
Coffee, Hills, Foliage and Beaches – Part 3
Now we headed to Udupi via Balehonnur, Sringeri and Agumbe. The lush-green views refused to subside and we were continuously treated with great views…
Read MoreNow we headed to Udupi via Balehonnur, Sringeri and Agumbe. The lush-green views refused to subside and we were continuously treated with great views…
Read MoreKashid has been a long awaiting trip for me. Ever seen I saw pictures of the long winding roads leading to the beach and…
Read MoreIt is been a see-all-the-beaches-you-can-while-you-can for the last few weekends and this weekend was no different. A 2-day trip to Diveagar was planned for…
Read MoreThe AI option is worth it if you really want to party and get sloshed. A beer will cost around $6 and bottled water will cost around $3. The onlu currency they accept is USD and you will have to tip the staff on USD as well. Most resorts have at least 3-4 different options and it can get a little boring to have food from the same restaurant if you are on Half Board or Full Board.
Read MoreDecember 30, 2008 While I usually travel alone, my colleague joined me on this trip to Karwar on the coast of Karnataka. Our first…
Read MoreThis was a trip we took in 2004 when we lived in California. We went to the Big Island in Hawaii for our fifth…
Read MoreThere are two basic varieties of coffee: Arabica and Robusta. On asking how does one distinguish between two varieties and which variety is popular brands nescafe and bru made of he told us that instant coffee in India contains a mix of whatever coffee beans remain after sorting. To a connoisseur, instant coffee is blasphemy as the taste is nowehere near good coffee. We left after 20 minutes promising to return back some other time.
Read MoreAmongst the various sights we visited were the USS Arizona Memorial and the Battleship Bowfin. USS Arizona was a memorial built on top of the ship sunk and destroyed with around 700 people still on board. We were shown a historic video before a motorboat quickly took us to the USS Arizona.
Read MoreWe reached Rameshwaram from Madurai about 3:00 PM, we planned to visit Rameshwaram temple in the morning, so we asked our taxi driver Kannan if there is any beach nearby, he nodded his head and said “Yeeessss†(I liked the way he used to say Yeeessssâ€), it is 13 kms from here and is called Dhanushkodi.
Well, we reached the beach in about 45 minutes, on the way, we also visited a temple where Lord Rama performed the “Raj Tilak†of Vibhishan. Kannan told us that this is the beach, it was very deserted. We found an Indian Navy post there, a tea stall and a snack shop. The Indian Ocean was beautiful, roaring and with high waves. We dared not go too deep inside and also asked the kids to stay off.
Fort surrounded by sea water at a little distance from the shore. When tide is low one can go there on foot. Otherwise there are speed boats for tourists to go there. These boats also take tourists on short rides on sea, just near the shore
Read MoreThe view from underwater is breathtaking. Corals, oysters, sea weeds, colored fish  and the surrounding blue water is mesmerizing. Touching endangered species such as corals are  not allowed. The best part of the sea walk actually came when we fed pieces of bread to the  fish. As soon as you hold up the bread pieces, fish of different colors gather around you and it does get a bit ticklish but it is definitely a wonderful experience.  After 20 minutes of  “seawalking”, the divers  escorted us back up to the pontoon. When you climb up, one is likely to experience  the pressure factor again . At the end of it, the whole experience leaves you spellbound and the sparkling blue water always tantalizes you to go back underwater.
Read MoreWe were expecting Chikmaglur to be hilly but it turned out to be plain. Nevertheless, the hill range of Baba Budangiri and western ghats were not very far. We stayed in a hotel in the town called “Planter’s Court”.
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