It was interesting to see a certain place in central park (the mall) in four different shades.
In late summer ...
In fall ...
In snow during winter ...
In winter ...
Friday, August 26, 2011
Central park changing colors
In late 2007, I had the opportunity of visiting New York City twice in a span of two months. Those days, my favorite pastime in NYC used to be walking in central park. During that time of the year, trees in central park first change their color (fall season) and then shed leaves (towards winter).
It was interesting to see a certain place in central park (the mall) in four different shades.
In late summer ...
In fall ...
In snow during winter ...
In winter ...
It was interesting to see a certain place in central park (the mall) in four different shades.
In late summer ...
In fall ...
In snow during winter ...
In winter ...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The Hyderabadi Experience (15 Dec 2010)
In December 2010, I got this opportunity of traveling to Hyderabad for an official cause. I had recently watched the movie 'Angrez' and had been totally fascinated with Hyderabad's old city culture. So, I grabbed this opportunity with both hands.
It was a short trip and I didn't have much time to roam around the city. We flew to Hyderabad the day before the work day and settled into a guest house in the IT area by 6 PM. We were to fly out immediately after work the next day. So, I only had that evening to experience the city.
Fortunately, I had the services of a local guide, my friend Siddharth.
We shot into the old city area an auto and went straight to charminar. Let me tell you one thing - a simple auto ride can be pretty entertaining in Hyderabad.
The charminar area and the adjoining Chudi bazaar are almost exactly as they were potrayed in the movie Angrez. An interesting thing that I noticed at charminar was that there is a Bhagyalakshmi temple at the base of charminar.
From there, we headed to the Gokul chats. What amazed me here was the scale of preparation of chats (see pic below)
We then went on to Nilofer cafe, an Irani Chai shop. I an a tea addict and it was a great experience to sit there with a cup (or maybe 2) of Irani Chai and a plate of biscuits.
On the way, I bought biscuits from the Karachi bakery to bring back home. These are delicious. Don't miss them whenever you go to Hyderabad.
We rounded of the hectic evening by going to necklace road and then watching Harry Potter in 3D at Prasad's IMAX. That was my first IMAX experience.
It was a short trip and I didn't have much time to roam around the city. We flew to Hyderabad the day before the work day and settled into a guest house in the IT area by 6 PM. We were to fly out immediately after work the next day. So, I only had that evening to experience the city.
Fortunately, I had the services of a local guide, my friend Siddharth.
We shot into the old city area an auto and went straight to charminar. Let me tell you one thing - a simple auto ride can be pretty entertaining in Hyderabad.
The charminar area and the adjoining Chudi bazaar are almost exactly as they were potrayed in the movie Angrez. An interesting thing that I noticed at charminar was that there is a Bhagyalakshmi temple at the base of charminar.
From there, we headed to the Gokul chats. What amazed me here was the scale of preparation of chats (see pic below)
We then went on to Nilofer cafe, an Irani Chai shop. I an a tea addict and it was a great experience to sit there with a cup (or maybe 2) of Irani Chai and a plate of biscuits.
On the way, I bought biscuits from the Karachi bakery to bring back home. These are delicious. Don't miss them whenever you go to Hyderabad.
We rounded of the hectic evening by going to necklace road and then watching Harry Potter in 3D at Prasad's IMAX. That was my first IMAX experience.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Hogenakkal and Yercaud (13 Aug 2011)
It was a Friday evening before a long weekend and the search for a suitable getaway had to start...
Any search of this sort involves answering 3 questions
1. Where to go ?
2. How to reach ?
3. Where to stay ?
The impending long weekend meant that most touristy places would have absolutely no accommodation available. Dipti and I went through the above list of questions for 3 places and found no accommodation.
1. Shimoga and jog falls
2. Waynad
3. Kemmangundi
We finally settled for a road trip on NH7.
We started from Bangalore on Saturday morning and headed to Hogenakkal falls. The safest route is to take Hosur Road towards electronic city, go past Attibele, Hosur, Krishnagiri and reach Dharmapuri. At Dharmapuri, you have to go under the fly over and take a right. You then continue straight on this road for about 43 Kms to reach the falls.
The best way to enjoy this place is to first walk around for a while and then take a boat ride to the main water falls. You would have to haggle with the boatmen to stike a deal. Something like Rs 500 for a coracle for a group of 6 should be reasonable. However, even if you are just 2-3 people, it might be hard to strike any better deal than this.
We spent time at the waterfall till 3 PM and then started towards Yercaud through Salem. We hadn't managed to find any accommodation in Yercaud because of the long weekend. So, we had decided to stay in Salem for the night and start early next morning to Yercaud. It was good to roam around in a new city and enjoy some good food at Saravana Bhavan. However, I would suggest the best option would be to look for accommodation in Yercaud so that you can enjoy the hill station early morning.
We started from Salem towards Yercaud around 7:30 AM the next day. Its a distance of 30KM and an hours drive. The drive was pretty scenic going through coffee plantations and we got glimpses of fog even though it was late.
Yercaud is a typical hill station in the Ooty model with some view points (Ladys seat, Gents seat, Childrens park, Pagoda point etc.), a lake with boating and a water fall (Kiliyur falls).
We spent some time at the view points, did boating and then went to the water fall.
The water fall was interesting. It is apparently formed by the Yercaud lake overflowing. To get to the falls, you need to climb down a few hundred steps into a valley. The water is extremely cold and refreshing.
After the visit to the falls, we headed back to Bangalore, stopping only for a late lunch at Salem. We covered the 200 KM from Salem to Bangalore in about 3 and half hours and reached bangalore around half past 7. The road is great but it comes at a price. The one way toll fee was Rs 228 :(
All in all, I think this route is a good option for a weekend getaway, especially during monsoons when hogenakkal falls is full.
Any search of this sort involves answering 3 questions
1. Where to go ?
2. How to reach ?
3. Where to stay ?
The impending long weekend meant that most touristy places would have absolutely no accommodation available. Dipti and I went through the above list of questions for 3 places and found no accommodation.
1. Shimoga and jog falls
2. Waynad
3. Kemmangundi
We finally settled for a road trip on NH7.
We started from Bangalore on Saturday morning and headed to Hogenakkal falls. The safest route is to take Hosur Road towards electronic city, go past Attibele, Hosur, Krishnagiri and reach Dharmapuri. At Dharmapuri, you have to go under the fly over and take a right. You then continue straight on this road for about 43 Kms to reach the falls.
The best way to enjoy this place is to first walk around for a while and then take a boat ride to the main water falls. You would have to haggle with the boatmen to stike a deal. Something like Rs 500 for a coracle for a group of 6 should be reasonable. However, even if you are just 2-3 people, it might be hard to strike any better deal than this.
We spent time at the waterfall till 3 PM and then started towards Yercaud through Salem. We hadn't managed to find any accommodation in Yercaud because of the long weekend. So, we had decided to stay in Salem for the night and start early next morning to Yercaud. It was good to roam around in a new city and enjoy some good food at Saravana Bhavan. However, I would suggest the best option would be to look for accommodation in Yercaud so that you can enjoy the hill station early morning.
We started from Salem towards Yercaud around 7:30 AM the next day. Its a distance of 30KM and an hours drive. The drive was pretty scenic going through coffee plantations and we got glimpses of fog even though it was late.
Yercaud is a typical hill station in the Ooty model with some view points (Ladys seat, Gents seat, Childrens park, Pagoda point etc.), a lake with boating and a water fall (Kiliyur falls).
We spent some time at the view points, did boating and then went to the water fall.
The water fall was interesting. It is apparently formed by the Yercaud lake overflowing. To get to the falls, you need to climb down a few hundred steps into a valley. The water is extremely cold and refreshing.
After the visit to the falls, we headed back to Bangalore, stopping only for a late lunch at Salem. We covered the 200 KM from Salem to Bangalore in about 3 and half hours and reached bangalore around half past 7. The road is great but it comes at a price. The one way toll fee was Rs 228 :(
All in all, I think this route is a good option for a weekend getaway, especially during monsoons when hogenakkal falls is full.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)