Jaipur,Rajasthan

My next trip was to the state of majestic palaces and beautiful deserts - Rajasthan, which started with the Pink City, Jaipur. We reached Jaipur at around 10 am and went to my friend's house, who is native of Jaipur, in half and hour. After taking few minutes to refresh ourselves, we hit the road in a decent car. It is good to have a car with you in a hot place like Rajsthan, where accessibility by means of public transportation could also be an issue. Dipin - the local friend gave us a very good guided tour of all the places.


Hawa Mahal:
The next day we visited a few great places in Jaipur. Hawa Mahal is as beautiful as I had always known. Hawa Mahal meaning the Palace of Winds is truly amazing and you get plenty of air wherever you stand inside the palace. This architecture made of red sandstone was constructed in 1799 during the reign of Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. The design of this palace resembles the crown of Lord Krishna, a Hindu God. There are total 953 windows known as Jharokhas in this palace.

Jal Mahal:Jal Mahal is another tourist site which is positioned in the centre of the Man Sarovar Lakein Jaipur. Jal Mahal meansWater Palace. The architecture again deserves appreciation and the location of the palace itself attracts tourists.

Amber Fort:
We moved to the Amber Fort after that. It is almost 11 km drive form Jaipur. The fort was built during the period of Raja Man Singh in 1592. The fort was named after Amba, the Mother Goddess. The fort is made out of red and white sandstone.

The most beautiful part inside the Amber fort is the Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace) which is known for its walls and ceilings decorated and engrafted with innumerable colorful mirror tiles. You can also go for an elephant ride to reach the top of the fort and enjoy the classic view of the city from there.

City Palace:
After visiting the Amber Fort we went to the City Palace of Jaipur. This is the palace where the royal family of Jaipur still resides. The City Palace was built during the reign of Maharaja Jai Singh II. Inside the City Palace, there are several building s and gardens, the buildings include Chandra Mahal, Mubarak Mahal, Ridhi Sidhi Pol and the Diwan-E-Aam and Diwan-E-Khas. Chandra Mahal is the palace where the Jaipur royal family lives.

Photos:-

Jaipur

Kankariya lake & Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Asharam

Ahmedabad has seen some rapid development on the infrastructure front. From the airport, I took a taxi to Gandhianagar. For me it was a stunning experinece to see around the atmosphere and greenary,and I wanted to get a first hand feel of it before heading to work. I planned to visit to Swami Nanayan Temple especially for the light and music show in the evening.Then Monday came and as a routine headed for work.

I had plenty of time to move around Gujarat, espically on weekends, over a period of 8 Months.I planned with my friends to visit Kankariya lake, we took bus from gandhinagar to RTO Circle form where we will get BRTS bus directly to Kankariya lake,What this means is the bus goes across the city in a dedicated lane, avoiding any traffic that may be plaguing the other general lanes. At the face of it, the scheme looked good to me, as I reached my destination in just about 35 minutes. People had contradictory thoughts about it, which is always the case.

Kankariya lake & Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Asharam

I wanted to visit Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Asharam, which is roughly on the other side of the city for me (Kankariya lake). I took a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), bus from Kankariya lake till RTO (this was the complete route). I took a rickshaw till the Asharam and spent about 1 ½ hour in the lovely place. One gets a unique feeling moving around the areas where stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave amongst others had roamed ones. Many of our independence struggles’ movements were also formulated here. The Asharam was well maintained.

Gandhiji’s own house drew the most crowd and so did his private room. One may stand and wonder how brilliantly the layout was planned, even during those days. As there were some gates to the banks of the Sabarmati river, which provided the Asharam with continual water supply. There was also a man who was weaving cloth (khadi) on the famous ‘Charkha’ outside Gandhiji’s house. The best part I liked was a school that is run for underprivileged children within the extended premises of the Asharam. Though Gandhi ji left us long back, but what he left behind is still taking care of hundreds or even thousands. I spent some more time moving around and then left.

Before leaving, I bought a few souvenirs for my house, including a lovely enlarged picture of Gandhiji, post cards and key-chains.

Photos:-
Gandhi Ashram
Kankariya lake

Travel and be happy

There is an old saying that there is a time in everyone's life after which they start loosing interest in their profession, routine activities and almost everything else. Everything seems trivial, and it becomes difficult to find motivation to participate in any activity. The wiser man may start questioning the reason for his existence. So did I!

I started asking questions to my inner-self: what is the reason that I am working days and nights even when I am not happy? What is it that I would like to do in life? What can keep me happy? After carefully considering for few days or may be even months, I realized that traveling to beautiful places, admiring the beauty of the nature, participating in adventurous activities, eating/cooking good food, keeping people around me happy, remarkably boosted my happiness. Now, though I have identified activities which make me happy, I don't have time - limited leaves. So, will I be compromising my happiness for the mundane activities of life? No, of course not! I might not have the answer today, but I have several alternatives in mind; the feasibility of these alternatives still need to be evaluated.

In the interim, let me share with you how traveling makes me happy and can do the same for you. Though it may sound trivial, but nature's fresh air and greenery can really reawaken your energy and enthusiasm. You can't imagine this unless you have experienced it before. So don't underestimate the power of this simple activity.

Watching beautiful birds and animals, playing with some of them or even running after them, can put back a broad smile on your face. Listening to the chirping of birds, the sound produced by a fish in the still water, enjoying the fragrance of flowers may become an amazing experience and even the time of your life.

The adventure of traveling itself and the surprises on the course add spices to your overall experience. Moreover, I can say that I get to learn a number of new things about life, about myself and about nature while traveling. So guys, try it! This might work well for you as well.

In addition to this, recently I had read an intriguing research report which stated that spending your money for experiences is a better choice for buying happiness rather than spending your money on products which may give you short term happiness. In short, travel and see for yourself!

Abu Dhabi

"To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries." - Aldous Huxley

I never thought that my first international experience would be with UAE. I went to Abu Dhabi along with my office colleagues to attend an international conference organized by IAEA.

About Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi was a beautiful place, far better than I had expected. We got down at the Dubai international airport and took a taxi to Abu Dhabi. There were tall buildings on both sides of the road and the quality of infrastructure was far better than I had ever seen before. The selection of colors, architecture, cleanliness, and well-maintained structures must be the reason for my first impression. 

Yas Marina Island

We spent 4 days at Yas Marina Island which is famous for its formula one racing circuit. The circuit is considered to be one of the world's most technologically advanced circuits. Besides this, the architecture of buildings at the Yas Marina Island was unique; the island was surrounded by artificial body of water and natural greenery which added to its beauty.

Yas Marina Circuit

I wasn't sure about getting time to visit the circuit, but luckily we had one dinner party in the building which was part of the racing circuit. 


There were a number of internationally famous hotels at the Island. We stayed at 'Hotel Park Inn'. The view from the hotel was superb. There was a swimming pool in front of the balcony and a number of umbrellas were provided along with sun bathing chairs. The end of the boundary wall was the beginning of a ground blanketed by lush green grass. Even their grass and trees were more beautiful and elegant. 

View from Balcony of Hotel Park Inn

There was one important thing that I had observed during the visit. The quality of almost everything was far superior to that in India. Even the Lux soap gave better foam and fragrance and I could feel the difference as it treated my skin very gently. To share few more: the quality of air, the types of vehicles running on the road, the quality of service at the hotel, the quality of their food, the amount of money people earn there, and many other things made me feel that I have been missing something good for last several years of my life. 


There are 2 sides of every coin. If there were several good things, there were many restrictions as well. You can't get too romantic there on the road or in public places and must maintain the decency/decorum without any public display of affection  (PDA) of course. There were several other restrictions. So depending on your life style, it could be a good or bad place for you.

Mahudi - Jain Temple, Gandhinagar

This Sunday, 13 May 2012,  I went to Mahudi - a famous Jain temple near Gandhinagar. Though I do not like visiting temples, I enjoyed going there early morning. I am not an atheist, neither am I very religious. I just believe that there is some power, present somewhere. capable of doing things which can't be explained by science. Even if there is no such power, still, I believe, I am getting a chance to practice the discipline of faith. Sometimes you can do things which under ordinary circumstances wouldn't be possible, but you do make things happen just because you had faith. However, I think, you don't need to go to temples for this.  There are other reasons I do not like to visit temples:

1. Temples should be a place where you can find peace. On the contrary, our temples are crowded and very noisy. You need to rush to see the face of the god and run, because there are many others waiting in the queue.


2. Secondly, we always go to a temple to ask for something. Even god will understand your selfishness one day. Better live with what he has given, and accept what he has to offer without asking. Sometimes by asking for something you may miss a bigger opportunity which god was planning to offer you; instead he may choose to give you something of your choice to respect your prayers. 


Anyway, I went to temple, because my father wanted me to. I went there just for the long early morning, i.e., 5:00 pm ride.


How to reach there?

Sign Board @ about 38 kms

Route to temple is pretty simple. Go straight from Gh-0 circle of Gandhinagar towards Pathika. After about 38 kilometers you will find a sign board with 'Madhudi' as text on it, showing arrow to the right hand side. Take right turn and keep driving for almost 4 kilometers. You are there!


About temple
I found the temple very similar to other Jain temples. The temple is famous for Lord  Ghanta Karna Mahavir. The structure is white from outside and you can notice very fine carving work done on the marble roof and columns. There is a counter just at the left hand side, after entering from the main gate, from where you can buy sacred food for god which is called 'Sukhadi'. It is made up of wheat flour and clarified butter. An interesting story about this sacred food is that you can't take it outside Mahudi. Or you shouldn't take it outside Mahudi because it is believed that doing so may bring bad luck to you or something bad may happen to you.

The temple is beautiful from outside. There is one bell hung on a tall tower. Staircase is also provided to reach to that bell. It is believed that your wish may come true if you get up there, ask for the wish and ring the bell. There is no harm in trying.

Temple outside view (L). Bell Tower (R)

Most importantly, the road to temple is beautiful, surrounded by fields of grains, mangoes and many beautiful trees. 

Crops in the middle picture were there few months back, but they have been harvested now.

We could not stop ourselves and went into a mango farm. We thought we will take permission, but then no one was there. We picked 2 mangoes from the tree and started running to leave the place before someone spotted us. We had just reached the gate and someone came from the other side of the road and said 'please stop'. You will have to pay for these mangoes. You can't take anything from here without our permission. These were the words of the gentlemen. Though we got caught, it was fun! 

Adalaj Step Well

Adalaj step well is approximately 6 kilometers from Infocity Gandhinagar. I had strong aversion for this place. Though I had never been there,  mere description of the place led to such feelings. This Sunday, 06 May 2012, one of my cousin had come to visit us. He didn't want to go to any mall and wanted to see other things. Megha suggested this place as it was close by. 


We went there in the evening around 6:00 PM. We could easily find the place. It was surrounded by a vegetable market. There was no place to park the vehicle. I wasn't expecting much crowd, however, there were a lot of people. Still it was very hot outside the building, but we could feel a water-body nearby after getting into the building. Though the structure didn't look good from outside, it was still beautiful from inside.

I could take one video of the place. This will, hopefully, give you an idea of what it is about.

My recommendation: I am not an appreciator of the work done on stones, but I can say, the structure as a whole is beautiful and it is worth going ones iff you are nearby. 

Aagra

Being in love for so long, and not visiting the symbol of love, even when it is very close to you, would have been injustice to the life. Aagra was just 6 hours journey from Kanpur via rail. So one day I just decided that I will go there. The thought came in the afternoon and we left for Aagra in the night, on the same day.


We reached there around 7 clock. It was extremely cold out there, but we were prepared for it. I made a big mistake by taking a cycle rickshaw from railway station to Taj Mahal. Since it was open, we went shivering all along. By the time we reached Taj Mahal, sun rays started reaching us. The Taj Mahal looked beautiful from outside. The marble surface was shining like anything and looked very white against the blue sky.





We decided to hire a guide from the beginning itself. Guide could tell us many interesting things which would be difficult to understand or even observe by ourselves. There was one more benefit of taking the guide along, he could take as many pictures of you as you wanted. He did also tell us which are the top poses for photography. We roamed around for about 2 hours. By that time, the marble started getting hot. It became difficult to walk on the floor.


We left Taj and decided to see some other famous forts. We could finish everything in just few hours. So we returned back to Taj and sat there for few hours. In the evening, we left for railway station. Our ticket was not confirmed. We were walking on the road. After 6 o' clock I couldn't find the autos easily. The street lights were not working and it was dark everywhere. I was wondering, is this how we are managing a place where one of the seven wonders is located?


On the railway station, people were fighting. The station master slapped a guy! The entire scene was scary. We went to the station master's room and asked him to check if the ticket was confirmed. He looked through the register and said, NO. Wait, he said. I can confirm it, but then you will have to pay 600 Rs. I knew it was too high, but then I had no choice. After coming out, a foreigner couple came to us asking for the place where they can find out if their waiting is cleared. They were scared to go to the room pointed by me, because the station master was fighting and shouting. We offered that we could come along and help them. We went along with them and then got the ticket confirmed by bribing the station master or whatever he was. They spoke to us for an hour or so and then we went into our compartments ones the train arrived.


My recommendation: Do not take the risk of going to Aagra if you don't have confirmed tickets. It could be a horrible experience. Do go there, at least ones, to see the beauty of Tajmahal. 

Sun Temple, Modhera

I always choose what I should do on the weekends. However, this time I decided I will do something chosen by others. The element of surprise will add at least some spices to life which has otherwise become so monotonous. I asked for Megha’s opinion and she said Sun Temple of Modhera. Sun temple it was. 


The sun temple of Modhera was around 90 Kms from Gandhinagar. We left very late, around 2:00 pm, and boarded on a state government bus to Mehsana. We reached around 3:00 pm and enquired about bus to Modhera Sun Temple. The man at the enquiry counter babbled something, of which I could only understand 5:30 pm. I asked for the last bus to Gandhinagar and he said 7:00 pm. I was surprised that how could the last bus be leaving so early, i.e., at 7:00 pm. There are so many people traveling between these two cities every day and, I wondered, how come the transportation is so poor.  However it was not possible to manage to visit Sun temple between 5:30 to 7:00 PM, as people said it takes almost 1 hour to reach there. We got little depressed, mainly for the reason that even after coming so far we won’t be able to see sun temple. We went out of bus stand and asked some auto rickshaws about travel time and fare. One guy said Rs. 250 for to and fro and it will take only 30 to 40 minutes. I liked the deal and we immediately hired that auto. The road to sun temple was very pleasant and was surrounded by greenery on both the sides. While traveling, I was thinking about my life and was comparing it with other people. I was thinking that millions of people are out there who have got some or the other talent, but I have none. I never worked on cultivating a talent. I was asking a question to myself why I do not have any talent. The answer which I got made my journey a success. I learnt something very important that day. I realized that:

I have never lived for learning, but I have only been learning what is required to live happily.

That made many things clear to me. This made me happy even before reaching sun temple. We reached in 50 minutes to sun temple. 

The temple did not have any idol, it was just a structure of stones on which lot of carving was done. I have never been able to appreciate the fine work done on the stones, but I could appreciate the beauty of the structure as a whole. 

Surya kund, facing the temple

The journey took us total 7 hours, out of which we could spend only one hour in the sun temple of Modhera, and rest all went into traveling. 

Indroda Nature Park, Gandhinagar

Indroda nature park is situated about 1 km from Infocity, Gandhinagar. I often visit this place, mostly early mornings, to cheer myself up and to spend some time with nature. Greenery of the nature is like a nymph which gets over your mind and irrespective of your age you start feeling young again. The red pink and yellow flowers, green leaves, jumping monkeys and running blue bulls will make you feel alive and may be jump on your feet. 

Green trees planted along the road make you feel as if they are walking along with you. The combination of greenery and wildlife is a gift of nature available so close to my residence. I am feeling ignorant by knowing and still not going there everyday for a morning walk. While entering the park, I saw a monkey relaxing on the branch of a tree. I liked his cool style and the immediate thought that came to my mind was even I should take sometime off from the work and relax like him, at least sometimes. It looked as if he was a monkey monk, different from others of his kind - who are often found jumping, hanging on a branch of tree effortlessly, not interested in any of the worldly things, not worrying or thinking about anything, but just having some good time.To capture this moment was difficult. Every time I tried, he got up and posed like a model, well aware of that fact that someone is taking his picture. The poor fellow couldn't understand what I was looking for. But finally, I got it.

A muster of peacocks could be easily seen inside the park. Even the fan formation of feathers could also be easily spotted. However, what is rare is, finding a Peahen and a Peacock sitting together and on top of it, two beautiful birds kissing each other. I was lucky that I had a chance to capture a special moment wherein the symbol of beauty grace and love was himself in a romantic mood. 

I have never found a Peahen so beautiful, but she really looked pretty with the peacock.  A morning walk at Indroda Nature Park or any other similar place can give you an amazing experience. Keep walking with nature and cherish its beauty.

My recommendation: You must go here every morning if you live in Gandhinagar. Or if you want to see some places and are a nature lover, please do visit this place. 

Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram was the only place around my residence where I thought life existed. I was working at an isolated location called Anupuram - BHAVINI nuclear power plant township. Anupuram was about 10 kms from Mahabalipuram. After all the stress in the office, I wanted to have a peaceful evening. Moreover, I considered everyday of my life to be very important and wanted to have something for myself everyday. 

Anupuram was completely isolated from the city. There were no multiplexes, no shopping malls, and no other amenities. I couldn't travel everyday to Chennai as it took almost 2 hours to reach in the city. Somehow, I found Mahabalipuram as the place where I could live the way I wanted. I had to rent a car to go there. Though it was a costly affair, I decided to do so to be happy each day.

Mahabalipuram beach is neither wide nor clean, but still it looked beautiful in evenings and mornings. The sky looked beautiful during mornings and evenings. 

Evening (L) and Early Morning (R) @ Mahabalipuram

Afternoons were so hot, you couldn't even think of going there. However, there were number of foreigners you will find on the beach. I always use to wonder how do they take sun bath in such hot weather. 

Gossiping with friends @ Othawadi street stretch of beach

I usually preferred to go to Othawadi street in Mahabalipuram which had some small but very nice restaurants. The street was always crowded with foreigners. There were local shops, where you could see artists hammering the stones to create imitations or statues. The fresh air and lively atmosphere  of the street did cheer me up every time I went there. There were few occasions when my friends use to come from Chennai to visit this place.

'The blue elephant' was one of my favorite restaurant. If you are anywhere near Chennai, do visit this place in the evening.

Vienna, Austria

Vienna is considered as one of the world's best cities when it comes to the quality of life. I didn't know this when I was traveling to Vienna in the September of 2010. I took a flight from Mumbai to Zurich and then changed flight on Zurich airport. I was warned by my friends to not stop by any shop to explore anything, because the time available for transit is very limited. I realized it when I continued walking for about 45 minutes to get to another terminal. 

Vienna airport is a small airport. However, I couldn't find one of the baggage on the conveyor. After talking to the concerned man, I found that my luggage had been put on some other flight and they will return in on the mentioned address by tomorrow. The road to city was very beautiful and it took almost an hour to reach to the city. The city was beautiful, I think mainly because of its architecture and a river running though the center of the city. 

Road to Bulgarian Embassy in Vienna (L), Donna Centrum (R) Not sure abt the right one (Photography by Gaurav Shrishrimal)

We had rented a studio apartment at Karmeliter Gasse. The street, though narrow, looked very posh and beautiful. There were cigarette buds everywhere on the street, but still the roads looked better than Indian roads. 

I freshened up and went to office along with one colleague who was already staying at the guest house. We took the train this time. People seemed to be very courteous and organized. It was a pleasant experience traveling in those trains. 

The office was located at the center of the city, most importantly, opp. to International Atomic Energy Agency. I never thought that I will get an opportunity to be there, but my friend arranged for the visit and we went inside IAEA and had meetings with few people.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

PMD office

The office was small but was good enough for 4 people. The office building was called TechGate Vienna. There were few nice restaurant bakeries around the place. We did go to most of them during my stay. One thing that I always wondered was, why they never heat sandwiches or burgers or anything. They use to take it out from the freeze and serve as it is.

In the evening, we went to the market. There were people in different costumes, singing, dancing, showing magic tricks. Street was crowded with people, restaurants were full. It seemed people were really enjoying their life. 

No one worked late in the evenings, even grocery stores would close by 6:00 PM.

The best part of the Vienna visit was Prater. There were some amazing rides at Prater which took my breath away. And I would have definitely missed one of the best rides if I wouldn't have dared to get on this one at Prater, Vienna.

Goa

Goa, we had a flight to Goa on 14th Feburary 2012. I had planned it in such a way that we could reach there on the eve of Valentines day. We had made the reservation well in advance at Ginger Hotel Goa. I prefer to stay in Ginger for following reasons: 1) It is reliable (a Tata group hotel) 2) Economical 3) Smart (Except luxury you will get everything you need)


The moment we came out of GOA airport, we could feel the difference between Ahmedabad and Goa climate. Though Ahmedabad is usually very hot for most of the time during the year, it was a decent whether this Feb. The hot air of Goa was burning the skin. The airport arrival lounge was very small and it made me wonder; is it one of the finest tourist destinations of India? We took a prepaid cab and reached Panjim where our hotel was located.


My experience with Ginger has always been good. We spent the evening at the hotel itself as we were tired with the wedding formalities also. I didn't have enough time to research about the place and hence decided to go with a tourist bus in the morning. Got seats in the bus and were hoping for a good experience. 


Tourist Bus Experience
Our experience with the tourist bus was bad for many reasons:
1. The crowd wasn't good
2. It took us to places where we thought it was waste of time
3. We couldn't find any beauty in Goa
4. The bus stopped at very cheap restaurant; didn't even take the lunch
5. Gave us very little time to enjoy the places we liked


The only part which we liked was Calangute beach. We did some water sports at the beach which was little adventurous and made us happy. However, we knew that we will miss out tourist bus and we did. We called the bus conductor and he said, the bus left just 10 minutes back. There is another bus waiting in the parking which can pick you if your want. To which we agreed.


Cruise Experience 
We thought our Goa trip was going into a disaster. We were upset, but tried to make our evening better by going for a cruise. The cruise starting point was very near to Ginger. We could walk. There was lot of crowd, but we decided to experience it at least once. Again, the experience was bad. It wasn't was I was expecting. Some stupid dance and jokes cracked by the anchor. Crowd was also a concern. However, I enjoyed the beauty of the sea and breeze for almost an hour at a very reasonable rate.


Access gave us Access to the heaven

Next day we decided to rent a two wheeler and see the city by ourselves. We got up early in the morning and took the bike on rent from the travel desk. He gave us many options, but for some reasons I chose Suzuki Access 125. 


Panjim
We went to Miramar beach at about 8:00 am. It was a beautiful place and was very less crowded when compared to other beaches that we had seen the day before. We spent lot of time there, took some photographs and then decided to go further on the road. 


Our next destination was Dona Paula. The temperature had gone up by this time and there was just a concrete structure extending into the sea. We also went up through stairs and found that the view from top was worth going there on the hot afternoon. 


We then moved towards our final destination on that day, the Bambuli beach. Our journey to the destination was equally satisfying when compared with the satisfaction we got at Bambuli. The way to the destination was through the campus of Goa University which looked like a beautiful place.

We returned back to the hotel and then took some rest. In the evening, we again went back to all the 3 beaches around Panjim. Though people recommended me not to stay in Panjim saying there is not much you can do there. However, I enjoyed the Panjim beaches most. The beautiful view from Mandowi river and the sailing casinos. Though I wanted to go to the casinos, but didn't dare to do so.  
I am definitely going there next time I visit Goa.
Next day we kept exploring and somehow reached to the church area. Again the most enjoyable part was the road to old Goa where the churches are located. The road was running on the side of a river/canal and the breeze made the ride very memorable. The churches had very huge structures and cool architecture. The Goa visit would have been incomplete without going to the old Goa. 

The best part of Goa trip was Candolim beach. We traveled about 20 Kms to reach there. While entering the area we got filled with joy. This was looking like a tourist place. There were foreigners lying on the beds near the shore. There were colorful umbrellas which were protecting them from direct sun rays. The beach wasn't much crowded, but still it had decent number of people which made us feel we are in a safe place. We also rented a sunbath chair, applied the sunscreen, kept our bags at the side of the rented place and jumped into the sea. We played sot about an hour in the sea. Though we feared about theft of our belongings kept near the rented place, but we found them safe after returning to the rented place. 


At first we thought, we made a mistake by coming to Goa. However, at the time of leaving we wanted some more days to enjoy the coolness of GOA.

Diu

The best way to reach Diu is via train. We took a train from Ahmedabad to Somnath and then a taxi to Diu. We went to Diu during the rainy season, and honestly there is nothing adventurous that you can do during that time.

From the railway station we took an auto to Somnath temple. There are a number of hotels near the temple. Representative of hotels keep roaming around and ask you take you to there hotel. We took a room for 2 hours to freshen up and keep the luggage. The hotel was in a very poor condition, but it served the purpose.
After taking the bath we headed to the temple, but the guard stopped me at the temple gate itself. He said you are not allowed to enter the premises in such short clothes. He was pointing his finger to a board. one bullet on the board read, you are not allowed in shorts. I had to go back to the hotel to put on a jeans.

Somnath Temple
We spent some time in the temple. The best thing I liked about it was the view of the beach from the temple. The waves were rising very high with the flowing wind. And the entire sea looked white with black stones on the shore adding to the beauty of the sea.

Somnath Beach
We came out of the temple and walked towards the beach. The walkway was made up of black rocks. It was a pleasant experience, standing near the shore and experiencing the wind and waves. The best part I liked about this shore was the height of the waves. There was a high platform made up of bags filled with rocks or whatever and we were standing on that. The waves were striking that platform and splashing water over us. Our clothes were completely wet after few minutes. We also took a camel ride on the shore.

From Somnath to Diu
We rented a taxi from outside the temple. The route was not as I expected. I was hoping that the drive would be through a road surrounded by greenery and it would be enjoyable. However it was not the case. I didn't find any scenic beauty on the way.

Stay
We had made a booking in advance, but didn't like the place. We decided to go to Nagoa beach and find out a place to stay. We saw a very good resort near the beach and went there to inquire if the rooms were available. Luckily, we got the rooms in that resort. The resort's name was Rasal Beach Reosrt.

Best thing to do
The best thing that we did there was getting up at 5:00 clock and going to the beach. We loved the red sky, golden water and beach which was barely crowded.

Thol Bird Sanctuary

                                     Thol Bird Sanctuary is situated about 30 Kms from Gandhinagar.  It is very close to Vadsar village where there is an air force base.

We decided to take an early 5:30 am ride to Thol as Ahmedabad has a very hot climate during this time of the year. We could easily make it toThol, but it was difficult to locate the bird sanctuary. We tried asking few villagers, but they responded as if they heard about it for the first time in their life. After going for few more kilometers we saw a sign board saying Thol Bird Sanctuary is ahead. We traveled for another 2-3 kilometers but could not find anything. Moreover, google maps was indicating that we were moving away from the destination. So, we decided to turn back and again read the sign board carefully. However, we couldn't find anything new on the sign board, but there was a narrow road near the board. We decided to take a chance and go in that direction. We went for about 2 Kms, but then we started finding it difficult to ride on the bike because there was dust all around us. Luckily we saw a guy and asked him if it is the way to bird sanctuary. He said yes. We continued for 2 more kilometers somehow. Finally, we saw a board. We could easily read Thol bird sanctuary even though it was written in Gujarati. But then we struggled in understanding the paragraph which was written below it. After few minutes we could solve the puzzle. It was written in Gujarati that entering this Sancuary from this direction is an offense and the trespassers will be punished by the government. We didn't take that risk and then turned back again. Reached the main highway in few minutes and asked few more people. One fellow, who was looking little educated, jumped out and said that for the main entrance I will have to go 4 kilometers straight and then take the left turn and again 4 Kms. He also mentioned that there will be an entrance fees from the main gate and that I could easily get in from the other way from which I had just returned. 


How is it?
We took the longer route and finally reached Thol Bird Sanctuary. The guy at the security gate charged us just Rs. 20 per person. We parked our bike after getting in and the view of the lake and greenery made us really happy. It was worth getting up early in the morning and traveling 30 Kms.

There were stretches of land which were surrounded by lake water and were inaccessible to visitors. We could see a number of birds sitting on these isolated portions of land. Though it looked extremely beautiful from distance, we were missing a binocular. A binocular would have really made it easy for us to observe the beauty of the birds. From the distance we could not see any details of the birds but only their shapes.

Anyway, we decided to take few photographs and then sit on the bedsheet that we brought from home. It was a pleasant experience, sitting near a lake surrounded by greenery. I spent my time reading a book that I had kept with me. 


You can easily spend the entire day there if you have taken enough food and water along with you. There are plenty of trees and you can easily find a place to sit down in shade even on a very hot day.

I would recommend that you definitely go here if you are a nature lover.

WonderLa

Ride 1

WonderLa situated at the outskirts of Bangalore, near Bidadi Industrial area, is an amusement park. 


How did we reach?
It took us almost 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach from Majestic, the main bus stand, to the amusement park. We could get a direct bus from Terminal 22 and had to get down at a distance of about 3-4 kilometers from the Wonderla gate. From there we took an auto which was the only mistake I made, because there is free pickup and drop facility to and from wonderla gate to the place where you get down from bus.


Tickets
The price of the ticket was about 700 Rs. and are different for weekdays, weekends and holidays. These prices are given on wonderla's website.


Riding Experience

Ride 2

We planned to start with dry rides, but got little depressed when saw the long queues. The first ride (ride 1) took us almost 40 minutes. We were little annoyed in the beginning, but ones we took the ride we realized that it was worth it. We rushed to another ride (Ride 2) which was nearby as we realized that everyone was running to that ride only. After standing there for 20 minutes, we found that it will not operated for sometime due to maintenance activity. We were really keen to get on that as it looked different from other rides in a manner that it was rotating slowly at its axis when compared to other rides which were moving at a faster pace and the rock music was being played in the background.


There were 1 or 2 other rides which were under maintenance. You can't do anything about it and that's what I didn't like. I was feeling cheated as I had paid 700 Rs. per person and many of the rides were not working. This should have been told at the ticket window itself. The dry rides were almost alike and had the same experience. 

Ride 3

Wet rides were more fun when compared to dry ones. The vertical ride, Boomerang and the one shown as Ride 3 were kind of real adventure. In ride 3, you lie down with your face looking down the slope and need to cross three bumpers with your bodies inertia. People who were thin were getting stuck in the middle and had to get up and cross the peak and lie down again. Sourabh, my younger brother had to do this 3 times. The instructors were not allowing people with weight less than 60 Kg to take this ride.


The vertical ride was as if you are jumping off the cliff. It was literally vertical. I didn't dare take that one, but when I saw my wife, Megha, enjoying that ride, I too tried it. I would have really missed the best part of wonderla by not taking this one. 

Ride 4

There were 2-3 water/wave pools which had water buckets (as shown in ride 4) hanging from a lean pipe. Ones the bucket gets filled up it turns upside down and floods water on you. On a hot day, this is a wonderful experience and will definitely send chills through your spine. We actually started with the ride 4 wave pool and the small slide shown in it and went through intermediate ones to the all crazy ones.


Returning back to the city was a bit tricky part. We missed a bus and were directed by someone to take a walk rather than taking an Auto. We walked for almost 30 minutes, but didn't find a single bus passing by. We had to finally take an auto and reach to the main highway. From main highway there were frequent buses to Kinneri and the connecting buses from Kinneri to city were also easily available. 

Ride 5

We missed one big ride, but I am sure we would have missed many other rides if we had taken ride 5. 


I would describe the overall wonderla experience as very adventurous, enjoyable with many heart throbbing moments. 


I must appreciate that though people were coming in huge numbers, the place was very clean and well maintained. You can definitely spend some quality time here, either with your family or friends.