This year when we got list of holidays from our office, I saw second holiday Jan 26 is on a Monday means long weekend. I had to plan something. Didn't want to miss on this. Heard lot about Mangalore though earlier I have been to Turtle Bay (at Trasi, Kundapur) but this time I wanted to go to Mangalore.During cafeteria chitchat when all the colleagues were discussing about their plans, I also shared my plan to go to Mangalore and few people suggested me not to go because of bad roads especially from Sakleshpur to Mangalore. The day this discussion happened was Thursday Jan 22. I inquired from few more people and thought of taking longer route Bangalore --> Mysore --> Shimoga --> Mangalore. But still most of the people suggested me against this. Finally democracy won and I had to change my plans.
I was checking with other colleagues about their plan, one of the colleague suggested me for Chickmanglur but somehow I was not comfortable going within Karnataka, next best option I thought of was Pondicherry. Pondicherry is a busy tourist attraction and since I had not yet made any bookings I was apprehensive about my plans. Then two of my colleagues suggested for Wayanad. They mentioned that the place where they had made bookings still have few rooms unreserved. Without taking chance I told him that I will come along and they called the home stay people and confirmed the reservation.]]>
This weekend, I decided to go around Bangalore and few places like a tourist. Though it was not being like true tourist, since I took my own car and didn't go by some tourist bus or KSTDC Bus. By going around in my own car I can make sure that I spend enough time at each spot instead of running from one place to another, just to cover places.
Our plan was to start at 7:00 AM and straight away head towards Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, commonly known as MTR. Have breakfast there, then head towards, Lal Bagh, Bull Temple, Gavi Gangadeshwara Temple, Tipus' palace and then to Bannergatta National Park.
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During my trip to Japan, way back in Jan 2005, my friends choose Hakone as my first travel destination. Hakone is very popular among locals and foreign visitors. Hakone is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Famous for hot springs, natural beauty and the view of nearby Mt. Fuji. It was awesome experience. My friend Om did all the planning. Since he knew how to speak, read and write Japanese lot of things have become easier. He is master of the Japanese language.
Shimla, also known as The Queen of Hills was the summer capital of India before independence, now capital of Himachal Pradesh. Shimla is also popular for its toy train which goes through sixty mile long Kalka Shimla narrow gauge 2' 6" opened in Nov 1903. This train passes through more than 800 bridges and over 100 tunnels. Shimla is also popular for its historic India Pakistan agreement. Shimla has Asia's thickest Pine forest. ]]>
In March 2008, long weekend was coming and also the work pressure was increasing. But I had to make use of this long weekend. Myself and my friends had long discussions on where to go, finally we decided on Coorg - Land of Kodavas. It was long weekend for me but not for my friend, so I forced him to leave office early on Friday. Weather was awesome and I didn't want to miss on this trip. Finally we started at 3 PM.These days getting information is not difficult but when these long weekends come, it is difficult to find any accommodation at any weekend gateway.
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Hogenakkal waterfalls also knows as Niagara falls of India is a series of fall. We were total 6+ (one baby with us who was just one year old). It is about 140kms. We decided to go by KSTDC bus instead of taking our car, so that we can spend some quality time together instead of taking two cars and chasing each other.]]>
Sunday Aug 24 2008, we decided to go to Shivasamudram. Shivasamudram is located in Mandya district around 110 Kms from Bangalore. We started at 7:00 AM from home. Checked on the internet and found that there are two routes from Bangalore (Bangaluru) to reach Shivasamudram, one route along NH-209 through Kanakapura, which will meet at Malavalli and second via Mysore Raod(till Muddur), left into the village and through Malavalli. The other option was along NH-209 through Kanakapura, which will meet the other route at Malavalli. We decided to take Mysore Road.]]>