Udaipur - WoW!

Wednesday afternoon, doing some routines work, going through the project plans etc,a weekend approaching, well whats the program!..we decide to have take a trip to udaipur. just 15 mins of thought over it and we were all the way to booking our tickets on the net, so here we were all set for the weekend, tickets booked, travelogue downloaded, had all the info about udaipur all we were waiting for is Friday evening.

Well, we had just two days so we didn't want to spend a fortune on a trip, we had 6k in our kitty and what a trip we had!

Udaipur is in the southern part of Rajasthan, closer to Ahmedabad (in Gujarat) than to Jaipur. It is famous as the Lake City, for its rich heritage and for its beautiful gardens. Situated nearly 1900 metres above the sea level, it is a part of the Aravalli ranges. Its beauty is accentuated by the presence of mountains that serenade the city from all sides, as well as by some natural and artificial beauties that can’t quite be imagined. The city appropriately derives its name from Maharana Udai Singh who was instrumental in creating it in the year 1559.

It was a weekend, so we didn't had just 2 days to explore the place, Day 1 morning we start, here are the places that are actually worth checking out.

1) Fateh Sagar Lake – its just beautiful!!! the mountains at the backdrop of the lake look just awesome. Nehru park is situated inside the lake, park is located in the center of the lake and they have a ferry service which takes u to the park, the park is beautiful and is a photographer's treat, the view that it provides is just breathtaking. Visit the place in the evening to get the best view!

2) Saheliyo ki Bari – This again is a wonderful place, the way it has been built just amazes you that how luxuriously the queen must have stayed. Its got a fountain at the center, surrounded by four pillars, the work done on them is just spectacular. It one of the places that you should miss in udaipur coz of shear ecstatic value. Its got a unique cultural riches in it which can just be experienced when u actually present out there.

3) City Palace – the name itself says it all, its located in the heart of the city, shell out 0 bucks and you are in the palace, my first expression on entering this palace was “wow”......the place is spectacular to say the least, it gives a good aerial view of udaipur and again is good for photography. Its got a museum which displays the legacy of mewar, the rulers. I was amazed to see the amazing armor which was on display, so many varieties of swords, guns, shields. I forgot to mention, a tank is put up on the entrance. The palace contains lot of rooms, each room has got its own uniqueness about it. Be sure to enter the palace having lots of time, as it will atleast take 2 hours to explore the place. But its worth it!

4) Jagdish Mandir – Just adjacent to the city palace, a good temple.

5) Sajjangarh fort – THE best place in udaipur, if u don't go here then your udaipur trip is incomplete, its situated on the mountain. It takes some effort to reach at the top, there's a ticket gate u have to pay to take your vehicle up there, trust me that ride is just superb, there are some climbs and the road is not so wide so if two vehicles are crossing then u have to be carefull...on the top MONSOON PALACE is situated which is a treat to watch, U can view entire udaipur from there, the view is just WOW!!! it also has a garden, the best part about the place is that, u can actually see that udaipur is surrounded by mountains on all sides, do a 360 degree turn and all that u can see are mountains.

6) Pichola Lake – A beautiful lake again...a must see for every tourist, its situated on the banks of lake palace. U should visit the lake in the evening time to get the best view and spend some quality time. It's got a boat ride which will take u for sight seeing around the lake, also has camel rides which u can enjoy!

7) Lok Kala Museum - An interesting collection exhibited by this small museum and foundation for the preservation and promotion of local folk arts includes dresses, turbans, dolls, masks, musical instruments, paintings and - it's high point - puppets. Regular 15-minute puppet shows are held daily and are included in the admission charge.

8) Mataji Temple(Through rope car) – I dont recollect the place but there is Mataji temple on the mountain, there's a ROPE CAR which takes you on the top where the temple is situated, again a good
experience.

9) Bagor ki haveli – Again a palace worth checking out, it is now a museum which has all the historic facts about the cultures followed in udaipur, the most interesting thing I found there was different types of turbans that people wore. Worth seeing!

10) Gulab bagh – A good one if u have explored udaipur and still have a couple of hours to spare then check this out, its got a rose garden, a zoo to keep u occupied for a couple of hours.

11) Garden Restaurant – One of the most important places, its not a historic restaurant but tops it all when it comes to food, they serve delicious THALIS, we had our dinner and lunch over there. The speciallity about this restaurant is it offers a package for lunch which includes checking out the vintage cars that are owned by the king. Great combo...dont miss that!

I would say that U should visit udaipur atleast once to explore the place and check out the lakes and palaces. The scenic view is just awesome so get your best lenses on work!!

Enjoy

- J

Kerala - truely heaven on earth

I am on an India tour it seems, In my past years I have traveled some of places in India. Always wanted to visit kerala but never got a chance. Atlast, the tour was planned and was finally on my way to kerala. the fastest way to reach kerala from mumbai is ofcourse by air, so we flew to cochin and then on starting the kerala tour. The Journey, read on......

Cochin -
Well that was the place I landed,had one day at the hotel, Amisha and me went out for some sightseeing, but unfortunately couldnt find any place, except for a couple of malls shown by chandran (Our driver).

Munnar -
Its truly awesome, We went there from cochin and the road trip itself was very good. we stayed at T&N which is a good hotel. Here, are places that we visit and a must see ...

• Blossom Garden - This garden has so many varieties of flowers that I was just trilled. one of the rep's told me that they have collected plants from all over the world. Def. worth a visit if you are interested in gardening. I mean it had some 10-15 varieties of cactus plants.

• Echo point - great place, where poeple come and shout all kind of stupid things like (Hello...,Ohh....Can you hear me...etc etc) There were some couples over there too...one guy was going to shout his wife's name BUT she didnt let me shout. she was too embarresed I guess!

• Mattupetti Dam - Great place, the view of the lake in the backdrop of mountains is too good, it is a popular picnic spot and people come there with thier family to enjoy the boat rides, horse rides. We, ofcourse had a good speed boat ride, they charge around 250INR and tour it around the lake for 30 mins. Quite good...we also had a good horse ride, the most important thing that you should try out is the elephat ride, its just awesome...That road is uphill and it hardly can has two lanes for the vehicles, imagine having a elephant ride on such roads!!!
• Kundala Lake - This lake is very beautiful amidst lush jungles. Hiring a pedal boat and exploring the lake and its surroundings is an awesome experience. Except at the place you hired the boat, don't expect to find humans around the lake as it is surrounded by scenic jungles and hills.
• Atukkad Waterfalls - A scenic waterfalls amidst hills and jungles. You can find a road leading to Atukkad Waterfalls on Kochi road (just about 5 km from Munnar). This road is very narrow and needs a lot of experience to drive on

Thekaddy -
Thekkady is enchanting as the road winds through tranquill countryside, rich plantations & thick jungles. The sanctuary, 60 km from Idukki, 190 km from Cochin and 114 km away from Kottayam is open throughout the year , but the best season for a visit is from September to March. The sanctuary is centered around the large (24 sq km) artificial lake formed by a dam across the Periyar river. We stayed in forest resort which we good....

Allepy -
It is famous for its houseboats, the place is full of houseboats and you will find a lot of them in all shapes and sizes, cost ranging from INR 6000 to INR 20,000 for a night. You have an option to take the backwater tour in a boat or stay overnight in an houseboat. Poeple prefer the latter as it is an experience. They serve authentic keral food in all courses (rice, dal, papad,vegetable) which are good. Once you get in an houseboat and start exploring backwaters, you will be amazed....people actually use boats as a means to commuting, just as we use rickshaws and trains. some of the views along the journey are breathtaking. not to mention you will have the company of lots of houseboats around you along throughout......a typical overnight houseboat journey will start in the afternoon,they would tour the lake and halt in the evening at a village, its typically the village where the houseboat staff belong, that ensures that there are no mishapes happening at night. In the evening you have to make sure that you close all the curtains and seal the houseboat against any insects, coz you are at the bank of a lake and the chances of them getting in cant be rules out...leaving that aside its an experience to cherish. Next morning after breakfast, they drop you at the port.

Kovalam -
Kovalam is famous for its beaches, among the most pristine in India. it has some 4 - 5 beaches alongside. amounst them kovalam beach and Uday samudra are the beaches that you must def see.
we went to uday samundra where we could hardly find any Indians, the beach had a lot of foriegn tourists. the water in the beach was clear and if you want to take a dip...please do it.
other places to see in kovalam is Neyyar dam, it is just a water reservoir. it has a restaurant and facilities like boating and lion safary. lion safary is closed on monday, unfortunately thats the day we had for kovalam so couldnt explore that tour, but we have a good speed boat ride (again!!)

so, these are the places you should def look out for while planning your kerala tour. ofcourse there are a lot many places in kerala itself but dont miss out these places......

I had an awesome tour and would recommend everyone to visit kerala atleast once, because it has a nice mix of hill stations, backwater, wildlife and beaches. I can hardly remember a place which has so many things to explore in the same tour......

I have made up my mind to visit kerala atleast once a year, what about you?


- J