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My summer trip to Nainital and then to Corbett started from Lucknow, the place where I live. I initially thought of writing all of this in one long story but someone suggested that it might be better to separate stories, it might be easier to read.

So here’s on my first post, I am writing about a Road-Review. Its not very detailed but I would love to answer any comments or questions fellow ghumakkars might have.

The first leg is Lucknow – Nainital
We started from Lucknow at 6 in the morning. We would have started earlier but past experience taught us that with a longer drive one tends to get sleepy in the afternoons which is dangerous. So we decided to allow just enough time to get out of the city. Breakfast was at a Reliance A-1 just 50 km before Sitapur. Good infrastructure but lonely little spot cos petrol costs 10 bucks more. No one really stops. However, the man at the counter said they do get some customers for lunch and dinner.

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The first time I went abroad was in the year 1995 when Kuberan was a consultant to UNDP in Vietnam. It was an experience extraordinaire and I would like to share it with you all in different postings in this site.

Vietnam is a beautiful country. The country is shaped like an ‘S’ curve, almost like Italy. The total length north to south is 1650 km and its width stretching from east to west is 600 km at the widest point in the north and 400 km in the south and just 50 km at the narrowest part in the middle. Hanoi is the capital city and has an incomparable combination of tradition, elegance and progress. Everything about the city fascinated me. But the Cu Chi Tunnels in the South was so different and exclusive that I felt it has to be given priority in my mention.

A Typical Flower Market In The Morning
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Jungle attracts both Jaishree and me. Even during our non-holiday times we hear Jungle calling us. The images of wild terrain float in our eyes. This romance with Jungle and wild life started with our honeymoon in Bandipur. After that this affair is never ending. I was showing photographs of our Bandipur trip to my friend Avinash Dubey and his wife Bhavna, and both of them came with the same question, “Have you been to Thekkady”? So when we planned our Kerala trip, next destination from Munnar was Thekkady.

Thekkady is situated in the lap of scented cardamom hills. It is India’s largest and most visited wildlife sanctuary that is spread over an area of around 777 sq Km. In 19^th century the area around Thekkady was found quite suitable for Tea/Coffee Plantation. The rapid increase of the plantation alarmed King of Travancore and to prevent his favorite hunting ground from encroachments he declared this area as reserve forest. According to another Legend the killing of an elephant by a British soldier made Maharaja of Travancore very sad. He realized the significance of conservation and turned the forests around the lake into a sanctuary in 1934 and christened it as Nellikkampetty sanctuary. In 1978 this sanctuary was declared as part of Project tiger and now it is also known as Periyar Tiger Reserve.

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When I wrote about the boat ride to Elephanta caves, I didn’t know it would take this long to actually get down from the boat and enter the caves.
Ah well, I have been traveling for most of the last one month and hence the absence. But I believe in ‘better late than never’. So, here I am once again. Once you step onto the island, a mini train well adorned with fresh nimbu-mirchi to ward off any evil, welcomes you to take you to the main gate. Again, as we always prefer to try the options; we kept the mini train ride for coming back when we would be tired. So fresh and raring to go, we chose to walk to the gate, clicking some pictures on the way.

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