

Niha walking in the water

Akanksha curiously looking at her hand

Arabian sea at night

As night fell and the beach grew darker, I found myself drawn back to the lively shoreline. A vibrant scene awaited on one end, with lights and sounds pulling me closer. I walked toward it, discovering an activity area bustling with energy. An automated bowling machine had been set up within a cricket net — participants could try their hand at batting. It seemed like the bowling speed could be adjusted, and the first player I saw had opted for fast-paced balls, swinging and missing often. His friend chose a slower setting, finding more success with it. After a while I moved on to see a children’s slide nearby, where young ones were gleefully sliding down, going back and then repeat... Each seemed perfectly lost in the moment, free from worldly worries. Next to them, a small group of kids bounced on a trampoline, while another, a 'bungee trampolin', remained unoccupied. Soon I found myself moving towards rolling waves, and glow of street lamps faded in the distance.

Standing close to the water, I watched as waves tirelessly redrew white line in air - couple of feets above the ground. There was a certain calmness hidden within the ocean’s restless rhythm. Up in the sky, a few lanterns drifted, lit by their last bit of fuel. Some people nearby were lighting these lanterns and releasing them into sky. Though beautiful to watch, once their fuel ran out, they would descend to the sea below, adding to the pollution. I wondered if they were biodegradable, though it seemed unlikely.

After a few quiet moments, I heard Gokul call out. He, Deepa, and Akanksha had arrived for a nighttime stroll. I headed back toward the crowd, catching up them and after a few minutes of chit chat I turned once more to the ocean. Gazing into the endless horizon, I began walking southward. In the moonlit waters, I noticed a pair of figures moving with the waves — two girls in black dresses, dancing laughing with joy. The waves keep on coming and the night grew older, and I, at last, headed back to our room, ready rest and waiting for a new day.

Sajeev

 Chasing the Waves: An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 2 (Udupi temple and St. Mary's island)

Madhav sarovar - you can see the general queue at the other side

Links for all parts

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 1

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 2

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Final day

Leaving Udupi without visiting the iconic Sreekrishna Temple is unthinkable. For visiting the temple, the early morning of an uneventful day is the best time. There will be less crowd, calmness, one can roam around the temple premises and also take a sneak peek at the excellent temple architecture. Each temple has its own story to tell, and so does the Udupi temple.

Path to sanctum

The temple is linked to the 13th-century saint Madhvacharya, who also founded the Dvaita school of Vedanta. According to mythology, the temple's idol of Lord Krishna was originally worshipped by Rukmini in Dwaraka. After being lost at sea for centuries, it was rediscovered by Madhvacharya in a miraculous event. He calmed a storm to save a ship near the Malpe coast, and as thanks, the ship's captain offered him a lump of sacred clay. Within the clay, Madhvacharya found the idol of a young Krishna holding a churning rod and rope, which he installed in Udupi. The Krishna idol here faces west, which is very rare.

Another famous story involves Kanakadasa, a poet-saint of a lower caste, who was barred from entering the temple. It is believed that his devotion moved Lord Krishna, and the temple wall miraculously cracked, opening a window known as Kanakana Kindi, through which Krishna blessed him. Even today, devotees view the idol through this window.

Udupi Sreekrishna temple

From an administrative viewpoint, the temple follows the Paryaya system, where eight monasteries take turns managing it every two years. Free meals are available here to all devotees.

Morning  

It’s not easy to wake up early in the morning when the previous day was spent traveling. However, it doesn’t make sense to come all the way here and sleep. Contradicting viewpoints indeed! Indecision cost us time, and finally, we decided to go to the temple. Divya and Niha stayed back, as they wanted to sleep for some more time. I called Gokul and Deepa, but they were also embraced by the lord of sleep. Finally, mom and I decided to go and walked towards the auto stand, which was not far. From there, the temple is around 8 km away. Even though it’s a bus route, buses are not frequent.

After a while, the auto driver dropped us near the temple gate, and we went inside. The first structure we came across was the Sreekrishna Math. This structure, I remember from my previous visit almost a decade ago. Next, we saw an endless queue. For a while, mom thought of going back to the hotel as it seemed difficult to get darshan anytime soon, and she hadn’t eaten.

We walked further and finally reached the front entrance. There was a small hope of having a special queue here, which could bypass the long queue for a fee. Nowadays, special queues are available in many famous temples. Some people are against this, as they consider paying an amount to make the darshan faster to be unfair. I don’t disagree that staying in the general queue to view the deity is the right way. However, when one is in a distant city and all you have is a couple of hours, this may be the best option. In some temples, this system is very straight forward; in others, they offer a costly pooja, and paying for it allows 4-5 people (the number varies by temple) a faster darshan. Maybe this is done so that everyone has some kind of feel-good factor. In most temples, whether you are in a special queue or a general queue, you might see the deity from the same distance (as both queues generally merge near the sanctum). However, in some temples, people in the special queue are allowed to go much closer to the deity.

When checked, the special queue seemed to be starting somewhere ahead. We climbed the steps and went to the first floor. Here, we could see the other end of the queue. Three or four people were carrying a pre-teen girl from the queue to outside. It looked like she had dizziness. Our queue slowly moved ahead, and there was a counter where a lady, probably in her late forties, was explaining to a group that doing annadan (I didnt hear the name clearly, but it was associated with 3-4 special darshan tickets) was more economical than paying individually for the special darshan queue. Well, we moved ahead and stopped at the counter for the special darshan and joined the new queue. This was also not short; there were a lot of people in the queue. We passed through a couple of wooden (made fully of wood but not decorated in any way) vestibules. After a long wait, we finally reached the sanctum, stayed there for some time, and then exited. After buying a couple of laddoos, we came out and explored nearby shops to buy some souvenirs. Later we slowly, we walked forward and reached the 'Math' again. Here, we visited two more temples.

Shri Chandramouleeshwara Temple

Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple holds great historical and spiritual significance. According to mythology, the temple is associated with Chandra (the moon god), who is believed to have worshipped Lord Shiva here to be relieved of a curse. Pleased with his devotion, Shiva appeared in the form of a linga, which is now enshrined in the temple.

Anantheshwara Temple

Primarily a Shiva temple, it holds unique significance as a place where Lord Vishnu is also revered. It is considered one of the oldest temples in the region, predating the nearby Udupi Sri Krishna Temple. According to mythology, the temple was established by Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu, after reclaiming the land of coastal Karnataka from the sea.

St. Mary’s Island  

Post-lunch, it was time to visit St. Mary’s Island. I had visited the island when I was in Udupi last time. However, it was not from the beach but from Malpe fishing harbor. Divya had also visited the island during her previous role as a college lecturer. For the rest, it was their first time. Gokul bought the tickets, and we stood in a temporary queue around 2-3 in the afternoon. Finally, our boat came, and people boarded.

The challenge was that there is no jetty here, and the sea is very shallow. You might wonder how on earth they would push this boat into the sea with so many passengers and waves. Certainly, Yamaha's renowned engine cannot operate on sand! Well, they used the ancient method: employing several people to manually push the boat into the sea. However, there was a problem—the boat had more than enough people. It seemed to exceed the safe number recommended for a boat of that size. The organizers came inside and asked some visibly overweight passengers to disembark temporarily. Then, the manual laborers resumed pushing the boat. Finally, the boat moved further into the sea, the engines started, and we sailed towards the island, leaving the beautiful Malpe Beach behind.

These are a group of four small islands known for their unique hexagonal basalt rock formations, created by volcanic activity millions of years ago. Legend says Vasco da Gama stopped here in 1498 before reaching Kerala and named the islands after St. Mary. The island is not yet commercialized apart from boat rides, so remember to carry enough water and snacks.

St. Mary's island

We got down at one end and walked towards the other, along a shell-laden path. I spent time photographing the unique rock formations, while my mom hesitated to go further. Divya mostly roamed around with Niha, and Gokul tried to invent new jokes along the way. Many areas I visited during my previous trip were now off-limits to tourists, marked with red flags.

We took the last boat back to Malpe, walked through the crowd, and reached a restaurant for refreshments. After resting briefly at the hotel restaurant, we returned to the beach road. Along the way, we stopped at roadside shacks for snacks like potato twisters and juices. Since it was Diwali, there were dance and music programs organized. After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms, while I walked toward the sea. I watched some performances on stage for about 10-20 minutes before spending an unknown amount of time by the sea.

Hexagonal rock structures

Potato twister

Looking back...

Gokul and Deepa enjoying the sunshine

Sajeev

 Chasing the Waves: An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Final day (Malpe Sea walk and more)

Links for all parts

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 1

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Day 2

An Unforgettable Escape to Malpe Beach - Final day

Final day of the trip... that is effectively just half day. This was not the plan I had originally in mind. However, delayed train bookings changed everything; I had to choose slower Murdeshwar-SMVT express compared to faster and better timed Panchganga Express. 

Unless you are planning to explore Udupi in detail, two to three days are enough to explore Udupi-Malpe and nearby areas.

I woke up early in the morning and forced Divya, Niha, and Mom to wake up as well. We rushed outside to the beach to see the sunrise. After seeing the waves, I understood my stupidity — Udupi is on India’s western seaboard. Here, one can see the sunset in full grandeur, not the sunrise. However, all was not in vain. This gave us enough time to explore the beach visit Malpe sea-walk. We walked towards the giant metal box at one end of the beach. From day one, I have seen this unusual structure from a distance. Now it’s time to see from close. As per google maps, Malpe sea-walk is close to this building.

The beach was not that clean as we moved away from the main area frequented by travelers. Dog/animal poop showed up here and there. Occasionally the otherwise energizing nice odor of the sea gave way for a different flavor. We continued to walk, many times stepping on the empty outer shells, which crushed under the weight of my legs with a light but distinctive sound. Several boats were parked at one side as if they were taking sunbath. For a moment I wondered how those boats reached so far away from the sea. Yesterday we saw, that it was hard for for people to push the boat to sea manually against the waves. So it would be difficult for the tired fisherman (after a long day's work) to pull the boat that much away from water. I didn’t have to think much about how; further ahead a tractor was pulling another boat out of water and moving it upward. 

In google maps sea-walk looked closer. However, the beach almost ended short of that. So, we climbed up the stone wall at its narrow area to reach the road which runs parallel to the beach. There was a Hanuman temple facing the sea. We continued to walk, and finally understood what that giant metal box is - 'Udupi Cochin Shipyard Limited (UCSL)'. Cochin shipyard got control of the company via NCLT resolution. Now the company is building and servicing sea going boats. In their website, its mentioned that they also built the boats operated by Kochin Metro. Currently a big vessel is taking form in their workshop. 

At one side of this building is a parking lot, where vehicles coming to sea walk can park. We went inside the parking lot but didn’t see any option to reach the sea walk. So we enquired about it with a teenager who was doing some work there. I don't know what he understood; he pointed us towards the gate and asked us to go right. Did he think we were asking about Malpe fishing harbor? I don't know. Anyway, we started walking, went outside and took right and reached the next junction. Google map is saying that we are walking further away from that. At the other side of the road, there was an elderly person with a white beard seriously talking to another one that morning. He asked us to go back to the parking lot and the way to sea-walk starts at the other end of parking lot. We retraced our way and reached the same place and saw the garden area there. Crossing that we finally arrived at sea walk. We all were happy to reach the destination after the long walk in the morning. Niha was sleeping in my hands. She slept most of the time missing all the views.

Boats in the channel

Crossing the park which has a number of statues we reached the sea walk.  

What we have here is a small shipping channel protected on both sides by breakwaters extending to sea. Sea walk is a tiled walkway on one side of the breakwater; the other side is Padukere breakwater. Channel formed between these two breakwaters is absent of waves and makes it easier for vessels to go in and come out from fishing harbor which is located at the side of USCL. Ships built/serviced by USCL also can reach sea via this channel. While we started walking through the breakwater, one fishing boat was slowly sailing towards the wider ocean. Inside there were a number of people, some looked outside without any expressions while did some chores. I stood still and looked at her as she moved from the calmness of water channel towards the ever-lively sea.

Once the boat was out of sight, I continued to walk toward the other end of the walk. The tiled path ends a little short of the breakwater’s edge. Lot of options are there to sit anywhere along the breakwater and think about all we want. From here one can see the beach and nearby islands. Other than St. Mary’s Island, there are three more small islands. As the mercury level slowly started rising, we began our journey back to the hotel.

While heading to the sea walk, I called Gokul to check if he had woken up. He was getting ready and wanted to visit the Udupi temple in the morning. When they reached the temple, there wasn’t any queue. It seems the day we went was either an auspicious day or going early (he reached the temple an hour earlier than us) made all the difference.

There wasn’t much planned for the day. The train was in the afternoon. We checked out, had lunch, and suddenly Divya had this desire to buy something for Niha. So, we all walked along the beach road and reached the bus stop. A KSRTC bus was standing there. As it had become very hot, we went to a nearby shop and indulged in some ice cream. Mom, Niha, and I sat near a casuarina tree, looking around. Another man was also sitting nearby. He seemed to have come from somewhere else—not to enjoy the beach but without any intention of going anywhere either, as if frozen in time. He watched Niha for some time. She has this habit of putting two of her fingers in her mouth most of the time. We try to discourage her, but she persists. Seeing this, he mentioned that he used to have the same habit until he was ten, and his parents applied chili powder to his fingers to stop him. Well, chili powder does seem like an extreme measure, but breaking these habits is difficult.

Malpe sea-walk

Gokul, Divya, and Deepa disappeared into a shop further down the road. Since we hadn’t seen them for a long time, I got up and walked in that direction. They were on their way back, carrying several items for Niha and Akansha. Now it was time to say goodbye to Malpe. We took two autos and went to Udupi railway station. The mercury had no intention of coming down. Gokul tried to find the paid AC waiting room, but it was already full. Finally, Mom, Deepa, Niha, and Akanksha found some space in the other waiting room. Gokul stayed on the platform. Divya and I walked toward the other end of the platform and met several workers on their way to Mumbai. It seemed they had come to Udupi for work and were now heading back. Their train was running late.

Nothing eventful happened on the train. She spent a long time at Mangalore Central and drenched herself in rain. Unfortunately, by the time train reached Western Ghats there was hardly any light left. I stood close to the door and looked at the darkness outside. Time went on... After a while I noticed something strage a little ahead close to the rails - so many fireflies... but its neither moving nor blinking!!! How were they able to do that? When we got closer, the situation became clear. Those weren’t fireflies but people standing on the platform using the mobile's flash lights as there was no current. many were boarded from that stage and we moved on. 

The train groaned loudly as she navigated the sharp twists and turns. From the unsettling sounds and the way the bogies shifted at their joints, it felt as though they might come apart. After a while, train came to a halt in the middle of nowhere, waiting for something. I looked outside and noticed that we are about to enter a sharp curve. The train's front light illuminated the track ahead and water droplets falling in to it. I wish I had a drone now. This should have been a magnificent view from the top. thinking that, I returned to my berth and lay down. After some time, the train resumed her journey, her cries on the sharp curves stayed on my ears until sleep closed it. 

Sajeev

 Biyyam Kayal Ponnani - For a beautiful evening

Regulator

Despite its proximity to Palakkad, I didn't explore much of Malappuram. While Nilambur was on my radar, my knowledge of other hidden gems was limited. I spent a lot of time in google maps extensively looking for places around and even in distant lands; yet, for some reason, overlooked this adjacent district. It wasn't until I spent a couple of weeks at my wife's home during her pregnancy that I delved into the intricate details of Malappuram. This period of exploration revealed enchanting spots such as the Padinjarekkara beach, Canoli canal, Chamravattom bridge, Ponnai fishing harbor, Karma road, and the captivating Biyyam Lagoon, locally known as Biyyam Kayal.

Regulator-cum-bridge

Evening view

This a length lagoon and it offers multiple viewpoints. However, I visited two main attractions: a regulator cum bridge and a suspension bridge, both conveniently accessible from NH66. The Biyyam Kayal Park is situated approximately 6 km from Ponnai and is equidistant from Edappal.

This historic regulator-cum-bridge serves as a crucial connection over the narrow expanse of the kayal. It stands as a testament to old craftsmanship and is easily accessible by bike or car, drawing mostly locals as visitors. Adjacent to the regulator, there is a small but nice park. During my evening visit, after parking my bike at one end, I traversed the vintage regulator, arriving at the opposite end at the park. Many people were sitting alone talking to in phone hardly cared about anything happening nearby!!! While in other areas, groups engaged in lively discussions and snacks. A common sight was at least one person in each group capturing photos or recording videos. While coming back, I used the associated bridge with blacktop. A couple of guys, both young and old, were engrossed in fishing. I lingered, observing the process – some got fish, while others, kept on trying their luck.

Associated bridge

View from top of the regulator

Slowly its becoming evening, after watching the sunset from the bridge, I call it as a day and went back. 

Biyyam suspension bridge

Good space for parking, walking and sitting at the side of the lagoon

Suspension bridge across the lagoon

Located approximately 8 km from Edappal and 4 km from Ponnani town, this narrow suspension bridge is a skeleton of her beautiful past. Similar structures span various rivers in this part of Kerala, with Kunthipuzha also featuring one or more of these bridges. Unfortunately, the common issue lies in the lack of maintenance, as those who initially construct these bridges often receive credit but seldom return for upkeep.

I, me, myself

The condition of this particular bridge raises concerns about safety, and one need to be careful while walking. Despite its worn appearance, I ascended the rustic steps and strolled towards the opposite end. Upon reaching the far side, made a U-turn, and retraced my steps. While lingering in the middle, I savored the scenic view of the beautiful and calm lake. This location also witness annual boat races. After a while, I returned to the parking area, where well-tiled spaces allowed for a serene evening experience, and sat there for some time. 

Sajeev.

Walking in the park

 Coonoor - Devoid of flat land

An interesting morning view

Nestled in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, Coonoor is a picturesque municipality. My introduction to this location came in the context of Rabi's vaccine. This vaccine was manufactured by the esteemed Pasteur Institute, which was inaugurated in 1907. Notably, the institute is recognized for its production of various vaccines, including DPT.

History

Originally established as a European settlement in 1834, Coonoor underwent a period of demographic stasis. Even after being declared a municipality in 1866, the population remained modest at 1,500. However, a gradual increase ensued, reaching 8,500 by 1901; then to 46,000 by 2011. During this period, Ooty (formerly known as Ootacamund) gained popularity, leading to the construction of new roads like the Old Mettupalayam road in 1833, linking Ooty with rail facilities at Mettupalayam. In 1871, a more gently sloping route was constructed.

The Nilgiri Railway Company initiated the project to connect Coonoor to the rail network in 1899, although the company itself did not witness its completion due to subsequent liquidation. The Madras Railway took charge, and later, the decision was made to extend the rail line to Ooty.

For an extended period, my desire to travel via scenic Nilgiri Mountain Railway didn't happen due to a number of reasons. On a previous trip to Ooty, I deviated from the usual route, choosing the Mannarkkad- Manjoor- Ooty road instead of the more conventional Coonoor-Mettupalaym-Ooty route. This time, there was a family wedding just outside Coimbatore in Mettupalayam road; leading to a new plan - attend the wedding, visit Coonoor and proceed to Ooty, and then return to Mannarkkad via Mulli.

On the morning of the wedding, we set out early, around seven, taking Mannarkkad- Attapadi- Anaikatti- Coimbatore road. This scenic route, particularly the stretch from Aanamooly to the Mukkali check post, is really good. Mukkali, serving as the gateway to Silent Valley, is the place where one has to get down to explore Silent Valley National Park. Due to time constraints, we refrained from extended stops, making only a brief pause at the Attapadi viewpoint. After the wedding, around noon, we picked up my aunt and started our journey to Coonoor. The next main town on the way was Mettupalayam. From here Coonoor is some 34 kilometers away.

Coonoor

Still a few kilometers shy of reaching the city, the road maintains its pleasant quality. This route, linking Gudalur, Ooty, and Coonoor to Coimbatore city, is consistently bustling with traffic. A nominal fee is required for entry into the Nilgiris district for outside vehicles. Since mine was registered in Karnataka, payment is mandatory. It's worth noting that Coonoor lacks straight or flat roads/lands; instead, its thoroughfares are characterized by frequent curves and slopes, with some being notably narrow. Our accommodation was at 'YMCA Wyoming', it took some time to locate this place. In fact we crossed the bus stand twice before finally reaching here. Hotel is a good old colonial building. 

WMCA Wyoming - An old colonial building

After settling to the room, I came down with Divya and took a walk around the hotel; there was a slight rain. Mom and her sister was tired and they stayed in the room itself. It was a nice place to explore, we walked towards the road and then followed its curves and finally reached a small outlet which sells homemade waffles and other items. We went in and ordered some. There were some 3-4 tables; one was occupied by a couple and another one by owner's daughter. She is concentrated on completing her homework on that Saturday afternoon. It took some more time for our items to come. It's still raining and there is no expectation that, it will stop anytime soon especially as we were in July - monsoon time. So we just opened the big umbrella and walked further down in that deserted road. There was no destination in mind. Sometimes, just walking itself is more than enough; if there is rain then its better.

Night was cold but not unbearable. On next day morning we woke up early; came down and stretched hand in the courtyard. It was a nice view. After breakfast we checked out and moved towards our first destination - Sim's park.

Sim's park

At Sim's park

Named after J.D. Sims, the then Secretary to the Government, and Major Murray collaborated to transform an existing park into a planned botanical garden, Situated in the northern part of the city, near Pasteur Institute, this expansive park covers 12 hectares of land. Boasting a diverse collection of plant species this is a well maintained park. The Department of Horticulture annually organizes a fruit and vegetable show within the park.

Tea Factory

Exploring the high ranges always involves a visit to a coffee or tree plantation. We came across this tea factory while searching for a tea plantation to visit. Although the factory itself was undergoing renovation, the staff showed the inner workings of the machinery. Adjacent to it, there was a eucalyptus factory that which churn out the oil. We purchased some locally grown tea, chocolates and other items and strolled through the lush plantation. The serene ambiance made me wish for more time, perhaps an early morning leisure walk, but it was time to go. We slowly walked back towards the car, ready to start our next adventure – lunch :) It took a bit of time, but we eventually found a charming Kerala restaurant.

By the way, there are numerous tea estates in the area, and quite a few offer accommodation options. While the cost of staying within these estates may be higher than lodging outside, it provides some unique experience like residing amidst the beauty of a tea plantation.

Inside Tea Factory

Dolphin's nose

As the saying goes, "the journey is better than the destination," this statement proved correct for us on this occasion. The drive itself was captivating, dotted with numerous viewpoints along the roadside. Unfortunately, when we reached Dolphin's Nose, the thick fog obscured almost everything, limiting the visibility to a great extent.

Lamb's rock

Proceeding from Dolphin's Nose, we ventured towards Lamb's Rock. Although the fog had cleared, the scenic offerings were somewhat limited. Subsequently, we started our return journey, heading back to Coonoor town, and from there, we continued our journey to towards Ooty.

Sajeev

Notes:

1, History of Coonoor - Clean Coonoor

2, Coimbatore City to Coonoor is under 60kms. 

 Savanadurga (Karnataka) - Steep face

History

Savanadurga is considered as the largest monolithic hill in Asia. In fact, Savanadurga is two giant hills - one is black in color and hence called as Karigudda (black hill); the other one is white and known as Biligudda (white hill). As per one article, the earliest record of this name is from 1340 AD by Hoysala Ballala II; then it was called Savandi. Like many other places in this area, Savanadurga too was under Vijayanagara Empire during their heydays. After the fall of Vijayanagara; this place came under reign of Mysore kings; then came Hyderali followed by Tipu Sultan. In 1791, after Third Anglo-Mysore war, Lord Cornwallis brought this place under Company rule. 

Situated at a height of 1226m above sea level, this place mostly have very thin shrub and bushy forest. There are no steps cut in to the steep face of rocks to reach the top of the hill, and hence trekking is a bit difficult. 

Geology

Savanadurga hills mainly consists of peninsular gneiss, granites - which are common in these areas, basic dykes, laterites etc. Well, these are some hi-fi jargons from geology; but what it actually means? Let's see.. 

Consider gneiss first. An existing igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic rock may get subjected to high temperature and pressure. There are multiple reasons for this - these rocks might get buried deep under earth surface or as a result of tectonic collisions etc. High temperature and pressure will force the rocks to undergo significant chemical and physical changes. During this process, rock may remain in solid state; however, eventually it will re-crystalize to a new structure. Dyke is a sheet of rock that is formed after the fracture of an existing rock body. Laterites are the soil/rocks that are very rich in iron. Due to iron content, these rocks will be red in color.

Savanadurga is probably the most difficult trek in the immediate vicinity of Bangalore. Like we did with Makali Durga trek couple of weeks back; here too I booked the ticket with Karnataka tourism for three people. Me, Divya and Jithu. It was after a long time, me and Jithu were going together for trekking. Our last trip together was a long time ago - Kailasagiri Cave exploration in Chinthamni (Karnataka). 

Hitting the road

On Saturday morning, we went to Old airport road and picked up Jithu. Its very rare to see Jithu in Bangalore during weekends. He mostly leave Bangalore by Friday night and come back on Monday morning. This time due to some reason, which I am not able to recall while writing this article, he stayed in Bangalore for the weekend. When I called him, he was very eager to join. 

After a while we reached Kengeri; went further ahead and took a right turn after Christ University's Kengeri campus and left the highway. Road suddenly became very quiet. We took some wrong turns and ended up in narrow lanes. Couple of people were awake in that early morning and helped us to get back at the right road. By sunrise, we reached at the vicinity of Manchanebele Dam. 

Manchanebele Dam

Manchanebele dam is built across Arkavaty river and located in a village of the same name in Magadi Taluk of Ramanagara District. One can plan a short trip to this dam and easily spend half a day here. 

Arkavaty river is a tributary of river Kaveri and originates from Nandi hills. This river is a casualty of Bangalore's rapid urbanization. Currently in Bangalore, Arkavaty looks more like a drainage channel. In downstream there are multiple dams built across Arkavati - TG Halli, Manchanbelle etc. Initially TG Halli provided drinking water to Bangalore. Later, due to shrinking water level and quality concerns, BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) replaced TG Halli with Kaveri stage I. Afterwards stage II and III were also commissioned. 

Currently, Manchanbele dam, looks healthy and sound. Dam reservoir was visible from the road itself. By this time,  both Divya and Jithu woke up from their sleep. We slowed down for sometime to enjoy the sunrise and went ahead to Savanadurga. At the entrance, there are temples of Sri Savandi Veerabhadraswamy and Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy. The area is crowded with people visiting the temples. After parking the car behind the temple (here we have ample parking space), we walked towards the starting point of the trek. 

Climb

View was magnificent; one big black hill and a white one close by. Slope is very steep and there were no steps or ropes. There was a guard, standing at the starting point, who note down the names of people entering the area. We told him that we already paid for the trek in the website. To our shock, he never heard about the fees!!! I just looked around, every one is just coming and climbing the hills!!! Looks like the rules are not implemented everywhere. In some places they collect the fees and in other places they don’t. Well, next time onward will never book it online; will come to the spot very early and see whether it is really required. 

We started climbing. Initially it was not difficult; but as we moved upward, it became very difficult to hold on to nearly smooth rocky surface. At some points, we took considerable time to make progress. The surface was very steep; on top of that there was nothing to hold on to. If we fell accidently, we will definitely reach all the way down and sustain grave injuries.

Like Kudajadri, Jithu was in much better shape and he was slightly ahead of us. After a while Divya gave up and told us that she will wait there till we come back. That option was swiftly rejected; with strong persuasion and coercion she started moving again and reached first mile stone. From here onwards, slope is much better. Still it’s a long way to reach the top. 

Close to us there were a group of three people; out of that one was over weight and struggling to climb. Other two were lean and fast. They encouraged the third guy a lot to move in their pace. Unfortunately, that was not something he could do. Eventually they split up, two people moved ahead and third told  them that he will meet them on the top later. Third guy joined with us. In these trips one might end up having a lot of temporary friends who share the same goal and suffer the same problem. The new guy joined our group started calling the name of his friend very loudly in every 10 minutes. 

By this time, a large group of KAPF (Karnataka Armed Police Force) battalion from Bangalore also joined us. Continuous training enabled them to move faster in these steep inclines compared to arm chair philosophers like me. Up, up, up…. Soon they overtook us and marched towards the top.

Shortly we reached a comparatively flat segment of trek; and started moving faster. After a while destination became visible. It was not very far but the way ahead was no longer flat either. The new joiner kept on calling his friend in every ten minutes. There was no reply from other end; but lot of people start calling that name thinking…. I don’t know what they were thinking. Finally we reached the top and there was a large crowd standing there. Many of them were taking selfies rather than enjoying the magnificent view ahead. I walked towards the edge and sat there. Cool and gentle breeze from opposite side started wiping sweat drops from my face. Police personals and others were engaged in taking single, group and selfies. Some wanted Nandi and other the sky as their background.

We spend some thirty minutes on the top. Mercury started rising and we started our return journey. Divya was overenthusiastic with her achievement of overcoming the fears and physical strain to reach the top. However, in that ecstasy she ran over a small boulder and fell down. Tears started coming from her eyes as monsoon rains. I helped her to sit one a nearby rock and gave some water to drink. Unfortunately medical kit was way down in the car. Another girl appeared from somewhere and give her volini tube. Jithu broke a branch of small tree nearby and made a rough walking stick.

After idling there for sometime; we restarted our return journey. We moved fast and quickly reached the area where the surface is close to vertical. Other than air there was nothing to hold on to!!! By sitting, and walking inch by inch we covered that distance and crossed the steepest area. Then I saw a father and his son coming up. Kid was just 1-2 years old and laying on father's shoulder. He started climbing the the rocks; I just looked at him for sometime; does it really worth it? He is not just responsible for himself but the kid too, who can't even walk. Even a small slip will take them all the way down!!! 

We continued our downward journey; tired but happy that we completed the trek and back on time. After having late breakfast from a hotel opposite to the temple, we started our return journey. 

Sajeev

Note

1, Savanadurga is located around 50km from Bangalore's MG Road Metro station.

2, Big Banyan Tree is also located close by. 

3, As per some articles "Megalithic burial urns have been found in the area".

Divya me and Jithu

 Yercaud - Queen of Salem

Yercaud Lake

Salem

This journey was waiting in the queue for a long time. Yearcaud is a hill station located close to Salem in Tamil Nadu. We passed through Salem very often; could have took a detour during any one of those journies. However, life don't work the way we expect it to work! That detour never happened…. Yet!!! 

Salem City

Recently Divya's cousin's - Athira's - husband (Jithesh) was transferred to Salem from Bangalore. He works in a public sector oil company and get transfers once in every three years. In a way its good; as one can see different parts of India and her vibrant culture. Three years is enough to get to know the place and see all her beauties. At the same time, for family its too difficult. One just reached a city; found some home to settle; learn the local language; built friend circle; kids were admitted to a good school; and bhoom!!! Company send you transfer order. Now pack up and go to another place; by the time one become comfortable there company send another transfer order. Life become a series of pack-up, unpack and then pack-up again. By the time this series ends, one may reach close to their retirement age.

Agriculture market, Salem. A view from top

However for us, this created an ideal situation. We could split our journey to Kerala to two and take a break at Salem to visit them. On a Friday night we started the journey; usually there won't be any work meetings scheduled for Friday afternoon, evening or night. In fact many people I know keep Friday afternoons free of meetings. Leaving Bangalore city limits - except at midnight - is always a problem. Hence we left Bangalore in the late night and cruised towards Salem.

From Bangalore, Salem is just 4 hours away. For me the roads are very familiar. In the past whenever it was difficult to get a train ticket, I used to hop on a SETC bus going to Salem. Salem is a major junction in Tamilnadu, from here one can get buses to a lot of places in the state. From Salem, I hopen on to a nonstop bus going to Coimbatore. By the way, if you reach Coimbatore too early, then you may end up waiting a long time to get a bus to Palakkad. If you reach Coimbatore's Ukkadam bus stand close to sunrise, then its easy to catch a bus to Palakkad. When SETC started 3.33 service from Bangalore to Salem; I switched my Salem journey to 3.33. In case you didn’t see the bus, then you may be wondering what is 3.33. It's the time they promise the bus will take to reach Salem from Electronic City (last stop in Bangalore) - three hours and 33 minutes.

After leaving the busy bees behind Athibelle, we swam through a web of lorries. Those huge vehicles moves very slowly and often spread across the lanes. Rules like slow moving vehicles keep left are not applicable here!!! Hosur, Shoolgiri, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Thoppur, Omalur and Salem. In between we stopped only once, at 12:00 sharp to cut the cake for my Birthday. Unfortunately it was a place where there was hardly much light; but whatever was there was enough to cut blueberry cake precisely and to eat that as well !!! As Bhima told Arjuna in MT's 'Randamoozham', hand always know where the mouth is and how to reach there! I read that book long back - a wonderful book by the way; hence my translation may not be exact. I hope you got the idea!!!

It was not difficult to find out Ahira's apartment. There were more food waiting for us and mid-night didn’t bother me from taking a dip on that as well. Anyway, time to sleep.

Yercaud

We woke up very early in the next morning. Well, I might be a little exaggerating about the word 'early'!!! After breakfast, Athira was very eager to show us the city from the top of her apartment complex. So we went up and looked around; it was a nice view. Athira told that, Salem city is surrounded by hills. I looked around and then checked the map. Indeed it is!!! City has Nagaramalai on north, Jarugumalai on southern side, Kanjamalai on the western side, Godumalai at the east and Shevaroy Hills at northeast. South-west was guarded by Kariyaperumal Hills. Our destination - Yearcuad - is in Shevaroy hills.

Soon we said good bye to Athira, Jitesh (Athira's husband) and started our journey towards Yercaud. Mostly, we went through rurban (rural + urban) areas and reached the foot hills. From here the ascent starts. Fortunately, this time we never ended up behind any big lorries. I always liked to drive slowly in hill stations without much vehicles either in the front or back. There are around twenty plus hairpins on the way to top. Each hairpin is named after a famous Tamil personality - Sangam era kings, literary icons and freedom fighters. Unfortunately all names are written in Tamil only. Here is the list of hairpin names which I grabbed from another article,

1. Kavichakravarthy Kamban

2. Avvaiyar

3. Thiruvalluvar 

4. Ilango Adigal

5. Kabilar 

6. Paranar 

7. Mahakavi Bharathiar (Subramania Bharati)

8. Ramalinga Adigalar

9. Cheran Senguttuvan 

10. Karikala Cholan

11. Vallal Paari

12. Pandiya Nedunchezhian

13. Dheeran Chinnamalai

14. Cheran Senguttuvan 

15. Velu Nachiyar

16. Veerapandia Kattabomman

17. Thagadoor Adhiyaman 

18. Vanchinathan 

19. V.O. Chidambaram Pillai

20. Tirupur Kumaran 

21. Subramania Siva

After crossing the hairpins one after the other, we finally reached the top. In between we stopped at one place which provided a magnificent view zig-zag road we came so far.

 

Our plan was to visit all major view points and do some boating in the lake. We thought of going to Lady's seat first and then visit the rest. However, we missed some turns here and there and ended up far from Lady's seat. To make the situation better, we changed the plan and decided to visit Pagoda point first. Well, we didn’t like the place much; may be it was because of the fog which blocked the view. Next stop was at rose garden; that also was very different from what I imagined. However, it offered a place to sit for some time and do nothing. Sometimes that is what we really needed!!! Time moved slowly…

Lady's seat was near by and we covered that distance on foot. The view was good, but place was full of monkey's and eateries. We hardly spend fifteen minutes there and left. Genetic heritage garden and Gent's seat was nearby but there was hardly any excitement left. We skipped both and went straight to hotel. After lunch it was boating time. Lake was crowded but we got a pedal boat quickly. In front of us there was a couple and it looked like they never wanted the boating to end and they took the longest possible route. We just circled the lake; escaping the shock waves from motor boats and went back to the jetty. Boating along with hot tea at jetty was nice but over all the trip so far was less than satisfactory.

Still hours of sunlight left on that day and rest of the plan didn’t look interesting. What to do next? We started going through the blogs of people who visited the place earlier; re-read many and read some new one as well. Not that interesting. However, I came across an article where someone mentioned their experiences about staying at an estate. It was not about Yercaud, but Yercaud is also a hill station and there should be some coffee estates. Does any of them offer safari? I started searching again and found one estate - Tipperary. To try the luck we went there.

Sun was slowly moving towards western horizon and there were some dark clouds. Ignoring those we went to the estate premises and enquired about trips. They told, they can arrange one but we need to pay for the entire vehicle. They charge per vehicle. Ah, no one waiting in the queue for sharing and even if we wait no one was going to join. This problem I encountered very often in the past. In solo trips, in many places, where they charge per vehicle I had to wait till it gets filled up. In Jabalpur, I went along with a very big Bengali extended family. In Kanha, the operator told me to go along with small Bengali family and not to tell the driver that I am not with them. Driver didn’t ask and I didn’t tell either. Later, I always thought why that guy who arranged the gypsy told me like that? Probably the family might have paid for the full jeep and I also for myself (single separately) and he may not want to split the additional profit with driver. I don’t know, just guessing.

Anyway here we told yes and waited for the vehicle to came. Meanwhile they offered us Tipperary's complementary special coffee and told us about its special taste. I didn’t find anything different with that coffee. May be because, I like tea much more than coffee. I like black coffee a bit but not a big fan of coffee as a whole. During this time we strolled through the place, there was an old colonial bungalow. As per Tipperary's website that colonial bungalow was built around 1900 by the family of Charles Dickens. 

Old banglow at Tipperary

After a while the vehicle came- it was a 4 X 4 Toyota Hilux. Soon we left the colonial banglow and moved forward. After a while the vehicle left the blacktop and took left; it was a rough road and even Toyota struggled to move forward in the steep angle. After taking some sharp turns there the vehicle was stopped on top of a hillock. From here one can see the entire place very clearly - it was indeed a wonderful view. Probably the best one in the entire journey. After spending some time here we returned and hit the blacktop again. Road was narrow but devoid of any potholes. After a while we took another turn to a muddy road. This time to Tipperary's coffee plantation. In Toyota driver sat in the front and we selected the large open back to stand. This vantage point offered a very good 360 degree view. The experience of chilly wind mixed with smell of coffee plant hitting the face was really a good experience. Toyota jumped up and down in that uneven muddy road; after couple of turns we reached next view point. From here one can see all the way down and numerous groups of small concrete buildings faraway.

Driver (cum guide) told us about the plants and how big entire estate really is. He also showed us some coffee verities and told that, most coffee beans of very high quality are marked for export. This sentence, I heard numerous times in the past. Good quality is always paired with the word export. Does it mean, we in India always get second class? Well you know the answer. India is one of the most price sensitive markets and majority are not willing to spend extra for high quality coffee (high quality of anything for that matter). Anyway, that is topic for another day.

After taking one more look at that arabica coffee plant we jumped back in to the Toyota. By the time we reached next view point, there was hardly much light left. However, it was enough to locate a bison group roaming freely at a distance. Guide told that, bisons were frequently located at that view point as well. In forest, bison is probably one of the most overlooked animals as most people often search for deers, tigers and elephants. If one take a careful look, bisons too look majestic with lot of row power stored in those big muscles. Indian male bisons weigh between one to one and half tonnes; females weigh around 700kg to a tonne.

Night wiped out last traces of the day and we started our return journey to colonial Banglow. Tipperary offers some more activities like trekking(with guide) etc. However, our plan was to levae Yercaud next day morning. Hence we left that place to have some hot snacks in the lake side. From there to hotel. While sleeping, I tried to build a mental picture about the stories our Tipperary guide told us - Norton's banglow, bear caves etc. How the place might have looked like in the beginning of the last century.

Next day(Sunday) early morning we went to Sunrise point. There was hardly any vehicle on the road; fog was thick and visibility was very low. After some time we reached the entrance of a large ground called sunrise point. There was a guy standing at the gate to collect parking fee. I wonder why they collect parking fee, its just and open ground with a circular road! 

Near to the entrance there was a small observation tower; nothing fancy. Further down there was a temple (yet to open for the day), then a view point. We continued walking; there was old transmission antennas and a small building in the middle of that ground. Finally reached a place which don’t have any hinderence to view sunrise; slowly sun was coming up and started showering us with light. Couple of four wheelers were parked here and there. Some bikes were parked at one end. In a remote end a group were playing songs in portable speaker. We continued walking; by this time sun teared down the last remaining traces of night and made the fog disappear. Slowly mercury started rising and we walked towards the exit and left the place.

Sajeev

 Someshwara temple, Bangalore

Mandapa in front of the temple. Photo from Wikipedia

Its not everyday that one discover an old famous temple (yet unknown to me) in Bangalore city. This is what happened on that weekend. As my mother was in Bangalore at that time, I was looking for a temple to visit during weekend. Then suddenly Someshwara temple came the in search results.

 

Located close to Halasuru metro station in Old Madras Road (OMR), this temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and one of the oldest temple in the city. It is believed that, this temple dates back to Chola period. Significant additions were later made during the Vijayanagara period; when Kampagowda was the ruler of then Bangalore.

 

Halasuru (better known as Ulsoor) is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Bangalore. It is believed that, there was an early settlement around Someshwara temple. In mid 16th century, Halasuru was one of the 12 hoblis (group of villages) granted by Achutaraya (then ruler of Vijayanagar empire) to the local ruler Kempagowda. Water for for farming and sustaining a community was available from Ulsoor lake (attributed to Kempagowda). Later in 1807, Company established a cantonment in Ulsoor.

 

We went there on a Saturday morning. After parking the bike in the front; we walked towards the temple. First structure we encounter was a majestic pillar in front of gopuram. After looking at the pillar for sometime we walked towards the gopuram. It’s an imposing structure. Lower half of the gopuram was constructed using stone and the multi- storied upper half was constructed using brick and mortar. Crossing the gopuram took us to a large ground, were small shrines are present on both sides. After visiting these shrines we walked towards the mahamandapa.

 

Mahamandatpa is located in front of main shrine and have 48 decorated pillars. These pillars have more than five hundred relief sculptures carved into it. Most pillars have seated lions at its base; however, the carvings in the middle and top differs. Frequently used relief sculptures are that of Shiva (in the forms of Nataraja, Virabhadra, Mrityunjaya, Umasahita etc), Parvati, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Ganesha etc. There were also carvings of animals, ascetic, gods, goddesses, hybrid animals etc.

 

On the door way, there is an illustration of King Ravana shaking Mt. Kailasha; goddess Mahishasuramardini; dwarapalakas etc. In one pillar, symbol of Vijayanagar kings - double headed eagle - is depicted. This image later became the symbol of Wodeyar kings of Mysore and eventually become part of Karnataka State emblem.

 

Closed circular pathway comes after open mandapa; here we saw the idols of a lot of deities. We took a left turn to the path way; after walking the entire circumference reached the front again. This time we went inside and saw sanctum (rectangular/square in shape) and the idol of Shiva inside. There were hardly 10-15 people inside. After spending some time there we came outside.

 

On the right side of main temple, there is a separate shrine for Kamakshi Devi (a form of goddess Parvati).

 

Outer walls of main temple on the right side depict wedding ceremony of Parvati and Shiva (Girija kalyana story). Brahma officiating the marriage as priest; father of the bride (also king of mountains Himavan) pour sacred water to the arm of Shiva; which then falls in to the joint hands of the couple and then flows down to the mouth of Nandi.

 

A Navagraha (nine planets) temple is located on the north side. There are 12 pillars to this temple and each pillar depict a saint (rishi).

Row of sculptures on the southern wall shows nava nathas (nine saints) on various animals. Its not that, only gods and rishis are depicted here. We also have dancer's gestures, porters, wrestlers, snake charmers, huntsman etc.

 

The story of the temple may not be complete without telling the story of Venkata Sundara Sani. She was a devadasi attached to Someshawara Temple. She wrote the book on dance titled, 'Rasikajana Manollasini Sarasangraha Bharata' in Sanskrit written using Kannada script in 1908. This temple was also a meltipng pot of various cultures, traditions and various regions of south India. Performers here used the works from Telugu composers Tyagaraja, Shyama Shastry etc; also from Kannada composers Purandaradasa, Vyasatirtha etc. In Sani's book there are references to Bharatanatya which means the rich tradition of Tamil culture as well.

 

Recent excavations showed the presence of a Kalyani (temple pond) associated with the temple. It is estimated that Kalyani may be more than 1200 years old.

 

We went through the shirnes one by one and finally reached the room where some yajna was going on. After watching the ritual for some time, we came out and crossed the gopuram once again.

 

Sajeev

 

References

1. Someshwara Temple - Ulsoor - INTACH

2. A temple and its dancer who published a book

 Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, Bangalore

Trident - Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple

Located close to Bull temple (near Kempegowda circle) in Bangalore, this temple is an example of India's rock cut temple architecture model. This was probably an existing temple, and/or renovated/built by Kempegowda in 16th century. It is believed that, both sage Gautama and Baradwaja performed penance here. Idols of both sages are currently present in the cave path surrounding the shrine. 

Probably because it’s a cave temple, entrace is not facing any cardinal directions like east, west, north or south but south-west.

In front of the temple, there are two structures known as Suryapana and Chandrapana. These looks like a disc placed on top of a stone pillar. Flagstaff and Nandi's statue are located in between these two. Two more stone pillars - one a trident and another a damaru (two headed drum) are located in the compound. 

Outer mandapa has pillars in Vijayanagar style. It is believed that, a steady stream of water always flows through the cave. Gavi means cave, water represents Ganga, hence the name Gavi Gangadhareshwara.

In addition to the main shrine of Shivam, there are smaller shines for Parvati and Durga. In the long path surrounding all these shrines, there are idols of Saptamatrikas, Sridevi, Boodevi etc. An idol of Agni (god of fire) is also present. 

The temple is designed in a such a way that, on makarashankranti day of every year beam of sun rays pass through the windows, Nandi's horns and touch shiva linga. On this day every year, thousands come to view this spectacle. 

There is a wonderful article here which explains a lot more about this phenomenon -> The mysteries of Bangalore's famous 'Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple' - Live Mint

Suryapana and Chandrapana

We reached the temple just after nine in the morning on a weekend. Since there was hardly much people at that time; parking was easy and we walked rest of the way. The place looked quite like a village; it didn't give any indication that such an old temple is located there. 

Ignoring the light rains, we went inside. The experience was a bit different as it was a cave temple and there was only was to go out and come in. After a while, more people came inside and priest closed the sanctum for poojas. We waited till the opening of sanctum, as one is not supposed to leave any temple while sanctum's door is closed for pooja. During this time, people started chanting mantras loud and in sync which gave special experience to all those inside.

Sajeev

 Tunchan parambu (Tirur)

Entry

Thunchan Parambu (aka Thunchan Memorial Trust& Research Centre) is located in Tirur town (in Malappuram district of Kerala). This place is just 2km away from Tirur railway station. Tunchan  Parambu is believed to be the birthplace of Thunchath Ezhuthachan; who is a member of pracheena kavitrayam (ancient triumvirate) and father of modern Malayalam language. He had a very distinctive poetic style, which later became famous as kilippattu (parrot song) style. 

Adhyatma Ramayanam (written in parrot song style) is his principle work. This work is a translation of the Adhyatma Ramayana; a text attributed to Ramananda, who was a leading fugure in Bhakti movement. While writing this book Ezhuthachan used Grantha based Malayalam script instead of then dominant Vatteluttu writing. Recitation of 'Adhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu' is very important across Hindu families in Kerala. Month of Karkitakam (Malayalam calendar) is celebrated as the Ramayana month and the book is recited at least once from beginning to end across Hindu houses and temples in Kerala.

On the holy day of Vijayadasami, children were brought here to write their first ever letters. This place is believed to a holy place to start writing. Annually a week long literary festival is also organized here. 

Very less parking space is available at the location. Entry is free; however one need to pay for taking photos (even using mobile). Once we enter the area; on the right there is a mandapam. Further down, you can see another mandapam housing a huge parrot, stylus and a replica of palm-leaves in metal. Behind that, there is one more mandapam. If you walk to the right, you may see a small pond; followed by a compound where a Kanjira (Strychnine) tree and temple is located. 

Sajeev

Note:

1, Other members of old triumvirate are - Kunchan Nambiar and Cherusseri Namboothiri

2. Members of Ādhunika kavitrayam (modern triumvirate) are N.Kumaran Asan, Vallathol Narayana Menon and Ulloor S.Parameswara Iyer.

Pond

Parrot and Stylus

Museum

Kanjira (Strychnine) tree

Temple

 Padinjarekkara Beach (Tirur)

Located at the western side (Arabian Sea) of Malappuram District of Kerala, this beach is a nice place to spend a wonderful evening. Beach sits just north of, confluence of Bharathapuzha (the longest river in the state of Kerala), Tirur River and Arabian Sea. One can reach here by taking the beautiful Karma road from Chamravattam Bridge (Chammaravattam Ayyappa Temple is located at the other end of the bridge) and then crossing the estury by boat from Ponnani Harbour. However, the way we always take is Tirur- Alathiyoor- Kuttayi- Padinjarekkara road. In Alathiyoor-Kuttayi stretch road is a little narrow; but good. One kilometer after crossing the Kuttayi bridge, the road became straight and wide till the end. From Tirur it will take around 18km to reach the beach. 

Padinjarekkara beach - way of water

Padinjarekkara beach - near by cafe

Way of water

People enjoying the sunset

There is enough parking (paid) space at the beach. Some entertainment options are available for kids as well. One side of the beach is dotted with Casuarina trees from here you can enjoy a distant view or walk to the waters to enjoy the waves for hours!!!

Sajeev 

 Mysore Chronicle: Rail Museum

After the inauguration of new Bangalore -Mysore express way, this was our first journey to Mysore. As usual a good plan was in place - with just one exception. We didn’t plan when to start from Bangalore. I usually want to start as early as possible, but one or other task will cost us some delay here and there. Eventually, we will end up being late. So this time, no plans to start early. We just decided to start in the morning!!!

After filling the back of the car to brim with all essential items for journey and a fortnight stay in Kerala, we started. One thing I noticed is, I packed quite less items when I travelled in bike in the past for same duration. Two saddle bags and a main bag was more than enough. When moved to more spacious car, someway luggage also increased!!!

Dedicated one for erstwhile Mysore queen

Traffic was normal and after spending time in some signals we left NICE road and entered Mysore express way. Its very wide; hardly much crowd. Long stretch of empty black top with a lot white straight lines stared at me under burning sun. In between those straight lines there where a lot of fast moving bulls and elephants (cars and lorries). After some ten - fifteen kilometers, driving was mostly monotonous. There was nothing to with steering or clutch; just accelerator was enough. 

Summer sun is not at all friendly, temperature was slowly but steadily rising outside. We reached Mysore couple of hours before lunch time. After having various dosas from A2B (near railway station), we drove towards rail museum. Its very close to the station. Entire area was very neat and clean. After buying tickets we three - me, divya and mother went inside.

First one the left was an area which show cases various gauges used by Indian Railways (IR) in the past. From narrow gauge to meter gauge to broad gauge. Now IR predominantly uses broad gauge. However narrow gauge is still used in some mountain lines like - Nilgiris, Kalka–Shimla etc. Lines inside Gir forest still use meter gauge and most metro networks are on standard gauge. 

Looking at various items used by IR in the past we moved forward and made our next stop at an old coal powered, heavy weight! engine. It was painted very neatly. I didn’t expect mom to climb up; but she enthusiastically did. We look at the area where workers moved coal from its storage to locomotive. It looked nostalgic, not that I travelled a lot through coal powered locomotives but due to old movies which showed the same thing. In that little space there was one more family where one guy was explaining how it works to his wife and trying to figure out how it looked like in the past. 

Moving further there were rail cranes which still proudly carry the engravings of British era. After moving around a bit we walked towards toy train's station. 

Entry ticket also includes a ride in toy train. It starts from a station(named Central Park) there in every 30 mins and run two rounds around the open area in the museum. We sat in a row somewhere in the back and waited for the train to start. After a while TTR! Came; checked our tickets. After waiting for some more time, loco came to life. After completing two circles, we got down and walked towards the exhibits in the middle. There was nice place to sit and look at the trees which are fully covered in violet flowers. Divya took her own stroll across the loan and looked at trees and metal heavy weight champions with great curiosity. 

Toy train coming out of tunnel

Well, it was time to go. We moved towards the exit. At one side, Maharani's couch was on display. We went there walked towards the other end reading different plaques which explains which areas inside that couch were used by maharani of erstwhile Mysore kingdom and for which purpose. The couch can't claim much aesthetic beauty; may be time took its toll. We slowly walked towards the exit.

If you already visited Mysore a couple of times and wanted to see something different, then Rail museum is a good place to go. Mysore railway junction is next door. As a standalone destination museum doesn't offer much, but kids might like it. 

 New Impressions

Its been a long time since I posted anything here. Its not that, I didn't try. I did try couple of times, but was not able to bring myself to write a complete article. I can blame it on a lot of things; from writers block to not having time because of my work. Well, deep in my heart; I know that, its not true. As someone told, its all about priorities. Probably it was not my priority to write? or I had other priorities which took more time? To console myself I can say yes. But again I know that, its not true. I did spend a mind blowing number of hours in OTT platforms like Amazon prime etc. So, I can firmly say that its not about availability of time or priorities. Anyway I am not going in to analysis-paralysis mode to find out (or manufacture!!!) the reasons. Better option may be to say, I don't know and move on.

However, this long break did help me to understand more about what I would like write about. Contrary to the existing theme of this blog; it don't have anything to do with defence, foreign policy or politics. Its not that, I am moving away from that. In fact, as per me politics continues (and should continue) to be as the most important theme in anyone's life. How we elect someone to govern us and how they are infact governing us is indeed important. I may continue to pick and choose something from here and there. Being said that, this blog is going to become more personal. Well, don't assume it is going to be a journal or diary for me. It's not. In fact, I am not a person who write either of those and there is no plan to start one. What I meant here is, this blog is going to become a colletion of my journies, my experiences and my opinion on vaious things. So looking forward to start a new chapter here.

Sajeev